Jenova's First Assult

It was like hitting a brick wall. The ground came up to meet flesh with a ravenous hunger, or so it seemed. It tore at his flesh and brought his blood forth in a ravenous show of brutality, or so it seemed. But that wasn't what caused him to grip his skull as though it was going to collapse. It was that thing within him. That thing that was a part of him. That thing that had claimed his head as his home ever since it had made its appearance three days ago. But what was it?

Ever since that night, it had been like he was no longer himself. Not really. He was still himself inside of his mind, but he didn't feel like himself anymore. A vivid example jumped out of his memory to amplify his fear. That monster he'd killed, how had he done that? He'd sensed from the beginning that its energy was far stronger than his, but yet, one Masenko had done it in. It wasn't due to his being in Super Saijin. He had felt that much. It was due to whatever this thing was within him. It sharpened his senses and fed his already vast power supply. He'd felt its presence as a separate one to himself, at first. But that was changing now. At first it had lived with him; now it was a part of him.

How long would this continue? If it, and he firmly continued to believe that it was separate from himself, could do what it had done in only three days, what could it do in more? He harshly pushed his fears to the back of his mind. This isn't what his father or Mr. Piccolo would do. He needed to regain control of himself! What was a warrior who couldn't even keep control of his own thoughts? But, was he a warrior? He didn't want to be a warrior! He wanted to be a scholar. He wanted to be home with his mother, as odd as that might have sounded. He wanted to be anywhere but here. He wanted to be anywhere but on this strange planet with these strange people. Angry for letting himself harbor feelings of self-remorse, he firmly repeated his earlier question. What was a warrior who couldn't even keep control of his own thoughts? He was a warrior now. He had to be in this strange world if he was to survive. The thought swelled feelings within him that he couldn't control.

He was alone. He might never see anyone again, might never see the reflection off of Krillin's head, or hear Vegeta sternly reprimanding everyone for frivolous things about a warrior's honor. Warm tears spilled down his cheeks, washing clean streaks down his dirt and blood smeared face. He was alone.

Suddenly, he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He didn't want to turn around. He didn't want to see who it was; at least right now he could imagine that he would see his father's face if he did look. At least there was the hope that maybe he was just waking up from some fevered dream after hitting his head in a difficult battle.

"You wouldn't fall off the Chocobo if you held its feathers instead of your head," Cloud's joking voice was hardly a comfort. It shattered Gohan's momentary peace, his small fancy that all was well once again.

Cloud thrust his arms out in front of himself, satisfied when sparkling dust, colored like the rainbow, sprinkled itself on Gohan's tattered form and slowly absorbed into him. The Cure 3 spell made his wounds disappeared almost instantly, and Cloud was glad. He couldn't really blame the boy. After all, the gesture that had caused the accident was an all too familiar one for him. All doubts in his mind as to what Hojo had injected into Gohan that night when they had rescued him a fraction of a second too late were erased. It was Jenova. Cloud wondered how long the boy would last. If he truly was Cetra, then Jenova would have a particularly deadly effect on him. It was only a matter of time.

"Is he okay?" Tifa asked, eyes glistening with her own tears as she walked up to Gohan. How many more people would have to suffer the same fate that her precious Cloud had?

Aeris was not far behind her. She knelt down beside the boy and gently hugged him. For a boy to have to suffer like this was so unthinkable... She could feel her eyes too welling up with unshed tears. At times like this, the boy wouldn't need to see her cry, he needed someone to make him feel safe and loved. She needed to be strong for him now.

Gohan closed his eyes and let his frustration leave him as the warm arms around him cradled him like a long lost son. He let Aeris murmur comforting things in his ear as she stroked his spiky blond hair. She reminded him of his mother, and for a moment, he let himself slip back into his reverie. As he drifted off into the bliss of sleep he was back at home.

"Goku how could you!"

"Aw ChiChi, he's a big boy now."

"He's hurt! How could you let him fight with you?!"

"He'll be fine. Won't you son?"

Conversations back at home were always so predictable. Everything there had a sense of comforting familiarity. Even the deadly battles weren't frightening; he'd always been side by side with those people he loved. His father would have never let anything happen to him, and he knew it... but now his father wasn't here. Now he had to look out for himself.

Startling himself awake, Gohan sat up slowly. A cold, fresh breeze fluttered his blond bangs in front of his eyes. He unconsciously scratched behind Nanaki's ears as the canine beast uncurled itself from around him. Where was he now?

"Glad to see you're finally awake," Nanaki stated surprisingly gentle for a beast of such physical power. Realizing what he was doing, Gohan quickly snapped his hand to his side. Who knew if Nanaki liked being pet? It might be kind of embarrassing to be treated like a normal animal when you had intelligence greater than... Gohan's thoughts were interrupted, "I hope you don't mind. I was keeping you warm, seeing as this place can be rather cold."

Gohan suddenly became aware of his surroundings. "Wow!" He jumped up enthusiastically. "Bulma would love this thing!!!!!"

"Be careful," Nanaki warned unworriedly as Gohan ran to the railing of the airship's deck and leaned over to stare at the terrain flying by below. "They were going to keep you inside so you wouldn't catch cold, but many of us agreed the fresh air would do you a great deal of good. Aeris stopped arguing when I offered to keep you warm. Besides, I don't mind getting an extra nap in here and there."

Gohan chuckled at the joke. Or at least it had seemed like a joke. Either way, both of them were laughing now. "Aeris must think I'm her responsibility or something."

"She's like that with everyone, don't let it bother you," Nanaki replied. He was getting to like this boy. It would probably be better to just ignore the kid and not become attached seeing as he was going to die anyway, but Nanaki couldn't bring himself to be that way. What if Cloud and the others had been that way when they'd first found him in the Shinra building? No, Nanaki would not be that way. He would likely outlive all of these people, his species being extremely long lived, so there was no use in picking and choosing who he would connect to and who not. Besides, this boy's young curiosity was refreshing.

"So where are we?" Gohan asked, as a bright river suddenly cut across the green plains he was watching and left golden sands in its wake.

"To Icicle Village to find Hojo."

Nanaki leapt toward the edge of the Highwind's deck. He barely managed to grab the back of Gohan's shirt before the boy fell over. Whether or not the boy could fly wouldn't help him if he fell into the path of the Highwind's powerful propellers.

"What was that?" Nanaki asked as he pulled the boy back up to safety. "You just jumped!"

"Mr. Piccolo!!"

.........

Nanaki paused. "What?"

"Mr. Piccolo's here!!!!"

"Maybe we'd better go back inside before you really do fall," Nanaki suggested, leading the way to the interior of the airship. "You can tell Cloud about Mr. Piccolo, okay?" Whoever this Mr. Piccolo was, Nanaki didn't want to know what that had to do with Gohan's near fall.

Gohan marveled at the mechanical wonders inside the ship. He'd never seen anything like it!! Sure, back home they had air cars and shuttles, but none of them were so primitive as this! It was a wonder as to how the thing even managed to fly! He didn't even notice as they came to the control room and Nanaki began explaining things to Cloud.

Cloud nodded to Nanaki. "Thanks pal," his voice was its normal void of expression as when he thought. Who was Mr. Piccolo? The question rose again. Could he maybe help answer some of their questions? Or would he just raise more? Well, it looked like they were going to find out soon. "We'll still go to Icicle, we don't have time to be on a wild goose chase after some man we don't even know is really here. Tell Aeris and Tifa to get ready, with the Highwind we'll be at Icicle in no time."

Nanaki nodded his head and trotted off to find the girls. He was almost glad he didn't have to be a part of the party this time. He'd rather not have to deal with Hojo.

Suddenly, Gohan snapped out of his daydreaming and thought for a moment about what had just been said. "So Cloud," he began, "We're going to go after Hojo aren't we?"

Cloud inclined his head. "Yeah, it looks like we're still in time. You sure you want to come?"

Gohan was startled. How had Cloud known what he was thinking? Well, it didn't matter. He probably just knew how things like this affected people. After all, this was his world. He probably had to deal with this scientist quite often. "Yeah, I have to go. I need to find out what's happening to me."

"We've been trying to figure that out for a while. Do you remember anything? Before we rescued you?" Cloud hoped fervently that Gohan's memory wasn't affected by Jenova like his was.

Gohan let his mind go back to the time in that artificially lit underground laboratory. But... there was nothing to remember. Gohan shook his head in an attempt to clear it. What had happened?!? He... he couldn't remember!

"Don't worry about it," Cloud reassured Gohan, sure that his hopes had been in vain.

Gohan slowly released his efforts and gave in to Cloud. Maybe he'd bumped his head or something. Anyhow, it was useless to try and remember things that weren't in your memory.

Gohan put all of his effort into not gripping his head suddenly. There was that voice again. Now, just as on the trip to a place everyone had called... what was it? ...Rocket Town, no one else seemed to hear that voice. It sounded so sweet, that Gohan wanted nothing more than to listen to it, but every time it's words caressed his ears, the rest of his body shouted out that something was wrong. In either case, no one else heard it so he must have only imagined it. Gohan just wished that he could convince the rest of his body of that.

Good boy. Don't fight it. Give in to me.

Wow, two chapters in one night! Too bad I don't have more homeworkless days and new Final Fantasy soundtracks!!! I think that combo really did the trick!