Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.
Author's Notes: I know you all have been waiting for this for a while, but it's just now that I've been able to work on it. I got all A's and one B for my final grades though. And that one B was just because I didn't study for the class that much. So, congrats to me. Hope you all did well on your finals, since I think most of you are students. I know this chapter isn't as long as some of my other recent chapters, but next chapter is the Budoukai. I just wanted something leading in, since my last chapter represented two years previous. I hope you all enjoy. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but I WILL be starting on a new story, a kind of summer project. It's going to be a parody of both DBZ and DBZ fanfiction, mostly the romance genre. I've really been looking forward to writing it, so I hope you all check it out once I've got the first of it posted.
Chapter 33: Unload on Me
Jita sat at the table across from Chichi and put her cup down. "I don't know what it is, Chichi, but I don't think I'll ever be able to get my tea as good as yours."
Chichi smiled. "You haven't had as much practice as I have. Besides, I noticed in your kitchen that you use instant tea now."
Jita looked up indignantly. "It's all I have time for. Besides, I use tea leaves sometimes. I only use the instant when I'm making it for…"
"The hotel you call a house?" Chichi broke in.
Jita smiled wryly. "It's hard to find a place to live in town, especially for young people." Jita's face clouded. "Especially for martial artists," she said quietly. Then her voice shot up in a flare of temper. "Do you know that insurance agencies charge more for martial artists?"
Chichi nodded sagely. "Don't I know it. Not too long ago, I tried to get a house in a suburban community. I just got tired of living in the woods, and unlike some people, I can't teleport wherever I go." Jita smiled at this. "So I wanted to get a place closer to… well… civilization, but as soon as the realtors and insurance company looked into our lives, and saw how much we've had to pay in various damages, the price shot up to twice as much." Chichi sighed. "Well, I've here for so long, I guess I can live here for the rest of my life."
"Well, I don't see what the problem is. If the buildings keep breaking, make stronger buildings. I mean, sure, as soon as the planet's in trouble, bring out the strong people, but Kami forbid that the strong ones should catch a break every now and then. I work so hard just to teach and strengthen my human students, but how am I supposed to motivate them when they know they'll just be obligated to protect an uncaring public."
Chichi smiled. "You're preaching to the choir, Jita."
Jita broke from her tirade, knowing that Chichi had indeed suffered the most from the lot of a strong person, simply by having them in her family. Jita took a calming sip of tea, steadying her nerves. She watched the tea swirl in her cup. She frowned. Somehow, she was only reminded of fortune-tellers, which only reminded her of that night two years before, which just made her sick to her stomach. Everything seemed to remind her of that night, when everything had come so close to unraveling. When her hope for salvation had died. Everything reminded her of that night. That night…
YOU'VE CARRIED THE CURSE OF YOU FAMILY TO YOUR HUSBAND AND CHILD. YOU HAVE THIS FAMILY ON STOLEN TIME. ONCE YOU ARE GONE, THEY WILL BE GLAD. AS IF YOU WOULD SEE THEM IN HELL… WELL, MAYBE THE BOY…
Jita's stomach lurched as she tried to conceal the shudder that always ran through her whenever the voice came back. Lately, most of the time she couldn't even tell the difference between the voice talking to her and the mere remembrance of what he'd said. Both had become just as vivid, and just as frightening.
Jita eyes hardened at the admission to herself. The weakness of fear had unrelentingly followed her for her entire life, death, and life again. And it wasn't fair. Well… maybe it was, but that wasn't the point.
WELL, MAYBE THE BOY…
That's what truly scared her. She didn't truly care about herself anymore. She knew that she had brought all this on herself, but her unforgivable misdeeds in life and her blatant stupidity in death. She knew she deserved unending torture, and wasn't complaining anymore. She would just enjoy the rest of the "borrowed time" she had. But the boy. Jiten. The voice joked and lied about a lot of things, but never about people's souls. He took that too seriously. His entire life centered on souls. So what did her mean about Jiten? Surely he had no claim over her son…
"So how's Jiten doing?"
Jita's eyes shot up in a near-imperceptible moment of surprise, quickly swept away. Jita formed her mouth in a sad stern line. "He's one of the few first-graders to EVER be suspended from school."
Chichi's brow furrowed. "How did THAT happen?"
-----
Jita walked into the somber office from the obnoxiously cheerful hallway, which was decorated with crepe border, primary-colored sheet paper, and laminated cut-outs of sentient spectacled worms crawling out of apples and reading books. Jita shuddered. Didn't those people realize how disgusting that was when you actually thought about it?
"Can I help you?" asked a prim lady from behind a cluttered and heavily laden desk. Print-outs of e-mail forwards and cut-out comic strips were haphazardly taped around the wall next to her desk, all featuring tongue-in-cheek humor about the hard work and underappreciation of teachers and secretaries. The woman had a pleasant smile on her face, yet with a hard edge that seemed to say 'if you dare to patronize me, don't even bother bringing your brat back here.' Jita understood the look only too well. She, after all, was a teacher herself.
In a firm voice that sent the message 'look, neither of us are ditzes, so let's just get down to business', Jita said, "I received a call earlier about my son. I believe we've spoken on the phone before. My name is Son Jita."
The secretary's eyes shifted to a more judgmental standpoint, looking Jita over with the practiced eyes of someone who is used to the apple not falling far from the tree. Her tone grew a tad colder. "Ah, yes. Jiten's in there, Mrs. Son." She pointed to the door right behind her. A gold plate was labeling the door. Jita was barely able to discern the name 'Mr. Write' from the scratched surface.
"Thank you," Jita replied, just as coldly. If this woman wanted to be treated with respect, then she should do the same to others. Jita swept past the woman and walked up to Mr. Write's office, having to stop herself from just entering without knocking. She could never get used to that cultural practice.
"Come in," she heard an amiable voice answer. Jita entered, and immediately sought out the reason for her visit to the school, in the middle of the day. There Jiten was, sitting in a functional chair that looked like it had seen better days. His arms were folded and a look of pure defiance was plainly written on his childish round face. Jita almost smiled at the look so often mirrored by herself and her brother, but now was not the time to smile. Now was the time to frown, give looks of disapproval, say stern words, dole out punishment, teach him some manners . . . Dear Kami, how she hated it. She wished so badly that he would just behave and learn his lessons and respect his elders, or at least just play by the rules once in a while. Then maybe he could avoid some of the hard lessons she'd had to face.
"Mrs. Son, so good to meet you again," the older man said, clearing away, Jita noticed with a smirk, a game of solitaire on his computer. "I just wish it were under better circumstances."
Jita merely nodded her head slightly. "What has Jiten done, Mr. Write?"
Write cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Well, it seems you son got in a scuffle with another boy… from the seventh grade."
Jita's alarms instantly went up as she realized the consequences of such a happening. "Is the other boy alright?" Which, of course, meant 'is the other boy still living?'
Write gave a weak smile. "Ah… yes… just a bloody nose. Your son is, after all, only six. He probably just caught the boy off-guard."
Jiten hmphed at this, but Jita silenced him with one stern look. But Jita was extremely relieved at Jiten's control, even during a display of a lack thereof. "How did the incident begin?"
"Well… I… um…"
"He made fun of my tail," Jiten cut into the principal's blathering. "And then he pulled it. And he had this stupid grin on his face. I had to do something about it."
"Um… ah… yes… Fighting being a clear violation of the school rules, and a rather serious one, Jiten will have to be suspended for two days."
"Good!" Jiten yelled. "I don't wanna go to this stupid school anyway!"
"Jiten!!" Jita yelled, a murderous glare fixed on her son.
Jiten matched it with one of his own. "The other boy isn't getting suspended! He's just getting detention 'cause he's a stupid ball player!"
Suddenly Mr. Write's sputtering died. "Now, where did you hear that, young man?!"
"I was sitting right out here! Your stupid walls are too thin!"
"Jiten, wait just outside the door," Jita cut in.
"But, mom…"
Jiten trailed off when he felt the tiniest upsurge in his mother's ki. Not enough to even rustle the papers on the principal's desk, but enough to tell Jiten that his mother was being serious. With the pouty glare still firmly in place, Jiten stomped outside the door and slammed it.
Mr. Write collected himself a bit, though he was still a bit unnerved at Jita's intense stare. "You must realize, Mrs. Son, that this is not the first sign of violence in your son. He does not get along well with other children. His grades may be excellent, but his conduct is unacceptable."
"I DO read the notes his teachers send home, and I do remember the various phone calls, Mr. Write."
"But this violence has taken it to a new level," Mr. Write resumed. "It is not uncommon for an older child to be arrested for attacking another student. I am extremely disturbed by the unprovoked attack from a child so young…"
"So, the older boy didn't pull Jiten's tail," Jita's voice again cut in, this time refusing to be ignored. "You said the incident was unprovoked."
Mr. Write frowned. "I hardly think that just a little tail pull is justification for a brutal attack. None of my animal students with tails react that way…"
Jita leaned forward a bit, infuriated at the stupidity she was hearing. "I'm sure none of these sentient animals feel extreme pain when their tails are pulled. My son does. And maybe some of the animals should react the way my son did. You are speaking nonchalantly of harassment and a violation of personal space."
"I'm not sure how things are done in your dojo, Mrs. Son, but we do not encourage violence here. If there is a problem, we talk it through and dole out punishment when needed. We believe in discipline here, no the students taking matters in their own hands."
Jita's arms folded. "It is very clear that you don't know how things are done in my dojo or even about martial arts in general. If you did, you would know that martial arts is all about discipline. Our primary lessons are discipline, control, and especially when not to fight. However, we also teach children to stand up for themselves. Letting students harass each other without punishment of the bully or allowing the victim to defend himself does not discourage violence, it only encourages it."
The principal's lips were very white, while the rest of his face was red. "I can see that we cannot reach an agreement about this. I will cut off a day from Jiten's suspension, so he'll stay home for one day. If there are any more outbursts from him, other measures may have to be taken."
Jita's face was a stony mask. "I agree to this punishment. But if I hear that my son has been harassed again, I'm taking it up with the school board." And with that she swept out of the room, not giving the principal time enough to reply. Her son greeted her on the other side of the door, grinning at her for telling Mr. Write off. A single look of disapproval changed his attitude. Jiten prepared himself for a scolding, but Jita remained silent, even as she was signing his check-out sheet and discipline form.
As the two walked out of the building, Jiten started to say something, but was silenced again in surprise as his mother grabbed him up with one arm and began flying home. Jiten slumped in her grasp. He knew he was in trouble when he wasn't even allowed to fly under his own power. Flying was his favorite thing to do in the whole wide world, even when it was as mundane a journey as flying home from school. Jiten tried to shift his backpack to a more comfortable position, but the grip his mother had on him made it impossible. He closed his eyes in misery and simply waited to get home.
Goten was just walking outside when Jita landed between the house and the dojo, a still pouting Jiten clutched tightly to her side. Motioning to Goten with her head, she walked into the house and set Jiten firmly on his bed.
"Jiten, look at me," Jita said in a dead calm.
He looked down at the blue carpet, stubbornly and fearfully avoiding her eyes.
"Jiten," Goten said a bit more sharply. Jiten's eyes snapped up in surprise at the change from his father's usually cheerful tone. The twin disapproving glares of his parents met him, and he glared right back. It wasn't his fault anyway. And it wasn't fair.
Jita judged the boy's resolve. She hated to view her son as an opponent, but it seemed to be the case everyday. "Goten, it seems our son has felled a sixth-grader and gotten himself suspended from school," she said in light disdain.
"It was a seventh-grader," Jiten corrected her with a smirk. Then he got one good look at his father and silenced himself. He gripped his pants to keep his hands from shaking and to wipe the clammy sweat away. Kami, his dad looked scary when he was angry.
"You know what we've said about attacking people, especially those that are weaker than you, Jiten. You don't want to be responsible for anyone getting hurt," Goten said in a tight voice.
"It wasn't my fault anyway," Jiten mumbled bitterly. "He pulled my tail." Jiten absentmindedly fidgeted with his tail, still feeling the sore spot where the boy had given it a good yank.
Jita sat next to the boy, pulling the tail out of his hands. That was a bad habit. "Did your Uncle Vegeta not teach you to keep your tail around your waist so that wouldn't happen?"
"I guess," he mumbled. But then he realized what he was doing, that he was admitting defeat, and that his parents were right, and that it was his fault. "But it's not fair! It's not my fault! He was asking for it! He's just a weakling human, anyway! I'm a lot better than him! And at least I have a tail, unlike some Saiyans!"
Considering the superiority of Saiyan hearing, and the complete stunned silence in the room, a cell division would have probably been heard. Jiten, for his part, was unashamed of his audacity. He knew he was in for it, but he didn't care. He'd only said the truth.
-----
"So then I left the room," Jita concluded, taking a sip of the newly hot tea. "I couldn't stay in there any longer, not and keep from doing something I'd regret. I just let Goten handle it. He said he gave Jiten a serious talk, but everyone has given Jiten serious talks. I don't know how much it helps."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Chichi said offhandedly. "I mean, how good were you at authority when you were a child."
Jita just looked at her. "At least I knew when to quit."
"And when did you know when to quit," Chichi looked at her over the edge of her cup.
Jita considered, and then smiled slightly. "All right. So it was when I was being half-killed for my insolence. I don't want to do that to Jiten, though."
Chichi laughed. "And do you think I want you to do that to Jiten? You're a good mother, and you're doing the best you can. Jiten's just got to figure things out for himself. How's he doing now, buy the way?"
"Back in school," Jita replied. "Still angry. Especially since we're not allowing him to compete in the Budoukai."
Chichi's eyes widened. "He's been looking forward to that for weeks, ever since it was announced.
Jita shook her head. "I hated to do it, but he's been nothing but trouble lately. He talks back to me at every opportunity. We tell him to stay in his room, but he gets out as soon as we're not looking. Nothing I or Goten does helps. It's like… when I scold him, I see that he wants to follow my words, but then something snaps in him. He becomes defiant. It's like… there's two of him. I can't figure it out."
Chichi shook her head at the younger mother's worries. "I think you're reading too much into it. I think he's being a normal child. He may not be as responsible with his strength as you'd like, but that will come with age. I doubt he's going to go start blasting people indiscriminately."
Jita let out a heavy breath. "Maybe you're right. The last thing I want to become is a mother who's always fretting about her child."
Chichi frowned slightly and cleared her throat, changing the subject. "So, Jita, I heard there was some trouble with the Budoukai."
Jita buried her face in her hands. "Don't get me started on that. That Budoukai is getting to be more trouble that it's worth. Yes, I understand the need for it, and the tradition that goes back for centuries, and I respect that. But I don't see the point in all the politics. The registration is getting more than I can stand."
Chichi looked up in surprise. "Registration? In years before we've just shown up and signed in. Anyone can participate in the preliminaries."
"Apparently this is a new development. I'd like to just show up on the day, but the people in charge of registration said that the number of participants has gotten so large that it has gotten unwieldy. So… they're weeding them out beforehand."
"Well, that doesn't sound too bad. It sort of makes sense," Chichi tried to reason.
Jita's eyes flashed in anger. "Oh, really. It may not sound so bad at first, until you know the criteria by which they're judging the combatants."
-----
Jita walked out of the main hallway into her cluttered office. She usually made sure not a speck of dust remained on her desk for more than a day, but lately she'd been too busy with one thing or another. Even when she could get more than two minutes together, she hardly felt like cleaning.
She did slightly wish that she'd had some time to straighten out the area, for there in the middle of the room stood two men. She recognized the blonde man from Budoukais of the past, but the other rather unpleasant looking one was unfamiliar. He had the smug expression Jita had seen many times before, usually in the figures of authority in Frieza's Army. And in Frieza himself. Jita frowned slightly at the train of thought, but forced a thin smile. She'd learned the art of forcing smiles long ago.
"Hello. I am Son Jita, Spider Master. What can I do for you?"
The blonde man stuck out his hand and smiled, his eyes seeming to shine even behind his dark glasses. "Jita-san? I am Rayban. Tint Rayban. You've probably seen me as the announcer at the Tenkaichi Budoukai."
Jita's smile began to become a little less forced. "I've only attended one Budoukai, but I have heard that you've been announcing for as much as fifty years."
Rayban gave a personable laugh. "More or less."
Jita stared closely at the announcer, attempting to pick up signs of age. Except for a few laugh lines and a slightly receding hairline, there were none. Jita shook her head. He must have been one of those humans who aged much slower than others.
The other man cleared his throat, obviously used to being slightly ignored next to the charismatic Budoukai announcer. Rayban jumped slightly and nodded to the man. "This is Mr. Chien, the manager of the Tenkaichi Budoukai."
Mr. Chien bowed. "I've heard much about you and your husband, Jita-san. And speaking of your husband…"
Jita nodded her head slightly, but her teeth immediately went on edge. "Chien-san. My husband is handling a class right now, and it's impossible for him to interrupt. You'll forgive me, but I'll have to ask you to cut to the chase. I cannot keep my classes waiting."
Rayban shifted nervously. "Could I go look in on Goten-san's class? I haven't really seen him since he was a chibi."
Jita nodded, but her eyes were still focused on Mr. Chien, who seemed to be giving her the once-over. "Go ahead, Rayban-san. Take the first hallway on the right. You can't miss him."
Rayban hastily nodded his head and walked out. Jita was left with Mr. Chien, who seemed to have pronounced judgment on her in his mind.
"Now, Chien-san," Jita began slowly. "What is this all about? I know I sent in all of the proper registration forms, though I've only received confirmation on a few."
Chien smiled in a way the made Jita feel slimy all over. "You are certainly observant, dear lady. Registration is the reason I'm visiting you. Though I was hoping to discuss it with the Spider Master."
Jita sat straighter in her chair. "I AM the Spider Master. Both my husband and I have taken that title. We share equal power in this dojo."
Chien smiled placatingly. "Of course. I'm sure you do. Well, we'll start anyway."
Jita sighed. There was just no telling some people. "Why have only a few confirmations come back. I've received confirmations for Pecon, Danto, Pan, and – well – all the rest are boys." Jita sat on the edge of her chair. "Why is that?"
Chien's smile began to become a little frozen. "In recent years the Budoukai has become extremely popular to all sorts of people, especially since those strange magician types have stopped coming. If we held the preliminaries like always, then it'd be pure chaos. And it would take weeks just to hold the preliminary rounds. In the meantime, we'd have to feed and house all the contestants. The new rules are for weeding the contestants out at the beginning, and only allowing so much representation for each school. It wouldn't be fair if the Spider School had twice as much representation as, say…"
"The Satan School?" Jita interrupted wryly.
Chien cleared his throat. "Just as an example. Considering the newness of the Spider School, plus the fact that this is the first time your Spider School will be participating in the Budoukai, you'll agree that limiting the number of participants is only fair."
Jita crossed her arms and frowned. "Say it is fair, for example. By what criteria did you choose from the many registration forms I sent in. I know that I sent a better recommendation for Darjili than I sent for Danto."
She started shuffling through the copies she'd made of the forms. Chien shifted in discomfort. He hadn't counted on her having the foresight to keep records of the registration forms. Usually newbies to the tournament didn't think ahead enough. In fact, no one had thought of keeping records in light of the new rules.
Jita continued. "In fact, I don't see any other reason these girls are overlooked. And don't think I didn't notice that you picked the boys out."
Chien again smiled his slimy smile. "Well, we DO have to keep the quality of the Budoukai. And the fact is, no woman has ever won a tournament, or even gotten past her first match in the semi-finals."
"Yet they got to the semi-finals, beating all the men in the preliminaries. And I seem to remember one of my students going quite far in two of the Budoukais, one when she was just four or five."
"Ah, well, that's different. Being Hercule's granddaughter and all…"
"And as I recall," Jita interrupted, "Hercule's daughter Videl has won the junior competition before. Though I suppose you only counted the adult division in your previous statement. But, again I ask, why are you giving preference to the men? And what am I going to tell the girls, huh? 'Oh, I'm sorry. I know you've worked your butts off and everything, but you can't participate in the Budoukai because you don't have the right kind of genetalia!'"
"Ah… well… I…"
"Because it seems to me that, if women are inferior as you say, they would be cleared out in the preliminary rounds. Since you don't want as much of a representation of my school, allowing me to register women would ultimately benefit the final rounds."
Inwardly, Jita was trembling in rage. She was forcing herself to keep her ki in check, lest she disintegrate the weasel in front of her.
But Mr. Chien WAS being affected by Jita's glare. He'd never seen anything so terrifying. He gulped, his mind racing. Why didn't he bring some protection along? "I'm… sure… something can be arranged," he stammered out.
"What then?" Jita clipped out. "What arrangement can be reached?"
As Jita began to calm down, Mr. Chien's smile began to return. He had an idea to trap this woman in front of him with a deal she couldn't refuse, no matter how much she wanted to. "Here's the deal. I'll allow more of your students to participate, including females, if you'll do one thing."
"And what is that?" Jita asked impatiently. She didn't like the glint that was coming into Chien's eyes.
"You and your husband do an exhibition match to introduce your school."
"What?!" Jita said incredulously. This was certainly not what she'd expected.
Chien smiled and leaned forward. "The fact is, while we have plenty of participants, attendance has been going down in the past few Budoukais. This'll boost your fame, and help us out in the long run."
Jita smirked. "So, you're wanting to leech off our school's popularity. I find it funny that the Spider School has reached this level of popularity without the help of the Tenkaichi Budoukai. And no, we won't be doing an exhibition match. Martial arts is not just a show. It's a tradition of personal excellence and proving that excellence with competition. Using it for anything else just cheapens the tradition."
Mr. Chien stood up. "Those are high sounding ideals. You also don't make money or hold these competitions by those ideals. People like me to support people like you. You couldn't do a thing without charging money of your students, and you couldn't get students without proper advertising." Chien pulled a form out and put it on Jita's desk. "Think of this as payment for what we do for you. It's not that hard a payment. All we ask is that you give a simple exhibition match that we advertise, and you'll be much better off in the end."
At that moment, Goten and the announcer Rayban walked in, talking and laughing about Budoukais in the past. Jita looked into Goten's eyes, and knew that Rayban had filled him in on everything that was going on. All Goten did was give a slight nod to Jita, and signed his name on the paper, completely ignoring Mr. Chien. Chien noticed, but didn't comment. He was too busy congratulating himself on his own success. Jita sighed a heavy sigh, and signed her name. With a few parting remarks, Rayban and Chien left the office. Rayban gave an apologetic look as he left.
Goten glared at the door. "You know we really didn't have a choice."
Jita sat back in her chair, her arms crossed. "I know."
"And it won't be so bad," Goten continued on a lighter note.
"I know," Jita repeated.
Goten sighed and shook his head. "OK, I know, it's ridiculous and I hate it, but sometimes we've got to do these things."
"What, pacify the idiots of the world?"
Goten laughed. "Something like that. Tint said that the rest of the students we originally registered should be allowed into the preliminaries by now. It was just our school they were doing like this."
Jita rose in her chair. "You mean that dog lied to me?"
"What, he told you that those rules applied to everyone?" Goten shook his head angrily. "I'm just glad the announcer was there with him."
Jita scowled. "I still don't like it. I have no wish to be a mere entertainer. That's just what we've been fighting against."
"Well, what can we do, Jita? I know you're sick of playing by these baka rules, but it's the only way to do things. We're doing what's best for our students, and that's all that matters. Besides," he finished with a wink after his short burst of temper, "I promise not to rough you up too much in our match."
Jita blinked to make sure he was kidding, and then shot to her feet in mock indignation. "You still think you can take me?"
"Only one way to find out," Goten responded smugly/
Jita smirked. "OK, we fight at the Budoukai. But we do it our way. None of this weakling 'exhibition' crap. We have a real fight. Got that?" she said in a challenge.
Goten nodded. "Accepted," he said in a mock of her voice.
-----
Chichi shook her head. "I just can't believe it. How can the Budoukai have gotten so low? I wonder if it was Hercule that changed it so much."
Jita smiled grimly. "I talked to the man. He didn't have a thing to do with it. It may have been Hercule that enforced the mentality of the present-day Budoukai, but I think it was more people like Mr. Chien. They work behind the scenes, but they still have power over us. It's like the insurance companies. They control warriors through money, counting on the idea that the warriors won't raise a hand against them."
"And no warrior will," Chichi concluded. "Goten was right. You have to play by their rules sometimes. It's not fun, but it's necessary. It still sickens me – that mentality that women can't fight."
Jita looked down, haunted by the memory. "I really had to control myself there. The only other place I've ever seen that type of mentality was in Frieza's Army. I was treated like the lowest of the low, and I couldn't do anything about it. At least on Planet Vegeta it was because I had no tail. Saiyan women were treated with respect and equality. The only thing that mattered on Planet Vegeta was rank and power level. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who has that mentality is little better than Frieza."
Chichi stared sympathetically at the Saiyan woman. "But are you alright?"
Jita closed her eyes, thinking. "Yes, I think I'm alright. I just feel so… I don't know… alien," she ended with a laugh. "These rules and this culture are so strange to me sometimes. Sometimes I can't even understand my own husband. As I keep on adapting to life on Earth, I just end up feeling less Saiyan, and at the same time more alien. But I'll be fine," she ended with a sad smile.
"Yes, you will," Chichi said with forced cheerfulness. "And tomorrow is the Budoukai, which I've forced my family to attend, so we can lend you support."
Jita nodded. "My brother and his family are coming as well. Just try to make sure that Kakarrot and Vegeta don't go off to spar before the Budoukai is over. It'd do Kakarrot good to see some of the strong human fighters. Earth has plenty of defenders, or will once they've trained up enough." Jita stood up, stretching out the kinks from sitting with Chichi so long. "I've got to go. There's so much to do before tomorrow. I've got about twelve warriors to prepare."
Chichi smiled and began gathering up the remnants of the tea. "I'm glad that you came over, though."
Jita laughed. "I didn't mean to unload on you. There was just a lot on my mind."
"Perfectly alright," Chichi called out to her as Jita was walking out the door. "You can unload on me anytime."
Author's Notes: Thanks to all my reviewers: Dark Wolf (Finally got this one out. I fooled around with long flashbacks in this chapter. Hope you enjoy them. Have fun this summer! Hope to see your next chapter, and your sequel. I'm not planning a sequel for this one. I'm getting it all out in one story. But I've got the transitional and background work out of the way. Now I can focus on the action this summer.), aqua-illusion (Um… I hope you're alright. Hope you didn't pop. I was almost scared of the "Yek" and "No Way", but I'm glad I'm still a genius. Even if I'm an evil genius. Still, evil geniuses sometimes need hugs too.), tim333 (Thanks, tim. I really needed the praise for this chapter. I was really thinking about you when I was writing it. I can't help but be a manga purist when it comes to Dragonball. I've only read the manga; I haven't watched but a few episodes of the anime. I seriously don't know how anyone could edit Dragonball. The humor is so risqué, yet you can't leave it out. It's too genius.), Omega (I hear ya about school. But summer is here, and I'm taking full advantage of the smidgen of free time for writing. Maybe soon the good authors will start back up on their updating. I haven't had an update in my Favorite Stories section for it seems like weeks.), and last, but certainly not least, Tonifranz (I knew someone was lurking. I gotta tell ya, I'm surprised that you don't have an author page. But if you do, please tell me. You write such concise reviews and have such good taste in writing, that I can't help but wonder what your own writing would be like. First off, the review for "The Soul". The plot DID start out unoriginal, because this was my first attempt, when I didn't really know what I was getting into and I hadn't read all that much fanfiction. I've evolved a bit in the past year, as you can tell, into a better writer, I hope. Yes, the first part of my story is a bit unoriginal, though I did try to avoid a lot of clichés. But what I've got planned, I don't think anyone has ever done. Jita: I'm really proud of this OC. I didn't try to overdo the characterization; it just came out on its own. I tried to take into account her past, which differs slightly from Vegeta, and her whole outlook on life. Even though their pasts are similar, there's a definite difference in the way they were treated, and even personality. I've tried to show the character changes she goes through on Earth. Lately you've got to take into account her adaptability. I just hope I'll continue to do well with her. Vegeta: I'm not surprised I've had him in character. He's my favorite, after all. I've done plenty of one-shots of him, so I've had plenty of practice with writing him. He'll play a bigger part once the action starts, so I'm looking forward to that. Goku: I must admit, I didn't like him or understand him at first. Now I've read a lot of character theories and just plain good writing, so I've gotten a better grip on his character. I'm going to be doing some things to him later on, but I'm not sure how they're going to go over. Goten: He's the most open-ended character out there, except perhaps someone like Uubu. He's a kid in DBZ, without even a future version to predict his adult character. And DBGT just does him wrong. All the demi-Saiyans in DBGT become glorified batteries; they're only used to power up either Goku or Vegeta. It's sad, really. I didn't want him to become weak or complacent like the other characters. So I did what I could. Chichi: I hate hate HATE how other people portray Chichi. Even how the show portrays Chichi. Whenever I write her, I always think of the ideal mother, putting a little of my own mother in as well as how I'd want to be when I get to be a mother and grandmother. I needed a mother character for Jita, since she'd never had one. I'm glad you noticed that aspect. Jiten: I'm working on him. He's never going to grow past seven in my story, but I'll try to make him believable. Other character: I wanted to give them bigger parts, but it's impossible. I'm covering too much of a scope, so I have to cut somewhere. I try to include them whenever I can, though. I'll be looking forward to your next review in about ten chapters. Alright. On with "Being of Sound Mind and Body." For one thing, I even keep up with reviews for my first one-shots a year ago. I never completely drop a story. And I never get mad about any good (as in well-written) reviews. So I'm not miffed in the least about you posting it twice. Thank you for reading this fic, though. I'm really proud of this story. It's the first work I ever felt was truly original, as I've said before. And I used the point-of-view device as a challenge. I knew I was getting good at writing third person omnipotent, so I wanted to see if I could write first person. Plus, it was a break from my work on "The Soul," which can get extremely difficult to write. I'm really flattered that you compared my work to "Ki-Blind." I really admire Sholio's work, even if she has such a busy schedule that it takes her months just to get a chapter up. I've been waiting on "Dark Prince Saga" forever. I'm glad you agree with me on not including what Frieza does to Vegeta. I just didn't want to write it. It's been done to death, and it would have definitely pushed up the rating. I just didn't want to go there. I know that the story was a good vehicle for describing chibi Vegeta, but I had to keep my focus. Nappa, and my portrayal of him. Now, about Raditz. I agree that I didn't write him as the most likeable character. But you have to realize that he was just a ten year old boy when he was suddenly faced with this five-year-old prince, and faced with the responsibility of him. He didn't sign up for that. Plus, you're comparing the relationship between Raditz and Vegeta with that of Nappa and Vegeta. I definitely portrayed the Nappa/Vegeta relationship with that of paternal love. If that's so, then Raditz would be more of an unwilling older sibling. That really gets to Raditz, especially when he already has a younger sibling. So, to answer your minor question about how Raditz reacts to Goku on Earth, I would mostly go with Dragoness Electra's interpretation. Yes, I have read about half her work. I haven't gotten to Descent yet, but I did read everything before that. I don't know if I could give my own interpretation, but since I go with hers, then I guess that's the interpretation. Raditz just didn't know how to react. Anyway. I thank you for reading "Being of Sound Mind and Body." I'm halfway planning a type of sequel, maybe much later on, dealing with the life of Nappa's son, Baen, and maybe making it into a third person perspective. I've had a few requests along those lines. But first I've got to focus on "The Soul." I'll try to be better about updating this summer, but as usual, I make no promises other than quality work.)
Wow, that was a long reviewer thanks. The one for Toni went on for two pages, I think. Well, next chapter should be very interesting. I'm giving no hints. Nope. Not a word. My lips are sealed. I take the fifth. Nothin' to say. Move it along. I'll never tell. And so on and so forth. I'll try to get it out as soon as possible. Until next time.
