"Not Much Between Despair and Ecstasy"
By Ani 

Chapter Three 

      It had been months since Gohan's stay with her, almost a year since they'd met. He popped by for short little visits, usually to heal something, but he did take the book the first time. There were other times too. He tried to hide it, but she always knew. Every time she'd go out to gather she could feel his ki close by. She was so tempted to draw him out, but she somewhat peeked at his thoughts and realized that he was content to just watch, so she played along.
      So she was surprised, almost four months after his stay, when he came to her as she was just coming home.
      "Gohan, it's nice to see you. So what did you hurt now, or did you want another book?" she asked casually as they went in.
      He sighed loudly, which startled her. "No, it's not that. I need you to come along; my grandfather's having back problems and we did all we could, but it hasn't helped. That, and Mom wants to meet the person I hid away with for a month," he said begrudgingly.
      She turned to her backpack, grabbing some things she'd need. "It sounds like you don't want her to, Gohan," she replied, a little confused.
      He turned away, staring at the floor. "I don't know what I want, Zandre," he whispered.
      She finished packing, and swinging it on her back, turned to him. "What's wrong, Gohan?"
      They just stared at each other a while, Gohan trying to decide if he should tell, and Zandre wanting to push but knowing he'd only clam up if she did. He pulled away, and heading outside said, "After I bring you back home, okay?"
      "Whenever you want," she replied, following.
      He turned to her with a small smile, and, wrapping his arms around her waist, started to hover. Zandre's arms slowly went around his neck, hugging him tightly as they started off. She felt him relax a little. She started watching where they were going, staying along the edge of the forest, going closer to the city, the end of the mountain range.
      They landed about twenty yards from a little dome house, a garage and a shrine on each side. Gohan saw the yellow aircar parked near the well and said, "Should have known Mom would call Bulma when I said I was going after you."
      "Is this good or bad?" she asked, discreetly hiding their presence.
      "No, just be prepared for a lot of questions," he answered, and she dropped her shielding. "Oh, I should warn you, my grandfather is a large man, so try not to be scared," he said, pulling her inside.
      "ChiChi, will you calm down? She's not coming to inspect your house," an older, slightly amused female voice said as Gohan led Zandre to the living room.
      He stood there and, gesturing to each said, "Mom, Bulma, Trunks, this is Zandre."
      She looked at each in turn, the shock on their faces, and said, "You never told them how old I am, did you, Gohan?"
      He flushed slightly as the women turned to him. "I knew I forgot something," he mumbled, smiling sheepishly.
      Trunks turned back and forth from her to his mother and said, "You look a little like Mom."
      Bulma studied her face. "Your face is a little softer than mine at that age, and of course the hair's off," she replied, pushing her sky blue ponytail over her shoulder.
      "It's nice to see I won't change much as I get older then," Zandre said, watching as Bulma caught the veiled compliment.
      Zandre turned to the forty-some dark-haired woman still staring at her. She saw a hundred emotions playing across ChiChi's face, unable to stay long. Zandre gently smiled and sent a caring presence across. "So where's the patient?" she asked, shaking ChiChi to reality.
      "Just follow me," she replied, turning to go down the hallway. Zandre followed, as did the others. They all stopped in front of the door at the end. ChiChi knocked and called out, "Daddy, Gohan brought his healer friend to help you, so you better be in bed."
      "Come in, come in. I want to meet the person who took care of my grandson," a deep, booming voice called from the other side.
      ChiChi opened the door and everyone filed in. Gohan was right. He's got to be at least five feet across, Zandre thought, looking at the large gray-haired man. He was on his stomach in a bed that seemed too small, but could easily hold four average-sized people.
      She moved to the left side of the bed, by his face, bowed briefly and said, "If you don't already know, my name is Zandre. So what is the problem?"
      "There's some sharp pains in about the middle of my back. I try to get up, but they shoot up into my head and I get so dizzy I pass out," he replied.
      She blushed a little. "I've never had to say this before, but you'll must forgive me. I have to crawl on your back and work this out, sir," she said, climbing on the edge of the bed.
      "Please call me Ox-King, everyone does. And you are forgiven indeed. No one has arms that long," he said, trying to lighten her spirits.
      She smiled briefly before crawling up his back. He was only wearing boxers, making it easier for both. She knelt at the small of his back, closing her eyes and allowing her hands to glow as she slowly massaged the middle of his back. She ignored the inhales, wows, and cool exclamations as she slowly moved up his back. "Could you put your arms straight above your head?" she asked.
      "Not completely," Ox-King replied and she watched as his arms stopped about three-fourths of the way.
      "Gohan, Trunks, could you help?" she asked.
      Trunks shrugged as they both took an arm, pulling it into position. "Okay, that's enough," she replied, still using her ability.
      She suddenly stopped and pulling her backpack off, pulled out a large jar of some cream that she started working into his back. A couple of grunts and gratified groans coming out showed it helped. She stopped, wiping her hand off on a towel she had in her bag, and grabbing it and the jar, slid off his back to land on the right end of the bed, behind his head. "Let him go, guys. Ox-King, you can get up whenever you want, but go slow, okay?"
      Those tree trunk arms moved slowly on both sides of her, hands planting firmly on each corner. Zandre placed her bag and the jar on the floor, and turning and kneeling on the bed, helped him up until he was on his knees at the head of the bed. 
      "So how do you feel?"
      "Better than I have in years; thank you, Zandre-san," he replied, pulling her into a tight hug.
      "You're welcome," she choked out, finding it hard to breathe.
      He chuckled as he released her. Zandre got off the bed and getting the jar, handed it to him. "It's nothing to worry about, Just a muscle spasm in an arthritic area. Just have someone rub this in if it ever comes back." She turned to her bag, pulling out a notebook and writing some things down. The others stared at her as Gohan gave his grandfather his clothes, offering to help and getting a happy, polite refusal. She looked up, staring blankly at the wall, mumbling, "I've been doing this for thirteen years and I can never remember the date."
      Bulma pulled her eyes away and absently checked her watch, "It's the sixteenth."
      "Thanks," Zandre replied, noting it and putting it back, pulling two small bags out. She turned back to Ox-King and said, "This tea is for the arthritis. Just one cup daily, two when it flares up. This," she paused, placing one in his hand, wiggling the other in front of his face, "is what your grandson called my secret ingredient. It's just fresh mint, but this has to be the only thing you add to the tea. Anything else would make your back worse or make you sick." She turned to the others, "I'll be in the living room. When you're coherent enough to ask the questions floating in your head, come and feel free to," she said, grabbing her bag and leaving, hearing Gohan trying to stifle his laughter.
      They walked in to find her sitting at on end of the couch, head back, apparently asleep. Gohan moved through them and sat beside her. "Zandre, are you okay?"
      Her head popped up, eyes slowly opening, "Yeah, just had a late-night baby delivery and got very little sleep," she replied.
      "How can you do that?"
      "What can't you fix?"
      "How did you get this?"
      "Why was my baby with you for so long?"
      As the questions poured out, Zandre slowly turned to Gohan. She saw a hint of regret creep into his eyes, instead of the earlier embarrassment returning. "You said none were to know," he told her, the truthfulness so clear.
      Zandre turned to the others, asking, "What did he tell you about that month?"
      "Only that he spent the time with the healer in the mountains," Trunks replied, amazed with her.
      Zandre nodded, eyes falling. She felt Gohan's left hand take hers and she held tight, each one supporting the other. "We had met once before, the day Piccolo died. I had healed a bad cut Gohan had got in the fight. When he asked about it, I told him I got the ability from my father. He and his little companion were aliens that didn't know of their origins. They lived in a monastery. My father was Tenshinhan."
      Zandre paused, waiting for any outburst. When none came, she continued, "I explained that all I can do is heal and so I've been healing the people after I found out Papa was dead. I told him if he ever needed it again, that he knew where I was."
      "That's why he sought you out again," Bulma deduced.
      "But why'd it take four weeks?" ChiChi almost screamed.
      "When I found Gohan, he was badly injured with a fever. My ability can't heal illnesses and if I healed him before he got over the fever he'd never get back to his old self. Luckily the fever broke by the second day, any longer and he probably wouldn't be here. After it broke, Gohan found out my healing ability works a lot like his ki and he would only let me heal the internal bleeding and broken ribs." She stopped, feeling Gohan tense beside her.
      They looked up to see ChiChi fall the her knees, trying not to faint. "What did they do to him?" she asked, determined to stay coherent.
      Zandre could sense Gohan's doubt, but ChiChi's need and determination prevailed. "He had a concussion, his left shoulder was dislocated, his right arm was broken in three places, his left leg in four. His right knee was twisted; he had three broken ribs, was covered with cuts and bruises, and was bleeding internally. That's why it took a month. Ten breaks, muscles sprained everywhere, and bleeding inside and out. He only let me heal the worst."
      ChiChi slowly nodded as her father helped her into the armchair. Once there she just spaced out, staring at the coffee table. They all sat in silence for a while, trying to accept what had been told and wondering how much more to tell.
      "So how much can you do?" Bulma asked, pulling everyone out of their thoughts.
      "The only things I've noticed so far is I can't heal illnesses, and it weakens if I use it too much. The last time it did that was after Cherryhill was destroyed, thirty-six hours of healing with only about five hours of sleep. If I go short on sleep, it gets harder, takes more out of me," she replied, turning to Bulma.
      "So sleep replenishes it," Bulma mumbled, gaining a nod. "But why did it take so long for you to show up? Tien would have told us about you sooner."
      Zandre's gaze fell and turning away, replied, "He couldn't have. Papa and Chaotzu lived as if they were studying to become monks. Mama was an orphan raised by the monks, she lived like a housekeeper for them." She paused, trying to find the words, "There's no easy was to say this. I was the result of a deep friendship and my father's mating drive."
      "You mean..."
      "Yes. He was ready and my mother being the only female and a friend, they made me. That fact got hidden as quickly as it was established. There were three villages within walking distance and the monastery always had visitors. Because of how everyone saw them, my fatherhood was passed to a traveler who had spent a week at the monastery."
      "But why?" Trunks cut in.
      "If it was found out, the monastery would have been discredited and dishonored, so we hid it from everyone. I found out about it because my ESP was developing along with speaking. They explained as good as they could; but it was easy to accept, it explained my healing ability," she explained, wiping away a few silent tears.
      Gohan picked it up, "She'd told me the first her parents knew of it she was two. Tien hurt himself practicing and went to her mother to get it bandaged. He had to hold Zandre as her mother got the bandages, so Zandre healed it."
      They turned to her. "Yes, and the reason he never told you is, after the fight with the Saiyajins, when he died, Mama and I left the monastery. I tried and tried to tell her Papa was alive again, but she wouldn't believe me. I tried contacting him, but he was always out of reach," she finished, more tears silently falling.
      Silence fell over everyone as all she'd told settled in. Zandre slowly pulled herself together, Gohan's hand never leaving hers. A voice quietly asked, "What happened to your mama?"
      Zandre turned and weakly smiled at Trunks. "She died the same day Papa did. I remembered once he'd told me to go to the Capsule Corp. Headquarters and I'd get help from his friends. When I got here, I realized I could help more healing people and distributing the herbal medicines Mama taught me."
      "So you've been doing that for thirteen years," Bulma finished.
      Zandre could sense and uneasiness from Gohan, probably about the questions about to be asked about them. She honestly didn't know how to answer herself. That and she didn't know how long she could keep omitting parts she didn't want to tell. Using that, she innocently got up, grabbing her bag, "You'll have to excuse me, but I'm needed back home."
      Gohan got up, still holding her hand as Bulma offered, "We can take you back."
      "No, I'll do it. We need to talk anyway," Gohan said as they left the room, heading out the door.
      "Thanks again, Zandre-san," Ox-King called out the window.
      "Anytime, all of you," she replied.
      The others all stood at the window and watched as arms wrapped around bodies and the two flew away.
      "I wonder what that means," ChiChi pondered.
      "Would you stay out of Gohan's private life?" Trunks snapped.
      "At least she can really take care of him," Ox replied.
      "You all know he's got so much on his shoulders..." Bulma started, turning away. 

      They were halfway there when he tentatively asked mentally, 'There's no problem, is there?'
      Zandre jumped a little at his use of his telepathy. 'No, there isn't, but I could tell where the conversation was heading and...' She let it hang.
      Gohan nodded briefly, his earlier mood returning. They continued on in silence. 

      He landed on the edge of the cliff, his back to the city. He gently put her down, his eyes never looking at her. She slowly let go, her arms sliding down, hands resting on his elbows. "Gohan, what is it?"
      He took her hands in his. "Zandre... I have no idea where this relationship is going. If my life was different, I'd willingly try to figure it out with you." Gohan stopped, not sure if he was wording it right.
      Zandre pulled away, sitting down on the edge of the cliff. "You don't know if you want to pull me into the dangerous life you live. I realize you've got a lot on your shoulders, Gohan, and I don't want to..." She stopped, forcing back the tears.
      He moved to stand behind her, so tempted to console her, take it all back, but... "Zandre, I hope you know this has nothing to do with you. I have to admit what you said is part of it, but there's more that I can't explain myself. I'm sorry, Zandre, but..."
      "You've got to speed up Trunks' training. I saw how he was looking at you. Trunks worships you, and there are more important things than trying to figure out our relationship, if we even have one," she replied, barely pulling herself together, turning to him.
      He slightly nodded, seeing the pain she was trying to hide. Gohan just stood there, trying to figure this out, more for her sake than his. He saw her moving, getting up and he fought the urge to help, knowing it would only...
      "Well, if you guys ever need me, you know where I'm at," she said, not looking at him.
      "Zandre, I... please..." he mumbled.
      Her hand slowly covered his mouth, "Gohan, believe me, I understand," she leaned in, going on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. "Please be careful. I want to figure this out," she said, hugging him.
      He slowly hugged back, tempted to... "I will, Zandre. You be careful too," he replied.
      She pulled away and slowly started to the house, "Please Gohan, come back," she said over her shoulder. I can't lose you too.
      "I will," he replied, watching her as she went inside. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, he thought as he flew away.