ChiChi’s heart leapt, flying high, even though she was still trapped within the cold stone walls. He came for me. She cried inside, struggling to keep the tears from forming in her dark eyes. He actually came for me. All those times I thought I was so alone, I thought that he didn’t even care….And he came for me. I thought I was in this by myself, I thought I would have to save my own life, be on my own, that it was hopeless….But he came for me. He actually came for me.

She immediately turned, running to the tiny nearby window and staring out through the bars and glass. Snow flew in all directions, whipping against the windowpane with more force than she had thought possible. It was white as far as she could see, cold, unforgiving, bare and unapproachable. And somewhere out in that vast whiteness, among the snowflakes and wind, was her husband, who had come to save her. Unable to hold it in any longer, tears spilled over onto her cheeks, falling into her smile. My Gokuu came for me.

Pi stared at her for a moment, as if disgusted by her tears, then turned to Potuto. “Watch her. If she escapes, if the humans find her here, I will hold you responsible.” She held the sword up, and the cool steel stared Potuto in the face, a threat. “I would have no problem killing you, my brother. Don’t take my threats too lightly.”

Potuto nodded, watching the sword glint in the darkness. “Hai.”

Pi was out of the room with a slam of the cell door, and then all was silent for a moment as Potuto caught his breath. ChiChi watched him with unseeing eyes, still reveling in the fact that her husband had come for her. Nothing else mattered then, not even the threat of death, because she knew that somehow, someway, Gokuu would save her. He always had before, and he always would. No force in the universe could stop Son Gokuu. Not only was he the strongest, most capable fighter, but his heart was completely pure, and his determination was unmatchable. He had come this great distance to save her, to help her, and she knew in her heart that he would. Sukuashi might have had a plan when he took her from Earth, thinking that he had won some great battle, but he would be totally surprised when he discovered the real strength of her husband. Without his paralyzing weapons, Sukuashi was nothing.

“We’re in for it now.” Potuto said to her quietly, and he wandered over to her, looking over her bruises and scratches in a professional manner. ChiChi snapped out of her own thoughts as she held out her arm for Potuto to examine. Her eyes widened, remembering all that she had discovered.

“Hai!” She sputtered out, and grabbed Potuto’s hands away, staring seriously into his eyes. “You and Koronu are in great danger. Sukuashi has a plan to kill Koronu! He’s using the general for cover, but Pi is going to kill her! I heard it from his very own mouth.”

“Masaka?!” Potuto looked towards the door. “When? I have to warn her!”

“Tonight!” ChiChi said, looking out the cell window into the darkness. “It will happen tonight. When Koronu goes out into the snowy fields, Pi will be waiting, but the death will be blamed on the general.”

Potuto buried his face in his hands. “And I let her walk right out this door with a sword in her hand, probably on her way to kill my mother….”

ChiChi hesitated, then put an arm over the Saiya-jin’s broad shoulders to comfort him. He stiffened at first, not use to being touched by anyone in a way that wasn’t harmful, then relaxed under the soft pressure, comforting pressure of her arm around his shoulders. “It isn’t your fault, Potuto. And Koronu has not died yet. There is still time.”

“Hai.” He said, nodding. “I must go quickly, though.” He pulled away from ChiChi and straightened his lab coat, brushing any sort of dust off of it. “Pi is very dangerous. If you ask me, I believe she is more of a threat than any of the other Saiya-jins on this planet.”

ChiChi smiled at him. “Not all of you appear to be so dangerous.”

“There is a kindness in my own heart yes, and there are bits of goodness in almost every Saiya-jin, moments of truth or loyalty. But in Pi, there is nothing but a deep black evil, a silent hole where her heart should have been. Sukuashi might be the leader, but in many ways he is only a marionette. Pi is pulling the strings. I don’t think anyone seems to realize this except for me however, least of all Sukuashi.”

“You should be safe here.” Potuto continued, looking around the cell. He handed her a key to the cell, pressing it into her palm gently. “Please, only use the key if you have to. You will be safe and protected by these cell walls, but if you’re out there, there is too much danger. Wait, ChiChi. Don’t try to escape alone and make it out of this compound by yourself. There is too much danger here. Koronu and I will take care of everything.” He paused. “I guess this is it. Be safe, ChiChi.”

“Potuto?” She questioned, removing the Saiya-jin code from it’s hiding place under her garment. “Give this to Koronu for me, and please tell her how thankful I am.”

His face softened into a smile, realizing how much ChiChi had done to help them. She had risked everything to steal that code, to help him and his mother. Truthfully, it was saving her too, in a way, but she had done a lot that was completely unnecessary, wanting to help when she didn’t really have to. He bowed low to her, and took the code from her, placing it into the pocket of his coat.

“Be careful, Potuto-san.” She told him, looking down slightly. “And if I don’t get the pleasure of seeing you again….I just wanted to let you know that I am really very grateful for all that you have done for me. You’ve shown me kindness in a place where I didn’t think that it existed.”

He reached for her hand, and held it in his own, smiling into her eyes. “And thank you, ChiChi-san, for showing courage and being so willing to help, even when your own life was in danger. My brother is a very lucky Saiya-jin, and I hope he realizes that. I wish you nothing but the best.”

And then he turned, walked out of the door, and disappeared out of her life forever.

Koronu wrapped the blood red cape around her tightly to shut out the bitter snow, and took a step towards the compound door. She lifted the hood of the cape and placed it over her head, shadowing her beautiful face. The whites of her eyes glowed in the darkness, threatening and heavy. There was a dusting of snow along the bottom of the door, and she could hear the wind whipping against the hard, dark wood. With a gloved hand, she lifted the latch on one of the huge doors and pushed.

The snow rushed in at her, lashing against her body with surprising force. She stood still for a moment, taking the weather’s abuse without complaint, then tightened the cape around her and wandered out into the courtyard. The compound doors swung shut with a bang that was muffled by the howling of the wind. Her boots crunching over the snow, she made her way through the cobblestone courtyard, ignoring several soldiers that she saw on her way. Saiya-jin soldiers were mostly brainless, the few that had any sort of intelligence had made rank to become commanding officers. Those that wandered around town were there merely for show --- a display of the ruling power in the city. Unfortunately, the soldiers didn’t take their status very seriously, and more often than not, they were loud, drunk, and fighting in the alleyways behind the bars. If any other Saiya-jin female had been walking about the city at this hour, she would have been subjected to ugly comments and possible danger, but the soldiers avoided Koronu. She could feel their eyes watching her, with curiosity, with wonder, but never with contempt. The mate of their ruler was not someone that they were allowed to mess with. Besides, they could all sense that there was something different about Koronu, some hidden, sleeping power, a quiet seriousness that none of them could break through. And they were used to seeing her by now, walking out to the snowy fields after dark, her deep red cape swirling behind her.

The way that the city was set up was simple. The castle, the large corkscrew building that Koronu had spent most of her time in, was dead center in the city, surrounded by several other, smaller buildings. The military base, with all of their artillery and the soldiers’ barracks, was off to the side of the castle. The other buildings were homes, stores, and a lot of bars. And beyond those buildings, beyond the borders of the city, there was nothing but snow. Snow for miles, for an eternity. No life, no hope, just snow, further than any imagination could have dreamed.

It was there in the snow that Koronu found her solitude. There in the snow, it was quiet and dark, and she could sometimes make out the stars through thick clouds that covered their planet. Here she thought of her mate, her true mate, and the sons she was forced to forget about.

As she stepped through the city streets, the wind eventually calmed and the snow fell in slow motion, fluffy, harmless flakes landing on her shoulders and the hood of her cloak. The noise from the bars and the homes eventually faded into nothing, and she stopped at the edge of the cobblestone, one step away from being in the snowy fields, in the endless white. She turned to look back at the compound, at the castle, twisting high into the night air. Snow had been caked so heavily on all of the eves that it was several feet high, stiff and wall-like. Sukuashi ordered soldiers to clean off the rooftops of the castle every few days, so as to keep appearances up. Her eyes traveled to the very top of the tower, where the prison was kept. ChiChi would be there now, possibly looking out her window, aching for her mate. She smiled slowly as she thought about the human prisoner, and her help.

She turned to the snowy fields again, admiring the pure whiteness of it. Though she could not see ten feet in front of her, she knew what was out there, waiting for her in the cover of the snow. Koronu looked up into the sky, and through the curtain of clouds, she could make out just a few sparkling stars, a reminder that there was life outside of this terrible place, and that someday, she would make it out there and be free. Her mate was gone, she knew, and nothing would ever bring him back to her, but his memory, the life they had led together, that was still there. And no matter what, she was going to survive, and live on for him, for their life.

They lay together on the bed, scraps of clothing and armor all around them. The lights were off, but light from the moon that none of them could ever look at shone in brightly through the open window. It was warm that night, and they could hear the sounds of laughter in the pub next door, the clinking of glasses. Koronu lay on her stomach, her tail waving slowly through the warm air, her chin propped up on her arms. Bardoku was next to her, though laying on his back, sharpening one of their knives slowly, his eyes on Koronu the entire time.

“Isn’t if funny,” he asked in a deep voice. “how our lives have changed?”

Her tail stopped, dropping harmlessly back into place. “What do you mean?”

“Since we’ve been together.”

Koronu smirked at him. “We’ve had our fair share of trouble, if that’s what you mean. I think Sukuashi may never leave us alone.”

They both laughed, and he reached over to touch her hair, softly, with a strange expression on his face. “That isn’t what I meant. Life just isn’t the same anymore. We aren’t living separate lives anymore, we’re living on life. One complete life together. It’s no longer just my life, it’s your life too.”

His hand paused for a moment, lingering beneath her ear. He closed his deep black eyes. “Now I understand what it is to truly have a bond with a mate. I had always heard stories of closeness and loyalty, stories of death without the other, of being able to feel the danger or the sorrow in their hearts, but this….” He gestured towards her. “This I have never heard of before.”

She reached up and gently moved his hand away, holding it in her own. Both of their hands were rough and scarred, the mark of an excellent fighter, a worthy opponent. Her eyes sought his in the darkness, and her chest tightened with a feeling she had never known with any other. “What have you never heard of before?”

“The passion, and the….the….” He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unable to explain. There was no Saiya-jin knowledge of love, no record of it in any tales or books. There was no Saiya-jin word for it, no way of explaining the feeling stronger and more pure than any victory against foe. They spoke of bonds and mates, but there was no utterance of the love between the two. And though Bardoku knew what he felt, he had no words to describe it.

Koronu looked down at their hands, then deep into his eyes, full of passion. “This?” She asked, and she squeezed his hand gently. Both of their hearts ached simultaneously, and the rush of love ran through them both, stronger than any adrenaline a fight could muster.

“Hai..”

Her expression changed to seriousness. “And will it always be like that?”

Bardoku’s hand freed itself and reached up to Koronu’s chin, cupping it gently. “Always. You and I, one life. Together.”

That night seemed so long ago, so far away. The warmth, the light, the laughter. Everything had been ripped away from her, because of Sukuashi, because of his selfishness. And in her absence, her mate had perished, and she had been left to live their life alone. Despite the coldness in personality that she displayed now, she had been warm and caring towards her mate. Their bond was stronger than a thousand Saiya-jin soldiers, and it had been proven many times before. And just like that, it was all tossed away. Her eyes blinked, watching the rush of snowflakes flurry past her, flying towards the snowy fields. The anger boiled inside her, bubbling up through her veins, hot and steady.

She looked down and pulled the Saiya-jin code from the inside pocket in her cape. The small package that Potuto had given her minutes before, out of breath and frantic. She held it in front of her for a moment, snowflakes landing gingerly on its surface. My time starts tonight. From now on, there will be no more fear and no more running. Sukuashi will die and the victory will be mine.

She replaced the paper into her pocket and took out a match, striking it against the roughness of her glove. It glowed with fire, and she held it out in front of her, towards the snowy fields, as if to say: I’m here, I know; you lose.

Somewhere out in the darkness and snow, Pi was waiting for her, the sword in her hands, evil in her heart. She would wait, and Koronu would never come. It was all about how much you were willing to fight, and Koronu was never, ever going to give up. She would fight for her freedom, for the freedom of others, until the last of breath had left her body. Pi might have been her own child, born of her own blood and lineage, but not even she would stand in Koronu’s way. There was a war to be fought, an enemy to destroy; and if Pi was going to be a hindrance, then Koronu would cast her towards death like another one of her enemies. There was no love or loyalty between them, and there never had been. That was shown plainly now, as daughter hid in snow, waiting to slay mother.

With a flick of her strong hand, she threw the lighted match into the snow, watching the thick dark smoke curl up in tendrils. Through the curtain of snowflakes, she could imagine Pi out there, watching her, waiting. You can wait for an eternity Pi, she thought. But I will not die tonight. Tonight the war begins.

Then she turned, her cape swirling behind her, and slowly walked back into the city.

Chapter 47
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