Cry For Help

Mercury was meditating and in anguish over watching her first friend before the beginning of the sailor senshi group. "Bunny..." Her body trembled, but she refused to cry as she kept her eyes closed tightly shut. Gohan was tapping his fingers on the ground trying to figure a way to outsmart Ami, when he heard her whisper a name. 'Who's bunny?' He forgot about it, as he felt her body shaking, but when he turned his head to look at her face, it was dry. 'Strange, she looks very sad.'

She quickly realized Gohan was staring at her and was going to retort when she saw something close to kindness in them. With a scowl, he turned back around and ignored her, not wanting to give her the impression that he cared about what was bothering her.

"Are you still going to be stubborn about all of this Gohan?"

"Hhpmm. If you would face me like a fighter, then this situation would be reversed. I swear, you'll be underneath before the week is out, and I'm not going to be so nice as to only sit on you."

"And what do you plan on doing if that happens? I'm not a fighter, Gohan, and never have been."

Gohan turned his head back to face her stunned. "Then why does Pluto want you to train then?"

"My abilities are focused more on how to find the weak points of an enemy. I'm not that strong Gohan and never have been."

"That's a bunch of bull and you know it." Mercury was shocked to see him looking at her with intensity in his eyes and something else. "If I thought the same way you did, then I wouldn't have wasted a year and a half training you. Granted, you aren't the most powerful fighter in the world, but you can be if you quit cutting yourself down and believe in the power inside of you. I see it, so why can't you?" Mercury wanted to believe him, but it was so farfetched that she turned her head away from him and focused on the time gates. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you five that have made all of you this cut off from each other? It's not as bad between you and the other two, but between all of you and Usagi, it's as if a huge canyon that none of you can breech has been created."

"We were a bunch of stupid kids when that happened. It doesn't matter anymore since there's no way we can reach each other." A tear hit the back of his neck and he gasped and saw that she was silently crying looking into the mirrors.

"Why do you continue to torment yourself over that? What good is it going to do you?"

"Because they're my friends and I love them. You may be able to forget about them, but I can't. Emotions are what make us who we are Gohan and you have to figure that out before you'll ever become really powerful. How do you think Usagi has always won her battles, despite how irresponsible and immature she was? When push came to shove and all her friends and the planet counted on her, her heart gave her the power she needed to win. We were idiots not to see that before."

"That's enough!" His anger and anguish came to the surface as his hair blazed into Super Saiya-jin and his tail ripped itself from her grip and wrapped around her body. With a quick twist, his body was on top of hers, pinning her hands high above her head and her legs tightly pressed against the floor, so she couldn't bring them up and knee him in the groin. "You know nothing about me."

Mercury strained to pry her arms free, but Gohan continued to power up, and nothing would budge him. "Gohan, stop. You're actually scaring me now."

He didn't know what to do. She made him so angry, but at the same time he felt sorry for her. Gritting his teeth he turned his head away from her and had to fight to keep control of what sanity he had left. 'Emotions are bad, but why does her words hurt so much.' For the first time since he was eleven years old, Gohan let tears fall on his face, and on a Super Saiya-jin, it was something to behold. "You have no idea what hell I've dealt with, the pain I've suffered and caused because I allowed my emotions to make my decisions. I want to care and be easy going, but it's bitten me in the ass, every single time. My father died, my mother died, my brothers died, my friends died. Everyone died, because I was a stupid, lazy fighter that didn't understand the full consequences of my actions."

"Is that what they told you?" Mercury shouted at him. "What kinds of morons tell a child that it was his fault he failed? How old were you?"

"They didn't have to tell me. Piccolo died for me when I was five-years-old because I was a cowered and didn't fight the way I was trained."

"And they say you're the intelligent person in the group of fighters? Gohan, no matter how much training you give a child, you can't develop their mental state past their age. You may have been physically ready to fight, but mentally you weren't. Even now, despite what you're telling yourself, you want to care, but everything you've been taught is conflicting with the real you. If you blame anyone for the failure that was caused, then blame the ones that relied on the powers of a child to save them. It's like us to put everything on Usagi to fix, when it should have been all of us."

Gohan shook his head, fighting what she was saying, but her calm and kind words were breaking through the barriers he had put up over the years, especially after Majin Buu and the death of his wife Vedel. For a long time, he watched the steady eyes of Mercury to see her flinch from what she told him, but she refused and remained firm on her belief that he wasn't the one to totally blame for the past. He held her hands in one hand as he reached for her face.

Mercury didn't know what to expect at this point from Gohan and cringed in fear, afraid he was going to strike her. As she buried her head in the crook of her arm, Gohan was seeing how harsh he may have been. He didn't mean to strike this kind of fear into anyone and it hurt to see her cringing from him. Her hair had grown past her shoulders, and he had to move it from her face as he rubbed her cheek gently. After a few moments and not feeling a strike to her face, Mercury turned to see that Gohan had powered down to his normal level and was looking at her confused. The tears were still flowing down his face, but he was at the point he didn't understand himself any longer. She tried one more time to reach him, "Believe in what your heart tells you. If I'm wrong, then you can pin the blame on me later. Talk to me Gohan. Please."

Gohan let her go, and stood up ready to walk away. He was still holding on to what pride and dignity he had left after allowing himself to cry the way he did, especially in front of someone. He never saw her move in front of him and look up at him defiantly.

"Don't you run from me Gohan. You're not a coward so face this and overcome it. If you truly want to become the fighter that everyone wants you to be, then you have to let go of the walls you have up." He turned his head away and kept his body stiff, refusing to listen to her anymore. Her body moved up to him, pressing close, so very, very close swarming his senses with her very essence. A pair of hands rested on his hips shyly, but didn't move back. Startled, Gohan turned his eyes back towards Mercury and saw a slight but determined blush on her face, as she made physical contact with him.

It had been so long since he had seen eyes that looked into his soul and truly cared about him and saw the real person inside of the fighter. Slightly afraid, Gohan tried to back away, but she moved with him and pulled herself closer, grinding her hips against his powerful body. "Ami..."

"I told you, I'm Mercury in this form."

He found himself smiling at that and compelled to cup the back of her head and pull her up closer to him. Her lips were soft and yielding, nowhere close to the demanding, possessive ones of his past wife. Mercury was surprised. She wanted Gohan to open up, but was she ready for this kind of relationship from someone? Men demanded to much from her and she wasn't willing to be someone she wasn't for anyone. After a few moments, she attempted to break away, but Gohan was faster as he held the small of her back against his strong frame. "Oh no you don't. I don't know where this will lead us later, but I do know one thing. You are not going to have me open up my heart to you and then run away on me immediately after."

Being shy had always been a problem for her in the past and now was no exception as her fear of being rejected because of her intelligence and refusal to change, rose to the surface. It reflected in her expression and Gohan, in a way could see himself in her eyes. It seemed that he wasn't the only one trying to bury the past and put up walls. 'You're not going to shell up on me any longer Ami. We can open ourselves up to each other, because I don't want to do this alone anymore.' Turning her away from him, he moved so close that all Mercury could feel was his presence. She was so much shorter than he was that he appeared to be a giant. "I believe you started something Ami." His hands gently rested on her hips, right above where her dress reached her thighs and he smiled wickedly realizing the power and solitude he had over her all of a sudden.

"Mercury!"

"I'll call you what I desire to call you." His tongue darted out to lick the back of her ear and pulled back as she tried to move her head to face him. As she tried to turn away from his tongue he moved to the other side of her head and did the same thing. Her body heat was rising, encouraging him to go further with her. It had been so long, that the feel of her in his arms, drove him crazy and he realized that he had picked someone that he could love. She wasn't Vedel, but Ami had her own qualities that were as attractive and unique. Becoming bolder, Gohan moved his hands down to where he touched the skin of her legs, bringing an instant reaction to her body. "You want me to open up. I know of a faster way to do that without explaining everything."

"What?" She nearly jumped through the roof, as Gohan struck her neck with his razor sharp teeth, making her his. The thoughts began flooding her mind, fast and furious and she would have sunk to her knees crying if he had not been holding her. 'God, how could they do this to him?' Tears poured down her face as each memory surfaced in her mind.

Gohan was a little boy, going to meet his father's friends when someone kidnapped him and hurt his daddy very badly. If it hadn't been for that incident, they would never have discovered the hidden power inside of the young boy. Then Piccolo took him, not letting him say good-bye to his mother, and left him alone to live or die in the dessert. After that, it was fierce training that was a matter of survival as well. It didn't matter as he froze in fear, realizing the full power of the Saiya-jins that came to the planet to destroy it and himself. Piccolo died trying to save his life and he forever blamed himself for it. Cell came and killed his father, because he thought he didn't finish him off fast enough. Majin Buu destroyed all of Earth when he quit training to be a normal teenager and he had shut himself off completely when Vedel died in a plane crash he couldn't prevent.

"Oh god." Gohan rested his chin on top of her head, waiting for her to say something, but was greatly shocked to find her sobbing in his hold. Turning her around, worried that he had hurt her by accident, he saw something that made his heart beat faster.

"Don't you dare feel sorry for me Ami. I don't need that."

"Did I say I felt sorry for you? You listen and you listen well. I don't ever want to hear you say that emotions are bad and that the past is your fault. From what I've seen, you gave everything you had under each circumstance. Emotions can be good and bad. If you let them control you, then it can be bad, but if you use them to fuel your cause, then it's a powerful ally and can defeat any enemy you face."

"I want to believe you Ami, but I've seen too much to let that happen again."

Ami pulled his head down to her level and turned his neck. She knew what to do after seeing his thoughts and finished the bond between both of them forever. She hoped she was making the right decision, but there was no one else that was better for her. Gohan was so much like her.

Gohan's eyes widened as he felt the loneliness of a child that never had any friends until the day one girl showed her different. Ridiculed for being smart, and never having a boyfriend to treat her as an equal. Then he saw the devastating words that drove her best friend away and the guilt that had set itself deep into her heart. 'Maybe you're right, but it's going to take time to heal both of us. I still don't blame Piccolo or my father about any of this. They were only doing what they thought was best for me and the planet at the time.' He smiled and picked his up little mouse and walked over to the time gates and showed her how open he could really be. Their minds became one, and for the first time in almost twenty something years, he let himself relax and trusted Ami's wisdom that everything could work out.

Past

"Whaaa! Whaaa!" Turles and Haruka were in the middle of scouting another planet for life, when the cry came up from Makoto that she either needed to be changed, or fed again. It had been nearly seven months since the child was born and the tragic death of her mother. He was about to get up and get her, when Haruka placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Take a break Turles. You've been running yourself ragged with her, and know more about how to check for hostile life forms than I do."

"Fine, but don't get use to taking care of my child. She's my responsibility and I refuse to pass her off to anyone else."

"Don't worry; I hate to intrude on your territory. Heaven knows, I seldom can pry her from you." Turles watched her leave the room and shook his head in wonder. That woman continued to confuse him. She didn't seem like the mother type, yet she took care of his daughter with a loving care that defied all logic.

Haruka wasn't expecting anything to be wrong and hoped to play with the infant when she stopped and sensed an evil presence that made her blood run cold. This wasn't like the enemies that they fought hand to hand, but a darker kind that could normally be sensed with the eyes or planet magic. Something was over Makoto and it was nothing she had ever seen before, but one thing for sure, its intentions were not good as it raised, what looked like an arm and a knife and sliced at Makoto. One would think that shadows couldn't hurt you, but this one slashed a deep cut on the baby's arm, that caused her to scream in pain and terror. "No!" Haruka shouted and rushed the shadow with a side kick that didn't do anything but smashed her through the wall. She saw the shadow shift and distort slightly, but it didn't do a thing other than hover over her bed. Desperate, she grabbed the child from the bed she was in, but not without having something slice into her back. When she started to run, she heard a screech of anger, but the shadow stopped when it came to some lighted part of the hall, and wouldn't come any further.

Turles was in the middle of running the last of his testing when he heard Haruka shout and his child screaming. Fear entered his heart and without a second thought, jumped from his seat and ran towards where their room was. He was half way down the hall when he froze; not believing what he was looking at. Haruka was surrounded with his child in her arms, blood flowing down her back and legs. It looked like she wasn't being attacked, but something about her not moving alerted him that something was out of the ordinary.

Haruka saw Turles and noticed he was getting closer to a shadow, and fear was all that was registering in her mind. "Turles stay away from the shadows. I don't know what's going on, but they can inflict damage on us and I can't faze them."

"Are you kidding me? What you're trying to tell me, is that shadows are not harmless?"

"Don't argue with me! That's exactly what I'm saying. I didn't cause the blood on my back and Makoto's arm. Get us some more light in this corridor, quickly!" Haruka screamed as something tore into her leg and she collapsed cradling the child under her. When she fell, she fell in part of the shadows further and that's when they converged on her.

The light couldn't have come at a better time, as Turles flooded the entire corridor not leaving a single dark spot anywhere. The shadows screamed as they quickly disappeared. They didn't know if they killed them, but at the moment, Turles didn't care as he ran over to Haruka and Makoto to check out the damage. Makoto looked fine, except for the cut on her arm, but Haruka was another story as she laid unconscious, wounds opened everywhere. Placing Makoto in his tail, Turles carefully lifted Haruka's limp body and walked towards the labs. Not taking any chances, he lit every corridor before he went down it and could see the creatures hissing as they retreated into the walls. The regeneration tank inside the lab looked like it was safe and he quickly placed Haruka in it and started her recovery. Taking some bandages, he quickly cleaned Makoto's arm and bandaged it. He didn't know what was going to happen at this point, but one thing was for sure. Shadow's were alive and they could inflict damage on them.

Two hours passed and Haruka was still not a quarter of the way heeled when he felt a jolt in the ship and jumped up. The lights flickered but came back on. Turles was tense and he waited, ready for anything. When Haruka finally made it to the half way point, Turles heard an explosion towards the bridge and knew he didn't have much time before the entire ship blew. It was already beginning to shudder and he saw sparks coming from the walls. Not wasting time, he broke the glass around Haruka and grabbed her before she hit the floor. Running as fast as he could, he went to an emergency space pod and ejected from the space pod, watching as the ship blew itself up. What looked to be like black mist, shot from the ship and headed for the planet they were about to land on.

The ship crashed into a swamp of mud, water, and vines everywhere. When Turles exited the space pod, he cradled Haruka's unconscious body in his arms, while he continued holding Makoto and ran. Shadows swarmed around him everywhere, but he made sure he stayed in the sunlight and wondered what he was going to do when the sun set that night.

Time Stream

Mercury was sleeping next to the time gates with Gohan's arm draped over her wasit. Something in the mirror flashed, getting her attention and when she took a look she gasped. The lives of Haruka, Turles and Makoto were in the balance and there was no telling what was going to happen. "PLUTO!" she screamed.

Gohan woke up with a start and came up beside his mate to see what had her worked up. Tears and fear were in her eyes as she watched what was happening and he had to admit the images he was seeing was enough to give him nightmares for a long time. "What's happening to them?""I don't know."

Pluto came running up to the time gate and gasped. "Oh my god. Things are so out of hand in the time stream. If time had stayed the same, Turles would never have been near that planet to begin with."

"What planet are they on?"

"It's only rumored, because few ships have made it past it, without destructing and killing everyone. But a few of the survivors screamed that it was the planet where shadows could kill you and that light was the only way to defeat them. None of them had ever stepped foot on the planet, because sunlight only stays on the planet for about five hours a day to be plunged into total darkness."

"Oh god! Isn't there anything we can do? If Makoto dies, doesn't that mean she dies here as well?"

Pluto nodded and Mercury started to cry, Gohan holding her to him. He knew what it felt like not to be able to do anything but to watch. "NO! USAGI HELP THEM PLEASE!" Mercury's symbol on her forehead began to blaze as she screamed her heart out into the past.

Past

Usagi, asleep in bed, bolted up and searched all around her for what woke her up. Something bad was happening and someone had called her name in desparation. Kakarot sleepily pulled Usagi down closer to him, wanting her to stay next to him for awhile longer until they had a little more sleep. When she refused to come back down to the pillows, he opened his eyes to see her staring into space trembling. "Usagi?"

Then he heard it through her mind link to him. "NO! USAGI HELP THEM PLEASE!"

'Mercury...' The scream stopped as it heard her talk back to them. 'Is that you?'

'Usagi, you can hear me? How?'

'I don't know, but the links open now. What's the matter?'

'Turles, Haruka and Makoto in the time line you're in, is in grave danger. Pluto says they're on some planet they should have never landed on if things had not changed so drastically sense you and the others went there. If Makoto dies, then she dies here. We want to help, but there's no way we can get to you guys.'

'That's not exactly true,' Kakarot joined in through the link. Mercury was slightly startled to hear someone else through the link, but what surprised her even further is when Gohan heard his father and jumped right on in.

'Hey dad!'

'Gohan, how are you linked into this?'

A slight embarrassed laugh came from him, 'Well, Ami is sort of my mate now and we're mentally linked. What do you mean that it's not exactly true that we can't get there?'

'If it were completely impossible to get to us, then you wouldn't be talking to Usagi right now. There still might be away to get here through a time stream if you can figure out how you're doing this.'

'Is that possible?' Gohan asked.

Usagi laughed. 'You mean the two smartest people in the time stream can't figure this out? Mercury, use your computer and have Gohan help you.'

'Are you sure he can understand how it works?'

'If he doesn't, then he'll pick it up quickly. He's far more intelligent than you and I are, which is saying something since you had an IQ over 300.'

'I never had mine tested,' Gohan stated.

'We'll be in touch Mercury. I know you can find away, and tell the others I forgive them.'

The link was terminated and Usagi jumped out of bed to grab her crystal. She concentrated on her half-brother and sister and called them. 'Taru, Geta I need your help. Hurry and bring Rei! Leave the babies with Kalara and Eclipse.' Usagi looked at Artemis desperate. "Artemis, can you look after the twins?"

"Sure thing, Usagi. What do you plan on doing?"

"Something I haven't done in several years. I hope I haven't forgotten how to do this!" She pulled out the necklace on her neck, and raised it into the air. "MOON ETERNAL CRYSTAL MAKE-UP!" Rainbows surrounded Usagi and what stood in front of Kakarot when she was done was breath taking. There were the wings on her back that spread wide and flapped behind her. Rei, Vegeta, and Hotaru came running into their room to see that Kakarot was standing before Usagi to Vegeta.

"Sailor Moon," Hotaru and Rei said. "What's the matter?"

"Transform now!"

"SATURN ETERNAL POWER!"

"MARS ETERNAL POWER!"

Standing in front of Kakarot and Vegeta were three powerful forms that they didn't know existed inside of their mates. They knew they were fighters, but not on this magnitude. "Kakarot," Sailor Moon said, "can you find Turles with your instant transmission?"

"I can try." He began to concentrate really hard, and almost missed them, when he shot his eyes open. "I found them! Let's go."

"Wait! You two need to transform first. According to Mercury, shadows are the enemy and the only way you can defeat a shadow is to shed some light on it. In your transformed stage, you two give off enough light that would protect us."

Vegeta and Kakarot nodded and screamed as they transformed into Super Saiya-jin 2 and would go higher if they needed to. "Grab my arm, everyone. Usagi, are you sure you three can handle this fight?"

"That's our fighter out there Kakarot and we're not going to let her be rescued by anyone, unless were there as well. Isn't that what we've been trained to think?"

All of them grabbed Kakarot's arm or shoulder and disappeared, to what, they did not know.