Her Return

Chapter Twenty-Two

Areiko continued to drag Goku home. Goku was a little bit confused. He didn't know what was going on. Last time he saw Areiko, she wasn't fourteen. She was seventeen, and she had a tattoo at the corner of her right eye. There was something wrong here. Even though Goku knew that there was something wrong, he didn't want to believe it. His best years with his daughter was when she was young. Before Orx attacked them. She was a very fun loving girl, cheerful all the time; she attended school with her best friends Aya and Britnay. Those were the good old days. And just seeing the fourteen year old Areiko drag him home, made him start to believe that everything that he thought had happened… didn't happen.

"Reiko," Goku started gaining the girl's attention. "What happened three years ago?"

"Um…"

Goku knew that if she answered this question, this really wasn't his Areiko.

"You're asking the wrong person Teddy-chan." Areiko answered turning her head to look at Goku. "I wasn't around three years ago."

Goku nodded his head.

"Are you alright Goku?" Areiko asked turning her head to look at him. "You've been out of it for the passed few minutes."

"Why did I leave home?" Goku randomly asked. Areiko blinked a few times. She then shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know."

"Don't you remember Orx?" Goku asked coming to a stop and pulling his wrist out of her grip. "And Aya's death? And Vegeta's hatred towards you? Don't you remember Kira? Don't you remember leaving us?"

Areiko looked at Goku weirdly. "Goku… what are you talking about?" she asked. "There is no one named Orx or Kira for that matter. Aya didn't die… and this is the first time I've heard that Veggie-kins hates me."

Goku placed his hand onto his forehead. He turned a little bit. "It all must've been some kind of… dream…"

"What?"

Goku turned his head to look at Areiko. He then shook it sighing. "Nothing… just… never mind."

"Okay," Areiko hovered closer to Goku. "Now you gotta answer a few of my questions."

Goku looked at Areiko in the face, he watched as she got serious. "Why did YOU leave home?"

"I…left?" He repeated, still a little unsure of this fourteen year old Areiko.

Areiko nodded, "yeah, one night you were telling Chichi about these nightmares and the next morning you were… gone. I've been looking for you ever since." She paused. "Is it because of me?"

"Why would it be because of you?" Goku asked. Areiko shrugged her shoulders.

"Just a question." She answered. "Now, how did you get those injuries?" Areiko then asked pointing out the gash on his shoulder and sides. "It looks like some type of animal bit you."

Goku glanced to the side. He couldn't tell her that he thought that it was her that attacked him. So he went along with her animal story.

"Yeah," he answered. "An animal attacked me."

Areiko then nodded, "alright… that covers my questions." She said. "Now, I wanna get you home. Come on."

Areiko blasted off with Goku following close behind her. As he flew with her, he began to believe that everything that had happened; Orx, Aya's death, Vegeta's hatred towards Areiko, Areiko's horrible past, Areiko's disappearance, her return, Kira, the city, Dende's death; everything; he began to think that it was all a horrible nightmare that he was experiencing. That could explain why he had left the house. But, if he did leave the house, why was he with Vegeta and Aya? Was that a dream too? How does he know that he's not dreaming now?

It was too late to ask Areiko about it. They landed in front of the house and entered. Goku was expecting to see Chichi standing doing the dishes, or sitting at the kitchen table worrying about him; but she wasn't there. He glanced around the house before he turned to Areiko.

"Let me go get her." Areiko said to him seating him down on a chair in the kitchen. "You relax here. I'll be back in a moment okay?"

Goku nodded. He watched as Areiko turned the corner calling Chichi's name. Soon, Chichi appeared walking into the kitchen without Areiko. Goku blinked as he spotted the first aid kit in her hand. But he glanced around looking for Areiko.

"Where's Reiko?" Goku asked.

"She's gathering the laundry for me." Chichi answered as she placed the first aid kit onto the kitchen table. "Oh Goku…" she then threw herself on top of him. "I was so worried about you!"

Goku blinked a few times. This was the real Chichi, or so he thought.

He wrapped his arms around his wife hugging her tightly. "Where did you go?" Chichi asked pulling away from him running her fingers across the bite wound on his shoulder.

"I was… in the desert." Goku answered. He watched as his wife opened the first aid kit and began to patch him up. He winced as she slowly rubbed some type of cream onto his wounds. "Aren't you going to ask me why I left?" he asked her looking down at her as she was on her knees putting the cream onto this other visible wounds.

"No," She replied, "Reiko already told me. So there's no reason for me to ask you." she added as she grabbed onto the bandages.

Goku's vision then started blur. He squinted his eyes trying to clear up his vision, but it didn't work. It didn't work at all. He then rubbed them. Little did he know, the Chichi that was on her knees patching up her husband was smirking.

"Something wrong Goku?" Chichi asked turning her head up towards him wiping her smirk off of her face.

"No." He answered. "Nothing at all." He looked down at his wife, and then he noticed something off about her. Her eyes, they weren't their ebony color… they were a light purple color. "Chichi… since when did you have purple eyes?" Goku asked.

Chichi suddenly looked down, as if she was looking at a wound. She then looked up at her husband. Goku stared at her, seeing that she now had ebony eyes again. Goku blinked, not realizing what her eyes did. Chichi stood upright and began to pack everything in the first aid kit. Goku started to feel a little sick and dizzy. He began to sway in his chair till he fell out, by that time, Chichi was already out of the room.

"Ch-Chi… Chi…" Goku mumbled as he forced his eyes opened. Again, his vision started to blur. He could only see blurry and faded colors around the room that he knew were objects in his kitchen.

His ears picked up someone's foot steps. He turned his head blinking a few times to clear up his vision. There standing in the doorway of the kitchen was Areiko. She was leaning against the door post. Her hair was now long.

"R-Reiko…"

A sigh came from his daughter, "you know what Goku?" Areiko's body began to glow as she pushed herself off the post as the bright light formed a line around her head and then slowly moved downward. Her soft brown hair turned lavender. Her bangs sprung out as they came down in between her eyes. A vine or flame like tattoo appeared from her neck all the way down her arm. Her clothes were tight like usual but an awkward color blood was stained all over her shirt and pants, Goku could smell it from his spot on the floor, and it was Dende's blood.

Goku growled, "Kira…"

"You should pay more attention to Sister Lekira. Since you walked away with me." Kira approached Goku bending down to look at him. "That just proves that you don't know your daughter as well as you thought you did." She paused, "and your wife too."

"You… you…"

"Bitch?" Kira smirked since she was using Goku's voice, but then it returned to normal. "You're to predictable."

Goku kept growling.

"Keep growling," Kira started. "Because that's all you're going to be able to do in the next…" Kira looked at her wrist; a watch took form out of her flesh. "Thirty minutes, you'll be dead." She lowered her arm as the watch disappeared.

"What… what did you d-do to me?" Goku asked growling afterwards looking up at her.

"I put a little bit of poison into you're body with that cream." Kira replied with a smirk on her face. "Nice way to die huh?" Kira then took form of Areiko again, but she took form of her seventeen year old sister. "The last thing you'll see is Sister Lekira."

Goku placed a smirk onto his face. "Areiko h-has… a tattoo…"

Kira smirked lightly placing her middle finger at the corner of her right eye. She then moved her finger across her skin as if there was something there bugging her, when her finger moved; a small, black star tattoo appeared there just like Areiko has.

"Better?" Kira asked as she stepped over the saiyan and heading to the door. Goku growled as he reached out grabbing onto her right ankle tightly. Kira almost tripped but she regained her balance. She turned her head looking down at Goku and then at his hand.

"I… I won't let… you leave!" Goku bellowed coughing hard afterwards. Kira laughed wickedly, still in the form of Areiko. She then stomped on his wrist breaking it instantly getting a slight cry from the saiyan. She then kicked at his hand kicking it away from her and towards him.

"Who's going to stop me? You?" She asked heading out the door. Goku watched as she took off into the air shape shifting back into her real form. Goku began panting as he forced himself up to his elbows.

"I… I have to… help…them..."

Vegeta was getting his ass kicked. All over his chest and arms were claw marks. On his arms there were mostly bite marks since he would cross them over his face to stop Areiko from getting to it. And all Areiko had received was a bruise on her left cheek from getting a hard punch to the face to send her away from an unconscious Aya.

Areiko roared as she charged at Vegeta again, he sidestepped her, but he was only then swatted in the side throwing him to the ground. Vegeta skid on his back with his eyes tightly clenched. That was about the tenth time that he was thrown to the ground that hard. He was going to get up till he opened his eyes.

There standing behind him looking down at him as Areiko. His eyes widened a bit as he turned his eyes forward to see another Areiko standing there at the other end of him. When he turned his attention to the Areiko behind him, it was gone. He blinked, but he suddenly gasped in pain when he felt claws pierce his flesh. He looked down to see Areiko's claws were shoved deeply within his chest. The prince grabbed onto her wrist and gripped tightly. Areiko smirked allowing her fangs to bare at the prince; they were still smeared from blood from her biting onto his arm before.

"Areiko… let… me go." Vegeta struggled to speak as pain rushed through him. Areiko could only smirk looking at the saiyan.

Put him down! I'm begging you!

"I'm not putting him down. His blood tastes so good when it runs down our throat. And you know it does. You can taste it too."

Areiko suddenly threw Vegeta hard into the ground to the point where he left a crater that formed around his body. Areiko got down low, basically on her hands and knees as she waited for Vegeta to get up.

The saiyan prince was slowly sat up. He had his hand onto his head. When he turned his attention to Areiko, she had already leapt at him. Vegeta had no time to move, or even teleport, when Areiko was feral, she was a LOT faster.

But apparently not fast enough. Before Vegeta knew it, blood splattered onto the ground to the right of him, but not a lot of it. It then splattered onto the left side and then onto him a little bit.

"Aya!"

Aya had gotten in the way of Areiko's claws and Vegeta's flesh. Her left hip was torn open and the tendon on her right shoulder was ripped, making her right arm immobile. Blood ran down Aya's right arm dripping off of all of her fingers. She collapsed her to right knee holding her right arm tightly as she looked down at the ground huffing and puffing. She watched as blood from her hip ran down her leg pouring onto the ground where her left leg rested. Blood trickled down her back from three gashes that ran horizontally across.

Vegeta suddenly stood to his feet running over to her. He stood in front of her placing his hand onto her left shoulder. He was about to say something to her when she suddenly shoved to the ground. Something came running by, almost in a flash of lightning. Aya screamed as three gashes appeared on her stomach, her blood splattering into the air. Vegeta's eyes widened as he watched her stand up and back away. But Areiko continued to run by Aya tearing her body open causing her blood to splatter in every direction. It was now getting to the point that one more slash at Aya's small body could kill her.

Again, Areiko came by Aya slicing her chest open. But she came in an angle. Three gashes appeared on Aya from her right shoulder to her left hip, which connected to the gash on her left hip causing it to go further. Aya screamed one final time before she collapsed to her knees.

"AYA!" Vegeta shouted about to run to her when a powerful force punched him right in his jaw throwing him to the ground. Aya had one eye open watching as her father was flung across the area.

"Veg—"

Aya's head was suddenly thrown upwards. Four claw marks started from her shoulder and went all the way up to the tip of her lips. From the force of Areiko's claws ripping Aya's flesh upwards; Aya was thrown into the air landing on her back. She breathed heavily looking up into the sky. She could hear Vegeta's grunts and groans in pain as he continued to get hit by Areiko.

"A… Areiko…"

Suddenly Vegeta's grunts stopped, and then there was a 'thump' on the ground.

"Ka'uun naal moen?"

(You're not dead?)

"R-Reiko… s-stop… please…" Aya was bleeding to death. She knew it, Areiko's darker half knew it. She was going to die. "W-we l-love you… stop… I'm sorry."

Sorry…?

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

Aya… don't be sorry… this isn't your fault…

"Shut up!"

Areiko lunged forward growling loudly. Aya continued to repeat the words: 'I'm sorry.' Over and over again. Not stopping even when Aya knew that Areiko was standing over her. Areiko looked down into the pale face of Aya. It was time. She was going to kill her, she was getting sick of her.

"Mer…"

(Die…)

Areiko lunged her hand downwards. There was then a gushing sound as blood splattered everywhere…