Legend Says

AN: Well, here you go. My fic for the second Sweetest Irony contest. Hope you like it.

The young man staggered heavily through the doorway of his house, panting loudly as a result of his earlier vigorous solitary training. Seven years without a single punch coming from his body wore away his previous talent and strength that everyone admired. Had admired. Now, would twenty eight days worth of working out enable him to acquire his lost skills? Especially now that twenty one out of those days had already gone by.

Several beads of sweat fell from his forehead and down on the polished floor. Regaining his breath was much harder than it had been several years ago for him as well. He became worried now when he thought he was only training by himself. What about an opponent? How would he compare if he had to spar with someone?

'It's just the World Martial Arts Tournament,' he reassured himself. But the event weighed upon his shoulders greatly. His family's friends believed that he would own this competition and soar through to the top. His mother wanted him to win because they needed the money so desperately. Even he wanted to win so that the title of the champion remains in the family. Of course there had been other winners after his father, but to regain the title would be honourable.

"Gohan, why don't you take a break?"

The aroma of steamed rice muffins and fried meat tickled his sense of smell and he looked up to see his mother preparing the table for dinner.

"Thanks Mom," Gohan replied softly. Heading off to the showers before settling down on the dinner table seemed like a good idea.

"Oh Gohan," Chichi called to her son before he could enter the bathroom.

"Yes?"

"There's a night festival today in Satan City."

"Oh yes, I've heard about it."

"Why don't you go?"

The half-Saiyan blinked in slight surprise. His mother was never the type to send him out on night gatherings, let alone by himself. He stared at the food fresh from the stove as they were carefully placed upon the table one by one. They were utterly delicious as usual.

"But you've already prepared dinner," Gohan said.

"It doesn't matter. There would still be plenty left when you come home. I'd like you to try something new," his mother explained.

Smiling at the older woman, the eighteen-year-old quickly thanked her and rushed over to the bathroom to clean himself.

The Satan City annual festival had been popular among his classmates. They were already talking about it several weeks ago and were excited about participating. Some of them were planning to set up new activities while others made sure that old favorites where there once again. The food were the best, he heard. Gohan had never been to a festival before, and was curious to see what's keeping everyone on their toes.

-o-

The lights coming from the little booths were beautiful yet at the same time almost blinding. There were many of them, in different colours and different shapes. They bordered the little stands, decorated the prizes, advertised the activities and lighted up the whole area. Paroles were also hung on high strings that ran from the first row of the festival area to the next.

The people were noisy and happy, most were dressed in the traditional Japanese attire. Brightly coloured satin kimonos, embroidered with gold or silver were shown off by the majority of the female goers. Some guys wore intricately designed haori, and other younger ones were suited in kimonos as well. Those who weren't in the festival spirit had casual clothing on.

Videl Satan was one of them.

It wasn't really her fault that throughout this week, she had been forced to attend the nightly festival by her father.

Bring me nice prizes, he said. Apparently, Hercule was too busy to come along with her, have some nice daughter-father moments. He always was. If it wasn't his daily 'training' (or lack of), or some business trip, he had an appointment with the biggest radio broadcaster for an interview. But it wasn't like they were going to have some nice bonding time during the festival either. The place was infested with reporters since it was a very big event, after all.

So, Videl was stuck here every single night for the past six days. Gladly it would be all over tonight. She would have called over Erasa for some company, if only she didn't know that it would bring her more trouble than she already had. She was sure that her blonde friend would drag her to all the beauty booths and get their nails or hair or skin all fancied up. Not that she would ever submit to her that easily, but her constant nagging would be more than enough for the young fighter to throw the bubbly girl over the boxing arena. Besides, strangely wherever Erasa was, somehow Sharpener always managed to pop up as well.

Videl scrunched up her nose at the smell of the strong spices coming from one of the booths. The food here was always great, but there were contests sometimes to see who could handle eating the weirdest dishes imagined. Food would come later though. Right now, the young woman wanted to entertain herself with some more games.

A tap on her shoulder distracted her from walking over to the large archery stall adjacent to the food stands. Turning around, she was met by a grateful gaze of someone rather familiar.

"Gohan!" she exclaimed.

"Hey Videl,"

"I'm surprised to find you here. You didn't come in the last six nights."

"Yeah, well… I just found the time today. I'm surprised to find you here. I didn't think you were the festival kind."

The girl smiled.

Maybe a companion wouldn't be so bad tonight.

"So…" her tall classmate began shifting awkwardly about his spot, rubbing the back of his neck shyly with his hands. "This is actually my first time coming to a festival. I, uh… what exactly do you do here?"

"You can find almost anything to do here. I'd bet you'd love that," Videl pointed straight to the long rows of tables filled with food, local cooks and chefs behind them cooking up some more. The daughter of the world known celebrity smirked happily as she noticed a goofy grin crawl its way over the lips of the boy standing in front of her.

"Yeah…"

She began leading the way over to the said area, the young half-Saiyan following her slowly.

"You can have as much as you want. They're continuously making more, so there would probably be enough until the end of the festival. There's an additional payment though. I guess food costs much more than the others. But it's worth it… considering how much you eat."

"Actually, let's eat later," the young man suggested. "I just want to explore the other areas first. I had a little bite before I left."

Eyes narrowing, Videl asked, "How little exactly?"

The young half-Saiyan could only laugh at the joke.

"Before you came I wanted to go do some archery. Have you shot arrows before?"

"No," Gohan answered quietly, shaking his head. When he was younger he had shot lots of projectiles with his own hands, but never an arrow.

"Considering how well you did in baseball with mere beginner's luck, I think you might be pretty good at this activity too," Videl commented.

The two high school students reached the booth within minutes. A group of small elementary kids were huddled together trying out the kid-sized arrows and bows, trying to aim at the target properly. None could come close within the centre, but all seemed to have fun nonetheless. The prizes behind the booths were the main objects of desire for the children, as rows and rows of large toys lined the table behind the man who was gladly serving them.

Videl pointed over to a life-sized stuffed monkey sitting at the corner of the booth.

"I want to get that toy," she told Gohan casually. "There's a little girl living in an orphanage I visited once, and I think she'll like it."

Just then Gohan noticed the large nylon bag Videl was holding. It was half way filled with small prizes, mostly toys, but other miscellaneous objects.

"Are those for the children?" the young man asked.

"These? Well, some of them are. My Dad wanted me to bring home some prizes as well, so even if they're not much, we'd both be keeping them."

The half-Saiyan smiled. Through his short experience in the city, he had come to realize that city people weren't exactly the nicest especially when it comes to strangers. But slowly, he was changing his mind. Maybe, just maybe, there were more people like Videl.

The kids deliberately ended their little game of shooting, and apparently went off to catch some gold fish. It was Videl's turn, and the man behind the counter seemed happy to see her again.

"Hey, what's going on? Nice to see you come by tonight," he said kindly.

"It's good to see you too," Videl responded.

The old man gave the fighter an adult sized bow and a bunch of arrows.

"These are the best that I have," he explained throatily. "Hopefully it'll be good enough for you."

Videl nodded, taking the materials from him. She positioned the bow carefully in her hands, making sure that the arrow she had placed on the string wouldn't slip down. There was always a trick on how to angle the bow properly, where to place the elbows and wrists to give the best shot possible, but it differed from person to person. Cautiously, she pulled back the string and closed her left eye. She focused on the centre of the target, and relinquished her hold on the cord swiftly. Within a blink of an eye, the arrow cut through the air, piercing the target at the core.

The female teen lowered her arms and smiled at the good handiwork.

"Wow, that's a really good shot!" the man complimented.

Gohan couldn't help but to agree with him. "Yeah… that was great."

"Thanks," Videl replied before picking up her remaining arrows and shooting them one by one to the other targets prepared beside the one she had already used. After finishing, she gave the bow back to the man.

"Great, great!" he continued. "Here's your prize!"

With wrinkly hands, he offered her two wooden dolls and mere piece of red ribbon, settling the objects down before her.

"Actually, I want that big monkey!" Videl said, slightly angry with the small reward she had received.

"Oh, sorry dear. Stuffed toys are only prizes for children under ten."

"But I'm giving it to somebody who's six years old!"

"Sorry dear. I'd love to give it to you, but I'm really not the one who makes up the rules. My boss is on break, and he would kill me if he found out I didn't follow the regulations. I know you're Videl Satan…"

"It doesn't matter if I am," Videl interrupted, a bit insulted at the latter comment. "Even if I wasn't, I just… I want it for a girl I know."

"Sorry honey," the old man apologized one more, not at all taken back by her sudden outburst. "Maybe try another game."

Videl nodded and left the booth, trying hard not to lose her temper. Yet at the same time, she understood that she couldn't really do anything about it. Would she rather beat up some old man over a toy because he was just following the rules? That wouldn't sound too good for her reputation. After all, she was someone in the city who would enforce the rules. Everybody knew that she was rich enough to buy a toy like that anyway. No need for anger.

Slowly, the two teens walked away, the small award cupped gently within Videl's hands. She began examining the dolls. One was a boy and another was a girl. They were carved fully out of wood, and she could only marvel at the nice craftsmanship of whoever made it. It certainly didn't look like it was made from a factory. The intricate lines gave detail to the clothing of the dolls, which she assumed must be of ancient China. Even the faces slightly resembled Chinese people more than the average Japanese. Both dolls were wearing a fancy hat each, and they were the only part of the dolls that weren't marked with wonderful lines for a design. Their surface were empty.

"Hey, river dolls aren't so bad either," Gohan commented.

"These are river dolls?"

"Yeah. Haven't you heard of them before?"

"Nope."

"Well, they're actually interesting little things."

"Here you can have them," Videl pushed the two dolls and the accompanying ribbon into the hands of her classmate.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

The night went on without much of anything else happening. The festival grew noisier and happier, if that was even possible, as the crowds increased. More booths opened up.

"Why are all these people coming so late? It's almost midnight," the older of the two wondered out loud, grabbing the attention of some by-passers.

"A lot of the city people have busy schedules during the day, so it's only understandable that they can only come later on," Videl explained.

Both teens already finished dinner, and now were planning to continue trying out different activities. There were many games which involved winning using strength, but they both knew it would be unfair if they were to step in and challenge somebody. Videl assumed nobody would accept her challenge, and Gohan was too light hearted to fight for no reason.

Becoming more and more uninterested, the younger one began saying her goodbyes so that she could leave the festival early for that night.

"But who's going to stay with me?" Gohan protested warmly.

"You'll find somebody. Besides, I think you'd be fine on your own," Videl replied. "It was really nice to be with you again. I haven't seen you for… a couple of weeks now?"

Spending time with her dorky classmate in public proved to be more fun than what she initially thought. It shouldn't have been a surprise for her; after all, she spent ten days over at his house learning how to fly. During that time span, she had gotten to know him so much better… and figured out ways on how to dodge his goofy attitude. But in public? He was still the odd one out. The strange stares proved it all. Or maybe those stares were because they were together…

"Well, I don't think I'm going to have much fun without you here," the half-Saiyan replied, oblivious to the connotation his comment had. "So I guess I'll go home too."

The couple exited the festival through the other end, opposite from where most people would enter. This way they could avoid further gazes as more attended the festival. Departing through the opposite end led them to a quieter path with less light but more nature. The fair was being held on the outskirts of Satan City; beyond, it was hardly urban, but rather the area was of grass and a few trees. There was a small stream flowing parallel to the border of the city, almost marking the boundary .

"It'll be a long way from here if we have to go around," Gohan said quietly.

"That's okay; I can fly,"

Gohan caught the thankful smile Videl gave him, and blushed slightly.

They began walking in silence towards the stream, even though it led them further away from the city. Behind them, the voices of the mob of people began to die down, and the lights were fading away. But they found comfort in the soft moonlight, and the cluster of stars above in the darkened sky. The gurgle of the stream became more evident as they came closer to it.

Videl rushed to the meadow, and seated herself comfortably on the grass.

"We've been standing so long; I just want to rest my legs for a moment,"

Her friend came and sat down with her.

"So… tell me about these dolls," she requested.

"Well, they're called river dolls because of a legend. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. It's actually quite popular in the mountains," Gohan explained.

"What's it about?"

"The legend is situated in ancient China," the young man began. "You can see in their clothes, right? The legend says that there was an empress once, who fell in love with a soldier from a different kingdom when a war had erupted between the two nations. The emperor, who was considered cruel by his own people, found out about the affair, and sent to kill the man. When the empress found out about the murder, she was devastated and…"

"Let me guess. She committed suicide?" Videl interrupted.

Gohan laughed out loud. "Yeah, well I guess it's predictable."

"I haven't heard of that legend yet, but almost every single one follows the same story line."

"But it isn't finish yet. The empress drowned herself in the river that divided both nations from each other. The people of her country became distraught after hearing the event because she was the one who really took care of the citizens. They rebelled against the emperor until he was overthrown."

"Is that even possible? Overthrowing an emperor? I've never heard of it,"

"It's a legend, Videl. Some parts may not be true."

"Okay, so where do the dolls fit in?"

"Well, due to respect for the empress and her lover, small girls from all over the nation began pairing up their dolls to symbolize the couple. Every year, at the exact date the empress died, they tie two dolls together, a boy and a girl, and set it down on the river to float. They say that it would help their souls find each other again in the afterlife. It's really strange. But the legend was so believable to the children that when they became adolescents and fell love with somebody, they would use the same method to assure that their marriage would be successful. They would place their names on the hats of the dolls and wish for true love."

"Hmm…yeah, that is weird," Videl commented. "Did it even come true?"

"For the most part, yes."

"I don't believe it,"

"You don't have to. It's just a legend from the mountains."

"It's pretty nice to hear, though."

Abruptly, the demi-Saiyan stood up from where he was sitting, and gave a short glance over to his watch.

"I guess I should go home. Sorry for holding you back. I know you wanted to leave,"

"Oh no, it's alright," the young woman assured. "It's nice to have spent some time with you."

"So it's goodbye then, for now," Gohan said. He lifted himself slightly off the ground, and after further saying their farewells, he shot off to the sky in direction for home.

The female martial artist was left sitting by the meadow. She looked up in the sky, and studied the yellowish hue of the moon for a moment, before deciding to go on her way as well.

Just then, she noticed that the two wooden dolls had been forgotten beside her. She began to pick them up and place them inside her toy bag so that she could return it later on to Gohan, but…

Carefully, she settled the two dolls back on the ground. Taking out a marker from the sack, she tediously wrote down the symbols for her name on the hat of the female doll. She stared at what she had done, and almost mentally kicked herself for being so girly. However, something about the act prevented her from feeling totally stupid.

Slowly and hesitantly, the marker was dragged across the boy's hat, outlining symbols for a name familiar to her mouth, but foreign to her hands. When she had finished, she took the red satin ribbon and tied the two dolls together.

Looking ahead of her, she crawled over to the edge of the stream and cautiously set down the two dolls to float. The slow current washed them over to the east.

The young girl kept her eyes on the toys as they slowly disappeared from her sight.

Whether the legend was true or not, well… she hoped to find out soon.

AN: So, there you go! My second entry. The toys were inspired by an episode in Fushigi Yuugi where Nuriko had given Miaka stone dolls, asked her to put her name and her true love's name on it, and bury it in the ground. He said that doing it would make them live together happily ever after.

But then the stone dolls broke…

Well, I changed it up a bit so that I won't be considered unoriginal… which in a way, I already am. Anyway, I hope you guys like it. Please review. The legend was my own… maybe that's why it's so clichéd.