Note: For those who've been following along with TWISTED TIMELINES, you know that in that story, Goku has died, and Vegeta has married Kurenai (in that timeline, she and Goku only ever remain friends). However, the whole time I was writing the book AND THE GREATEST OF THESE, I wished that Goku was the single character so I could hook him up with Kurenai instead. But now I have this set of poems, and I can do whatever I darned well want.
In this series of poems, Goku is still married, but like in the anime, his marriage to ChiChi is a rather unfulfilling one, and karma is drawing him and Kurenai together for reasons neither of them yet understand.
This poem, like the previous two, is told from Goku's point of view. The "then" aspects are in italics, while the "now" is not.
Then and Now
"God, you feel good... so good... don't stop"
lying among the twisted sheets
i am haunted by her face
the coolness of her hands
"you are beautiful... never let anyone tell you otherwise"
the warmth of her voice
"what would us making love be like?" "wonderful"
half remembered music fills my mind
and my body arches against her phantom hands
"i've never been kissed like that before... do it again"
my skin still feels her touch
my mouth still holds her taste
"you are one of the most incredible women I have ever known..."
without even closing my eyes
her face appears before mine
"what do you see in my eyes?" "love"
her eyes gazing into mine
so full of love and desire
"all day long, i could smell your hair and feel your skin on mine"
i remember her all too well
"you filled something in me no one else ever has... or will"
she has invaded every part of me now
and I cannot tell anymore where i end and she begins
"why are you smiling?" "i've never been this happy..."
even as I weep in the moonlit darkness
my soul remembers laughter
"hold me... hold me tight against the world"
i claw at myself, trying to erase her touch
while my body yearns for hers
"i saw you asleep with your head on my shoulder... and it felt so right"
i clutch the sheets closer to my body
painfully aware of the emptiness next to me
where once she lay in my arms
"i'm crying because i feel alive"
burying my face in my pillow
i whisper her name over the screaming in my mind
as tears spill down my burning cheeks