Chapter Twenty-Five: Prince Gohan Chloe's Fiancée
A grand reception was held in the Palace ballroom, and everyone,
even the smallest children were dancing. Gracina and Lektron were dancing close
together, and it was likewise with all spouses. Tayla was delighted when
Bendros had asked her to dance with him, and she had immediately accepted.
Lelina danced with Kekron, and Kekron's dancing had improved immensely; he did
not step on anyone's feet this time. Riccan insisted that Tayla dance with him,
after she was done with Bendros, and Tayla did so, even though Riccan's style of
dancing resembled sparring.
Rojal was looking miserable, because as the Crown Prince of Chloe,
heir apparent to Shalila's throne, he had to dance with all of his closest
female relatives in the Mantros Chloe family, from Shalila, his mother, his
sister and all of his aunts (which included Tayla), to his youngest female
cousins that could walk. He would have rather gone outside in the courtyard and
sparred with his uncles Arlon and Lukan, and his cousin Dedron, but he knew that
his mother would yell at him, if he did not follow tradition. Rojal would
rather have his mother cuff him, than nag at him. He was currently dancing
miserably with his cousin, Petalia, who was thoroughly enjoying herself and
flirting with him. Petalia made him dance with her three times, and twice she
had stepped on his feet. Petalia was determined to get Rojal to marry her when
they grew older, and she also bore a crush on him under her opportunistic
exterior.
Tayla was leading the other children, which included the Meatian
girl, Veal, in a group dance, with all of them holding hands and playing a game
similar to ring-around-a-rosy. The children were just learning the group dance,
but they were having fun, laughing and tumbling over each other happily. The
girls dusted off their caftans in between movements, and the boys had started
sparring with each other, something the girls couldn't do because they were
wearing their best dresses. They all took off their dress shoes and began
sliding merrily on the slick ballroom floor in the children's corner of the
ballroom.
"Let's have a foot sliding contest!" Tayla suggested loudly.
"First girl that falls has to dance with Rojal!" Riccan cried. The
girls groaned. Kekron was relieved to hear this, because it used to be that the
first falling girl would have had to dance with him, who used to always step on
his partner's toes.
"First boy that falls has to dance with Petalia!" Lelina cried. The
boys all gagged at this, for Petalia trampled as many feet as Kekron used to.
Tayla upped the dare. "First boy that falls has to kiss Petalia!
On the lips too!"
The boys gagged louder than ever. Riccan retched and declared that the first
girl to fall would have to kiss Rojal on his lips. All the girls stuck their
tongues out at Riccan in unladylike manners.
All the children stood in a row, and they all began sliding across
the floor some more, trying to keep from falling down. They were laughing and
shouting, and they all gave poor Kekron a hard time when he slipped and fell.
"Kekron has to kiss Petalia!" Jaca squealed.
"Kekron kiss Petalia!" Nikon repeated.
Kekron retched, and all of the boys looked at him with unspoken
sympathy. Tayla went over to comfort her nephew, but then she slipped and fell
on her bottom!
"Tayla has to kiss Rojal!" Riccan cried.
Tayla stuck her tongue out at Riccan in an unladylike manner, as she
rubbed her sore bottom. The children alternated between sympathizing with Tayla
and Rojal and mocking them for falling down first. Only Veal completely
sympathized with Tayla and Kekron, and she patted both of their backs.
"Well, come on, Tayla," Kekron told her, "let's get this over with."
Tayla's misery reflected his. She wished she had never mentioned kissing to any
of their peers.
"Hey, about you two kiss them with your tongues in their mouths!"
Jaca cried out. The children all looked at Jaca with horror. Kissing with
tongues was something strange and forbidding to them, something that only
grown-ups did.
"Yuck!" everyone chorused. Tayla and Kekron both gagged.
Tayla and Kekron sought out Rojal and Petalia; they both wanted to
get this over with as soon as possible. Finally, they saw Rojal trying to get
out of dancing with the annoying Petalia for a fifth time. He was squirming to
free himself from Petalia's firm grip. Kekron trembled, until Tayla nudged him.
"Um, Petalia," Kekron interrupted, "may I see you for a moment?"
"That's a good idea," Rojal crowed; it was rare that he and Kekron
were in agreement on anything. "Petalia, I have to sit down, for just a minute.
Please go see what Kekron wants."
"But I'd rather stay with you, my darling Rojal!" Petalia purred.
Tayla and Kekron both groaned.
"Go with him!" Rojal ordered her sharply, "Or I'll never dance with
you again, no matter what my mother says!"
"Fine," Petalia moaned softly, as she followed Kekron away from
Rojal and Tayla. Tayla noticed a glimmer of a tear in Petalia's eye, and even
though Tayla did not think much of Petalia, she pitied her. Petalia was
extremely annoying, but Rojal was extremely cruel at times.
Rojal glared at Tayla darkly. "What do you want?" he sneered. He
could not abuse her because of his Seven Moons Oath to Great-Nama, but he could
snub her. He was thinking of going to the Temple to find a gullible Priest or
Priestess to release him from his oath.
"I just wanted to ask you something," Tayla told him shakily. She
really wanted to get this over with.
"And what's that?" Rojal asked with a sneer.
"My hair is caught in my necklace, so do you think you could
untangle it for me?"
"Can't you have Aunt Gracina or your maid do that?"
"I can't find them."
Rojal grumbled. He didn't want to help Tayla, but he didn't want
Tayla going to Great-Nama about him treating her badly again, so he bent down
towards Tayla. Tayla quickly threw her arms about Rojal's neck and swiftly
kissed him on his lips! Tayla then turned away fast and secretly wiped off her
lips, removing the taste of Rojal's mouth
"Yuck!" Rojal shrieked angrily. "I'll get you for that, brat!" He
scrubbed his lips with the back of his hand.
Tayla smirked then. "Bye, Rojal! Sorry to do that, but we had a
dare going! See you!" She began to trot off when Rojal made a grab for her.
He intended to seize the little wench and teach her a lesson about respecting
her betters, but then Gracina showed up near them.
Tayla threw her arms around Gracina's waist and hugged her tightly.
Gracina laughed and asked Tayla, "What is this about?"
"Nothing," Tayla told her innocently, "I just wanted to give you a
hug."
Gracina smiled broadly. "Aren't you sweet?" Rojal glared darkly at
Tayla. Gracina noticed and asked gently, "Why the sour face, Rojal?"
"Ask Tayla," he told his blond aunt through gritted teeth.
"Tayla?" Gracina asked, "What is this about?"
Tayla shrugged. "You know Rojal; he's always mad at me about
something." She gave Gracina another squeeze and ran back to join the other
children, who were congratulating Kekron for surviving a punch from Petalia
after he had kissed her. Kekron was rubbing his swollen eye.
"Rojal?" Gracina asked softly.
"Never mind, Aunt Gracina, it was nothing important," Rojal
grumbled. Gracina always took Tayla's side, no matter what. She'd never
believe him. He stormed off, and Gracina wondered what children were up to
these days.
Gohan was proudly escorting the young, dark-skinned woman besides
him, as she looked nervously about the ballroom. Whispers and stares followed
her everywhere; no one snubbed or mistreated her, but they were all stunned by
her presence. Who was she?
Shalila and Dirkan were determined to find out, so they approached
Gohan and his companion. Shalila smiled kindly at the young woman, for she knew
what race the woman was from, and where she had came from.
The dark-skinned woman was Human, from planet Earth.
Shalila's smile turned to a puzzled frown. How did an Earthling
make it to Astoria? And what was she with Gohan for? Shalila had seen black
Earthlings before, but it had been so many years that the young woman's presence
had startled her at first. Shalila returned to her smile, and she held out both
hands to the strange Human.
The Human woman, uncertain as what to do, embraced Shalila quickly,
even though technically she was supposed to shake both of Shalila's hands with
her own, like any proper Astorian would have done.
"I am Superior Gran Shalila, ruler of Astoria, and Gohan's mother,"
Shalila told the woman gently. "May I ask your name?"
"Hazel Louise Carr, ma'am," the woman told her in a rough, yet
honey-coated voice. "Congratulations on your marriage." She was thankful that
she had learned to speak proper grammar years ago and abandon her "street talk",
with words and phrases normal to her culture, but that would be considered
bizarre to the Astorians.
"Thank you," Shalila told her graciously
"Mother, I wish to marry Miss Carr," Gohan told her. "We left for
Astoria early in order to be there for you and Dirkan and to secure your
blessing for our marriage."
Shalila did not give consent right away. She wanted to interview
the young woman first, and find out how she had wandered so far from Earth-and
what Gohan had seen in her.
"Miss Carr, please come with my husband and I," Shalila told her.
Hazel did not move right away; she was staring at Superior Granden Dirkan, for
she had never seen a Namek before.
Gohan gently nudged her. "Go with her, Hazel. She is a good woman,
my mother."
Hazel nervously did so, hoping that her beloved Gohan's mother meant
good intentions. She looked fearfully at Shalila and Dirkan, as she followed
them out to the courtyard.
"Miss Carr," Shalila told her quietly. "I understand that you wish
to marry my son." They were all sitting on stone benches in the courtyard.
"Why, yes ma'am, I do," Hazel Louise Carr crooned a bit nervously.
"I love your son very much, Mrs. Chloe."
Shalila allowed the incorrect addressing to slide; Earthlings had to
have some allowances made for them. "You are from Earth, aren't you? A human
woman?"
Hazel nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Why did you leave Earth?" Dirkan asked her.
Hazel looked down. "You see, Mr.-um, um..."
"Commander Dirkan," Dirkan told her, "But Dirkan alone will do fine. You may
continue, Miss Carr."
"Well," Hazel stammered, "my story is a strange one. I was a
college student. I graduated with a degree in astronomy, but I was also
studying astrophysics and music-I love to sing. I was also an intern for
Capsule Corp., that's a company that puts any kind of item or product in little
capsules; I have some of the capsules with me, if you wish to see them."
"Later, we would, yes," Shalila told her. She had lived on Earth a
long time ago, and she knew about Capsule Corp. "About Capsule Corp., Miss
Carr, does a Dr. Boxer Briefs and his wife, Thong, still run it?"
"No, ma'am, they have retired. Dr. Briefs' son, Dr. Whitey John
Briefs runs it now. He has a wife named Sara and a little girl named Bulma. I
thought that Bulma was a pretty little thing with lavender hair and big blue
eyes. She's as smart as a whip, Mrs. Chloe, and she's already inventing things,
like her daddy and granddaddy. She was nine years old when I left Earth-that
was two years ago."
"How did you leave, Miss Carr?" Dirkan asked her.
"Capsule Corp. had just opened a space travel division, and I was to
be one of the first astronauts to test their spacecrafts. I was a junior in
college at the time, but I took a year off from school to be in the program.
They had been building a new space station for years, and it was finally
complete. I was the head technician of that space station, and two months after
it was complete and tested, it was launched into space. We traveled lightly;
all of us got one suitcase apiece with all of our essentials in those little
capsules. Everything was going unusually well, until the space station that was
set near Earth was knocked out of orbit by an unexpected comet! The space
station that we were on was pushed into space, and we had radioed a message for
help back to Earth, and as far as we know, Earth sent out rescue teams, but they
didn't make it time for-for"
Hazel began to tremble then. Shalila stopped a passing servant and
ordered him to bring Hazel a glass of milk, and the servant went to do her
bidding. Hazel took a deep breath and continued:
"Two months later, we were still waiting for help and floating about
helplessly in space. Our space station had quickly made it as far as Neptune,
and there some strange space pods hovered near our station's landing port. One
of the voices that managed to get through to our communication room was smooth
and a bit snobbish. He introduced himself as Zarbon, and he assured us that he
and his three companions, Dodoria, Balair, and Diamonique had come to us in
peace."
Shalila and Dirkan both gasped in horror. How far did Frieza's
power reach? Earth and Neptune were in the Milky Way Galaxy, near the star,
Solaris (Earth and Neptune's sun). The Milky Way was a good three-year journey
from Astoria in the Rosetta Galaxy. Frieza was expanding his empire, and the
thought alone made them both shiver with terror.
Hazel tried not to note how her words were affecting Astoria's
rulers. Instead she looked up in the starry night sky at the aforementioned
Solaris; Gohan had told her that was the name for her Earth's sun. With a good
telescope, Solaris' nine known planets could be seen, even little Earth. Hazel
wished she had her lover's telescope right now, so that she could see her home
planet. She just then remembered that Polaris, also known as the North Star,
was the sun for Astoria and seventeen other planets. Homesickness struck Hazel
just then; she realized that it was a slim chance that she would ever see her
planet or her family again; Gohan had promised her that one day they would go
back to Earth to visit, but with Frieza and his minions running about the
universe, extended space travel was too risky, especially for non-business
trips.
Tears clouded Hazel's cocoa brown eyes; even though she had come
from a rough neighborhood on Earth, she still missed her family, her mother,
grandmother, two sisters, and three brothers. She had worked her way through
school, while growing up in the slums of downtown East St. Louis, Illinois,
United States of America, Earth. Despite the enormous crime and gang activity
in her neighborhood, she had beaten the odds and graduated as valedictorian of
her high school and college classes, and she had been an excellent science
student, music student, and athlete; Hazel had led a busy and full life. She
had been extremely fortunate for someone who had grown up in such a dangerous
area of East St. Louis. Her five siblings and friends had not been as lucky;
her two sisters now had children out of wedlock, and one of her brothers had
been involved in a gang. He was now in prison for fifteen years. Another one
of her brothers had joined the Army after he had graduated from high school (he
and Hazel had been the only ones to do so) and no one had seen him or heard from
him since. The third brother was living with his girlfriend and received his
income from mysterious and ominous sources.
Her mother and grandmother had done the best they could for the children, but
her grandmother had been ill and crippled for much of Hazel's life, and her
mother had to work two full time jobs in order to support her large family. Her
mother had no time to supervise or attend to her children, and they had to fend
for themselves most of the time when their mother had not been home. Their
father had abandoned them.
Hazel had been planning to establish herself at Capsule Corp., so
that she could get her family out of the East St. Louis slums. But she had
never made it back to Earth, and it was unlikely that she ever would, unless
Frieza was destroyed in her lifetime. She was twenty-three years old, and she
would never see Earth again. She was a beautiful, graceful young black woman,
once destined for a great career as a Capsule Corp. technician, and now-
Well, maybe things didn't work out entirely too badly, after all.
She had met a wonderful intergalactic police chief who was twenty years older
than she was, and by the time they had fallen in love with each other, she had
found out he was a prince, a prince from an alien race, but nevertheless a
prince! Not that Hazel wouldn't have loved him anyway, but she was a bit
tickled to know that a prince had fallen in love with her, ordinary Hazel Louise
Carr, from the dirtiest, dangerous slums of an inner city. If only her family
knew! If only her reprobate, deadbeat father, who had abandoned her and her
entire family, knew! That scumbag had not bothered to pay child support for
them, since Hazel had been a baby. And if Gohan's mother, Superior Gran
Shalila, gave consent, she and her beloved Gohan would be married and together
forever! And as icing on the cake, she would be a princess! But even if Gohan
had not been royalty, Hazel would have loved and married him anyway. Hazel
thought that it was odd that a forty-three year old man would ask his mother's
permission and blessing to marry, but she tried to understand that Gohan's
culture was entirely different from her own.
Dirkan regained his composure before Shalila did. "Continue your
story, Miss Carr," he told her firmly.
"Our leader was hesitant to allow them to stay aboard, but we
figured we may as well let them know that we at least accepted them in peace.
So, our crew leader gave this Zarbon and his friends the permission to board,
and that would turn out to be a fatal mistake. For you see, they meant to make
us their captives, and only two of us knew how to really fight; there were
seventeen of us on board at the time. One of the astronauts with us was Bhodie
Lett, a powerful ex-kung-fu instructor-turned -astronaut. I had a bit of a
crush on him at the time, although he was white and I was black. Bhodie managed
to put up a good fight, along with Jung Su, a female karate instructor-turned-astronaut. The blue-haired girl called Diamonique broke Jung's windpipe with just one blow, and that-that-that monster, a red lizard named Balair turned himself into gas-vaporized himself literally-and that red cloud of gas entered the lungs of half of our crew and caused them to explode!
Right before our eyes! Oh my! No!" Hazel's body began to shake, and she
started to sob. Shalila lent the sobbing girl her handkerchief. Shalila's eyes
were starting to look moist.
"Only eight of us were left, and Zarbon gave the order to have the
rest of us killed, except for Bhodie, whom he decided would make a good recruit
for that strange beast named Frieza. The rest of the crew didn't stand a
chance, and the pink puffball named Dodoria blasted them away with a blast of
fire from his mouth! His mouth, I tell you!"
"Bhodie and I ran for our lives then, and we barely managed to make
it to an escape ship before Zarbon and Dodoria caught up to us!" Hazel was
wheezing for air by then. "They-they captured Bhodie, Zarbon and Dodoria did,
and I wasn't able to stop them! The door to the escape pod was already open,
and after struggling to keep Zarbon from capturing me, I accidentally fell
inside the ship and hit the start button, which closed the hatch to the pod and
launched the craft! I screamed out to Bhodie, but Diamonique had hit Bhodie
hard in the back of his head, rendering him unconscious, and of course, he
couldn't hear me! The pod was already out in space, and it was too late for me
to save him! And then to my other horror, Zarbon and Dodoria chased my craft
into space, and they didn't wear spacesuits or anything; they simply survived in
space without any means of support, Mrs. Chloe! I buckled myself in on time,
and I tried to speed up the escape pod, as fast as I could! I had no idea where
my little ship was headed, but I could not shake Zarbon and Dodoria, to save my
soul! Finally they caught up with me, in what seemed to be days, but in space,
I had no concept of actual time, except for my watch." Hazel gulped down the
milk that Shalila's servant had just given to her.
"I thought my life was over, but then a strange ship came along,
decked out in blue and green, and it wasn't until later I learned that it was an
Intergalacticpol ship; I didn't know the universe had an intergalactic police
force! And then Gohan and his men saved me from Zarbon and Dodoria. I am very
thankful for that, I assure you, Mrs. Chloe, although I am sorry for the lives
that were taken trying to rescue me. Gohan and his police officers managed to
scare Zarbon and Dodoria off, and Gohan was mad because he couldn't capture them
and force them to lead him to Frieza. I had never seen this Frieza, except in
pictures, but he was Gohan's main target; the Intergalacticpol had an "shoot to
kill" warrant out on him, and arrest warrants for many of his elite men,
including the monkey men called Saiyans. I remember a warrant being out for a
little boy named Prince Vegeta, and I thought that it was strange that a police
force would be after a little boy, but Gohan told me how much damage a little
Saiyan child could do, and I was stunned, to say the least."
"Prince Vegeta," Dirkan informed Hazel briefly, "tried to kidnap
Princess Tayla, Shalila's granddaughter and your Gohan's niece, with the help of
a couple of his friends. They were going to take her to Frieza to force the
poor child to work for him."
"I don't think Gohan knew that much. He was mainly after little
Vegeta because he had blown up a planet called Dungess. Last time, I heard,
Gohan and his superiors were talking about placing "shoot to kill" orders out on
all full-blooded Saiyans, including their children."
"Well," Shalila told her, "there are only two Saiyans left that we
know of, the Prince Vegeta and his sister, Princess Journa. Frieza blew up
Planet Vegeta."
Hazel nodded knowingly. "That is what Gohan is investigating
now-the explosion of Planet Vegeta. It was another reason we came to Astoria,
so that he could question the Meatian refugees."
She continued, "Gohan and I have been traveling around the universe
for an entire year and a half; well I'm counting that in Earth years, but
Astorian years may be different. The Earth year is three-hundred-and-sixty-five
days, and one extra day is added to a leap year, which is every four years."
Shalila smiled slowly. "I was aware of that, my dear; I lived on
Earth from the time I was eight to the time I was seventeen. The Astorian year
isn't that much different."
"Do you have any plans to try to go back to Earth?" Dirkan asked her.
Hazel sighed. "I'd love to go back, at least to see my family and
let them know that I'm alive, but I know it's unlikely I will ever get to go
home again. Not that I want to leave Gohan, but I wish I could go to Earth one
last time."
Shalila looked at Hazel sadly. "I wish there was a way we could get
you back home to Earth, but such a journey, Miss Carr, would take us three to
five years to get you there. I myself did not make the entire journey to
Astoria by spaceship; the North Kai had trained me, and then he had me
teleported to planet Eastra, where the East Kai resides, and after training with
her, Dirkan and I went here. The journey from Eastra to Astoria took two years,
and we had one of the fastest ships available at the time. Of course, maybe
some ships are so fast now that you could be transported to Earth within months.
But unfortunately, we cannot spare anyone to escort you to Earth at this time;
we have plenty to worry with Frieza. But I do promise you, Miss Carr, that we
will find a way someday to get you home, if you really need to go back."
Hazel smiled wistfully, even though she was confused as to whom the
East Kai and the North Kai were. "I don't absolutely have to go back right
away, Mrs. Chloe. I wish to marry your son, and I would not mind living here
for the rest of my life; I just miss my family so much. I wish they could be
here with me, at least."
"Maybe someday, if Frieza is destroyed in your lifetime," Dirkan
told her.
"Do you think you could be happy here on Astoria?" Shalila asked.
"Astorians do many things here in a different way than Earthlings do, and our
philosophies and values differ greatly. For example, drinking alcohol and
smoking are not allowed here, and some things that Earth has, Astoria does not
have, and vice versa."
Hazel nodded. She was glad that she had given up smoking three
years before she started work at Capsule Corp., she had been smoking since she
had been fourteen, but she managed successfully to quit at age twenty. Hazel
was a bit disappointed about the alcohol though; she loved a can of her favorite
beer now and then, but Gohan had already told her that alcohol was not permitted
on Astoria. And during college, she had loved to go "clubbing" with her
friends, and a bit of barhopping. She loved a good party, as well as any Earth
woman of America did, but she suspected the only parties on Astoria were like
those she had seen tonight.
She truly was on another planet. She had fit in perfectly in her
"posse" on Earth, with her best girlfriends, having fun when they weren't
studying hard. But she had heard that most Astorian women her age were already
married with children, and Astorian princesses had maids to wait on them.
Astorian women were career women too, but they were three times more
conservative than some Earth women were. Hazel knew that her short lavender
dress had shocked many of the Astorian women, who always wore long caftans with
sashes when they weren't training for combat. And Astorian women were so
protected, despite the fact that many of them were warriors.
Gohan had told her that Astorian children learned things rapidly,
and that there were teenagers performing complicated tasks such as brain
surgery. And Hazel had witnesses some of Gohan's fighting powers and ki
attacks, which had frightened her at first, until she realized that he would
never use those powers to harm innocent people. The Astorians were an odd, but
wonderful breed.
And they had so many advantages over Earthlings. The Astorians were
far ahead of their time in the medical treatments and technology. The
Earthlings were still fighting to find cures for venereal diseases, cancer,
sickle cell disease, colds, influenza, and various other deadly diseases, but
the Astorians had cures for almost all of them. And as for AIDS, the Astorians
had never heard of it; it seemed to be strictly an Earth disease. Astorians
mated for life, and divorce was extremely rare. From what she had heard of
Astorians' sex lives, Astorian society was more tolerant of widows and widowers
having sex outside of marriage, but for never-married Astorians, premarital sex
was not tolerated at all. Sex for widows and widowers outside of marriage was
not thought greatly of either, but society tended to look the other way more for
them, especially if such an affair ended in marriage. Adultery was considered a
grave offense, and those who committed it were banned from their home Clans,
divorced, and generally shunned for the rest of their lives.
Hazel knew that the Clans were large family units who always looked
after their own kind, and a good Clan always insured that everyone member was
fed and clothed and care for. The Clans were like mini-cities, supplying
themselves with everything from food to free medical care.
Maybe Astoria wouldn't be so bad. And she would have Gohan, who had
insisted that they wait until they were married to have sex because Hazel had
never been married before, nor had she had sex before.
Princess Hazel Louise Carr Chloe. She said that name under her
breath, with only a faint note of caution.
"Yes, I could, Mrs. Chloe," Hazel told her brightly.
Shalila nodded approvingly. "Well then I don't see any reason why I
shouldn't give consent. You two have my permission to wed. We'll discuss
wedding details tomorrow. Farewell, and have a good time tonight." The three
arose and went back inside the ballroom.
A grand reception was held in the Palace ballroom, and everyone,
even the smallest children were dancing. Gracina and Lektron were dancing close
together, and it was likewise with all spouses. Tayla was delighted when
Bendros had asked her to dance with him, and she had immediately accepted.
Lelina danced with Kekron, and Kekron's dancing had improved immensely; he did
not step on anyone's feet this time. Riccan insisted that Tayla dance with him,
after she was done with Bendros, and Tayla did so, even though Riccan's style of
dancing resembled sparring.
Rojal was looking miserable, because as the Crown Prince of Chloe,
heir apparent to Shalila's throne, he had to dance with all of his closest
female relatives in the Mantros Chloe family, from Shalila, his mother, his
sister and all of his aunts (which included Tayla), to his youngest female
cousins that could walk. He would have rather gone outside in the courtyard and
sparred with his uncles Arlon and Lukan, and his cousin Dedron, but he knew that
his mother would yell at him, if he did not follow tradition. Rojal would
rather have his mother cuff him, than nag at him. He was currently dancing
miserably with his cousin, Petalia, who was thoroughly enjoying herself and
flirting with him. Petalia made him dance with her three times, and twice she
had stepped on his feet. Petalia was determined to get Rojal to marry her when
they grew older, and she also bore a crush on him under her opportunistic
exterior.
Tayla was leading the other children, which included the Meatian
girl, Veal, in a group dance, with all of them holding hands and playing a game
similar to ring-around-a-rosy. The children were just learning the group dance,
but they were having fun, laughing and tumbling over each other happily. The
girls dusted off their caftans in between movements, and the boys had started
sparring with each other, something the girls couldn't do because they were
wearing their best dresses. They all took off their dress shoes and began
sliding merrily on the slick ballroom floor in the children's corner of the
ballroom.
"Let's have a foot sliding contest!" Tayla suggested loudly.
"First girl that falls has to dance with Rojal!" Riccan cried. The
girls groaned. Kekron was relieved to hear this, because it used to be that the
first falling girl would have had to dance with him, who used to always step on
his partner's toes.
"First boy that falls has to dance with Petalia!" Lelina cried. The
boys all gagged at this, for Petalia trampled as many feet as Kekron used to.
Tayla upped the dare. "First boy that falls has to kiss Petalia!
On the lips too!"
The boys gagged louder than ever. Riccan retched and declared that the first
girl to fall would have to kiss Rojal on his lips. All the girls stuck their
tongues out at Riccan in unladylike manners.
All the children stood in a row, and they all began sliding across
the floor some more, trying to keep from falling down. They were laughing and
shouting, and they all gave poor Kekron a hard time when he slipped and fell.
"Kekron has to kiss Petalia!" Jaca squealed.
"Kekron kiss Petalia!" Nikon repeated.
Kekron retched, and all of the boys looked at him with unspoken
sympathy. Tayla went over to comfort her nephew, but then she slipped and fell
on her bottom!
"Tayla has to kiss Rojal!" Riccan cried.
Tayla stuck her tongue out at Riccan in an unladylike manner, as she
rubbed her sore bottom. The children alternated between sympathizing with Tayla
and Rojal and mocking them for falling down first. Only Veal completely
sympathized with Tayla and Kekron, and she patted both of their backs.
"Well, come on, Tayla," Kekron told her, "let's get this over with."
Tayla's misery reflected his. She wished she had never mentioned kissing to any
of their peers.
"Hey, about you two kiss them with your tongues in their mouths!"
Jaca cried out. The children all looked at Jaca with horror. Kissing with
tongues was something strange and forbidding to them, something that only
grown-ups did.
"Yuck!" everyone chorused. Tayla and Kekron both gagged.
Tayla and Kekron sought out Rojal and Petalia; they both wanted to
get this over with as soon as possible. Finally, they saw Rojal trying to get
out of dancing with the annoying Petalia for a fifth time. He was squirming to
free himself from Petalia's firm grip. Kekron trembled, until Tayla nudged him.
"Um, Petalia," Kekron interrupted, "may I see you for a moment?"
"That's a good idea," Rojal crowed; it was rare that he and Kekron
were in agreement on anything. "Petalia, I have to sit down, for just a minute.
Please go see what Kekron wants."
"But I'd rather stay with you, my darling Rojal!" Petalia purred.
Tayla and Kekron both groaned.
"Go with him!" Rojal ordered her sharply, "Or I'll never dance with
you again, no matter what my mother says!"
"Fine," Petalia moaned softly, as she followed Kekron away from
Rojal and Tayla. Tayla noticed a glimmer of a tear in Petalia's eye, and even
though Tayla did not think much of Petalia, she pitied her. Petalia was
extremely annoying, but Rojal was extremely cruel at times.
Rojal glared at Tayla darkly. "What do you want?" he sneered. He
could not abuse her because of his Seven Moons Oath to Great-Nama, but he could
snub her. He was thinking of going to the Temple to find a gullible Priest or
Priestess to release him from his oath.
"I just wanted to ask you something," Tayla told him shakily. She
really wanted to get this over with.
"And what's that?" Rojal asked with a sneer.
"My hair is caught in my necklace, so do you think you could
untangle it for me?"
"Can't you have Aunt Gracina or your maid do that?"
"I can't find them."
Rojal grumbled. He didn't want to help Tayla, but he didn't want
Tayla going to Great-Nama about him treating her badly again, so he bent down
towards Tayla. Tayla quickly threw her arms about Rojal's neck and swiftly
kissed him on his lips! Tayla then turned away fast and secretly wiped off her
lips, removing the taste of Rojal's mouth
"Yuck!" Rojal shrieked angrily. "I'll get you for that, brat!" He
scrubbed his lips with the back of his hand.
Tayla smirked then. "Bye, Rojal! Sorry to do that, but we had a
dare going! See you!" She began to trot off when Rojal made a grab for her.
He intended to seize the little wench and teach her a lesson about respecting
her betters, but then Gracina showed up near them.
Tayla threw her arms around Gracina's waist and hugged her tightly.
Gracina laughed and asked Tayla, "What is this about?"
"Nothing," Tayla told her innocently, "I just wanted to give you a
hug."
Gracina smiled broadly. "Aren't you sweet?" Rojal glared darkly at
Tayla. Gracina noticed and asked gently, "Why the sour face, Rojal?"
"Ask Tayla," he told his blond aunt through gritted teeth.
"Tayla?" Gracina asked, "What is this about?"
Tayla shrugged. "You know Rojal; he's always mad at me about
something." She gave Gracina another squeeze and ran back to join the other
children, who were congratulating Kekron for surviving a punch from Petalia
after he had kissed her. Kekron was rubbing his swollen eye.
"Rojal?" Gracina asked softly.
"Never mind, Aunt Gracina, it was nothing important," Rojal
grumbled. Gracina always took Tayla's side, no matter what. She'd never
believe him. He stormed off, and Gracina wondered what children were up to
these days.
Gohan was proudly escorting the young, dark-skinned woman besides
him, as she looked nervously about the ballroom. Whispers and stares followed
her everywhere; no one snubbed or mistreated her, but they were all stunned by
her presence. Who was she?
Shalila and Dirkan were determined to find out, so they approached
Gohan and his companion. Shalila smiled kindly at the young woman, for she knew
what race the woman was from, and where she had came from.
The dark-skinned woman was Human, from planet Earth.
Shalila's smile turned to a puzzled frown. How did an Earthling
make it to Astoria? And what was she with Gohan for? Shalila had seen black
Earthlings before, but it had been so many years that the young woman's presence
had startled her at first. Shalila returned to her smile, and she held out both
hands to the strange Human.
The Human woman, uncertain as what to do, embraced Shalila quickly,
even though technically she was supposed to shake both of Shalila's hands with
her own, like any proper Astorian would have done.
"I am Superior Gran Shalila, ruler of Astoria, and Gohan's mother,"
Shalila told the woman gently. "May I ask your name?"
"Hazel Louise Carr, ma'am," the woman told her in a rough, yet
honey-coated voice. "Congratulations on your marriage." She was thankful that
she had learned to speak proper grammar years ago and abandon her "street talk",
with words and phrases normal to her culture, but that would be considered
bizarre to the Astorians.
"Thank you," Shalila told her graciously
"Mother, I wish to marry Miss Carr," Gohan told her. "We left for
Astoria early in order to be there for you and Dirkan and to secure your
blessing for our marriage."
Shalila did not give consent right away. She wanted to interview
the young woman first, and find out how she had wandered so far from Earth-and
what Gohan had seen in her.
"Miss Carr, please come with my husband and I," Shalila told her.
Hazel did not move right away; she was staring at Superior Granden Dirkan, for
she had never seen a Namek before.
Gohan gently nudged her. "Go with her, Hazel. She is a good woman,
my mother."
Hazel nervously did so, hoping that her beloved Gohan's mother meant
good intentions. She looked fearfully at Shalila and Dirkan, as she followed
them out to the courtyard.
"Miss Carr," Shalila told her quietly. "I understand that you wish
to marry my son." They were all sitting on stone benches in the courtyard.
"Why, yes ma'am, I do," Hazel Louise Carr crooned a bit nervously.
"I love your son very much, Mrs. Chloe."
Shalila allowed the incorrect addressing to slide; Earthlings had to
have some allowances made for them. "You are from Earth, aren't you? A human
woman?"
Hazel nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Why did you leave Earth?" Dirkan asked her.
Hazel looked down. "You see, Mr.-um, um..."
"Commander Dirkan," Dirkan told her, "But Dirkan alone will do fine. You may
continue, Miss Carr."
"Well," Hazel stammered, "my story is a strange one. I was a
college student. I graduated with a degree in astronomy, but I was also
studying astrophysics and music-I love to sing. I was also an intern for
Capsule Corp., that's a company that puts any kind of item or product in little
capsules; I have some of the capsules with me, if you wish to see them."
"Later, we would, yes," Shalila told her. She had lived on Earth a
long time ago, and she knew about Capsule Corp. "About Capsule Corp., Miss
Carr, does a Dr. Boxer Briefs and his wife, Thong, still run it?"
"No, ma'am, they have retired. Dr. Briefs' son, Dr. Whitey John
Briefs runs it now. He has a wife named Sara and a little girl named Bulma. I
thought that Bulma was a pretty little thing with lavender hair and big blue
eyes. She's as smart as a whip, Mrs. Chloe, and she's already inventing things,
like her daddy and granddaddy. She was nine years old when I left Earth-that
was two years ago."
"How did you leave, Miss Carr?" Dirkan asked her.
"Capsule Corp. had just opened a space travel division, and I was to
be one of the first astronauts to test their spacecrafts. I was a junior in
college at the time, but I took a year off from school to be in the program.
They had been building a new space station for years, and it was finally
complete. I was the head technician of that space station, and two months after
it was complete and tested, it was launched into space. We traveled lightly;
all of us got one suitcase apiece with all of our essentials in those little
capsules. Everything was going unusually well, until the space station that was
set near Earth was knocked out of orbit by an unexpected comet! The space
station that we were on was pushed into space, and we had radioed a message for
help back to Earth, and as far as we know, Earth sent out rescue teams, but they
didn't make it time for-for"
Hazel began to tremble then. Shalila stopped a passing servant and
ordered him to bring Hazel a glass of milk, and the servant went to do her
bidding. Hazel took a deep breath and continued:
"Two months later, we were still waiting for help and floating about
helplessly in space. Our space station had quickly made it as far as Neptune,
and there some strange space pods hovered near our station's landing port. One
of the voices that managed to get through to our communication room was smooth
and a bit snobbish. He introduced himself as Zarbon, and he assured us that he
and his three companions, Dodoria, Balair, and Diamonique had come to us in
peace."
Shalila and Dirkan both gasped in horror. How far did Frieza's
power reach? Earth and Neptune were in the Milky Way Galaxy, near the star,
Solaris (Earth and Neptune's sun). The Milky Way was a good three-year journey
from Astoria in the Rosetta Galaxy. Frieza was expanding his empire, and the
thought alone made them both shiver with terror.
Hazel tried not to note how her words were affecting Astoria's
rulers. Instead she looked up in the starry night sky at the aforementioned
Solaris; Gohan had told her that was the name for her Earth's sun. With a good
telescope, Solaris' nine known planets could be seen, even little Earth. Hazel
wished she had her lover's telescope right now, so that she could see her home
planet. She just then remembered that Polaris, also known as the North Star,
was the sun for Astoria and seventeen other planets. Homesickness struck Hazel
just then; she realized that it was a slim chance that she would ever see her
planet or her family again; Gohan had promised her that one day they would go
back to Earth to visit, but with Frieza and his minions running about the
universe, extended space travel was too risky, especially for non-business
trips.
Tears clouded Hazel's cocoa brown eyes; even though she had come
from a rough neighborhood on Earth, she still missed her family, her mother,
grandmother, two sisters, and three brothers. She had worked her way through
school, while growing up in the slums of downtown East St. Louis, Illinois,
United States of America, Earth. Despite the enormous crime and gang activity
in her neighborhood, she had beaten the odds and graduated as valedictorian of
her high school and college classes, and she had been an excellent science
student, music student, and athlete; Hazel had led a busy and full life. She
had been extremely fortunate for someone who had grown up in such a dangerous
area of East St. Louis. Her five siblings and friends had not been as lucky;
her two sisters now had children out of wedlock, and one of her brothers had
been involved in a gang. He was now in prison for fifteen years. Another one
of her brothers had joined the Army after he had graduated from high school (he
and Hazel had been the only ones to do so) and no one had seen him or heard from
him since. The third brother was living with his girlfriend and received his
income from mysterious and ominous sources.
Her mother and grandmother had done the best they could for the children, but
her grandmother had been ill and crippled for much of Hazel's life, and her
mother had to work two full time jobs in order to support her large family. Her
mother had no time to supervise or attend to her children, and they had to fend
for themselves most of the time when their mother had not been home. Their
father had abandoned them.
Hazel had been planning to establish herself at Capsule Corp., so
that she could get her family out of the East St. Louis slums. But she had
never made it back to Earth, and it was unlikely that she ever would, unless
Frieza was destroyed in her lifetime. She was twenty-three years old, and she
would never see Earth again. She was a beautiful, graceful young black woman,
once destined for a great career as a Capsule Corp. technician, and now-
Well, maybe things didn't work out entirely too badly, after all.
She had met a wonderful intergalactic police chief who was twenty years older
than she was, and by the time they had fallen in love with each other, she had
found out he was a prince, a prince from an alien race, but nevertheless a
prince! Not that Hazel wouldn't have loved him anyway, but she was a bit
tickled to know that a prince had fallen in love with her, ordinary Hazel Louise
Carr, from the dirtiest, dangerous slums of an inner city. If only her family
knew! If only her reprobate, deadbeat father, who had abandoned her and her
entire family, knew! That scumbag had not bothered to pay child support for
them, since Hazel had been a baby. And if Gohan's mother, Superior Gran
Shalila, gave consent, she and her beloved Gohan would be married and together
forever! And as icing on the cake, she would be a princess! But even if Gohan
had not been royalty, Hazel would have loved and married him anyway. Hazel
thought that it was odd that a forty-three year old man would ask his mother's
permission and blessing to marry, but she tried to understand that Gohan's
culture was entirely different from her own.
Dirkan regained his composure before Shalila did. "Continue your
story, Miss Carr," he told her firmly.
"Our leader was hesitant to allow them to stay aboard, but we
figured we may as well let them know that we at least accepted them in peace.
So, our crew leader gave this Zarbon and his friends the permission to board,
and that would turn out to be a fatal mistake. For you see, they meant to make
us their captives, and only two of us knew how to really fight; there were
seventeen of us on board at the time. One of the astronauts with us was Bhodie
Lett, a powerful ex-kung-fu instructor-turned -astronaut. I had a bit of a
crush on him at the time, although he was white and I was black. Bhodie managed
to put up a good fight, along with Jung Su, a female karate instructor-turned-astronaut. The blue-haired girl called Diamonique broke Jung's windpipe with just one blow, and that-that-that monster, a red lizard named Balair turned himself into gas-vaporized himself literally-and that red cloud of gas entered the lungs of half of our crew and caused them to explode!
Right before our eyes! Oh my! No!" Hazel's body began to shake, and she
started to sob. Shalila lent the sobbing girl her handkerchief. Shalila's eyes
were starting to look moist.
"Only eight of us were left, and Zarbon gave the order to have the
rest of us killed, except for Bhodie, whom he decided would make a good recruit
for that strange beast named Frieza. The rest of the crew didn't stand a
chance, and the pink puffball named Dodoria blasted them away with a blast of
fire from his mouth! His mouth, I tell you!"
"Bhodie and I ran for our lives then, and we barely managed to make
it to an escape ship before Zarbon and Dodoria caught up to us!" Hazel was
wheezing for air by then. "They-they captured Bhodie, Zarbon and Dodoria did,
and I wasn't able to stop them! The door to the escape pod was already open,
and after struggling to keep Zarbon from capturing me, I accidentally fell
inside the ship and hit the start button, which closed the hatch to the pod and
launched the craft! I screamed out to Bhodie, but Diamonique had hit Bhodie
hard in the back of his head, rendering him unconscious, and of course, he
couldn't hear me! The pod was already out in space, and it was too late for me
to save him! And then to my other horror, Zarbon and Dodoria chased my craft
into space, and they didn't wear spacesuits or anything; they simply survived in
space without any means of support, Mrs. Chloe! I buckled myself in on time,
and I tried to speed up the escape pod, as fast as I could! I had no idea where
my little ship was headed, but I could not shake Zarbon and Dodoria, to save my
soul! Finally they caught up with me, in what seemed to be days, but in space,
I had no concept of actual time, except for my watch." Hazel gulped down the
milk that Shalila's servant had just given to her.
"I thought my life was over, but then a strange ship came along,
decked out in blue and green, and it wasn't until later I learned that it was an
Intergalacticpol ship; I didn't know the universe had an intergalactic police
force! And then Gohan and his men saved me from Zarbon and Dodoria. I am very
thankful for that, I assure you, Mrs. Chloe, although I am sorry for the lives
that were taken trying to rescue me. Gohan and his police officers managed to
scare Zarbon and Dodoria off, and Gohan was mad because he couldn't capture them
and force them to lead him to Frieza. I had never seen this Frieza, except in
pictures, but he was Gohan's main target; the Intergalacticpol had an "shoot to
kill" warrant out on him, and arrest warrants for many of his elite men,
including the monkey men called Saiyans. I remember a warrant being out for a
little boy named Prince Vegeta, and I thought that it was strange that a police
force would be after a little boy, but Gohan told me how much damage a little
Saiyan child could do, and I was stunned, to say the least."
"Prince Vegeta," Dirkan informed Hazel briefly, "tried to kidnap
Princess Tayla, Shalila's granddaughter and your Gohan's niece, with the help of
a couple of his friends. They were going to take her to Frieza to force the
poor child to work for him."
"I don't think Gohan knew that much. He was mainly after little
Vegeta because he had blown up a planet called Dungess. Last time, I heard,
Gohan and his superiors were talking about placing "shoot to kill" orders out on
all full-blooded Saiyans, including their children."
"Well," Shalila told her, "there are only two Saiyans left that we
know of, the Prince Vegeta and his sister, Princess Journa. Frieza blew up
Planet Vegeta."
Hazel nodded knowingly. "That is what Gohan is investigating
now-the explosion of Planet Vegeta. It was another reason we came to Astoria,
so that he could question the Meatian refugees."
She continued, "Gohan and I have been traveling around the universe
for an entire year and a half; well I'm counting that in Earth years, but
Astorian years may be different. The Earth year is three-hundred-and-sixty-five
days, and one extra day is added to a leap year, which is every four years."
Shalila smiled slowly. "I was aware of that, my dear; I lived on
Earth from the time I was eight to the time I was seventeen. The Astorian year
isn't that much different."
"Do you have any plans to try to go back to Earth?" Dirkan asked her.
Hazel sighed. "I'd love to go back, at least to see my family and
let them know that I'm alive, but I know it's unlikely I will ever get to go
home again. Not that I want to leave Gohan, but I wish I could go to Earth one
last time."
Shalila looked at Hazel sadly. "I wish there was a way we could get
you back home to Earth, but such a journey, Miss Carr, would take us three to
five years to get you there. I myself did not make the entire journey to
Astoria by spaceship; the North Kai had trained me, and then he had me
teleported to planet Eastra, where the East Kai resides, and after training with
her, Dirkan and I went here. The journey from Eastra to Astoria took two years,
and we had one of the fastest ships available at the time. Of course, maybe
some ships are so fast now that you could be transported to Earth within months.
But unfortunately, we cannot spare anyone to escort you to Earth at this time;
we have plenty to worry with Frieza. But I do promise you, Miss Carr, that we
will find a way someday to get you home, if you really need to go back."
Hazel smiled wistfully, even though she was confused as to whom the
East Kai and the North Kai were. "I don't absolutely have to go back right
away, Mrs. Chloe. I wish to marry your son, and I would not mind living here
for the rest of my life; I just miss my family so much. I wish they could be
here with me, at least."
"Maybe someday, if Frieza is destroyed in your lifetime," Dirkan
told her.
"Do you think you could be happy here on Astoria?" Shalila asked.
"Astorians do many things here in a different way than Earthlings do, and our
philosophies and values differ greatly. For example, drinking alcohol and
smoking are not allowed here, and some things that Earth has, Astoria does not
have, and vice versa."
Hazel nodded. She was glad that she had given up smoking three
years before she started work at Capsule Corp., she had been smoking since she
had been fourteen, but she managed successfully to quit at age twenty. Hazel
was a bit disappointed about the alcohol though; she loved a can of her favorite
beer now and then, but Gohan had already told her that alcohol was not permitted
on Astoria. And during college, she had loved to go "clubbing" with her
friends, and a bit of barhopping. She loved a good party, as well as any Earth
woman of America did, but she suspected the only parties on Astoria were like
those she had seen tonight.
She truly was on another planet. She had fit in perfectly in her
"posse" on Earth, with her best girlfriends, having fun when they weren't
studying hard. But she had heard that most Astorian women her age were already
married with children, and Astorian princesses had maids to wait on them.
Astorian women were career women too, but they were three times more
conservative than some Earth women were. Hazel knew that her short lavender
dress had shocked many of the Astorian women, who always wore long caftans with
sashes when they weren't training for combat. And Astorian women were so
protected, despite the fact that many of them were warriors.
Gohan had told her that Astorian children learned things rapidly,
and that there were teenagers performing complicated tasks such as brain
surgery. And Hazel had witnesses some of Gohan's fighting powers and ki
attacks, which had frightened her at first, until she realized that he would
never use those powers to harm innocent people. The Astorians were an odd, but
wonderful breed.
And they had so many advantages over Earthlings. The Astorians were
far ahead of their time in the medical treatments and technology. The
Earthlings were still fighting to find cures for venereal diseases, cancer,
sickle cell disease, colds, influenza, and various other deadly diseases, but
the Astorians had cures for almost all of them. And as for AIDS, the Astorians
had never heard of it; it seemed to be strictly an Earth disease. Astorians
mated for life, and divorce was extremely rare. From what she had heard of
Astorians' sex lives, Astorian society was more tolerant of widows and widowers
having sex outside of marriage, but for never-married Astorians, premarital sex
was not tolerated at all. Sex for widows and widowers outside of marriage was
not thought greatly of either, but society tended to look the other way more for
them, especially if such an affair ended in marriage. Adultery was considered a
grave offense, and those who committed it were banned from their home Clans,
divorced, and generally shunned for the rest of their lives.
Hazel knew that the Clans were large family units who always looked
after their own kind, and a good Clan always insured that everyone member was
fed and clothed and care for. The Clans were like mini-cities, supplying
themselves with everything from food to free medical care.
Maybe Astoria wouldn't be so bad. And she would have Gohan, who had
insisted that they wait until they were married to have sex because Hazel had
never been married before, nor had she had sex before.
Princess Hazel Louise Carr Chloe. She said that name under her
breath, with only a faint note of caution.
"Yes, I could, Mrs. Chloe," Hazel told her brightly.
Shalila nodded approvingly. "Well then I don't see any reason why I
shouldn't give consent. You two have my permission to wed. We'll discuss
wedding details tomorrow. Farewell, and have a good time tonight." The three
arose and went back inside the ballroom.