The first thing she noticed when she woke up was the darkness. It surrounded her on all sides, so thick, and so heavy that it took her breath away and it felt like there were no walls and no boundaries, just darkness on and on forever. The second thing she noticed was the cold. She was lying on a hard floor somewhere, and the coldness was seeping in through her light summery dress and into her skin, almost paralyzing. She knew she wasn’t at home anymore, and she remembered the awful fight with the Saiya-jins, but she didn’t know how she had ended up here, or what had happened after he hit her.

She sat up, rubbing her arms to warm herself up. “Hello?” She called. “Is anyone here?”

Not too far away from where she sat, a door opened, and bright light poured in, hurting her eyes. It was blocked momentarily by something and she closed her eyes and opened them rapidly. She squinted at the figure that was silhouetted in the doorway, trying to make out who it was.

When her eyes finally came into focus, she found herself staring at a female Saiya-jin, though not the same one she had seen earlier. This one was years older, and much prettier than the younger one that she had seen. Instead of the short choppy locks that the younger one had, she had softer, more flexible looking hair that fell onto her shoulders in one sheer mass instead of chunks. Her eyebrows were more delicate than any Saiya-jin eyebrows that ChiChi had ever seen, and she wasn’t wearing that permanent scowl that always seemed to be on the face of Vejiita. She was wearing the same blood red cape as the others though, and the same set of armor, which gleamed in the light coming through the door.

“So you are the Earth woman.” She spoke in a condescending voice. “Brought to be my replacement.”

ChiChi shook her head and looked at her with fear filled eyes. “Replacement?”

“Sukuashi brought you here to be his mate.” The Saiya-jin explained. “My replacement.”

ChiChi thought that the leader Saiya-jin must have been this Sukuashi that the woman spoke of. She could have guessed by the way he had been looking at her earlier, but now the thought of it made her sick. How could anyone just pick her out like that and demand that she be their mate? She wondered if Sukuashi had already done anything to her --- and if not, what would he do?

The female Saiya-jin looked down at her once more. “You are to come with me now. Get up.”

She wearily rose to her feet, still shivering from the cold, and walked up to the Saiya-jin, dreading what might happen next. The woman before her was quite intimidating, but she was a woman, how could she not understand how ChiChi was feeling? Perhaps if I become friends with her, she might be able to help me, or at least let me know what is going on. “My….my name is Son ChiChi.”

The Saiya-jin blinked in confusion. “Koronu. My name is Koronu.” And then she turned around and began walking away. “But don’t concern yourself with names here. My guess is you won’t be around long.”

The statement hit her like a punch in the stomach. Was she threatening her life? ChiChi quickened her pace until she was right behind her, watching the way the light shone off her dark hair as she walked through the hallway. The hallway consisted of just large block stones, with no windows and a stone floor. Their footsteps echoed in the deadly quiet building, and ChiChi looked around with wide eyes.

“Where are we?” She asked suddenly, and Koronu stopped walking and turned to face her.

“For a prisoner, you certainly talk a lot. You are on the planet Sukuashi. In the living quarters.” She answered. “You will not be going home, so don’t ask.”

ChiChi brushed her long black hair away from her face and bowed her head, following Koronu. Tears slid down her cheeks slowly, and her red lips quivered as she fought back the urge to start sobbing. She was millions of miles away from help, away from hope, and the one person that she wanted to be there to hold her and tell her it was all right probably didn’t even know she was gone.

Koronu led her to an empty bedroom, large, but with only one small window, covered with blood red curtains. The room was freezing cold, and the only piece of furniture was a large bed with the same color red comforter on it. It looked hard and uninviting, but ChiChi reasoned it was better than sleeping on the floor like she had been. She followed Koronu inside and stood close to the door with her hands clasped behind her back. Koronu looked around the room with a bored expression, and then looked at ChiChi, who was shivering violently.

“We have medicine to take away the cold. Tomorrow you are scheduled to get your shots, and then you won’t even notice it. Someone will bring you food later on.” She walked out the door, and turned back last minute to stare at ChiChi again, with a look of disdain.

“And try not to show your weakness. We can feel it from miles away.”

She shut the door hard behind her, and ChiChi heard the clicking of the lock. All alone in the cold room now, all that had happened to her began to sink in as she stood in the middle of the floor, her arms wrapped around herself to keep warm. The light dress she was wearing was such a beautiful light green color, and one of her older favorites, with soft fabric that fit her so well, but she hadn’t counted on being taken to this freezing cold, far away place, and now regretted wearing it. Her hair had come loose at some point, and it was falling all over her shoulders and into her face, and she desperately wished she had something to hold it back with. But there were no ribbons or ties anywhere that she could see; judging by how hard and stable a Saiya-jin’s hair was, they probably had no need for ribbons or hair ties or anything remotely like it. Perhaps they had string somewhere, but why would they even give it to her? She was a prisoner. And sooner or later, Sukuashi would drag her out of here and….

No, not now. You can’t think like this! You have so much to live for! Fight for yourself ChiChi! Fight for your family! Her mind yelled, and she straightened up a bit, thinking of Gokuu, and how proud he would be of her for standing her ground.

But another voice from the very back of her mind spoke also. And you think he really cares about you? When has he ever been there? You are nothing to him! He won’t even care that you’re gone, let alone, be proud of you for fighting.

She covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tight, trying to make the taunting stop. It was true. And she had always known it. From the day she had basically forced him to marry her, she had known it. Gokuu wasn’t looking for a wife, and if he were, it wouldn’t have been her.

Why did he even put up with me for this long? He is probably glad to be rid of me. And Gohan and Goten….What have I done to them? I have made their lives miserable, all of them. I don’t….

She opened her eyes again, and stared at her small and delicate hands, worn slightly from years of housework and dishes, and laundry. All that she was good for.

I don’t….

They had never wanted her around. She was nothing to them. A maid. A cook. A pain. A nuisance. A bother.

I don’t deserve….

A defeated, and heart broken ChiChi crumpled to the hard stone floor, and although her breath came short and hiccuping, no tears spilled from her eyes. The cold seeped through the stones and soaked into her body, eating away at the last shreds of self worth and hope that she had. She laid her hands flat on the ground and curled her body into a ball, searching for warmth, for comfort, for anything.

“I don’t deserve to live.” She whispered softly with hatred for herself in her voice. “I don’t deserve to live.”

Gokuu lay in the bed he and ChiChi shared, and thought of how long it had been since he last slept in this bed, and how odd it was not to have ChiChi there cuddling up to him. She always got so cold at night, especially during the winter seasons, and always remarked on how warm he was. He thought it was the other way around, ChiChi more or less kept him warm all night, but he wasn’t about to argue.

He was cold now, without her, and not even all the blankets seemed to ebb the coldness. Or the guilt. If he had been there, home with her, like he should have been, ChiChi would never have been taken by the Saiya-jins. He could have stopped them, he knew it.

He had come to help her, but he had been too late. He remembered the awful feeling that struck his soul when he saw the broken laundry line, and the fallen form of Piccolo lying on the ground. The forest around seemed uneasily quiet then, and the house too as he approached, and all he could do was call ChiChi’s name, over and over again, hoping that she would appear and smile, and wink and say it was all a joke. But it wasn’t a joke. She was really gone, and really hurt, and there was nothing he could do to help now.

Piccolo had said the leader wanted ChiChi for some reason, and though he was usually dim about those types of things, he knew exactly what it was. ChiChi was pretty, she had always been, and although she would never be a great beauty like Bulma, there was an extra something that made her shine. She was more than just a beautiful woman, she was a beautiful person.

And I took her for granted.

This new Saiya-jin man would give her flowers, and tell her she was beautiful, and maybe ChiChi might even appreciate it, and after a while, began to return the awful Saiya-jin’s feelings. Maybe after he finally found her, and wanted to be with her, and hold her, she would already be happier in the arms of someone else.

No, not ChiChi. Not her. He remembered how she reacted to the attention she got when they went out together sometimes, from perfect strangers. She would blush, and smile, but she would never act on anything. She loved him, he was sure of that. The way Sukuashi had been acting towards her was probably terrifying for her, especially now that he has taken her off to some foreign planet where she can’t be reached, or helped.

As terrible as it was for him to imagine, he pictured her out in the afternoon sunlight, carefully hanging up the laundry on the line, maybe humming in that sweet voice, closing her eyes to enjoy the feel of the breeze on her face. And opening her eyes and staring in terror at the large, strange people that had appeared out of nowhere, with menacing looks on their ugly faces. He imagined Sukuashi telling her that she was his now, that they were taking her away from her family, from her life.

“She must have been so scared.” He murmured so quietly that he barely heard it himself, and closed his eyes in a grimace. He pictured her pretty face streaked with tears and her wide black eyes reflecting all the fear she felt as the Saiya-jins attacked her.

He felt tears pricking at the back of his eyes, and the guilt was almost overwhelming for him.

Why hadn’t I been there?! Why wasn’t I there!?

Just when he thought he might actually break down and cry, he heard a noise behind him and turned to see Goten, wearing only the soft baggy pants he had as pajamas, standing in the doorway.

Goten looked down with a sad expression, and then back up at Gokuu, running a hand through his dark hair as he walked closer to him. “Tousan? It….It’s good to have you back here.”

He paused. “We really missed you, you know. Kaasan just wasn’t herself when you were gone. I kept telling her that you would visit soon, but you never did, and sometimes she would just lie here and cry all night. I….I wanted to tell her it was okay, but I knew she wouldn’t listen to me. She missed you too much. We both did. I….rarely ever see you anymore, Tousan. Even Trunks spends time with his Tousan, and you know how Vejiita is.”

Gokuu’s guilt tripled as he stared at his son, almost a full-fledged adult now. When had Goten gotten so old? He had missed almost his entire childhood because of his death, and even when he was given a chance to be a better father, he messed up. “Forgive me Goten. I know I haven’t been around much for you, or your mother, but I wanted to be. You have to know that.”

Goten frowned. “Then why didn’t you ever come home? It doesn’t even seem like you cared about us at all, I know that’s what Kaasan felt. I felt it too.”

Gokuu’s eyes widened. “No, Goten, I….”

Goten shook his head. “I don’t care anymore. But I do care about Kaasan, and I want her back home and safe. I’m going with you, to the other planet. I know I can help.”

He turned and headed out of the doorway, but turned back before leaving. “If we do get Kaasan back, maybe you can actually care about her this time.”

When he left, and shut the door behind him, Gokuu felt his whole world fall out from beneath him. He had always cared about his family, so much that it hurt, and he couldn’t believe that Goten would actually say those words. It was true, he hadn’t been around much, but he was trying to do what was best for the planet, and in the long run, the best for them. He didn’t want them to have to go through another Cell, or another Buu. This time he would stop it before anything started, and they could have their peace. But life was cruel, and no matter how much good he did, he always ended up hurting other people. In this case, he had hurt the ones that he loved the most.

Feeling very lost and very guilty, he curled up to ChiChi’s pillow and it was a while before he finally fell asleep.

Chapter 5
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