Disclaimer: I really don't own Dragonball Z, nor would I want to. Even
though it's a vast enterprise and I could have oodles and oodles of mullah,
I think people would appreciate it as much as they do now. (Although, mine
wouldn't be so drawn out.) But I love making up stories and characters to
change and reform my favorite shows to my dreams.
------= Television references ""= Talking ''=Thinking =Telepathy (and Chapter brakes =o.O=)
Wow, it seems as though I'm apologizing a lot for late chapters. Life's funny, and it has it's quirky moments, sometimes when you fall you're only down for a few moments, others seem much more longer. Well, I had one of those falling moments, I fell for someone actually and then on top of that life likes to throw in a couple of curve balls. I'm just trying to regain rational thinking! =.=. If you have any quirky lift-ups and/or let downs, I'd love to hear from you, till then, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Eight
Dinner went rather quickly, even faster then Cassie could remember seeing. She sat stiffly next to Goku and Gohan, not really knowing what to do. Every once and a while she would be able to pick something off of her plate and take small bites, but everything seemed to be in utter chaos. Goku kept reaching past her for food, his firm arm brushing past her, causing her to lean back to avoid it, and unable to keep her face from burning several hues of red. Gohan tried his hardest to meet his father half way with dishes he thought his dad wanted before he could reach across her. It was almost completely ineffective as Goku was being as unpredictable as ever. Chi-Chi was constantly chastising him on his table manners, but it seemed almost habitual, like she'd done it so many times before she wasn't putting that much emphasis on it, that and she was probably just glad to have her husband back. Cassie's head swam long after dinner was over. Goku leaned back in his chair and stretched, giving a happy grunt.
"Ahhh! That was wonderful! And I'm so full!" Goku said in a loud, happily contented tone before he stood up and walked to the living room.
Cassie had glanced around for Master Roshi, even the turtle, but before she could really wonder where they went her attention was back to Goku. Both her and Gohan got up at the same time and followed Goku. Chi-Chi was the last to stand.
"And where to you think you're running off to now?" Chi-Chi asked in a stern voice as she crossed her arms and moved away from the table.
This caused both Gohan and Cassie to turn towards her about midway to Goku. They only turned their heads to look back at Goku, who had turned only slightly.
"I know what's been going on while I was out and we've got to get ready for the worst." Goku said, and in the silence of Chi-Chi shock he turned to Gohan.
"We'll go see the guys and then we'll go to the tower, from there I'll go see what I can do about Vageta, you ready?" Goku asked, his face open with a slight smile.
Gohan then nodded.
"Now just hold on a minute!" Chi-Chi cried out bewildered, shocked and obviously offended by their lack of courtesy.
"Sorry Chi-Chi, no time to talk! The food was delicious!" Goku said happily and from there everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Goku's hand went up to his head, the two fingers extended, touching the forehead.
'He's leaving.' Cassie thought.
'If he leaves, if he leaves now, how will he know? How will I help? WHY AM I HERE??!!' her mind screamed as her legs moved as though weighted by lead, her hand moved as though it weighed far more then it should.
It was like moving though water as her eyes began to brim with unshed tears, she couldn't breath, her head felt light and yet still her hand moved forward as Goku's hand moved towards Gohan.
'I'm not going to make it!' she thought panicking.
For a second she didn't feel anything, it was as though she grasped air, that feeling of failure seeping in before she felt as though she was suddenly jerked up and down, like an elevator stopping. She suddenly realized her face was buried in a thick cloth, moving slowly back she realized she was under a bewildered Goku's arm, his hand was still up and his fingers was still to his forehead. If he would've brought his arm down without thinking, he would've knocked her out with an elbow to the head. He looked down at her blinking, confused.
"Cassie?" he asked, the question being 'what are you doing here?'
She looked just as surprised as a single tear fell from her eye.
'If you leave, how will you know why I'm here?' she thought, but wasn't able to find her voice.
Something must have shown in her eyes, because then his eyes relaxed and a knowing smile graced his face and he laid one of his mammoth-hands on her head and playfully ruffled her hair. It was her turn to give a confused look, but it was almost pleading in a way, pleading for a conformation that he knew what was important. He gave a slight wink, in it was the suggestion that he'd address it later. It was like he knew what was going to happen next.
"GOKU!!! Oh my gosh! Goku! Is that really you??!" Krillian was practically crying as he ran up to him and in his shortness, hugged Goku's leg.
Goku laughed.
"Come on Krillian, you're embarrassing me!" Goku said in a kidding, playful tone as he then looked around at everyone.
They stood in the cargo part of the plane that took Goku to Master Roshi's. In there was Tien, Choutzu, Piccolo and Yamcha was flying the plane. They all did their welcome-backs to Goku, and Goku acknowledged them all, but seemed to stop at Piccolo. Goku's eyes then narrowed and he moved closer to him. Piccolo suddenly looked uneasy, everyone else had gone silent and serious.
'What happened next?! I sure hope there wasn't some kind of important surprise at this moment! Like they find out Piccolo was an imposter and everyone as injured, or something worse!' Cassie thought, her thoughts spinning at the possibilities of not knowing what was going to happen next.
"Pickame!" Goku suddenly said with simple happy face.
Pickame did an anime fall and Cassie practically fainted from mental fatigue. Piccolo pulled himself together as well as off the floor, once he had regained his composure, he cleared his throat.
"You can just call me Piccolo, Goku." He finally replied in his usual gruff manner.
Goku gave an innocent look of comprehension and nodded before giving a smile and a thumbs up.
"Okay!" he said happily as Piccolo slapped his forehead.
Cassie blinked several times.
'Pickame, I guess that was, that was the name of, um, does this mean the merger of Piccolo and Kame already happened?' Cassie thought, trying with all her might just to remember what happened.
She was deep in thought when Krillian suddenly ran up to her.
"Cassie! What are you doing here?!" Krillian cried out, grabbing her shoulders, causing her to jump and give a small yip.
"Yes Goku, why is the girl here? Don't you know this is no place for a non- combatant?" Piccolo said to Goku.
"Well, I hadn't exactly planned on her coming, she came, technically, on her own." Goku said still smiling and scratching the back of his head and giving a small glance at Cassie.
"I still want to know who she really is and where it is she came from. Girls don't mysteriously fall from the sky and fall into warrior's laps every day, now do they?" Tien said, his tone stone solid and his eyes, all three of them, weighted on Cassie.
Cassie had the sudden urge to hide behind Goku, she'd chance the embarrassment just to get away from the suspicion of that gaze.
"Yeah! But wouldn't it be wonderful if they did!!" Yamcha commented happily from the front.
"It's not a joke, Yamcha." Tien told him.
"I don't see what you're so happy about Yamcha, he did say 'warrior' after all, so you'd have nothing to look forward to!" Krillian jested happily to Yamcha, as though Tien hadn't said anything at all.
"Aren't you listening at all to what I'm saying?" Tien asked, his voice raising a notch.
"Hey! I'm a warrior! Really!" Yamcha's distraught voice carried from the cockpit.
"Sure you are." Krillian replied.
Tien gave out a harsh sigh and threw his hands up.
"That's it, I give up, if you can't listen to reason, why bother?" Tien said as he leaned back in his seat.
"Trust me that she's okay, will you Tien?" Goku said, his features went a little serious.
A surprised look came over Tien and his mouth slacked open just a bit. He then closed his mouth and his face relaxed.
"Alright, for you I won't further my inquiry," he said reluctantly, his eyebrows went down a notch and his eyes moved back to Cassie.
"however, I am going to keep an eye on her." He added on a lower note.
A second later there came a snort from front, after that Krillian covered his mouth as though to stifle a laugh. That's when Yamcha started snorting harder, as though he seriously was trying to stop from laughing, but was loosing miserably. Krillian started laughing through his hand. Tien looked back from Yamcha to Krillian.
"What's so funny?" a puzzled and slightly scornful look was on his face.
Yamcha was shaking his head and was waving back behind him, as though to signal to Tien that he couldn't talk right then. Tien then turned to Krillian.
"Don't look at me! It was all Yamcha!" Krillian said as tears were beginning to stream from his eyes.
"Just tell me what it is you are laughing at!" Tien said seriously.
Cassie glanced at Goku, who was wearing a soft smile as he watched his friends. He then looked in the corner of his eye to see Cassie watching him, he then gave her a smile before touching Gohan's shoulder.
"Well, we've got to get going, we'll meet you at the Watch Tower." Goku said giving a small wave.
Piccolo gave a slight nod, Choutzu was standing nervously away from Tien, Tien was getting up and moving towards Yamcha, Yamcha was trying to calm Tien only half-heartedly as if to avoid pain, Krillian was rolling on the floor and Gohan was only watching with slightly disturbed and ashamed look on his face. Cassie looked back at the scene and found herself smiling to herself too.
'To have such great friends as these, I'm so lucky if just to be here.' Cassie thought.
"You ready Cassie?" Goku asked as he was back into position, his hand on Gohan's shoulder and his other hand to his forehead.
She glanced back at Goku's kind face and smiled.
"Sure." She said and then placed her hand on his arm.
All happened simultaneously: She looked down with a slight blush and a tiny smile, he's smile widened a touch and then everything flashed by. The elevator feeling came and went before a strong breeze came by. Her head felt suddenly very light and as her ears popped she felt herself falling. She felt Goku's hand on her back, easily holding her steady.
"Whoa, you okay?" Goku said with a slight smile.
She nodded uncertainly and then tried to stand, Goku's hand helped greatly with that.
"What happened?" Gohan asked as his hands dropped, Cassie then realized Gohan wanted to help too.
"It was more then likely a reaction to the sudden pressure change." A deep voice said with a familiar accent.
Cassie swallowed numerous times before her dizziness faded and she was able to turn her head to see that it was Mr. Po-Po. He stood with his hands behind his back as usual, his simple smile and the expressionless beady eyes and Cassie felt uneasy to be near him.
'I don't know why, but he's kind of creeping me out. Different art style I suppose.' She thought to herself.
"Hum, is that so? Well, anyway, you're fine now. I'm going to see about Vageta and I'll be back soon, okay?" Goku said getting back into position.
Gohan nodded and Cassie looked down, feeling bad about feeling awkward around Po-Po before giving her uncertain nod.
"When I get back we should have plenty of time to talk, okay Cassie?" Goku said with a certain smile.
Cassie then looked up to Goku, the look uncertain, but then she gave a small smile and another, brisker nod.
Goku gave wider smile.
"Good. Well, I guess I'm off." He said cheerfully and then disappeared.
Cassie took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly.
"Are you feeling alright Ms., would you like to have a seat?" Po-Po then asked politely then turning, gave a slight bow while motioning towards some steps.
She looked surprised at first, then looked down sadly, a small blush forming.
'Why do I feel uncomfortable around him? He's just a nice man trying to help me out. What a creep I turned out to be.' She thought sadly, suddenly ashamed of herself.
"Yes, please." She managed to say in a small voice.
"Here. I'll help you." Gohan said placing his hand under one of her arms to keep her steady as she slowly walked to the steps.
As she walked to the steps she realized she knew this room. It was the steps leading to the time chamber. She then smiled to herself.
'At least I remember that much.' She thought.
"Well, I will make my leave. It was nice meeting you, you're such a nice young lady." Po-Po said to Cassie, making her feel even worse and her cheeks grew brighter.
"Thank-you, it was nice meeting you too, Mr. Po-Po." Cassie said in the nicest tone she could.
"Hmm," Po-Po said as the smile faded some from his face.
"The pleasure was mine, Ms." He then gave a bow and then turned and left.
"You met Mr. Po-Po too, Cassie?" Gohan asked her.
Before she could answer she heard voices becoming increasing louder.
"Stop nagging me woman! Kakarot, where is this chamber you were speaking of? I want to get in and get out as soon as possible!" the voice sent shivers down Cassie's spine, her head was steadily becoming clearer.
"Come on Vageta, Bulma was nice enough to make us this armor, the least you could do is thank her." Goku's voice came.
"I'm wearing it aren't I?! That's gratitude enough!" Vageta said as he rounded the corner, Goku steadily at his heals, they were both wearing the Saiyan armor Bulma had made for them.
Cassie managed to stand, even though wobbly, as Vageta approached. She didn't seem to find the strength to move as Vageta was suddenly upon her. He stopped mere feet from her, a disgusted look on his face.
"And what are YOU doing here?!" he said with his usual violent gruffness.
Terror seized her as she froze in front of him, not knowing what to do or say. Suddenly Vageta was walking to her and her legs refused to move.
"If you can't find enough intelligence to answer a simple question then step aside, women are of no use, I swear!" he snapped as he casually brushed her aside.
She hadn't seen him walk up, but Trunks was suddenly holding her up, he too wore the Saiyan armor Bulma made. She seemed frozen, the frightened look still on her face, only now tears were streaming down it. She soon realized she was she was shaking. He stood awkwardly holding her, both hands on her shoulders as she stood with her side leaning on him.
"Uh, don't cry, it's not, I mean, he doesn't mean anything by it," Trunks unsteady voice tried to comfort her before he looked back at Vageta.
"Father!" he said partially chastising, partially angry and partially embarrassed.
"What?! Are you going to stay here nursing some frail woman's emotions or are you coming to train because it doesn't matter either way with me!" Vageta called back impatiently.
Trunks only narrowed his eyes as Cassie began to cry a little harder, faint whimpers were torn from her throat.
"Vageta!" it was Goku's voice now and it held a faint tone of shock and disapproval.
"Pht, it's down right disgraceful, women have no practical function, their too emotional and irrational for my taste, I'm going in whither you do or not." Vageta sneered before turning and heading towards the door.
Cassie felt Goku more then seen him draw closer to her, her eyes remained clouded and fixed on the white tile of the watch tower's floor. One of his hands rested on her shoulder, next to Trunks'.
"Don't worry about her, I've got her. You go on with Vageta and I'll see you when you two are finished." Goku said to him in a light tone, but still held an air of disapproval and discontent.
"Right, okay. I guess I'll see you when we get back then." Trunks said uncertainly as he slowly let his arms move away as he walked back.
Goku's hand steered Cassie easily to him, allowing her to rest her head on his lower chest. She had her eyes held tightly shut, the tears continuously streaming down her face as her arms lay limp at her sides.
'Am I useless? Am I too emotional? Too irrational?' Cassie thought to herself and she began shaking harder.
Goku's arms wrapped around her shoulders and brought her closer.
'I've got to be! How else can you explain me not being able to stand up to Vageta! It looks so much easier on the show! I always wondered why he didn't stand up to Frieza, why'd he let it push him around, now I know. It was because Vageta knew he'd be crushed like a bug! It was because he was a coward, and now I know that I am one too!' Cassie thought in agony as she could feel her hands slowly clinching into fists.
"Don't let what Vageta say bother you, he wasn't talking about you personally, he just can't see what's so special about girls in particular. It because he's never seen a girl fight, other wise he'd know that it's the scariest thing in the world! I mean once Chi-Chi gets fired up, whoa! Watch out! Even I get scared just thinking about it!" Goku said in his usual open, innocent tone and with that he gave of a laugh, it was a deep sound that seemed to resonate in his chest.
The tears had stopped and Cassie couldn't help but smile, to further it she gave a small chuckle herself.
"He's right you know, once mom gets started it's practically war afterwards, and that means dad usually has to go fishing and I have to do homework." Gohan added in enthusiastically.
Goku then released his hold on her and allowed her to step back some so he could see her face and so that she could see his. He gave her a warm smile and as she wiped her eyes she gave a small embarrassed one back. Goku then looked to Gohan.
"Hey Gohan, why don't you talk Mr. Po-Po into making us something to eat, I'm starving!" he asked him with a broad smile.
"Huh? But we just got done eating not too long ago!" Gohan said with exasperation and disbelief.
"Yeah, I know, but I worked it off and my tank's on empty! Pleeeeease Gohan! I promise I won't eat for a while afterwards, cross my heart!" Goku said turning to Gohan with his hands pressed together as though he were preying and gave a little bow of his head.
"Alright, alright! You don't have to do all that, dad! I'll go see what I can do." Gohan said waving off his father, his cheeks glistening red.
"Ahhh! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it, Gohan, I mean it!" Goku said rubbing Gohan's head.
Gohan gave a small smile and he blushed even redder and gave a little laugh.
"It's nothing. I'll be back." He said moving from his father's hand and giving a small wave before turning and leaving.
Goku gave a large wave and cupped his other hand around the side of his mouth.
"Bring us back something tasty!" Goku called to him.
A small sweat drop could be seen before Gohan turned back with his ever reddening face and gave a small wave for confirmation before he continued on. Goku then let his hands fall to his waist and he then turned to Cassie, his smile fresh and new, his eyes held a relieved kind of hope and eagerness.
"Well, now that he's gone, we can talk. I want to hear all about you." Goku said happily as he gave a smile.
Cassie gave a small smile as she felt her face grow warm. Goku then draped his arm over her shoulder and brought her quickly close as he began walking her away from the chamber doors.
"Don't be shy! We're friends now, and there's nothing you can say that would make me feel any different about you!" he said bubbling with excitement.
"Really?" Cassie said looking up to him, her face revealed uncertainty.
"Yeah, I mean I know you're a good person, I can feel your heart and know that your intentions are just as good as you are. That's probably why I want to hear about you so much. I want to get to know you more as a friend." Goku said smiling kindly, his hands dropping to his sides as they walked together.
"But I lied to everyone, about who I am." Cassie said, her face unsure.
"Well, tell me what happened and we'll see what it is from there, okay?" Goku said, his smile still there, but his tone slightly more serious.
Cassie then told him her story, about everything that happened the night before she arrived on until the moment they were now in. Goku's expressions changed so very frequently throughout the story, she was finding it hard to continue without pauses, and she definitely couldn't keep up with them. When she was finished his face revealed nothing, just a small frown.
'He's going to be angry, or at the very least disappointed. The lie was such a stupid one, and it may have been insignificant, but it was a lie all the same. I feel so horrible for doing it.' Cassie's thoughts spun as she thought she was going to cry.
'Anybody but Goku, I'd have anyone else mad at me but him. It's not because he could beat me up if he wanted to, or kill me in an instant, but because I look up to him and want him to approve of me, I don't want to disappoint him, not him. He is, after all, my hero.' She thought still reading his face for some kind of anger or sadness, or even worse, he could show nothing and his interest in her would die.
He frowned a little more and Cassie took in a deep breath as she found she wasn't breathing.
"Wow. I had no idea." Goku's face was in sudden awe and understanding.
He then began nodding, as they had stopped walking and sat down on the steps of the time chamber.
"That's gotta be pretty tough! Being away from home like that! I mean you are definitely a LONG way from home! Whew! You should've told everyone, I'm sure they would've understood, you didn't need to make up some story about you. So how about when all this is through, we'll all get together and we'll hear your true story, okay? It's not good to keep secrets like that bottled up inside you, it's not healthy." Goku said with an open smile, and before Cassie could express her extreme happiness and gratitude Gohan ran up to them.
"Where were you guys? I've been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Po-Po's got food fixed for you, dad." Gohan said with only a hint of his being irritated with his father.
"Alright! Food! Let's go eat!" Goku called out happily.
"Goku, wait a second, I want to tell you something." Cassie said as they were getting up and Goku was walking away.
Goku looked back, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.
"I was thinking and I've finally came to a conclusion about something." She said, her voice low and slightly shaky.
"Okay, and what's that?" Goku said, now both Goku and Gohan had a look of interest on their faces.
"I've decided," she said, her voice a little scratchy.
She then cleared her throat and took a deep breath.
'My mind's made up and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. I want to help, more then anything I've ever wanted before in my life, but first I've got to be able.'
"I'm going to spend a year training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber!" she said, her voice determined and full of confidence and unwavering certainty.
Well, how was that? Yeah, for old time's sake I decided to leave it on a cliffy, I know you probably won't forgive me, but I couldn't help myself. Plus I've been working on this one chapter for two days now, and if I didn't stop it here, where else was it going to end. This is nearing it's end, I swear, and there is love in this story, I kid you not! It is a romance after all! And romance needs love to thrive or even exist for that matter! That's only my personal and unwavering opinion, mock me all you wish, but I am truly old fashioned and quite proud of it thank you very much. Ahhh now with that out of the way, I think it's the next chapter I write where she finds her love interest, this unwavering and totally devoted sort of love you can only hear about in fiction now-a-days tears stream down face as my spirit slowly wavers itself from my lifeless corpse, but I will hold stead fast to my dreams, for even if I should become an old maid, living in a cramped one-roomed apartment shared with fifty dozen cats I will believe that true love concurs all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! end of commentary AHHH! The story, yes, I'll write chapter nine as soon as possible. Just for fun, I say I can wrap it up in five more chapters. Let's see if I can live up to my own expectations =.=, or I'll die trying =o.O=;
------= Television references ""= Talking ''=Thinking =Telepathy (and Chapter brakes =o.O=)
Wow, it seems as though I'm apologizing a lot for late chapters. Life's funny, and it has it's quirky moments, sometimes when you fall you're only down for a few moments, others seem much more longer. Well, I had one of those falling moments, I fell for someone actually and then on top of that life likes to throw in a couple of curve balls. I'm just trying to regain rational thinking! =.=. If you have any quirky lift-ups and/or let downs, I'd love to hear from you, till then, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter Eight
Dinner went rather quickly, even faster then Cassie could remember seeing. She sat stiffly next to Goku and Gohan, not really knowing what to do. Every once and a while she would be able to pick something off of her plate and take small bites, but everything seemed to be in utter chaos. Goku kept reaching past her for food, his firm arm brushing past her, causing her to lean back to avoid it, and unable to keep her face from burning several hues of red. Gohan tried his hardest to meet his father half way with dishes he thought his dad wanted before he could reach across her. It was almost completely ineffective as Goku was being as unpredictable as ever. Chi-Chi was constantly chastising him on his table manners, but it seemed almost habitual, like she'd done it so many times before she wasn't putting that much emphasis on it, that and she was probably just glad to have her husband back. Cassie's head swam long after dinner was over. Goku leaned back in his chair and stretched, giving a happy grunt.
"Ahhh! That was wonderful! And I'm so full!" Goku said in a loud, happily contented tone before he stood up and walked to the living room.
Cassie had glanced around for Master Roshi, even the turtle, but before she could really wonder where they went her attention was back to Goku. Both her and Gohan got up at the same time and followed Goku. Chi-Chi was the last to stand.
"And where to you think you're running off to now?" Chi-Chi asked in a stern voice as she crossed her arms and moved away from the table.
This caused both Gohan and Cassie to turn towards her about midway to Goku. They only turned their heads to look back at Goku, who had turned only slightly.
"I know what's been going on while I was out and we've got to get ready for the worst." Goku said, and in the silence of Chi-Chi shock he turned to Gohan.
"We'll go see the guys and then we'll go to the tower, from there I'll go see what I can do about Vageta, you ready?" Goku asked, his face open with a slight smile.
Gohan then nodded.
"Now just hold on a minute!" Chi-Chi cried out bewildered, shocked and obviously offended by their lack of courtesy.
"Sorry Chi-Chi, no time to talk! The food was delicious!" Goku said happily and from there everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Goku's hand went up to his head, the two fingers extended, touching the forehead.
'He's leaving.' Cassie thought.
'If he leaves, if he leaves now, how will he know? How will I help? WHY AM I HERE??!!' her mind screamed as her legs moved as though weighted by lead, her hand moved as though it weighed far more then it should.
It was like moving though water as her eyes began to brim with unshed tears, she couldn't breath, her head felt light and yet still her hand moved forward as Goku's hand moved towards Gohan.
'I'm not going to make it!' she thought panicking.
For a second she didn't feel anything, it was as though she grasped air, that feeling of failure seeping in before she felt as though she was suddenly jerked up and down, like an elevator stopping. She suddenly realized her face was buried in a thick cloth, moving slowly back she realized she was under a bewildered Goku's arm, his hand was still up and his fingers was still to his forehead. If he would've brought his arm down without thinking, he would've knocked her out with an elbow to the head. He looked down at her blinking, confused.
"Cassie?" he asked, the question being 'what are you doing here?'
She looked just as surprised as a single tear fell from her eye.
'If you leave, how will you know why I'm here?' she thought, but wasn't able to find her voice.
Something must have shown in her eyes, because then his eyes relaxed and a knowing smile graced his face and he laid one of his mammoth-hands on her head and playfully ruffled her hair. It was her turn to give a confused look, but it was almost pleading in a way, pleading for a conformation that he knew what was important. He gave a slight wink, in it was the suggestion that he'd address it later. It was like he knew what was going to happen next.
"GOKU!!! Oh my gosh! Goku! Is that really you??!" Krillian was practically crying as he ran up to him and in his shortness, hugged Goku's leg.
Goku laughed.
"Come on Krillian, you're embarrassing me!" Goku said in a kidding, playful tone as he then looked around at everyone.
They stood in the cargo part of the plane that took Goku to Master Roshi's. In there was Tien, Choutzu, Piccolo and Yamcha was flying the plane. They all did their welcome-backs to Goku, and Goku acknowledged them all, but seemed to stop at Piccolo. Goku's eyes then narrowed and he moved closer to him. Piccolo suddenly looked uneasy, everyone else had gone silent and serious.
'What happened next?! I sure hope there wasn't some kind of important surprise at this moment! Like they find out Piccolo was an imposter and everyone as injured, or something worse!' Cassie thought, her thoughts spinning at the possibilities of not knowing what was going to happen next.
"Pickame!" Goku suddenly said with simple happy face.
Pickame did an anime fall and Cassie practically fainted from mental fatigue. Piccolo pulled himself together as well as off the floor, once he had regained his composure, he cleared his throat.
"You can just call me Piccolo, Goku." He finally replied in his usual gruff manner.
Goku gave an innocent look of comprehension and nodded before giving a smile and a thumbs up.
"Okay!" he said happily as Piccolo slapped his forehead.
Cassie blinked several times.
'Pickame, I guess that was, that was the name of, um, does this mean the merger of Piccolo and Kame already happened?' Cassie thought, trying with all her might just to remember what happened.
She was deep in thought when Krillian suddenly ran up to her.
"Cassie! What are you doing here?!" Krillian cried out, grabbing her shoulders, causing her to jump and give a small yip.
"Yes Goku, why is the girl here? Don't you know this is no place for a non- combatant?" Piccolo said to Goku.
"Well, I hadn't exactly planned on her coming, she came, technically, on her own." Goku said still smiling and scratching the back of his head and giving a small glance at Cassie.
"I still want to know who she really is and where it is she came from. Girls don't mysteriously fall from the sky and fall into warrior's laps every day, now do they?" Tien said, his tone stone solid and his eyes, all three of them, weighted on Cassie.
Cassie had the sudden urge to hide behind Goku, she'd chance the embarrassment just to get away from the suspicion of that gaze.
"Yeah! But wouldn't it be wonderful if they did!!" Yamcha commented happily from the front.
"It's not a joke, Yamcha." Tien told him.
"I don't see what you're so happy about Yamcha, he did say 'warrior' after all, so you'd have nothing to look forward to!" Krillian jested happily to Yamcha, as though Tien hadn't said anything at all.
"Aren't you listening at all to what I'm saying?" Tien asked, his voice raising a notch.
"Hey! I'm a warrior! Really!" Yamcha's distraught voice carried from the cockpit.
"Sure you are." Krillian replied.
Tien gave out a harsh sigh and threw his hands up.
"That's it, I give up, if you can't listen to reason, why bother?" Tien said as he leaned back in his seat.
"Trust me that she's okay, will you Tien?" Goku said, his features went a little serious.
A surprised look came over Tien and his mouth slacked open just a bit. He then closed his mouth and his face relaxed.
"Alright, for you I won't further my inquiry," he said reluctantly, his eyebrows went down a notch and his eyes moved back to Cassie.
"however, I am going to keep an eye on her." He added on a lower note.
A second later there came a snort from front, after that Krillian covered his mouth as though to stifle a laugh. That's when Yamcha started snorting harder, as though he seriously was trying to stop from laughing, but was loosing miserably. Krillian started laughing through his hand. Tien looked back from Yamcha to Krillian.
"What's so funny?" a puzzled and slightly scornful look was on his face.
Yamcha was shaking his head and was waving back behind him, as though to signal to Tien that he couldn't talk right then. Tien then turned to Krillian.
"Don't look at me! It was all Yamcha!" Krillian said as tears were beginning to stream from his eyes.
"Just tell me what it is you are laughing at!" Tien said seriously.
Cassie glanced at Goku, who was wearing a soft smile as he watched his friends. He then looked in the corner of his eye to see Cassie watching him, he then gave her a smile before touching Gohan's shoulder.
"Well, we've got to get going, we'll meet you at the Watch Tower." Goku said giving a small wave.
Piccolo gave a slight nod, Choutzu was standing nervously away from Tien, Tien was getting up and moving towards Yamcha, Yamcha was trying to calm Tien only half-heartedly as if to avoid pain, Krillian was rolling on the floor and Gohan was only watching with slightly disturbed and ashamed look on his face. Cassie looked back at the scene and found herself smiling to herself too.
'To have such great friends as these, I'm so lucky if just to be here.' Cassie thought.
"You ready Cassie?" Goku asked as he was back into position, his hand on Gohan's shoulder and his other hand to his forehead.
She glanced back at Goku's kind face and smiled.
"Sure." She said and then placed her hand on his arm.
All happened simultaneously: She looked down with a slight blush and a tiny smile, he's smile widened a touch and then everything flashed by. The elevator feeling came and went before a strong breeze came by. Her head felt suddenly very light and as her ears popped she felt herself falling. She felt Goku's hand on her back, easily holding her steady.
"Whoa, you okay?" Goku said with a slight smile.
She nodded uncertainly and then tried to stand, Goku's hand helped greatly with that.
"What happened?" Gohan asked as his hands dropped, Cassie then realized Gohan wanted to help too.
"It was more then likely a reaction to the sudden pressure change." A deep voice said with a familiar accent.
Cassie swallowed numerous times before her dizziness faded and she was able to turn her head to see that it was Mr. Po-Po. He stood with his hands behind his back as usual, his simple smile and the expressionless beady eyes and Cassie felt uneasy to be near him.
'I don't know why, but he's kind of creeping me out. Different art style I suppose.' She thought to herself.
"Hum, is that so? Well, anyway, you're fine now. I'm going to see about Vageta and I'll be back soon, okay?" Goku said getting back into position.
Gohan nodded and Cassie looked down, feeling bad about feeling awkward around Po-Po before giving her uncertain nod.
"When I get back we should have plenty of time to talk, okay Cassie?" Goku said with a certain smile.
Cassie then looked up to Goku, the look uncertain, but then she gave a small smile and another, brisker nod.
Goku gave wider smile.
"Good. Well, I guess I'm off." He said cheerfully and then disappeared.
Cassie took in a deep breath and then let it out slowly.
"Are you feeling alright Ms., would you like to have a seat?" Po-Po then asked politely then turning, gave a slight bow while motioning towards some steps.
She looked surprised at first, then looked down sadly, a small blush forming.
'Why do I feel uncomfortable around him? He's just a nice man trying to help me out. What a creep I turned out to be.' She thought sadly, suddenly ashamed of herself.
"Yes, please." She managed to say in a small voice.
"Here. I'll help you." Gohan said placing his hand under one of her arms to keep her steady as she slowly walked to the steps.
As she walked to the steps she realized she knew this room. It was the steps leading to the time chamber. She then smiled to herself.
'At least I remember that much.' She thought.
"Well, I will make my leave. It was nice meeting you, you're such a nice young lady." Po-Po said to Cassie, making her feel even worse and her cheeks grew brighter.
"Thank-you, it was nice meeting you too, Mr. Po-Po." Cassie said in the nicest tone she could.
"Hmm," Po-Po said as the smile faded some from his face.
"The pleasure was mine, Ms." He then gave a bow and then turned and left.
"You met Mr. Po-Po too, Cassie?" Gohan asked her.
Before she could answer she heard voices becoming increasing louder.
"Stop nagging me woman! Kakarot, where is this chamber you were speaking of? I want to get in and get out as soon as possible!" the voice sent shivers down Cassie's spine, her head was steadily becoming clearer.
"Come on Vageta, Bulma was nice enough to make us this armor, the least you could do is thank her." Goku's voice came.
"I'm wearing it aren't I?! That's gratitude enough!" Vageta said as he rounded the corner, Goku steadily at his heals, they were both wearing the Saiyan armor Bulma had made for them.
Cassie managed to stand, even though wobbly, as Vageta approached. She didn't seem to find the strength to move as Vageta was suddenly upon her. He stopped mere feet from her, a disgusted look on his face.
"And what are YOU doing here?!" he said with his usual violent gruffness.
Terror seized her as she froze in front of him, not knowing what to do or say. Suddenly Vageta was walking to her and her legs refused to move.
"If you can't find enough intelligence to answer a simple question then step aside, women are of no use, I swear!" he snapped as he casually brushed her aside.
She hadn't seen him walk up, but Trunks was suddenly holding her up, he too wore the Saiyan armor Bulma made. She seemed frozen, the frightened look still on her face, only now tears were streaming down it. She soon realized she was she was shaking. He stood awkwardly holding her, both hands on her shoulders as she stood with her side leaning on him.
"Uh, don't cry, it's not, I mean, he doesn't mean anything by it," Trunks unsteady voice tried to comfort her before he looked back at Vageta.
"Father!" he said partially chastising, partially angry and partially embarrassed.
"What?! Are you going to stay here nursing some frail woman's emotions or are you coming to train because it doesn't matter either way with me!" Vageta called back impatiently.
Trunks only narrowed his eyes as Cassie began to cry a little harder, faint whimpers were torn from her throat.
"Vageta!" it was Goku's voice now and it held a faint tone of shock and disapproval.
"Pht, it's down right disgraceful, women have no practical function, their too emotional and irrational for my taste, I'm going in whither you do or not." Vageta sneered before turning and heading towards the door.
Cassie felt Goku more then seen him draw closer to her, her eyes remained clouded and fixed on the white tile of the watch tower's floor. One of his hands rested on her shoulder, next to Trunks'.
"Don't worry about her, I've got her. You go on with Vageta and I'll see you when you two are finished." Goku said to him in a light tone, but still held an air of disapproval and discontent.
"Right, okay. I guess I'll see you when we get back then." Trunks said uncertainly as he slowly let his arms move away as he walked back.
Goku's hand steered Cassie easily to him, allowing her to rest her head on his lower chest. She had her eyes held tightly shut, the tears continuously streaming down her face as her arms lay limp at her sides.
'Am I useless? Am I too emotional? Too irrational?' Cassie thought to herself and she began shaking harder.
Goku's arms wrapped around her shoulders and brought her closer.
'I've got to be! How else can you explain me not being able to stand up to Vageta! It looks so much easier on the show! I always wondered why he didn't stand up to Frieza, why'd he let it push him around, now I know. It was because Vageta knew he'd be crushed like a bug! It was because he was a coward, and now I know that I am one too!' Cassie thought in agony as she could feel her hands slowly clinching into fists.
"Don't let what Vageta say bother you, he wasn't talking about you personally, he just can't see what's so special about girls in particular. It because he's never seen a girl fight, other wise he'd know that it's the scariest thing in the world! I mean once Chi-Chi gets fired up, whoa! Watch out! Even I get scared just thinking about it!" Goku said in his usual open, innocent tone and with that he gave of a laugh, it was a deep sound that seemed to resonate in his chest.
The tears had stopped and Cassie couldn't help but smile, to further it she gave a small chuckle herself.
"He's right you know, once mom gets started it's practically war afterwards, and that means dad usually has to go fishing and I have to do homework." Gohan added in enthusiastically.
Goku then released his hold on her and allowed her to step back some so he could see her face and so that she could see his. He gave her a warm smile and as she wiped her eyes she gave a small embarrassed one back. Goku then looked to Gohan.
"Hey Gohan, why don't you talk Mr. Po-Po into making us something to eat, I'm starving!" he asked him with a broad smile.
"Huh? But we just got done eating not too long ago!" Gohan said with exasperation and disbelief.
"Yeah, I know, but I worked it off and my tank's on empty! Pleeeeease Gohan! I promise I won't eat for a while afterwards, cross my heart!" Goku said turning to Gohan with his hands pressed together as though he were preying and gave a little bow of his head.
"Alright, alright! You don't have to do all that, dad! I'll go see what I can do." Gohan said waving off his father, his cheeks glistening red.
"Ahhh! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it, Gohan, I mean it!" Goku said rubbing Gohan's head.
Gohan gave a small smile and he blushed even redder and gave a little laugh.
"It's nothing. I'll be back." He said moving from his father's hand and giving a small wave before turning and leaving.
Goku gave a large wave and cupped his other hand around the side of his mouth.
"Bring us back something tasty!" Goku called to him.
A small sweat drop could be seen before Gohan turned back with his ever reddening face and gave a small wave for confirmation before he continued on. Goku then let his hands fall to his waist and he then turned to Cassie, his smile fresh and new, his eyes held a relieved kind of hope and eagerness.
"Well, now that he's gone, we can talk. I want to hear all about you." Goku said happily as he gave a smile.
Cassie gave a small smile as she felt her face grow warm. Goku then draped his arm over her shoulder and brought her quickly close as he began walking her away from the chamber doors.
"Don't be shy! We're friends now, and there's nothing you can say that would make me feel any different about you!" he said bubbling with excitement.
"Really?" Cassie said looking up to him, her face revealed uncertainty.
"Yeah, I mean I know you're a good person, I can feel your heart and know that your intentions are just as good as you are. That's probably why I want to hear about you so much. I want to get to know you more as a friend." Goku said smiling kindly, his hands dropping to his sides as they walked together.
"But I lied to everyone, about who I am." Cassie said, her face unsure.
"Well, tell me what happened and we'll see what it is from there, okay?" Goku said, his smile still there, but his tone slightly more serious.
Cassie then told him her story, about everything that happened the night before she arrived on until the moment they were now in. Goku's expressions changed so very frequently throughout the story, she was finding it hard to continue without pauses, and she definitely couldn't keep up with them. When she was finished his face revealed nothing, just a small frown.
'He's going to be angry, or at the very least disappointed. The lie was such a stupid one, and it may have been insignificant, but it was a lie all the same. I feel so horrible for doing it.' Cassie's thoughts spun as she thought she was going to cry.
'Anybody but Goku, I'd have anyone else mad at me but him. It's not because he could beat me up if he wanted to, or kill me in an instant, but because I look up to him and want him to approve of me, I don't want to disappoint him, not him. He is, after all, my hero.' She thought still reading his face for some kind of anger or sadness, or even worse, he could show nothing and his interest in her would die.
He frowned a little more and Cassie took in a deep breath as she found she wasn't breathing.
"Wow. I had no idea." Goku's face was in sudden awe and understanding.
He then began nodding, as they had stopped walking and sat down on the steps of the time chamber.
"That's gotta be pretty tough! Being away from home like that! I mean you are definitely a LONG way from home! Whew! You should've told everyone, I'm sure they would've understood, you didn't need to make up some story about you. So how about when all this is through, we'll all get together and we'll hear your true story, okay? It's not good to keep secrets like that bottled up inside you, it's not healthy." Goku said with an open smile, and before Cassie could express her extreme happiness and gratitude Gohan ran up to them.
"Where were you guys? I've been looking everywhere for you. I wanted to let you know that Mr. Po-Po's got food fixed for you, dad." Gohan said with only a hint of his being irritated with his father.
"Alright! Food! Let's go eat!" Goku called out happily.
"Goku, wait a second, I want to tell you something." Cassie said as they were getting up and Goku was walking away.
Goku looked back, an inquisitive look on his face.
"Yeah, what is it?" he asked.
"I was thinking and I've finally came to a conclusion about something." She said, her voice low and slightly shaky.
"Okay, and what's that?" Goku said, now both Goku and Gohan had a look of interest on their faces.
"I've decided," she said, her voice a little scratchy.
She then cleared her throat and took a deep breath.
'My mind's made up and there's nothing anyone can do to change it. I want to help, more then anything I've ever wanted before in my life, but first I've got to be able.'
"I'm going to spend a year training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber!" she said, her voice determined and full of confidence and unwavering certainty.
Well, how was that? Yeah, for old time's sake I decided to leave it on a cliffy, I know you probably won't forgive me, but I couldn't help myself. Plus I've been working on this one chapter for two days now, and if I didn't stop it here, where else was it going to end. This is nearing it's end, I swear, and there is love in this story, I kid you not! It is a romance after all! And romance needs love to thrive or even exist for that matter! That's only my personal and unwavering opinion, mock me all you wish, but I am truly old fashioned and quite proud of it thank you very much. Ahhh now with that out of the way, I think it's the next chapter I write where she finds her love interest, this unwavering and totally devoted sort of love you can only hear about in fiction now-a-days tears stream down face as my spirit slowly wavers itself from my lifeless corpse, but I will hold stead fast to my dreams, for even if I should become an old maid, living in a cramped one-roomed apartment shared with fifty dozen cats I will believe that true love concurs all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! end of commentary AHHH! The story, yes, I'll write chapter nine as soon as possible. Just for fun, I say I can wrap it up in five more chapters. Let's see if I can live up to my own expectations =.=, or I'll die trying =o.O=;