ChiChi sat on the bare stone floor, her legs stretched out before her, bent slightly at the knee, and her hands palm down on the ground. Her eyes were focused on the far wall, at the lines and cracks of the dark grey stone. What if something happens to him? She suddenly thought, and her eyebrows drew together in concern. She had never worried about her husband before, of course. Although he had died before, and had been truly tested in battle, she thought him to be invincible. A lot had changed over the years though, and with the absence of opposition, and the absence of Gokuu himself, a lot of faith had been lost. There was the guilt, too. If Gokuu had come to save her, and something happened to him while he was here, it would be all her fault.

Maybe not all my fault. She amended. After all, it was Sukuashi that brought me here, and definitely not on my own free will.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden bang outside the prison door, loud shouts, and the sound of blows to skin and bone. She scrambled to her feet and dashed to the far corner, hiding as best she could along the shadows in the wall. There was another loud bang and the door to the cell was flung open, several guards entering, restraining an older, uniformed Saiya-jin, with scratches and bruises all over his body.

“Filthy traitor!” The Saiya-jin guard snarled, and shoved the prisoner down to the ground. “Some honorable general you made. To think I served under your manipulative command for forty years. It makes me sick, you miserable traitor.”

ChiChi leaned heavily into the wall, trying to disappear completely from sight. Her last run in with Saiya-jin guards had left her wary of the sort. She had nearly been assaulted the first time, and though she had been saved, she didn’t want to risk it again. If she stayed out of sight and the guards didn’t know that she was here, she would be safe. Her eyes watched in concern as the guards beat the prisoner again, delivering hard blows to the jaw and to the side of his head. Her eyes watered at the pain, knowing what it must feel like to be hit by a Saiya-jin with such power and anger in his fist. At the same time, too, she felt a growing burn with in her, an ache to run, to fight. She shook her head, confused.

“I am not a traitor.” The prisoner replied coughing, and spit blood from his mouth onto the cell floor. “It is Sukuashi who has led you astray, not I.”

“Tell that to the Council, you worthless bastard.” The guard sneered. He kneed the general in the gut, and he doubled over, clutching his stomach and groaning in agony. “We’re tired of listening to you.”

The guards left the room with the slamming of the heavy door, and the walls shook with the force of it. The Saiya-jin prisoner curled on the floor, still coughing up blood as he tried to straighten himself up and rise to his feet again. He caught sight of her after a moment, standing against the wall with her hands clutched at her chest in prayer position, her eyes wide with concern and confusion.

“What are you staring at?” The general snapped in a broken voice, then doubled over into a coughing fit. The left side of his lip was torn, bright red against pale white skin, and there was blood dripping from his nose into his moustache, dying it a curious reddish brown.

ChiChi bit her lip, and took a hesitant step towards him. “Are you okay?” She asked. To her, it looked as though he was dying, or near death.

His dark eyes looked up, piercing clear through her heart. “Do I look okay?” He sputtered.

Against her better judgement, she approached him slowly, and dropped to her knees at his side. He froze for a moment, obviously surprised at the gesture, then rose his eyes to look at her once more. The anger in them had dissipated. Hesitantly, she reached out and took hold of him, gently helping him to the side wall, where she leaned him against the strong stone. She steadied him, then spoke in a soothing, quiet voice. “Is that better?”

He didn’t answer her, but studied her curiously, as if searching for something, one of his eyes already beginning to swell and turn black and blue. “Who, or what I should say, are you?”

She was a taken aback by the question, for although it should have come as a surprise to him, he didn’t seem all that shocked to see another lifeform on his planet. “My name is ChiChi.” She told him, and she brushed back a strand of soft black hair behind her ear. “I was taken from my home on Earth….held here as Sukuashi’s prisoner.”

He nodded. “So I was correct after all, and that brings a whole new light to the situation. I think I understand now why Sukuashi set me up.” He growled. “He set me up to take whatever flack he would have gotten from the Council about his human prisoner. Bastard. I should have known all along that he had something like this planned. Have you been here long?”

“Iie. But it feels like it’s been a lifetime.” She crouched beside him with her arms resting on her knees, and looked out the window at the falling snow.

“It’s been a lifetime of hell for me here too.” He said, a grim smile on his face as he looked out of the tiny window as well, watching the snow fall. A cough shuddered through him and a trail of blood trickled down his chin. “I had so much faith in our leader that I blindly followed him right into persecution. No matter what now, the Council will execute me. I am just waiting for my sentence to be carried out now.”

He continued to watch the snowfall. “Why has Sukuashi brought you here?”

“To be his mate, he said, though I already have a husband of my own.” She said softly, thinking of Gokuu. She tilted her head and gazed back at him. “He kidnapped me from Earth, but I think it was originally Gokuu that he had been after. He asked for him at first, and when I explained that he wasn’t there, he simply took me instead.”

His eyes turned back to her, more focused than they had been at first. “Your friends have come from Earth. I imagine your husband is most likely with them.” He informed her.

Her heart jumped at the mentioning of this, and she pictured Gokuu’s face suddenly, smiling and happy. He had never failed to make her heart pound just by looking into her eyes. There was something irresistible about him, his spirit, his drive, his perfect, sweet attitude. So innocent, and so special, so unique and caring. And although he had never shown that much emotion towards her, although there had never been much of an indication that she meant that much to him at all, he had come for her.

“I know.” She said, and tears sparkled in her dark eyes. “Though I can’t feel his ki, somehow I know that he is here.”

“Do you think they’ll find you in this prison?” He asked pointedly. “Do you think they’ll venture all the way into the tower to find you, or assume that you’re already gone?”

She looked out the window at the snow swirling through the wind. “I don’t know. I wish I had some way to be out there, to meet them before there was any kind of trouble.” Her gaze turned back to him. “I don’t suppose you know the way out of here.”

“The way out of here is simple, follow the hallway down in a spiral until you reach the doors. It wouldn’t be very wise to venture around the hallways now however, because there is a war going on out there. My troops are already preparing to fight off the human invaders.”

“Oh no!” She cried and placed a small hand over her mouth. She scrambled to her feet, looking at the general in horror. “An entire army?”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry so much.” He assured. “Without a commanding general, the Saiya-jin military force is completely disorganized and untrained. I was never given the proper materials to train the troops accordingly, though I tried to work with what I had. If someone who does not know what they’re doing is in charge of the forces, it simply will not work. And most of my soldiers are more loyal to me than they would ever be to Sukuashi or even the Council.”

“Still, I have to warn them somehow….I have to do something.” She cried, looking out the window in a desperate panic. “My Gokuu is amazingly strong, but I don’t know how he’d fare against an army full of Saiya-jin soldiers.”

He nodded. “I understand. And though it may be my first traitorous act in the history of my command, I believe that I should help you. I will let you escape, if you can. I am faced with death no matter what I do, but if I meet death in an attempt to save another’s life, then I will die with honor.”

“Well, I do have the key to the door….” ChiChi ventured. “Potuto gave it to me, but told me to stay within the walls of the cell for my own safety.”

The general nodded again, this time his head looked as though it were very heavy, too heavy for the strength of his own neck, and it bobbed about uncertainly. “There are tunnels that you should know about. Very few of the Saiya-jins here know that they exist, let alone the trails that lead through them. If you head northwest from here, to the snowy fields, you will find a small cave, an entrance into the tunnels. You will find shelter there, and hiding….That is the best advice that I can give you.”

The general took a sudden deep breath, shuddering at the cough that it caused, then continued in a raspy voice, ignoring the pain that was shooting through his body. “Go now, as quickly as you can, and if the guards come back, or anyone else, they will not hear from me that you have escaped.”

She smiled, tears in her eyes at the kindness of yet another Saiya-jin stranger. She bowed low to him, but looked up in alarm when he coughed hard again. “Are you okay?” She asked, her brows drawn in concern.

He nodded slowly, and his head spun from the movement.

“Be careful.” He warned her in a wise voice, ignoring her question. “The castle itself and the paths of the city are full of war and rage. Making it out of this door does not make you free. It will take a lot of courage and a lot of spirit to make it out of this alive. That is what it takes to win a battle, to win a war and gain victory. It’s your spirit that counts, that makes the fighter inside worthwhile.”

She looked down, her cheeks red. “Oh, I’m no fighter. I leave that up to the rest of my family.”

He studied her, narrowing his eyes, and it seemed to ChiChi as though he were peering straight into her soul. “I think you might be surprised.” He argued. “I think that you are slowly becoming more than you appeared to be at first. A warrior in disguise, perhaps. In any case, best of luck.”

“Thank you, again.” ChiChi said, and she paused for a moment to smile at him. “I keep finding kindness in the strangest places here.” She bit her lip. “I just hope you’ll be okay. You don’t look that well.”

He nodded graciously at her, and stumbled weakly to his feet, walking her to the door, all the while clutching his stomach. “It might look bad now, but Saiya-jins heal quickly. I assure you, I’ll be all right. Just make sure you get out into the open alive.” His eyes clouded. “And steer clear of Sukuashi, and especially his daughter. Pi is a lot more dangerous than anyone gives her credit to be. I’m afraid things are going to fall apart, you and are going to be stranded straight in the middle of it.”

She opened the door quietly, and then turned and handed the key to the general, placing it gently in his palm. “Domo Arigatou.” She said, and bowed low to him again. He bent his head in reply, for bending over caused too much pain in his back, and he didn’t wish to start coughing in front of her again now.

She slipped out into the hallway, warily looking side to side as she closed the door behind her. Her heart tugged for a moment, thinking about the condition the general had been in, wanting to stay and take care of him, help him. But her family was in danger, and no matter how much she wanted to help others, her family always, always came first.

Besides, she thought. The general said that Saiya-jins healed fast. He’ll probably be back to good health in no time. She thanked him again in prayer, then set out down the hallway, still thinking about his words, and what he had gone through. It seemed as though many had been the victims of Sukuashi, not just Koronu, Potuto and herself. It was especially odd that a general, one of the higher ups, would be subjected to that kind of treatment. The hallway was dark and empty before her, dimly lit with torches on either side. It was quiet, and she assumed that most of the inhabitants were out to battle, which disturbed her more than she wanted to admit. She remembered the general’s words about courage and spirit, and held her head high. This was not a time to fall apart. From now on, she had to be strong. It wasn’t just her life that she was fighting for anymore.

And inside the cell behind her, the general slumped against the cold stone wall, thought of ChiChi, and drew in his last breath.

Chapter 52
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