Chapter 54
No Greater Love
Day One in the Month of Strength, 18:16
Goshu dodged to the left and arced forward to literally slap a warrior's head off.
'There are too many of them.' He thought as he watched Nail leave to go protect Max and Slip. Slip was more than a match for any of the warriors that they were up against, but Max was starting to reach her limit of exhaustion.
"Kamehameha!!!" Goshu shouted as he shot the blue beam of ki out through the mass of warriors. He guessed that he had killed nearly 3,000 solders, and there where many thousand more to kill before the day was done.
The mass of Blizzard's troops closed rank and filled in the gap created by those who were killed by the Kamehameha.
"Is that all you idiots know? Fear and death? Do you have nothing to look forward to?" Goshu shouted as he kicked another man in the face. The man's face collapsed and a new layer of blood splattered Goshu's leg.
The coppery stench of blood filled the air. It coated everything. It made his gi stick to him and it stained his hands. Red blood mixed with purple, and green. In the end it all turned black.
It didn't matter. Goshu would never forget the blood. As he fought he began to understand the play Macbeth in a way no one would ever wish to understand it.
'My son is dead. Roshi died fighting the very injustice that these idiots represent.' Goshu thought bitterly. "If it is death you want then I will give you all you can handle!" He screamed as he forced himself into Kaio-Ken once again and lobbed off several Masenkos.
'My son is dead and yet I am forced to fight on. There is no justice to be found on this world. We came knowing the risk, yet we have found nothing but death.'
A green lizard warrior got lucky and managed to hook Goshu in the back with its claws. It slashed two deep cuts down the center of his back and pulled him out of his thoughts. Moments later there was nothing remaining of the lizard but ash.
Goshu was hit hard in the face. Though the blow didn't break his nose, it stunned him for a moment and he went down. In an instant the mass of soldiers piled forward to try to pin him to the ground.
"I will not be stopped that easily!" Goshu yelled as he forced the pile back and off of him with a sudden burst of ki.
Goshu now stood in the center of a circle in which all those who had been fighting him had been pushed out of. It took a moment for the warriors fighting him to realize what had happened and come at him again.
In that moment, he was able to assess the situation. 'Kit is unconscious. Ichigo is pushing herself beyond her limits... She won't last long at this rate.' Goshu spun to look and see what was happening over with Nail and the girls. 'Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. I'm barely reading the Saiyans trapped in that building anymore.'
Goshu started to shout a word of warning to Nail, but he was too far away, and the warriors he was fighting were upon him again.
Goshu had always been highly empathic. He had always been very good at using his ki senses to feel out his opponent's actions. By opening his mind he could follow the flow of a fight and know when and where to dodge.
He knew he was beginning to become tired when his senses started to fail him. He was being hit more often and harder. The more he tried to focus, the more desperate the situation became.
Goshu was coming to realize that the men and women he was now fighting were fighting not because they believed in anything, but because they feared. They had nothing to live for, not goals, no hopes, nothing. There was nothing to make their lives worth living. They had become chattel; they were not even people any longer. Blizzard controlled them and had broken their spirits. They were nothing more then objects waiting to be destroyed. Hope was a word that meant nothing to the people he now fought.
The fact that Blizzard could take the very individuality away from those who served him angered Goshu beyond measure. Blizzard had killed these men and women long ago, and now fate was forcing Goshu to enact the final killing blow.
'My son is dead because he believed in more than just himself. We came here because we believe in more than just ourselves. Ichigo is killing herself on that belief, that hope. Slip, and Max struggle for those imprisoned, and yet I am forced to fight people who have lost all sense of hope. They are zombies. They are dead.
"Don't you even value your own lives?" He shouted in rage again.
They ignored him and continued to throw themselves at him. They threw themselves as though they were eager to die.
"Death and blood." Goshu muttered to himself as he tried to spit the taste from his mouth. 'That is all these people are. The very thought cheapens life. It cheapens the struggle we have fought for our entire lives. It made Roshi's sacrifice look in vain.'
Goshu was hit again and went down.
'All this death cheapens Roshi's life.'
That final thought was more than Goshu could take, and as he fell once again and was buried beneath a pile of men and women who had nothing to live for even if they did beat him, he snapped.
* * *
18:25
"Go now, Roshi hasn't much time." Goku started to wave and the world started to diffuse. "Roshi, don't just save her life, save her soul."
'How the hell do I save her soul?' Roshi thought as he materialized almost directly on top of Ichigo.
A huge ki blast slammed into Buu's back a moment later. The blast exploded harmlessly. "Hah, That tickles!" Buu exclaimed as he let go of Roshi.
"Whatever you are you're going to regret that!" Blizzard suddenly yelled out at Buu. "Kill him!"
As Buu turned to look at the Changelings, Roshi got a good look at Ichigo. Roshi prided himself on his constitution, but what he saw took his breath away and churned his stomach.
'Dende! She looks terrible!' Roshi gasped as he got a good look at Ichigo. Blood oozed out of her mouth, nose, ears, and numerous other locations about her body. Her hands where broken and swollen a nasty blackish blue. Her legs and arms were practically blue from frostbite and loss of blood. The rest of her was a sickly pasty-white color.
Ichigo had cut her hair before the battle, but now it looked as though large chunks of what was left of it had been ripped out. There were several spots on her scalp where there was no hair remaining at all.
To make matters worse, almost all of her armor had been blown off. On her left side, from about the mid-waist up, all that remained of her skinsuit was the under-wire from her bra. Roshi diverted his eyes while noting that Ichigo had a new scar directly below the old one she had gotten during her trial all those many years ago.
'Ichigo... oh my.' Was all Roshi could think as he used his ki senses to examine her more closely. Her heart barely beat within her chest as her lungs gurgled with effort to continue breathing. Her ribs on both side of her body were smashed and both of her lungs had been punctured in places.
Ichigo was dying. She was hurt far worse than she was in their first fight. It felt like that fight had taken place a lifetime ago. Roshi felt an ache take hold in him as looked into her broken face nearly dumbstruck as he felt her life ebb away.
One of the most incredible things about time is the fact that it truly is relative. There are moments in life, which through fear, or will, or pain, or a multitude of other experiences can stretch on into infinity with crystal clarity. In these moments the cosmic lens on life comes into focus and in that moment an epiphany happens.
Within his mind's eye Roshi looked at Ichigo and saw a thousand different images from a thousand different moments. He remembered her face the moment he grabbed her tail. He saw her struggle with emotions and finally break down that night in the capsule house when she was so desperate for information.
He remembered the glowing blush that was on her face amid all the anger that first night when he had walked in on her.
He saw her angry and confused flustered and desperate to learn that first day in the Gravity Room. He saw the look of surprise when he had adjusted the gravity and forced her to perform a perfect face-plant.
He remembered fondly how quickly she had learned and how sharp tongued she always was.
Then there was Banana and everything that happened that night. There was the fear at the loss of memory and the first sign that someplace within that hard shell there truly was someone desperate for a friend.
He remembered that night after she had cooked for him and opened up for the first time to him.
Then there was how happy she had been when she first realized how to sense ki. That night had been one of the best. She had been truly beautiful that night out on Icarus. And then there was that hug, and the warmth of her body, the smell of her hair. Her face when she realized what she had done. The blush that had slightly colored her cheeks every time she looked at him for the next two days.
Then encounter with Rock and the way she had treated Nighty. The way she had tried so hard and even put herself into a coma in the ROSAT.
Then, there was the day in the ROSAT when he had used his senses to not only sense her location, but to also truly sense her. He had sensed the beating of her heart and the inhalation and exhalation of breathing.
There was the memory of Slip and Ichigo chasing him around before Ichigo had fled the ROSAT, and the story she had told in Charlie's
He remembered her tenacity in the battle with Snow.
He saw again the hidden looks and furtive glances that had been exchanged on the trip to Saiya. He blushed as he recalled the conversation the girls had had in the hot tub.
He remembered her tears at the sight of her father and the determination that had been set on her face.
He remembered how he could do nothing for her in that moment. Then and now he felt her pain.
Moment, feeling, emotion, memory, thoughts, words, and actions passed through Roshi's mind in those few seconds. But they were not the only things passing there within his mind.
Goku's words echoed there as well.
'How do you save someone's soul?' Roshi wondered to himself.
From somewhere deep within his memory a poem came forth.
Deep within the soul of every man lives a need to be known... to be loved...
Roshi looked at Ichigo and remembered all the moments they had had. He longed to understand, but even in a perfect moment of time, when within the lens of the universe things become clear, time is not truly infinite. 'What is love?' A quiet voice in the back of his head asked as reality caught up with him.
"YOU! NO!!! This cannot be! I killed you!" Blizzard suddenly screamed shattering Roshi's thoughts.
Roshi looked up and over to see Blizzard floating in the air some 200 meters to the East.
Roshi smirked and focused himself. In a brilliant flash he became a Super Saiyan once again. "Correction, the four of you killed me. I got bored in Heaven so I came back." Roshi said as he turned to face Blizzard. 'Good, Ichigo and the city are behind me now. As long as I push Blizzard further to the East he will probably forget the ships fleeing towards the Phoenix altogether.'
"Ohhh, pretty girl hurt bad!" Buu chimed. "Buu fix all better."
Roshi never took his aqua-green eyes off of Blizzard, but he sensed Buu whip his antenna forward and send a beam of white-green energy at Ichigo. "There, pretty girl all better!"
The injuries healed instantly as Buu magically healed and restored Ichigo to full health.
Ichigo's eyes popped open and she took a huge gasp of air. She jumped to her feet and immediately started to shiver. Then she saw Roshi. "Roshi?" She asked bewildered.
"Ohhh, pretty girl need clothes." Buu squeaked.
Roshi didn't turn to look at her, but he felt the heat radiate off of her as she suddenly began to blush.
Buu whipped his antenna forward again and a gi shimmered into existence round her. "Pretty girl look nice now!"
* * *
Ichigo knew she was dying. Her body had been damaged too much in the last few minutes to survive. She had lost too much blood. She was too cold, and too worn.
When Blizzard hit her that last time, she had found herself unable to stay conscious. With the thoughts of how greatly she had failed everyone heavy on her mind, murky darkness took her.
Then suddenly there was a soft tingling sensation. Her lungs burned for air and she gasped. The chilled air caused her to shiver as she opened her eyes.
Ichigo had expected a white fog, or a black nothing. She had expected to be dead. Ichigo had never believed in spirits or ghosts but that was the first thing that entered her mind as she looked up at the large pink man thing that was standing over her. She could sense Blizzard and knew she was still on Saiya.
'Am I dead and doomed to haunt Saiya for my failures?' She thought to herself as she shivered.
Then she saw Roshi. The moment she saw him she sensed his presence. He wasn't hallucination.
"Roshi?"
"Ohhh, pretty girl need clothes." The pink thing squeaked.
Ichigo suddenly realized that one of the reasons why she was so cold was that she was nearly nude. She started to raise her arms to cover herself as the pink thing whipped its antennae forward.
Ichigo saw and felt the energy start to build at the tip of the Pink thing's antennae and instinct warned her that she was being attacked. She tried to roll away while covering herself, but was soon enveloped in a warm glow of energy.
Ichigo found herself wearing a gi almost identical to the one Slip had made for her the second day she had been on Earth.
"Pretty girl look nice now!"
She looked from the Pink man to Roshi and realized the back of his neck was flushed.
'Stupid blushing pervert! I hope you liked what you saw you bastard!' Ichigo glared at him as she jumped to her feet. 'This is so unfair. Why does he always get to see me nude? Just for once I wish he would get his clothing blown of. It would serve him right.' Ichigo smirked, 'And it would be a nice show too.'
Roshi finally turned to look at her. His smile was enough to warm her up. In an instant she stopped shivering.
"Ichigo... Thank Kami you are alive!"
"I am alive?" She asked almost in awe of the fact. "How?"
Ichigo's mind was in turmoil. She was having trouble focusing her thoughts. 'Roshi came back.' She thought in a momentary daze as she gaped at him. 'Roshi came back to me!'
Mixed emotions flooded Ichigo's mind. Roshi's sudden death had pushed her beyond the barrier and to the level of a Super Saiyan. Ever since that moment, she had been focused on her grief and pain. When She had started using the Kaio-ken she had realized immediately how much damage it was doing to her body. But it hadn't mattered. Only her people had mattered at that point. She had died the moment she realized she loved Roshi. She had died the moment she had accepted he was truly gone.
And now... now he was back. Part of her wanted to fly over and beat him to a pulp for putting her through all that pain. 'He had warned me. I didn't think Super Saiyan could hurt so much. But not all pain is physical.' She realized as she sought to control her emotions.
The rest of her wanted to fly over to him and hug him. She desperately wanted him to draw her into his arms and to hold her tight. She needed him to tell her that he really truly was back.
Ichigo looked from Roshi to the big pink thing that had healed her and magically made her gi for her. She could sense an immense power from this being. It was a power that frightened her in a way. She looked to Roshi and saw that he was not afraid.
"You... you're... you are dead! Roshi you cannot be here. You died. I saw you die. What are you doing here? What am I doing here?" She managed to force out.
Roshi slowly nodded. He smirked slightly.
'Tell him you love him. Tell him before he leaves again!' Her consciousness screamed as she blinked tears away. Embarrassed at the fact that she the Saiyan Queen was crying, she looked away to wipe her eyes.
Slowly she turned back to him. Roshi opened his mouth to speak, but then just closed it and smiled. It didn't matter. He was back, and he was real. That was all that mattered. In her heart, Ichigo found something that had been absent for many years. Ichigo found joy. And with that fuzzy warm joy, she found hope, and a meaning to live. 'Roshi... you came back to me.'
Roshi finished smirking. "I was, but do you really think a simple little thing like death is going to keep me from beating on Blizzard?"
* * *
Roshi watched as Ichigo looked from Roshi to Buu in astonishment and quickly patted herself down while the Changelings looked on in horror and shock. "You... you're... you are dead! Roshi you cannot be here. You died. I saw you die. What are you doing here? What am I doing here?"
Roshi slowly nodded. Ichigo's hair was still chopped, but it was thick and full again. As she wasn't currently a Super Saiyan, her blue-gray eyes sparkled as rays of winter sun danced of the snow around her as tears pooled above her bottom lashes. She turned away for a moment as though she needed to reconcile her thoughts. Then she turned and looked directly into his eyes. A smile that matched and added to the pure joy in her eyes slowly spread across her face.
'Kami, she truly is beautiful.' Roshi blinked several times before he could answer. "I was, and you should be. But it is a long story so why don't I tell you later? Anyway, suffice to say that a simple little thing like death is not going to keep me from beating on Blizzard."
"Oh please, I killed you once, I can kill you again. You are only delaying the inevitable." Blizzard sneered as he started to fly at them. "Kill the pink blob. Leave the bitch and the zombie to me."
Ice, Thunder, and Chill jumped at Buu as Blizzard threw a blood red ki blast at Ichigo.
Roshi jumped to block the beam and he sent knocked it away almost without effort. "No offense here Blizzard, but I think you aught to be more concerned about me right now. A Saiyan gets stronger every time they are injured. Well, you killed me. I think it's high time to figure out how much stronger that made me, don't you?"
"Brag all you want boy, it will make no difference." Blizzard scoffed before he tossed another ki blast at Ichigo.
Roshi blocked it again.
Ichigo snarled, "Stop that! You are not leaving me out of this fight!" She screamed before she flew at Blizzard while screaming in rage.
Blizzard knocked her away like a flea.
* * *
Ichigo bounced off the ground and slid to a halt when her head slammed into and split a rock in half. "Damn it! Why?!?! Why cannot I make it to Super Saiyan again?" She cursed.
Ichigo winced and rolled into a sitting position as she watched Roshi quickly fly towards her with a worried look on his face.
Ichigo's attention was suddenly diverted when she felt a ki like she had never felt before. 'It feels like the planet is going to explode! What is causing this?' She thought in shock as her eyes suddenly found the large fat pink man who had healed her. 'How can he produce that much power?'
"Buu no like you!" The pink man yelled shrilly before he thrust his right hand out and literally vaporized Thunder in a burst of ki.
Blizzard stopped flying at Roshi and gaped, while the Ice and Chill were knocked back in the explosion.
"He just vaporized Thunder as if he were nothing!! How can anything have that kind of power?" Ichigo gasped in shock.
"Impossible!" Blizzard yelled. "Kill that thing!"
The pink man suddenly looked around as though he were confused. "Oppsie Buu make a boo-boo. Buu go bye-bye now." He suddenly vanished only to appear next to Roshi. The big pink man pulled Roshi into a hug. "Roshi make Buu proud. Beat up bad guys."
He released Roshi and then turned to look at Ichigo. "Buu like pretty girl too."
'Oh shit!' Ichigo's eyes bulged slightly as she desperately tried to back away. Buu however was far too fast and she was soon being hugged as well. "You break Ubuu great love letter, but that ok. You beat bad guys too." Then he put his hand to his forehead and just shimmered away.
'What in the heck is going on? I have just been hugged by a big wad of gum that has enough power to vaporize Changelings without effort!' Ichigo thought as Roshi landed beside her.
"Are you alright?" He asked sounding anxious.
Ichigo blinked her mind clear. "What was that?"
"Oh, ah that was Buu." Roshi replied as he gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
Ichigo gasped as the warmth of his hand hit her. 'He truly is real.' She thought as the name Buu suddenly clicked in her mind. "Buu? As in the thing Ubuu was merged with that made him immortal when he was married to Pan?"
Roshi scratched his head. "Ah yeah."
"You are descended from a blob of bubble gum?" Ichigo asked incredulously.
"Ah, he's a demon, and technically... yes. And while this is a lovely conversation it seems Blizzard has woken up from his momentary state of shock." Roshi said before he pushed Ichigo away from himself. He then ducked under a ki blast before turning to look back at Blizzard.
"I don't know how that THING killed Thunder, but it won't happen again. I killed you once, I can kill you again!" Blizzard roared before he flew at Roshi.
Ichigo picked herself off of the ground where she had fallen when Roshi had pushed her out of the way of the ki blast. 'Thanks a lot Roshi.' She thought as she watched him boot Blizzard in the face and send the massive Changeling crashing into the ground.
'How can he make that look so easy?'
Ichigo would have continued watching but Ice and Chill finally noticed her.
"Oh look, the monkey's not all gold and sparkly anymore." Chill taunted.
Ichigo glared at the two of them and focused herself. 'I might not be a Super Saiyan at the moment, but just you wait. I will give you more than enough fight. I am nothing to take lightly.' She thought as she powered up pushing herself as her aura glowed a brilliant blue. 'Just a little more! I only need a little more. I can feel it.' She thought as she struggled to push herself to the level of a Super Saiyan again.
Chill didn't wait; he launched himself at her with blue-purple ki crackling in his right hand.
"Shit!" Ichigo jumped away, but not soon enough. Chill caught her left foot and sent her spinning into the ground.
Ichigo exhaled in pain as she tested her ankle. 'I cannot do it. I cannot make it to Super Saiyan again!'
Ichigo tried again, but try as she might, she just could not push herself through the barrier. 'Why? Why now?'
* * *
Roshi almost didn't move fast enough to dodge the ki blast Blizzard had thrown at him. 'Damn it, He isn't holding back this time.' Roshi thought as he flipped over a beam only to be struck in the back by another one.
"You are not so cocky this time, are you Monkey!" Blizzard mocked. "You can't beat me."
"Is that so?" Roshi asked before he tossed a Masenko back at the blood red Changeling.
Blizzard jumped up and over the yellow ball of energy only to run into Roshi's fist. "I think you will find I'm not as nice this time either." Roshi replied calmly.
Roshi's concentration was shattered when Ichigo gasped in pain. He turned to look at her. 'Why isn't she a Super Saiyan? What's going on?'
Roshi threw another blast at Blizzard and then shot down to land on Chill's shoulders. Chill was driven into the ground as Roshi flipped off and blocked a pink ki blast Ice had sent out. "Ichigo, what's wrong? Why aren't you a Super Saiyan?" He asked looking deep into her wide blue-gray eyes.
Ichigo blinked while showing the frustration, which was blatantly evident in her stance. "I... I cannot... reach it. I do not have the strength. I cannot focus enough!" She stammered.
"Why the hell not? You were a Super Saiyan. Just think about whatever pain caused you to transform in the first time. I know it is hard, but I know you can do it. Focus on that!" Roshi urged her on as he thought about the first few times he had made it back to Super Saiyan after the fight with Snow.
It took a lot of concentration and effort and he could only do it when he was truly furious.
Roshi looked at Ichigo and saw frustration, but no anger.
'This is bad.' He thought as he spun to block an on coming attack.
* * *
"Focus on that!" Roshi screamed at her before he spun to block another attack.
Ichigo stared at him wide eyed. "But..." She started to say. 'But you are not dead anymore! How can I focus on you when you are not dead?!?' Ichigo wanted to scream at him.
In the past half-hour, Ichigo had had plenty of time to think about her life. She had known she was going to die. She had put those thoughts behind her. In a way she had accepted it. She could feel that almost all of the people from Hayashi had fled. Only a few of the more stubborn remained. Even her aunt had already left.
Ichigo had guessed that Blizzard would not reach the city in time to stop that last ship from leaving. She had been content to die there. But now, Roshi was back. Roshi was back and she had been healed and Blizzard and Chill and Ice were still fighting Roshi.
'He is protecting me again.' Ichigo realized when Roshi jumped in front of a ki blast, which had been thrown at her.
Roshi was knocked back and fell at her feet. He quickly rolled to his feet and stepped between Ichigo and the Changelings.
"Oh, so you're going to protect her again? Is she really worth dying for again?" Blizzard laughed snidely.
"Damn it Roshi stop this!" Ichigo yelled. "I do not need your protection. Just fight them. Do not worry about me!" Ichigo glared at him. 'I hate feeling useless!'
"Ichigo..."
"Get away from me!" Ichigo yelled at him. "Damn you Roshi! You make me weak! Just get away from me!"
The look on his face almost stopped her heart. 'Why? Why do I always have to hurt you?' Ichigo thought as she jumped into the air. "Star Ripper!" She cried out as she sent the spiny spinning ball of ki at Ice.
'I may not be a Super Saiyan, but I will die before I let you sacrifice yourself again Roshi.'
* * *
"Damn you Roshi! You make me weak! Just get away from me!" Ichigo yelled as she leapt into the air.
Roshi felt like she had just kicked him in the chest. "Ichigo!"
His call was broken off when Blizzard hit him in the side of the face. "Forget about the girl fool. If she's a distraction I'll kill her for you." Blizzard said as he stuck his hand out and pointed his index finger at Ichigo.
A point of red light began to form at the tip of his claw.
"NO!!" Roshi yelled as he jumped up to slam his fist into the side of Blizzard's face just as he released the death beam.
The Death beam shot just wide of Ichigo and lanced out into space.
"Perhaps you'll like a taste of that!" Blizzard yelled as he shoved his hand in front of Roshi's face. All five of his claws glowed red and then Roshi was momentarily blinded as the laser like beams hit him in the face.
Roshi's head rocked back for a moment before he looked up to glare into Blizzard's face. "You will have to do better than that to kill me." He replied while he focused on Ichigo with his mind.
'Ichigo, why? Why can't you make it to Super Saiyan? I don't understand. How can I help you when you won't let me?'
Roshi remembered what Goku had said. 'How can I save you if you won't let me?'
Roshi sensed that Ice and Chill were going to catch Ichigo unless she moved faster than she was moving. "Damn it!"
"Ka-me-ha-me-HA!" Roshi yelled as he shot Blizzard at nearly point blank range with a huge blue beam of ki. Blizzard was knocked back, and no sooner was the large Changeling on his back then Roshi was streaking towards Ichigo.
He intercepted another ki blast and kicked Ice in the face. Ice was knocked away, but before Roshi could turn, Chill slashed him across the back with ki blast. The gi Roshi had gotten in heaven was not nearly as strong as his original gi, and it split easily under the beam of ki. The beam shot through the damaged gi and first bruised and then split the skin over Roshi's kidneys and side.
The wound was superficial, but it stung horribly. Roshi gasped in pain and was knocked back.
Ice took advantage of Roshi's momentary loss of focus to deliver an overhand blow to the top of his head.
Roshi crashed into the ground below.
"NOOO!!" He heard Ichigo scream. "No Roshi, don't die. Please! Please don't die for me again! I'd rather die myself then watch you throw your life away again!"
Oddly enough the fact that Ichigo had used contractions was the first thing that registered in Roshi's mind.
The second thing that registered in Roshi's mind was that if he didn't move he would have Blizzard's knee planted into the back of his neck.
Roshi rolled at the last second and caught Blizzard in the chin with his knee.
Roshi caught himself with his right hand and pushed himself up to his feet.
'Don't die for her again??' Roshi thought as he winced before he kicked Blizzard again. 'I never planned to die in the first place!'
Ichigo was moving away again. He had to stop her, "damn it Ichigo I'm not planning on dying!"
Ichigo looked down at him. Tears were welling in her eyes again. "Good, then kill Blizzard. I can fight my own Battles."
This time there was nothing lovely, or wonderful, or beautiful about the tears in her eyes. 'Why is she crying? Ichigo bottles up her emotions and hides them behind her walls... her walls fell when she went Super Saiyan!' Roshi realized as he watched her. 'What in the world happened when she went Super Saiyan?'
Roshi recognized the look of determination, which now resided on her face. 'She's going to kill herself proving she can still fight!'
Ichigo flared red as she pushed herself into Kaio-ken. She then shot directly at Chill and started to fight him.
'She's going to fight until she dies, and she's not going to let me save her.' Emptiness hit Roshi as he thought this.
"Damn it Ichigo! Don't you have anything worth living for?" He asked though he doubted she could actually hear him.
* * *
Ichigo pulled up abruptly and almost stopped dead in the air. 'Anything worth living for?'
Self-doubt is almost impossible to overcome. It grabs hold of a person and sinks in.
'Do I have anything worth living for? My people will survive... though I did not save them, you did.'
"Damn it Ichigo move your ass!" Roshi yelled as he threw a ki blast up past her. The two blasts connected and exploded in air.
'Roshi you clueless idiot I love you.' Ichigo thought as she ducked under Chill's foot.
'I love you, but you do not see it. You do not see what I see. I cannot live with you protecting me!'
Roshi flew up and grabbed her around the waist and pulled her out of the way of a ki blast.
"Ichigo, talk to me. What's wrong?" Roshi asked with worried eyes as he looked at her.
"Why? Why are you protecting me? Why do I feel so week around you?" Ichigo asked fervently. 'Why can you look into my soul and see nothing?' Ichigo asked herself.
Roshi opened his mouth to say something and then shook his head. Finally he just said, "Because, I believe in you."
Ichigo blinked and found her resolve. "Then let me do this for myself. I cannot have you protecting me. I cannot watch you die again for no reason."
Ichigo pushed him away while bitterly wishing she could hug him and never let him go. 'He believes in me, he died for me, he came back for me, but he will never love me.'
* * *
Ichigo pushed him away and flew off to attack Chill.
Roshi just watched her go. 'Why? Why won't you let me help you?'
Blizzard hit him and knocked him back a few meters. Roshi didn't care.
'Ichigo, how can I save your soul if you won't even let me save your life?' Roshi thought as he absent-mindedly ducked another one of Blizzard's blows.
Blizzard wasn't holding anything back, and if Roshi wasn't careful, he really could be killed a second time.
'Deep within the soul of every man lives a need to be known... to be loved...'
"Love?"
Roshi jumped out of the way of Blizzard and sped towards Ichigo again. He would be damned if he let her kill herself.
"Damn it Ichigo, I'm not going to let you throw your life away either! I..." Roshi stopped himself.
'Do I love her? She needs someone to love her... She more than anyone I know needs it... But do I love her?' Roshi thought.
"Do I love her?"
Roshi thought about what he felt for Ichigo, and for Mariah, and Kit, and his friends and family.
He thought about the nature of love.
He recalled words that were probably older than time, words spoken in every war and every struggle. No greater love doth a man have then to lay down his life so that another might live. There were numerous ways to say it, but very few ways to deny it. 'No greater love.'
In that moment of time Roshi knew. He knew what he had denied for so long. He knew he loved Ichigo.
And there as he shot towards her, he thought of everything she had said, and everything Goku had said.
'I love you Ichigo. I love you and I swear on everything I am that I won't let you down again. I'm not letting you die. I'm not letting you give up. I'm going to save you. Goku told me to save your soul and on this I promise. I will save your life and your soul... or die trying.'
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Thanks... Please Review.
Oh, and some of you might have noticed I have changed some of the times around. I realized I was making this fight take way way too much time. SO that should be fixed now.
The Smooster
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