Chapter one: Memories



Truth. And the search for the Truth, is what fueled by curiosity when I was very young. As I'm sure that it has many other young peoples. But how far did they go in order to find that truth? Next door? Down the street? Across the country? Around the world, maybe? But what about the next dimension? Or Universe? Could you put everything you had aside in order to gain the knowledge and ability to do so in search for that truth? Most can't, and the few who can, won't. But I did.

Ever since I can remember, the Truth has intrigued me. At first, I too only looked for it in small places, being too young to know any thing else than where I lived. But later, I learned to search farther, wider. It was all I had left. I am not what others are. My past as always been a mystery. My life that I can remember started in laboratory where I was kept, although I know I was not born there. The Truth is important to me, it's the only thing that can tell me who and what I truly am. It was then that I truly started to look beyond my little world. . .

* * * * * *

(Fifty nine years ago)

Staring up at the dark sky, I sighed. There was never anything for me to do, all day they had me doing a series of tests, both physical and mental, drawing blood and reading cards without looking at them. It was boring and somehow degrading. I knew there was something else I should be doing right then, but was powerless as to what that might be. "Hey. You still up?" The voice was that of the only doctor which I liked. Dr. Carlin.

:Yes: I answered her, still looking up at the night sky.

"Please, use your voice." She told me, they all hated my mental voice, it was so intrusive to their minds, when I did it I could see into their souls, and I knew many had much to hide. That is why they keep me behind these thick plates of steel and iron tampered glass. They watch me from a distance only.

"Fine." My voice is not at all like hers, although, neither are my looks. It's more melodic and seems to reverberate off of everything, including the mind.

"Thank you." She said, than sat down on the chair in front of the bed I was lying on. "Please look at me." Her voice sounded strained and wary, I looked over at her with a concerned look.

"What's wrong?" She smiled at me and pursed her lips.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that. . .I'll be going away tomorrow and I won't be able to visit you anymore. . ." I jumped up quickly, my tail whipping around to balance the sudden movement, she winced at the sudden movement.

:What?! Why!! I thought you said that you'd always be there!: I shouted, my mental voice so loud that the glass of my little room shook from the shock of it.

She closed her eyes and tried to hold back the tears. She knew that I would have a bad reaction to this, but how bad, she just wasn't prepared for. "I'm sorry, I know, I told you that I'd always be here for you, but things have changed, I'm going to be going away. . ." She tried to tell me, but I refused to let her continue.

"Than take me with you!" I begged verbally, remembering that she hated it for me to speak mentally. My tail swished in frustration, I looked at her with my deep violet eyes, trying to get her to understand how much I didn't want her to leave me.

"I can't!" She cried, her voice beginning to waver. No matter how much the doctors and scientists on the other side of that glass liked to have believed, I am not without a heart.

I jumped down lightly and walked over to her, I reached out for her hand and put it in my own. "What's wrong? Why do you have to go away?" I asked her, she looked down at our hands for a long moment and began to cry a little more in earnest. I tried to comfort her as best I knew how, my whole life had consisted of being abused by the scientists not be being comforted, so there was little I knew how.

Her eyes did not see the strange creature before her, but a small child that needed to be protected from the harmful hands of the scientists. She'd been there from the first moment I'd been found, and now she was going away. That thought brought her heart to a jerky resolution. She had two choices: First, she could release me and get me out of these hideous rooms which inhibited my abilities, and second, she could kill me so that they would not exploit me. "I have to go away because they no longer want me to stay here. They think that it's time you were on your own with them. I seem to just be getting in their way." She was telling me, my mouth opened to protest, but she hurried on. "But I don't want them to have you, so, I've asked them to allow me just one hour with you out in the courtyard. They are convinced that you can't use your powers, so this would be the perfect time for you to leave." I blinked at her in confusion, I'd seen pictures of the courtyard and of outside, but I'd never been there. The thought of venturing outside of my familiar sights sent a chill of terror down my spine.

"Leave? Where would I go?" I asked, folding my legs up under me as I settled back down on my makeshift bed; my tail shifted nervously, she watched me with soft eyes and smiled.

"Some where out there, there has to be more of your kind. I believe that if you leave here, and let your heart and mind guide you, you'll find your way back home again." She told me as I stared at her in shock.

She was implying that I leave the entire planet?! :Where will I go? How am I suppose to get off of Earth? I don't know what to do?! Please! Come with me?!: I begged, once more, scared out of my mind.

She smiled at me and shook her head. "I can't, I would if I could, but my body isn't built like yours. You're going to be leaving Earth, I can't live anywhere else. I have a family here, and you have to find yours. Please, just remember what I've helped you to learn all these years and be safe. You're so young still, I just wish there was more I knew to help you with, but, it's too late for that now. Come on." She told me as she reached over and grabbed my hand, despite the size difference, I was still much stronger than she was.

She looked down at my hand and smiled. It's incredible, she thought. This little girl is so small, yet she has literally twice the strength of me. Yet, some how I feel that if she were with her own kind, she'd be considered both young and weak. She thought sadly as she smiled at me once more before leading me out of my confines.

The world outside was something that seemed so big. The huge open night sky made me yearn to go into those deep depths. She noticed my longing look and smiled. "Well, I think you'll enjoy your freedom. Just make sure that you never fall into a trap where people will use you. Remember what I have taught you." She reminded me for the third time that night. I nodded and listened to her as she hurriedly went over the years of teachings.

She'd been my best friend for nearly twenty-nine years now, she'd protected me from almost all of the dangerous things which the others wanted to do to me. After she'd finished, I nodded once more and smiled encouragingly. :Don't worry, I believe that I can do this.: She nodded back to me, her lip starting to quiver again. I moved to comfort her, but she held up her arm.

"No, just do me one favor, before I let you go?" I nodded. "Remember me? Please, and when you're lonely, remember that someone somewhere will always be thinking of you? Can you do that for me?" She asked, her eyes held a light that seemed strange against her suddenly old features.

:I promise, for as long as I live, I will always remember you. You will always be in my thoughts.: I promised her as she gave my hand a quick squeeze and than blinked back the tears.

"Go now, leave! Hurry! It's almost time for them to come to take you back!" She sobbed softly as she looked behind her warily. I smiled at her and looked up at the heavens. I had no idea really what I was doing, all I knew was that someone somewhere was calling to me. Something beckoned to my heart like a lighthouse in a foggy bay. I knew it was there, I could feel and hear the horn, but the light was still hidden from me.

I closed my eyes and let my heart guide me. I stretched my wings out and felt the air brush against them, it was a sensation I'd become familiar with when I was allowed out into large exercise arena. However, this time, I knew I would not be hampered by the near seventeen foot ceiling, I would be able to go as high and as far as I desired! The thought gave me a sudden thrill of excitement, with that, I closed my eyes and allowed my wings to lift me up into the warm night air. The warmth of the fall night fell away suddenly, giving way to a numb coldness that took my breath away. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked at what I saw. Stars, bright and clear, but the thing that shocked me the most was that the Earth was below me, far below me in fact. It was little more than a blue and white misted moon from my new vantage point. How did I do this! I thought in shock, than suddenly understood. I had allowed my mind to carry me where my heart was longing.

But from where on Earth the heavens seem so immense, from space, it is endless. I was not prepared for this journey, but I also knew that if I did not go, the truth would always elude me. From that moment on, I gave up everything I had in search for that evasive beacon I could not find. My heart went out again to my aging friend everyday, but after her speech she gave to me, I had realized that my friend was not just leaving, she was dying.

Human bodies contract diseases and cancer better than mine. For the twenty-nine years I knew her, she'd been sick on occasions, but now, she was dying of a serious cancer. Ovarian cancer. Her doctors had given her mere months to live, and that had been three weeks ago. She'd told me that her cancer had spread and now was affecting her heart, liver, and kidneys. She was dying right in front of me.

I fought back the tears of regret and looked about me once more, the space was open wide before me. Space, the final frontier. I remembered with a little sense of irony at that. From my little room, I'd always wanted to explore this enigma, but now that it was before me. Where would I start?! With a sigh of resignation, I closed my eyes and let my heart do the guiding. It felt so odd out in the empty void of space, but it also felt so comforting. Almost like this was where I should be at that moment.

Travel in space was long and hard, the vast spaces between my origin on Earth and the next system to support life must have taken my years. But I took it all in stride, the sites were breathtaking and the journey not so hard. I never felt any of the pangs like I did on Earth. You know, the hunger, the need to relieve oneself. . .those sort of pangs? But what I still did feel was the ache of loneliness. Even though I felt more at ease in space, it was still the fact I was alone, that caused me distress. In fact, later I learned that the fact I had not encountered a single craft would be a miraculous one.

* * * * * * *

(Thirty-seven years later)

After all of my years struggling to find where I would belong, I did indeed discover that 'my people' are not openly loved. In the planets that did have life on them, I found myself shunned and feared; on occasion I was rather rudely attacked. The attack forced me to leave, but not without taking on some damage. After that particular incident, I found it rather hard to trust anyone I encountered. Being young, it was also hard not to trust.

I opened my eyes at the familiar feel of life. What greeted me was a planet which looked as though Hell had just visited it personally. I slowed my decent with my wings, and carefully made sure to switch onto what I now call my 'battle mode'. My feathers solidified into hard metal blades, and my tail twitched in anticipation. This time, if I was to come across any unwelcome people, I was going to be prepared to fight back. My heart had hardened enough to drive me to the point of no conscience, I no longer cared whether my actions killed or maimed. The only thing which mattered to me was that I survived and was not attacked.

Entering the atmosphere was no longer as tedious or as terrifying as it used to be for me. It was a simple thing. I smiled as the flames of my entrance flared around me, to those below, I must have looked like a meteor coming in. I had to keep my mind focused, however, on where I might land. Several failed attempts have brought me to landings in both oceans and into the hard surface of mountains! Believe me, neither of those landings was very fun.

Below me, I could just begin to make out the outlines of buildings through the smoke. It took me only a moment to locate a good landing area. What I did see, was that this now burning city was filled with once proud and noble buildings which nearly touched the heavens.

"Get moving, slave!" A male's voice drew my attention over to the other side of the street I'd landed on. There was a rather large man, forcing people to walk in a line towards a still uncertain goal.

I shook my head and let my wings shift a little, I do believe it was the sound of the metal shifting that brought his attention to me. For he, and three others were on me in a flash, their weapons held up and their eyes searching me for the drawn weapon they had heard. It was at that point that I realized that these four had tails! For as they came running, I could see their tails wrapped firmly around their waists, unlike my own theirs were not quite as impressive as mine.

I took my battle stance instantly, and as soon as my wings were out to their full mantle, the four stopped. "Dear Gods!!" One of them muttered, but that didn't stop them for long. "Better not kill her, set for stun." The leader apparent said as they quickly adjusted their rifles and began to advance once more.

"Stay back!" I warned, but didn't have a chance to prove my threat as another came from behind and suddenly fired, leaving me shocked and stunned, falling to the ground. . .The last thing I heard before I blacked out was that I would make an interesting present for his Lordship.



When I awoke, I was bound and alone with a warrior, he looked at me thoughtfully, but his eyes did not reflect pity or anything of that sort. "Where am I?" I asked, surprised at how weak my voice sounded.

The warrior stood and came closer to me. "You're in the territory of his Lordship, Lord Freeza." Was his answer, and he seemed quite satisfied that this would be a good enough answer.

"Who are you? What are you?" I asked, not thinking that I might be offending my 'host'.

"I am General Takraght. Have you never seen a Saiyan before?" His mouth quirked up into a smile, he probably thought that I was either very young, or extremely stupid. But I was neither.

"No, I haven't. Should I have heard of 'Saiyans' before?" My answer took the smile right off of his face. He scowled at me and took a step forward menacingly, but another suddenly spoke up from behind him, near the entrance.

"That will be enough, General. Leave us." The voice was young, and as the taller Saiyan left, I found myself facing a younger one, but from the look 'Takraght' gave him, I could tell he was also of a higher rank and important. The younger Saiyan walked over to me with a smirk. "So, you're the one that caused all that ruckus down there, eh? Well, you don't look that vicious to me." He sat down in front of me and locked his eyes with mine. At that moment, I could tell that this was not the sort of thing that he did with all of his Prisoners of War.

"I'm a little more than you could handle." I told him, leaning forward just a little.

His smirk grew into a smile of dark humor. "Really? You think so? Care to find out?" He asked, I leaned forward with a smile of my own challenge. But than he leaned back, and laughed. "You're got a lot of spirit. Perhaps you could have caused all of that trouble. Where did you come from? You're obviously not a native here." He asked me, the question caught me off guard. I knew that they would be curious how they could have missed seeing me before, but I didn't expect them to actually notice I was not a native of the planet.

"I. . .um. . .well. . ." Of all my life, no one had ever took the time to stop and ask me specific questions like this.

The young Saiyan smiled again and spoke softer. "It's alright, just tell me the truth, if you are as I think you are, I will be certain that no harm comes to you." I looked at him in confusion, but nodded, and tried my best to explain.

"Well, you're right. I'm not native from here. I only just arrived here recently. I couldn't tell you where I came from, because even I'm not sure of that anymore." I told him, he looked at me again and nodded.

"I see, that's quite alright. If you can not remember, than that certainly doesn't tell me different from what I believe." He looked behind him as a group of people went by the tent and caused my young host to look up annoyed. "I will return in the morning, after I speak of this with Lord Freeze. Stay here. If you run, believe me, I will not be so generous twice, and neither will Lord Freeza." He told me, began to stand.

I stood quickly with him, reaching out with one of my small hands to stop him. "Wait! At least tell me your name. Please, I would know who my captor is." I demanded, he looked as though he would yell at me, but than thought better of it.

"Fine, very well. I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans. Now you know me, don't ever forget that name." He said as he went out in a nearly dramatic way. I shook my head. So, I was right, that overly-sure-of-himself 'Saiyan' was not only of high rank but importance. I had to bite my lip to keep from outright laughing, tough situations have always had that effect on me.

I sulked back to the little cot I had awoken on and sat back down, bring my knees up to my chest so that my tail would curve around me. Well, I know that I shouldn't run. Running would only bring this 'Lord Freeza's' anger down on me, and from the sound of him, that isn't a good thing. Besides, that 'Vegeta' managed to come up silently behind me, no one's ever managed that before, I'll have to be extra careful from now on. I was thinking when another Saiyan walked into my tent.

It was a woman! And she looked. . .well. . .fat. But from the way she cradled her stomach, I took it that she was with child. "Well, there's a sight you just don't see every day." She said softly, pulling up a chair to sit to my side and front a little. "I'm Veldira, what's your name?" I blinked at her in surprise.

A name? I didn't have one that I could remember. I closed my eyes and thought about it for a moment. Than looked at her sadly. "I don't have one." Her eyes filled with sympathy and she gently touched my shoulder. Her hand was warm, and suddenly all I could think of was my dear friend I'd left behind. Dr. Carlin. As she continued to rub her hand up and down my arm in reassurance, my sorrow and regret began to fill me.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" She asked me, I looked up at her in surprise, I didn't know I'd be crying, I hastily wiped my tears and took a shaky breath.

"Well, you see. . ."And with that, I told her everything. She smiled warmly, and by the end, her eyes were filled with unshed tears as well.

"I see. I'm sorry. You must have traveled a long way. Well, I hope that soon your journey will be over. It is not fair for you to see so much heartbreak in such a young lifetime." Than she wiped her eyes quickly and stood up slowly, as not to startle me probably. "Well, I suppose your hungry, aren't you?" I nodded. This woman seemed to know exactly what I needed when I needed it. I smiled meekly and patted my cheek. "This will only take a moment. Alright? Good." Than she was out of the tent, leaving me guessing as to what would happen next.

Now, I was only partially raised by Dr. Carlin, and the rest of the time I was left for wild. Not one of the doctors or scientists dared to get close enough to come into reach of my tail or powers. I was considered lethal by their standards. I'm not very good at manners, but I knew that now was a good time to start saying what Dr. Carlin had tried to teach me. 'Thank you', 'You're welcome', and 'please'. Only I wasn't sure how to fit them all in, I could only hope that my memory of her teachings would shine through correctly.

It took Veldira nearly ten minutes to return, and when she did, she was carrying a platter full of foods of all sorts. "Here we are! I hope your hungry, because I sure can't eat all this by myself!" She joked as she set it down and rubbed her back slightly. I smiled, but stayed silent. She sat back down and made two plates quickly, she must have judged correctly on what I liked because she handed me a plate that smelled so good! But I waited until she began to eat until I did. "What do you think? Is it good?" She asked me after she swallowed her own mouthful.

I nodded and swallowed my quickly. "Yes, thank you." I said, hoping that my manners were correct. She smiled and began eating more. I followed suit, it was easy, it had been way too long since my last meal. Space travel may take away the need to eat and such, but it did not fill my belly with good food and help me to sleep soundly.

The rest of our meal was in practical silence, except for an occasional comment about the food or such. After she finished eating, she looked over at me, I was licking my fingers clean and already finished with my portion. "Well, you sure ate that fast! Bet you were really hungry! How about I leave you alone for a while, so that you can get some rest, I can tell you're sleepy. A good meal does that to people!" She said in good humor. I smiled with her, but nodded my agreement. I was rather tired, not that my long journey and now this time for rest didn't have anything to do with it. "I'll come back shortly after dawn to wake you, that's still some five hours away though, so. . .get some sleep." She said softly, but I was already falling asleep as she cleared my cot off and covered me up just like the mother I never had probably would have. "Good night, little Jin." She said softly, but I had fallen asleep as soon as the warmth of the covers took its hold on me. She shook her head and walked out of the tent, being sure to secure the tent flap well before leaving it.



Dawn came a little to long for me. After about three hours of deep sleep, I began to wake up. Around me there were sounds of others rousing from sleep, but what caught my attention most was Veldira's voice speaking to someone else. I focused on the conversation and than completely woke with a start that they were talking about me!

"Yes, my Lord. She sleeps well. She's a little under nourished, but that's easy enough to correct." She was saying to the other.

"Good, see that it is corrected. What is her name? Family? Did you get anything from her?" The other demanded, I could tell that this one was male, but what was his interest in me? Why would my name and family be of any importance?

"Yes, my Lord. I did learn that she is an orphan, she has no recognition of a name or any family. From the story she told, I do believe that perhaps she was jettisoned as a result of either a crash or perhaps some unknown misfortune that fell upon her parents. Or she could have been abducted, there are countless factors in this, but they all lead to her being left alone and being an orphan." Veldira stated, than she recounted to perfection the story I had told her earlier.

I felt a stab of betrayal at my confidence being broken, but than I realized that this other sounded a lot like me. I sat up from my bed silently and looked over toward the voices. There was just enough light for me to see an outline of Veldira. Her head was bowed in submission to who she was talking with. I strained to see who it was that she was talking with, and as if to answer that for me, he stepped from where the corner was and into the light next to Veldira. I had to hold my mouth to keep from letting out a sound. The silhouette was around my height, probably a good two heads taller, stood the same way I did, had a tail like I did and had the same characteristics, give or take for the gender. I shook my head in disbelief. After all my searching, I had finally found what I thought was another like me.

Than I saw Veldira's head shift in my direction. "She's awake, my Lord, if you care to see her now." I nearly jumped at that. How had she known?!!? I hadn't made a single sound!

"You may go now, I will call for you if I need you. You have done well." He told her, she bowed again and left, leaving him standing before the tent. "So, another eh? We shall see about that." He mutter under his breath, than suddenly, I heard another familiar voice.

"Lord Freeza! Your presence is required on the Flagship." Vegeta said, there was little respect in his emotions, but his voice was proper enough.

"Thank you, Vegeta." He said, than looked toward where I sat, frozen. "Another day, perhaps, little one." He muttered, than turned again. "Take care of our guest until I return or send for you. And I do mean good care of her." With that he was gone. I felt my breath whoosh out in relief! The thought of meeting one of my own kind was exciting, but also, the thought gave me a sense of fear, I just didn't want to find that I had traveled all this distance just to be rejected by one of my own kind.

Vegeta pushed back the curtain door and stepped in, he paused for a moment, than walked over and sat down beside me. "You alright? You look pale." He stated as he reached over and poured me a little glass of water, putting it in my hand.

"Yes, I'm fine. Just. . ." I stopped, than looked him in the eye. He seemed to have a distaste for that 'Lord Freeza' so if I wanted the true information on him, this was the best place to get it from. "Who was that, earlier? You called him Lord Freeza?" Vegeta snorted and shook his head.

"Well, he is our overlord. Ruler of almost anything you can find anymore." I cocked my head to one side and he went on. "He's one of the last of his kind. He's an Ice Jin. I suppose you are also one of his kind, and if you are, the two of you are the only young Ice Jin left. Lately he's been very touchy, his father is away on a trip to their home world and Freeza wasn't allowed to join him. That has made him unpredictable and very easily angered."

I chose now to interrupt him. "And his anger is a thing to be feared?" I asked, trying to mentally note down all of this for a later time. Eventually, I would have to meet this Lord Freeza and when that time came, I could already tell that I would be walking on thin ice. I nearly smiled at my own irony at that one.

"Yes, his anger is to be greatly feared. His power is strong enough to destroy a planet with is bare hands. He is very lethal in hand to hand combat as well. If you ever fight him, be wary of his tail, he will use everything he has against you. And if you're not careful, he'll easily add you to a list of victims." The young prince told me as he sat back in his chair and looked at me expectantly.

"But he wouldn't kill another of his own kind, would he? I mean, didn't you just say that so far he and I are the only young ones? Wouldn't that practically be genocide?" I asked, watching the others expression closely.

The Saiyan snorted at me and shook his head. "Trust me, he'll not kill you, and death is the least of your worries. Believe me, he can make you a victim without killing you." I stared at him, my young mind could not begin to register what else was worse than death. To me, death was the ultimate penalty, but according to Vegeta, it was only a simple matter.

"Oh." Was all I said in response. I sat back in silence, until a yawn found its way back into my mouth. I tried to chew it back, but it won.

Vegeta laughed and gave me one of his lighter smiles. "Well, since we're not moving the camp today, why don't you just go back to sleep for a while longer. When breakfast is completed, I will wake you." I knew that this was a welcome invitation to rest and to think of what I would do now.

I nodded and crawled back under my covers, the cot was not very comfortable, but at least it was something. I closed my eyes enough to look asleep, but left a slit so that I might watch Vegeta. From the way he talked about Freeza I could tell that they were not in good standings with each other, yet, here he was, staying by my side, watching over me as I slept. The thought troubled me somehow, in my heart, I knew something was wrong. But I let it go as the warm blanket of sleep overtook me.

"Hey, wake up." A voice and a warm hand gently shook me awake. I opened my eyes sleepily and sat up carefully.

"What?" I mumbled, but got only a small snort of laughter.

"Not a morning person, are you? Here, I had breakfast brought in for us." He stated as he effortlessly handed me a huge tray with one arm. For as young as he was, I could no longer disbelieve his boasting, he was certainly very strong!

"Thanks." I said as I sat up more and grabbed a hold of the tray with both of my hands.

"I think if everything keeps up, Lord Freeza will be calm enough to speak with you in the next week or two. Until then, I'll be in charge of you." I nodded, looking at him, than he waved his hand at me. "Eat! It's not good if it gets cold!" I quickly began to eat, but also seen Vegeta's amused smile and shaking of head.