"You're always so stubborn," Hathaway said with a helpless smile.
"That's why I need you by my side, milady," Taro replied with a smile. "Forever."
"So now I'm a 'lady', huh?" Hathaway raised her brows on purpose.
"Aren't you my lady?" Taro grinned and pulled her into his arms.
"Sweet talker." Hathaway laughed too, returning his embrace.
In the Dragon Ball Earth world, there was also English that Taro was familiar with. Even in the previous ninja world, English existed. However, in both worlds, English was used more like slang, dialect, or special jargon, not as a specific country's language. Much like Japanese has hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji, the Dragon Ball Earth language system also included English words.
"Oh my, no shame at all! Hugging and cuddling in broad daylight..."
A bystander's voice came from nearby. In Taro's arms, Hathaway looked over and saw a farmer and a farmwife. The farmer carried two children on his back, and the woman, with gaudy makeup and a somewhat flashy outfit, still held some beauty.
It was the flamboyant farmwife who made the snide remark.
Hathaway's smile faded. She was clearly annoyed at having their moment interrupted, but her manners prevented her from saying anything harsh. She merely replied, "There's nothing inappropriate about me and my husband showing a bit of affection, is there?"
"Pfah..." The garishly dressed woman, who looked like she'd never done a day of hard labor in her life, had been about to let loose with a sharp insult like "shameless" or "hussy". Seeing Hathaway's natural beauty and her elegant clothing, jealousy burned in her.
But before she could speak, she caught the plain, calm gaze of Hathaway's husband beside her. Just one look from him made her throat tighten. The words caught and died before leaving her lips. A chill ran down her spine, and she trembled as if she'd narrowly escaped death. She dared not say another word, nor even look at the couple again, hastily turning her eyes away.
"You really don't need to say so much, they didn't even do anything..." the farmer beside her, a dark-faced man who looked perpetually aggrieved, tried to placate her. He knew his wife had a sharp tongue—no one in their village could win an argument with her.
"Who asked you to talk! Useless thing!" the woman snapped, glaring down at her husband.
"Sigh..." The farmer didn't argue. He just wanted to get away quickly. Just then, the baby on his back started crying.
"Waaah! Waaah! Waaah!"
Surprised, the farmer shook the basket on his back and cooed gently, "Don't cry, Lapis, don't cry... Look at your sister, Lazuli is being so good, right? Be like your sister, don't cry... You're a little man now, you can't cry... Don't cry..."
He repeated the usual comforting words, but his wife found the sound irritating and snapped, "So noisy!" Picking up her pace, she swayed her hips and walked ahead, flaunting her gaudy charms.
The farmer sighed again and followed her, hunched and burdened, shaking the basket a little as he trailed behind, his expression full of weary suffering.
"What is it?" Hathaway hadn't paid much attention to the farmers, only annoyed they'd interrupted her time with her husband. But when she turned, she noticed that Taro was still watching the pair as they walked away.
She looked too, but the couple was already far.
But through Taro's keen vision, he could still see clearly the children in the basket. The younger of the two, a baby girl and the twin brother, was clutching the edge of the basket with her tiny hands. Her soft, light-golden hair peeked out, and her big, watery eyes quietly stared in Taro's direction.
Even earlier, when the farmer had passed close by, the baby girl had already been staring at Taro. She hadn't made a sound, and there was no particular emotion in her gaze—she was still too young for that, probably about the same age as Goku. But her big, round eyes, full of innocent confusion, just kept watching Taro, as if something about him drew her in.
"It's nothing… I just felt the way that child looked at me was a little strange," Taro murmured with a frown. More than that, when he looked into the girl's eyes, something stirred within him—something hard to explain.
It was a familiar feeling. It reminded him of the strange emotion he felt when he first discovered Gohan.
He didn't dwell on it, nor did he want to. Turning to Hathaway, he said, "Let's keep moving."
Hathaway retracted her gaze from the departing couple and nodded. "Mm…" Then she added, "Why don't we go north and check on Fabeli? I wonder how his research is coming along."
"Sure." Taro was noncommittal. "It's cold up north. Let's stop by East City first and get you some warm clothes."
"Alright."
The Phoenix, responding to the wind, spread its wings. In an instant, it grew from pigeon-sized to a majestic giant eagle. Taro lifted Hathaway lightly and landed on the Phoenix's back. This time, Hathaway didn't take out her windproof goggles—she didn't need them. As long as Taro was with her, she would never feel uncomfortable.
A thin, pale-white ki barrier shimmered in the air, invisible to the eye but effective. It blocked wind without disrupting sight and allowed oxygen to flow freely. Taro controlled the airflow inside and outside the barrier with precision.
"Skreee—!"
The Phoenix flapped its wings and soared into the sky, carrying the two dearest people to it, flying toward the great metropolis in the east, beneath the glowing red sun that had just begun to rise.
---
East City.
The streets were bustling with people and traffic. Amid the crowds, a burly man and a scrawny young boy were having a conversation.
"What? Uncle Nanda, you're not going to take the Martial Association's exam four years from now?" the boy cried out.
The boy was Satan, still under ten years old, though wise beyond his years due to his family circumstances. He stared in disbelief at the big man who had come to say goodbye—Nanda, a simple, honest man he'd met during the exam the year before.
A year had passed, and Nanda looked far more haggard than before. In his rough hands, he held a baby girl, fast asleep in swaddling clothes. With a tired sigh, he said, "I can't, little brother Satan. Chi Chi's mother died giving birth to her… I can't leave her behind to wait for the martial arts exams. I have to take care of Chi Chi… I can't let her suffer. Martial arts…"
The large man's lips trembled at that point, but he still said firmly, "Martial arts… I'll have to give them up!"
Satan didn't know what to say. He wanted to persuade the man to stay, but couldn't find the words. Letting him go seemed like a waste. He murmured, "We didn't even finish last time… Master Gohan gave us five years out of kindness. Now it's four… Four years left. If we just trained hard and didn't give up, then… then… If we give up this chance, will there ever be another? Isn't that a shame…?"