RISE OF THE SAIYANS

By: Cephius

A DRAGONBALL Z fanfic

CHAPTER 2

She held on to her son for a few more seconds, then gave him some room.  As she looked at him, she could see that something was wrong.

"Are you okay," she asked, a bit concerned.

"No, I'm not.  However, I'll explain later.  It seems you have a visitor."

A young teenage girl ran into Tomo's mother's arms.  The young girl hugged her tight.

"Are you okay," the young girl asked.

"I am fine, Talia.  This young gentleman over here saved me."

The young girl looked at Tomo for a few seconds.

"Thank you for saving my mother."

Tomo looked at his mother with a bit of surprise on his face.  His mother just smiled.

"I'll tell you later," was his mother's reply.  "We have company."

Tomo looked around and realized for the first time that the villagers had moved closer to the three of them.

"It's alright, everyone.  It's Tomo.  He's home."

The young girl looked at Tomo again, realization crossing her features.

"You're my older brother," Talia asked as she looked at him.

"It would seem so.  I was unaware I had a younger sister."

Before his mother could answer him, the villagers approached the group, greeting Tomo with 'Welcome back' and 'It's good to see you'.  Tomo was in no mood for this, but he knew that they meant well.  He answered what questions he could as quickly as he could, though he wanted to get away from these people.  So, for the next couple of minutes, he did his best.  Luckily, as his nerves were almost at the end, his mother quickly interrupted.

"I'm sure my son would love to fill you in on what has happened the last couple of years, but after that battle, he is a bit exhausted."

The villagers understood and said their good-byes and went back to what they were doing.  Tomo's mother led the small group back to her house at the other end of the village.  Some of the villagers waved at the trio.  Tomo waved back, even though his heart wasn't in it.  After a minute, they arrived.  She opened the door and let Talia and Tomo in first, then closed the door behind her.  Tomo stopped in the middle of the front room as Talia went to the kitchen with their mother.  When they came back, both of the females knew that something was wrong.  Tomo, in the middle of the room, was standing straight as a board, except his head, which was tilted down.  His fists at his side were clenched tight, their color lightening every second.

"Tomo," his mother asked quietly.

Tomo didn't answer.  As his mother got closer, she could see that all of his muscles in his arms were stretched tight, straining against his shirt.

"What's wrong," his mother asked.

This time, Tomo responded.  As he looked up, his mother gasped as she saw tears streaming down his face.  His mother wanted to wrap her arms around him, but something held her back.

"They're all dead," he said as the tears streaked down his face.  "All of them. . .dead."

"What are you talking about, Tomo," she asked as she walked in front of him.

"All of those people I promised I would protect.  All of them."

His mother didn't know what to say.  Talia chose to remain quiet, shocked at the powerful man in front of her, crying.

"Those people that gave me a home, a place to stay, that placed their trust in me.  They trusted me. . . and I let them down."

His mother couldn't take it anymore.  She wrapped her arms around her son, hugging him close to her.  She knew something was horribly wrong.  Her son never cried, unless something terrible has happened.  She held for the next couple of minutes, letting him get it out of his system.  Finally, he pulled away from her.

"Are you going to be okay," Talia asked softly.

He turned to stare at her for a moment.

"You must think me a baby, crying like that."

"Something bad must of happened.  Did someone you like die?"

"Yes, someone did die.  Lots of people died."

He sat down and explained what happened, from when he first arrived there, to when he met Mira, to the assault on the planet.  His mother and sister sat quietly at first, but when he mentioned the loss of all of his friends and loved ones, they were stunned, unable to say anything.  Talia was the first to break the silence.

"That's horrible," she whispered.

He glanced at her.  He could see that her eyes had teared up after listening to his story.  His mother had already teared up and a few tears streaked down her face.

"It was.  I had lost all of those I had known as friends from the last two years.  And . . ."

The tears threatened to fall down his face as he tried to say her name, but the pain of loss was intense.  He had always known physical pain, but this pain was even more powerful, not just through his body, but to his very core, to his spirit.  It was as if a part of his soul had been ripped from him.  As it was very difficult to handle.

"Is it always this painful," he asked his mother.

She looked up at him through her tears.

"It's always this painful, losing someone you care about, especially someone you love."

He knew what she was talking about.  He had lost his father when he was only six.  It seems that his mother had gone into a type of shock, crying at any moment, wanting to be alone, yet calling out his father's name in the middle of the night.  He had not been there when it had happened, but she was.  For months, she seemed to be in a trance, not seeing anything, wasting away.  But, she pushed through it.  She had a son to take care of.

"And it doesn't get much easier.  The pain may dull a little, but there will always be that spot in your heart that never seems to get filled."

"I know how you feel," Talia said.

Tomo and his mother looked at her.

"I lost my mom and dad in a war in the capital city.  I watched as they were killed by gunfire.  I had lost both of them in one moment."

She was about to say something, but the tears streaked down her face as she tried to choke back the cries.  Tomo looked at her for a moment, knowing of the pain she felt.

"I couldn't do anything," Talia said through the sobbing.  "I was powerless to do anything.  All I could do was watch."

Tomo's mother put an arm around her.  She leaned back into her.

"For a week, she wandered the streets, not really caring where she went, not caring much on life," Tomo's mother continued.  "I found her in an allyway, her clothes all tattered, scrapes and cuts all over her body, her bones very visible.  I took her in, nursed her back to health, got her to talk about what had happened."

Talia nuzzled into her mother's side.

"I adopted her shortly after that.  It has been five years since then.  And, as you can see, it still hurts."

Tomo looked down for a moment in thought, considering what she had said.  It seemed that he was not the only one in the universe that suffered the way he had.  He had lost almost all of what he treasured in life.  He still had his mother.  She had lost all that she had treasured.  He leaned over and placed his hand on hers and the other on his mothers.  Both of the females looked up at him.  He gave a weak smile.  Talia placed her other hand on his and smiled back at him.  his mother smiled too, seeing that her son was fighting back and that him and his 'new' sister had found a common bond.

"Well, since everyone has had a good cry, is anyone hungry?"

Tomo looked at her for a moment, then the question sunk in.  In reply, his stomach gurgled it's response.

"It seems that I am," Tomo replied.

"Me too," Talia said as well.

"Good.  I'll make a nice pasta dish for us.  By the way, with the new increase of power, does your appetite go up as well?"

"It does, mother.  Unfortunately."

"Then I'll make an extra batch," she said as she smiled and headed for the kitchen.

"I'll help," Talia said as she got off the couch.

"While you to are getting dinner ready, I'm gonna take a shower."

"You know where it is," his mother replied from the kitchen.

He gathered his duffle bag and headed for the bathroom.  On the way there, he realized something.  He felt better.  Better than he had in a long time.  It was a good choice to come home.  He smiled and went into the bathroom to take his shower.