Chapter Twenty
Piccolo was determined to bring his daughter home. "Fine." He told Rhyne. "Then we will bring the human with us." He turned away.
Sabrina was a little more than shocked. "Where….are we going?" She looked to Jade. "I don't really want to leave my house…" She feared they were speaking of another planet.
"It's not far." Goku said, smiling. "The Lookout is where the Earth's Guardian lives."
"Guardian?" Sabrina couldn't fathom what they were saying.
"Just stop asking questions and gather some belongings." Piccolo yelled. "This might take a while!"
Sabrina looked at Jade, realizing the young girl was about to lose her temper. "Ok." Sabrina said. "Maybe this will be fun." She smiled at Jade. "We can give it a try?"
Hesitantly, Jade nodded. "Fine." Jade said. "But, when I decide it is time for us to come back, then we'll be released, right?"
Piccolo did not answer, but only grunted which they took as a yes.
Kaizer carried Tekoa, who was still unconscious, and headed to the Lookout.
Jade stood, staring at the people surrounding her. "Was I able to fly? Before?"
"Yes." Rideria said, taking a protective place along side her little sister. "We would fly for hours and train."
"Train?" Jade asked. "What were we training for?"
Rikola laughed. "Well, Rideria and I trained to become better fighters. You trained because father made you!" Both Rideria and Rikola laughed, but the joke was lost on Jade. She only smiled, wondering how it would be to have grown up in such a family.
Piccolo picked his daughter up and carried her, while Goku took Sabrina. Krillin was left carrying two duffel bags, which had supplies for both Sabrina and Jade.
Sabrina held her eyes shut at first, scared to death. But, slowly she opened them, glancing around at the clouds. "This is incredible." She said.
"Yep." Goku smiled. "It's the only way to fly." He did a couple of dipping moves, making Sabrina feel as if she were on a roller coaster. She squealed, partly out of fun, partly out of fear.
Once they landed, Kami hurried up front.
"Rhyne!" He shouted and rushed to hug the young girl. She allowed him to do this, but was not very responsive. Instantly, Kami knew something was terribly wrong.
"Rhyne, my dear. Don't you remember me?" Kami asked, glancing at Piccolo, who shook his head.
"She has lost all memories of her life." Piccolo explained.
Kami gasped. "Of course! I was so foolish! That makes what the Dragon said fit perfectly!"
"Dragon?" Jade asked. "You have a talking dragon up here?" She grinned, thinking the idea was fascinating.
Kami shook his head. "I'll explain it all in good time, my dear."
Jade wasn't sure why, but she liked this older man.
"Right now, we need to figure out what to do with Tekoa." Kaiser said, standing by the injured Namek, who lay on the floor.
"I assumed he would be dead by now." Kami said, uncharacterically unfeeling.
"Apparently, he told Gohan that Rhyne jumped from the cliff." Rideria answered. "That she did it….because of…well, because she loved him and not Gohan. And this would be displeasing to Father."
"Preposterous!" Kami shouted. "Not only is that a bold fabrication, but I know Rhyne would never do something so selfish!"
"That's what I said." Piccolo replied hostilely.
Gohan hung his head down. "But, what if I drove her to it? What if I pressured her too much and drove her away?"
Piccolo walked up to Gohan, forcing his onetime student to face him. "Then, tell me, truthfully…Did something happen….between the two of you that could have caused her any additional grief? Or regret?"
Gohan shook his head. "I love her, Piccolo. I promised you, that we would wait until we were married. And that's what we planned….to be married.…."
Jade found herself looking at this dark-haired young man. He was tall, handsome, and seemed to genuinely be able to express his emotions. She was almost in tears, when Sabrina came up behind her and took her by the hand. Squeezing lightly, Sabrina smiled at Jade, hoping to reassure her.
"Gohan…" Piccolo said, putting both of his hands upon Gohan's broad shoulders. "You are just like your father….entirely too trusting of others to do what is right….always wanting to give that one extra chance for redemption. That is one of the traits Rhyne found so enduring. Even if what Tekoa said were true, it would still not be your fault. Rhyne is grown. She is intelligent enough to be make her own decisions." He smiled slightly. "And I don't think any of my daughters would hesitate to speak their minds to me, whether we shared the same belief or not."
"It would be my opinion that her memory loss would be a great asset to Tekoa" Kami said. "Because the only person who knows what happened, is Rhyne. And until we get her back, we won't know."
Rikola stepped forward. "I can find out." She said, smiling at her father. "Let me use my mind…to try and see what the past held for my sister as she stood on that mountaintop cliff."
"It's too risky." Piccolo said. "For Rhyne….she is not herself, therefore she cannot put up the necessary barriers…we could do more damage than good."
"What about Tekoa?" Rideria asked. "Let Rikola take a shot at his mind. It should hold the same memories….."
"He's too injured." Piccolo said. "Until he is healed, it could kill him."
"And you have a problem with that?" Kaizer asked angrily. "Cause I sure don't!" He glared at the body still lying on the tile floor. "I know what happened…in my gut….and he's to blame."
Piccolo hesitated for a moment, feeling the same thing that Kaizer felt. Deep down inside, he knew all this time was lost because of Tekoa. "Alright…..give it a try." He said to Rikola. "But, pull out if you feel he's slipping away."
Rikola nodded, kneeling down beside the Namekian. She placed a hand on his heart, and immediately jumped backwards, landing on her butt.
"What is it?" Piccolo shouted.
Rikola looked up at her father, almost ashen as her lip quivered slightly. "He's….he's dead."
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