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Title: Keiken no Onna

Author: EC-Chan

Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ.

AN: Wow isn't the title original? -.-;; Okay… this is a sequel to Akki no Onna, but I tried to make it so you didn't hafta read it before you read this. So there's my little….note thingy. Now read! ^^;

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*Dedicated to:* This fic is for Sya-Chan because I would not have even bothered to write it if she hadn't asked me too and was nice enough to come up with ideas to help me out. Thanks Sya-chan! ^^;

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Italics = flashback

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Hot white pain clouded the edge of Son Chi Chi's vision as she reached up once more; grasping a ridge in the tall column she clung to, her long since overused muscles screaming in protest. She gritted her teeth and pulled herself slowly upward, her feet nearly missing the perch just above her previous position.

She knew that she was getting nowhere fast- or at least somewhere extraordinarily slowly. She doubted that she would be able to make it much higher, however, so perhaps the nowhere part wasn't exactly untrue. After she had first left Gokou she had been wandering around the city aimlessly, not quite sure where she wanted to go from there.

A long time ago- or so it seemed to her- Gokou had told her about one of his adventures before they were married when he met a little Indian boy named Uupa whose father told him a legend about how if a person climbed to the top of this strange column, the person at the top would increase their strength. She remembered how this was the first time he had met Koran: a cat who provided those dratted Sensu beans later on.

She had no interest in Koran, nor the added strength, (though she thought that it would be nice), but was interested instead with that fact that a human could climb to the top of the poll and reach Kami's Lookout. It was possible and so she would do it- no matter how long it would take.

She had already spent nearly four months trying to climb this thing already, and even if each time she fell before she could even see the top, she took encouragement from the fact that each time she was able to climb much higher.

The reason for the delay was probably not even the fault of her tired muscles, but lay in her own weary mind. Each time she got just a little bit higher on that column her mind flitted back to Gokou; wondering at first how long it took him to reach the top which would lead her to remember his supernormal strength and then ultimately those four horrible days were everything went from bad to worse.

She gritted her teeth not against the pain, but the memories now flooded forth against her restraint. She saw it all again more clearly then she had that day:

They were standing there waiting for them, two green and one black face indistinguishable from the hovercraft's warped glass windows.

Four days ago she had helped convince Bulma's adopted daughter not to search for Bura until the next morning, making her eat a proper meal, and threaten to chain her to her bed unless she promised to stay put. She had slept in her bed, but was gone before anyone else even thought of waking up.

What Akki had told them the night before had left them with an uncomfortable foreboding. It had turned out that she actually was Son Pan in a different time period and after Pilaf wished on the dragon that Gokou was turned into his obedient servant as well as evil, he had murdered everyone except Pan and Bulma. Akki had spent a year with her "Aunty B" in a secret lab on an island before the warning lights flickered on, signaling that someone with a high power was heading their way.

Akki hadn't been sure what had happened at the time, Bulma had given her some sort of drug that made her forget her memories until Gokou's turning reawakened them and sent her to the past with only a note for Bulma's present self asking the woman to take the small child in. Akki had known only two things for sure: that Gokou could not hurt the present Pan for an unknown reason, and that if somehow Gokou wasn't stopped then everyone present, and who knew how many other peoplee, would die.

With that cheery thought to sustain them, the group of friends of the missing persons (the didn't know where Vegeta, Trunks, Goten, Bura, and Pan where: they had all mysteriously disappeared earlier that day, though they knew that Gokou had kidnapped Bura) sat around at Capsule Corporation, completely lost at what to do. After four days of this state of worried existence, Bulma had decided that enough was enough so everyone piled into her aircraft and speeded towards Kami's Lookout. And so here they were, landing in a fluid, well thought out motion that was only achieved because the autopilot was on.

Bulma was the first person to unstrap herself from her seat and thrust her way angrily through the opening. So while the others, including Chi Chi, all hurried after her, she was the one who got there first, so to speak. Not that any of us minded.

"Okay mister," Bulma pointed to the tall green Namek standing on Dende's right. "You are going to tell us what is going on and you are going to tell it now!"

Dende smiled pacifyingly, "Mrs. Briefs' this will all be over in a few minutes and then you can ask your husband-."

"What. Did. You. Do?" Bulma practically roared.

Chi Chi didn't blame her- these two green men thought that they could show up from their green little planet and boss Earthlings around just because they were stupid enough to get their own planet destroyed. Not only that, but they had the gale to bring her husband, two sons, and granddaughter into whatever mess this was. Of course since her husband was the one causing the trouble (though she knew it was probably the Nameks' faults to begin with somehow anyway) she couldn't say anything. See she did have self-control despite what everyone thought.

Piccolo frowned, "What has happened was done willingly."

"Are you saying my husband wanted to go insane and try to kill everyone?!" Chi Chi huffed angrily, hands automatically fastening onto her hips. Even though she had just decided to remain silent, she would not stand around and listen to him insult her husband.

"No, no- he just meant what Vegeta and the others have done," Dende tried to cover him quickly, but that, of course, only made the two women even more agitated.

"And what exactly have they done?" Bulma asked evenly, though her face betrayed her growing rage.

Both Nameks took the opportunity to back up. A lot. It was a well-known fact that either of them in such a state alone was not something anyone wanted to deal with. But to try to sort things out calmly and rationally with both of them together? That would only be a mistake only a suicidal person would make.

But it didn't look like they had much of a choice in the moment.

So the brave Namek fused with his "father", Nail, and Kami, took a step forward and cleared his throat, "Nothing you should be concerned with at the moment."

Dende and Popo fell over, knowing that the supposedly wise Namek had just sealed their fate. Dende smiled nervously, "Well- I have been neglecting my duties in light of the- er seriousness of this new situation, but everything seems to be turning out fine now, so if you'll excuse me."

"Hold it right there buster," Chi Chi said, pointing her hand at Dende. The much younger of the two Nameks, who had been turning around in hopes that his plan of escape had succeeded, stopped and slowly turned back, suddenly looking very wilted.

"Uh, yes?" He asked, shifting from foot to foot. "Could I help you ladies with something? Popo could go and get you some refreshments while you're waiting."

Popo jumped at the offer, "Yes- would you like some beverages? Food? I just pulled the asparagus from the garden today and am planning to use one of my mother's old recipes to make a stew…."

He trailed off, noticing the quite hostile looks the two women were giving him, and the bemused looks from all the others. Bulma was the one who took a step towards the gardener, her blue eyes flashing in anger.

"If someone- I don't care who- does not start explaining what has been going on this instant…." She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands by her side. "Well I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something!"

No one said anything for a moment, and then Videl stepped forward, her own angry black eyes picking up where Bulma left off. "I know what I am going to do to you three if you don't start explaining fast and it certainly is not pleasant. So I suggest you start slowly, from the beginning."

The trio looked blankly at them for a moment as if to ask, 'The beginning?'

18 frowned and them and clarified, "How did Gokou turn evil?"

"Well….we weren't actually there," Dende stumbled.

"Dende," Gohan said, his voice passive, but his tone commanding, and the younger being squirmed under his friend's steady glance. "What happened to my dad?"

"It was three people…." Piccolo said, in a brusque tone. "They summoned the dragon as you all know, and panicked when they saw Gokou. They seemed to recognize him for some reason. The short one in the middle, named Pilaf-."

But Bulma broke through, "Yes we know about Pilaf. But what did they exactly wish for?"

"That Gokou would be evil and be his slave," Piccolo said, and then continued on as if this was no important in the least. No. Not unimportant, he just didn't want to dwell on it. "When Vegeta killed Pilaf, Gokou was released from the latter half of the wish, but he was still evil."

"Was?" Bulma prompted suspiciously.

"I told you- everything is under control," Piccolo said smoothly. "Akki held him off for three days until Gohan and Trunks came out of the Room of Spirit and Time, and then the next day Vegeta and Pan came out-."

"Pan?" Videl paled considerably, and Gohan put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Piccolo," there was a dangerous edge in his voice, "Why was Pan in the Time Chamber?"

"She was the only one who could return Gokou to normal," Piccolo explained calmly enough.

Bulma stared at him for a moment, her face going completely white, "You didn't….you couldn't possibly of used….it. Did you?"

Neither Namek nor gardener said anything.

"Bulma?" Yamcha reached out a hand to calm her, but she jerked away from his touch.

"You used it, didn't you?!" She said angrily. "I knew. I knew that I shouldn't've tampered with time. But I thought that I would be nice and I'll admit that the idea of being able to do something like that intrigued me, but how could you use it?! It's not even done! You don't even know what the side effects could be….! How old are they?"

Everyone was staring at her as if she had gone quite mad by now.

"Bulma, calm down," Yamcha said soothingly. "They're only two years older at the most. You know that."

"No. They. Aren't," She bite out, thrusting her finger in the Time Chamber's general direction. "I made a mechanism where you could slow time down in that Chamber even further then a year! For all we know my husband and son could be fifty years older then what they were four days ago! So tell me Namek- how. Old. Are. They?"

There was a complete and utter silence. Videl let out a muffled sob and covered her mouth with her hands. Chi Chi simply stared at the Nameks impassively, aware of nothing else but her own pounding heart. Gohan wasn't paying attention to his wife anymore, his own hands shaking in anger or fear. Bulma still stood with her arm poised midair, breathing heavily, and waiting. Everyone else stood there in their stupor, Bulma's words slowly seeping into their minds.

How old are they?

"Goten and Trunks are only a year older," Dende finally said quietly. "For Pan and Vegeta….we needed Pan to be eighteen."

Videl's throat caught and she let out a muffled sob, falling to her knees. Gohan stared listlessly at his old friend, his face in utter disbelieving shock and horror.

"Twelve years," was all he could say, his voice cracking around those words. "Twelve years…."

Bulma bit her lip, and her hand slowly returned to her side. She couldn't look at Videl or Gohan. Chi Chi knew she must feel awful, considering it was her invention, which was able to bring this about. "Why?" was all she wanted to know.

"To….perform the ceremony," Dende said helplessly, looking incredibly guilty. "To be able to save the Gokou and the rest of the universe- she had to be the new Gaurdian."

"Let me get this straight," Krillin said, his small usually lighthearted eyes focusing on Dende. "You took away twelve years of a little girl's life just because for some reason you need a third guardian of Earth?"

"She had the power, and we needed her to use it to save Gokou," Dende said.

"Krillin," 18 said, stopping her husband from continuing.

"What about Bura," Bulma said softly, after a moment.

Dende fidgeted, looking extremely regretful, "You have to understand- he wasn't himself when he did it…."

"Who did what?" Bulma asked shortly.

"Gokou," Piccolo said. Did Chi Chi see compassion mixed into his normally stoic expression? "As you know he kidnapped Bura. He….bonded with her."

"What do you mean he bonded with her?!" Bulma and Chi Chi shouted at the same time. Piccolo remained silent, his expression grim.

"Gokou wouldn't do that!" Chi Chi said fiercely. "No matter how evil he would never do something that disgusting to a child."

"Vegeta and Pan….heard it happen," Piccolo said shortly.

That certainly stopped Chi Chi in her tracks. "They….heard it?"

"Yes, but they couldn't do anything at the time- not if they wanted to have a chance at saving the universe," Piccolo said.

Bulma was silent for a moment, but when she spoke her voice was clipped in distaste. "You've all gone too far this time. This certainly does top it all! You'll ignore an innocent child's plea for help and count it as a necessary sacrifice in order to fulfill your plan to save the universe?!"

"If they had gone to help her then they would have died," Piccolo said calmly.

"Vegeta wouldn't just sit there," She shook her head. "You're lying- he wouldn't just sit there and do nothing! Especially if he heard her! He would have saved her- damn the universe! Damn-."

Her tirade was cut off when Yamcha wrapped his arms around her and she turned and sniffled into his chest, her eyes squeezing shut, trying to block out all of the mental images that came from her new knowledge.

Chi Chi stood there, trying desperately to come to grips with reality. And then she heard a loud "SLAP!"

18 stood towering over her daughter, blue eyes incredibly angry. "Stupid irresponsible…ARG!"

"18," Krillin said in stunned horror, trying to grab her arm, but she threw him off her, flinging him across the tile.

"Mama," Marron crouched on the ground, holding her hands over her face, tears streaming out of her eyes, "I didn't mean for it to happen! I didn't know! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Chi Chi winced at the girl's words. She was supposed to have been babysitting Bura when Gokou kidnapped her right in front of her eyes. If she had kept Bura where they were supposed to be then Gokou would not have been close enough to grab her. But Akki had blamed herself that night- saying that she should have felt their kis. But if Marron had done her job….but then who could blame a seventeen year old for messing up? How could she have known? Still Chi Chi felt more like blaming the girl then forgiving her at the moment.

Surprisingly Tien was the one who stepped in front of the girl when 18 raised her hand to strike another blow, "She didn't know."

"Stay out of my way," 18 growled, her face a mask of anger. "How dare you! Get out of my way!"

"18," Krillin gently folded his hands around his wife's balled up fists, and slowly coaxed her to relax. "She didn't know- you can't blame her. No one blames her or you. Neither of you could have known."

Tien bent down awkwardly and rested a consoling hand on the girl's head. She sniffled, and then straightened, blue eyes questioning.

Chi Chi gritted her teeth, willing herself not to cry, but it was a battle she was slowly losing. After all these weeks….months, she still could not forget any of it…. She had wasted so much of her life on him already and now she was continuing to waste it, just because she was so lost without him.

Even though he was gone most of the time- even though she was left with nothing from him time after time again. Well that wasn't true…. He always left her something, without even thinking about it. First it was Gohan and then Goten. So she could forgive him for the sake of them, but now….now the only thing he had given her was her own heart torn out of her chest.

She might be being a little overdramatic about it, but who could really blame her? He had bonded with a six year-old! Even if he was not in his right mind at the time- it still had happened! And not only that, but he was the reason why her granddaughter was no longer six, but eighteen! And in a warped way also bonded with Vegeta of all people. There were so many things that he had done in those last few days and even before that that was unforgivable.

No one could blame her for leaving him….

Chi Chi attempted to smile at him when he landed in front of her, but her eyes were empty, devoid of even her normal angry fire. He looked so….she couldn't find any words or a heart to explain it. She had known him since she was a child, even though she had barely ever seen him, but still in their time together she had been able to memorize his every feature- recognize his ever mood. She had thought she understood him as well as she'd ever be able too, but still what he had done to Bura and everyone else was too much. Even for him.

No. Not even for him- she would never think he was capable of doing something so….so horrible. Even if he was evil at the time, there was no way for her to….she didn't even know what. Forgive? He had done something unforgivable. Forget? How could she when every time she would see the blue haired girl she would have horrible visions in her mind of things that could never be forgotten?

It just took her to see him- his shoulders slouched in defeat and haggard face- for her to know that she didn't want to leave him no matter what he did, but she couldn't stay with him. She could see that right away: Bulma had told her what Vegeta said about bonding. How it was impossible to be bonded to a different race and then how if the bonded mate dies….well she knew what it would do to him- how he would be hurting and how she could never hope to take care of him. It wasn't that she wanted to or wasn't willing to try to help- it was that she couldn't even hope to help. And that deep down she really didn't want to help.


"I wanted you to know that I'm leaving you," She finally said. He stared at her, not looking shocked, but definitely looking flustered.


"Chi Chi- I know-."

She pressed a finger to his lip, "I know Gokou. I know. Please don't try to stop me."

Chi Chi stifled a sob, and finally realized that she had been clinging to the column without moving, trying her best not to cry for a while now. Very stiffly, she reached up and tried to grab hold of another section above her to take her mind off that last scene….the last time she had seen him: only she couldn't seem to get a good grip.

Her arm was shaking now, and her fingers were slick with sweat and kept on slipping. She was going to fall. Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked up and frowned angrily. Blackness was creeping to the edge of her vision and she thought that she could almost make out….well something other then endless column. But it couldn't be the top….could it?

She sighed, and with new determination, clenched her shaky fingers on smooth stone. Knowing that she could slip off at any moment, she raised her leg and sought another ridge. She found it, and now raised her other hand- this was the most dangerous part and she was sure that she would fall, but she found another ridge and without thinking this time raised her last foot.

She didn't fall. Now, without pausing, she continued on, gritting her teeth against the pain and blackness. Left Hand. Left Foot. Right Hand. Right Foot. She continued in a methodical pattern until she couldn't feel anymore. The column retreated into nothing and she had the strangest sensation that she was floating.

She almost thought she heard Gokou say softly behind her, "I love you." And then she was falling backwards like a feather, softly floating to the ground. Finally blackness consumed her just as she began to realize that she was no longer a feather but a boulder, and was almost positive that she was hurtling downwards instead of floating.

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Yay ^^;. I finally got around to writing a sequel;. Sorry for the long wait ^^;. The next chapter should be up sometime within a week, and this'll only be about three or four chappies. So hope you liked it and sorry again for the wait.

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