Alone on Earth

^~ The blue wonder's tale~^

Kochou-hime

All rights to Dragonball Z and Magic Knight Rayearth belong to their respective owners

"C'mon Umi! Come swimming with us out in the courtyard!" Hikaru yelled playfully to her blue-haired friend

Umi giggled and ran after her friends Hikaru and Fuu and performed an artfully perfect dive into the pond. The girls splashed each other enjoying the carefree life of a much more peaceful Cephiro. The three met each other at the center of the pond and smiled warmly at one another.

"Friends forever!" Hikaru declared happily as the other girls giggled and agreed.

Umi opened her eyes and frowned at the distant memory. 'I shouldn't have left on such bad terms and with such haste' she thought solemnly, 'I only wish I could see their smiling faces and be with them just one more time.' She sat up in bed and stood by the window thinking of her other companions she left in Cephiro as well.

"Now Umi," Umi turned around to face Clef. She had made her decision that she must return to Tokyo and it was the night before her departure. Her two Magic Knight companions had spent the remainder of the evening with their lovers Lantis and Prince Ferio, which left her alone to spend time with Clef and the rest of her friends who had recently departed to bed.

"Yes Clef?" Umi had asked hopefully with the desire for a declaration of caring in her eyes.

"Um…" Clef blushed and turned away from her, "be careful on earth and if you ever need any help with your fencing skills you know where to go." With that he was gone leaving Umi alone in the banquet hall.

Umi sighed and stood up being careful not to wake the snoring Mokona who was bound to throw a fit if awoken at such an hour in the morning. She combed her beautiful blue hair and pulled it back into a tight ponytail and changed into a suitable workout suit. When Umi had left Cephiro she had been heartbroken that Clef said nothing about the close relationship they shared, while they were together. She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. When she thought of Gohan, it felt almost as if she had healed the pain of being overlooked. Her daydreaming was quickly interrupted, however, when a pillow came flying hitting her in the back of the head. Umi whirled around only to see a very grumpy and ruffled Mokona sitting at the foot of the bed. "Mokona!" she hissed which caused a rapid fire of the rest of the pillows in the room being chucked at Umi. "Mokona! Go back to sleep you don't have to get up now." Mokona whimpered and jumped from the bed holding onto Umi's leg. Umi smiled and kneeled down to Mokona who was actually being sweet for once. "Now Mokona, I'm going to go learn to fly with Gohan, he'll protect me from that stupid cavaliere, ok?" Mokona seemed satisfied and fell back asleep on the bed. 'Wow, he's sweet when he's sleepy,' Umi thought as she walked out the door.

She walked out the back door of Son household and rubbed her bare arms. It was quite chilly in the morning even in the summer months. The grass was layered with a fresh layer of dew and about 10 yards away from the small house sat Gohan quietly mediating on the grass. She silently walked toward him amazed by his tranquility. He was such an interesting person to her because she had seen him in a state of ultimate anger and power and it amazed her to see the powerful being so peaceful on a brisk morning. She looked down at her bracelets, 'Maybe I accidentally have one that belongs to the girls' she sighed, 'I promise I will return to Cephiro and see you two again.' As she got near Gohan stood up expectantly and turned to face her with a genuine smile.

"Wow! I can't believe you got up so early. I'm glad to see you're excited about learning to fly." He grinned, which caused her to blush and smile back.

'How can he be so cute?' Umi thought to herself. Gohan rubbed his hands together and looked around as if he was testing the air conditions.

"Everything looks good to go, but I think we'll be bugged too much here by a certain younger sibling and little rabbit, but I know the perfect place to go!" Gohan scooped Umi up and with a yelp of surprise from Umi; the two took off to where Gohan was trained by his mentor Piccolo many years ago. They landed on moderately high mountain cliff with lots of vegetation surrounding the cave that sat on top. Gohan instructed Umi to sit down facing him in a meditation position.

The two sat there, while Umi concentrated on Gohan's instructions. She tried to focus on her inner life force, which Gohan had called "Ki." She was supposed to use this power to lift and propel herself off of the ground but she had been concentrating for several hours and still nothing had happened. "Gohan!" Umi whined as her eyes flew open, "I'm so bad at this, I'm so sorry for wasting your time!" Gohan just smiled at her concerned face and became very reassuring.

"It just takes time Umi, you're doing great!" Gohan said as he looked up to see Piccolo arrive. Gohan was suspicious at first because of the cavaliere threat but sensed good in Piccolo and dismissed the idea of an imposter.

"Gohan, have you not learned anything?" Piccolo grinned causing Umi to turn around and face him "the real way to teach someone to fly is like so!" and before Gohan could react Piccolo had quickly lifted Umi by the waist and tossed her off the extremely steep cliff. Gohan leaped up as Umi was screaming bloody murder.

"Concentrate on your ki Umi!" Gohan yelled at Umi. Umi was panicking but heard the reoccurring voice of Clef in her head. Umi, believe in yourself! The power is in you! Umi shut her eyes and concentrated on her life force and miraculously stopped falling. She opened her eyes only to find herself hovering inches from Gohan who was waiting on the ground to catch her if she should fall. She whimpered softly but became confused when she saw a mischievous smirk creep onto Gohan's face. "You did it Umi! You're flying!" Umi slowly let herself fall into Gohan's arms and looked at him incredulously. "Are you alright?" Gohan asked after a couple of moments. She swallowed hard.

"I can't believe I just got thrown off a cliff!" Gohan turned to Piccolo who was standing near by and looked at him with a death glare that promised an ass whooping later.

Piccolo grinned, 'Looks like today's sparring session will be lots of fun!

Umi and Gohan spent the rest of the day flying together and occasionally stopping for a meal at the Son household. The feeling of flying on her own was amazing to Umi who was becoming bolder and started flying higher and faster. She watched with amazement as Gohan did spins and flips in the air. It was obvious that he had been flying for a very long time. In the evening the two landed and walked toward the house together laughing and talking. ChiChi secretly smiled at the two approaching from the window and laughed silently to herself. When the couple arrived at the door Mokona and Gohan were both standing with their arms behind their backs whistling innocently. "And just what are you two up to?" Umi asked teasingly with her hands on her hips. Mokona and Goten looked at each other and grinned evilly.

"This!" Goten shouted and without warning the two pulled out a ton of water balloons and started chucking them at Gohan and Umi. They both screamed and tried to run but in a couple minutes there was an all out water fight in the front yard. Piccolo watched from a distant tree and shook his head.

"Kids" he muttered under his breath. He turned to leave but took a second look at Umi who was running around the yard chasing Mokona with a bucket of water. 'There's a greater power to her' he thought to himself, 'I have a feeling we'll all be surprised when a real battle arises' and with that the great green warrior disappeared into the wilderness.

The four youths scarfed down dinner, with the exception of Umi who was raised with exquisite table etiquette. After Umi had taken a warm bath and talked Goten into drying her hair she sat on the step outside the door and gazed up at the stars. She found the planet of Cephiro and watched it lovingly as it twinkled in the sky. Umi heard footsteps behind her and turned around to see Gohan with a blanket under his arm. They both blushed at the sight of each other. "I thought you might be cold," he stammered as he offered her the blanket. She accepted it gratefully and as he turned to leave she laid a gentle hand on his calve to stop him.

"I'd love to have some company," she smiled sweetly, "especially when there's a rabid shape shifter on the loose!" Gohan smiled and sat next to her on the steps, since it was his duty and all (*wink*). The two laughed together and talked about their future plans. Umi spoke of one day becoming a great cook, which really intrigued the forever-hungry Gohan, while Gohan talked about being a scholar or a teacher or some sort. Umi looked down at the blanket wrapped around her and felt guilty. "Would you like some blanket too Gohan? It's awful chilly outside." Gohan almost replied that he was fine and was using his ki to warm him but thought better of it.

"Sure," he said with a grateful smile. While Umi was adjusting the blanket around them both she accidentally fell into Gohan and found herself in a very compromising position against his chest and looking deep into his dark brown eyes. Before either of them realized it the nervousness between them had dissipated and they were locking lips for the next half-hour.

After the kissing session they realized what had happened and the bashfulness returned full throttle. Gohan smiled sheepishly and changed the subject as quickly as possible. "Hey, I meant to tell you, tomorrow Master Roshi, a family friend, is having a get together with all of our friends of the family. Would you like to come and meet all of the people I've been telling you about?" Umi grinned happily.

"I would love too!" Gohan smiled back but looked solemn for a moment.

"If only Dad could be here, I wish you could meet him," Gohan added. Umi smiled sympathetically and gave Gohan a comforting hug.

"You really miss him don't you?" Umi asked quietly. Gohan nodded and the solemness disappeared as soon as it had came.

"Well, we should get to bed, there's a couple of fighting and defense techniques I'd like to teach you tomorrow, I want you to be well prepared if you ever run into the shape-shifting bastard again." Gohan said with a smirk. He helped Umi up and carried the blanket back inside as he led her to her room. "Good night," Gohan said while sneakily kissing Umi before she knew what hit her.

"Good night," Umi whispered as she walked into her room only to see Mokona looking through her bags. Umi stood over Mokona until he noticed her and smiled sheepishly. "Now Mokona, mind your own business!" As she was scolding Mokona Umi came up with a great idea. "Hey Mokona, since the Son's have been so nice to us I think we should do something for them." Mokona didn't look too impressed but crossed his arms and tilted his head. Umi picked him up and flopped down onto the bed. "I need a favor Mokona…"

I've decided to finish this story after almost a year of waiting…so I hope that people who read it for either the first time or people who came across it long ago will enjoy it!
Thank you,
Kochou-hime