A/N:    Well, nothing to say except thanks for the reviews and sorry for the late update.

            This is now also the proofread chapter by ChunkyMunky241!!!

@ Chunks: Thanks again for betaing this fic! I don't know what I would do without you… (Well, most likely posting this fic unbetaed, but I like it better this way…)

Chapter 21: Confrontations

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The wood under his feet creaked, as he was walking down the longer just by some candles lit corridor, following girl, who had, if reluctantly, allowed him to meet the woman, who hopefully had the answers to his questions. The woman stopped in front of the last door on the right side of the corridor and put her hand on the doorknob. "I warn you," she said, "Kyna is an old woman and as I've already said, ill. She is getting weaker with each passing day and is suffering under the symptoms of the illness. So if you in any way upset her, I'll personally remove you from this room."

"I understand," Goku answered.

She just began to open the door, when she looked at him once again. "One last thing… She might not recognize you immediately, because she has lost her eyesight, an aftereffect of her illness." Without saying another word or waiting for a reply from her guest, she gently pushed the door open, which was squeaking in its hinges.

The room was lying in complete darkness; just the light of the candle the young women held in her hand illuminated a small part of it. The room was small and simple. A small table, a chair and a bed were all that could be seen in the dim light. The curtains of the window were closed to keep the heat of the sun outside.

The young woman walked over to the table and lit the oil lamp that was standing on it, now throwing light in the whole room. Goku still stood in the doorframe, his eyes following each and every move of the young woman, not daring to look at the bed until he couldn't keep his eyes from it any longer, when the woman walked up to it and sat down on a chair next to it.  He caught his breath. The old woman lying in the bed looked almost nothing like the old woman he had met a bit more than a half year ago. She was incredibly pale and thin; her long white hair was lying flat on the pillow. He watched how the young woman took the elder's hand and began to speak to her softly.

"Kyna? There's someone who wants to talk to you."

Goku almost jumped when he heard the old woman, Kyna, answer. He had thought that she was sleeping and not awake. "Ducina, who is it?" She didn't open her eyes, but turned her head to the door, where he was still standing.

"His name is Son Goku and he thinks that you can tell him something about his past. He says you know him."

"Son Goku," Kyna mused. "I know the name, but I do not know the person. Why does he think that I can tell him something about his past?"

"I can understand that you are confused right now," Goku finally decided to say, "but let me tell you a story. About twenty-five years ago a man asked you for a favor. He asked you to take his newborn baby and to bring it to another country, so that it could grow up in safety and wouldn't have the same fate as every other member of his race. You agreed and traveled far across the sea until you reached your destination, where you put the basket with the baby and a letter, which explained everything, on the doorsteps of a wealthy and respected man with the hope that the baby would have a future there. That same evening the young man, who is now known as General Kaiou, had dinner with one of his friends, the famous sailor Son Gohan. Since Kaiou didn't have the time to take care of an infant at this time, the just retired Son Gohan decided to give the baby a home and everything else it needed. The boy, who he had named Son Goku, grew up to become a strong and successful sailor – me." He took a deep breath. "I just recently and mostly through accident found out about this – that my father's name was Bardock and my birth name is–"

"Kakarotto?" Kyna asked in a whisper filled with hope that she was right with her assumption.

"Yes, according to General Kaiou and some other – people – that's the name I've been given at my birth," Goku told her, not quite ready to mention the other Saiyajins yet.

"Oh god…" the old woman breathed, tears now streaming freely down her face. "Please, come nearer. Sit down… Ducina, please offer him a chair."

Hesitatingly Goku stepped forward and sat down on the chair Ducina had now offered him. He threw a grateful smile at her and then gently took the old woman's hand, leading it over his cheeks, his eyes and the rest of his face, so that she could feel what he looked like. 

"Tell me, tell me everything what had happened in your life…" she asked, when her hand was again resting in his on her bed.

"I'm sorry, I really would like to tell you, but I don't have enough time. Honestly I'm just here, because I need some answers concerning my past, or rather the past of my family and the Saiyajins," he said now being completely serious.

"Why do you need to know?"

"Actually, I don't know if you know, but next to me other Saiyajins have survived Frieza's attack. To be precise, three of them. One of them is my older brother, Radditz, then there's Nappa and Vegeta."

"The Prince is alive?" Kyna asked surprised.

"You didn't know that?" Goku remarked with equally surprise in his voice. "I mean, he's the most feared pirate all over the world under Frieza's command."

"No, I didn't know about that. I've often heard people talking about a cruel pirate working for the Beast, but they never dared to say his name. So, the Prince is really alive as well as his bodyguard Nappa and Radditz. Your brother was believed dead by your parents even before you were born."

"So was I by the other Saiyajins, until we met – I don't know if it was fate or just a simple coincidence. When we met, they threatened to kill my son and demanded one part of the legendary Treasure of Power, which had been in possession of a good friend of mine. My friend exchanged my son for the sphere, but they kidnapped her. The second time we met, they were after the sphere of the Nameks and destroyed one whole village in the course of that. Because of that and all the other things known about the Saiyajins I've come to despise them and, with me also being one, myself. And now I'm looking for some answers that will hopefully help me to accept myself again, so that I can be again the man I used to be, or rather someone close to that. And you are the only person I know who could give me those answers," Goku concluded his small speech.

"I see…" Kyna replied thoughtfully. "I can feel the turmoil you're going through, I can hear it in your voice and I'll try everything to help you answer your questions and maybe even help you see the Saiyajins in another light."

~*~

After this strange encounter with the crowd and their so-called hero Mr. Satan it didn't take long for Piccolo and Tenshinhan to get back to the ship, but the sight that was greeting them there was anything but pleasant. The four remaining people were sitting on deck, all with worried and thoughtful looks on their faces – ChiChi seemed to have been crying just a few minutes before.

"What's going on? Has something happened?" Tenshinhan immediately demanded to know as soon as he set foot on the wooden planks of the Kintoun, closely followed by Piccolo.

Piccolo threw a quick glance around. "Is it Gohan?"

Yamcha nodded ever so lightly. He tried to say something, but it was hard. "Gohan sneaked off the ship when Krillin and I had been sparring," he informed them with a guilt-stricken voice. "We didn't notice that he was gone until it was too late."

"Where is he?" Piccolo said through gritted teeth.

The ex-bandit shook his head. "I have no idea. But Krillin thought he knew where Gohan could've gone and followed him when we noticed his absence. I'm pretty sure he'll find him…. But tell us," he said, wanting desperately to change the subject, "did you get the sphere?"

"Unfortunately, no," Tenshinhan informed them.

"The Saiyajins?" Chao-Zu wanted to know.

"Worse. Frieza decided to call in his right hand men, Zarbon and Dodoria, to do the task of finding the spheres for him. They killed an old man in town without showing any scruple," the Namek told them.

"My little Gohan is still out there! What if they get him?" ChiChi almost screamed, starting to sniff again. "I should've never set a foot on this ship, then Gohan wouldn't have followed me and we wouldn't be in this situation."

"ChiChi, calm down," Yamcha said soothingly. "You know that this wouldn't have stopped Gohan from coming on this ship. He's too much like his father and as I already said earlier, I'm sure Krillin has found him by now and they're already on their way back to the ship. Besides, you know that Gohan can defend himself if he really wants to. You've seen what he did to Goku last week."

~*~

Flames shot high into the sky. The fire was almost directly in the middle of a small clearing in the middle of the forest. The forest of the Jinzoningen. No birds could be heard – everything was silent except for the mumbling of an elderly man sitting directly in front of the fire. His long white hair was flying in the breeze and sparks were rushing past his face. His brows were furrowed in deep concentration, sweat from both the incredible heat of the fire and from the strain dripping down his chin.

Close to the old man a strange green creature with a long pointed tail was standing, regarding the man closely. The only thing that looked remotely Human about it was the fact that it was standing straight on two long legs and had two arms crossed over his chest. The rest looked absolutely non-Human. His whole body seemed to be covered in green armor. It had wing-like outgrowths on its back and something that resembled horns on his head. Its eyes were reptile-like, in contrast to his mouth and nose, which were merged in a bill.

Krillin couldn't remove his eyes from the picture in front of them. It was terrifying, but he finally gained control over his body when the creature's tail hit the ground with a thud. He grabbed Gohan's arm. "Let's get out of here, Gohan," he hissed.

The young boy looked at him and shook the hand off. "No, we have to do something. Look what's on the other side of the fire."

Krillin looked again at the scene and eventually saw what Gohan was talking about. On the other side, almost hidden behind the flames, two limp figures were tied at two poles, while a third, larger one was lying on the ground.

"Krillin, what are they doing there?" Gohan asked almost scared.

The young sailor swallowed hard. "It looks like a ritual, maybe a sacrifice for some god or something like that." He took a step backwards. "We really should go."

"But, when they really want to sacrifice those three people over there, we have to do something."

Krillin shook his head vehemently. "We can't do anything Gohan. As much as I want to help those people, we can't. This creature seems to be incredibly strong and if I'm not wrong I think we're in the forest of the Jinzoningen. Please Gohan, come… Gohan!"

Completely ignoring his father's friend, Gohan left their hiding place and stepped into the clearing, putting his hands on his hips. "Whatever you're doing, stop it!" He demanded, trying to keep his voice steady, which proved to be quite difficult under the given circumstances. Krillin just slapped his hand over his face, now knowing that he also had to go out there and face this monster.

The old man stopped to chant and said monster turned around to look who had dared to interrupt their ritual. It sneered, when he spotted the boy. "Well, well, who do we have here?" he asked amused, as he stepped closer to the boy.

Now standing almost directly in front of this green thing the boy saw how large it really was and started to feel how his legs wanted to give in. His heart was beating hard against his chest and he could feel sweat starting to run down his face, but he remained standing. "My name is Son Gohan," he stated firmly. "And I'm here to stop you from killing those innocent people."

A loud and mocking laugh erupted from the creature's throat. "Well, nice to meet you, Son Gohan. I am Cell."

Krillin, who had been on his way to join Gohan, stopped dead in his tracks, when he heard the name. A memory from his early childhood suddenly reemerged in his mind, a memory from the time when he had still been living on the street. Older kids had often tried to scare the younger ones with stories of monsters and demons and one of those stories had been about a monster with the name Cell. A being created by one of the Jinzoningen, a shaman with the name Gero, roaming the woods at night, searching for victims that could make it stronger. But first when he found two beings, bonded to each other by blood, and drained them after having performed a ritual, he would reach his final and strongest from. It then should even be able to rival the Beast Frieza in strength.

A shudder ran through his body when he thought about the possibility – no, not the possibility, the fact – that this old story was true. But he couldn't stand here like rooted to the spot – he had to help Gohan. "Leave the boy alone," he yelled, when he ran up to them.

Cell raised a not-existent eyebrow at him. "Why should I? He challenged me and I love to be challenged."

Krillin clenched his fists and threw a look from Gohan over Cell to the two people tied to the poles and the one lying on the ground. The man on the ground was compared to him huge and seemed to be built extremely well. His clothes bore the colors black and yellow and his orange hair was cut in a Mohawk. One of the two people at the poles was a young man, almost still a boy, with long dark brown hair, wearing clothes completely held in black and next to him hung a beautiful girl with shoulder length blond hair, dressed in a pure white dress. His heart missed a beat, when he saw her. He had never seen a girl like this before. She was gorgeous and looked like an angel in this dress.

"Tsk, tsk, don't trust what you see," Cell scolded him smirking. "This girl is nothing like you think she is. She's a Jinzoningen, absolutely deadly for common people. I'm sure she's already killed plenty of them."

"Stop this talking, Cell," the man at the fire told him without turning around. "We don't have all day."

"Don't worry, Master Gero. You finish your ritual and I'll take care of those nuisances," the monster said, cracking its knuckles.

"Gohan, go back to the ship," Krillin said with a resolved look on his face. He knew what he had to do now, even if it cost his life. "I will stay here and try to save them."

"No," Gohan insisted. "I won't go. I'll help you."

"Why don't you listen to the boy? It won't be fun for me to fight just against one," Cell remarked.

"You're wrong!" a voice bellowed from somewhere between the trees. "I assure you that I'll be more than enough for you to handle." With a roaring laughter a large and quite muscular figure emerged from the shadows. "Don't worry," it said, when it stepped into the light, revealing a man dressed in white pants and a brown shirt, "you are safe. Mr. Satan is here to defeat this monster."

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Ah, how I love my cliffies… I know, they aren't that evil, when you know that the next update will come soon, but you know that I can't promise you that and I still hope that you understand my reasons for not being able to update that fast. I won't repeat them again, because you'll find them in my profile.

Whatever, I hope you won't kill me yet, because when you do, you'll never find out how this story or any other story of mine ends.

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi