She woke up in her bed, still exhausted from her adventure the night before. After finally shaking herself out of the dread she felt while huddled on the library floor, reveling in the feverish loathing of herself and her lack of courage, she had left the library. It was no easy feat to make it back to her room in her condition, especially since the shot that Potuto had given her earlier ---the Saiya-jin shot--- was making her feel increasingly sick. Her once unfamiliar and cold room had looked so inviting then, dark and silent, her bed warm and soft. She had fallen asleep easily, watching the glow of falling snowflakes out of the tiny window.

She stretched languidly then, as slowly as she thought were humanly possible and she threw the covers off of her, sitting up in the bed. It felt good to sleep, only if it was for a little while. She hadn’t been able to sleep well since she arrived on this awful planet. Gokuu would be proud of her, adapting like this.

Don’t think about him. She cursed herself angrily, and looked down in shame. She had promised herself last night that she would get him out of her mind. He only complicated things.

With shaking steps, she made her way to the window and gazed out at the vast whiteness before her. The snow was falling gently now, not in torrents like it had been before. Each snowflake lazily chased the one before, suspending in midair almost, as if they were dancing with each other. A smile appeared on her face, momentarily wiping away the sickness and the fear, as she remembered a time long ago.

With a small smile of satisfaction, she placed the tiny radio on the kitchen counter top and flicked the on switch. Music gently poured out of the speakers, joining the scent of food cooking on the stove and the fresh breeze that was coming in through the open window. Someone had told her once, or maybe she had read it somewhere; the quality of food was vastly improved if one listened to music while cooking it. She was still rather new at this marriage thing, and although she had always cooked well, she wanted to do whatever it took to be the best wife possible. Gokuu, as it seems, had a great appreciation for food, and even though ChiChi was almost certain that he would have eaten anything, she wanted to make him the best meals possible.

She didn’t know what it was about him, maybe it was his irresistible grin or the way that he said her name, but something about Son Gokuu just drove her crazy. She had never been the kind of person who would do a great deal of something for someone, but she would do anything, absolutely anything to make him happy.

“ChiChi? That smells great! Is it ready yet?”

Startled, she turned around to find him there, grinning that grin and looking wild eyed with excitement over the food she was cooking. The mere sight of him made her heart jump. He was so handsome, she just couldn’t believe that he was even real; that he was standing here in the same room as her. More amazing, perhaps, was the fact that he was hers. This incredible man with the sweetest heart and the purest mind was her husband. She wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, to just show all the affection that was locked up inside of her, but she knew it didn’t work like that.

She smiled flirtatiously, and turned her back on him. “Not yet. I guess you’re just going to have to wait.”

The chair of the table creaked gently as Gokuu took a seat, probably resting his chin in the cup of his hand and smiling, as usual. “You don’t usually listen to music.”

She shrugged her small shoulders, not looking back at him, but a grin spread over her face. As hard as she was trying to act nonchalant, it just wasn’t working.

“I just felt like dancing.” She informed him, and whirled around to stare at him, clutching a stirring spoon in her hands. She was acutely aware of how she must have looked right then, wearing one of her older dresses, her hair down and in her face. The apron tied around her waist was probably not the prettiest, and she knew that her face had not a bit of makeup on it, because she had been in such a hurry to start dinner. And yet, with him looking at her right then, she felt like the most beautiful woman in the world.

He smiled at her, a confused look crossing his handsome face. “Dancing?”

“Hai, dancing.”

“What is that?” He asked, and tilted his head to the side about, his eyes never leaving hers.

ChiChi held out her arms and beckoned for him to stand up. “Well, I’ll show you.”

He stood up slowly, still staring at her, and stayed in one spot, looking awkward and confused. ChiChi reached for his hand and pulled him closer to her, ignoring the almost frightened look on his face. She positioned on of his hands around her waist and the other she kept tightly intertwined with hers, then began to waltz, just like her father had taught her, so long ago.

She was dancing beautifully, of course, but Gokuu was having a bit more difficulty with the idea of dancing. He kept pausing and staring down at his feet and her feet, trying to figure out just what he was supposed to be doing. ChiChi frowned, seeing his confusion, but loved him even more for that fact that he was trying. Even though he didn’t want to, and felt frustrated, he was trying to learn because she wanted him to. A feeling of warmth spread through her and she smiled at him.

She paused in her steps for a moment and met his eyes. He was trying so hard, the least she could do was make it a little easier on him. She let go of his hand for a moment and moved it around as if trying to explain, but gave up and held his hand once more. There really was no way to explain it except....Her face lit up.

“Just think of it as sort of a moving hug.” She explained.

“A moving hug, huh?” He mused, looking down at her with a smile on his face.

Before she could protest, he hugged her tightly, picking her up almost off her feet, and swung her around to the music, laughing. She hit him on the shoulders a few times, acting angry, before finally giving up and joining him in laughter. They ‘danced’ around the kitchen a few times, before Gokuu eventually tripped over the garbage can and they ended up in a heap on the floor. When their laughter finally died down and they were still sprawled on the kitchen floor, Gokuu reached for her hand and held it tightly in his.

“I love you, ChiChi.” He said it so cheerfully, so effortlessly; it was almost as if he didn’t realize that they were the most beautiful words she had ever heard in all of her life.

It felt like her heart would almost burst; like it was so full of love for him that it was weighing down her chest and mind, just absolutely dripping with feeling. Really, nothing else mattered then, not how she looked, or what she said, or even the fact that their dinner was now probably burning. All that mattered to her was him, and she never wanted to lose that.

“I love you too, Gokuu.”

She snapped out of her trance quickly. It had been so real that she could have sworn that she was there, that she had felt his strong arms holding her again, and felt her heart jump as she stared into those deep black eyes. But she wasn’t there, she was still in this horrible, un-welcoming room, and there was no Gokuu and there was no music, and there was nothing happy. She closed her eyes, struggling to remember what his voice had sounded like when he told her that he loved her. It had been the only time in their entire marriage that he had ever spoken the words. She had to wonder sometimes if he still felt the same way --- If he still loved her even half as much as she loved him. Her black eyes opened, wet with tears.

I need to get away from here. I have to leave, I have to!

She remembered thinking the same thing last night, creeping back to her room with tears streaming down her cheeks, clutching the book tightly against her chest. She froze, realizing what she had just remembered.

The book? The book!? I took the book?! She screamed at herself. She only vaguely remembered what happened last, but she did recall making possibly the worst mistake of her life. The sickness she felt from the Saiya-jin shot increased heavily, and she almost threw up thinking about it. Her face growing extremely warm, ChiChi tore herself away from the window and bent down to her knees, sweeping the covers of her bed up, to assure herself that she hadn’t just done what she thought she did.

Lying harmlessly under her bed was a large, light blue book with a picture of a crescent moon on its side.

She almost screamed. It was almost as if she were keeping an atomic bomb under there, one that just kept ticking away in the darkness threateningly. Of course, she didn’t know exactly what was so threatening about it, but she knew without a doubt that if she were caught with the book, she would most likely be executed. Or worse. Sometimes punishment could be far worse than any form of death. Far worse.

I can’t believe I took the book!! How could I be so stupid?! She hit herself in the head with her tiny curled up fist and almost burst into tears. There was no way she could return it. Sneaking down the hallway last night had been way too dangerous and that was in the dark when everyone was sleeping! In broad daylight it would be absolutely impossible to sneak out of her room and back into the library. She wasn’t even sure she remembered which door the library was anyway. Everything in the building looked exactly the same.

Then she had to keep it, hide it. Maybe she could eat the pages or something....At least that would get rid of some of the evidence. She let out a frustrated sigh and almost put the covers back, but a heavy feeling of fascination began creeping over her.

Just what is in that book? She wondered to herself, tilting her head and admiring its worn cover in the darkness. It was odd that such a small little thing could hold so much power. Enough power to assassinate Sukuashi, enough strength to free a planet. She was almost afraid of what she might find inside. Almost afraid that whatever was written on those pages would be so compelling and so stirring that she might get sucked up in the amazement of it all and never be able to return to her original self. Never be able to lead a normal life after reading the horrifying, thrilling details within the worn and tattered light blue covers of that book.

Almost equally terrifying, was the possibility that at any second, Sukuashi’s guards, or worse yet, Sukuashi himself, could burst through the door and find her in possession of the book.

The curiosity was eating at her though, and she physically could not restrain herself crawling further under the bed and reaching out for the book. She held up the bedspread with one hand, letting a thin stream of light in, and remained half under the bed, clutching the book with her other hand. Taking a deep breath, she gingerly opened the book.

She paused momentarily, the look of it taking her by surprise. The writing on the crisp yellow pages was like nothing she had ever seen before; smooth and fluid symbols chasing each other across the page as if in a head-to-head race, looking so neat and so clean. It was absolutely perfect, all of it. But then....

I can’t even read it.

It was possibly the most compelling, secretive thing she would ever get her hands on, and it wasn’t even legible. Well it was, in fact legible, just not for her. She felt incredibly stupid as she closed the book again and crawled out from under her bed, replacing the blood red covers.

Of course it is written in code. Why wouldn’t it be? If it’s that secretive, of course they put it in code. That’s why Sukuashi wasn’t concerned about leaving it in the library. He knew that no one else could possibly read it unless they knew the code.

She sat on the floor and wrapped her arms around herself, willing away the emotional cold that was settling in. Then it’s hopeless. Koronu said that the plan couldn’t be carried out without that book, and I doubt she knows how to read it either. So it is hopeless.

Unless....

She figured out the code herself.

A giddy feeling of excitement leaped into her throat and she grabbed for the book once more. Surely there were books in the library that explained Saiya-jin codes and such. If anything, she could try and recognize similar symbols and sentence structure. She could creep into the library every night, until she found what she was looking for.

I can do this. I have to stop sitting around and waiting for someone else to rescue me. If no one else has the strength to free me, then I will free myself.

She smiled. No more fear, no more crying, from this day on she was going to be strong.

Chapter 22
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