Part Six
"I'd think we'd better rest for a while," Misai said wearily, stopping in her tracks. "If we keep going nonstop, we'll be too tired to even fight Sita."
Chi-Chi nodded reluctantly. Actually, she really wanted to keep going; she couldn't stand to stop, even for one moment. Every moment that was spent trying to actually get to Sita's fortress gave Sita more time to torment Goku…
But Misai was right. It would take all the strength they could get to possibly defeat her, let alone fight her.
The two of them sat down on the rocky ground. Nearly three days had passed since they had escaped the prison --- at least, Chi-Chi thought it was three days. It was difficult to tell since time passed so quickly in Other World.
Chi-Chi sighed as her mind returned once more to Goku. She had always hated being apart from him, not knowing what was happening to him. This had been the case for her when he and Gohan had spent most of the time training for the Androids, and when he went off to train Uub. At least when he was dead, she knew where he was.
Now it was even worse for her, because she knew exactly what was happening to Goku in Hell. Sita was torturing him…
Torturing him! Her fists clenched. The mere thought of it made her burn with anger. Even worse, there was nothing she could do to stop it until she and Misai came to her lair…
She still couldn't figure out why Sita killed Goku in the first place. From what Misai and Baba had told her, Sita never acted alone. Someone had to have gotten her to do it --- but who?
"Thinking about your husband?" Misai asked quietly.
"What?" Chi-Chi muttered, startled. "Oh… yeah," she muttered.
Throughout the whole journey, Misai hardly said much, except to explain which direction they were going in and when they should stop. It made Chi-Chi even more curious about her. She wondered if she had made the right choice in trusting her. Like King Kai said, she was in Hell…
True, she claimed that Sita had thrown her into Hell. Yet there was a strong possibility that she could be lying. Misai had hinted that she was one of the women had had requested Sita to kill their lovers --- her attitude towards men certainly proved that to be true. If Sita were on the side of abused women on Vishnu, then why would she send one of them to Hell?
She's the only one who knows where Sita is, she reminded herself. I didn't have a choice. Even if she was in Hell, I should give her the benefit of doubt. Goku would do the same…
But you aren't Goku, a voice in her head pointed out. And King Kai was right; he is too trusting for his own good sometimes. You're in Hell, remember? You can't be too careful.
Misai caught Chi-Chi staring at her. "What are you looking at?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Nothing," Chi-Chi lied.
There was an awkward pause of silence between the two. Chi-Chi didn't really know what to say to Misai. After all, she had only just met her…
Misai broke the silence. "So… what else is on your mind, Princess?"
Chi-Chi frowned. "Would you please stop calling me that?" Ever since they'd left the prison, Misai had kept calling her 'Princess.' It was fine for the first few times, but had become very annoying.
"You said you were the daughter of a king," Misai said calmly. "That makes you a princess."
"I was a princess," Chi-Chi corrected her curtly. "Then I married Goku and I gave up my title."
"You gave up royalty to marry him?" Misai asked, surprised. "Did you have any brothers or sisters to take the throne?"
"No, I was an only child."
"Then… wasn't there a big fuss from your father about marrying him?"
Chi-Chi shook her head. "My father didn't mind. Whatever made me happy made him happy."
Misai looked baffled by this. "Back on my planet, a girl's parents always arranged her marriage. She didn't have a voice in the matter; she either had to obey their wishes or be disowned."
"Well, things are a little bit different on Earth," Chi-Chi told her matter-of-factly.
There was another awkward pause. Then Misai asked, rather hesitantly, "Will you tell me about Goku? I mean, I've heard about how great a fighter he was… only what was he like?"
"He is strong… one of the bravest, strongest people I've ever known," Chi-Chi said softly. "No matter how bad things got, he always looked on the bright side of things. He's really naïve and eats more than any other person I know, but he's a good man. He's also very sweet and gentle." She smiled. "I don't think I could have married a better man."
She went on to tell Misai about her life with Goku. She told her about how she'd met him as a little girl; about the "promise" he made to marry her; about Gohan and Goten… she even went into some detail about the numerous battles Goku had.
Misai listened to all of this intently. Chi-Chi almost thought that she was beginning to change her mind about Goku --- that is, until she told her how Goku left to train Uub.
"Ha!" Misai shouted with a derisive laugh. "I knew it! He's just like all the other men! Why else would Sita drag him down to Hell?"
"He is not!" Chi-Chi said furiously.
"Yes, he is!" Misai said in disgust. "What kind of man leaves his family just to train a boy? I can understand him leaving you to fight all those other times because he either died or had to save the universe… but if he was willing to leave you just so that he can have fun training a kid, then he didn't even care about you at all."
"That's not true!" Chi-Chi said vehemently. "He did care --- that's the reason why he trained Uub; he wanted to be sure someone would protect the Earth after he died!"
" If he wanted to train the boy, he could have just brought him to live with you and the rest of your family," Misai pointed out.
"Uub's family was poor!" Chi-Chi protested. "He couldn't just leave them!"
Misai snorted. "That's still no excuse for your husband to desert you like that."
"It's not like he was going away forever," Chi-Chi tried to explain. "He came back to visit every few weeks…"
"Visit?" Misai repeated incredulously. "He was going to live with strangers and visit his own wife? I don't get it… were you mad at him?"
Chi-Chi bit her lip and looked at the ground. "I was… at first." As she said this, a troubling memory came to her mind…
Chi-Chi was staring sadly at all the food she had prepared for dinner. She had cooked too much again; it was a constant habit. Normally, it would have been enough for Goku, Gohan, and Goten to eat, since the Saiyans had big appetites.
But Gohan had his own family now, and Goku was off training Uub. It was just she and Goten now.
It had been nearly three weeks since Goku just took off with Uub during the Martial Arts Tournament. She hadn't heard from him since. Not that she was expecting anything. She shouldn't have been surprised by his sudden departure; Goku was always leaving to fight.
Yet since Goku had come back to life ten years ago, she thought that he'd stay home for good. That things would finally go back to normal and she and Goku could spend the rest of their lives together like any other married couple should…
But no, he had to leave again.
Does he even miss me at all? she wondered bitterly. He's probably too busy training with Uub to even think about me. Was he planning on leaving this whole time? Was he just going to stay until some new challenge came along? Kami, how much more of this can I take?
Goten came bounding down the stairs. "Hey, Mom!" he said cheerfully, taking a big whiff of the delicious smell of the food. He licked his lips hungrily. "This looks great!"
He turned his head to look at her, and noticed that she was upset. His face fell. "Mom, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned
"Nothing," Chi-Chi lied, trying in vain to force her tears back. "Nothing's wrong…"
Goten seemed to know otherwise. "It's Dad, isn't it?" he asked gently, putting a hand on her shoulder.
Chi-Chi tore herself away from her son's hand. She spent a few moments staring angrily at the floor. All the sadness, bitterness, and anger boiled up inside of her.
"Mom, it's okay if you miss Dad," Goten said quietly. "I miss him too; everybody does. Even Gohan does…"
She finally snapped. "Miss him? Why should I miss him? Why bother missing someone who leaves you all the time, no matter what the circumstances are?"
She was unable to stop herself. Every single bitter, angry thought she had kept to herself came rushing out of her mouth. "I hate him!" she cried. "I hate that he always leaves whenever he wants! It would be easier for everybody if he never came back!"
Silence. Goten stared at his mother, stunned.
Chi-Chi's eyes widened and filled with tears as she realized what she had just said. Did she really hate him?
No. No, she didn't. She hated the fact that he always left, but no, she could never hate him…
Goten suddenly whirled around behind him, as though sensing something Chi-Chi couldn't. "I thought I heard something…" he muttered. He looked out the hallway leading to the kitchen.
"That's weird," Goten said, walking back into the kitchen. "I could have sworn that…" he shook his head. "Never mind."
He turned back to his mother. "You…you didn't really mean that, did you, Mom?" he asked pleadingly.
Chi-Chi shook her head, ashamed of her outburst. "N-No," she admitted, starting to cry. "I'm sorry, Goten…I didn't mean it. It's just that…oh, why does he always have to leave? Doesn't he care about us?"
"He does care, Mom," Goten assured her, giving his mother a much-needed hug. "I was mad at him too…Gohan still is. But I know that he doesn't mean to hurt us."
Chi-Chi sniffed. "I know…I know he doesn't mean to, but it still hurts. I just wanted him to stay home. Is that so much to ask?"
"He said that he'd be back," Goten reminded her. "Besides, he was right. He and Vegeta aren't going to be around forever, you know. Somebody has to defend the Earth…"
Chi-Chi nodded tearfully.
"And you still have me and Gohan," Goten added softly. "I won't be leaving the house anytime soon."
Chi-Chi smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way, sweetie." She sighed. "Come on, help me set the table for dinner…"
Chi-Chi frowned at that memory. She wished she could take back what she said about Goku. She hadn't meant it. It didn't matter now; what's done was done
"He came back to visit about four weeks later," she went on. "By then, I kind of understood why he left, so I wasn't that angry with him. I didn't yell at him or anything. I acted like there was nothing wrong…"
Misai raised an eyebrow. "You mean you never told him how you felt?"
"Why bother?" Chi-Chi asked, shrugging. "It wouldn't have stopped him. I acted like there was nothing wrong. I sort of kept him at a distance --- not because I was mad at him --- I just knew that it would be harder to let him go if we got too close."
"So how did you act towards him?"
Chi-Chi bit her lip. "I was friendly; I asked how Uub was and everything… and we still slept in the same bed… but we weren't…"
"Intimate?" Misai finished her sentence.
"That is none of your business!" Chi-Chi told her severely.
Misai just stared at her. The look on her face made it plainly obvious that she knew the answer to her own question. Chi-Chi flushed angrily and looked at the ground.
"Ah," Misai said with an understanding nod. "Did he notice that something was wrong?"
"I'm sure he did," Chi-Chi said grimly. "He kept asking me if I was all right, and I kept saying that I was fine. He knew was lying though. I could tell by the way he looked at me….
"More than anything, I wanted to tell him how I felt and be closer to him, but somehow, I kept it to myself. The same thing happened every time he visited: we'd talk, I'd cook, we'd sleep, and that was about it."
"How long did it last before he died?"
"A year and a half," Chi-Chi replied dully. "The last time he visited, just before he left, he looked like he wanted to tell me something. I asked him what it was. He just stared at me for a moment. Then he said, 'Never mind,' and left."
"So you never resolved it?" Misai asked.
"No," Chi-Chi said sadly, "and it's been bothering me ever since."
Misai was silent for some time. "Well, I don't blame you," she said finally. "Men always expect everything to be the same, no matter what happens."
Chi-Chi glared at her. "That wasn't it! I just didn't want to be hurt again… but keeping him at distance just made me feel worse. But I'm going to tell him," she declared. "When we find him, I'm going to tell him everything so we can get off to a fresh start."
"What do you mean, 'we'?" Misai asked coolly. "I recall agreeing to take you to Sita's place. I never said I'd help you find him. And after what you told me, I can't understand why you'd want to save him from Sita. I don't even know why you stayed married to him after he left you like that."
"Of course I was still married to him!" Chi-Chi snapped. "No matter how many times he leaves, he always comes back! I knew he'd come back once he was finished training Uub. And if wasn't for Sita, he would have!"
"Yeah, right," Misai scoffed. "You sound just like those battered housewives I knew back on Vishnu."
"Excuse me, but I am not a 'battered wife!'" Chi-Chi shrieked indignantly. "And unlike the women on Vishnu, I didn't stay with Goku because I had to; I stayed with him because I love him! Why would I be in Hell looking for him if I didn't want to stay with him?"
Misai rolled her eyes. "Not all women stayed with their husbands just because they were forced to. They were the only ones who didn't go to Sita; apparently, they were under the delusion that their husbands loved them, even after how much they hurt them."
"You don't get it," Chi-Chi said fiercely. "I know that Goku didn't mean to hurt me. I've been with him too long to ever think that he doesn't love me!" She stared at Misai. "Haven't you ever been in love before?" she asked quietly
"No," Misai said shortly.
"What have you got against men, anyway?" Chi-Chi wanted to know. "I know that the men on Vishnu were terrible, but you seem really bitter about it…"
"I've learned not to trust them," Misai said brusquely.
"Why?" Chi-Chi demanded. "I know that the men on Vishnu were terrible, but what did they do to you?"
"Come on, Princess, let's get a move on," Misai said hastily, standing up. "The sooner we get to Sita's, the better."
Chi-Chi followed her without a word. She's hiding something, she thought. Something terrible happened to her on Vishnu. Why else would she react like that?
She found herself looking at the two scars on Misai's face. She suddenly had an idea how she got them.
***
While they continued their trek, Chi-Chi tried to make conversation with Misai. She wanted to know more about this strange, sad girl and whether or not she was trustworthy.
"So, you've been in Hell for a few centuries?" Chi-Chi asked as they walked.
"Yes," Misai replied.
"Do you miss your family?"
"No."
"You don't?" Chi-Chi was stunned. "How come?"
"They had a different view of my future," Misai said quietly. "My father, particularly."
"You mean he wanted you to get married?" Chi-Chi inquired.
Misai nodded. "Normally, girls on Vishnu were married off at fourteen, but luckily for me, I was sort of a late bloomer. I was grateful; I never wanted to get married. For girls on Vishnu, marriage meant the end of what little freedom you had to begin with. I didn't want to be somebody's wife, I wanted to be somebody."
"You wanted to be a warrior," Chi-Chi said, remembering what Misai had mentioned upon their escape from the prison. "But there weren't women warriors on Vishnu, right?"
Misai laughed sardonically. "On Vishnu, our purpose was to cook for men, clean for men, wait for men to return from their battles, and breed for men."
"That's terrible," Chi-Chi murmured. "How come you wanted to be warrior, Misai?"
Misai bit her lip. "Well… my brother was a warrior," she said slowly.
"Really?" Chi-Chi was interested. "What was his name?"
"Rhakishi. He was almost eight years older than I was. When I was little, he used to tell me the story of Prince Rama and his battle with Ravana. Until I found out about the part with Sita, which he conveniently left out, I loved those stories.
They made me want to go out and have my own adventures… but I couldn't.
"When Rhakishi turned sixteen, he enlisted to be a warrior and left home to train. I was really jealous, but I was proud of him too. Every time he left for a battle, I'd wait day after day for his return. And when he returned to visit, I was the first to greet him."
"Was he strong?" Chi-Chi asked.
A slight smile crossed Misai's face. "To me, he was," she said quietly. "He was my hero; I couldn't hear enough of the battles and adventures he had." She shook her head, as though she were ashamed of herself. "You must think that's silly."
"No, not at all," Chi-Chi assured her. "My youngest son, Goten, was the same way. He idolized Gohan when he was little, even when he put on that ridiculous Saiyaman outfit…"
"After I turned fourteen, I was tired of hearing about his adventures," Misai continued. "I wanted to have my own. But I knew it was impossible; women were forbidden to fight. So I asked Rhakishi to start training me in secret whenever he came home to visit. He agreed to do it, though I don't really know why… maybe he'd thought it would be amusing to see how a girl could fight."
"How much do you know about fighting?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.
Misai grinned widely. She almost looked like Goku whenever he was really excited about an upcoming battle. "Not much," she said modestly. "It was mostly the sort of stuff you saw back at the prison. I know a bit of hand-to-hand combat and some martial arts skills. And I don't mean to brag, but I'm excellent with a sword.
"It took a few years for me to get in the hang of it. Once I did, I could easily beat my brother in sparring --- well, as long as he didn't use ki blasts on me. He was going to teach me to how to perform those, but my father found out. Needless to say, he put an end to it…"
Her smile faded as she said this. She stopped walking, seemingly staring off into space.
Chi-Chi watched her closely. "What happened after that?"
"He put an end to it, of course," Misai said obviously. "Why don't you tell me more about your sons?"
But Chi-Chi wasn't about to change the subject so easily again. "How did he do it?"
"My life is none of your business, Princess," Misai snapped.
"Yes, it is!" Chi-Chi said sternly. "I told you everything about my life. Why can't you tell me about yours?"
"I guess I'm not as open as you are," Misai said shortly.
"Look, Misai, how am I supposed to trust you if I don't even know about you?" Chi-Chi asked impatiently.
"Frankly, Princess, I don't care whether you trust me or not," Misai said flatly. "I didn't force you to follow me, you were the one who insisted that I show you where Sita is. I'm just fulfilling my end of the bargain. What do you want to know about me?
"How about the reason why Sita threw you in Hell?" Chi-Chi shot back.
"Again, that's none of your business. I didn't force you to trust me; you were the one who insisted that I show you where Sita is!"
"Unless you're lying…"
"I'm not lying!" Misai yelled vehemently. "I just… I just don't want to talk about it, all right?"
"Why not?" Chi-Chi demanded. "Why would Sita turn against you when she was supposed to be granting your wish?"
"Because I asked her to!" Misai burst out.
Silence. Chi-Chi stared at her in disbelief. "You… you asked her to send you to Hell?"
"No… I just wanted to get away!" She turned away from Chi-Chi and started to run off.
Chi-Chi ran after her. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "You wanted to get away? Why? Because of a man?"
Misai froze. Then she slowly turned to face her.
"What happened, Misai?" Chi-Chi asked in a softer tone.
Misai bit her lip, hesitating.
"Come on, you can tell me," Chi-Chi urged.
Misai sank down to the ground, and Chi-Chi did the same. Misai rested her head between her knees. Her eyes were wide and glassy, as though she were remembering something she would have rather forgotten.
"My father wanted me to get married right after he caught Rhakishi training me," she began in a flat, emotionless voice. "By then, I was seventeen. Most girls already had a child by that age. My father said that the sooner I was married, the sooner I would start 'behaving myself' and accept the duties I had as a woman. The problem was none of the boys or men really saw me fit to be a wife.
"Then Rhakishi introduced my father to his friend, Amar. He was warrior too, and he said that he'd be glad to take me as his wife. My father thrilled and began preparing the wedding immediately.
"I don't think I need to tell you that this was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. At first, I wanted to think of a way out of it. However, Amar seemed more decent than most of the men I knew. And he was my brother's friend. I thought, 'Rhakishi is my brother. He wouldn't convince my father to marry someone who was awful.' I decided to go through with it. I trusted my brother. And why shouldn't I? He'd never let me down before…
"So my wedding day came. I put on a happy face and pretended to be excited. But I thought that it was the worst day of my life. I was giving up my dreams to do the one thing I swore I'd never do."
Misai paused. The haunted look in her eyes became more apparently. "Before I knew it, it was nighttime, and I was in Amar's house. Even though I chose to get married, I wasn't really for my wedding night, if you know what I mean. But I wasn't worried. I went straight to my new husband and told him, figuring that he would understand…
"At first he thought I was joking. When he found out I wasn't, he told me that this was tradition. We had to consummate our vows. I told him that we didn't necessarily have to do it on our wedding night; it didn't mean I wasn't ready for him ever, I just wasn't ready for him now.
"He kept trying to convince me otherwise, but I stood my ground. And then…" Misai faltered. She pushed her bangs aside, pointing shakily to the scar above her eyebrow. "He hit me… I tried to fight him, yet even with my brother's training, I was no match for a warrior who was older that I was… and… and…"
"He raped you," Chi-Chi finished, horror-struck. She shouldn't have been surprised, after what she had heard about the men from Vishnu. Still, Misai was so young when this happened. She certainly hadn't deserved to have this happen to her.
Misai shivered. Tears fell from her eyes. "It was the worst night of my life. Up until then, he'd acted so nice… but he was just the others," she said bitterly. "I knew I never should have agreed to marrying him, only it was too late to do anything. On Vishnu, once you were married, you stayed married.
"I won't tell you everything that happened to me, but it was awful. I couldn't go see my family, because I was now Amar's 'property,'" she said spitefully. "I had to stay in the house most of the time, unless I needed to go to the market for food. I had to obey Amar's every order, and if I didn't… well, you get the idea.
"The only good thing about being married to him was that he wasn't home much, since he was called off to battles. Whenever he came home, he expected food to be cooked, the house cleaned, or else. Being alone was nearly as bad. I was confined in an empty house most of the time. I almost felt like a prisoner."
Chi-Chi found herself nodding as she said this. She certainly knew how that was like.
"I didn't know what to do," she said, her voice trembling. "I wanted to escape, but Vishnu's technology was so poor that we didn't have enough spaceships. I heard of women who escaped through suicide, but I wasn't so desperate to take the coward's way out…
"Then I heard about Sita from a group of women in the marketplace. Sita was a secret to the women of Vishnu; if the men ever knew about her, they would destroy her. As soon as I heard, I headed straight for her lair.
"When I got there, Sita greeted me as though I were a sister. She asked if I came to request my husband's death. I wasn't sure what to do. I did hate Amar and I certainly didn't want to be his wife any longer, but I was starting to have second thoughts. I wasn't a cold-blooded killer, after all…
"But then Sita told me she had seen what he had done to me. She reminded me of how my dreams, freedom, dignity, and virginity had been cruelly stripped away from me. The memory of that night made me furious… and so I agreed.
"Amar came home that night. I cooked his dinner and cleaned up after him. Then, of course, he wanted sex. I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice, so I went through it… but to me, it still felt as though he had forced himself on me.
"The next morning, I woke up to find the bed empty. This wasn't surprising, since he left whenever he pleased. I went to fix breakfast, as usual, when I found him dead on the floor… his entire body had been turned inside out."
"Oh, Kami!" Chi-Chi whispered in revulsion.
"I knew Sita did it," Misai said grimly. "But I was still freaked out. If anybody came and found the body, they'd think I had done it. In a way, I had, only I couldn't tell anybody about Sita. So I did the only thing I could do: I wrapped the body in a bed sheet, pretending it was laundry to wash by the river, and went to bury it in the forest…
"I met Rhakishi on the way back. He had been to Amar's house and found blood on the floor. He saw the dirt on my hands, and demanded to know what was going on. I didn't know what to do. He asked so many questions… and I couldn't lie to my brother. Even after everything Amar did to me, I still trusted Rhakishi. I was convinced that he didn't know about Amar's cruel nature. I thought that he could help me…"
"So you told him what happened?" Chi-Chi asked quietly.
Misai nodded. "I went to his house and told him everything. When I had finished, he said not to worry, he would take care of everything. He offered me a room for the night. I took it gratefully…
"I woke in the middle of the night to find his fellow soldiers in his home." She shut her eyes, more tears squeezing out of them. "Rhakishi betrayed me. He told them everything."
"Your own brother sold you out?" Chi-Chi asked, stunned.
"Some brother," Misai said bitterly. "He had known how Amar would treat me, yet he practically sold me to Amar's bride! I would have done anything for him, and he sold me out!
"The punishment for murder was death. I managed to fight them off and escape, but not before Rhakishi gave me this," she added, pointing to the scar on her cheek. "I didn't know where else to turn, so I went back to Sita. She knew that the soldiers would be coming to kill her soon, yet she said that she could handle them. I asked her to send me to a place where I could be free…"
"And she sent you to Hell," Chi-Chi said quietly. "Because you told Rhakishi about you?"
"Partly," Misai said venomously. "But that wasn't the complete reason. I realized that Sita hadn't really cared about the women of Vishnu; she only helped them because she got a kick out of slaughtering men she considered to be like Rama. And like the stupid chump I was, I went to her for help."
And then there was silence. Chi-Chi stared at her, lost for words. "I'm… I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I never thought…"
"Yeah, well, it's not going to change anything," Misai said testily, angrily brushing the tears from her eyes.
Poor Misai, Chi-Chi thought sadly. All doubts she had about Misai had completely evaporated from her mind. No wonder she's so bitter. I would be too, if that had happened to me.
Misai stood up, determinedly not looking at Chi-Chi. "Let's get going, we'll be there soon."
"I understand how you feel," Chi-Chi said sincerely. "But you're wrong, Misai. Not all men are awful…"
Misai barked a laugh. "Like your precious Goku, who left you constantly?"
"He never did anything like that to me," Chi-Chi said firmly. "You'll change your mind once you meet him, I promise."
"If I meet him," Misai pointed out.
"What… what do you mean 'if'?" Chi-Chi asked fearfully.
"Goku has been in Sita's lair for twenty-five years!" Misai explained. "Maybe he was still alive when Baba saw him, and he is strong, but there's no sure way of knowing whether he's faded into nonexistence or not. For all we know, he could have died several moments ago."
Chi-Chi stared at her. "Well," she said in a voice of deadly calm, "then I suggest you take me there right now."
"As you wish, Princess," Misai mocked, bowing.
"Would you stop calling me Princess?" Chi-Chi complained as they started off again.
"Does it really bother you that much?"
"Yes, it does!"
"Would you like me to stop?"
"Yes
"Then no, I don't think I'll stop, Princess…"
To be continued…
A/N: I know most of you are probably wondering about that flashback. Let me explain: Chi-Chi was probably very angry with Goku at first (and you can't blame her), but she eventually understood why he left with Uub. She's not angry anymore though, so don't worry.
Sara: I remember the movie A Little Princess. In fact, when I read The Ramayana in school, I recognized it as the legend that Sarah told her friends in the movie. Oh yeah, I think you'll be very angry when you find out what's been happening to Goku… which conveniently will be the next chapter ;)
I won't tell: To tell you the truth, Sita reminded me a little bit of Chi-Chi, with how she was so loyal to Rama. And the part when Rama gave Ravana a hero's funeral after he killed him reminded me of how Goku buried Vegeta after he died in the Frieza saga. No, Misai isn't really like Hanuman, but she is helping Chi-Chi, however reluctantly.
Misao the Weasel Girl: A grammar book? Weird…
Jessica C: Misai's a good person. As you can see in this chapter, she had a hard life and has reason not to trust men. The action will start in the next chapter!
Caryl Mc: Your questions about Misai were answered in this chapter. Yes, they were the same ogres, but I couldn't really remember what they looked like. It doesn't matter; Hell was probably full of ogres in DBZ.
Kinoha Chi: Her name is Misai, but I really did get inspired for her character from Misao in Rurouni Kenshin. I really liked her. Yep, you were right about Misai! Ten points to you!
Carrie2sky: Misai is trustworthy. Can't wait for the reunion? Just wait until the next chapter! *laughs evilly*
Cb: Chi-Chi can definitely handle herself. Remember when Goten and Trunks were fighting these two brothers in the World Tournament, and their mother was being a real pain until Chi-Chi punched her lights out? You found out more about Misai in this chapter.
Arain Rowan: No, I guess ogres aren't the best prison guards, are they? LOL!
Sakura123: Interesting analysis about Hell in the DBZ universe. You're right, one good deed doesn't excuse a lifetime of bad deeds. Vegeta was probably in Hell when Frieza killed him, but after he killed himself to destroy Majin Buu, he got to keep his body. And when he and Goku were fighting Kid Buu on Namek, Vegeta wished that all the good people on Earth would be restored to life --- and he was among the resurrected. Xena, Goku's mother?! Who came up with that idea? Xena isn't even in the DBZ universe! Besides, Goku already has an Amazon for a wife, why would he need one for a mother?
Mijitsu Yume: Just how much of a bitch is Sita? You'll soon find out…
Lady Athena X: Chi-Chi does want to destroy Sita, but even with Misai, she has a lot of odds against her. You'll have to wait and see if Misai will change her mind about Goku. After what she's been told about him, it doesn't seem likely, does it? And speaking of Goku, you'll find out about him in the next chapter…
Emily: Thank you!
Lady Thundera: You're right about Fauna/Fasha, she is not Goku's mom. My guess is that Goku's mom died in childbirth or something, which kind of explains why Bardock didn't want to see him after he was born --- other than the fact that he didn't seem to care. *Chi-Chi enters the room with a large catapult* Chi-Chi: Great idea! You strap her to the catapult, and I'll pull the switch! Me: Sorry, you can't have catapults in Hell. Chi-Chi *glaring at me*: Hey, I've been reading your little outline for this story! Me: You have? *gulp* Uh-oh… Chi-Chi: You are so dead! *starts chasing me around the room, while I'm screaming for help*
Woman of the Dundain: Save Goku, huh? We'll see…
Kyona: Thanks. Goku and Chi-Chi are my favorite couple too.
Sadako: Misai and Chi-Chi are going to kick some more ass in the next chapter! What can I say, I love it when women are action heroes; I guess I'm kind of a feminist. Yeah, those ogres had it coming, but they won't be bothering Chi-Chi for the time being.