I shook my head, not wanting to hear, not wanting to believe that the vile monster was in vulnerable Earth, my old home, where no one could defend against him.
"How?" I whispered.
"The Gateway formed a crack, a tear, just big enough for him to slip through. It is possible he traveled to another world instead but not likely." His voice grew quiet. "I cannot force you to return though even now those you left behind are suffering in your absence."
I hadn't seen my old family or friends in ten years. I was a different person now. This was home. Home with the Dragon Ball Z people, my children, my husband. I sought out Vegeta in the crowd but he was not to be found. They were all staring at me, awaiting my answer. I knew they felt the urge to fight Frieza, fight against evil but they waited for me to decide. It was my old world . . .
"Shenlong," I said. "I . . . I . . . I'll go back. But . . . once it's straightened out . . . I want to return here."
"There is always the risk of the Gateway closing forever."
"But I can't let them all . . . Kami! Do they think I've been kidnapped?"
Krillin came up to me, put his arm comfortingly around my shoulders. He looked up at the Eternal Dragon. "She can't go alone, can she? I mean . . . " He fell silent, not wanting to volunteer.
"Of course not," Gokou blurted. "If Frieza's there, we have to stop him!"
"Dad's right," agreed Gohan, joining us despite Videl's protests. "We're the only ones who can do it."
I nodded gratefully. "No one has powers there, including me."
"Oh, all right," Krillin grumbled. "Count me in."
"I can only take half a dozen through the Gateway at a time," said Shenlong.
"I'm going to," Piccolo stepped in.
I looked around. "That's five."
"No, six."
We turned to see Vegeta striding calmly toward us. "I look forward to fighting Frieza again. Besides," he added, scowling at me. "I am not letting my mate run off with me. Silly woman, you're not going to get yourself killed."
I grinned despite the tears forming in my eyes. "Seems like old times." The six of us faced Shenlong who was waiting patiently. "We're ready," I told him.
"Then link your arms together." We obeyed, Vegeta on my right, Gokou on my left.
Before us, a bright light burst in the sky. The Gateway. What was I doing? I had vowed never to return to that world full of pettishness and shallow reason to live. It was so different from the anime Earth. And that body . . . that strange, unfamiliar body. I swallowed hard, felt Vegeta squeeze my arm consolingly. Just get in, fix things, and get out, I told myself.
Soon, we were traveling through the same bright tunnel I had been in before. I was scared, scared of what that place was like. During the short journey, I tried to explain to the others what I remembered about it as best I could. I told them, just in case we got separated, to meet me at a place called Mars Hill, my old High School. I had a feeling I would have to return to my old life for a little while until things were straightened out. Shenlong stated we were almost there and added he would keep the time difference equal so we wouldn't be gone for a few weeks or however long and return to find centuries had passed away in anime, something we were all worried about.
The light around us brightened. I felt myself changing, becoming riaru again. I loathed that body and fresh tears ran down my face. I pulled my legs up, floating in the light and tucked myself into a miserable ball, shutting out everything.
Then all was still and quiet and dark. Cold concrete dug into my jeans.
Jeans?
I gingerly opened my eyes and found I was wearing the exact same outfit I had on when I left. I touched them, feeling the rough material and started when I saw how young my hands looked. I was ten years younger. I caught sight and stared at the dim shadow beneath me. The moon . . . I got to my feet. I had missed having a moon. Piccolo had destroyed the one in anime many years before I came.
Speaking of Piccolo . . . where was everyone? Panic rose and I spun around in circles. I was alone on this deserted street. No, not alone. A door shut loudly in the silence and I jumped, ducking behind a small tree. Two policemen had just came out of a house across the street from where I hid. That- that was my old house.
The two policemen conversed shortly- I couldn't hear what they said- got in their cars and drove off. I crept out, alone once again, gazing at the place I grew up in. I had to find the others but this had to be done first. Letting out my breath to calm my nerves, I strode up to the house. My footsteps sounded too heavy on the steps and I raised my hand to ring the doorbell, thought better of it, and opened the door.
Immediately, a million memories washed over me; sights and sounds I thought had been forgotten. Laughter on birthdays. Tears after verbal fights. And how my life had been here. Guilt screamed in my head as someone's sobs made their way to me. I had left them without a single goodbye, left them to wonder if I was dead.
But I'm not dead! I wanted to shout. I'm here again! Please stop crying . . . Mom. Could I call her mom again? For ten years, ChiChi and Gokou had been my parents. And to them I was still a seventeen years old, when I, my brain and soul, was nearly thirty. I snapped back to reality when the sobs increased.
"Mom . . . " I whispered, taking a step closer to the kitchen from which the sounds came. Gathering my courage, I moved closer, almost inside the kitchen. "Mom? Dad?" I called again, louder, and the crying stopped suddenly. I prayed to Kami for strength even though he was so far away, then stepped into the kitchen. We stared at each other in silence, my mother, father, brother, and me. My mother put a hand to her mouth.
"Alicia . . . my baby."
I winced inwardly at being called by that name. Almost in a blur, I was covered in hugs and kisses and questions.
Less than five minutes later, my dad called the police to come, saying there was definitely something wrong. They tried to talk to me themselves but I couldn't tell them lies and I couldn't say I had gone to another world either! I wanted to find the others and the longer I sat waiting on the police, the more nervous I became. Finally, the police showed up, bringing with them a psychiatrist. That's all I needed right now . . . a shrink.
We went into another room to "have a little chat." Inside, I folded my arms, crossed my legs, and leaned back. Living with Vegeta for so long had rubbed off on me and the familiar posture was comforting. The psychiatrist, a tall, gangly man, set a blank pad on the desk, took out what I guessed was my personal file, and leaned on his elbows across from me, steeping his fingers. I stared back, refusing to be intimidated.
"So," he began, his voice way too conserved and sly.
"So," I agreed.
He cleared his throat. "Where have you been the past ten days, Alicia?"
"Ally."
"I beg your pardon?"
"My name is Ally."
He glanced at the file. "It says here that you are Alicia M. Hernandez."
"My name is Ally sie Vegeta."
He blinked a few times. "We'll . . . come back to that," he said, seeming a little shaken out of his normal routine of questioning.
"Fine."
"For those ten days, were you forced away from home?"
"No."
"So there was no kidnapper?"
"There wasn't."
"Are you saying you ran away?"
"No, I didn't run away."
"So there was someone else involved."
"No."
"No what?"
"There wasn't someone who kidnapped me."
"Were you with anyone?"
I hesitated a slit second. "Yes."
"The whole ten days?"
"Yes."
"Did they force you to stay with them?"
"Look, mister," I said, becoming angry. "I wasn't forced to do anything."
"Why did you leave home?"
Because I would die if I stayed here. "I wanted to."
"Why didn't you tell your parents?"
"I didn't have time."
"So you were forced to leave sooner than you wanted to."
"No," I seethed. "I wasn't forced."
"Where did you go?"
"Away."
"Where?"
"Away."
"Where?"
"AWAY!"
He leaned back in his chair. "Do you take any form of illegal narcotics?"
"What?" I sputtered. "Of course not!"
"Do you think you could have been slipped something in a drink or in food?"
"No!"
"Did you have sexual relations with anyone?"
Yes, I did. But we're married. "You mean, was I raped? No, I wasn't."
He paused. "What does Ally sie Vegeta mean?"
"That's my name."
"So 'sie' is your middle name?"
"No. It means 'of'."
"Of Vegeta?"
"Yeah." Oh Kami, this was going bad.
"What does Vegeta mean?"
"Vegetable," I said with a completely straight face.
"I'm afraid, young lady," said the very unamused psychiatrist. "That this name game makes no sense."
"Actually, it's the only thing that does." I tried hard not to snicker and failed.
"You're telling me you believe your name is Ally of Vegetable?"
"No," I said, giggling at the thought.
"You don't?"
"It's Ally sie Vegeta."
"Is this Vegeta a person?"
All humor faded. "It is."
"Male or female?"
No lies, I told myself. "Male."
"Someone you met during those ten days?"
"Yes."
"Ally of Vegeta . . . " he contemplated. "Curious. Is he your boyfriend?"
"No." That was the truth. He was my husband.
"Did you stay with him?"
"When?"
"The ten days."
"Not all of them."
"But most."
"Well, yeah."
"Where?"
"Away."
He seemed to struggle with his growing temper. "Did you have sexual relations with this boy?"
"He's not a boy," I retorted without thinking.
"Then how old is he?"
"I-I don't know." Idiot! Idiot!
"I see . . . did you have sexual relations?"
"He didn't rape me."
"That's not what I asked."
"But we-"
"Please answer the question."
"We- we did not have premarital sex."
"Where is Vegeta now?"
"Don't know." I felt a pang in my chest.
The psychiatrist wrote furiously in his pad, then close the papers and stood. "We're finished. You may join your parents, Alicia."
"Thank you," I said, getting to my feet. "And sir?"
"Yes?"
"My name is Ally."
He was about to reply and thought better of it. "Allow me to speak with your parents before you come out."
"Fine by me."
He shut the door behind him as he left. I moved, opening it just a crack so I could hear.
"I'm afraid your daughter has suffered extreme emotional stress," he was saying to my riaru parents. "She refused to tell me where she had been, though she did admit to being with other people. It seems to me that she is only another one out of a million of runaways. When I asked her whether she was involved in sexual contacts with anyone, she would turn it around into a different question." He adjusted the glasses on his nose. "Sounds like she was raped by someone she's trying to protect." They choked, looking sick. "She mentioned a man's name," he continued. "A . . . Vegeta. Have you heard of him before?"
"None of her friends are named that," my mom said faintly.
"To be frank, I think this Vegeta may have been the one to commit this horrible crime. She kept calling herself Ally sie Vegeta and said it meant Ally of Vegeta. I'm worried she may have permanent emotional damage because of this person."
"What can we do?" asked my father.
"You can try talking to her, but I suggest you leave her alone for now. Send her to school tomorrow as if nothing happened and hope things even out. I'll ensure that the inspectors make sure she remains at school. This whole thing will blow over soon enough." He put on his coat, walking to the front door and out of my sight. "Keep a close eye on her," I heard him say. "And I'll check back within a week to see how she's doing and to tell you of any news about this Vegeta." The door opened and closed.
I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out as my parents came back into the hallway. I hated the way they looked at me. Because of that dumb shrink, they now thought I was some sort of mental delinquent.
"I wasn't raped," I told them bluntly.
"The doctor just wants to h-" my mom started but I cut her off.
"I know what he wanted. I'll go to school tomorrow if you let me drive myself."
They were both hesitant. Finally my dad nodded and I retreated upstairs. The cops would be watching me tomorrow anyway.
School? I hadn't been to school in years. Tomorrow would be an eventful day, to say the least, and I had to find the others. Not to mention Frieza . . . I moaned. All of us combined were barely able to defeat him the first time much less now that I wouldn't be able to help. I cursed this pitiful body, wanting to go home more than anything. I flounced around in bed, unable to get any sleep, and finally crawled out my window to sit on the roof as I had done many times before Frieza, before Vegeta, before Shenlong, before Namek, before I spent ten years learning to live and living a new life.
I felt someone watching me.
"Do you ever stop to just look at it, Manny?" I asked my riaru brother, gazing up at the sky.
He joined me on the roof. "At what?"
"The moon. We don't have one at home."
"What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.
"Piccolo blew it up." I looked at him. "Don't you remember?"
"Remember what? Ever since you got back, you've been talking gibberish."
I returned to the full orb above us. "It's not gibberish, Manny. Something . . . incredible . . . happened to me."
He looked skeptical.
I sighed. "The moon was one of the only things I missed while I was gone. Nights are so dark in anime. We could have wished it back with the Dragonballs but the risk was too great . . . both Trilku and Bapa were born with tails. What if they transformed and hurt themselves and other people? We couldn't let that happen. So we removed their tails and the moon stayed gone . . . " I smiled, realizing I had been chattering away without thinking.
Manny found his voice again. "You're crazy."
"Of course," I answered automatically. "It's too late to be sane."