by Jamie L. Word
"Retrospection"
Zodoria.
Back at the lookout, Koji, Yukio, Kien Tieh, Makiko, Kumi, Yoshio, Kato, Isao, Sumio, Jontu, and Shun were on the platform. They were preparing for their great reunion. Kato, Yoshio, Kien, Sumio, Jontu, and Shun gathered around Koji, excited.
"You're back! You're really back!" Yoshio rejoiced, very happy to see his brother-in-law back among the living.
"Yeah!" Kato added as he jumped into Koji's arms and embraced his father's neck tightly, prompting Koji to embrace his son affectionately. "You were awesome, Dad! I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you!"
"I've missed you too, my son," Koji replied with a pleasant smile on his face, reveling in the moment of happiness.
"We knew you'd be back just in the knick of time with a means of saving the day," Kien remarked with a joyful smile.
"The techniques you returned with were unbelievable!" Shun exclaimed in amazement over what Koji was capable of.
"Yes, they were!" Jontu agreed wholeheartedly, smiling like all of the others. "They were most impressive!"
"Yes, the ability to cross vast distances instantaneously was a technique I learned from an old Kai called Tong-Li," Koji explained as he let his son back to the ground and stood up full again. "That last technique that we used in the fused form of Kojukio to destroy Majestros was called the spirit bomb, and I learned that one from the old Kai as well, along with the fusion dance ... among other things."
Meanwhile, Kumi, Isao, and Makiko gathered around Yukio, and all of their eyes were watering with pent-up emotion. Koji and the others turned to bear witness to what was to transpire. The two children could no longer contain themselves, and they threw themselves at Yukio, wrapping their arms around his lower torso and crying as they called him 'Daddy.' Then Makiko fell to her emotions and then fell into his arms, embracing him about the neck and crying. Yukio leaned his head upon Makiko's shoulder as tears began trinkling down his cheeks, and he put a hand on the back of each child's head affectionately. The others noted this with amazement, except for Koji who seemed to instinctively know what was transpiring from the beginning. The tearful reunion continued without a verbal exchange for quite some time before Yukio broke the silence.
"Makiko, my love," Yukio addressed his long-missed wife through tears of joy. "I have missed you so. I never realized ... just how much you really meant to me until just recently. I have been so blind. I ignored the love we shared for a quest of personal glory, left the only thing that ever really mattered in my life for the sake of vanity. The battle lust which courses through my veins as a Saiyan blinded me to the most important thing of all: my family - you and the children.
"Isao, my son, you've grown so strong in my absense. You've achieved the pinacle of our race, even without my guidance. I am very proud of you, my son. I am so sorry that I wasn't such a good father to you, that I wasn't there for you when you really needed me.
"Kumi, my precious daughter, you too have grown very strong in my absense, like your mother and your brother. You're not yet a Super Saiyan, but you one day will be. I am very proud of you as well, and I'm truly sorry that I never spent as much time with you as I should have, but, I promise, that's all about to change from this point on."
"Oh, you should make room in your heart for one more, my dear," Makiko said with a loving smile as she went back into the sanctuary, confusing her newly-returned husband.
"Namek, I don't know your name, or why you chose to look after my family in my absense, but I thank you nonetheless," Yukio replied as he turned his attention to Tieh and extended his hand to him.
"It has been an honor, Yukio," the mighty Namek warrior replied as he accepted the Saiyan's hand with a smile. "My name's Tieh."
Moments later, Makiko returned with her infant daughter in her arms, and Sumie emerged from the sanctuary as well and stood by Sumio's side. Yukio turned in astonishment to see Makiko and the child in her arms.
"Little Kimie, say hello to your father," Makiko gently cooed to the infant child, stunning Yukio with that decree.
"I ... have another ... daughter?" Yukio muttered in amazement as he took the infant child from Makiko's arms and held her in his. "I ... don't understand. ... How? ... When?"
"Before you left me for that last time," Makiko replied with a sly wink. "She was born just over a year ago."
Koji felt a nudge to his back, and he turned to see Sumie standing there with a smile on his face. She motioned towards the sanctuary with her head, indicating that he should go in. Koji proceeded to the sanctuary, and then he opened the door and entered the sanctuary. He saw her across the room, her back to him. She was as beautiful as he remembered, and he felt his strength failing him. He felt himself trembling uncontrollably, but it didn't really bother him. He took a deep breath, and then he proceeded across the room with a purposeful step. Drawing closer, he felt himself breathing harder, and he felt his heart beating faster.
Yuko's face was not turned towards him, but her breathing was deep, and her heart was also beating faster. She could feel his eyes upon her from behind, and she felt the almost overwhelming torrent of emotion rising up from within her. She was eager for his touch, eager to hold him once again - to feel his strong arms around her, making her feel safe again.
As he drew near, he paused, noticing that she seemed to be holding something in her arms, her body shielding it from his view. She sensed that he was aware that she held something in her arms, and so she slowly turned to face him, revealing a young black-haired infant child in her arms. Koji stopped in his tracks, his mouth a-gape. His eyes widened with wonder.
"She's your daughter," Yuko answered his unspoken question while he was enraptured in speechlessness. "Her name is Yuriko."
"Wh-when?" Koji finally managed to get out with his first breath since he first laid eyes on the child, struggling to discern the reality of the situation. "How?"
"Before we arrived on Zodoria," Yuko answered him, her smile pleasant and her eyes filled with emotion. "I gave birth to her in the Chamber of Spirit and Time while I was training, and I began taking care of her there while Yoshio and I were training. She's now almost a year old as a result of her time in the Chamber of Spirit and Time. This was a secret I longed to share with you from the moment she was born, but, dividing time between motherhood and trying to replicate a dragon ball radar based on the design of a fellow human inventor by the name of Bulma, it took some time to get it all together so that we could gather up the dragon balls and wish you back. I'm just sorry it took so long."
It doesn't matter now," Koji said as he stroked his infant daughter's hair with a trembling hand. "I'm here now, and I'm not leaving you again. I have missed you so very much. I longed to hold you again, to tell you that I love you so very much that I never want to lose you again."
With that said, he leaned his face closer to hers, closing the distance. Her breath caught in her throat, an awkwardness she had not experienced in years. She felt her pulse race, and he shared her feeling of awkwardness. Their lips touched, and their senses were once more flooded with an inexplicable electricity that seemed to actually make their hair stand on end. He could feel her trembling, so he took his free hand and placed it under her arms, helping her to hold up the baby. His other hand found its way to the back of her head as their kiss concluded, and the leaned into each other, forehead to forehead. A single tear trinkled down Koji's face as many tears streamed down Yuko's, but there was not a sound from them except their breathing. The moment seemed to last for an eternity.
Sometime later, the entire gang was together on the platform outside of the sanctuary. Koji and his family was together, as was Yukio and his family. The Zodorians were standing between them, and the Nameks were on either side of the Zodorians. Jontu and Shun were in the background. Koji extended his hand to Yukio, and the two Saiyans shook hands.
"Thank you, my friend," Koji said to Yukio with a gentle smile. "My family and friends are all safe and alive because of you."
"I can't take all the credit, my friend," Yukio replied with a smile. "Thanks to your instant transmission technique, both of our families and all of our friends are safe and alive. You're more the hero than I am."
"No," Koji responded to Yukio's decree with a certain competitive spirit in this commemoration of mutual admiration and respect. "You are as true a hero as they come. Redemption and true honor, savor the splendor. You've earned a great respite from the shadows of the past."
"You're welcome to stay here with us as long as you like," Sumio informed the new Saiyan family, extending the open-armed invitation.
"Thank you," Makiko said with a gentle softness while holding her infant daughter. "Thank you all so very much!"
As the sun set over the horizon and nightfall came at last to the weary world, the heroes cast their gazes across the peaceful lands with hope for the future once again. Peace had returned, and the world breathed a well-deserved sigh of relief. The planet had an expanded array of heroes to protect the people from harm, and safety never seemed so certain.
Other World.
Tong-Li watched the entire reunion through his crystal ball, and then he sighed as he slumped to the ground on his backside, looking dejected. He looked up at his own halo, and then he looked down at the ground.
"Yeah," Tong-Li sighed so pathetically in his pity stupor. "It's a thankless job, but somebody's gotta do it."
The End.