Dragonball
Alternate Dimension
by Aoi Kami Sarah
Chapter Three
Gohan raised Akiko in his family's house peacefully for five years. She grew up under the watchful eye of her grandmother whose hair began to turn grey as soon as the child could walk. She was just as spunky as Goku had been as a kid. When Akiko began to walk, the family realized that it was necessary to keep track of her whereabouts; especially because she refused to have her tail removed. They couldn't get near her with the intention of severing the appendage before her star detected the malice and sent her into a fit of screaming, thrashing and carrying-on. Chichi attempted to remove the troublesome tail three times before declaring it off-limits. The poor human woman had a hard enough time raising two Saiyan boys; a girl was twice the work (as she often reminded her son) and gave her a new grey hair every day. Everyone in the house had to make sure that the be-tailed Saiyan girl remained indoors during a full moon.
They soon discovered just what kind of problem they would have to deal with when at three years of age, Akiko wandered outside on a clear night. The moon shone down, and her Saiyan blood kicked into overdrive. By the time they noticed that she wasn't in bed, it was too late. Gohan rushed outside to see his baby transform into a fifty-story, bright blue were-monkey. The Sons panicked for a moment while Akiko screamed. Before a plan of action could be formulated, she started to cry. Akiko sat down and rubbed her eyes with huge, hairy fists.
"Dada!" she wailed.
"Akiko?" Gohan was astounded. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah..." she sniffled.
Goku and Goten looked on in amazement. Chichi had fainted as soon as she saw the giant, blue ape in her front yard.
"It's ok. Don't cry." He approached her and began to smile. "You look kinda funny, sweetheart!" he laughed and stroked her leg. She wailed louder. "Shhhh. It's ok, it's ok. Shhhhh." He tried to stop showing his amusement. "Do you know why you're so big and hairy?"
"Nooooo…" Akiko hiccupped and sobbed.
"Its because you have a tail and the moon's full. Remember, we told you to stay inside tonight?" Gohan's voice soothed and calmed his daughter.
"Yeaaaah.."
"Well, this is what happens to us when we have tails in the full moonlight."
Goten shook his head and blinked several times. "I don't believe it! She.. she.."
"She can handle the transformation," Goku stated. "I never thought I'd see that again. This could be good to have in the family!" He thought back to his battle with the Saiyan Prince, Vegeta, and shuddered. If it hadn't been for Yajerobi, Krillin and Gohan, the fully coherent Vegeta Monkey would have destroyed the entire world. Gohan accidentally transformed that day, and fueled by his father's death he was able to gain some control over his actions. It was the severing of both Vegeta and Gohan's tails that ultimately annihilated the evil Saiyan. Goku stepped forward and tried to get his granddaughter's attention.
"Kiko, honey?"
The giant baby opened its eyes and looked down at him. "Uh-huh?"
"You know, we can't have you turning into a big monkey every month. It'd be real hard on yer Gramma."
"I'm sorry!" she wailed her apology and started crying again.
"Now, now. Don't cry." Goku levitated so he could get her to look at him. He touched her hand and she took them away from her face. "We're going to have to cut your tail off."
She threw her head back. "Noooo!!!" she screamed. Her tears flowed out of her eyes in arcs like a fountain. Goku flew back a few feet and scrambled for a remedy.
"Um. Maybe I should handle this, Dad."
Gohan slowly quieted his daughter. Goku and Goten were sent back inside the house. There was just no arguing with a twenty-ton three year-old. He stayed with her outside in the yard until the moon set and she returned to her normal size. She fell asleep in his arms.
*
Soon after this incident, Gohan commissioned Bulma with a special order. The genius inventress developed a pair of goggles which would block the modified UV rays bounced off the moon and prevent any Saiyan from transforming. Akiko was given these goggles in capsule form for her fourth birthday. She kept this capsule on her person at all times so as to prevent any accidents and allow her to keep her treasured tail.
*
Goten became more of a big brother than an uncle to Akiko, due to the fact that he was only seven years older than she. He took on much of her training in the martial arts, allowing Goku to pursue his own intensive training alone and Gohan to return to his studies. For a brief period of time, her grandfather sent her (as he had both his sons) to study with his old master, Master Roshi. Over the course of a summer when she was four years old, she mastered the Kamehameha. For this she received a shirt emblazoned with the hermit's symbol, just as her mother had received a shirt bearing Fukai's symbol.
*
One afternoon, a week after Akiko's fifth birthday, Gohan was sitting outside under a tree reading a book. Goten and Akiko sparred lightly in the back yard. Goku did one-handed push-ups while Chichi hung heaps of orange clothes on the line to dry. Gohan finished a chapter and put the book down. He watched his brother and daughter. He thought how much she was already starting to look like her mother, even though her blue hair was cut to shoulder length. Her stance and movements were Atsuko's but her build was all Saiyan. Akiko may have been a little girl, but she was solid muscle.
She taunted Goten and dodged a swift kick. She lost her balance, fell, and recovered so gracefully that she faked Goten out. Akiko rolled away from him on the ground then sprung up suddenly and tackled him. Although she was little more than two feet tall, she managed to force her teenage uncle to the ground. He hit hard and got the wind knocked out of him a little bit. Akiko jumped up and began apologizing. Goten took the opportunity to try to fake HER out. He gasped and wheezed. Gohan saw what he was up to and smiled slyly. He had pulled this trick on his little brother years ago.
"Are you ok, Goten?" She took a few cautious steps towards him and crouched down to be at his eye level. He lunged at her suddenly and growled playfully. Akiko jumped straight up and dodged his attack. Goten grabbed air and sprawled as the child landed on his back.
"You were faking!" she scowled and crossed her arms. Gohan burst out laughing. His brother turned a bit blue at the bridge of the nose. Leaving the shade of his tree, Gohan went over to them.
"Nice try, Goten!"
Akiko hopped off his chest and beamed up at her father. He was about to tell her about the time he had used that same move successfully on Goten when he received an urgent message.
"Gohan, can you hear me?" Mira's voice sounded as if it came from directly behind him. He swung around looking for the blue-skinned woman whom he hadn't seen in five years.
"Mira?!"
"Gohan?" Goten got to his feet and gave his brother a puzzled look. "You ok?"
"Yeah, I can hear you, but, where are you?"
"Who're ya talking to, Dada?"
"I am still on Cymm. I need your help."
"What's wrong?" He looked up into the sky as if to peer at the small planet.
Goten and Akiko looked at each other and made gestures indicating that Gohan was off his nut.
"I am at a loss! There is a warrior attacking cities all over Cymm, Acathi is in turmoil.. just one.. hardly anyone lives to tell about it..!" she poured out her fears to him.
"Slow down! Are you ok?"
"For the moment. I have a very bad feeling. There is something very sinister behind this force."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
Mira paused before she spoke again. "Thank you, Gohan.Thank you."
The telepathic message dropped and Gohan looked down at Akiko and Goten.
"What was that all about?"
"My sister-in-law.." He put his hand on Akiko's head. "..Your aunt. I have to go to Cymm."
"The planet I was born on!" Her eyes widened. "I'm coming too!"
Gohan and Akiko prepared to go to Cymm. Chichi protested that he leave the girl home. She felt that there was something serious in her son's voice when he spoke about returning to the planet. Akiko wouldn't hear about it. There were two things she would not be separated from: her tail and her Dada. They borrowed a ship from Bulma and left for the Dre'eam galaxy as soon as possible.
*
They arrived on the continent and set down in front of Mira's house. She lived in a plain, squarish house with a sloping roof which was angled so that one slope was a third longer than the other. The sorceress opened the door on the longer-sloped side as the ship landed.
Mira wore a long, green robe with black, short pants, and her violet hair was now long and in a braid down her back. She was elated to see them, both because of the danger she had spoken of, and because she hadn't seen them in so long.
The family reunion was brief. Akiko stared at the sorceress: the only other person she had ever seen with a star like hers.
"You are so big!" She picked her up and marveled at her. "And strong! Has your father been training you?"
"Yup. Grandada and Goten and Master Roshi too!"
Mira saw her sister's eyes in her niece and quickly recovered her serious demeanor. "Gohan, thank goodness you have come! You have no idea what I have been through!"
"No I don't! What's going on?"
Mira put Akiko down and lead them in to the house. "I wish we had all day for pleasantries, but there is something you must know immediately, and I am certain you will not like it."
As the young man crossed the threshold, a voice from outside caught his attention. It raised the hair on the back of his neck. He froze and began to back-track.
"Gohan..."
"Huh?"
Mira swung around too late, he was already on the other side of the threshold; the magic she had spent all afternoon weaving over the house to protect her guests couldn't save him.
"NO! Don't! Let me explain!" she stopped at the stone threshold and clutched at the air just short of his sleeve.
Gohan walked as if in a dream towards the source of the voice. Standing with her arms stretched wide, a sad smile on her face was Atsuko Aoi: the mother of his child and his only love. The image of the Eternal Dragon flashed across his mind. 'Of course Shenlong couldn't grant the wish, she's alive!!!'
"Atsuko!"
"Gohan, my love.." she smiled sweetly and beckoned him to come closer.
"Gohan stop! She's not the same!"
He paid Mira no heed. Gohan ran to Atsuko, overjoyed and careless. She put her hand on his chest as he embraced her and struck him down instantly with a contact strike of nearly 15,000 amps. He cried out and fell limp to the ground. Atsuko sneered down at him and raised her hand for the killing blow. Mira stood helplessly in the door-way, clutching her niece to her. Akiko stared at her mother and father. Never having seen anyone attack with malice before, she did not understand what was happening now.
"Fool. We've won. How easy this was!" the woman purred.
Gohan forced his eyes open. "A.. tsu.. ko?"
"Not anymore." She pointed to her star. It was inverted and yellow in color. Her eyes were dark and narrowed in an evil glare. Atsuko charged up. Stunned by the first electrocution and the bizarre circumstance, Gohan was defenseless. The bolt arched from her index and middle fingers and laced around him. In a moment it was done; Atsuko was gone and Gohan was dead.
Mira and Akiko ran to his side. The healer laid her hands on his smoking chest. It was hot, but still. His heart was jelly.
"I tried to warn you, but I failed, Gohan I should have told you first thing! I didn't know until you were nearly here! I failed! I failed! I'm sorry!"
"D..D..Dada?" Akiko grasped his hand and stroked it, looking for a reaction. When she got none she turned to her aunt with a pleading look. Mira sobbed lightly and shook her head. The child looked lost. She stared off in the direction she had seen the woman leave. She did not protest as her aunt scooped her up and flew off with her in the opposite direction.
A half an hour later they touched down on an island. Mira set the girl down and began to chant immediately. Akiko stared off at the ocean they had crossed. The second sun was still in the sky. The first, white sun created a bright, orange glow on the horizon, but Akiko did not squint. She turned to Mira as she finished her song.
"What are you doing?" the girl asked vacantly.
"I have just done my best to seal off this island from her sight with my magic."
"You can do that?" Akiko murmured.
"I have been studying magic for many years. I only hope it is enough." She picked her up. "Come. We must speak with the old master."
*
"You have succeeded?" Yatsu Warui arched an eyebrow over the spine of a book at his hit-woman.
"I have. Gohan Son is no more."
He slapped the book shut and clasped his hands together. "Excellent! You have done well, my Atsuko. You will be well rewarded when I take this pathetic planet. Once I have dominated all life forms here I will be free to carve my own civilization from Cymm's ruins!" Warui cackled wildly to the rafters.
"What about the other aliens? The blue one and the girl?"
Warui stopped suddenly as if he hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "Oh. I have plans for them. Your sister I need. You will retrieve her tonight. I will be ready for her then."
"And the girl?"
"Your daughter!" he snorted, amused with the destruction of his enemy's family. "She is nothing to me."
Atsuko's eyes shimmered black momentarily. She heard what he said. She had her orders.
*
At the little house in the middle of the island, Mira and Fukai sat at a table. Mira cradled Akiko in her lap and Hei-Hei hugged his master's leg and sniffled.
"First Atsuko, now Gohan. Poor child."
Akiko looked blankly towards the door.
"Now she's an orphan.."
"NO!" Mira hugged her niece's head to her chest. "Never! Not so long as there are people who love her!"
"I'm sorry. Poor choice of words."
"I know what you meant, I'm sorry for being short."
They both stared at Akiko. The girl was oblivious.
"What can we do to defeat this foe?" Fukai asked.
"I have been studying his moves for a time. He is unpredictable, possibly insane and an incredibly powerful wizzard."
"But can we fight him?"
"Traditionally.. no. I would not recommend it. I have to get close to him. I have to find the source of his evil power," Mira lost her cool. "If I had only told Gohan right away! This might have been avoided.."
Akiko broke her trance and shouted, startling the adults. "Teach me how to fly!" Mira stared at her, dumbfounded. "Teach me!" the child cried. "If you can do it like that, I can too!"
Mira put her down in a daze. "You.. you have not been activated yet?.." She touched her fingers to Akiko's star and she floated above the floor. Within moments the little girl was perfecting the ability with laps around the room. Fukai ducked more than once.
"What do you mean, activated?" he asked.
"Some one else must start it. A Rasha cannot fly until someone places these fingers to the star organ." She held up her index and middle fingers. "I suppose Gohan felt she was not ready yet. Or, he did not know.."
"I'm going after her!" Akiko startled them again.
"What?! I cannot allow it!"
"I've been trained by the greatest fighters in the universe! She killed my dada! I've got to TRY!" Akiko hovered in the doorway, her tail bristled then coiled tightly around her waist.
"But child! She's your mother!" Fukai tried to reason with her. Both adults were on their feet.
The five year old frowned. She looked years older suddenly. "Not anymore." With that she bolted away from the island.
"Akiko, wait!" Mira cried and leapt into the air after her. "Stay here," Mira called back to the Master. "It is unsafe for anyone who cannot defend against magic!" He and his pet ran out and watched the Rasha half-breeds disappear over the darkening horizon.
Hei-Hei clung to his leg. "Now no one safe."
Fukai set his jaw and put his hand on the Pudit's head. "Good luck, ladies."
*
Akiko came to Mira's house and stood on the slanted roof.
"I'm here! Come get me too!" she screamed into the night. "What are you, chicken?! Come on!!! Come on, come get me!!!"
Mira touched down behind her a few minutes later. Akiko was on her stomach, weeping into the thatch. Mira scooped her up and took her inside. She did not resist.
"Come, brave one. It is getting late."
She laid her down on her bed. With a simple displacement spell, Mira removed her brother-in-laws corpse. She sat lotus style on the floor, chanting and memorizing spells. She wove layers of protection around the girl and the house. When she was done, Akiko was asleep.
Mira stroked her hair. "I know I cannot stop you from doing what you must, but I can help you." She kissed the tiny star. "One day, when all this is over, I will make it my passion to teach you everything I know about magic. Sleep well, little one."
The sorceress went to the doorway and looked out at the darkness. Her eyes adjusted to the pale moonlight. The moon the natives called Han was never full; half of it had been destroyed eons ago. Its jagged smile loomed huge in the sky, illuminating the flat landscape.
'Where are you, my sister? What has he done to you?'
Her thoughts were answered by the approach of a high-level ki. Mira furrowed her brows. "So, you can't figure out how to work her ability, can you, demon?" she muttered and prepared for her sister's arrival.
The approach woke Akiko. "She's here!" she shouted and jumped up.
"Stay there!" Mira demanded almost angrily. "It is me she wants."
Akiko could almost see the energy wavering around the doorway. 'If I hadn't left the island, Mira wouldn't be in danger!'
"Come out, come out wherever you are! Sister wants to play!" called the evil Atsuko. Mira stepped through the door and into the dark. Akiko stood up against the side of the entryway, terrified. Mira screamed. The sound faded away as she was hauled off toward the castle. Akiko panicked, but her fear melted under her anger. 'No! Not again!' She ran out and bounded into the air after them. Her mother's ki acted as a beacon she could follow through the darkness. Goten had taught her to detect ki, something she had thought annoying until now, considering she could feel out her enemy's approach with her star. Now, as she tailed Atsuko and her aunt, she bit her lip anxiously. She hoped she would be able to defeat this woman. She hoped she could go home, soon.
The castle's spires protruded from the western horizon, jet-black against the brown-black sky. Dawn was only an hour away. Akiko wore a brave and serious face. She was coming up with a plan.
Atsuko dipped down through a hidden entrance behind some overgrown hedge. Akiko followed, just out of sight. Inside the main hall, Warui was flipping through yet another book; his tiny form dwarfed by the immense volume on the podium. Atsuko entered and dropped Mira before the wizard who instantly spoke words which hurled her through the air. She slammed against the wall and shackles clamped down on her wrists. Mira began spitting spells at him.
"Cold iron, Miss Uenijimenshitanisora," Mira's name rolled off his tongue.
She stared at him, dumbfounded by his power and knowledge. 'Is he really insane?' she thought.
"And a binding spell to boot. As long as you remain in those chains, your curses will do nothing. So, relax!" he smiled at her.
'Well, maybe he IS insane.' She stopped her attempts at spell casting and took up screaming. "Atsuko WAKE UP!!"
"I'm sure she'd love to do just that! But my clever little demon keeps her mouth shut," he gloated.
"So I am right. She IS in the there."
"Oh yes. It's almost more satisfying this way. The demon keeps her down. Without her spirit, I couldn't use the body. Without the body, I couldn't have destroyed the half-Saiyan. If he lived I would never have been able to take Cymm! So you see it all works out!" he seemed satisfied with his perplexing plan.
Mira scowled at the demon. "What do you get out of this, then?"
"Life." it growled, a little more in its own voice than before. "A BODY!" It ran its hands over Atsuko's frame. "The power to bring destruction to this and all worlds!"
Akiko pressed up against the wall in the corridor, waiting for the right moment. 'What if I can't beat her?' She began to panic slightly, but one of her father's lessons echoed in her head. 'The most important thing to do is try!'
The wizard continued unraveling his twisted plan. "Once I have drained you of your magical energy I will posses all the power I need to make Cymm mine. Once I have this planet, the galaxy will fall to me, Yatsu Warui!"
"Not if I can help it!" Akiko stood in an archway, arms folded, brows lowered.
"What's this?" Warui seemed amused.
Atsuko laughed out loud. "Ha ha! You?! What are YOU going to do about it?!"
"Defeat you."
Warui began to laugh hysterically. Atsuko became serious. "So be it."
"What? Oh, fine. Have your fun," he shooed her off.
"Akiko! NO!" Mira protested. Akiko could not look at her. She powered up a little to show she wasn't to be taken quite so lightly and burst up through the ceiling. Atsuko shrugged and followed her. Rubble rained down where they had been standing. The wizard approached Mira with evil intent in his beady little eyes.
Akiko drew her mother away from the castle proper and into a ruined courtyard. She landed gently on an outcropping of granite and took a stance. Atsuko landed a hundred feet away and assumed a passive stance and facial expression.
"Akiko, my daughter," she pleaded, "would you really fight your own mother?"
The girl was unfazed. "I don't have a mother." She let her rage boil and attacked. Atsuko blocked every punch and kick she could deliver. The demon let her guard down as she paused to laugh at the girl. Akiko landed a punch to the gut and followed through with a roundhouse kick which Atsuko caught. She uppercut the child, sending her sprawling. Akiko landed awkwardly, but recovered quickly.
"THAT'S my little girl!!" Atsuko sneered.
"I'm NOT YOURS!"
"Don't you recognize your mother?" she seemed sad.
"I DON'T KNOW YOU!!" Akiko yelled, switching to power attacks. She cupped her hands to her side and started forming a ball; an amalgam of ki and electrical denki energy. "Inazuma-ha!" The ki/ball-lighting attack flew straight at Atsuko. She smirked and prepared to easily block it. Akiko wrenched her arms suddenly, using the Souki Dan technique Yamcha had taught her. It swooshed around the demon and nailed her in the back. Atsuko's own power-up cleared the cloud of dust. She delayed her attack and pretend-pleaded again.
"Akiko, baby? Why are you doing this? Join me and Yatsu and rule the universe!"
"Never! YOU KILLED MY DADA!" She pushed her Rasha electric attacks aside and launched a full-on Kamehame-ha.
Atsuko found the opening she had been waiting for. "Shokku O Ataeru!" This caught Akiko off guard. It blew her back, flipping her through the air. She crumpled and skidded a few hundred yards away on her face. Atsuko strode up to the girl and chuckled. She pulled her up by her hair. She grasped her daughter's neck with the other hand, drew the left one back and powered up. Akiko's eyes popped open and she gasped for breath. She scrambled to think of what to do next.
"Get ready to join your father!!"
Akiko strained in her grip and reached up to her mother's face. As energy collected around Atsuko's left hand, Akiko noticed something strange. Her thumb was glowing brighter than other digits, seemingly in a band around its base. She didn't know if it was a weakness or the hot point of her power, but if she was going to die, she was going to die trying. Her dada would approve when she saw him soon, she was sure. Just before the demon let the bolt fly, Akiko reached out and squeezed the thumb with everything she had left.
The attack was extinguished. Atsuko howled and released her. As the girl fell to the ground she saw her mother split in two. The sinister, demonic looking version with an inverted, jaundiced star was translucent and dissipating quickly. The purple-starred host body fell backwards. The scream faded away as the demon dispersed like smoke. Akiko stared in shock at the woman's body. Sensing no danger, she finally let her guard down. Atsuko was weak, but alive. She moaned and struggled to bring herself to her knees. Holding her head, she looked at the girl standing warily in front of her.
"A.. Akiko?"
She didn't answer, not sure if she was willing to trust that which she had only known as a monster. Atsuko pushed her hair back from her forehead and blinked at her. Akiko sighed quickly, knowing that the dark, purple organ was a good sign.
"Mother?"
"AKIKO!" She threw her arms up and smiled through her tears. Akiko approached her cautiously and allowed her to hug her. "Oh, my baby, I'm so sorry! I couldn't stop it! I tried, I screamed, I thought I was in hell..!!"
"I know, it wasn't your fault." Akiko didn't know what to do, but felt she had to say something. "It was Yatsu. He killed Dada."
Atsuko stopped crying and held her daughter by the shoulders. She saw the maturation this trauma had caused her in her eyes. Atsuko's anger made her stronger. "Yatsu," she scowled and shot a glance towards the castle. "Let's get him."
Mira feigned fainting to get Yatsu to shut up. She now knew every nuance of his cracked plan for universal domination. He wasn't just insane; he was stupid! He told her that he had been planning this for at least ten years. He did things that contradicted his intentions and forced himself to backpedal where even a half-wit with that kind of power would have at least had the galaxy by now. She racked her brain for the subtlest of plans and the most effective spells to use against him. 'If only Akiko can get through to Atsuko..' In answer to her thoughts, her sister entered the chamber through the hole in the roof. Although Mira was afraid that this meant the worst, she kept her faith.
"Master, it is done." Her hair was tousled and hid most of her face.
"Excellent! I knew you could do it!" Warui clapped his tiny hands together in glee.
Mira panicked a little, but remained inert.
"You seem a little roughed up, did she put up much of a fight?"
"Oh yes, she was foolish, even to the end."
'No. no no no nono. This can NOT be happening..' Mira bit her tongue.
"Ha ha ha! Good! You need the exercise!" Yatsu turned his back to the sorceress. Akiko edged around the corner and flew to her aunt. She touched her hand. Mira did her best not to cry out with joy. They communicated with nods and winks. Akiko nodded to her mother.
"Maybe I do, but you need it more than I do, you weakling."
"What?" Yatsu asked genuinely, not able to understand insubordination. In his shock, Atsuko made her move. She quickly covered his mouth with one hand and held his arms with the other. Akiko snapped her aunt's bonds easily.
"Make it so he can't make magic!" she shouted.
Mira cast a binding spell of her own on him and wove silence on top of it. He chanted like mad as Atsuko released him, but no sound came out. He seemed shocked that the alien woman had power over him.
"It will not last long, but.." she furrowed her brows, spread her feet apart and put her palms together, ".. here comes the kicker!"
Atsuko pulled her daughter back as her sister began to chant. The long and complicated spell rippled off her tongue. She commanded the good portion of his power to separate from his body. "Ringo kudasai!" The wizard began to writhe and shrink. The shocked look never left his face. In a flash of purple smoke and white light, Yatsu Warui was eliminated. His evil dissipated with a high-pitched scream. What little good he had in him dropped into Mira's waiting hand as a round, red, piece of fruit. She sighed, smiled and looked to her sister. Atsuko swooned and crumpled.
"Mother!" Akiko kept her from falling.
"His power! It must have been what kept me alive!"
Mira was startled, but quickly went into action. She gripped the fruit and tore it in half. "Eat this!" she urged.
Atsuko consumed the half and was visibly restored.
"Are you all right my sister?"
"Yeah. Thank you!" She got to her feet and hugged Mira.
Akiko smiled at the women but her happiness was short-lived. Her features darkened as she remembered the scene from the night before.
"Oh, Akiko. I missed you so much," Atsuko put her hand on her head. "What are we gonna do?"
Akiko looked up at her mother, answerless. Atsuko picked her up and hugged her. She didn't cry, but buried her face in her mother's hair. Mira wandered over to the open spell-book.
"When I.." Atsuko sighed, "..IT.. came to Mira's, I really did think I was in hell. I could see you and your father but I couldn't stop it. I saw everything. If I had a real voice I would have blown my vocal chords, I screamed so loud.. I couldn't stop it.." Atsuko sobbed, "I'm so sorry!"
"It wasn't you," Akiko repeated. "It's ok now. You're back." She kept her cool. Her mother needed her to be strong. She was strong. Gohan had made sure of that.
"Aha!" Mira shouted without looking up from the book.
"What is it?" Atsuko went to the podium and let Akiko hover so she could see the text. The girl may not have been able to read her own language yet, but this was complete gibberish.
"I found the spell Warui used to bring you back.." she hesitated before continuing.
"And..?" Atsuko asked breathlessly, guessing her sister's intention.
"AND.. if I am right, he used this OTHER spell to place the demon in control.."
"So you mean..?" she tried to hide her excitement.
"I can bring Gohan back, RIGHT NOW."
"All right!!!" Akiko thrashed in the air to express her joy.
"Let's do it," Atsuko smiled from ear to ear at Mira.
"Umarekawari..!" Mira stood in front of the pool and began to chant the magic words. When the pool began to churn she beseeched Gohan's spirit in his own tongue. "Gohan Son! I call to you from this plane, I beg you to come forward! RISE! Come back to us! We miss you! We love you! Come back to us! RISE!!"
Soon the form of a man did begin to rise out of the black, bubbling water. It took the likeness of the half-Saiyan right down to the orange gi he wore the day before. His features became pronounced. His eyes were closed and he hung limp, suspended by Mira's magic. All three concentrated, willing him to live.
"Dada! Come back!"
"Gohan! Please come back to us!"
His body floated forward and hovered just in front of the women.
"Feed him the other half of the power. He has no strength."
Atsuko lifted the section up and it floated out of her hand toward him. It became a ball of light which flew into his slightly gaping mouth. His body tightened as his power was restored. His eyes remained shut.
"Aunt Mira, he's still not here, I can't feel him yet!"
"I know!"
"Well, what are we doing wrong?!" Atsuko panicked and vainly tried to read the book.
Akiko studied her father's body still hovering in the air; his soul still between the worlds. "I know! Same thing I did to you, Mother!" She clutched a glowing band on his left pinky finger. "Dada! Wake up!!!"
Gohan's eyes opened slowly. His feet touched the ground. He blinked a few times. "Suko?" he asked skeptically.
She nodded. He looked to Mira who nodded as well. Akiko flew up into his arms and squeezed his neck. He seemed surprised that she could fly, but only briefly. He stared at his wife. "Atsuko," Gohan whispered.
She began bawling and tackled him. The family embraced as a whole for the first time. "The end," Mira sighed, stepped away and murmured at the evil book. It vanished.
Akiko smiled at her and finished her sentiment. "And they all lived happily ever after!"
End Chapter Three
Glossary:
Ringo Kudasai : Give me the apple
Inazuma-ha : Akiko's electric version of the Kamehameha
Denki: Electric or electricity
Umarekawari : New embodiment
Souki Dan : I believe this is the right term for Yamcha's remote control ki-blast...?
Shokku O Ataeru : Shock