In the five months I’d been training Cris, the few hairs that had grown back on my head had flaked off yet again.  I didn’t think that training the young boy would’ve been such a difficult task, and in most ways it wasn’t.  I rarely had to help him with anything, except when I was teaching him a new technique.  Other than that he did mostly his own training, but with my own special touch.

            I was amazed at how hard he worked every single day.  He never once yielded to the strain I was putting on him.  I still remember that day he told me he wanted to train under me.  I’d never started a student at that high a number of exercises, and never with a shell that heavy.  I had trouble believing my eyes when I saw him finish that last push-up.  There was no quit in the boy, a trait that would serve him well in the future.

            I loved the time we spent together, it was great having another person to talk to besides turtle, to have someone to compete with for the bathroom in the morning, to laugh at funny TV shows with.  I missed my friends, they were all in the other dimension, living it as best they could there.  I respected Cris for what he was trying to do, but he would get better training from Kami up in sky tower, I knew this, and I think deep down he did too.

            I only wish I could keep up with him, he was going at amazing speeds.  In just five months, he’d mastered every move in my repertoire (save one).  Bukujutsu, Renzoku, Finger Beams, and most recently, Zanzoken.  That one amazed me the most, he was able to Zanzoken nearly fifty metres, with his shell on, and he could do it several times over before needing a rest.  Still through all his extensive training he never took a day off, never gave way to the burning through his body that I knew he must’ve been feeling.  He was anxious to learn another technique, but anything I could teach him he probably wouldn’t use, there was only one move that he needed to know, and Krillin had said he already knew it.

            He was outside practicing his basic physical attacks when the idea came to me.  I’d been a while since I’d used, or even given one out, but the time seemed right for another one to be used.  I went out back to where Cris wouldn’t be able to hear me over the sounds of the ocean, and I yelled out “Nimbus!”

            I waited for a few seconds before the yellow cloud came from the north.  It rushed towards me, and then came to a sudden halt right in front of me.  I looked over the cloud, which many years ago would’ve belonged to Goku.  I remembered with a smile the look on Goku’s face when I gave him that cloud, he was ecstatic, that look was the one I’d always remember about Goku, not him as a super saiyan, not him against Vegeta, but him as a boy when I gave him his present. 

I bent over nimbus, and whispered into it.  “You have a new master Nimbus.”  I began.  “His name is Cris, he is over the house training right now.”  I continued.  “You will obey him until he is no more.  Please allow him to use your services, he has a heart as pure as any.”  The Nimbus turned a deep shade of blue, meaning he recognized his new master and agreed with me on his purity.

            “Come then.”  I said as I stood to my full height and began walking around the house with Nimbus in tow.  When I reached the corner nearest Cris, I told the Nimbus to wait where Cris couldn’t see him.  It obeyed and I continued on, sure enough Cris was hard at work, throwing punches, kicks, and various other attacks at his air-based opponent with amazing speed.  His back was turned and he didn’t see me, so I cleared my throat deeply.

            That got his attention, and he turned to face me, then bowed out of respect.  “Yes Master Roshi?”  He asked in a tiny voice.

            “I have something for you, Cris.”  He titled his head and looked at me, not knowing if I was serious.

            “What is it?”  He asked hesitantly.

            I motioned for the Nimbus to come over, and it obeyed, slowly creeping out of the shade of the cover, and into the sunlight.  Cris’ eyes went wide, his jaw dropped, the air rushed out of his body, as he stared at the slowly moving cloud.  After a while he looked straight at me, with the look.

            I don’t remember much else of that day except for that look.  It was nearly identical to the one Goku gave me so many years ago.  I grinned so wide I thought I’d be like that permanently as Cris hopped onto the cloud for the first time and said the magic words.  “Nimbus, let’s go!”

            They shot off into the distance, Cris’ hair blowing in the wind, his laughter could be heard for miles on end.  I couldn’t help but stare at the trail of yellow, even as he went off into the distance, I continued to stare, not caring for anything but the joy on his face.  Another image burned into my mind, another memorable moment to cherish.

            I continued to stare out into the sea for hours, not caring when he was going to come back.  For the longest time all my worries, all my hardships, all the stuff I’d been through in my life didn’t seem to matter half as much as the look on Cris’ face.  I was later told I had that stupid grin on my face for a whole week.