Author's Note: Thank you to everyone for reading and reviewing so far! Enjoy chapter 4!
Ch. 4 – The Ritual
After the large Incendian family had unpacked their belongings, everyone settled down to eat and talk with the visitors from Earth. The sky had darkened and Terra's two bright moons winked down at the gathering, the Saiyans and their sons were really enjoying the chance to see the moons without the possibility of transforming into Oozaru. Porgia had also used her powers to quickly string up several strands of lights to give the group some added illumination. Everyone was sitting around discussing the tournament, Incendian customs versus Earth customs, and a number of other topics. Once everyone had eaten, one of Flare's elder brothers, a tall and muscular man named Jev, jumped up and called out. "Ok, brothers! It's time to set up!" He grinned as several of his siblings got up as well and went down to one of the SUVs the family had driven there. They began taking out multiple instrument cases, amplifiers, and even a few microphones. Next came a small pile of sanded lumber which they placed a little ways out in the field.
"Porgia," Jev smiled at the telepath and swept his hand towards the wood. "Would you do the honors, please?"
The purple-haired guardian laughed and shook her head. Reaching out a hand she let a stream of purple ki float towards the lumber, which began to move of its own accord and started placing itself in the shape of a small stage. Nails and fittings flew through the air after the wood and began inserting themselves into the appropriate spots. In a matter of minutes Porgia had assembled a 10 foot by 12 foot stage that stood about 8 inches off of the ground. Flare's brothers immediately began setting up various instruments, including a small drum set and an electronic keyboard.
"What's going on?" Bulma asked Flare's mother.
Rosaline smiled, "Music is a very important part of Incendian culture, it is how we have been able to keep much of our heritage alive over the years. The boys are going to play and sing for us."
"What about Flare?" Bulma looked back towards the porch, where Flare was currently surrounded by many of her younger nieces and nephews, as well as Goten and Trunks.
"Oh, she will join them later perhaps." Rosaline said, nodding to the little group. "Right now she is preparing the children to go to bed." Bulma wanted to ask what Rosaline meant by that, but was cut off by a sudden blast of music as one of the Incendian brothers began tuning an electric guitar.
"Turn the amp down!" One of the twin boys called from where he and his identical brother were each tuning a violin and an acoustic guitar, respectively.
"Sorry!" The offending brother called, adjusting a knob on the amplifier. The Earth guests watched with interest as the sound of tuning instruments continued to perforate the night air. Soon, however, a new sound began to rise above the instruments. Those with more sensitive hearing picked it up first, unsure of what it was. It wasn't until everyone started looking towards the house's porch that the origin of the new sound was figured out. It was Flare, she was singing to the children. She was sitting in a rocking chair, a toddler in her arms and a small congregation of young children around her feet. Trunks and Goten's hair stood out amongst the sea of little redheads, but they were as riveted on the singing Guardian as the other children were. Flare's voice was unlike anything the visitors to Terra had ever heard, it was smooth and sweet one minute, husky and full of emotion the next. She was singing an Incendian lullaby to the children, the language was intricate and full of unfamiliar sounds. As her voice got louder, those who could read ki realized that Flare's ki levels were actually rising and falling with the cadence of her voice. Towards the end of the song, she even used a little ki to bend her voice, making it sound like two women were singing in harmony. One by one the children were nodding off, their mothers and fathers taking turns picking them up and carrying them inside. Flare's father picked up the two sound asleep demi-Saiyans and nodded to their parents, letting them know he'd take them up to bed. The boys' tails curled around Zast's massive forearms as he disappeared into the house. Flare's song ended just as the last child was picked up off of the porch, without another word Flare stood herself and carried the toddler into the house.
"Whoa…" Yamcha murmured, he turned to Rosalin. "How did she do that? That double voice thing?"
"It is a trick that several of my children can do actually," Rosalin smiled. "Something they are able to pick up when they start learning their instruments. Flare is the only one who can hold it for longer periods of time, though." She chuckled. "And it's so useful for getting the children to go to sleep."
Zast came back out of the house, one arm around Flare and another around one of his sons. "There! Now that the young ones are asleep the celebrating can really begin!" He bellowed, motioning to the four young men currently on the stage. "Let's have some music, boys!"
The Incendians were happy to oblige, and soon had a fun, upbeat song going. Zast released his children to go grab his wife and pull her onto the grass by the stage for a dance. Flare smiled and shook her head, her father was so much happier than he'd been when they'd first come to Terra. It had taken several years for their entire family to be happy again, but now that they were it often seemed like they had never lived anywhere else.
"That song was so beautiful, Flare!" Bulma chose that moment to arrive at Flare's side, handing her a glass of wine and clinking it with her own. "I just can't believe how talented your whole family is!"
"Well, I doubt our parents would have been so insistent on us learning as much as we did if we weren't the last ones…" Flare smiled sadly, then quickly picked herself up and clinked Bulma's glass back. "To family." The two women watched the musicians play as a couple of brothers and their wives got up to join Zast and Rosaline on the makeshift dance floor.
Bulma glanced around quickly, making sure Vegeta wasn't nearby, and then she leaned in towards Flare to whisper slyly. "Sooo, I heard from a reliable source that you were almost engaged to Vegeta?" She grinned wickedly when Flare choked on her wine and looked around them to make sure the Saiyian Prince wasn't listening.
"Yes, that's true…" Flare said slowly. "But aren't…aren't you married to him?"
Bulma cackled. "Well, I was! But we haven't been together for a long time. We both love Trunks and are both raising him…but I don't think we were ever really in love. I'm not sure the 'Prince of all Saiyans' even knows how to be in love, to be honest. He had such a tough upbringing."
"Yes, I know." Flare murmured, finding said Saiyan prince leaned against a tree across the field, deep in conversation with Piccolo. "Even though I was very young when we met, I've thought about him occasionally over the years. I always wondered how his life turned out, how he was doing." Flare sighed, which suddenly gave Bulma a rather genius idea. Bulma excused herself to get some more wine and wove her way through the gathering until she found who she was looking for. Ever since Zast had told them the story of their planet's unfortunate destruction earlier that day, Bulma had been tossing an idea around in her head. 'What if?' She'd wondered. 'What if there could be something between those two after all this time? So what if we've only been here a day? There's something there, I just know it!' And now she'd just thought of the perfect way to test her theory. 'This is going to be fun!' She giggled to herself and grabbed her unknowing accomplice to explain what she wanted him to do.
OOOOOOOOOO
Piccolo and Vegeta stood slightly apart from the music and dancing, preferring to discuss the possible opponents they would be facing in the tournament instead of mingling with the others. Vegeta noticed his ex-wife speaking to Flare, the blue haired woman must have said something to startle the Guardian because she suddenly choked on her drink and looked at the woman with wide green eyes. His curiosity was raised but he ignored it when Bulma moved away and disappeared into the crowd. He still couldn't get over the massive size of Flare's family, and how they all seemed so involved with each other's lives. Vegeta had hardly known any of his relatives, and now he was closer to his son than he'd ever been to anyone, including Radditz. The Namek nudged his shoulder, getting his attention.
"Daydreaming?" Piccolo asked, noticing where the prince's gaze had wandered to after he'd repeated the same question three times with no answer. "You know, you can always just ask her why she didn't say anything about meeting you before."
Vegeta looked up, startled. "How did you know about that, Nemak?"
"Goku told me." Piccolo chuckled. "He's more of a gossip than your former wife is."
"Hn…" Vegeta glared at him and crossed his arms, his tail flicked irritably behind his legs. He forced himself to look at the Incendian couples dancing by the stage instead, he was intrigued by the level of devotion they had to their heritage. He had very little knowledge of the Saiyan culture that he could pass on to Trunks, and Karkorrot had none, being raised on Earth.
"Speaking of Goku…" Piccolo's voice brought him back out of his thoughts. "Take a look at that."
Vegeta looked up to see Kakarrot bowing to Flare, grinning like an oaf as he asked her to dance. She smiled at him and put her glass down, nodding her acceptance. He took her hand and led her over by her parents. Some of the brothers had just finished switching places to take turns playing, and they started up a new song, one that was slower with a winding melody that one of the twins played on his violin. Goku kept her right hand, and placed his other hand around the small of her back. The large Saiyan's hand looked huge against Flare's tiny waist, and he had to look down at her so that they could speak, but otherwise it looked like they were having fun.
Vegeta felt a sudden, uncomfortable sensation in the pit of his stomach. His Saiyan instincts suddenly resenting Kakarrot for touching Flare in such an intimate way. The prince hadn't even realized he'd begun to softly growl until Piccolo prodded him with an elbow.
"Take it easy there." Piccolo said, low enough so only Vegeta heard him. "You're going to draw attention to yourself that way."
Vegeta grunted and leaned heavily against the tree again, his tail coiled tightly around his waist. 'This is ridiculous!' He thought angrily. 'Get a hold of yourself! There is no reason for you to be acting this way! She's just dancing with Kakarrot, it's not as if he'd be interested in…' A sudden thought interrupted his rationalizations. Kakarrot was no longer married to his wife either…they'd just been living together as friends for several years now, so that they could both be in Goten's life. His spine stiffened at the thought…Kakarrot was strong, loyal, not unattractive…If the Incendians took a partner's strength into consideration the way Saiyans did then it was very possible that she might…but no! They couldn't possibly be that compatible, could they?
The Saiyan prince jumped when a cool hand touched his, he looked up to find Avery prying his hand off of the tree. "Sorry, Vegeta." She said softly. "But, if you don't mind, you're kind of hurting the tree." The tall Guardian nodded down at the tree trunk where his hand had been, he looked and saw a smoldering handprint burned into the bark from his ki.
"I…I apologize." He muttered and stalked off around the edge of the gathering towards the house.
"Is he alright?" Avery turned to Piccolo, looking up the few inches that separated them in height.
"He will be," Piccolo rumbled. He traced the now cooled handprint in the bark of the tree. "How did you know he was doing that? It was so faint I didn't even sense it."
Avery waited until Piccolo took his hand away before placing her own hand on the tree. She winced and took a deep breath, letting a stream of cool, green ki flow into the tree. "Normally I'm able to block out a lot of the energy that's given off when plants are damaged, or eaten by animals, basic things like that. But this tree was practically screaming at me…I had to stop him before he burned all the way through it." Avery took her hand away to show the bark mostly repaired, only a faint mark left behind gave any indication the trunk had been damaged.
Piccolo looked back and forth from the tree to Avery's hands. "Have you always been able to do that, have such a deep connection to plants like that?"
"For as long as I can remember." Avery nodded and took Vegeta's place against the tree. "I have no idea how my mother was able to handle it sometimes, especially when I was very young and had no control over what I was growing."
"Doesn't your mother have the same abilities?" The Namek asked curiously. "Usually powers that specific are inherited."
"Perhaps," She sighed, watching Flare's brothers switch again and start up a new song. "But my mother doesn't have any abilities like this…actually, she's a human."
"What?" Piccolo stared down at her. "She is?"
"That's right," Avery smirked up at him. "Obviously my father wasn't human. My parents met here on Terra, but he left for some reason when I was still a baby…I don't remember anything about him."
Piccolo studied her decidedly non-human features before asking, "Your mother hasn't told you about him?"
"No," Avery sighed again. "It upsets her too much to talk about him, so I stopped asking a long time ago. She'll tell me when she's ready, I suppose. At least I know it's going to be interesting." She smiled up at him, her fang-like canines flashing in the moonlight.
Piccolo felt slightly uncomfortable for some reason, unsure of what to say next. He was saved from having to break the silence when Porgia walked up.
"Hey!" The telepath smiled and linked her arm with Avery's. "I think Flare's brothers have talked her into playing a couple songs with them, let's go watch." Avery nodded and let herself be led back towards the stage, turning back she waved goodbye at Piccolo. Startled, the Namek raised a hand in return, then without thinking placed it back on the place Avery had just healed on the tree. He pulled it back quickly, but his fingers still tingled with the jolt raw energy that had surged up from the tree into his arm.
OOOOOOOOOO
The gathering eventually started to wind down, but not before Zast stood up on the makeshift stage and made an announcement. "Before everyone turns in for the night," he chuckled, noticing that a couple of his sons were already passed out on the porch of the house. "I would just like to let our new friends know, that tomorrow we will be observing an ancient, and special tradition in our family. We do this once a year and any of you who would like to join us are more than welcome. However, we ask that if you are not participating, that you respect the delicacy of this event and not interrupt for any reason." Zast looked stern for a moment before returning to his usual jovial self. "With that being said, goodnight everyone!" He laughed and stepped down heavily from the stage. Flare's brothers began turning off all of their equipment and covering everything up.
Bulma was sitting by one of the food tables with Rosaline. "What tradition is he talking about?" She yawned, stretching out in her chair.
"Our most important one," Rosaline said, watching her family prepare to go inside for the night. "Tomorrow is the day that we give Flare all of our memories for the last year."
"You're going to give her your memories?" Goku asked, walking up with Vegeta not far behind. The taller Saiyan could feel some definite hostility coming off of the prince towards him when he'd approached him shortly before Zast's announcement, but Vegeta hadn't wanted to talk about it. He had coaxed Vegeta, however, into going with him to bid Flare's parents goodnight.
"Yes," Rosaline nodded. "Remember how we told you that the youngest daughter of each family keeps our culture and heritage alive for us? Well, we add to that every year, giving her our most important, recent memories to keep along with the rest of the knowledge she guards…it's a big responsibility. Only a daughter with incredible strength of character is able to do it for very long."
"And how long has Flare been…holding all of this inside of herself?" Bulma murmured.
"Since she was fifteen years old," Rosaline sighed tiredly. "Far too long, but…we just aren't sure if any of our sons' daughters can handle it yet."
"Where is Flare, anyway?" Goku asked, looking around. "I haven't seen her since she finished playing some of the music with her brothers."
"Oh, she's around somewhere." Rosaline chuckled, pushing herself up out of her chair as Zast walked over. "Flare has a habit of wandering off by herself the night before we perform the ritual. She'll show herself when she's ready to."
"Yes, don't worry about our Flare." Zast agreed, offering his arm to his wife. "She's much stronger than she lets on." He winked and escorted Rosaline into the house.
"Well, goodnight you guys!" Goku grinned, seeing that they were the last ones to go inside. He trotted into the house, where Bulma and Vegeta could hear him inquiring about a midnight snack to Porgia.
Bulma laughed. "That Goku, I swear he'll eat himself silly one day."
Vegeta grunted and crossed his arms, still trying to restrain the urge that had taken hold of him earlier to bash Kakarrot's smiling face in.
"Something wrong?" Bulma asked coyly.
"Of course not, woman." Vegeta snapped. "Why on earth would you ask such a thing?"
His ex-wife put her hands on her hips and smiled wryly. "Vegeta, we may not have been married for very long, but I can still tell when something is bothering you." She started to say something else, but then thought better of it. 'I knew it!' Bulma thought, she'd seen the agitated way Vegeta's tail had been twitching when she'd mentioned Goku's name. 'He likes her!' Flipping her blue hair off of her shoulder, Bulma turned to go into the house. "Fine then, you don't have to tell me what it is." She stopped on the stairs and turned back, "Oh, and I know that Flare's parents said she'd be ok, but maybe you should find her and just make sure she doesn't need anything."
Startled, Vegeta looked up to tell the woman what a ridiculous idea that was, but she'd already gone inside. He grumbled to himself and looked around, no one else was outside. The Saiyan prince had no idea what time it was, but judging by the planet's two moons he guessed there would only be 3 or 4 more hours until dawn. He decided to walk around the back of the house to inspect the Guardians' sparring ring, he didn't have a good chance to look at it when they'd first arrived. 'Have we really only been here a little more than a day?' Vegeta thought to himself as he reached the tiled surface. 'It seems like a lot longer.' He tapped a foot experimentally on the tiles and found them satisfactory. Scanning the horizon, Vegeta felt oddly calm standing there surrounded by the darkness. His tail relaxed down by his side as he closed his eyes, listening to all of the different sounds of the night. Insects chirped and buzzed around him, the grass rustled in the breeze, farther ahead in the woods a creek bubbled down its path, and… 'What was that?' Vegeta suddenly picked up traces of another sound, so faint that he had to strain to pinpoint its location. As he moved closer to the nearest crop of forest by the house he realized what he was hearing, someone in the woods was strumming a guitar.
Walking quietly through the field and into the underbrush of the forest, Vegeta continued to move towards the music. It wasn't long before he came to the edge of a clearing, and there by a stream sat the Guardian Flare. Her back was against a large tree, with her feet stretched out on a smooth stone that jutted into the stream and her eyes closed. She had the guitar in her lap and was absentmindedly strumming, alternating between humming and singing a few lines to a song.
"I've been down a thousand times, been up a few.
Beat my heart until it turned black and blue.
Left traces of my soul lying on the floor.
I've done a lot of things, but I won't do that no more…" *(Song credit at bottom of page)
Vegeta suddenly felt that he was intruding on something very private. He started to back away, not noticing the twig his slightly curled tail caught as he backed up. The twig snapped, and Vegeta froze. Looking up, Flare stopped playing, her face not registering any particular emotion right away. The Guardian just looked at the embarrassed Saiyan prince for a long moment before she shook her head ruefully and patted the ground next to her, inviting him to sit down. Cautiously, Vegeta moved into the clearing and sat next to her, keeping enough distance between them so as not to make her feel crowded. They sat for a long time, watching the water run down the stream, neither of them speaking.
Finally, Vegeta cleared his throat and turned to her. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"About what?" She began plucking a few random notes on the guitar again.
"About…well about the fact that we'd already met before?" He looked down at his hands, still surprised sometimes that he no longer wore those heavy white gloves.
"Well," Flare sighed, still strumming the guitar. "I wasn't even sure you'd remember that, for one thing. For another…there are so many memories besides my own in my head. Sometimes it's hard for me to sort through the ones that are solely mine, and the ones I share with other members of my family. I remembered meeting you before…that memory would stand out from time to time out of the others…And I figured if you did remember that it would get brought up sooner or later, especially with my parents around." She smiled softly and shook her head. "Did you know before my parents told you?"
"I wasn't sure," Vegeta said softly. "I knew something about you seemed familiar at the Lookout, when you, um…" He snapped his fingers and cupped his hand just like she had when she revealed that she was a fire bender.
"Oh, I see." Flare chuckled. "I had just learned how to do that right before…before we went onto that ship."
Vegeta was unsure about what to say next, his usual confidence seemed to have deserted him. He leaned back on his hands, "This has been a very…confusing day." He said at last. "I think I'm still adjusting, some of it is a little hard to believe."
"Welcome to my world." Flare smirked. The sarcasm behind that remark did not go unnoticed by the Saiyan beside her. "Oh, by the way," She stopped strumming and looked at him for the first time since he'd sat down. "I can't believe you have a son." Flare pushed a few unruly curls off of her face and smiled. "He's really an incredible kid."
"Yes I know…thank you." Vegeta flushed slightly, the tip of his tail twitched. "I've spent the last few years trying make up for some of my…shortcomings as a father." His fingers gripped the grass beneath them. "I wasn't there much for Trunks in the beginning…"
"Well, he obviously loves you very much. So you must be doing something right." She said reassuringly, giggling at the startled look he gave her.
He cleared his throat again. "So…is there a reason why you've never…I mean from the way your aunt talks it seems like…um…well…"
"Why don't I have a family of my own?" Flare finished for him. Vegeta flushed again and nodded. The Incendian woman snorted and looked out into the forest. "My dear great-aunt has a lot of ideas about when people should or shouldn't be getting married. She doesn't seem to understand that I just haven't been with anyone yet who I'd want to make that kind of commitment to. Her marriage was arranged, so she doesn't see any problem trying to meddle with my private life." She sighed. "There was someone that I might have…a long time ago, but…well, he's gone now." Flare turned back to him, smiling a little sadly. "Besides, my 'responsibilities' to my family take up a lot of my time and attention…finding a life partner just hasn't been something I've devoted a lot of energy to."
Vegeta frowned. "Can't you ask them to not give you so much…information to hold on to? Or try and see if one of your nieces might be able to take your place?"
"No." She said firmly. "I can't ask them that. Do you know what could happen if my oldest niece isn't strong enough to handle this? It could drive her insane. Or even kill her." Flare took the guitar off of her lap and stood up. "I won't let that happen. I'll keep doing this until I die if I have to…You'll see tomorrow, if you decide to watch the ritual." She looked down at him. "It's nearly dawn, and I have some things I need to take care of…I'll see you back at the house." The Guardian took off into the air, leaving her instrument behind.
Vegeta stood up, concerned that he'd upset her. "Flare?" He called out, but she was too far away to hear him. He scowled down at the guitar, then picked it up and turned back towards the edge of the forest.
'I must be out of my mind.' The Saiyan prince thought irritably as he came out of the woods and took off into the air towards the yellow house.
OOOOOOOOOO
The next morning found Porgia alone in the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee. She was usually the first one awake, her mind only resting for a few hours at a time. Breathing in the rich smell of the hot beverage, she poured herself a mug full just as Piccolo walked into the room. He nodded good morning, politely declined the coffee she offered and poured himself a glass of water instead. The telepath and the Namek stood in silence in the large kitchen, enjoying the view out of the windows. The silent moment did not last too long, however, as Trunks, Goten, and several of the Incendian children began making their way down the stairs and into the kitchen in search of breakfast. Piccolo smirked as Porgia took the easy way out, leaning against the counter and using her powers to set out several bowls, spoons, boxes of cereal, and a couple gallons of milk.
"That's cheating." He murmured when she retreated over to his side of the room to let the children have at it.
"Sometimes cheating is necessary," Porgia laughed and sipped her drink. "Especially with nearly twenty children staying in the house. Also, it gives their parents a break."
Piccolo nodded, remembering when he had taken care of Gohan for a year in the wilderness. He'd had a hard enough time keeping track of one demi-Saiyan, he couldn't imagine having to watch out for this many children.
The rest of the house gradually woke up, the Incendians preparing for the ritual they would be performing while the Guardians and visitors watched. Zero appeared out of nowhere at some point and took his place in one of the rocking chairs on the front porch, instantly falling into a deep meditative trance.
Zast and Rosaline were just finishing assembling all of their sons, daughters-in-law, and grandchildren on the sparring ring when Flare made her way out of the woods behind the house. Millicent stood off to the side with the two smallest toddlers in their strollers.
"Flare! There you are." Zast smiled. "We were beginning to think you weren't going to show up." He winked at her as she passed by.
"Don't worry, Dad." Flare smiled tiredly. "You know I wouldn't do that." She trudged past her family and the guests from Earth. It was obvious from the dark circles under her eyes that she hadn't slept at all. Upon reaching the porch she grabbed Porgia by the arm and towed the telepath into the house behind her.
"Is she…ok?" Yamcha asked Avery. "She seemed a little out of it."
"She'll be fine." Avery answered. "Porgia will help her prepare mentally while she changes."
"Changes?" Bulma tilted her head curiously. "Changes into what? Her family members are all wearing normal clothes."
Avery sat down on the back porch steps, the dog Zeus trotted over to her and sat by her feet. "Yes, but since Flare is going to be the 'center' of this ritual, so to speak, her great-aunt always insists that she wear 'traditional' Incendian attire." The tall Guardian rolled her eyes and leaned back against the top step. "The woman has thrown a fit every time Flare has tried to wear her everyday clothes, so she just does what Millicent wants now."
"Well that's kind of stupid." Bulma muttered under her breath.
Rosaline approached the group on the porch, "So, did any of you decide if you'd like to participate with us? You aren't required to actually give Flare a memory if you aren't part of the family, she'll basically just take a small portion of ki from you and then give it back at the end." She looked at them expectantly.
"Well, I think Vegeta, Yamcha, Gohan, and Goku are going to do it, right guys?" Bulma asked them, the fighters nodded. "I'm going to sit out with Avery, but thank you for offering."
"You don't participate?" Piccolo asked the brunette Guardian.
"No," Avery looked up at them from her seat on the porch. "I've tried it a couple of times, but Flare's ki doesn't mix well with mine, I ended up getting sick."
Trunks and Goten popped up in the group of adults. "Can we do it too?" Goten asked excitedly.
"I don't know…" Bulma began.
"Please, PLEASE?" Trunks begged. "The other kids said it's really fun!" He looked at Flare's mother for help.
Rosaline smiled, "As long as it is ok with your parents, then you are welcome to join us." She turned to Bulma and the two Saiyans, "It won't harm them at all." She assured them.
"Well, ok." Bulma conceded. Goku gave his consent too and the two young demis ran off to sit with Flare's nieces and nephews.
"Wonderful!" Rosaline clasped her hands together. "Now all we need is for Porgia and Flare to join us…Ah! And here they are."
The Earth visitors followed Rosaline's gaze to the back door of the house. Porgia walked out first, Flare following slowly behind her. Flare had changed into a traditional, Incendian ceremonial dress. Multiple layers of red, orange, and grey sheer skirts started at her hips and fell down around her ankles. Her midriff was bare, showing the defined muscles of her stomach and lower back. The top of the dress consisted of a grey vest with long, sheer, grey and red sleeves. She had multiple copper bracelets stacked on her wrists and ankles, and a small copper circlet nestled in her curls.
"Darling, you look wonderful." Rosaline smiled and took her daughter's hand, leading her down to the rest of the family.
"Well, let's go." Porgia began leading the way for the guests who wanted to participate in the ritual. Piccolo noticed that Vegeta wasn't moving, his eyes had locked on Flare from the moment she'd walked out of the house. The Namek sighed and poked the Saiyan prince in the small of his back with one of his long, sharp fingernails. Vegeta gave an almost imperceptible jump and glared at Piccolo.
"Will you stop doing that?" Vegeta hissed as they moved to catch up with Porgia and the others.
"I'll stop doing that when you stop going into a trance every time you see her." Piccolo rumbled, shaking his head at the bizarre changes that had come over the usually surly Saiyan ever since they'd embarked on this crazy venture.
Upon reaching the large family gathered in the sparring ring, Rosaline arranged the non-family participants in a half circle behind the inner circle composed of Flare's father and brothers. The sisters-in-law and children formed their own half circle on the other side of the ring. Flare stood in the middle, with her mother. Mother and daughter faced each other, Rosaline placing her hands palm down into Flare's hands. The air in and around the tiled sparring floor suddenly became very heavy as the two women's ki began to glow around them. After a few minutes, Rosaline carefully removed her hands from Flare's and stepped back to join the inner circle. Flare's ki continued to grow, the color changing to a deep, blood red as it soared higher. Eyes closed, she placed her right hand over her heart and let loose a stream of ki into her own chest. Sweat began to form along her brow as she slowly began to pull her hand away, a small ball of fire seemed to come out of her chest as she pulled. Her breath began to speed up as she finally succeeded in bringing the entire ball out of her body. Flare opened her eyes, her pupils and irises glowing bright red as she studied the fire for a moment. Then, she brought the fire above her head and spoke a single word in Incendian. Gradually, small threads of red ki began to flow out of each of her family members' chests, flowing and writhing towards the uplifted fire ball. Shortly after the red threads began pouring into the fire above Flare's head, similar threads started pulling out of the non-Incendian participants.
Vegeta didn't know what the other members of his group were feeling right at that moment, but for him it felt like a lightning bolt was being shot through his chest and pulled right back out again. The heat and power that were rolling off of Flare were increasing rapidly as the fire ball in her hands grew. He tried to not think, to just close his eyes and empty his mind so that he wouldn't burden her with anymore memories, but it was hard. His mind kept going back to that day they had met as children, how fascinated he'd been by that tiny girl, and how he'd actually been a little disappointed to find her gone the next day. Vegeta's eyes shot open as the thread of golden ki that had been flowing out of his body suddenly stopped. What he saw made his breath catch in his chest. Flare looked so…so beautiful, so powerful. She'd gathered everything that she could from those around her, the muscles in her shoulders and arms visibly straining to hold the now enormous mass of fire above her head. The power of Flare's ki was at a staggering level, one that he'd only felt when he'd ascended into the higher Super Saiyin levels. Flare seemed to be gathering her strength, sweat pouring down her temples, she gazed up at the fire and uttered another single Incendian word. Suddenly, Vegeta felt as if most of his senses had been turned off. He couldn't hear anything, couldn't smell anything, couldn't feel the heat rolling off of Flare, all he could do was see what was happening. Vegeta watched as slowly the fire began to melt and flow down, covering Flare like a second skin. There was a pressure building somewhere around the edges of his perception, and the more the fire soaked into her body the more that pressure grew. Then, just when the pressure was beginning to get uncomfortable, there was an almost audible pop in the atmosphere, and all of his other senses came rushing back. The group surrounding the still glowing guardian seemed to heave a collective sigh. Flare opened her eyes, which had returned to normal, and brought her hands down in front of her heart. She held a now tiny, pulsating ball of fire between her palms. Bringing it up to her face, she gently blew onto it, sending small beads of fire back out to those standing around her. A bead wound its way to Vegeta, hovering in front of him for a few seconds before slowly melting into his chest. A soothing warmth blossomed in his breast bone and spread throughout his body. He felt amazing, like he'd just eaten ten senzu beans. Looking back up at Flare, he realized she was swaying where she stood, barley conscious as her ki continued to return to a normal level. Vegeta took a step towards her, but stopped when he saw her eldest brother move quickly and pick her up off of her feet. She was unconscious before he'd even gotten her fully off the ground.
The circle of family members parted to let him through, Porgia trotting to catch up with them so she could guide Flare's brother over to the nearby healing pool. Carefully he put her down on a seat inside the warm water, placing her head on a cushion Porgia provided. Slowly, as if waking from a dream, all of Flare's family members started to make their way back inside the yellow house. Soon, only Porgia, Avery, the Earth visitors, and Flare's oldest brother remained outside. Avery helped keep Flare's head up out of the water while Porgia went to retrieve a small basket from the porch. Returning to the pool, Porgia slipped off her shoes and got into the water fully clothed next to Flare. The violet-eyed Guardian took a glass bottle from the basket and began working the soap it contained into Flare's scarlet curls. A steady stream of purple ki flowed out of Porgia's fingertips and into Flare's head, soothing her severely overwhelmed mind.
Bulma ran up to the others, picking Trunks up and studying his face. "Trunks! Are you ok, son?"
"Mom…" Trunks seemed to break out of his trance. "That was AWESOME!" His lavender tail waved wildly behind him as he squirmed out of her hold. "Can our family start doing that?"
"No, boy." Vegeta said sternly as he, and the other Z fighters walked over. "We cannot start doing that."
"But Dad," Trunks whirled around. "Don't you feel great?"
Vegeta caught his son and lifted him up, pointing his face towards the healing pool. He spoke softly into Trunks' ear, "Yes, boy, I do feel good. But do you see the toll this has taken on her? Would you expect your mother or grandmother to have to endure such a burden?" Trunks shook his head, Vegeta "hn'd" and put him back down.
Flare's brother walked over to where the visitors were standing with Avery. He was built much like his father and even had close-cropped, red beard just like Zast's. "I trust everyone who took part in the ritual is doing well?" He asked, his voice a deep rumble.
"Oh, yeah." Gohan nodded, "I don't think any of us have ever experienced anything like that before…um…I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
Flare's eldest brother chuckled. "It's perfectly alright! I know there are a lot of us to remember. My name is Nelahk."
"Nelahk, why did the rest of your family just leave Flare out here?" Bulma asked curiously. "Don't they want to know how she's doing?"
Nelahk looked back at his only sister, still unconscious in the pool. "We learned a long time ago that Flare doesn't really like for any of us to talk to her until she's finished sorting through all of the memories we've given her." He gave a short laugh. "A few years back one of the twins forgot and she tried to set him on fire, so when Flare's ready to see us she'll let us know." He nodded to all of them and went into the house to join the rest of the family.
"This family just gets weirder and weirder," Bulma muttered to herself. Vegeta's Saiyan hearing picked up the comment however, and he smirked in agreement. He looked over at the pool again, only to see Kakarrot making his merry way over to speak to the two Guardians helping Flare. The Saiyan prince just barely bit back the growl that rose in his throat, as he turned and stalked after the younger Saiyan. This little instance did not go unnoticed by Bulma, who smiled wickedly before going to drag Yamcha into the house to help her fix some lunch. Gohan and Piccolo were leaned against the porch railing, discussing the differences between what they'd experienced during the ritual, while the two youngest demi-Saiyans ran off in search of their new Incendian friends.
Vegeta reached the pool just as Kakarrot was inquiring about what Porgia was doing. The telepath explained that the soap she'd been working into Flare's hair had relaxing properties and would help the young Guardian to adjust once she awoke. Just at that moment, Flare began to stir.
"Could you please hand me those towels on the edge of the deck there?" Avery asked Vegeta. He grabbed the large towels and handed them off to her just as Porgia was helping Flare sit up in the water.
"Oh, shit…" Flare moaned, pressing her right thumb and index finger onto her eyelids. "That gets harder every damn year." She looked up, noticing the two concerned looking Saiyans and sighed. "Hi there…So, what did you think?"
Goku babbled on for a minute about how exhilarating the experience had been before Vegeta flicked him behind the knee with his tail, a silent command for the taller warrior to just shut up. None of the Guardians noticed, however, they were too busy getting Flare out of the water. The soaked, gauzy material of her ceremonial dress clung to her form, not leaving very much to the imagination at that point. Vegeta felt his blood surge into his face and was both grateful, and a little disappointed, when Avery wrapped a towel around the Incendian woman. Flare began to shiver as the other two women helped her down off of the pool's platform and onto the path to the house. She was only able to take a few steps before stumbling forward. Without even thinking Vegeta reached out and caught her, trying his best to keep the towel around her as he lifted her up.
"I can make it inside…" Flare protested weakly, but the hand she pushed against Vegeta's shoulder proved she was as weak as a kitten at the moment.
Porgia gathered up her basket and wrapped the other towel around herself. "I think it would be best if you let him bring you inside." The telepath grinned. "You're still technically a princess, you know. How many chances are you going to get for an actual prince to carry you around?"
"I dislike you so very much right now." Flare's green eyes narrowed at her friend, but she was too tired to argue anymore. She let her head rest on Vegeta's shoulder, her wet curls soaking through his shirt as he followed Porgia and Avery inside. Goku trailed behind as far as the kitchen, where he got distracted by the food Bulma was setting out and sat down to eat.
'Baka,' Vegeta thought to himself as he followed the other two Guardians upstairs. Flare's shivering finally began to fade as his own high Saiyan body temperature warmed her up. They turned down a short hallway with only one, large door at the end of it.
"This is Flare's room," Avery said, opening the door and switching on the light. The bedroom was decorated in a variety of earth tones – coffee browns, brick reds, pale oranges – and all of the furniture was large and comfortable looking. Vegeta waited while the two women cleared some things off of Flare's bed and pulled the blankets back. "Just sit her on the edge there, we'll get her into some dry clothes and get her tucked in." Avery grinned. "Thank you for carrying her up here, Vegeta."
The Saiyan gently lowered Flare onto her bed, she had finally stopped shivering now and he was surprised to see that her curls were almost completely dry again.
"Thanks," Flare smiled weakly up at him, her eyes suddenly became heavy again.
"We've got it from here," Porgia gave him a gentle push out the door. "Could you tell the others we'll be down in a few minutes?"
Vegeta nodded and pulled the heavy door shut behind him.
(*Song lyrics from "Won't Do That No More", sung and recorded by Chelsea Ferrell.)