Double Hate
Disclaimer: DBZ (DB/DBGT) no owned by me humble self.
A/n: All right, everyone, this is it. The last chapter of Double Hate is here! Wow. And to think that this fic was at a standstill for some time… Not anymore:D Thanks to everyone for their support!
To continue to keep everyone in suspense, I'm moving up the Corner of Reviews to before the story so that I can tease you all about what's coming up. You're not allowed to skip it, either, so I suggest that you read fast! LOL. (Snickers)
Here we go!
(Btw, has anyone else noticed that my timeline is just absolutely whacko? The last thing I remember, the Harrisons had yet to celebrate Christmas, and now—this chapter—is set in the spring. Weird, huh? Time flies when you're having fun!)
(Btw2—Some Chichi OOC-ness incoming!)
:-:-:-:
The Suspenseful Corner of Reviews
1) Salazarfalcon—I'm going to be sad when this fic ends too… It appears that I will HAVE to get that livejournal now, eh? Then we can talk to each other if you don't like any of my fics hereafter (Fixes the Falcon with the Evil Eye™), and you are taking too long to update Partners (Evil Eye™ Glares with the other eye)
What's Daffodil? (Grins eerily) Poor Yuki. (Deadpan) Computers. They just don't agree with you anymore Falcon-chan. (Sympathetic) Here, you can have my mallet of computer Armageddon if you wish. (Hands it over) Don't use it sparingly:D
I updated! Where do you get a livejournal?
2) Sk8er-kitty888—HI! I updated! Would you call this soon? I ask because I want to be loved forever. :)
3) Goku-lover21—I updated! I ended it there because it was a perfectly good place to end it, my dear Hera-chan! (Do you have a nickname? J/w. I'm not sure that you like being called Hera-chan, and I can't call you Goku-lover-chan, either. Heh! (Sweatdrops))
4) DBZ Chick1—Yep, it sure does look like Gohan and Goten are about to be found out! Thanks for your reviews, your constant compliments always make me feel good!
5) BballAnimeLover89—HI! I updated! Gohan and Goten were hiding their identities to hide from the Z-senshi who made their lives a living HFIL. (Nods) Thanks for your review!
6) demi-legend—YES! I'm an evil scumbag! My dream has come true! LOL:D I just laughed my sides to pieces when I saw your review! Hahaha! Oh, it was so funny…
Ahhh! Get rid of the shorts and get new ones! Quickly, quickly! You're not wasting my time, demi-chan. You never waste my time when you review, NEVER, EVER. :) I updated!
7) Frying Pan of DOOM—Yes, you helped, with this chapter too! Nerf Balls! LOL. Reviewing, I agree, takes so much effort…
But I do it anyway (except for the HP fics I read, I don't review those. Hmpf!). I'm so evil, I agree! LOL! But I like being evil! It's GOOD to be evil, however much of a paradox that may sound like:D REVIEW!
8) Nooka—Hey, mate! NO! I refuse to pity Lilith! I REFUSE! Hahaha! Well, I updated, so now YOU have to update:P Nya! Haha!
YAY! I learned a new British word! Meh! LOL! Yes, the Harrisons had a plan. They outlined it when Jeff and Marc said, "Actually, we were thinking about that just yesterday" in Chapter Seventeen.
You will see which members are there, calm down! Although you should be able to guess… how could I leave it there? Simple. I'm evil. :)
You're moving to… (Checks atlas) Belgium? WHY? Why can't you stay in England and teach me British words? (Eyes fill up with tears) If the great Nooka knows not why she's going to a French-speaking place when she doesn't speak French, all is lost… I UPDATED!
9) MarshmellowDragon—Yes, I like math. I'll be doing Pre-Calculus! That is even more scary than Alg. II! Ay yi! You'll survive. I won't. (Widens eyes eerily)
A bleeding heart, ey? Nothing wrong with that, amiga! That was the point, anyway, to make you feel bad for everyone! Yes, yes, poor Myna. Poor Jack, and everyone else, too.
See Nooka's response for "the plan" part. You'll find out how our fave demi-Saiyans act! ;)
10) Oligel Ronew—Peace, peace! Hehehe! LOL! Jeff and Marc may want to forgive them, but I think it's going to be in their own separate ways. Heh! We'll see in this chapter of Jeff and Marc are forced to go back to the Sons or not, or if they'll achieve a compromise or not. Hmm! As for your prediction of Chichi's reaction, well, you'll see! Thanks for your constant reviews; you consistently made me blush! (Grins)
:-:-:-:
Last time on Double Hate—
Life was well for the Harrisons, until Phase I of the plan they had outlined yesterday unexpectedly went into effect. It began with the hearing of voices calling out, "Gohan! Goten!"
The Z-senshi had arrived.
:-:-:-:
Chapter Eighteen: So You Reap What You Sow, Eh?
:-:-:-:
The Z-senshi had all been visiting Capsule to celebrate the momentous occasion of Cell's defeat when Bra had suggested that they go outdoors to play. It was too risky to throw stuff around with all of the costly exhibition décor inhabiting the inside of Capsule, Bra had said, and everyone else had instantly agreed. Once they were outside, however, the Z-senshi realized that they were in broad sight and would seem to be a little strange to be camping on Capsule's expansive front lawn, even if Trunks, Bra, Marron, Gohan, and Goten had done that numerous times when they were younger.
So they had decided to move to Kame Island. Bulma had packed wave runners into capsules for the kids since the Island was going to be too small for all of the Z-senshi to fit in at once, and Chichi had packed plenty of food, as was her wont. All had piled into the carrier plane (designed to hold all members of the Z-senshi, including two that were long gone), which had taken off five minutes later to the farewells of Dr. and Mrs. Briefs.
However, the plane had only gone a quarter of the distance to Kame Island before chaos took over. This chaos was in the form of Trunks yelling, "Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwaitwaitwait! Down there! Jeff and Marc Harrison's kis!"
"WHAT!" Bulma screeched. The plane gave a violent jerk, throwing everyone except Trunks off balance. Trunks levitated off of the floor to get to the front, bypassing Pan's legs, which were tangled with Chichi's, and the equally tangled mess of Krillin, Goku, and Android 18.
"Go down towards that big clump of trees off to the left there and then take a right and land when I tell you. We'll be as close to the Harrisons as we can without crashing or scraping the carrier plane," Trunks told his mother above the squabbling press of people behind him.
Bulma nodded, all business, and nudged the big aircraft forward, thanking Dende that the plane was easy to handle despite its size. She could concentrate on getting around "that big clump of tress off to the left here" more, and she needed all the concentration she could get, what with the noise in the cabin behind her.
"Hang on everybody, we're going to bank right sharply!" Bulma called. The Z-senshi scrambled to get to places of relative security and hung on tight, just as the plane swerved right. If it hadn't been such an urgent matter, Trunks would have laughed at the pale color of his friends as he looked back at them, but as it was, he only turned back and told Bulma to land between the two cherry trees straight in front of them.
Instantly Bulma slowed down, almost knocking everyone off balance again, and started the process of landing her plane. Since the carrier plane (type Z-510) was equipped with hover-landing gears, Bulma, as the pilot, didn't need to worry about runways. She could just pick a spot, any spot, even if it was in a circle of trees, and be able to land in it without trouble, provided that the plane was able to fit in that spot. That was exactly what Bulma did, and she did it with style.
Within moments, everyone was out of the plane and headed towards five human kis, two of which were intimately known to four of the Z-senshi. Speaking of those four of the Z-senshi, Trunks was in the lead, followed closely by Bra, Pan, Marron, and Goku, with Chichi struggling after them, and the rest afterwards. It seemed like forever to those walking or running behind the forefront to get to the kis, and more than forever to Chichi and Bulma, who could not sense ki. Finally, though, the group in front stopped, allowing the people behind them to catch up. And what they saw was enough to stop time.
Chichi heard a roaring sound in her eyes and knew she was about to faint. Instead she took a step forward, and another, and another, until she was running, but the only thing she was aware of was the sight before her. She saw only her sons tossing a Frisbee back and forth, saw only their faces, alight with mischievous grins, saw only their fun, and ran to them. She thought not about their reactions to her, or the other consequences of her actions, but only called out, "Gohan! Goten!"
As if freed from a spell, the other Z-fighters burst forth from where they stood and took up the cry, "Gohan! Goten!"
The two figures in front of them paused in their Frisbee match and turned their heads toward the flood of humans, aliens, and hybrids stampeding to them. Chichi, in the lead, smashed into the Lost Son closest to her, Gohan, and enfolded him in her arms, sobbing. The others crowded around both him and Goten, whom had moved over to his brother, in a pandemonium of noise. Only Trunks, Bra, Marron, and Pan hung back, knowing that Jeff and Marc were not going to be happy, and neither were the other Harrisons.
Although Chichi was hugging Jeff, Jeff was not hugging her back. He was just standing still and stiff, his black eyes staring ahead and over the head of Krillin Chestnut, the Frisbee held tightly in his hand and no expression on his face. Marc was the same way, only he was looking down at Chichi and he was not being hugged. Neither of these two was saying anything, but their rage and other dark emotions were pouring off of them in waves.
Piccolo and Vegeta stepped back, breaking the circle, and joined the others standing outside because they recognized the blank looks on the Lost Sons' faces. The circle only tightened, and only Eighteen looked back and did a double-take. She, too, stepped out of the semi-circle, dragging her husband with her, to stand by her daughter, Marron. That left only Bulma, Chichi, and Goku to Jeff and Marc, so they created only a wall now, and not a circle.
Suddenly a voice rang out. "Get your hands off of my brother!"
Shocked, Chichi looked up from her son's chest and stared with the others at the tall, slender, and angry black-haired young woman standing a short distance away from them.
Linda could not believe the audacity of these people. How dare they just come barging in like they owned the place and treat her brothers like nothing had happened! How dare they hug Jeff and touch Marc without asking if it was all right to do so! How dare they even get near Jeff and Marc! They weren't fit to walk on the same ground, let alone breathe the same air!
Her hands clenched and she stepped forward. "Get. Your. Hands. Off. My. Brother," she repeated, hissing at the woman who had been hugging Jeff. Shock in her bold, black eyes, the woman Linda assumed to be Chichi stepped back, releasing a stoic Jeff as she did so. Jeff immediately turned and walked quickly back to Myna and Jack, Marc following after shooting an unreadable glare at Chichi. Linda, however, was not finished.
"How dare you," she started, her voice deadly calm. Her fists were still clamped, however, and the hatred on her face put the lie to her calm tone. "How dare you come here and try to take away my brothers like nothing ever happened! How could you do that! Do you know how happy Jeff and Marc are with us? Do you know how long it took for them to get over the neglect they faced to obtain that happiness? Well? Do you?" Linda asked furiously of the woman only a few meters in front of her. "Answer me!"
Chichi couldn't. she couldn't open her mouth and say "no". It was with a sinking heart, however, that she had listened to the young lady's words, and this was what Linda saw in her eyes.
"It took a year and a half before Jeff and Marc would tell us about you. A year and a half," Linda spat. Chichi's eyes widened and she took another step backwards, colliding with her husband's body in the process. Linda didn't stop, though, even as she took another step to keep up the pressure. "It's because of you that my brothers couldn't sleep each night before we adopted them. It's because of you that Marc had and still has problems with his right knee, sometimes. It's because of you, you and your alien husband, that Jeff thought that there was something wrong with him, that he didn't deserve to be loved!"
Chichi looked stricken and heart-broken. So did Goku, holding Chichi steady by the shoulders. Krillin was gaping in shock. Pan appeared like she was struggling with all sorts of different emotions. Trunks had a set look on his face, like he knew that this sort of thing would happen and was blaming himself for it. Marron, like her mother, wore a look of deep sorrow on her face, even if Eighteen didn't show it as much as her daughter did.
Piccolo's expression was inscrutable, Vegeta was folding his arms over his chest to match the seemingly indifferent countenance he sported, and Bra was crying. Bulma acted paralyzed; not even Dende's appearance shook her out of the frozen state she'd fallen into. Dende himself seemed highly uncomfortable, shifting his weight from one foot to the other; it was clear he had come to atone for his mistakes as much as the others.
Linda, for her part, was wild-eyed and panting. Her fists were still clenched, and her body posture was stiff and angry, not just highly disapproving. However, she had gotten her message across, so when she opened her mouth to no doubt barrage the Z-senshi some more, it was Jeff who stopped her.
"It's okay, Lin. You've said what you wanted to say," he said quietly. Linda didn't move for several seconds, her chest heaving with the deep breaths she took. She did finally move, after Jeff stepped up and laid a hand on her shoulder. Jeff kept his eyes down, away from Chichi's face, but she could easily guess what she would see in them: pain. The revelation tore her into pieces and left her trembling, watching Linda and Jeff stomp away back to their family.
Their family. Oh, yes. She could see how close-knit they were, the Harrisons. At one time the Sons had been the same way, but it had not lasted long, only until Radditz had come. Darn you, she thought furiously, helplessly. I wish you had never come!
There was nothing that she could do, however, but watch the family scene play out before her and wish a thousand painful deaths upon her brother-in-law, who had been the inadvertent cause of all this strife.
Meanwhile, as Chichi was cursing Radditz to the ninth HFIL, the Harrisons were having an emergency family meeting.
"Should we do as we discussed yesterday? Or should we pack up and wait until we're more prepared?" Myna wanted to know.
"I think that we should go ahead with the plan," Marc said, quietly. Jeff nodded solemnly. Linda didn't say anything, for she was still peeved about the whole thing. Jack noticed this and voiced his opinion that they should really pack up and go. The Brothers followed his sharp gaze and raised their eyebrows, but didn't offer to change their vote. Myna looked troubled, but she remained undecided. Finally, Linda spoke up, her voice level,
"I think we should do it. hear what they've got to say for themselves."
So it was decided, three to one, with one undecided, to stay and carry out the plan. The plan was simple: to let the Sons and the Z-senshi defend themselves and their actions, and then tell the Z-senshi of the consequences of those actions. Linda had already accomplished the second part of their plan, but there was an ulterior motive to all this: based on the testimony of the Z-senshi, the Harrisons were going to se if they couldn't convince Earth's Special Forces to bugger off and leave them alone.
It might require a sacrifice upon the part of the Harrisons to achieve this end, but the Brothers' family had not objected to it. So it was this mission that Linda, Jeff, Marc, Myna, and Jack set out to accomplish as they approached the Z-senshi.
Jack had been elected to take charge, as he was the most perceptive out of all of them, and the calmest. So it was he who told the Z-senshi rallied against him,
"All right. We're going to give you a second chance, and let you tell us why you did what you did all those years ago. Not here, though, it's too public."
"And not at either Capsule or Mount Paoz. We," Jeff indicated that "we" meant him and his brother, "have too many memories associated with those places. Linda punctuated her brother's words with a challenging glare. Jack nodded in agreement.
Bulma, finally shaking out of her paralysis, stepped forward with a self-confidence she did not feel. "We were just flying to Kame Island. Is that acceptable?"
A short conference between Jeff, Marc, and Jack resulted in a nod from Jack. Marc felt strange, as the formality Bulma had addressed them with was usually reserved for people she did business with, only without the usual condescending tone that usually accompanied it. Marc smiled grimly. Good, she was taking this seriously. It was about time.
The Harrisons had a little problem with the fact that they would be leaving behind their van and the things they had brought with them for the intent of having a picnic. Trunks solved that easily by drawing out an empty capsule and tossing it to Marc, who caught it easily. Mouthing, I'll explain later,to his parents and Linda, Marc turned to the van, where Jeff was already packing the picnic things. When Jeff stepped away, Marc tossed the capsule at the van, which disappeared in a poof and an explosion of purple clouds. Jeff stooped, picked up the capsule, and pocketed it, turning back to the Z-senshi.
The rest of the Harrisons staggered. So that was what the capsule thing was all about! Jack shook his head inwardly, amazed at the technology over again. He'd been amazed when he'd first heard of it, but actually seeing it was different than hearing about it.
Meanwhile, Piccolo and Vegeta told Bulma that they would fly to Kame Island on their own, not in the carrier plane. Goku said that he would IT to Kame Island and let Master Roshi know that the Harrisons were coming with the Z-senshi. Bulma nodded to them, and instantly Goku disappeared, followed by Piccolo and Vegeta shooting into the sky. The Harrisons viewed the displays of ki with external suspicion and internal wonder, at least for Linda, Myna, and Jack, although Linda would not have admitted it in her persistent black mood. Jeff and Marc internally were filled with longing to fly again, now that they could after so long. They expressed none of this outwardly, maintaining their emotionless masks for the moment.
The rest of the Z-senshi followed Bulma with the Harrisons back to the carrier plane. It was a good thing that Vegeta, Piccolo, and Goku had left, for there would not have been room for all of the Harrisons otherwise. When Bulma had designed and built the plane, she had considered only having Gohan and Goten back when she put in the extra space, not any other people. In hindsight, Bulma realized that she probably should have done that, but didn't think about it when Trunks offered to fly the carrier plane instead of her. Bulma agreed, hastily, for she didn't feel like she could fly with her nerves on such high alert. Like her mate and husband, Bulma thanked Dende that Trunks was so steady of spirit. They never would have made it to Kame Island without incident otherwise.
Speaking of Dende, where had the young Guardian of Earth gone? A quick glance outside told Bulma that Dende was flying alongside the plane, a miserable expression on his face. From the expression, Bulma guessed that even if the plane hadn't been packed, the Guardian of Earth would not have come in and suffered under the accusing gazes of his former friends and their new family. Bulma grimaced: she felt the same way. Sometimes not knowing how to use ki was a pain in the neck. Otherwise, she would have joined him out there.
It was a tension-fraught ride all the way to Kame Island. Even so, the Harrisons took great delight in the scenery all around them as they flew past forest upon forest, even a mountain or two, and then finally the sea. Waves upon waves upon waves of glittering blue sea occasionally speckled with white for a boat flashed by in the blink of an eye, until it seemed to the Harrisons that all of the Earth was just an expanse of this huge sea continent and that it ran forever. Finally, though, Trunks' voice came over the intercom, announcing that they were about to land.
"Buckle up your seatbelts and hold on to your ears!" Trunks told them, his cheer obviously forced. He waited until he heard everyone call out, "Got it!" before he set the plane into a gentle helix which ended at Kame Island.
Twenty minutes later, everyone was out of the plane and on the tiny island in the possession of Master Roshi. Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta were waiting for them; Master Roshi and the Turtle came out upon hearing the roar of the carrier plane. With them came Oolong, who had obviously been poring over his favorite magazines: his cheeks were burning and his eyes had a giddy tint to them, as if he'd nearly fainted from an overload of pleasure. He sobered up quickly, however, upon seeing three unknown people step out of the plane, followed by two just as strange and yet familiar people.
In fact, he, along with Master Roshi and the Turtle, gaped when they saw Jeff and Marc. The Brothers had changed so much in the past five years that they were barely recognizable anymore, especially to the Kame trio, which hadn't been in close contact with the Brothers even before the Cell Games. So it was quite the shock to these three beings. However, once Roshi and Oolong spotted Linda, they promptly pushed the Brothers out of their mind.
Linda, fortunately, knew about the perverts of the Z-senshi and immediately glared at them when she saw them looking, her already-present anger adding fire to her gaze. The pig and the old man recoiled, and stayed respectfully out of her way as she and the others, including the rest of the Z-senshi came over.
For a meeting place, there was a bit of an awkward moment. Did they want it outside on inside, where it was much cooler? Marc solved the problem by marching into the house and settled into an Indian-style position on one of the futons on the floor. Linda trailed after him, and after some hesitation, did the same as he. The Americans preferred their furniture to the Japanese furniture, but had no problems adjusting to different scenarios outside of the home, thanks in a large part to their local friends.
Myna and Jack arranged themselves on either side of their children (Linda was to Marc's left, Jeff had sat down on Marc's right), while the Z-senshi trickled in and found their own seats. In the end, almost all of them were sitting, although Krillin, Eighteen, Vegeta, and Piccolo were all standing. Eighteen was leaning on the wall next to the doorway, where Krillin himself was standing, his hands in his pockets. Both Vegeta and Piccolo were outside the house, if still on the veranda. The both posted themselves next to one of the two windows facing them, just out of sight but still close enough to clearly hear everything that was said.
"All right, let's get started. First, starting with the Sons, all of you will tell us how, in the name of all that is holy, did you let the situation get so out of hand? And I want no excuses or apologies, just the facts of the matter," Jack announced, turning his head to the Sons, off to his right. Jeff, next to him, stiffened ever so slightly, but made no move to halt the proceedings as an uncharacteristically apprehensive Chichi started to speak.
"I suppose this all started when Goku's brother, Radditz, came to Earth. Because of him, Gohan and Goten were taken away and didn't come home for a year, while Goku died to save them. I was alone for a whole year, and it was so lonely, especially when I heard of Goku's death."
Jeff and Marc were stoic, the fact that they had heard all of this before (though not in quite this form) helping them stay cool. Jack himself was still carefully neutral, although Linda still looked angry and Myna was listening intently. Jack tuned back in with a feeling akin to relief.
"When they came back, when all of my family was back, I was so happy. But soon I found that I no longer knew my children as well as I had before. I no longer knew what my children thought, why they acted this way or that, or even what they liked anymore. It was only when they were asleep that they were familiar to me. That was not a heartening idea, and so I was determined to reconnect with my sons in any way possible," chichi narrated. Marc snorted and looked to the side, shaking his head. Jeff continued to look steadily at his biological mother, but it was clear to everyone that he agreed with his brother.
"Yes, I did go overboard with that, didn't I?" Chichi mused, grimacing in hindsight. She didn't get a verbal answer, but Jeff's cool gaze was enough to burn her anyway. She continued, looking down as she did so. Goku squeezed his wife's shoulder very lightly in support.
"Over the years, we just drifted apart. It didn't help that when the boys went off to Namek and then came back, it was the same thing all over again. I had never wanted my children to be fighters, but I was forced to sit by and watch them save the world battle after battle, fight after fight, day after day. They came back from each battle just a little changed, but it was enough to make them like strangers to me, and I had to relearn who they were, how they ticked, and so on.
"Each time they came back, each time that I tried to reconnect with my sons," Chichi stated, tears coming into her eyes now as she looked at her sons, all grown up now, and she hadn't been there for them. She hadn't been there for them in a long time, actually, since the Radditz incident. She acknowledged that freely, as she had only a week ago, as she sat before her sons, awaiting their judgement at last.
"Each time, my heart went out to them, struggling to adjust to a world that was constantly changing on them, making them grow up so fast, and my love for them grew stronger and stronger, so that it hurt so much when, finally, my sons returned from the Cell Games and I couldn't recognize them at all, and, and—" Her voice rose in pitch and broke, and chichi collapsed, sobbing, into her mate's arms.
For the few minutes that it took for Chichi to cry herself out, none of the Harrisons moved. Jeff was still stoic, Marc still had a bitter, hard, look on his face, but Linda was softening, just a little bit, and Myna was close to crying herself. If that had happened to me... She hardened. This will not do. This is the woman who neglected my children. I should not be feeling sorry for her!
It was still heart-breaking.
Finally Chichi composed herself and finished up her tale. "I hated myself. I couldn't...couldn't believe that I didn't recognize my children anymore, and I hated it. I hated myself so much that I couldn't stand to look at my sons and be reminded of that hate, I couldn't even stand to be in their company for more than a few seconds. You were so gloomy, so sad, so changed," she said softly to Jeff and Marc, the latter of whom refused to look at her, "that even when I sent you from the room, I would remember how haunted you look, and I would be in so much pain...
"I realize now that I shouldn't have been so selfish. I should have worked with you, been the mother that I should have been, and helped you get past the trauma of the Cell Games so that you would be bright and happy again, be the sons that I knew once. I make no excuses for my behavior now, and I accept all responsibility for my actions."
Chichi straightened up in the face of her sons, both of them, and lifted her chin, holding her head high like the princess she'd once been. Jeff regarded her coolly; Marc watched her still bitterly; and the rest of the Harrisons were silent, knowing that they had no part in this trial of family.
Finally, Jeff blinked, slowly, and transferred his black gaze to the Saiyan beside Chichi.
"And what's your story, Son Goku?"
Goku's head shot up and he looked, startled, at Jeff. The expression in those eyes was unreadable, but the Saiyan had heard correctly: he was being given the same chance as his wife, to tell his story and own up to his actions. He took a deep breath.
"Well... During the Cell Games, I... I was told repeatedly that I shouldn't have made the both of you fight Cell. You weren't ready, Krillin and Piccolo said. But I didn't believe them, I thought I knew more than they did about you two. I had trained with you for a year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber; I thought I knew you two. But then Piccolo told me that neither of you liked to fight, had never wanted to fight in the first place.
"This was a revelation to me; never had I imagined that my sons weren't fighting because they liked it, but they were fighting because it was their duty to do so. If they didn't do it, no one else would," Goku remarked, calmly. It was still a blow to his pride to admit that he'd made a huge mistake concerning his children, but this time and place was not the proper situation to use his pride to shield himself.
While Goku had been talking about Krillin and Piccolo, the Brothers' eyes had flicked to the black-haired midget and to the wall where Piccolo's ki resided, then back to their biological father. Krillin had noticed, and somewhere in his heart there rose the stirrings of a half-hope, but he squashed that quickly, knowing that the judgement for him would be just as harsh as it would be for everyone else.
The Saiyan proceeded to say, "As such, I was shocked. Why hadn't I seen that before? Was my own satisfaction and joy in fighting so blinding that I couldn't see when other people didn't like it? I asked myself these questions over and over again, but I found no answers. It wasn't easy to live with myself without the answers to those questions, and I didn't protest when Chichi sent you two away from the room. I also discouraged you from associating from other people, particularly your peers, because I was afraid that if you did, they would see my flaws, my mistakes, and I couldn't stand that, not when I saw my fallibility in you all the time.
"However, I didn't realize that in not protesting and preventing you from seeing your friends, I was sentencing you to more misery, more unhappiness than you deserved. I also own up to my selfishness and accept the consequences of both what I did do and did not do."
Again, the Brothers simply looked him over, their expressions inscrutable (with Marc's face still holding a hard tinge to it), then moved on.
"Krillin?" This time Marc called to the midget, who stirred, then fell back against the doorjamb as he realized that it was his time.
"Yeah," he said. "I didn't exactly know what was happening in your home, and I still can't forgive myself for that. I only visited three times that year after the Cell Games, you remember, and each time I didn't even see you. When I asked after you, Chichi and Goku always said that you were fine, and that you were either studying or going out to visit Piccolo at his waterfall. As I had not seen Piccolo at all after the Cell Games, I easily believed them, and did not press further.
"They say that hindsight is twenty-twenty. They don't say that you won't like what you see in hindsight," Krillin quirked, much to the silent agreement of everyone present. "I'm sorry that I didn't do anything, but I didn't know, and— Sorry. That's an excuse, and your dad said he didn't want to hear any of those. I'll shut up now."
Krillin looked so downcast that Marc couldn't help but feel some sympathy for him; he tried to squelch those feelings, and succeeded temporarily, as his brother asked, in a steady voice, "Piccolo, is Krillin's statement the way it was for you? You never visited at all during that last year."
A sigh was all that they heard before the Namekian's voice floated through the window. "Not quite. It's true; I didn't visit, but not because I was abandoning you. Like the midget, I was not aware of your troubles. Instead, I was busy helping Dende settle in; he still wasn't comfortable being the Guardian of Earth, and Kami wanted to be there for him. Other than that, yes, Chestnut's admission is mine."
Jeff nodded, although Piccolo was not able to see it. "Very well. Vegeta! Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
"No," came the gruff answer, although it was a shocking one to either of the Harrison Brothers. Linda stiffened in outrage, Jack frowned, and Myna was confused. However, the Saiyan Prince was not finished. "There's nothing for me to say."
Jeff nodded again. "All right then. Bulma?"
Bulma was crying, but she managed to stammer out that Krillin had said what was to be said. "Although, we were dealing with emotional problems on our own," she added, her breath hitching. "Trunks wasn't all that great after the Games, either, although that, I suppose, is classified as an excuse, too."
"Trunks?"
The purple-haired demi-Saiyan in question looked up at Jeff and smiled sadly. "Even if I had known what was going on, Jeff, do you think I would have been able to do anything?"
Jeff smiled grimly in turn, then looked at Marron and Bra. Both of them met his eyes and then looked away, conveying their general agreement with Trunks' statement. Jeff nodded a third time, decisively, and then gave them all the lashing they should have had a long time ago. In fact, it should be counted as a continuation of the one that Gohan gave the day they ran away all those years ago.
"Listen well to what I have to say here and now, all of you, because I'm not going to say it again. You have no idea what we went through, and you know it. These pathetic platitudes of sorrow that you are offering us will not do anything to change the past. The past can't be changed easily, we well know that, but still, apologizing and accepting the consequences of your actions will do nothing for you.
"I suppose that we will eventually forgive you," Marc snorted incredulously, "but I see that coming in the far, far, far future, when the sting has gone away for good. Maybe the sting won't ever go away for good, and we won't ever forgive you, but at least have the heart to leave us and our family alone and let us decide if you deserve our forgiveness on our own, okay? Do you think you can do that?" Jeff demanded.
Many heads nodded in shamefaced and expectant affirmative. Jeff pursed his mouth as he met the gazes of everyone present, excluding the Harrisons, then nodded, again, and stood up. Marc followed suit, as did Linda, Myna, and Jack. The Z-senshi stayed where they were, knowing that they had failed in their quest for forgiveness, and there was nothing they could do anymore to change the Brothers' minds.
Krillin made way for the Harrisons to pass by him, but Jeff paused in the doorway and addressed Bulma.
"Do you have a plane that can seat five comfortably? We don't have any way to get off this island, other than the carrier plane, which is too bulky. We'll fly it to Capsule and go home in our own van from there."
Trunks reached into his backpack and drew out a box of capsules, which he opened. He searched and grasped one of the capsules, which he then tossed casually to Marc. The youngest Harrison nodded to him and walked after Jeff, who had gone out of the door while Trunks was rooting around for the capsule box.
The other three members of the Harrison family came out of the house into the blinding sun and heat of the Kame Island, which was an actual relief to the heavy coolness of the house and the room they had sat on futons in. Marc pressed the top of the capsule and threw it, resulting a poof of cloud, another soundless explosion, and the appearance of a small fighter-style aircraft that was able to seat six, as the Harrisons found out when they climbed into the plane.
It was Linda who slid into the cockpit in the pilot's seat. She had been to a flying camp when she was seventeen (Jeff had gone there only last summer, but didn't really like flying airplanes as much as Linda did, for obvious reasons, and Marc wasn't old enough yet), and so knew how to fly a plane, especially a fighter-style aircraft, although that had not been her favorite type of aircraft to fly. Jeff, Marc, Myna, and Jack all slid into the seats behind the cockpit and strapped themselves in securely, as per the orders of the captain and pilot.
Marc reached over and opened the door of the cockpit slightly, so that Linda could hear, if she wished, the conversation that was most certainly going to take place on the way to Capsule.
:-:-:-:
Five months later, when Orange Star High School had been out for two weeks, Chichi was the recipient of a very strange and a very bulky package. It wasn't big, but was very interesting.
Humming softly as she trudged back to the house, the house of sorrows that was slowly healing from the events on Kame Island, Chichi turned the stuffed envelope over. She didn't find anything to indicate who sent her the package, but it was clearly written on the front "The Sons, Fountain Peak, 439 Mountain Area, Mt. Paoz." Chichi was a little puzzled about the " Fountain Peak" part, as the peak they rested on had no name that she knew of, but the other information was correct, so she wasn't overly suspicious.
She picked up her step in anticipation of opening the package with no return address. She reached the door and swept through it, although she managed to close it gently after her. To the kitchen table she marched, the package clasped tightly in her arms, even as she called, "Goku! Pan! We have a package!"
Footsteps sounded as Chichi slid into her seat at the round table. Their owners came down the steps into the kitchen and gazed curiously at the yellow and much-wrapped envelope that Chichi held in her hands.
"What is that, Mom?" Pan asked, her eyes lively with curiosity. Something that had killed the cat, Chichi mused randomly, even if satisfaction had brought it back.
"I don't know, sweetie. I haven't opened it yet," she replied absent-mindedly as her family—what was left of it, anyway—slid into the seats around her. "Ready?"
They nodded, and Chichi started tearing into the package, if neatly. Soon the contents were uncovered, only to have bubble wrap spring up. Pan reached for the bubble wrap and started popping the bubbles on it, much to the amusement and confusion of Chichi and Goku respectively.
Chichi took the other end of the bubble wrap, lifted it to see the treasure it contained, and gasped. Pan and Goku looked up in alarm to see Chichi's eyes fill with tears. Goku asked, hurriedly, "What's wrong, Chi?" while Pan leaned forward to see what had gotten her mother so riled up. She had to clap a hand to her mouth quickly, to stifle her laughter, although chuckles still could be heard.
She was looking at a framed picture of Jeff and Marc, where Jeff was rubbing his knuckles over Marc's head and grinning devilishly at the camera. Marc was trying to fight Jeff off, but with no success, although the distorted look of pain on his face was something to laugh at. Even Goku grinned at the picture, although there was a darker shade of pain in his black eyes.
Chichi turned the frame over to see if there was another picture, but was greeted with words in an unfamiliar cursive script, written directly on the cardboard.
See the sons you once knew, bright and happy.
Chichi's tears spilled over, in sharp contrast to her brilliant smile. A look of wonder spread over Pan's face as she read the caption, and she looked back at Chichi. Goku blinked, clearly shocked, but then his trademark Grin™ spread over his face and he suddenly looked younger, happier, and more like who he used to be.
Pan was startled by the transformation; she had never seen her father like this before. Really, those Brothers had had a big impact on her father's life, not that she hadn't known that before, but she hadn't known it was to this extent. Wow. If Goku had looked like he did now with that Grin™ on his face when the Brothers were around, no wonder so many people had flocked to him. It was an arresting feature, guaranteed to brighten up someone's day, even if the day already seemed cloudless. Pan found a grin was teasing its way onto her own face, and she looked back down at the picture of Jeff and Marc.
There were other pictures, of both Jeff and Marc, of Jeff only, and of Marc only. There was even a family picture, including Linda, Myna, and Jack, but it wasn't the Sons' favorite one. Their favorite was, instead, one in which both of the Brothers had thrown their arms around each other and was flashing the peace sign at the camera. It didn't necessarily mean that they were forgiven, not yet, but the pictures went a long way to lift their spirits and to give them hope for the future.
:-:-:-:
FINIS:-:-:-:
Thanks to this chapter's reviewers: Salazarfalcon, Sk8er-kitty888, Goku-lover21, DBZ Chick1, and BballAnimeLover89, demi-legend, Frying Pan of DOOM, Nooka, MarshmellowDragon, and Oligel Ronew. Let's try and get to 100 for the final chapter of this little fic o' mine! Wouldn't that just be the coolest:D
For all the reviewers of Double Hate: this chapter is dedicated to you. Thanks, unknown soldieress, Interrobang, DBZ Chick1, Nooka, dee-unlm1t3d, demi-legend, and SS2Megami-sama/Salazarfalcon and Frying Pan of DOOM, SSJ5Tigger, and ShadowObscurity and escudo-blade and timetohide, Dark Willow aka Admiral2, Be'lal, and chris and Dan415, Neptunes Tsunami, and MarshmellowDragon, Oligel Ronew, and DBGT Goku and New Dye, Goku-lover21, anonymous, and BballAnimeLover89, Sk8er-kitty888!
Thanks everyone for reading, reviewing, and hopefully enjoying! I want absolutely NO flames after all this work that I've gone through, so if you're actually reading this and don't like it, bug off!
This was a surprisingly difficult chapter to write. It was just…hard to think about, to think up as I go along, as I usually do. It was much more uncooperative than last chapter, which was also dragging on me. Weird. At least I don't have to put up with Autumn's laziness now and Rei's childlike behavior (so much pranking! Arggh!), but… (SP sighs, exasperated with herself)
Before any of you ask, no, I'll not be writing any sequels to this. However, if any of you would like to write fics located in or about the Double Hate universe, you're welcome to do so, as long as you talk to me about it before you write (or even plan) the fic. Always ask for permission! Thanks, guys, for the last time, and I'll see you around!
To infinity and beyond!
TheShadowPanther, Rei, and Autumn, from AASN
AASN; Writing is what we do for you at AASN. Enjoy.
Updated 06.20.05
