Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of its characters... But Kori, her mom, Melissa, Coach Ohm, Professor Watts, and Donny are all mine, so don't take 'em unless you ask me first!!!
AN/Warnings: Ok, if you're reading chapter 2, I'm assuming that you read the warnings for Ch. 1 and you're ok with them. Don't forget that //blah, blah, blah,// is internal monologue. Hope you guys like this next chapter ^_^
***
Kori heaved a sigh of relief as she took to the air. She let her tail uncurl from around her waist and stretched it out lazily behind her. It had been one hell of a first day. Her classes seemed as if they would be pretty fun. She'd always like learning new things. She was pretty excited about her sparring session with the coach, too. //Crazy how that guy did a complete 180...// She'd also come across an interesting book in the library. It was about an ancient legend of 7 magic balls that, when gathered together, summoned a huge dragon that granted a wish to whosoever gathered the balls. It seemed completely impossible, but intriguing, nonetheless. So she had borrowed the book, intent on becoming more familiar with the legend.
As she neared her house, she tried to think of some way to avoid telling her mother about gym class. //If mom found out that I threw the gym teacher on his ass, I'd be in deep trouble.// She touched down about half a mile from the house, deciding to walk the rest of the way. In the middle of her contemplation, she noticed something strange. It felt as if something familiar was very far off, so far that it wouldn't get there for a while, yet she knew it was coming closer. It was so faint, but she could feel it. She just shook it off. //There are more important things to worry about right now... Like convincing mom that you had a wonderful, uneventful first day of school...// She hated lying to her mom, but there was no reason to alarm her. Nothing bad had come of the little scene in the gym, so there was no reason to cause undo stress. She came up to the house, took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face, and opened the door.
She was nearly bowled over by a very large, very slobbery jovial canine. "Hiya pups! Did 'ya miss me today?" The big yellow dog, front paws perched on her shoulders, began bathing her face in huge laps of his tongue. She laughed as she turned her face to avoid his 'kissing' and hugged him tight round the shoulders. "Well, I sure missed you, Donny!" She reached up and rumpled the loose skin and fur at the base of his head. He tried to jump even further into her arms, but she pushed him down. He made a pathetic whimpering noise in protest. "Hey, c'mon, I have to come in the house sometime!" She walked into the house, wiped her face clean of slobber, pulled the door shut behind her, and walked into the living room, panting yellow dog following her step for step. "Mom, I'm home," she yelled, plopping down on the couch and lavishing more affection on her 'pup'.
"So, how was your first day, hun," the older woman asked from the kitchen. She was already busy preparing supper.
"It was pretty cool, mom," Kori admitted happily. "My classes are all really neat. I think I'll be learning a lot. And I already made a friend! Her name's Melissa. She's pretty funny, and we have the same exact class schedule." Kori hesitated, trying to figure out how to convince her mom she would have to leave a couple hours early in the morning for a sparring session she didn't exactly want her mom to know about. She couldn't figure anything out, so she decided to just change the subject. "So, how were things at the bakery?"
"Pretty good... Lots of sales today. There's a big custom design wedding cake order for some rich family, so it's giving me something to work on. I brought back some of your favorite chocolate chip cookies... They're fresh, too. Just got out of the oven before I came home." She mentally counted down from 3, and her daughter appeared at the doorway to the kitchen, hugging the doorframe with her mouth slightly agape and watering. She smiled in that knowing way only mothers have, and proceeded with the usual speech, "You know the drill, Kori, not until after dinner. I know, it's not like it'd ruin your appetite, but it's a lesson in patience." She sighed, "Just like your father," she whispered, almost to herself.
Kori returned the sigh. "Did he love your cookies, too, mom?" Her mother looked up, shocked, as if she hadn't realized she'd said what she had. She turned back to her cooking in thought.
Smiling half-heartedly, she said, "You know, I think if your father could've eaten nothing but those cookies all day, he would have..." A single tear slid down her cheek. Kori walked up to her mother and embraced her warmly.
"Aww, I'm sorry I asked about him. It's ok. You don't have to tell me any more if you don't want to." Kori didn't know much about her father. It seemed to really upset her mother every time she talked about him, so she tried to avoid the subject. But damned if she didn't want to know more about what he was like. She sighed and squeezed her mother's shoulders comfortingly.
Her mother backed away slightly and looked up into her face. "No, you're growing up, and you deserve to know more about him than you do. I don't think I'm ready to tell you everything yet, but I'll tell you one thing, for tonight. Your father was the singular reason I started my bakery." She chuckled a little, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "He had a tremendous appetite, more than twice yours! He just kept saying, 'Sharon-chan, your cookies and cakes are so good, you could make a killing if you started a business off of them!' One day I guess I figured out that he wasn't just kidding, so I went out and got a loan to buy our bakery. It turned out he was right." She smiled at her daughter. "It barely took a month for people to spread the news about the bakery, and once word got around, I had so much business I didn't know what to do!"
"Wow, mom... So if dad hadn't had such a sweet tooth, you probably would never have had the money for me to go to school..." Kori grinned. "Guess that means I shouldn't feel bad about eating so many sweets."
"Now, I wouldn't go that far," she said, smiling at her daughter. "You need to eat right to keep yourself going. Speaking of which, I'd better tend to this dinner. You go do your homework and we'll talk some more over dinner."
"Ok, mom," she replied, turning back to the living room. "Call me if you need any help."
***
Kori sat on her bed, looking out her window at the thumbnail of a moon in the clear night sky. Her mother, though, had warned her never to look up at a full moon. She was curious to see what one looked like, but since her mother had told her terrible things would happen if she looked at it, she didn't exactly feel like risking it. She had terrible insomnia, though, so on the night of a full moon, she would make sure her very thick drapes were closed. She laid back on her bed, crossing her arms behind her head and trying to sort out her thoughts. That feeling that she'd had on her way home was back, like something was going to happen, not incredibly soon, but it was on its way. She closed her eyes to be greeted by a scene of herself in midair, in a fighting position. Her opponent was hazy, but she could make out a blue suit, and wild hair like black fire. By the look on her own face, this wasn't sparring. Both herself and the opponent, who was definitely a man, were speaking... yelling at each other. She couldn't really make out the words. They began fighting. It was clear that the man she was fighting was stronger... much stronger and faster than she was. She watched herself get thrown into the ground, the force of her impact creating a dent in the earth. As she struggled to right herself, her opponent landed behind her and clasped his hands together above his head, preparing the final blow. Just as he was about to strike, Kori's eyes flashed open...
She knew this was a premonition... She had them from time to time. Sometimes they were vivid, sometimes very hazy like the one she'd just experienced. But they all had the same feeling of being half awake and asleep. It was kind of like a daydream, only you couldn't really pull yourself out of it as easily. She knew this fight was going to happen, but didn't know the outcome. From what happened, though, things weren't looking too good for herself. //Am I seeing my own death,// she contemplated with a shudder. However unsettling, she had to admit that it was a possibility. Well, I guess I shouldn't dwell on it, and in the meantime, I'll figure out some way to give myself the advantage when this fight does happen. //That guy was so much stronger than me... I guess I'd better try and narrow the gap. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to start pushing myself harder,// she resolved. She turned on some soft music and pulled the covers over her, intent on attempting to get some sleep before the next morning's sparring session.
***
Prince Vegeta sat back in his chair and looked out the porthole of his pod, watching space move by. He had just layed in a course for Chikyuu, and would be there in approximately 27 of their days. Only recently had he come to the age of ascension, but he was not yet strong enough to be sure he could easily defeat his father in battle. But oh, how he wanted to. The king had made some grave errors in his recent years, first by allying with the tyrant Frieza, and then by allowing Frieza near complete and total power over the people of Vegeta-sei. Prince Vegeta and his right hand guard, Kakarrott, had been trying over the past few years to find something that would help them and their underground movement against King Vegeta, and they had just recently come upon it. It seemed that Kakarrot's father, Bardock, who had been missing since shortly after Kakarrot's birth, was a genius of a scientist who had been blessed (or cursed?) with clairvoyance. Bardock had fled Vegeta-sei shortly after King Vegeta's alliance with Frieza, claiming disgust with the King's reign. But later, stories had surfaced that he had had visions of Frieza's near enslavement and usurpation of the Saiyan race for his own personal gain. He also saw that the Saiyans would become steadily more powerful, frightening Frieza into destroying their whole planet. No one believed him at the time, but at the present it seemed very possible. The Saiyans were getting stronger with every purging mission Frieza sent them on, and, Vegeta mused, it may not be long before one achieves the legendary level of Super Saiyan. //That one, of course, will be me. And once I have become a Super Saiyan, I will first put an end to my father's incompetence and then to Frieza's tyranny.// But first, he had to find Bardock. Before he left, he had been working on some inventions that could quite possibly win the war with Frieza that was looming inevitably on the horizon. It had been rumored that Bardock had fled to Chikyuu, where technology was much more advanced than on Vegeta-sei, so that he could have peace while working on his inventions.
Vegeta activated the hibernation unit on the pod and dozed slightly. //Just wait, father. Once I find Bardock and convince him to help me, I'll personally take the throne as per my birthright. And my first order of business will be to terminate our alliance with that genderless freak...// He drifted off to a dreamless sleep as his pod rocketed off towards Chikyuu.
***
AN: Well, there's chapter 2 ^_^ Some stuff should be starting to come a little clearer to you now. Next time, Kori goes to her first sparring session with Coach Ohm... and who's that spying in the bushes??? You'll just have to wait to find out.
::Rapo:: Hey, this is starting to get interesting!
Why thank you, I didn't know you were reading ^_^
::Rapo:: Yeah, I loved the part about the chocolate chip cookies ^_^
*pulls out a frying pan and starts advancing on Rapo*
::Rapo:: *nervously* Uhm.. Wh-what are you doing with that? *starts to back away*
Oh, nothing... Nothing at all... *starts chasing after him with the frying pan*
::Rapo:: *starts running for dear life* AAAH!!! Help!!!
COME BACK HERE!!! I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES!!!
AN/Warnings: Ok, if you're reading chapter 2, I'm assuming that you read the warnings for Ch. 1 and you're ok with them. Don't forget that //blah, blah, blah,// is internal monologue. Hope you guys like this next chapter ^_^
***
Kori heaved a sigh of relief as she took to the air. She let her tail uncurl from around her waist and stretched it out lazily behind her. It had been one hell of a first day. Her classes seemed as if they would be pretty fun. She'd always like learning new things. She was pretty excited about her sparring session with the coach, too. //Crazy how that guy did a complete 180...// She'd also come across an interesting book in the library. It was about an ancient legend of 7 magic balls that, when gathered together, summoned a huge dragon that granted a wish to whosoever gathered the balls. It seemed completely impossible, but intriguing, nonetheless. So she had borrowed the book, intent on becoming more familiar with the legend.
As she neared her house, she tried to think of some way to avoid telling her mother about gym class. //If mom found out that I threw the gym teacher on his ass, I'd be in deep trouble.// She touched down about half a mile from the house, deciding to walk the rest of the way. In the middle of her contemplation, she noticed something strange. It felt as if something familiar was very far off, so far that it wouldn't get there for a while, yet she knew it was coming closer. It was so faint, but she could feel it. She just shook it off. //There are more important things to worry about right now... Like convincing mom that you had a wonderful, uneventful first day of school...// She hated lying to her mom, but there was no reason to alarm her. Nothing bad had come of the little scene in the gym, so there was no reason to cause undo stress. She came up to the house, took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face, and opened the door.
She was nearly bowled over by a very large, very slobbery jovial canine. "Hiya pups! Did 'ya miss me today?" The big yellow dog, front paws perched on her shoulders, began bathing her face in huge laps of his tongue. She laughed as she turned her face to avoid his 'kissing' and hugged him tight round the shoulders. "Well, I sure missed you, Donny!" She reached up and rumpled the loose skin and fur at the base of his head. He tried to jump even further into her arms, but she pushed him down. He made a pathetic whimpering noise in protest. "Hey, c'mon, I have to come in the house sometime!" She walked into the house, wiped her face clean of slobber, pulled the door shut behind her, and walked into the living room, panting yellow dog following her step for step. "Mom, I'm home," she yelled, plopping down on the couch and lavishing more affection on her 'pup'.
"So, how was your first day, hun," the older woman asked from the kitchen. She was already busy preparing supper.
"It was pretty cool, mom," Kori admitted happily. "My classes are all really neat. I think I'll be learning a lot. And I already made a friend! Her name's Melissa. She's pretty funny, and we have the same exact class schedule." Kori hesitated, trying to figure out how to convince her mom she would have to leave a couple hours early in the morning for a sparring session she didn't exactly want her mom to know about. She couldn't figure anything out, so she decided to just change the subject. "So, how were things at the bakery?"
"Pretty good... Lots of sales today. There's a big custom design wedding cake order for some rich family, so it's giving me something to work on. I brought back some of your favorite chocolate chip cookies... They're fresh, too. Just got out of the oven before I came home." She mentally counted down from 3, and her daughter appeared at the doorway to the kitchen, hugging the doorframe with her mouth slightly agape and watering. She smiled in that knowing way only mothers have, and proceeded with the usual speech, "You know the drill, Kori, not until after dinner. I know, it's not like it'd ruin your appetite, but it's a lesson in patience." She sighed, "Just like your father," she whispered, almost to herself.
Kori returned the sigh. "Did he love your cookies, too, mom?" Her mother looked up, shocked, as if she hadn't realized she'd said what she had. She turned back to her cooking in thought.
Smiling half-heartedly, she said, "You know, I think if your father could've eaten nothing but those cookies all day, he would have..." A single tear slid down her cheek. Kori walked up to her mother and embraced her warmly.
"Aww, I'm sorry I asked about him. It's ok. You don't have to tell me any more if you don't want to." Kori didn't know much about her father. It seemed to really upset her mother every time she talked about him, so she tried to avoid the subject. But damned if she didn't want to know more about what he was like. She sighed and squeezed her mother's shoulders comfortingly.
Her mother backed away slightly and looked up into her face. "No, you're growing up, and you deserve to know more about him than you do. I don't think I'm ready to tell you everything yet, but I'll tell you one thing, for tonight. Your father was the singular reason I started my bakery." She chuckled a little, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "He had a tremendous appetite, more than twice yours! He just kept saying, 'Sharon-chan, your cookies and cakes are so good, you could make a killing if you started a business off of them!' One day I guess I figured out that he wasn't just kidding, so I went out and got a loan to buy our bakery. It turned out he was right." She smiled at her daughter. "It barely took a month for people to spread the news about the bakery, and once word got around, I had so much business I didn't know what to do!"
"Wow, mom... So if dad hadn't had such a sweet tooth, you probably would never have had the money for me to go to school..." Kori grinned. "Guess that means I shouldn't feel bad about eating so many sweets."
"Now, I wouldn't go that far," she said, smiling at her daughter. "You need to eat right to keep yourself going. Speaking of which, I'd better tend to this dinner. You go do your homework and we'll talk some more over dinner."
"Ok, mom," she replied, turning back to the living room. "Call me if you need any help."
***
Kori sat on her bed, looking out her window at the thumbnail of a moon in the clear night sky. Her mother, though, had warned her never to look up at a full moon. She was curious to see what one looked like, but since her mother had told her terrible things would happen if she looked at it, she didn't exactly feel like risking it. She had terrible insomnia, though, so on the night of a full moon, she would make sure her very thick drapes were closed. She laid back on her bed, crossing her arms behind her head and trying to sort out her thoughts. That feeling that she'd had on her way home was back, like something was going to happen, not incredibly soon, but it was on its way. She closed her eyes to be greeted by a scene of herself in midair, in a fighting position. Her opponent was hazy, but she could make out a blue suit, and wild hair like black fire. By the look on her own face, this wasn't sparring. Both herself and the opponent, who was definitely a man, were speaking... yelling at each other. She couldn't really make out the words. They began fighting. It was clear that the man she was fighting was stronger... much stronger and faster than she was. She watched herself get thrown into the ground, the force of her impact creating a dent in the earth. As she struggled to right herself, her opponent landed behind her and clasped his hands together above his head, preparing the final blow. Just as he was about to strike, Kori's eyes flashed open...
She knew this was a premonition... She had them from time to time. Sometimes they were vivid, sometimes very hazy like the one she'd just experienced. But they all had the same feeling of being half awake and asleep. It was kind of like a daydream, only you couldn't really pull yourself out of it as easily. She knew this fight was going to happen, but didn't know the outcome. From what happened, though, things weren't looking too good for herself. //Am I seeing my own death,// she contemplated with a shudder. However unsettling, she had to admit that it was a possibility. Well, I guess I shouldn't dwell on it, and in the meantime, I'll figure out some way to give myself the advantage when this fight does happen. //That guy was so much stronger than me... I guess I'd better try and narrow the gap. First thing tomorrow, I'm going to start pushing myself harder,// she resolved. She turned on some soft music and pulled the covers over her, intent on attempting to get some sleep before the next morning's sparring session.
***
Prince Vegeta sat back in his chair and looked out the porthole of his pod, watching space move by. He had just layed in a course for Chikyuu, and would be there in approximately 27 of their days. Only recently had he come to the age of ascension, but he was not yet strong enough to be sure he could easily defeat his father in battle. But oh, how he wanted to. The king had made some grave errors in his recent years, first by allying with the tyrant Frieza, and then by allowing Frieza near complete and total power over the people of Vegeta-sei. Prince Vegeta and his right hand guard, Kakarrott, had been trying over the past few years to find something that would help them and their underground movement against King Vegeta, and they had just recently come upon it. It seemed that Kakarrot's father, Bardock, who had been missing since shortly after Kakarrot's birth, was a genius of a scientist who had been blessed (or cursed?) with clairvoyance. Bardock had fled Vegeta-sei shortly after King Vegeta's alliance with Frieza, claiming disgust with the King's reign. But later, stories had surfaced that he had had visions of Frieza's near enslavement and usurpation of the Saiyan race for his own personal gain. He also saw that the Saiyans would become steadily more powerful, frightening Frieza into destroying their whole planet. No one believed him at the time, but at the present it seemed very possible. The Saiyans were getting stronger with every purging mission Frieza sent them on, and, Vegeta mused, it may not be long before one achieves the legendary level of Super Saiyan. //That one, of course, will be me. And once I have become a Super Saiyan, I will first put an end to my father's incompetence and then to Frieza's tyranny.// But first, he had to find Bardock. Before he left, he had been working on some inventions that could quite possibly win the war with Frieza that was looming inevitably on the horizon. It had been rumored that Bardock had fled to Chikyuu, where technology was much more advanced than on Vegeta-sei, so that he could have peace while working on his inventions.
Vegeta activated the hibernation unit on the pod and dozed slightly. //Just wait, father. Once I find Bardock and convince him to help me, I'll personally take the throne as per my birthright. And my first order of business will be to terminate our alliance with that genderless freak...// He drifted off to a dreamless sleep as his pod rocketed off towards Chikyuu.
***
AN: Well, there's chapter 2 ^_^ Some stuff should be starting to come a little clearer to you now. Next time, Kori goes to her first sparring session with Coach Ohm... and who's that spying in the bushes??? You'll just have to wait to find out.
::Rapo:: Hey, this is starting to get interesting!
Why thank you, I didn't know you were reading ^_^
::Rapo:: Yeah, I loved the part about the chocolate chip cookies ^_^
*pulls out a frying pan and starts advancing on Rapo*
::Rapo:: *nervously* Uhm.. Wh-what are you doing with that? *starts to back away*
Oh, nothing... Nothing at all... *starts chasing after him with the frying pan*
::Rapo:: *starts running for dear life* AAAH!!! Help!!!
COME BACK HERE!!! I'LL GIVE YOU COOKIES!!!