A/N: Merry CHRISTMAS! Hope everyone holiday is wonderful, and you have lots to be thankful of. Thanks to all my reviewers, and this story will be coming to a close soon. As always please review, I enjoy reading them, and they motivate me.
Chapter Twenty One
In a bit of a bind...
"Stupid, stupid, stupid" chichi repeated continuously as she took her fierce anger out on the innocent stallion she rode. Why didn't she just tell Goku that it was her? Why did she feel it necessary to hide her true identity from the only man she was certain had taken her heart?
They had taken up camp and moved north for two weeks. Since she completed the uniform alterations, and she hadn't so much the pleasure to speak to Goku. He remained hidden away from the entire camp save for David. This made her overly suspicious of David's role in his timely disappearance; that kept them apart. Why was he trying to keep her from Goku? …She had no one to blame but herself!
"We're setting up camp" cried two messengers as they rode pass the crowd of soldiers.
One after the other soldiers came to a stop in the middle of sandy ground with rows of trees and bushes on every side. It was a replica of the previous camp saved there was no stream around, and that didn't leave ChiChi the least bit comforted. She had stunk from the weeks of travel and she had been in dire need of a bathe.
Soldiers climbed off their horses and the ones that walk begun to set up tents. Everyone was busy trying to get the camp up before night fall. David was a short distant away and again Goku was nowhere in sight. With a commanding tap, the horse walked forward, until she closed the gap between her and David.
"Why are we stopping here? There is no water, nor have we sent out watch to find if there is anyone out there."
"Glad to see you're thinking on your toes, but I have to say all things are well taken care of." David climbed off his black stallion, grabbed hold of the rains, and led him over to a nearby tree.
ChiChi tap her horse again and directed him to David, annoyed by his illusive talk. She had grown bitter with his talk and especially with his assumed discernment of a person- namely her. Who was he to think he knew who she was? Why did he ever think she had some unanswered question she was searching to find? He was keeping her from Goku, and she was becoming terribly impatient to be able to comfort him. "Have you really gone mad? There is nothing here, David. I thought that all your actions are in direct concern to the men and people."
"Have I given you any reason to believe else wise?"
"Now" she huffed, her eyes filled with unsettled rage.
"I think your letting your emotions get in the way, and I hope you can keep that rage for the day we make war. I'm not your enemy; you know that good and well."
"Do I?" ChiChi narrowed her eyes, taking a firm grasp on her horses' rains.
David stood unmoved by her anger, a smile on his lips, and it was burning her to the core. He tied his horse securely, patted him, and then glanced back up to the fuming princess. "I don't believe that it is this camp ground that is really bothering you. Would you like to talk?"
Talk? No she'd like to pull him apart limb by limb. She also wanted to cry and desperately she needed Goku hold her. "No! I want to know why we are in this location, set out in the open for a barbaric attack. Not only that but we have no water to drink or bathe in. How do you suggest one not to complain with such lack?"
"There is a lagoon to the east of here not too far, and I had men carry over three barrels of water. There is also a stream to the west a little ways off but I can have men there and back in no time. I have two of the best men, scout out this area before we made it here, and they assured me that this area is fine. There is a village nearby, but no one of any significant danger seems to be leaving or entering there." David stood confident in his speech and with every word ChiChi felt more reprehensible.
"I'm sorry" she whispered ashamed.
"No need to apologize Raven, a very hard thing in life is love. You can never tell when it begins or where it leads, but you feel it at every turn. Why don't you go and take the first bathe, if you keep east for a short while you'll stumble upon the lagoon."
ChiChi half smiled and then rode off in the direction David told her. It didn't take long before she found the lagoon, climbing down the horse; she finished the distance it took to the lagoon by foot. It nearly took her breath away .
There was a water fall at the apex of the small lagoon, covered with wild flowers. The water a brilliant shade of blue, one she had never seen. The man made pond in the center of the castle didn't compare to the beauty of the lagoon.
Discarding her clothes near by the sandy shore of the lagoon she placed one foot in, cringing. The water was beautiful but also alarmingly cold. A few steps taken back she looked around cautiously before pulling off her black mask and resting it on her folded clothes.
Squealing she ran into the lagoon diving under the water at the first feel of a drop. The moment she submerged underwater the chill of the lagoon had disappeared, and she was greeted by the clear view of several small fishes. The bottom of the lagoon was hidden in the deep blue beneath her.
With her breath dwindling she swam back up gasping for air. Uneven drags of breaths, she kicked below keeping her head above water. "If only papa could see me now, I'm certain he'd send Launch to fetch me!" She giggled at the thought of her large father yelling to every help in sight to save her from so deep water.
The waterfall was only a few feet before her, and with one stride after another she decided to close the gap. All her troubles had been miles away, even her latest mishap of hurting the one man she loved, as she enjoyed the comfort of the water.
A stream of water poured over her as she swam through the curtain of water. There was a small cave behind it that had only little room for one very small person, as herself, to sit. She pulled herself up into the small seat, allowing her feet to dangle in the water. She could only see a little pass the water fall before her, but she had nothing to worry about.
She sat there naked, leaned back, head tilt up listening to the calming splatters of water. It hadn't been long before she was lulled to sleep.
"Ungrateful, thickhead, no good jerk" came the distant bicker that stir ChiChi from her slumber.
The groggy princess looked around in a daze, till memory had returned. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid' She repeated for the second time that day. Lips chattering, trying desperately to bite away the overwhelming presence of cold, she was struggling to hear. She was still sitting behind the waterfall, and the voice on the other side didn't sound familiar. Squinting, she couldn't see anything but a blur. Her feet were aching from being submerge underwater from the length of time they were.
'Who could be here?' She glanced around, and when more bickering sounded she was certain the person would remain a while longer. She pulled her feet out of the water, and pulled them to her chest, hoping to ride out the unexpected visitor.
"I highly advise you to return ma'am, you know how your husband is. He will not be thrilled to know you've left again, against his will." Another voice, the second laced with indifference.
"Do you think I care? I've dealt with this for far too long! He can't just expect me to be locked up in that retched place all day! Where is he, huh? Probably out with that flouncy Yourichi I bet! Does he care about how I feel? I've been here every day, while he does whatever he wants! I've made one mistake, ONE mistake!"
ChiChi tried to listen as much as she could, but it seemed the girl's screeching faded. Suddenly, from the woman's angry cry she had found an disturbing familiarity in the her voice, only she couldn't yet place it.
"Let me take you home." Again the indifferent voice and it seemed the person was becoming impatient with the frustrated woman.
"No! I will not, you go if you would like. I know that you could care less about what happens to me, and I won't pretend. If he wants me he can come and get me himself, or else he'll just have to wait till I return. I'm no doll, have not been one, and will never be. You tell him that…TELL HIM…GO!"
Fear had been eliminated from ChiChi by the woman's conversation. She would be no threat to her by the sound of the bitter woman, and now she was all alone. There was still little light from the day out, and she was certain if she didn't return soon David would send for her. Only she was in a very compromising position and she couldn't have that happen, no matter how tempting it was.
As quietly as she could she dipped her feet back into the water, biting away the quivering of her lips as the cold stung her. After her legs were inundated, with her palms gripping the edge of the rock, slowly she lowered herself in.
Taking in a deep breath of air, she immersed herself beneath the water. Propelling forward with large outward strokes, and kicks she hurried to the shore trying to conserve air. She could see the shallow of the shore side a few feet away, but her breath was nearly nonexistent.
Struggling to pull forward she made it just pass the drop before having emerge for air. Gasping for air she found a sharp spear pointed dead center between her eyes, and she knew that it had been her carelessness that led to her death.
"You look worse than I'd imagine."
Radditz voice had been most pleasant to hear with the unfolding measure of recent events despite the words, to Goku. Continuing sharpening his sword, he looked up to his brother that stood before him blocking what little bit of sunlight was left of the day.
"I have to admit I'm not the best company at the moment" said Goku, sorrowfully.
"Aww I thought that very thing the entire way over, all four steps of the way" kid Radditz. The unmoved face of Goku quickly made his humor die, and the tension nearly became unbearable. The Sons family hadn't been one to speak on matters of death, especially with death of their parents.
Radditz was completely at a loss of how to comfort his brother. He was never attached to any girl, nor had he any close friends. When their gramps had died a few years earlier Grands had been there with all the answers. He had always been the one to cast things off, but in this death he couldn't.
He spent the last two weeks since the princess' death trying to comfort his brother, but nothing had work. He had remembered a time with his father, one of the few things he could still remember: he was speaking quietly, praying he had called it.
His mother had been hurting, and the next day she was well. So he tried that the night before, and as he did he felt the urge to speak of their parents and their death. Something inside of him was telling him that it would be the very cure of Goku's misery.
He sat down, folding his legs Indian style. He had told himself he'd never tell anyone of what he saw that day, but the comfort it may or may not give his brother was worth the try. "I remember mother only a little. She wasn't the smartest, and she didn't have much. She loved father, and us. In ways I think you are like her, always looking for the best in someone and never the bad. I remember her feeding a neighbor who had a week before spit in her face, and told her she wouldn't make it in life. She was kind, and that day..."
Goku's sharpening came to a halt at his brother's word. It felt surreal to him. His brother NEVER spoke of his parents or what happened before. He had always ached to know what had taken their parents from them. Yet he didn't want to hear of the little bit Radditz remembered of their parents, and he didn't want to acknowledge what ChiChi's death meant.
But he couldn't find the strength to stop his brother cause something greater yearned for the knowledge. The tighten jaw of Radditz and distant stare had Goku's entire attention, his brother was finally opening up.
"I heard horses, lots and lots of horses. Then there was banging. I remember mom holding you in her arms. She looked to me and smiled, but I could see the fear in her eyes, and in the air. Only it seemed they knew that that was going to happen, because I remember them practicing with me the escape route every day." There was a knot in the pit of Radditz's throat that stirred a cough, but he proceeded with all he remembered. Goku could only sit and listen.
Radditz wiped away a few tears with the back of his hands. It had taken all of him to tell Goku all he knew, and sitting before his brother he didn't know if that helped at all.
"For the first time in all my life that I can remember I'm afraid" whispered Goku, hesitantly.
"Huh? I don't understand."
"The day of the trial I heard a voice tell me to protect the princess, and that is why I entered. I didn't expect to become her guard, only to settle my foolish thoughts. When I won I was still in a bit of a daze. Then somehow I can't explain how the things she did grew on me. She was the nicest girl I met, and the only one that would actually talk to me and I understood. She was also patient with me, and explained things I didn't understand. I'm afraid that I'll forget her…" his voice broke with the words. It had been a constant battle within him.
A light switch went on in Radditz's heart and mind at his brother's confession, and then he knew exactly why he needed to tell him of their parents. "I felt the same way with mom and dad, also Gramps. I had so many wonderful memories, but to be honest over time they did slip away. A little at a time, and I remember starting to write them down, the few I knew, to remember them. Needless to say I had a really large book, and what I notice was I was still losing them. I couldn't hear mother's voice anymore, and I can't to this day remember what it sounded like."
"I should have been with her" he breathed, raking his hands through his wild hair.
"You weren't though, but you are here now. All you can do for her not just you, but her is live. If you felt such a connection with her then I'm certain she did with you as well. So if you have all that she is bottled up in you and you don't share it with everyone left, she will be forgotten-"
"Gentleman I hope I'm not interrupting anything important, but I need you two with another solider to go and look for Raven. I told how to get to the lagoon but she hasn't returned yet and it has been a few hours already" interjected David.
Radditz would have been upset with David for interrupting especially seeing how he may have been getting through to Goku, but at the mention of Raven all was forgiven. He glanced over his shoulder at the David, and then back to Goku who looked just as worried as he felt for the mysterious missing solider.
"We'll be on our way" said Radditz, troubled.
"Great, let me know at once when you arrive back with her safely. We have to be moving by morning, and everyone needs time to shower before night fall."
Though David was speaking Radditz hadn't heard but a few words, his mind preoccupied with the look on Goku's face. He had just been talking about the love of his brother's life, and at the mention of Raven he was in another world. His brother couldn't possible like another girl already? How he prayed it was all in his imagination, because it wouldn't be good if they both liked the same girl.