Dragon Ball © Toriyama Akira, Shuheisha, Inc.
Chapter 18: Tales of the Dragon's Pearl
There was nothing hurt a mother than losing her beloved children. If it wasn't because she still had another two and had to become strong for their sake, Chichi would be losing her sanity. The loss of her most cheerful boy, Goten, had crushed her heart beyond words but seeing how Tenten went hysterical most of the time was crushing her soul.
She caressed her daughter's cheek, tucking some of the hair away from her face, and kissed her forehead. The hospital just injected some tranquiliser to Tenten who went hysterical after hearing the news about the android attack and she was in a deep sleep at that moment. She wouldn't blame her because she was just an eleven-year-old girl who witnessed the death of her twin brother.
"Okaa-san, don't you want to take a break? I can look after her," Gohan said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"I'm okay, Son," Chichi replied with a smile. "Tenten can be awake at any moment now and she will need me."
"Okay. I guess I'll go out and buy us some dinner then," Gohan said.
"Thank you, Son." Sighing, she reverted her eyes back to her daughter. When Goku passed away due to a heart attack, the only thing that enabled her to live her life was her children. She didn't know what she would do without them. Even when her father and Goten was killed, Gohan and Tenten were her only reason to stay alive. Looking down to her chest, Chichi slightly hover her hand over it, then sighed. There were too many things happening so she couldn't stress over something petty.
"Okaa-san…" Tenten whispered, eyes searching for her. Chichi quickly rose from her chair to check her.
"Yes, Sweetie. I'm here."
"Onii-san?"
"He's out to buy some dinner. He'd be back before you know it," she replied. "We're in the hospital," she added when Tenten started to glanced at her surroundings.
"I… I'm sorry, Okaa-san…"
"What for?" Chichi asked her.
"For… being weak." Tenten gulped as if she swallowed her tears. "I must be an embarrassment to you and Otou-san."
"Shh, what are you talking about, Sweetie. You already are stronger than kids your age."
"Because I'm Otou-san's daughter… That's the only reason I'm physically stronger but what's good about it…?" Tenten slowly turned her head to the window, tears trickling from her eyes. "What's the meaning if I can't use the power well. It shouldn't be given to a weak kid like me…"
"Tenten, listen…" Chichi held down her voice, but not losing her firmness. She waited until Tenten turned her head onto her and continued, "We were all born weak. Not even your father was born strong. He had faced many adversities, even losing many things precious to him before he became what he was."
"But I don't want to lose Goten to become stronger!"
"I don't want to lose my husband and son to become strong myself, Tenten!" Chichi firmly replied. "I love them so much that I could barely stand when I have to face it…" Chichi took a deep breath to maintain her emotion. "But I love you and Gohan too much that I want to be strong for you." Chichi caressed Tenten's cheek.
"Love…" The word tasted foreign in Tenten's tongue but strangely washed her chest with warmth and comfort. "You always said that it is the strongest force in the universe. Is it true?"
Chichi nodded. "Yes, because it's the thing that makes us go beyond our limit."
"Just like the tales you always told us?" Tenten asked again, eyes staring at her as if she was asking for something.
A smile grazed her lips when she realised what her daughter wanted. "Do you want me to tell you the story again?"
Tenten weakly smiled when she nodded.
Long ago, in a big lake near Mount Paozu, there lived a woman and her son. They were very poor but very happy. Every day, the boy hiked into the mountain to cut grass. This he gathered and sold to the villagers for fodder and fuel. With this very little earnings, the mother and her son managed to survive.
One year a terrible drought struck the land. Life became even harder for the family. The boy went out as usual, every day, gathering what little he could. He made less and less money. After a while, his mother became ill from hunger.
Not wanting his mother to die from the illness, the boy made a wish.
The next day, the boy was home with the greenest sack of grass the villagers had ever seen. He sold his grass for more money than he had ever made before. Then he returned home and fed his mother a hearty meal. It went on the next day, the day after, and the day after that.
Curious about how the boy managed to get grass with such quality, his mother followed her son to the mountain. When the boy reached a dried grass field, the mother saw the boy took out a glowing pearl from his pocket, murmuring something, and suddenly, the field was turning green.
Seeing what happened, the mother asked the boy about what happened and the boy told the mother about the magic pearl he got out of nowhere upon wishing for his mother's health. The mother decided to use the pearl to save their village from the drought.
They bury the pearl near their well and suddenly, their well was filled with water. They saved the village from the drought that way. Whatever they needed, the pearl created for them. They no longer had any worries. Even though they shared the water for free, the neighbours noticed the change in their fortune.
Thus, the neighbours who sold the water for money became curious. They watched the boy took the pearl from the well, then they crowded him. "We shall have your pearl," one of them said. It sparked arguments and the mother shielded her son when they were about to snatch it. The moment they hit the mother, the son was angered and put the pearl in his mouth.
"Give it to us!" cried the men. But the boy swallowed the pearl instead.
The boy felt a burning sensation in his stomach. Suddenly, a loud crack of thunder sounded. Wind roared. Lightning flashed. Rain poured from the heavens. The earth trembled, and people fell to the ground, grateful that their drought had ended.
But now they were astonished at the sight before them, for the boy began to grow. Larger and larger he grew, and soon scales appeared on his back. Horns sprouted from his head. His eyes grew and bulged from his head. The woman wept as she watched her son turn into a dragon. She knew the pearl was to blame.
He turned towards them. They saw that his eyes had grown red and they were glowing. The rage of seeing his mother beaten engulfed him in so much hatred.
The boy roared as he soared into the sky, in a deep voice he himself didn't recognise. Seeing the wound in his mother's body, the dragon roared in anger and was about to destroy the village. However, the mother stopped him. She knelt before him and begged her son to never harm the village because it was the village where she spent her happiest time with her son. The boy stopped his movement when he saw tears flowing free from his mother's eyes.
"I will always love you, my son. I will always love you no matter what," said the mother as she caressed her son's scaly skin. "And no matter how you look. You'll always be my son."
Red tears filled the dragon's eyes. As he cried bitterly, the dark clouds gathered and the thunder boomed as the skies cried with him in a downpour so fierce that the villagers gathered tightly together to protect themselves from its stinging blast.
"Remember me!" He boomed like thunder, as he slowly rose into the air through the sheets of heavy rain. "Behold the gift of the pearl!" roared the dragon. "The gifts of the pearl are for all people and not just a greedy few!"
There was a distant rumble, which grew louder and louder. The people on the riverbank froze and stared. A wall of water racing down to the riverbed, sweeping rocks and dry tree-stumps in its path. Thunder struck again and formed a large hole where the river ends, created a giant lake in the middle of the village.
The people wept with joy. They dance and sang in the rain. At last, the great drought had ended. And the crops would soon grow again. Only the mother was sad. She sat at the lakeside and blew a kiss towards the water. "Farewell, my son," she called. "I will always love you, no matter where you are…"
And from then on, the villagers celebrated the day as Harvest Festival Day. On the very day, the lake was glowing and it increased the number of crops showered by its water. For many years, until the mother's death, she visited the lake daily and spoke with her child, the guardian dragon.
"I wonder if the pearl is the same thing as the Dragon Balls," Tenten muttered.
Chichi chuckled. "According to your father, the Namekians made the Dragon Balls. It can't possibly the same thing." Chichi patted the blanket that covered Tenten.
"I wonder if I can be as brave as the mother," Tenten said, "She faced the thing that beyond her strength out of her loves for her son."
"That's why I told you that love is the greatest force, sweetie. It makes every mother stronger than any men."
"Even stronger than Otou-san?" Tenten asked.
Chichi chuckled as she poked her nose. "Yes. Even Master Roshi has admitted it." Chichi winked and made Tenten weakly giggled. "When you're in your weakest state, remember the people that you love, the one you want to protect no matter what, Sweetie… It will grant you the strength beyond what you can think of."
"People that I love…" Tenten repeated with a smile. "I will remember that, Okaa-san…"
Chichi smiled as she caressed Tenten's forehead. Knowing that her daughter was still sleepy from the ways her eyes half-lidded close, so Chichi pulled the blanket up to Tenten's chin and lovingly brushed her hairs. "Rest, Sweetie. I'll be here while you're sleeping."
"Okay…" Tenten's small hand was reaching for hers. "I love you, Okaa-san…"
With a smile, Chichi held her hand tighter. "I love you too, Sweetie."
An hour passed by and Chichi started to wonder why Gohan took so long to buy lunch. Something cold poked the back of her neck and she couldn't help but feel restless. The tap noises coming from the hall were getting louder each passing second, followed by a deafening explosion.
The explosion could only mean a thing, and that was the coming of the androids.
AN: So, the legend is actually taken from the ancient Chinese legend called 'The Dragon's Pearl' but I modified it a little for this story. Those who knew the story might have noticed the differences. XD
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