Chapter 33

A day of joy, a day of tears…

A sea of bodies laid amidst the vast plain of Teriok with a stench that could curl any stomach. Swords clanked against swords, and soldiers flint face fought against soldiers. One couldn't tell the winner of the battle from the loser as they were all embroidered in nearly the same detailed uniform, and splattered with blood. There was no victory that any could see.

ChiChi's heart ache at the hideous sight, but all she could do was press the palm of her right hand against her heart. Her throat vibrated with a moan, and her eyes burned for release. Her people were losing their lives, many were losing their life for a war she created. One slap, another she pounded at her chest in hopes of relieving her pain. What could she do? She had survived reaching the tree, and jolting towards the field. She had grazed her hands, and scrapped various parts of her body to get to where she stood. Yet, all the strength she had once mustered had fleeted with the scene. What could she do?

The sound of drums drew her attention, and those swept in battle. A dozen horses with riders came through the gate of Teriok, it followed behind a row of men pounding loudly on their war drums. What now? What now?

In the lead of the horseman sat Absalom on a black stallion, though the distance made his features blurred, the royal uniform made it apparent. He signaled for someone behind him, and they rode to his side. Absalom extended his arm to reach, for a cloth covered object. With all the soldiers eyes fixated on him, Absalom rode closer to the crowd of soldiers, his men at his side.

"The battle is already lost; you may as well give up your fight."

ChiChi froze as her eyes drifted to the object in Absalom's hand, and her ears strained to hear the faintest word he had to say. However; she knew that she was much too far from him, to hear even single word. She looked left, then right. When she noticed that all the men were enthralled with Absalom, she grew courage to take her first step into the plains of Teriok. She fixed her eyes on Absalom, as she took another step. Then she took another step. What was he saying?

Absalom smirked, as he reached for the cloth that hid his greatest victory. As his fingers clutched a piece of the material, he glanced left and right out into the field of war. Oxen and Terioken soldiers alike stood eager to see the weapon he held hidden. "Take this day as memorial as to why no kingdom has raised a hand against Teriok and lived. If your princess had not refused my offer, and your king not rival my offer there would be no war today. Your people would be thriving, and so many men wouldn't be dead. Look around you."

What was he saying? ChiChi quicken her step. She squeezed through the crowed of soldiers that stood holding their swords at the neck of their opponent, waiting for Absalom's words. She knew it was dangerous, and the few eyes that looked in her direction with curiosity, only reframe from striking her because their life was dependent on keeping their current foe at bay with their only sword.

ChiChi weaved through the crowd of soldiers. What was he planning to do? She was determined to close the distant between her and her once potential suitor. However; the distance only seemed to grow with every step forward she took.

Absalom's sat high on his stallion, at the apex of the plain closest to Teriok's gate. His men stood on every side to protect him from any potential harm. Yet, he was certain that the war would end once he revealed his last card. He would be the king that his father was, and more.

"Now thanks to your king and princess, you will all become slaves. I believe that is a worthy reward for your disobedience. However, if you drop your weapon now, and choose to join my army you won't receive that faith. I'll only give you till I count to ten, to decided. If you don't, and I say ten and I show you what I hold in my hand and your sword is still in your hand. You and your family will be slaves. One!"

What was he saying? ChiChi moved faster, her eyes catching sight of Oxen soldier's fidgeting swords, as they glance between themselves. Yet, no solider dared to release their hold against their enemy and strike her. Then she heard the first sound of a man's voice since she stepped onto the plains. Her stomach twisted at the whisper, and fear gripped her as she heard the words sweeping through the men.

"He said if you drop your weapon, you'll join our army and never want again. If you don't by the time he says ten, the offer is revoked. You and your family will be slaves. If I were you, I think smart."

ChiChi froze. Her eyes shifted in the direction of a solider to her right, he steady hold on his sword was begin to crumble. She could see his hand shaking, and his eyes glanced at nearby fellow Oxen soldiers for their input. What was Absalom trying to do? ChiChi looked at yet another solider and found they also looked to be contemplating the words that were related to them. Would they really betray their land, and people for the sake of a murder like Absalom?

ChiChi shook away the thoughts. Quickly, she continued through the crowd. She couldn't let her mind wavier, she needed to put an end to Absalom's reign. "Six!" ChiChi could finally hear his voice bellowing through the crowd, she was close.

"How can I believe him?" The words stopped ChiChi, and she shifted her gaze to the Oxen solider on her left. His sword was shaking in his hand inches from the Terioken's throat. "Tell me, how will I know he won't still kill my family."

"He is a man of his word."

"Lie!" Interjected ChiChi. Every solider in close proximity shifted their eyes to the once nearly invisible ChiChi. "If you believe a murder, it means you also believe a liar. He has killed many, so why would he keep such a promise as that. Your Oxen solider and the last hope for many other people, don't you dear let that man sway you!"

The solider shaking hand continued, as he looked around. "She is right; you can't be sway. No matter what he holds under that cloth, we are the last hope for our people. Remember the vow you took; we came to save our people not our lives."

"Eight!"

Seconds stretched into minutes as the man stood with the weight of their words on his shoulders. Then a whisper from another solider nearby clear his mind. "Isn't she the princess?"

"The princess? Princess!"

ChiChi gave a small nod, and smile.

"The princess is well, and here. Stand, tell everyone to endure. No one drop their sword. No one waiver."

"We will win." ChiChi gave them an affirming nod, before she continued to Absalom.

"Today you will die," snorted an Teriok Solider. "Fool yourself if you like, but she can't do anything."

Every next step ChiChi took was with more confidence than the last. Her people were confident in her, and confident in their victory. Absalom had lost, with his plea to sway devoted soldiers. "Nine!" She heard him bellow, and she could see him clearly now, with a smirk on his face. She couldn't wait to wipe that smirk off of his face.

"Ten!"

It was the last words that ChiChi heard, as Absalom pulled the fabric free. All the strength in her fleeted, and her confidence drained. Her breath was trapped in her throat, though she desperately tried to release it. She was hyperventilating, and her heart splitting in two. She pounded at her heart for the second time that day, but this time it didn't cure her pain in the least.

She tried to step forward but her feet were like weights. With a slump of shoulders, she fell to her knees, the jagged rocks scrapping against her skin but she didn't feel it.

ChiChi was defeated. With what little strength she had left, pitifully she wailed. Tears like a monsoon ran down her cheeks, and her chest heaved in response. Absalom had won!

With a confident smile, Absalom sat high holding in his right hand the head of the king. Ox King, her father. His confidence grew, when he caught sight of the owner of the heart wrenching cry. Princess ChiChi.

No-one dared to move, Absalom was the first. He tossed the dead king's head to the ground, and it rolled till it stopped inches from the weeping princess.

"Papa!" Wailed ChiChi, as the tears continued.

"My little girl, there isn't a day that I don't miss you when I'm away. There will be a day when I can take you with me. I'll always take you with me when that day comes." Ox King kissed the top of the chubby six-year-old ChiChi's head.

"You weally pomise, daddy?"

"I do. I do. I love you, I love you always."

"Stop!" Ox King bellowed halting her assault. "Did you forget your

place?"

ChiChi stood eyes locked with her father's. "It is not his place its mines to give, he works for me…he is for me."

"You look like a fool," Ox King scolded.

ChiChi winced in pain at her father's reprimand; he had never spoken to her like that before. "On this day if you join my father's army you have resigned from your place as my guard, and you will not return to it. And I…I," she cast her eyes from his, " I will hate you! I will hate you with all I am, and never want to see you again! I will hate you too Father!"

The words echoed through ChiChi's mind. She hadn't made up with her father since that day. Desperately, she tried to stop the tears, but she couldn't. She couldn't stop crying, even as Absalom closed the gap between them. He towered her, his' tall frame blocking any light of the sun.

"Well this isn't right. I thought you were dead, Princess?" Absalom tauntingly swung his sword from left to right. "I guess the saying is right, not everyone looks good crying."

ChiChi couldn't hear a single word he said, nor did she even notice him standing before her. She was closed off from the world around her, all she could think of was her father. Why did she have to be so disobedient?

Absalom raised the sword above his head, as soldiers tried to make their way to the princess' aid. However; they were caught in battle of their own. ChiChi sat like a rage doll, broken.

"It looks like you want to join your daddy dearest, and being the good husband- that I would have been. I must give you whatever it is that you like." One solider broke free from the crowd, but a solider to Absalom's right quickly launched forward.

Absalom smirked, he would make her pay for her rejection. His sword started to descend, the blade inches from her neck but with inches away missed as an arrow pierced through his' wrist. Absalom groaned in pain as his sword fell to the floor, and he shifted his gaze to the assailant.

"So you're the crazy guy she was telling me about," quirked Bulma, as she stood with another arrow drawn.

"You've made the worse mistake you could have," Abalsom, grunted as he pulled the arrow from his arm. One of his' soldiers rushed to his side, with a torn fabric from their uniform to tie the king's gushing injury.

Bulma's confidence wavier as a group of men forged a barrier between her and Absalom. "Is this what a king of your stature does, hide behind his men? ChiChi! You need to snap out of your daze!"

"Kill her," barked Absalom, as he pushed away the solider aiding his wound. "Make sure you bring me her head, that wench injured my arm!"

"Yes, sir."

Bulma shook her head. "I guess; I didn't think this through really well." She took a few steps backward, as she looked left then right. Where was her backup? "I really should have learned how to fight." She took another step backwards, before making a dash away from the men towards the woods. She only looked back a few times to ensure that she kept a distance between her and the soldiers.

Suddenly, with only a short distance to the woods, she felt a kick connect to her back. She flew face forward into the ground, her entire body aching. Her quiver emptied her remaining newly made arrows, and her bow flew in the tizzy. She was dead, Bulma knew it. This would be her last breath.

Bulma closed her eyes, as she waited for the blow that would follow. Yet, when it didn't arrive she rolled over onto her back and cracked open her right eye. She perched up on her elbows, to find the most surprising sight.

All the soldiers that were just chasing her, was sprawled out on the ground, and her savior finally turned around to face her. A familiar smirk embedded on his face, as he made his way to her. Had he gone mad? A hand extended to her, and she stared at it as if it were the strangest thing. Then slowly she reached out, and placed her hand in his.

With ease he pulled her to her feet, it felt like an eternity since she last seen him. "You came?" was the only words that she could say, and the first time she desperate for more to say. The day was full of surprises.

"Of course."

Bulma was teary eyed at the words, and she felt a big relief. "I thought…no…I hope you would have come."

Though he didn't say much words, or reach for her- she knew what he felt. "Get to safety woman, I will come back for you." He looked her over quickly, till his eyes spot a few scraps on her arm. "Take care of those scraps, you'll look hideous if they well."

"Okay." Bulma was elated, and without thought she wrapped her arms around him. Her head rested against his shoulder, as she cried. She felt him stiffen for a moment, but then for the first time in years he wrapped his arms around her. "You've endured a lot."

To the world Vegeta was cold, and harsh. However; to Bulma she knew he could be the sweetest man if they only understood the depths of his words. She found joy, on such a hideous day as this, in the arms of her husband. They finally would have the second chance, she was grateful.

Absalom fought pass his pain, to grab his sword with his left hand. Though it was a struggle to hold the sword, he had enough strength to. "I don't understand why you couldn't have been just as you are now, when I offered to marry you. Maybe I should have kill your father then, eh?"

ChiChi's crying, angered Absalom. It wasn't because he cared, but that she wouldn't response to a single thing he said. She was wrapped up in another world, and that annoyed him. "I suppose you do want me to kill you. Well if that attack from your friend never happened, I would have granted that request. However; I think I should let you feel some more pain."

Absalom dropped his sword, and grabbed ChiChi by the hair. With all the strength he had, he pulled her to her feet, and dragged her towards the moat of Teriok.

ChiChi only struggled against his pull to get to her father, but her fight didn't last long. Like a hollow shell, she soon followed him. She was deaf and dead to the world, and numb inside. She would go anywhere he led her if it meant everything would end soon. She didn't want to live; she didn't deserve to.

"This is all your fault you know? I would have kept your people safe. I would have treated you well, if you wouldn't have rejected me. Yet, being the brat you are, you just had to lead your people a stray."

The moat was coming closer, and the battle farther away. Absalom glanced over his shoulder at all the soldiers still swept in battle, and the defeat of the Oxen. "Your people will soon serve the same end as you. My arm will get better, my kingdom, too. However; you and your people will cease to exist today."

Absalom pushed her to the ground, near the moat. He gloated in victory as her face was buried in dirt and grass. He found humor in her despair. A relaxing laugh escape his throat, and his wounded heart felt a faint of comfort. "Why is that you had to be so judgmental? We could have changed the world. I had admired you for a while. To think!"

ChiChi laid unmoving, as if she were paralyzed. Absalom found his anger returning with the passing second, and in his attempt to get answers he dragged her up by her hair again. With a struggle he turned her around to face him. "Will you not answer me? You won't say a thing will you? Are you finally a shame of what you've done? Yes, you must be. You must be horrified. Hmm, I won't move from this spot until I see you breathe your last breath."

Dejectedly, ChiChi stood all life in her eyes depleted. She hadn't even heard a single word he said, all she could see was his lips moving. Her mind was too busy reliving every memory she shared with her father. The many times he whispered to her he loved her, or told her he missed her. Also, the last words she remembered shouting at him. Not I love you, but I hate you.

"ChiChi!" Suddenly, she felt as if she had heard a voice she longed to. Yet, she knew it couldn't be so. Her eyes soon followed the direction Absalom's riveted to, and in the distance she could see a figure racing in her direction. 'Was she imaging him? No, she couldn't. She didn't deserve to see such an endearing sight as that of the man she loved, before she died. Especially, when she knew all the lives that were lost including her father's was because of her.'

"Is that what it takes to get your attention? To become a lowly man like him? Well, I won't give you a second in the day to have another moment with him. Do hear? Do you hear me?!" Absalom shook ChiChi, trying to tear her gaze from the approaching man. When he realized it was useless, he held back no longer. "Even to your death, will you only see him? Will you look to him only? Fine, even now I would have speared you if you asked. Yet, you still only look to him."

Absalom looked over his shoulder to the closer approaching man, and with venom in his eyes back to ChiChi. Gulping, he pushed her forward without a struggle.

ChiChi collapsed backwards, her arms spread out. The world felt as if it slowed in that moment, to make her aware of ever wrong she committed. Arrows blazing through the sky like red petals flew overhead, and ChiChi saw them in slow motion. Her hair swayed in the wind, as she fell backwards in the moat. The moment she hit the water she was enveloped in its coldness, but she welcomed it.

"ChiChi!"

"My heart is so cold… I'm so cold…I can't give him my heart…why? Why?"

The words from her dream impaled her as she was buried beneath the water, her eyes stung from the water. Her throat burned, as her lungs ached for air. She wouldn't fight death; it was the price worthy of her crimes. She would stop fighting. She imagined him again, standing above her looking down. She didn't deserve the comfort of his face, so she closed her eyes. Silently, inside she prayed he was well and would survive. Goku deserved happiness, even if it wasn't with her.

The depth of the moat pulled her further, and she felt the knocking of her lungs against her chest for air. Yet, she wouldn't swim. 'I coming dad…I coming to you.'

Precipitously, ChiChi's eyes fluttered open as she felt arms pull her close and her descend stop. She looked around, but the one who was pushing her toward the surface was behind her. She started to struggle against their hold, but it was useless. Within seconds, they surfaced and with it all sound around came flooding into her mind, as she struggled to turn around and scold her savior.

ChiChi's voice fled her, as she locked eyes with Goku. The look in his onyx orb was endearing, and the relief in his expression, welcoming. ChiChi's mind had been distracted from her father and the battle. Likewise, Goku couldn't think about another thing in the world, except for ChiChi at the moment. It had taken all his strength to reach her, and if he made it a second later it would have been all for naught.

While Goku wasn't sure what someone did when they saw someone they cared for, like a man and a woman, his body seemed to make up for that lack. He pulled her into his arms, close to his frame, despite her struggle.

A drum sounded, and yells from nearby soldiers for a retreat. "Your hurt," whispered ChiChi, tears in her eyes.

Goku could see a sorrow in ChiChi's eyes he had never seen, and he wanted to ease it. He wanted to help her overcome that pain, but again that was another thing he wasn't well adept in. So silence filled the air, until he found the best antidote he could.

"I love you," declared Goku. He leaned his head against hers', as he kept them afloat. He didn't care about anything aside from the fact that she was close, alive, and well. Everything else they could piece together in a moment. He could even learn how to love her, too. He just wanted to feel her close at the moment, and know she was breathing.

Why was her heart shifted with only those words from him? How did he make her forget all the wrongs she did, with only those words and his closeness? "I…I don…" She bit her bottom lip, as she pushed aside all the struggles within her. While her pounded in a furious dance at his confession, her voice restricted her. She couldn't find the courage to return his word, because she was ashamed. ChiChi was ashamed that her last words to her father was hate, and not love. Also, that she had lived most her life as a child. She had never loved a man before, but she was certain that she loved Goku. Yet, like a fool she couldn't tell him.

"Let's get out of the water," said Goku, as he started towards the bank of the moat.

"Wait, wait. I'm not ready for this…I'm not ready to face what I've made my people become. A little longer, a little longer."

"We've won, princess. The battle is over."

"Over?"

"Yes. Vegeta came, and the men inside of Teriok defeated all the guards inside. Absalom is unconscious at the moment."

ChiChi looked flabbergasted. "…How? How is that so? It felt like it's only been seconds."

"It's been longer, truthfully it took me a while to get to you. I'm sorry." Goku search ChiChi's face for any sight of injury. "Does your head hurt?"

"A little…but that will be okay. It's my heart that hurts the most," she whispered, as her eyes glazed. "I…I…wish this were a dream…. I…"

Goku felt bothered by ChiChi's sadness, but he didn't know how to comfort hurt. Why was he so lacking? His eyes eye's caught sight of the quiver of her lips, and strangely he felt the urge to press his against hers'. Would they be able to quiver with such sorrow, if his' were pressed against hers'? It was the strangest thought, yet he wanted to. He pulled her closer, by the small of her back, and his head leaned forward. It was worth a try. He inched closer, till only a slit of space separated his lips from hers'. Her eyes were now locked with his, and her cheeks a rosy pink. He could feel her breath against his skin, and the push and pull of her chest.

"Will you stay in there all day?" Interjected Caleb.

ChiChi and Goku pulled away from each other, and looked to Caleb. With a nod, ChiChi made her way over to Caleb who pulled her onto land. Goku pulled himself out of the moat, and stood to his feet.

Goku glanced around at the sight before him, relieved. It had taken little after he met up with Vegeta to bring the Teroken soldier's in submission. He glanced over to Absalom who was still laid out on the ground, unconscious.

"Princess, the war is over." Caleb gave ChiChi a weary smile. "I owe you an apology."

ChiChi shook her head, and feigned a smile. "No, no you don't. You were being a good solider, as always."

Goku glanced between ChiChi and Caleb, curiously. He felt his heart tighten, at the sight of her smile at Caleb's greeting. He realized that exchange between the two, made him feel the way he had the day he seen her dance with Absalom. Unconsciously, he moved closer to her. ChiChi glanced over to him, and smiled. "Thank you, Goku."

"Hmm."

"What do we do now?" asked ChiChi, as she looked over to Caleb.

Suddenly, Caleb yanked ChiChi towards him by her right arm as he spun around. With a groan, Caleb withered. Goku felt a knot in his chest at Caleb's action, but it quickly vanished as he noticed Caleb's true intention.

With speed, Goku round house kicked Absalom knocking him to the ground. Then he grabbed Absalom by his shirt, and begun to shower him with blows, until he depleted Absalom of what strength he held. Goku stop his assault, his fist inches from his face when he noticed that Absalom no longer put up a fight.

Absalom choked up blood, his face bruised and bloody, and his eyes barely able to open. His lips twirled into a mischievous smirk. "Do you think it will last? That you her shall wed? She is a princess, now more than ever she'll need a prince. Your nothing but a guard that should have known his place." Absalom laughed before he continued his taunts. "You shouldn't have stop! You should just finish me."

Goku's mind was whirling with Absalom's words. His fist still hovering inches from Absalom's face. A piece of him wanted to end's Abalsom life to ensure ChiChi's safety. Another part of him beacon to spare Absalom. Yet, his mind was caught in a heavy dishevel. Goku closed his eyes for a moment, listening for an answer. What should he do?

ChiChi fell with Caleb to the floor, as his strength left. She held his head in her lap. "Stupid," cried ChiChi. "Why did you just do that?" Her eyes burned, and her heart ache. She glanced over to Goku, and was relieve to find him with the upper hand. Absalom laid sprawled out beneath Goku barely holding on. Her eyes riveted back to Caleb as he was taken in a fit of coughs.

Caleb coughed up blood, as he attempted to laugh. "It was the only thing I could do for you."

"Stupid, Stupid. You did more than enough."

Caleb shook his head. "No, I didn't. I always believed that your feelings weren't sincere, because I believed someone else."

"Please, don't talk. Wait to tell me, okay? Wait."

Caleb shook his head, again. "I have to say, I won't make it. I should have listened to you when you said I was the only one. I was wrong," he strained to whisper the words. "You have to be happy, be happy for me…the kingdom…your father. He'd want that."

"Please, stop talking. You'll be okay if you keep your strength. Bulma will come, she is good."

"Please, just make sure that you change the kingdom, like you said you would. You be happy, I was late. But you're not. I wish I realized that long ago…that….I was afraid because I loved you," Caleb's voice drifted, as his eyes followed.

ChiChi cried for the umpteenth time that day, as she felt his grip slack. Today had been a day of tears, there was no victory in it.

ChiChi's rocked Caleb's head back and forth begging him to wake up. The day was creeping away with the descend of the sun, and all that was left of the battle was dead bodies, injured, and tears. ChiChi looked out into the field of war, as she held Caleb's head firm in her lap. So many were dead, and so few alive. There was a field filled with various weapons, things ChiChi had never seen. There were Terioken soldiers bound by their hands, and being led away. The battle was indeed over.

Radditz had come, his eyes fixed on the woman holding Caleb. In an instant he realized who she was, and his body trembled at the revelation. Her clothes were Raven's except she didn't wear the mask, and her face was that of the deceased princess. Everything had become apparent in that moment, and the hope he had of being with the sassy fighter vanished. She was the very princess his brother loved.

Radditz's eye shifted to his brother, and his opponent that laid beneath him. "Goku!"

Goku shook away his thoughts and looked up over to his brother. It was that moment when he realized his decision. A smile parted on his face, and his eyes beamed with life. "I think we should take him back to Ox, he isn't doing so well either. Maybe we can have him looked at he-"

"It's time to return," announced a solider, as he wheeled over a carriage fetched from Teriok. Both Goku and Radditz looked to the solider. "I've sent a few men ahead with the injured soldiers that were treated. This carriage will take the princess, and a few men will stay behind to help get order to this land. Another will come to take the slain bodies."

Radditz nodded to the solider. "Take the princess, we will stay behind and help."

The solider helped the dazed princess to her feet and into the carriage. Despondently, ChiChi sat her clothes splattered with blood, in the carriage looking at the night sky, numb. Her hair was a disheveled mess, and her skin pale as a ghost. She had lost so much in this day; she didn't know how to recover. What hope could she find after losing her father, the first guy she liked, and so many of her people? How could she find the courage to allow herself to be happy after all the mistakes she made.

"Goku, I wish we would have met another place…another time. How can I face you now?" She laid back against the cushion of the carriage, as she drifted into sleep.

A/N: Hey everyone, so I didn't want to put a note prior to the start of the chapter. So I'm writing a super long one now bear with me. I'm in my last semester of school, and trying to finish up. I tried to write this chapter a million times- but it was very difficult. However; I do want to say that I chose not to focus on the battle, because I don't believe that is the most important piece of the story. I believe it's the growth of the lead characters from beginning to end. Also, showing their true character. Do you see that with the difference between Goku and Caleb? Anyways, tell me what you think. Did you like it or not? Or were you expecting more of a battle?

Also, I want to let you guys know that next year I'll be moving to South Korea (YAY!) I'll be a teacher, and I'm super excited! I will either have one chapter after this one, or two [we will see]. Anyways, at the end of all the chapters I'm going to give you some info on how we can become friends, you can check out future original stories, and so on. I would love to hear from you when I do.

Again thanks to all my readers, you inspire me. Thanks for sticking here, as this story comes to a close.