The next one already, well I update fast! Deal with it! Also, in case you are wondering, after 11 chapters I still don't own Dragonball Z, don't sue me!
Chapter 12: Paris at Last
The light from the other passengers' open windows fell across the Chibis' faces as the morning came. Food was being served and the delicious smells aroused Trunks and Goten quickly and they sat up, wondering what was for breakfast. "Trunks-kun," Goten said, cocking his head. "What happened to the other lady?" Trunks shook his head, "You mean the one that screamed at us for no reason and ran around like a maniac?" Goten nodded and Trunks sat back, responding: "I dunno, she was crazy anyway." The lady walked by, handing them some of the same style of trays with various breakfast foods piled on top. They were done in a flash and were thinking of a way to get more food when a lurch from the plane caught their attention and the flaps started to extend. Trunks looked out the window and saw that they were over land and tapped Goten's shoulder, telling him to look. They looked out, beaming at the rolling green hills and sparse towns with roads and rivers snaking about. The plane started to make its descent and the fasten seatbelts sign came on. Trunks tugged his younger brother down from the window and snapped the seatbelt over their laps. They craned their necks to look outside and watched as the cars became visible along the highways and the buildings grew ever larger with the plane's descent. The airport suddenly appeared large in front of them and the plane made a beeline for one of the many runways. The ground loomed up fast as the aircraft drew nearer to Earth and the Chibis' hearts beat faster in anticipation. The runway pulled itself under the plane as its main landing gear touched down with a squeak followed closely by the nose gear. The braking flaps on the wings lifted and the reverse thrust kicked in giving the engines a louder tone and the plane lost speed rapidly, coming to a near stop before taxiing to the terminal. Within a few minutes the boys stepped out of the terminal walkway and into the main arrivals area of Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
A few minutes later had the boys walking around inside the airport, Trunks was looking for a map of Paris and Goten was looking at all the people. After a little bit of aimless wandering, the Chibis located a map and Goten tried to figure out where they were on it. Meanwhile, Trunks had located a trash can and threw the Spanish 'translator' book inside, vaporizing it with a small Ki blast. He joined Goten at the map and together they managed to figure out where they were. "So, where do'ya wanna go?" Trunks inquired of Goten. Without hesitation Goten pointed out the Notre Dame Cathedral and Trunks sweatdropped. "Trunks-kun?" Goten said, confused. Trunks looked at him and laughed, "That's kinda far away, why do you wanna go there?" Goten smiled broadly and said loudly: "I wanna see the hunchback!" This time Trunks just facefaulted. Now Goten was really confused as he looked down at Trunks and said: "What's wrong with you?" Trunks pulled his brother aside and tried to tell him the Quasimodo did not exist, but the younger Chibi wouldn't hear of it. So, giving in at last, Trunks decided to take him to the Notre Dame just to get him off his back.
It was a long way to the Chibis', or at least Goten's, choice destination, and it was only an hour or so into the journey when both started to get hungry. "Why couldn't we have taken more food?" Goten asked. "Well," Trunks said, "for one thing I don't think there was any food left to eat. And I don't think 'Tousan would be happy if we let all the humans starve." Goten sighed and thought of food, his stomach rumbling louder than ever. They decided to take a pit stop for food, so when Trunks spotted a small place that seemed to specialize in sandwiches, they dove at the opportunity. Leading them inside, the older boy quickly ordered one of everything they had and the shocked clerk rang up the purchase. Unfortunately for the near-staving chibis, the man refused to accept the Zenni and insisted upon 'Euros'. "What is with it with people and different kinds of money anyway?" Trunks said dejectedly as the walked away. Goten looked like he was about to cry and was almost doubled over with pain from his empty gut. Unwilling to let this go on, Trunks started to think of a way to get the food without blasting any people, even though the thought was a bit appealing to him. He found his way into a bank with Goten close behind and looked about for a way to turn Zenni into Euros. Not finding one immediately, he asked around but only got blank stares. After being refused any service from the people at the desks due to their age, Trunks was proposing to find another man in a trench coat. The Chibis grew even hungrier and were on the verge of using the Shunken Idou to get home to where there was food.
Suddenly a shady man wearing dark clothing approached the boys with a gleam of interest in his shifty eyes. He was noticed, however, by Goten, and they turned before he could reach them. "What'cha want?" Trunks asked defensively. The man drew in closer and whispered to them. "Did I hear, you have...Zenni?!" he said sharply, as if to say that it was worth its weight in gold. "Yeah," Trunks said, annoyed. "What's it to you?" Drawing even closer, the man said: "Do you know that the sacred Zenni is the only money that can appease the gods?! I neeeeeeeeed it!" Goten burst up laughing, forgetting his hunger at the guy's ridiculous statement. Trunks just nodded his head and tried to contain himself. The man continued: "With the power of the great Zenni at my fingertips I can live forever! The gods will love me and I will no longer have to thirst for power and prestige! I wandered about the deserts of South Dakota for thirty days and thirty nights with only a turtle and some moist toweletts from which to drink! Every day I wanted to find some Zenni so I could give it to the refrigerator who was following me in exchange from my goldfish who died when I was a wee boy of but twenty-four! He refused me only because he wanted the Zenni, and now I can appease him with it! I will no longer have to wash my underarms with hair pulled from myself from when I was bored, nor shall I be forced to ask my turtle what day of the week it is; with Zenni...I can be free!" His monologue complete, he kept quiet until Goten and Trunks' laughter subsided. Goten, still trying to breathe through fits of laughing said: "Umm...what did you eat?" The man placed a hand on Goten's spiky-haired head, thrust a hand into the air, and yelled: "SAND! I ate only sand for many months on end until my shit was a golden yellow and I could cry only molten glass! It got to the point when it was so hot that the sandstorms seemed like snowstorms, and thinking of snow cooled me off! It was a tough time, aye, but I got through it by dreaming of...ZENNI!" Trunks finally stopped cracking up long enough to ask the man what he would give them in exchange for some Zenni. The man pulled a wad of cash from his pocket and showed it to the boys. Trunks quickly snatched it up and counted it, there was over a million Euros worth. Agreeing immediately, they traded money and set off on their separate ways.
Later in the day, the two Chibis were full of genuine French sandwiches and walked contently toward the Notre Dame. "Don'cha think that Otousan will be mad you gave away all the money Trunks-kun?" Trunks smirked and showed him a fistful of Zenni from the small bag on his belt. "Hey, he wanted Zenni, so I gave him about a hundred's worth. I still have most of it, and when we get out of here we can use it instead of these 'Euros'," Trunks said. Goten looked happy and nodded his head. Wow, he thought, you're so smart Trunks-kun! Trunks grinned wider and gave his younger brother an affectionate pat on the head. "Hey," Trunks said. "Don't worry, we'll be fine now...and at least we don't have ta eat sand!" They shared a quick laugh before Trunks put away the money and started off with Goten close behind. "Trunks-kun," Goten asked, "when can we have more of 'dose really good san'wiches?" Trunks grinned slightly, scratching the back of his head and wondering if he could ever get any hungrier. Shaking it off as some freak Saiya-jin gene that made him eat more than usual, he pulled Goten in closer and led him to that stupid cathedral to see some imaginary man.
Continuing their trek, the boys headed up the famous Champs-Elysées avenue. Stopping only for a moment to eat more fine French sandwiches, the Chibis decided to head for the Arc de Triomph, which was right in front of them. "Trunks-kun," Goten said arms crossed. "Why didn't you tell me that the hunchback wouldn't be there?" The older chibi could have sworn that he had told Goten, but wasn't sure anymore. Goten continued to pout until they reached the Arc and spotted the Eternal Flame. "Sugoi!" exclaimed both boys, always intrigued by anything on fire, as they ran up to it. They watched carefully as the flame danced back and forth and then Goten took a step back and scratched his head. "Why do they have this thing here just 'cause some guy died?" he asked. "How should I know?" Trunks said. "Nobody lit a flame when we died." Goten suddenly brightened and he said: "Well, 'Tousan lit the whole city on fire when we died; 'Kassan said so!" "Yeah," Trunks said, "I guess you are right." They went up the entrance and paid the small fee to get up to the top.
As they kept moving up the winding stone stairs, they started to complain about the unexpected exercise. "Why didn't they put an elevator in this thing?!" Trunks asked to no one in particular. "Or why can't we just fly to the top?" he continued. Goten started to give his older brother he same old lecture about keeping a low profile, but Trunks didn't listen and started up again. Goten simply shrugged his shoulders and followed him up. Reaching the top, they looked round, faces beaming at the impressive view. Goten spotted the Eiffel Tower and stared at it for a while before Trunks joined him. "Wow!" Trunks said. That's pretty big, ne?" Goten nodded and said: "Yeah, I wanna go there next." They walked around to the other side to look at some more things and then went to go back down. Walking past a small alcove, Trunks stopped and pointed at it. Goten walked inside and looked around. "What's this Trunks-kun?" he asked, his voice echoing slightly. "I dunno," Trunks responded. "I think it's where the soldiers would stand. Make a tough face and pretend you are holdin' a really big gun!" Goten complied and Trunks burst into laughter. He walked out of it and told Trunks to do the same. Trunks walked in and pretended to be holding a rocket launcher over one shoulder while sticking out his tongue and pulling some more laughs from both. They were still smiling as they headed down the steps and went in the direction of the Eiffel Tower.
Unfortunately for the Chibis, there were no perfectly straight routes toward it and they got lost twice along the way, eventually running into the Seine River about a mile from the Tower. Along the way they had passed a food market with some exotic items for sale. Passing up some of the stranger looking food like smoked eels and raw sheep's brains, the boys settled on some hunks of fresh cheese too fill their ever ravenous stomachs. After a short stroll, they neared the crossing bridge and Trunks stopped to look at a statue that caught his eye. Goten didn't notice at first until he felt that Trunks wasn't walking behind him anymore and he ran back to see what had captured his older brother's attention. "Uhh...Trunks-kun," Goten said, confused. "Why is that lady not wearing clothes?" Trunks forced away the blush on his cheeks and said: "How should I know?" A few passers-by scoffed in disapproval at the two small children staring at it as they walked up for a closer look. Gathering the nerve to touch it, Trunks reached up to poke the statue's breast and then pulled back. "Whoever did this was really good, it looks almost real," he said absently. Now the same people were getting really disturbed as they noticed the Chibis walk around it and poking and prodding the statue in all its molded parts. Feeling the stares of the people, Trunks backed away and motioned for Goten to do the same. They looked at the people watching. The people glared. Nodding toward the Tower, Goten took off as fast as he could with Trunks close behind. This left the people to shake their heads and wonder at what they saw to be a couple of much overexposed little boys.
Moving across the Pont d'léna bridge, the two chibi Saiya-jin wandered closer to the Eiffel Tower, necks craned to try to see the top. "You wanna go up there?" Trunks asked. "Yeah! Sure!" Goten said enthusiastically. The walked up to the line and then paid the small fee for entrance. Goten was about to take the elevator, but Trunks grabbed his arm, stopping him. Hey Goten," he said, smirking. "Only babies take the easy way up!" Goten looked confused. "But-but...what other way is there?" he asked. Trunks pointed behind him to the steel staircase. "Whaa!" Goten cried out. "All those stairs?! We just got done climbin' stairs and my legs are tired!" The younger chibi continued to protest vehemently for a short while later but Trunks started up. Not wanting to be left out, Goten followed without another word.
About a half-hour later, the steady plodding of small feet finally stopped as the Chibis reached the second level. Goten brought up the rear a few steps behind his older brother and Trunks tried to look tough as possible, despite his apparent fatigue. He was counting under his breath: "768...769...770...771...772..." When he reached the top, he tripped and almost fell and then had to wait a second for Goten to catch up. "Trunks...-kun...can we…take the...elevator... when we...go down?" Goten said in between short breaths. "Sure...Goten...whatever...you say," Trunks said back, equally winded. They marched out towards the edge, where a sturdy fence kept them from falling over and gazed at the view. A few minutes passed, and the two boys looked back and forth, too out of breath to speak. After a time Goten turned and said: "Wow, it's really high up here!" Trunks turned to him and said with a wide smile: "Yeah, and we aren't even halfway up." Goten's eyes followed his brother's gesture upwards and his jaw fell as he noticed how much was still above them. "Can we go up there?" he asked. "Sure we can, "Trunks said with a shrug. "I don't see why not, I saw another elevator back there and-" Goten cut him off, beaming: "Alright! And I was scared that there might be more stairs." Trunks grinned, "Besides, if they don't let us then we can just fly to the top ourselves!" he said. Goten frowned slightly, "No Trunks-kun, 'Tousan would get mad if he knew!" Trunks folded his arms at that, thinking: Yeah, always 'Tousan. We can't do this or that because of 'Tousan; we can't fly of blast anyone annoying because of 'Tousan. The heck with 'Tousan! We can't do anything and he isn't even here!
Looking over his shoulder, Trunks spotted two parents who were holding their small daughter on top of the fence to give her a good view. Goten, who had just completed his circuit of the level, walked up. They looked on for a time as the child squealed in delight and pointed at all the tiny people on the ground and the parents smiled. "That's not safe!" Goten said. "She could fall off!" Trunks started back toward the elevator, mumbling something about the stupid humans. Goten followed when a sudden gust of wind ruffled the trio at the fence. The mother's hand slipped and her camera dropped to the floor. The two boys looked back and both saw the event unfold in slow motion. The mother took her hand of the girl and the father did the same as they both reached down toward the camera, assuming automatically that the other still had a grip on their young daughter. For a spilt second, she wavered back and forth on the fence, before teetering precariously toward death and not even the Chibis' incredibly Saiya-jin reflexes could stop the inevitable.
The girl fell.
But by either a miracle or a small stroke of luck, the child threw out her hand and it caught hold of the very bottom of the fence, and she started screaming. The parents looked up to the fence and their hearts stopped as they realized she was not there. All blame was immediately forgotten as they reached through to grab a hold of their daughter but were unable to pull her over the fence. Several more people ran up to help and one man set down his video camera to assist them, inadvertently leaving it pointed right at the dramatic scene. Before much could be done about it, Goten had jumped off the side to offer his own help. Trunks slapped his forehead, so much for staying in 'Tousan's rules, this might attract some attention... he thought before diving off the side himself and flying toward the action. People from all over screamed out loud as they saw the two boys suddenly jump over the side and then were shocked speechless as they flew toward them. Wasting no time, Trunks helped Goten grab a hold of the girl and together they hoisted her up over the edge and handed her to her parents. As all the people tried to figure out what had happened and cooed over the child, the chibi Saiya-jin snuck out of the view and ran off before they were noticed. The camera light blinked steadily, having silently captured the whole event.
The small elevator took what seemed like hours to travel up to the highest point that the public could ascend in the Tower. When it finally reached the top, and the doors opened, the Chibis stepped out dejectedly. They walked slowly to the edge and glanced uncaring out at the view, bored with it in minutes. Goten held onto the fence, much safer here, and let out a sigh, turning back to his older brother. "Trunks-kun," he said softly. "She would'a died if it wasn't for us..." Trunks turned and looked at him, just as apathetic. "Hey Goten, we saved her life ya know!" he said. "I know, but it didn't feel right, like we shouldn't'a got in the way." Goten said back. "Maybe she was suppose'ta have died." Trunks put a hand on Goten's shoulder and looked him right in his eyes, "We did the right thing," he said. As they took the elevator back down, Trunks hoped that nobody would recognize them, he hated being treated differently. Leaving the Eiffel Tower, they went on silently into town, walking quickly. A short time afterward, the boys were flying southeast toward the mountains. Goten had said that he liked the quiet of the wilderness and Trunks agreed, wanting some peace as well. Besides, thought Trunks, I like it when there aren't so many people around, just me and Goten. Before leaving the more populated region, they had stopped to buy some supplies including some soap to bathe with and a real bed to sleep in so they didn't have to use the old sleeping bag. Spotting a clearing by a peaceful lake and a large smooth-faced rock, they dove down to set up their camp. The light was already fading and Goten decapsualized the bed and started to make it while Trunks flew off to find some wood for a fire. Goten glanced back to the other stuff they had bought and smiled in anticipation.
Way off back in Paris, the local news' crew had gotten a hold of a certain videotape and was currently flooding the world's airwaves with the footage. Meanwhile, in Yonk's house, the clock read after 12:00 PM and he was just waking up. He walked out to the front room and turned on the TV while making some cereal and cold milk, his favorite breakfast. He closed the fridge and sat down on the couch just when a breaking news bulletin came on. Yonk's eyes widened as the newscaster began: "Just a few hours ago, a small child was miraculously saved from plummeting to her death off of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France...this remarkable video, shot by an amateur photographer, captures the incredible rescue." The picture shifted to a small group of people holding onto a small girl dangling off the precipice. The camera shifted slightly and the girl continued to scream. What the hell?! Yonk thought. Where is the rescue part? They look like they are going to drop her! The sound of a bowl of Trix falling onto expensive carpeting came next as Yonk saw his sons fly onto the screen and rescue the girl. He sat back down, scratching the back of his head with his tail and watched as they disappeared off screen right before the video ended. The newscaster started to announce some upcoming interviews but Yonk wasn't interested and he switched it off. After a few minutes, he managed to clamp his jaw back shut. So like them, he thought, go out of their way to help the stupid humans. I bet it was Goten's idea. He picked up the bowl, smiling, and walked back to the kitchen to get some more food, still hungry.
The sound of a crackling fire rose above the quiet of the mountains as Trunks and Goten held onto their metal skewers and watched the marshmallows puff up slowly in the heat. A few squares of chocolate and a package of graham crackers stood by waiting to sandwich the soft, gooey marshmallows in between. The thought of having S'mores had both of them drooling and they waited patiently for them to reach the perfect shade of golden brown. After eating a few each, they noticed the fire was getting a bit low and walked off together to get some more wood. Just enjoying each other's company, they took their time and gathered in the peace and quiet of the area. Trunks cut down a branch with his sword to get some larger logs off of as Goten watched. He had something in his mind, but wasn't going to tell Trunks, not just yet. The night darkened, and they sat down for a moment to rest a while. Goten leaned back against a tree and admired the twinkling stars while Trunks admired their reflection in Goten's soft eyes and both let an arm wrap around the other. They gazed up into the sky for a while, just holding onto each other, before deciding that tomorrow was another day, and heading back to camp for bed.
That's the end of another chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. A small side note is that there is a short missing-scene story that comes in between this chapter and the next. It isn't much relevant to the story itself, but it is good to read. I am not going to post it here being that it is rated a very strong NC-17, so if you want to read it, just ask and I will be glad to e-mail it to you. Thanks for reading and please review!