"Aunt Christen! Aunt Christen! Do you think I've gotten stronger?" Gohan jumped after he was able to best Piccolo in a sparring match. It was one full year since the destruction of Planet Namek, and life was quite comfortable here on what was now New Namek. Ever since I've started training my nephew, progress has been unbelievable. Gohan's fighting capability was as great as Piccolo's, and he was only five and a half! And this planet also had a secret that Vegeta uncovered while searching for travel pods/parts to make the pods with. It turns out that this planet used to manufacture thousands of these links to other planets, and that there was a huge abandoned warehouse with hundreds stored inside! The beings who were here previously must have made a hefty profit if they exported them to other planets.
"Great job, Gohan! How about we take a little break, okay?"
Vegeta showed up and said, "So do you think we should go now? It's been one year, we should probably head back to Earth."
"Yeah, we prob'ly should head back, if we want to get there before Frieza." I sighed. I must admit, though, the Namekians have really adapted nicely to their new surroundings, even more so when considering the circumstances that lead to this in the first place, I thought as I stared at the utopia once more.
"So, we're finally going back home?"
"Yes, Gohan. We're going back. Thanks to Vegeta for locating all those space pods." The four of us flew to the abandoned warehouse, somehow continuing its normal manufacturing.
"All right, we each get a pod and once inside, you are to put in coordinates 1-5-6-4-0-0-23. That should put us in the wasteland like last time." Vegeta commanded everyone as we stepped in our galactic transportation. Waiting for the pods to respond to the coordinates, we all took off for Gohan's home planet. Lying down, I thought about Kakarot and where he could possibly be. I apologize for getting you involved in any of that, Kakarot, but I'm glad you accompanied me nonetheless...I don't know what I would've done without you there, but your family will be patiently awaiting your return, big brother.
"Chris. Are you awake?" the voice made me jolt up and I saw Vegeta's face on the screen.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"I don't know where his location is, but Kakarot sent me a quick message before his screen cut off. He wanted me to let you know that he's okay, thanks to that escape pod he found, but he won't be back for awhile." My mind went blank for a moment, but quickly went back to normal.
"So, it was him the whole time? I wasn't hallucinating any of it?" I wondered out loud, catching the Saiyan Prince's attention.
"Hallucinations? Are you well, Christen? You're not 'tripping,' are you?" he asked in a way that confused himself.
"No, I'm perfectly sane, Vegeta. But why would Kakarot want to wait awhile before coming back to Earth?"
"The same reason we waited an entire year before returning, to train and become more powerful." he responded. I nodded and stared at the stars from the little window in the pod. I've only seen you for a few days after a little more than a decade, and I think your care-free attitude has rubbed off on me still, Kakarot.
"Well, we should get some rest. See you when we reach Earth." After shutting down the communication system, I finally got some well deserved rest.
"Time until destination is one hour! Time until destination is one hour!" the computer blared at me. One hour? What happened to 'ten minutes'? I turned off the alarm and rolled back over to sleep. This thing should know when to actually wake me....
At the last few minutes, I slowly and reluctantly got up to see if we had landed yet. I rubbed my eyes when I felt like I had crashed during a rough landing and my face was launched directly into the controls, shattering the screen and the computer itself. Sitting back up, everything was drenched in my blood.
"I gotta get outta here." I groaned, but my vision had started to blur again. What's wrong with me, I wondered as I lied back down.
"Aunt Christen, wake up! Aunt Christen?" Gohan shook me, but I was too far out there to respond coherently. "Vegeta! Aunt Christen isn't getting up!"
"Damn it! We need to stop her forehead from bleeding! Quick, boy, where is someone who can heal her?"
"I know! I know! We need to find Bulma!" Gohan declared. Huh? Who's this Bulma? Am I that badly injured? Damn those space travel pods...
"The head trauma she's experienced is incredible. It's a miracle that she was awake as long as you say, Gohan," echoed an unfamiliar voice. "I may not be a doctor, but I don't think she'll be up for a while."
"Then you're not really thinking, are you?" I muttered to myself. From the sound of the voice, it was a female who was speaking. Opening my eyes, I tried to look around but an extremely bright light shined in my face like I was an experiment. "Turn off the lights, I already got a headache." I groaned and the lights were cut off.
"Thanks. Where am I?" I sat up, rubbing my head that was already bandaged. My body felt like it was being squeezed when I heard someone say, "Aunt Christen! You're alive!!" Once Gohan released his grip, I took a better look at this place.
"So you're Goku's sister. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Bulma. I've known Goku for years," she smiled. This Bulma person had light blue hair but it was similar to a large shrub. She wore a striped orange dress that stopped just above her knees which contradicted the clothing that Chi-Chi wore. Her face was very young, like a child's with kind, yet naive eyes. Unlike everyone else, she had a fierce look to her eyes, but not like a warrior's. She's definitely unique, that much I can say.
"Nice to meet you, Bulma. A friend of Kakarot's is a friend of mine." I told her, but she was confused when I said Kakarot instead of Goku. Standing up from the table I rested on, I noticed I wasn't wearing my martial arts outfit, but clothes with 'Capsule Corp.' printed on it. "What? Where are my clothes? Where's my sword?! What did you do?!"
"Calm down, I'm washing your clothes right now. It must've been one heck of a fight you were in if your outfit was that bloody. Your sword is over there, I didn't do anything, don't worry." she replied, pointing to a counter where my weapon was. This place was so confusing, I'd never seen so much technology in one place before!
"I need to get outta here. This place is so strange." I whispered.
"Hm? What was that? Oh well, this place is Capsule Corporation, a very wealthy company that my father owns. It makes your average everyday life easier with the convenience with capsules." Bulma said with a sense of pride. As she talked, I looked back and forth but Vegeta was nowhere in sight. Neither was Piccolo, for that matter. "Gohan, where are they?"
"Piccolo decided to stay on that planet, and Vegeta's taking a shower."
"And boy, did he need it! For a Saiyan or whatever he calls it, hygiene must not be one of his top priorities," Bulma laughed.
"The Saiyan race is a warrior race. Just because we don't worry about our appearance doesn't mean you have the right to judge any Saiyan like that." I never thought Kakarot could befriend someone so petty, I shook my head and stepped over to the counter Bulma pointed at earlier to retrieve my blade.
"I did research on that sword of yours, 'cause that's what I do," Bulma giggled, "And it turns out that your sword is made out of this weird material called Zenkai. My computer hasn't analyzed anything like it before."
"Cool. My father entrusted me with it. I hoped I could kill Frieza with it...but he pulled my tail. I was so close, too! But we can't always get what we want..."
"What's so bad about that? He only pulled your tail, right?" she asked, unaware of the one true weakness a tail gives a Saiyan. I can't believe this! She's known Kakarot for years, but she acts like she's just found out about the Saiyan race! How much longer must I deal with this constant ignorance?
Before I was able to explain to Bulma how sensitive my tail was, Vegeta called out, "Service woman! Bring me a drying cloth!" I snickered at how commanding was Vegeta was to Bulma.
"Forget it! And I'm not your service woman, my name is Bulma!!" she screamed back.
"Forget the drying cloth, then! Where are my garments?!"
"I put some clothes out for you!" Wow, this is actually pretty funny. Vegeta and Bulma at each other's throats and they don't even know each other. "Honestly!" Bulma huffed, "How did you deal with him for so long?"
"I know! I know! It's because Vegeta --" I cut Gohan off before he finished his sentence. "Gohan, that isn't something to broadcast to the entire planet, lemme explain this, please?"
Bulma was confused at where I was going with that, but I had explained the deal with Vegeta's attitude without letting my feelings for him be known. "You see, Vegeta may seem stubborn and a bit rude, but he's actually not such a bad guy when you get to know him. He's saved me from that Frieza creep twice, wished me to complete health after I had nearly died, and respects me despite the fact I'm related to a Low-Class Saiyan. He's not a bad guy, he's just a Saiyan."
"That's Prince of All Saiyans to you, Chris! I can't believe that woman has me wearing this. I'm a Saiyan, not a flower!" Vegeta shouted angrily as he walked out. He was wearing yellow pants, and a... pink shirt?! He looked at my clothing and asked, "What happened to your garments? You look so... bizarre in Earthling clothing."
"Not as bad as a pink shirt, Vegeta. Does that shirt say 'Bad Man' on the back? Wow, I never thought I'd catch you wearing that." I teased.
"Hmph! At least it describes my personality better than your clothes do for you!" he smirked. Finally, he left the Capsule Corporation building and the blue-haired woman smiled playfully.
"Oh, I get it! You love him!"
