I am Kera, a Saiyan Warrior Princess

Chapter 15

Sitara was still lying with her head on Piccolo's chest. As if she had grown firmly there. Everything about her felt numb. At some point she had stopped crying. Her eyes were swollen shut. Somewhere inside she knew she would have to get up soon, but she wasn't ready. Should she even get up again? Why? Live alone in the forest? She couldn't imagine going back there. Without Piccolo, the forest would be empty.

In a brief lucid moment, she realised she no longer felt any shaking. Was the battle over? Had Goku really intervened and won? Then her attention wandered back to Piccolo's cold body. Her fingers ran over every inch of his skin, memorising every bump, every scar, every muscle. Why had they found each other so late? Tears welled up in her eyes again. She had thought she had no more tears to cry, but uninhibited they now flowed down her cheeks again. Again and again she whispered his name. She tried to walk along the energy ribbon, to seek him out. But no matter how many times she tried, the ribbon ended after a short distance. After each attempt, she seemed to plunge deeper into the gloom.

As she blinked to dispel the tears and break free from the gloom of the energy ribbon surrounding her, she noticed that it had already become dark. How long had she been lying here? Hours? Or had she perhaps missed a change of day? She tried to listen to her body, but she felt nothing. No hunger, no exhaustion. It was all the same to her.

She heard a noise. Was it a plane? But Sitara did not have the strength to lift her head. Was the sound getting louder? Or was it moving away? She could not tell. Eventually the sound disappeared.

Someone touched her gently on the shoulder and spoke to her. Only slowly did she remember how to move and turned her head. Next to her stood Gohan. He had only a blanket around his shoulders and was otherwise naked. He seemed unharmed, though. Slowly, she pulled him close. A warm body that gave her comfort. He returned the embrace.

As she sat on the ground with the boy, she noticed other people standing around her. A black-haired woman approached them. Gohan broke away from Sitara and cleared his throat. "Sitara, this is my mother Chi-Chi. Mum, this is Sitara. She's been training with me and watching over me for the past year."

Gohan's mother stopped a step in front of her and bowed. "Thank you for watching over my son."

Sitara bowed her head in thanks. She felt incapable of more movement at that moment.

Gohan addressed her again. "Piccolo told me to tell you that he is sorry he cannot return to the forest with you."

Those words broke Sitara's dams and she sobbed uncontrollably. Gohan seemed overwhelmed by Sitara's outburst, for he looked to his mother for help. He just wanted to say something encouraging to her. His mother knelt down beside Sitara and stroked her back until the tears had dried up.

"You can come with us. We have room. And you can keep an eye on Son-Gohan. My husband will have to stay in the hospital for now and I want to visit him as often as I can."

Sitara didn't know what to do now. She couldn't think. A hand was on Piccolo's upper body. Then she felt him being pulled out from under her. The old man and the bald man she had seen about a year ago after the fight against Radditz were taking Piccolo's body up to put it into a strange capsule. "No, stop it. What are you doing to him?" Sitara didn't want Piccolo taken away from her.

Gohan's mother, still kneeling beside her, spoke soothingly to her. "It's all right. We'll take his body and find a way to revive him." Sitara looked at her doubtfully. This was nonsense, no one could come back from the dead. But Sitara could not disagree. She wanted to lie down, just stare ahead. If she closed her eyes, she would see images of Piccolo. If she fell asleep, she would see him again, be able to imagine herself in his arms.