Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Kaioshin Saga: Story 1: Silver Wishes ❯ Chapter 5: The First Night, Part II ( Chapter 5 )

Silver Wishes

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of the Dragon Ball Z characters. They are owned by those that own them. I do, however, own the original characters (if any), and the fic all of this is in. That is all.

Chapter Five: The First Night, Part II

I stared at the new stranger as he kneeled down beside the crystal bathtub, a green bottle in his hands and a almost expressionless face. I stood at the doorway, two white fluffy towels in my hands as I watched him move his body just a bit into the tub itself, his pale pink hand reflecting inside the glass-like base. He was potting something into the drain supposedly to keep the water from draining out that was going to be placed in there. I didn't know what he was doing because I couldn't really remember the last bath that I had since it had been so long since I had one.

The bathroom itself was a lot bigger then the one that had been in my house. The tiles beneath my feet were a soft blue, the walls a deeper shad of the blue that was on the floor, and there was a few foreign designs along the top of the walls. The sink was made of some sort of marble with cabinets underneath of it that stored something that I didn't want to know was there. The toilet itself was just a few inches away with white shelves on the walls above it that held several other towels and other things that were probably needed in a bathroom. The knobs just above the bathtub were made of some sort of silver and had some weird writing on them that I couldn't read at all. There was a light above that shone down upon us brightly, illuminating the whole room.

"Are you paying attention?" The stranger asked me as he turned his head over his shoulder to look at me. I nodded quickly as I took a step forwards, my eyes watching his hand as it moved up from the tub and to the knobs above. "Before you take a bath you need to put the plug into the drain at this end of the tub. If you are taking a shower you don't need to put the plug in. Understand so far?"

"Yes," I replied easily.

"Good. Once you do that, turn on the left know first as it is the hot water and then turn on the right knob to adjust like so." The stranger moved his hands in tune with his words, showing me how to do what I was told. The water started to come out quickly as I stood on the tip of my toes to see what was going on as he opened the bottle that he held in his hands by twisting the top of, and poured some of it into the water.

"What's that?" I inquired, coming a few steps closer to him.

"Bubble bath," He said simply, recapping the bottle, and placing it on the titled floor. He kneeled there for a moment or two before his hands moved the knobs once again but this time to turn them off. The stranger then stood up, turned towards the toilet, and reached towards the second shelf for two almost identical bottles in which he swiftly took down. He turned towards me, his eyes moving down to my face. "This is your shampoo and this is your conditioner. I'll have to get some soap from another room so you stay here, get undressed, and into the water. I'll be back with the soap and to see how you are doing."

He put the bottles upon the closed toilet seat, waling around me as he patted the top of my head. I grumbled something under my breath as I walked to the bathtub, and looked over into it. The stuff that the other had called 'bubble bath' had transformed the top of the water into small bubbles yet I could see the water barely moving underneath it. I stood there for a moment, watching the water move the bubbles on top before dropping the towels onto the ground by my feet. I glanced at the door behind me, my cheeks flushing just a bit as I pulled my tattered shirt off of my upper body, and lazily threw that aside. I then kicked off my shoes, setting them aside so that I wouldn't trip over them.

I hesitated for a moment on actually taking off what was left of my clothes. I was used to doing this in front of my mother and other siblings, but this was a different place and there wasn't any of my family around. I'll just quickly take my pants off, and jump into the water, I thought, glancing back at the door before starting to move the remainder of my clothes off. It only took me a moment to do so, and as soon as I did, I kicked the pants off of my left foot and rushed into the water. Just as soon as I had lowered myself into the water, the stranger appeared at the doorway with a small green bar of soap. He smiled down at me as he stepped over my clothes and to the tub.

"Here you go. You should be able to wash with this," He said, kneeling down my the crystal tub, and handed my the soap. I looked down at it, then up at him as I took it with a bit of hesitation.

"Um, thanks," I muttered, putting the soap and my hands into the water, my face flushing a little bit redder then before. I sat there for a moment, my eyes blinking down at the ground as my mind suddenly went blank. I was little bit scared about this situation with a total stranger in front of me when I had nothing to protect me except for the warm, bubbly water.

"I'll leave now so that you can take your bath," The stranger said, standing up with a light smile on his lips as he turned around, and started to walk towards the door. "If you need me, just call my name."

"Um....I don't even know who you are," I sad in a small voice, moving my eyes up just a little bit as I continued to sit there, motionless. The stranger stopped at the door for a moment and glanced over his shoulder as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oops. Guess I should have introduced myself earlier. Akira. My name is Akira," He said quickly before rushing out of the room. I blinked my eyes again as I raised my hands out of the water to look at the bar of soap he had given me. Akira. Why does that name sound familiar to me? I thought as I put the soap onto the ledge of the bathtub, and turned my attention to the two bottles that sat on top of the toilet seat. I reached out without even trying to move my lower boy out of the water, my grasp just not even close to reaching the bottles themselves. I then inched my way over to it, my body still somewhat in the water. Even though I was reaching towards them, I could barely touched the bottles with my hands. I muttered something under my breath as O pushed myself over the side of the tub, grabbing the first that came within my reach. I quickly sat back down into the water, the bar of soap dropping into the bubbles, ,and disappearing into the water itself. I stared at the bottle for a moment, then looked over at the other that still sat on the toilet seat. I couldn't tell which bottle was which since I couldn't understand what was on them. I took my time getting the other bottle since I knew how to get it much better without really moving my whole body out of the water. I grabbed the second bottle just as quickly however, and lowered myself back into the water.

I put both bottles on the ledge of the tub where the soap had been a few seconds prior, and looked from one to the other with semi-narrowed eyes. I sighed as I took one bottle back into my hands, leaning back towards the wall of the tub, and opened the bottle, hoping that it was the right one as I squeezed some of it into my hand. I knew that I was going to be in the bathroom for a long time after that.

****

It only took me an hour to figure out which bottle was which after a few tests on my hair and to clean the rest of my body; a shorter time frame then what I had expected to be in the bath. It didn't take me long thereafter to really clean my hair that good even though I didn't know how good it really was. After I had washed my hair several times, it took me about a minute to find the soap so that I could wash the rest of my body with. I didn't think I was that dirty considering that I had lived in not too good conditions where being dirty was a part of life. I supposed it wasn't the case in most other places in the universe since everything in this palace was clean.

After I had washed my body off, I stood up but not as quickly as I had gotten in. With my eyes trained fully upon the door, I stepped out of the tub, and onto the bare floor below. I had to quickly get one of the towels around my body before I actually started to dry my hair with the other. It was a hard process to do as I kept one towel around my lower body while also at the same time dried my hair. It was only after I had dried my hair that I realized that I didn't have any other clothes to wear besides the ones that I had come to the planet it. Both the pants and the shirt were dirty and torn beyond any help, and looked like they should be thrown away. The boots that I had worn were perhaps a little salvageable to a certain extent, but I didn't expect anything to be done about them.

"Akira?" I called out, standing near the doorway of the bathroom with one hand holding up the towel that was around my waist and the other hand holding onto the towel that I had dried my hair with. I was a little hesitant about calling him because he still was a stranger to me as was the East Kaioshin. I was still unsure about everything here, and didn't want to call upon anyone that might do some harm to me.

"Yes?" Akira's voice chimed from somewhere in the bedroom itself. I slowly peeked out to see the new stranger folding a shirt in his hands not too far away from the bed, his eyes looking intently upon it. Once he was done folding the shirt, his eyes raised up to see me hiding behind the door frame, and smiled just a tiny bit. He then walked towards me, the shirt still in his hands. I watched him come up to the door and stop just before me.

"I think I am done," I said, eyeing him just a bit. Akira looked overtop my head, raising an eyebrow as he looked into the room, the expression on his face telling me more then any words could describe. "I'll clean up everything as soon as I get dressed! I promise!"

"Heh. No need, kid. It will be cleaned up quicker then you can even blink your eyes. Don't worry about it right now." He handed me the shirt that he was holding, almost in a pushing manner. I dropped the towel that I had dried my hair with, my hand taking the free side of the shirt as he let it go out of his grasp. I backed up just a bit, a little bit scared at what he was going to do. "Get dressed as soon as you can. East Kaioshin-sama wants to talk to you once you have your hair brushed."

I nodded quickly as he turned around and walked back into the bedroom. At this point I was becoming a little bit mystified about the role Akira played along with the East Kaioshin as I went forwards and pushed the door closed so that he wouldn't see me get dressed. Akira seemed like a person that didn't mind doing things for someone, but would get a little bit annoyed at times when he had to do things for other people. He reminded me a little bit like my father although he didn't seem nearly as angry or hateful towards me like I remembered my own father was towards me. And the East Kaioshin was different then anyone else that I had met. He was probably the only person that was this nice towards me besides my mother.

I wonder what he wants to talk to me about, I thought, sighing as I unfolded the shirt with my free hand. When I did, a pair of small underwear dropped to the ground from within the folds of the cloth. It seemed like a big weight had been lifted off of my shoulders now knowing that I wouldn't be just wearing the shirt to bed. I smiled faintly at this as I put the shirt onto the sink, and picked up the underwear from off of the ground. Since the door was now closed, and I didn't have to worry about someone peeking in, I just let the towel drop to the ground. Nevertheless, I still quickly covered myself as I put the underwear on around my lower body. I felt a little bit better then I had before as I grabbed the shirt, and placed it over my head so that I could put it on. Just as I was popping my head out of the big hole in the shirt, a knock came at the door.

"Hold on," I muttered quickly, moving the shirt down my chest as I wiggled my arms into the shirt itself then pulling both out of the arm holes on either side of the shirt. It was then that I noticed the shirt was a little bit longer then what I had thought it would be, plus it was a little bit bigger then any of the other shirts that I had worn before. After I had straightened the shirt out, I reached up and turned the knob as hard as I could, the soft click of the inner works of the lock not being heard by my ears as I opened the door. At first I thought that Akira was going to be standing there with something else for me, but instead the East Kaioshin was, his hands behind his back, and a secretive smile on his lips.

"Ah, good. You are cleaned up," The Kaioshin said softly before bowing his head just a bit, his smile fading as his lips moved into a thin line. I took a step towards him, my eyes on his face. I remember him have the same exact expression on his soft purple face while the two of us were eating a little while earlier, but this time there was a bit more anger on it. It was that expression on his face that told me that there was something wrong, and that it might concern me.

"What's wrong?" I demanded sourly. "And don't tell me that you can't say anything."

"I have to tell you because, well....." His voice trailed off as he looked away from me, his chest moving up an down quickly as he took in a deep breath. "There seems to be a slight problem with you staying here. Not that the Dai Kaioshin doesn't want you to stay here for the time that he has allowed you to stay, but it seems like there has been a few questionings about you from another planet; by yours, I mean."

"What do you mean by this?" I inquired, narrowing my eyes at him, becoming confused as to what he had to say.

"It seems like you are a part of something that one side of the conflict claims that your father was on. They claim that you were kidnapped from them by your mother, and that they had to kill her in order to get to you, but I took you unknowingly instead."

"I have no idea what in the hell you are talking about," I told him flat out, my eyes narrowing even more. "My mother didn't kidnap me from anyone. She attempted to take me away from the wards and such, ,and they killed her because we ran away from the village. It is probably a bunch of lies anyways."

"Even if they are lies, I just can't ignore them."

"How did you find out about this anyways? I thought that no one else knew about this planet."

"Apparently someone must have contacted them from somewhere on this planet that I was harboring you here. Who or what, I don't know. I found out by the mental lock I had placed upon the planet when I was going to get you so that I could come at the right moment to take you away. I hadn't taken it off, and I am glad that I didn't. In a way you could say that the Kaioshins see and hear everything." The Kaioshin sighed as he dropped his hands to his side, and kneeled down in front of me. He then placed his hands upon my shoulders, and stared into my eyes. "Listen, I don't know how to explain this but I feel like I just can't let you live anywhere else in the universe besides this planet. Call it whatever you want, but there is something about you that I just can't ignore and the Dai has felt something as well. And those that are asking about you probably known something as well."

"What are you going to do about it?" I asked, my expression softening just a bit.

"I don't know what I am going to do about this. There is nothing I can really do. I wasn't even supposed to take anyone off of the planet in the first place." He sighed at this. "Like I said before, I wasn't even supposed to interfere, but I didn't want the wars spilling off into the other worlds around it. It looks like I created a problem that I need to fix."

"Why are you doing this?" I growled, pushing his hands off of my shoulders roughly. I backed up, giving him a glare as I did.

"Doing what?" He asked, giving me a hard and confused look.

"I don't believe a word you are saying." I shook my head on this, backing up until I felt the bathtub press against my backside. "No one knows where I have gone except for those two that were there if they know where I went to. Maybe you were the one that told them where I was. That is, if anyone has asked about me in the first place."

"What makes you think that I would do that?"

"I just got here, and I don't know who or what you are, and already I am being put back into hell. Maybe I am just something for an experiment, and I am being tracked by who or whatever is doing this to me."

"You don't have a tracking device on you, do you?" The East Kaioshin demanded, moving up to his feet as he walked towards my clothes that were still strung across the bathroom floor. He bent down to pick up the shirt that I had been wearing before, and straightened his back as he stood up. His hands moved around the tattered cloth, looking for something that might indicate that there was something on that piece of clothing. When it seemed like he didn't find anything, the Kaioshin then threw the shirt overtop of my head, and into the water that was still in the bathtub. I didn't bother looking behind me at the tub as he went to my pants next and did the same thing to them as he did to my shirt.

"What exactly are you looking for?" I inquired, my voice quivering with fear once he had thrown the pair of pants into the bathtub as well. He walked to the tub itself, kneeled beside it, and pushed both of the clothing items deep into the water. I turned my body towards him, my eyes watching him the whole time.

"A tracking device that would allow anyone to track a person or ship to whatever location that thing or person is going to no matter what speed it is going at," He said, pulling the clothing out of the water when he felt like there probably wasn't anything on them. "There is always a weakness to this kind of technology, and most of the time it is water that will destroy any information that thing is trying to send out. Unfortunately, if there was a tracking device on you, then it had already transmitted the data to whoever wants you." The Kaioshin sighed as he pulled his hands out of the water and allowed the clothing to float at the top of the crystal tub. He then turned towards me as he sat down onto the tilted floor, placing his back upon the tub itself. "I know you don't trust me at all or know anything, but you have to be safe. I really did save you from those wars that you have been talking about."

"Yea, but I still don't understand how you actually know certain things," I said, shrinking down to the floor myself. "I mean, I have never met someone like you or Akira before."

"Well, to put this in words that I can tell someone about this without giving out too much information, think of it as a sixth sense. I can easily use this sense to lock onto something, and keep that lock onto it until I take it off. I can't actually hear or see everything that is being done around the lock; only things that I need to hear. Unfortunately, sometimes this lock picks up certain things that I don't need to hear when something or someone walks in front of that lock, and that is what must have happened when the waves of the information came to me. This is how all of the Kaioshins keep an eye on their Quadrants."

"How long do I have until you take me there?" I asked in a small voice as I looked down towards the ground. "Do I have to go back now?"

"No. You just get ready for bed and go to sleep tonight. You have had a long day, and you should be able to get some rest." He then nodded over towards the bedroom itself. "I wish that you could stay here longer then what you are allowed to be. Even if I can get out of the light of the wars, I still wouldn't be able to keep you here longer."

"I know. I am not supposed to be here," I grumbled as I stood up, and walked into the bedroom. I heard the East Kaioshin get up as well as I walked to the bed, and laid face down upon it. At this point I just wanted to go to sleep and never wake up again, but I knew that wouldn't happen any time soon. "Just don't bother me right now. I knew I shouldn't have given any hope of actually getting out of the wards. Now I'll be placed back into it once again."

"I never said that I was going to let them take you," He replied in a cool tone. I raised my head off of the bed, my ears pricking up just a bit. I rolled over onto my back and looked at him as he stood at the edge of the bed with a brush in one of his hands. The Kaioshin then moved onto the bed, pushing me to actually sit up so he could sit right behind me, and begin to brush my hair. I allowed him to do so as I bit my lower lip, still confused as ever. "You are too young to be involved in something like this. I don't know why they need you there for you are just a child."

"I don't know either. My father was involved with the wars in ways that not even my mother knew about. He wouldn't even allow any part of his family to leave the planet because he didn't want to break us up," I informed him, relaxing just a bit. "My brother eventually joined in with the wars himself, but he just entered them for personal reasons. I think he was mainly trying to protect the rest of us where my father had failed."

"If I hadn't know how old you were, ,and I was just listening to your voice, I would have never known that you were just an eight year-old child."

"I know. My goal in life so far has been to survive, and I am tired of trying to survive in a universe that doesn't want me alive. I would....." Before I could say anything else, he tugged hard on the brush, causing my head to snap back a little bit. I hissed something under my breath as my hand jolted up to the place where he had pulled at. "Why did you do that?"

"You need to stop talking about death, and be more focused on living no matter how hard life may be." He stopped brushing my hair and raised himself off of the bed as he placed the brush upon the table that was by the bed. The Kaioshin sighed, closing his eyes for a moment before he opened them again at me. "Something tells me that I shouldn't be interfering with this while the other half is telling me to keep with it. I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to concern yourself with me at all. After all, whatever those things want me for, just let them do what they want with me. I don't care any more."

"I am sorry that you feel this way, but there is nothing that you can do about it right now. My decision has been made, and this path has now been started upon," The Kaioshin snapped, giving me a glare as he turned around, and walked towards the middle of the room. I put my hand down onto the soft quit that laid below me, my eyes semi-following him as he stopped at the door, and turned his head around to face me. "If you need anything, Akira's room is right down the hall. He will wake you when morning comes, so be prepared for him. Get some sleep."

The East Kaioshin waved his hand over a small portion of the wall next to the door before he stepped out of the doorway, and pulled the door shut behind him. Not a moment later did the lights in the room start to dim all around me, the only light source came from the bathroom. I knew it wouldn't be long until the lights in the room would fade to black, and the one in the adjacent room would also go out, leaving me in total darkness. It wasn't like I hadn't been in the dark before, but I wished that there was someone by my side to at least stay with me until I fell asleep.

I took in a deep breath, crawling up to the top of the bed before the light went out completely. I felt my way onto the pillows, whatever light was left totally leaving me to find my own way up. I stayed on my hands and knees for a moment or two, my small hands moving along the top of the bed in order to find the beginning of the blankets that laid upon the bed itself. Every time that the palms of my hands would graze against it, I would loose that small piece, and have to find it all over again. It took me several minutes more for my fingers to touch the folded surface of the blanket. I smiled lightly as I pulled the blanket back far enough to allow my body to move underneath them, and pulled the blankets up around me as soon as I placed my legs underneath.

I sat there for a moment, eyeing the bathroom light as that too started to dim into darkness. I didn't know how the Kaioshin had done it, but he had managed to do whatever magic he had to the lights. It was all still so strange to me as I moved my body down into the bed, and laid my head upon one of the many pillows that were at the top of the bed. I laid there, my eyes darting around the now pitch-black room as certain noises started to make their selves known to me. Creaks from the panels inside the walls, small chirps from the tiny creatures, and other small things echoed through my ears as I pulled the blankets closer to my chin.

I soon fell into a dream filled sleep, sinking into the darkness that was the night.

****

As soon as the East Kaioshin had closed the door to the child's room, he walked down the hallway towards the stairs that so many other's had come up before him. What he didn't know was that a pair of eyes were watching him silently, waiting for the right moment to come from around the corner as he tiptoed to the door that the Kaioshin had just come out of. This stranger watched as the other moved quickly down the corridor, not even looking back to see if anyone was there.

The stranger stood at the doorway for a moment, watching and waiting for the right moment when the Kaioshin had completely disappeared. When the other did, he reached into a hidden pocket in his pants, and pulled out a silver communicator. He then placed his thumb onto the single button that sat at the bottom of the device.

"Can you hear me?" He asked softly into the communicator, his eyes still upon the direction that the East Kaioshin had gone in.

"Yes, we can," A crackly voice replied back just a moment later. The stranger smiled as he moved his back down the wall next to the doorway, his eyes glistening with a hint of joy in them. "Any news on the boy?"

"He is fine. Nothing to worry about. It looks like he will be coming back onto the planet, but don't expect the Kaioshin to give him up without a fight. Even though he has his orders, he still defies them at any turn."

"We'll just kill the bastard and be done with him," Another voice broke through. The stranger sighed, and shook his head even though he knew that the others that he was communicating with could not see that movement.

"No. That is impossible. Even with all the technology that you have, he is still no match for it. He is, after all, a God."

"We'll worry about that when the time comes. All you need to do is get that boy down here without a scratch. Understood?" The second voice snapped, then before the stranger could actually reply to that, the link between the two groups was severed. The static from the other end was an indication of that as the stranger leaned back onto the wall, his eyes looking lost.

"Understood," He grumbled as he placed the communicator back into his pocket, and just sat there, waiting for nothing in particular to come his way.

To Be Continued...