Ascending | ✔

Rematch

"Let's eat, everyone!" Chi Chi announced, clicking her chopsticks. In celebration of Universe 7's survival, the restoration of the other universes and Goku's return home, the Son matron had prepared a huge feast for the family. Gohan, Videl and Pan had also dropped by for lunch, and while the affair was sure to be quiet, it was something that they would treasure.

Without waiting another second, every single saiyan (except Pan, who was still a baby) at the table ripped into their food, grabbing stir fry and pork chops while shovelling ramen into their mouths. Chi Chi made an exasperated noise but smiled anyway. This was her family, no matter how odd they were. Cooking enough food for two hundred normal people was worth the labour if she could see her family so delighted.

"Saiyans," Gyu-Mao said jokingly. "I bet if I reached into their stomachs I wouldn't even touch the bottom!"

Pan giggled as Videl spoon-fed her some tender pork flesh. The young mother smiled and scooped food onto her own plate before feeding her daughter more. "How do you do this, Chi Chi? Even my dad's old cook would have trouble dishing up so much!"

"It comes with practice, dear," Chi Chi told her, glad that Videl was taking an interest in cooking. The human girl was a good cook, and Chi Chi believed that, with the right training, she would become an amazing housewife one day.

As the Son family enjoyed their meal, laughing and talking, unaware that their family ties were about to be broken.

xXx

She had told herself not to think about him, but something pulled her toward Goku. Caulifla stared blankly ahead as she contemplated her situation. How hard she had tried to pull away from Goku and Universe 7. But there something strangely addicting - something that gave her thrill. He's my enemy, she reminded herself. So why would I seek him out? Just what the hell draws me to him? It was the urge to fight, she concluded. He had kicked her ass into the ground during the tournament but Caulifla refused to believe that he would stay superior to her for long. Now she wanted a rematch that would shake the heavens. She had not yet trained her latest super saiyan form - she was hoping that a spar with Goku might provide for that. The female saiyan grinned wickedly as she imagined punching him through a chain of mountains. The thought of a fight made her blood race with anticipation but, secretly, she was hoping that he would take her under his wing. It was something that she herself could not come to accept, instead strongly denying it. But deep down she knew that in order to achieve those godly levels she would need a teacher. The earth-raised saiyan fitted the brief, so why not?

At first, Caulifla considered going to the earth police for help, but she figured that these humans wouldn't react well to the likes of her. Then there was the Briefs - Vegeta's family. There hadn't been much exchange between her and Vegeta but she knew that he was nearly as strong as Goku. Goku was irritating to say the least. He was so much stronger than her - that fact alone already made her kill him and spit on his grave. Also, he called her 'Cauli', which further incensed her. No one had called her that since she and Renso had been children on Sadala. It was a nickname exclusive only to family. Not even Kale, who she considered her soul sister, was allowed to refer to her as 'Cauli'.

A red haze descended upon her gaze, and the rain-that-was-not-rain flashed through her mind. The wetness and stickiness of the blood as she crawled into bed with dead bodies, unaware they were nothing more than cadavers. She grimaced and pushed the memory away, choosing instead to focus on the times she and Renso had spent together. Their spars and hunting sessions gave way to a more unpleasant memory: Caulifla screaming at Renso and disowning him as her brother when he willing conscripted himself into the Sadala Defence Forces.