Third Eye

“How are you feeling?” asked Gohan.

“A little better now...” went Videl. It had been a few hours since Yamucha and the others left. Gohan stayed behind to make certain that Videl would recover from her ordeal. He was barely able to contain his excitement when she began to stir. Still, he protectively cradled her head in his lap. Something Videl didn’t mind in the least. In fact, she feigned unconsciousness for a few minutes, so she could enjoy it for a while longer.

“I’m glad to hear it,” he answered.

Slowly, Videl sat upright, careful to disturb tender areas as little as possible and hung her head. “I can’t believe how easily I was beaten today...I thought for sure that I’d be able to hold my own against the enemies you guys have to face…”

Gohan couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He went through that same thing all those years ago, so he knew exactly how she felt. But, he didn’t see her in action, so he couldn’t make an honest statement about her performance either way. So, he simply put a hand on her shoulder and hoped to be as comforting as possible.

“Gohan...I want you to step up my training, okay? I hate being so useless...” She looked up at him, sadness and determination in her eyes, “I want you to be able to depend on me...and I want to be able to come through for you when you do...”

He favored her with one of ‘those’ smiles...one his father was usually the one to provide. “You know...you’re exactly the same way I was when we were about to fight Cell...you have a deal. I hope you know, I won’t go easy on you.”

Videl smiled at him and then retorted, “I’d give ya a good kick in the butt if you did...” Their eyes locked for a moment longer than they should have, both staring, mesmerized, at the other, as if they were deer caught in an oncoming car’s headlights. Their hearts began to race and their breaths quickened as their faces inched ever closer towards each other. These were not the ideal circumstances either had in mind for this momentous event, but this was—

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK!!!!”

Gohan fell over. “What? What’s wrong???”

“Look at this place!” Videl’s head darted back and fourth looking at the estate’s front yard, which had served as a battlefield only moments ago. “If my dad comes back and sees this place like this, he’s going to kill me!”

It was Gohan’s turn to hang his head, “Aww man...that close...”

Slowly, Tenshinhan opened his eyes. What in the world happened to him? The last thing he remembered, he was on the Celeron continent investigating an old castle. The next thing he knew, he was there...wherever there was...

Moving was difficult. His head was so cloudy it was hard to make out up and down. Still, he forced himself to sit up in the bed he was lying in.

Bed?

He looked down and saw that he was, indeed, in a real bed, his legs still covered by the sheets and blanket. That was when he noticed something else that was bizarre...the armbands that used to adorn his wrists were replaced by a pair of strangely beautiful manacles.

“Tenshinhan?”

Turning his head slightly to the side, Tenshinhan found his longtime friend and training partner, with a look of concern on his face. “Chaozu?”

Chaozu’s face immediately lit up. “It is you! You’re back!”

Needless to say, Chaozu’s outburst confused him to no end. “What are you talking about Chaozu? And where are we?”

“We’re at Master Roshi’s house!” Chaozu grabbed his arm, “C’mon! Everyone will be glad to see you’re okay!”

“Huh? Wait! What do you mean?” Tenshinhan went as he was being dragged out of the bedroom.

When Tenshinhan was brought back to the island, Chaozu was still unconscious. When Chaozu finally regain consciousness, he found Tenshinhan was in the room with him, so he stayed by his friend’s bedside until he was awake as well. So it was a surprise to everyone else in the house to see both coming down the stairs doing, relatively, well.

“Tenshinhan! Chaozu! You’re both okay!” Immediately, Kuririn, Puar, Roshi, and Kassex surrounded them. Yamucha and 18 with Marron on her lap stayed back and watched the scene as it unfolded. Yamucha had a triumphant smile on his face.

“You certainly had everyone hopping for a while, didn’t you?” Roshi said in jest.

The number of question marks dancing over Tenshinhan’s head grew in number. “What is everyone talking about?”

“It’s a long story,” said Kuririn. Tenshinhan’s stomach grumbled, which elicited a slight blush from the triclops. Kuririn laughed, “One that can be told over dinner. Come on. You’re going to be quite surprised to find out what you’ve been doing for the past few days.”

Tenshinhan was shocked again. “Days?”

“Hey,” Chaozu called to Kassex.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to thank you. You saved his life.”

Kassex gave him a peck on the cheek. “It was nothing. I mean, you saved my life. It was the least I could do for you.” She gave him the brightest smile she had ever given to anyone. That, plus the small kiss caused the small warrior’s face to change color again, from white to a deep red.

At seeing this, Yamucha’s countenance dropped. After giving a quick glance to 18 and her and Kuririn’s daughter, he made his way outside.

Another day was coming to an end. The rays of the setting sun set the sky ablaze in bright orange, giving the illusion that it was fighting a losing battle against the coming darkness. He didn’t want to admit it to anyone, but a small part of Yamucha had to admit that the metaphor seemed to hold true for him as well.

It seemed everything was reminding him of what he had lost, from what would normally be thought of as the romantic setting he found himself in, to the love, old and new just inside of the house. It was pure hell for him to be stuck living in the present, while his heart was still lost in the past.

“Yamucha?”

Turning his head, Yamucha found his long time friend, Puar. She was the only constant in his miserable life. Sometimes, he felt, the only friend he had in the world.

“Yamucha, aren’t you going to come inside? They served a plate for you and it’s getting cold.”

“No...it’s time to go.”

“Huh? Oh...okay…I’ll just tell everyone that we’ll be leaving and-”

“No. It’s time for ME to go. I would like for you to stay here for a while.”

“Huh? But why?”

Because, this was something even you could help with, old friend. Because he hurt so damned much...and he didn’t want to end up hurting you as well. Because all the couples remind him of Bulma, which reminds him that she now sleeps with the enemy and that fact makes him want to snap. “Because...There’s just some stuff in my head that I need to work out. I have to do this on my own.” Puar face fell. “Hey...cheer up. You’ll get to stay in comfort for a little while. And I won’t be gone too long. Promise.”

“Yamucha...”

“Take care, my friend. I won’t be gone long.” With that, Yamucha took to the skies.

As she watched Yamucha fly off into the sunset, something Chaozu said resonated in her mind, ‘His power...it’s horrifying...’ A look of worry fell on Puar’s face. “Yamucha...please be okay...”