Chapter 7

They walked in silence for a while. Judith walked beside Zamasu, while making sure to keep a good distance between them, no need to tempt fate…

Zamasu had led her out of the temple onto a path that seemed well travelled. The area around this particular area was bare, no trees or shrubs or flowers were visible, only short, neat cut grass. The air felt different here, Judith had noticed. She wanted to say that the air felt balanced, if air could even be balanced, the effect was not pleasant.

Zamasu continued to lead her away from the temple. He had decided to take her to Gowasu's favourite place on the planet. He hoped his Master would stop nagging him if he did what Gowasu suggested before he and Whis had taken off: 'Feel free to tour our planet' he had said. Although it was part of the reason for this expedition, it was not the main reason, but Zamasu could not bring himself to admit the truth. He wondered if she had noticed the change in atmosphere yet.

He enjoyed walking with her, like this, in silence. It was not an awkward silence, it felt comfortable. How rare it is do be in the presence of someone, but neither feeling the need to speak about trivialities?

A few seconds later Judith saw a massive tree appear out of thin air. It was the result of a mirage of course, but still, the sheer size of it was almost incomprehensible that physics and light would be able to hide it.

'You are such a nerd sometimes…' Little Miss Judy sighed.

It was clear that the tree was their destination. Judith glanced sideways at Zamasu. If he were taking her to see a tree when she could have been snuggled up in a chair with a good book, she was seriously going to pissed. As if he could hear her thoughts, he suddenly spoke.

"Gowasu has instructed me to make a concerted effort to spend more time interacting with you." And then he added hurriedly: "As part of my preparation and training." He said the last part a little more loudly that he intended.

"And here I was thinking you actually had something to show me." Judith joked.

Zamasu stopped mid step and whirled around to face her giving her a warning look.

"It was a joke!" Judith quickly explained, although she would not mind being pinned to a wall by him again… 'Not now Judith!' she reprimanded herself.

Painfully slowly Zamasu's expression changed from dangerous to annoyed before he spoke.

"You are testing my patience."

"You need to get a sense of humour." Judith defended.

"Your sense of humour angers me." Zamasu replied.

"Then you need to learn to control your temper." She answered.

'This woman is impossible!' Zamasu thought to himself, but underneath his annoyance and frustrations he found himself amused and attracted to her stubbornness. As he looked at her now, he had to stop himself from bursting out in a fit of laughter at the pose she had struck.

Judith had unconsciously crossed her arms across her chest in defiance, had turned her head to the side and had stuck her nose in the air.

'He is insufferable!' Judith thought annoyedly. Eventually though she had to look at him and found a bemused smile playing on his lips.

"What?" She asked at the staring god.

"I did not take you for a posing type." Was all he said before turning away from her and walking onward toward the tree, clearly chuckling.

Judith looked at him perplexed for a moment before she noticed the ridiculous stance she had assumed.

'Dammit!' she scolded herself. 'That is twice now he has had a laugh at your expense Judith! Get a hold of yourself." Little Miss Judy scolded her further.

By the time she had caught up with Zamasu, they had reached the base of the tree and was standing in its massive shadow. Its size was even more awe inspiring up close. Judith could see millions if not trillions of leaves sprouting from every branch, packed densely. She noticed that the tree seemed to be losing leaves, even though it did not seem to be deciduous.

"This is the Tree of Balance." Zamasu spoke softly. "Gowasu's favourite place on the planet." He continued to watch her closely as he felt a microscopic shift in her life force.

Judith looked amazed at the tree. She was moving subconsciously, moving closer to it, something was pulling her in. She could hear a soft thumping noise, like a drum beating from some far-off place. The rhythm was hypnotic, and it made her head swim.

'Something is not right.' She thought instinctively. 'You need to focus on something else, anything else, now!' Her instincts were warning her.

"It's enormous." Judith remarked, trying to keep her voice steady. "But I'm guessing it's more than just an above average large tree." She tried to sound light-hearted but failed miserably. The words came out in uneven breaths. She tried to focus all of her attention on Zamasu (which was not hard) and she found that the beating grew more distant and less intense, as she looked into his cool silver eyes.

Zamasu had noticed immediately that Judith had grown uneasy but decided to continue. "You are right in your assumption. This tree represents every single living being in existence in our universe." He saw that her unrest was starting to return.

"Each leave on this tree represents one single specific being from the moment of its existence right through to it's death." He had started moving toward her, his eyes keeping hers captive.

"I see." She tried to respond weakly, she had started to back away from him, why, she did not know.

"As each being begins existence," he moved closer as she moved away, "a new leave sprouts." Closer still. "It continues to grow until its reaches the end of it's existence," he was only a few steps away from her now, "then the leave withers and dies and falls to the ground." Her back struck the tree; she was completely backed up into it. "Dust to dust." Zamasu finished inched from her face.

She could feel the warmth radiating from his body as he stood so close to her, so close, but not touching, his hands had never left their position behind his back.

"Now that I have explained…" he spoke in the same soft voice he had started with. "Tell me why it is, that you cannot seem to be able to stand being so close to it?" his eyes narrowed as he uttered the question.

He was so good at reading her. 'Why is he so good?' Judith thought. As she stood there, Zamasu inches away from her, her back (which was aching dully from the bruise that undoubtedly appeared there after the wall incident) pressed firmly against this strange beating tree, staring into his eyes, she felt that same familiar tug at her heart. A strange sensation had crept over her as she answered Zamasu truthfully.

"Something about it, makes me feel uneasy, not grounded." She continued staring into his eyes. "It's like its calling to me from some far of place in time, pulling me there." Zamasu continued to watch her, she was clearly not feeling well. "I can feel it beating in my head." Her vision was growing fuzzy. "Zamasu." She said. "Get me out of here." She closed her eyes as her world started to spin and she felt herself falling into darkness.

Zamasu caught her just as she started to collapse. He quickly picked her up in his arms, he was not a simpleton, he knew he had to get her away from that place as soon as possible, her energy had shifted seconds before she fainted and it didn't feel right as she lay in his arms. It was the same strange energy he had felt from her that morning.

He was just about to take of flying to the temple when he froze in place. There, where Judith's back had pressed against the tree, the bark was scorched, as if someone had tried to set in on fire. The grass where she had stood was dead, turned brown from decay.

He considered the scene only a few moments longer before taking off.

… The Omi King's Palace …

Gowasu sat in stunned silence. His mind had trouble wrapping itself around the conversation that had taken place after his arrival. Gowasu knew that Lady Judith's presence on their planet warranted a good reason but he never suspected anything close to this. The magnitude of the entire situation was incomprehensible.

Gowasu stared at Whis, then Vados, and finally at the Grand Priest. All of them had known, or rather, knows. How long have they carried this information and knowledge with them? Gowasu could only guess.

"I trust we can rely on your confidentiality and judgement when the time comes Supreme Kai." The Grand Priest said. He had said it in such a way that it was both a question and statement.

"As you know, the fate of your universe hangs in the balance." The Grand Priest reiterated.

"O-Off course. You can rely on my utmost attention to the situation my lord." Gowasu bowed in respect. "Your instructions will be carried out with concise actions."

"Good. Thank you-" the Grand Priest cut off mid-sentence, looking into the direction of universe 10.

"Oh dear." Whis commented, his one hand covering mouth.

"Has something happened?" Gowasu asked troubledly, thinking immediately of Judith.

"The cracks are starting to show father." Vados warned the Grand Priest before taking off to universe 6.

"Whis will accompany you home Supreme Kai. You must leave immediately." The Grand Priest informed Gowasu.

"What is going on?" Gowasu asked confused. "I do believe I deserve some sort of explanation, after all, I am the one heading into whatever situation has occurred."

"Do not trouble yourself Supreme Kai. All is well with Judith." Whis assured him calmly. "But I must agree with the Grand Priest, we must return to you planet immediately to prevent any further damage."

"We will speak again Gowasu." Was all the Grand Priest said before Whis had taken a hold of Gowasu's shoulder and they shot out through space.

… Judith's room …

"NOOOO!" a woman was screaming. "JUDITH!" she screamed. 'Hey, that's my name.' Judith looked back at the woman. 'I think I know her.' Judith looked down at herself, she was small, no more than 5 years old.

"Please do not take her!" the woman had started begging. Someone was holding her, carrying her away from the screaming women. She looked up at the figure that was carrying her, but she could not decern a face, it was black and blurry.

"Do not dare grovel at my feet human!" the figure screamed angrily before kicking the woman away causing her to fly over the ground and come to a screeching halt. "You may have fooled the deity god," the figure spoke in a distorted voice, "but your sly nature will have no effect on me!"

A loud noise cracked through the air and a flash of white light shot through the sky. "Let her go ****." Judith could not see the person that had spoken.

"I truly cannot believe it! Am I the only one that realises what an abomination this child is!" the black figure howled in rage. And then an agonizing scream, heat from a raging inferno … "Zama-!"

"Suu!" Judith yelled, nearly jumping out off bed, instead jumping straight into Zamasu's chest and arms. She was once again soaked with sweat. 'That dream again?' she thought still trying to wake up.

Zamasu had taken Judith to her room and had laid her on her bed. He was about to leave when he once again noticed her energy shifting back and forth between normal and that other state that felt so… evil.

Unconscious of what he was doing, he had sat down next to her on her bed and had taken hold of her hand and watching her as her dream started to unfold in her mind. She had started to breath heavily, her body struggling to keep up with the fluctuations in energy and it was not long before she was soaked through with sweat. She had woken screaming his name.

He had to admit, he did want to hear her scream his name, but in sweet ecstasy, not in a situation like this and not with such agony in her voice.

He had caught her as she flew upright. He felt her body trembling uncontrollably against his and he had wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. She had grabbed onto him without hesitation, clutching his clothes in her closed fists and breathing heavily.

He felt her energy decrease and returned to normal. She nestled her head into the crook of his neck, just as she had done the night he had carried her from the library.

With a pang he came to a realisation. 'How many times am I going have to carry the woman to bed?'

Judith was all to aware of the predicament she found herself in, having had time to come to her senses. She could hear his steady heartbeat where her ear pressed onto his chest and his strong arms holding her close. If felt so right, like this was the way they were always meant to be, it felt safe.

Zamasu had trouble swallowing down the sea of emotions that had assailed him, like her, he had felt the same sense of surety. Something nagged at the back of his mind… was it destiny? He irritably snuffed the thought from his mind.

Judith was wondering how long he would allow her to cling to him. As if in answer he said: "Don't get used to this. Because it will not be happening again"

Judith smiled against his chest.

"Off course it won't." And then she added in a serious and almost sad voice, "Why do you think I'm not letting go?"

She closed her eyes and pushed herself even closer to him. Hid body reacted as if it was on autopilot and he tightened his grip around her.

If Judith had looked up to his face just then, she would have seen the slight blush that had appeared on his cheeks…