Teresa: Okay, you may wonder why I've been missing in action for so long. Well, the thing is that Jade went violently insane after watching Escaflowne. You see, she became convinced that she was Dilandau, and she had to "Kill Escaflowne!" Unfortunately, it seems that I was Escaflowne. So Jade, who had somehow purchased, or maybe constructed/found a huge, scary flamethrower chased me around screaming "DIE!!!! BURN BURN BURN!!!!" So I was in hiding, and then—
Jade: Oh, not that crappy, lame ass, made up trash story again. That is NOT why you weren't writing. I NEVER went crazy!
Teresa: Yeah, you've just always been that way.
Jade: Tell them the TRUTH TERESA!!!
Teresa: But…
Jade: TELL THEM!!!
Teresa: Okay…I'm lazy, and I had school.
Jade: AND you were always with your boyfriend instead of writing!!
Teresa: Gee, I can't imagine why. You're so much fun to spend time with. Muttering under breath Crazy psycho freak.
Jade: I HEARD THAT!!
Teresa: Eeep! Don't kill me.
Jade: Just. Write. The. Story.
Teresa: Ah, okay, here we go. I'd just like to reiterate that the main character, though his name is Vegeta, is not the Vegeta that we all know and love from his crazy Kill Kakkarot fame. No. This Vegeta is the son of the better-known Vegeta. The reason his name is also Vegeta is because, as some of you may already know, all the kings/princes of Vegeta-sai are named (duh) Vegeta. But to avoid confusion, our main character is going by the name of Vega, as you probably should've figured out by now. I am only repeating this because reviewers keep saying how out of character Vegeta is in this story. How would you know if he's a character jade and I invented in an alternate universe. Wrong Vegeta, people! Okay, on with the story.
*****
The Best of Both Worlds
Part 3
*****
When Beruna returned to the Royal Palace on Saiya, her anxious mother immediately bundled her off to the throne room. "Be wary, Beruna, he seems quite upset. I think he wearies of your…restless behavior." Queen Efuda advised. Beruna barely listened, she could only think of how she could have been going to meet Vega at that very moment.
"Hello father." Beruna grumbled once she was left to speak with the king, something she dreaded.
"So kind of you to come see me, Princess Beruna." King Saiya said, using her formal address as he often did when he was upset. "And just where have you been? I'm tired of you picking up and leaving anytime you feel the urge. You are royalty, and there are many responsibilities that will one day fall squarely on your shoulders. When that day comes, you cannot simply abandon your people and run away. I have taught you that you have great power, Beruna. But with that power comes specific obligations to your people. For one, you should never be unaccounted for! I have not yet decided how to keep you tied down firmly to your throne, but I will find a way if you force me to!"
"That's exactly the problem father!" Beruna argued. "Why must I be tied down? Because of blood, some circumstance of birth? It isn't fair that I should have no say in how my life shall be!"
"Life isn't fair Beruna, it does as it pleases. And your life has destined you for a position of great power and responsibility, whether you like it or not." King Saiya paused momentarily, breathing deeply to calm himself. "Beruna, I do not mean to raise my voice at you. I know how you feel right now, my daughter. Do you think I never tired of all the countless chores that came with being Royal Prince of Saiya? There were times even now when I wish I could simply drop everything and run off for a week or two, as you so often do. But we are only dealt one hand by life, and you cannot simply fold. These are the cards that life has given you, and you must play them through their course Beruna. You cannot simply trade them for another hand that you feel suits you better. In time, you too will learn to accept your position and the great responsibility it entails."
Beruna sighed deeply, regret stinging her as deeply as the truth in her father's words, "Yes father, I know. Will that be all?" she asked.
"Yes Beruna." King Saiya smiled at her sympathetically. "Although I believe your mother has arranged a lunch guest for you." Beruna barely stifled a groan before she excused herself from her father's presence to find out which stuffy aristocratic suitor her mother was forcing her to have lunch with today. Her father could go on all day about how he understood her pain, but she seriously doubted he had been forced to deal with an endless crowd of obnoxious, self-centered, stale suitors.
As Beruna entered her private dining room, she was forced to hold down yet another groan. It seemed that she was already acquainted with today's noontime torture. It was Oniro. Why did he have to be the guest? Beruna forced a polite smile through gritted teeth as he rose to help her to her seat. In a practiced movement, she brushed away his assistance and sat down on her own. That was one of the worst parts of all these suitors. Beruna was well aware that she should be flattered by the way that they treated her, as though she were delicate and beautiful, but somehow it just annoyed her all the more. You wouldn't brush away Vega's hand if he helped you into your chair a stray voice inside her mind said softly. She forcibly silenced the voice. It did her no good to think of a man she could never be with in any case. Even if she were to see him again, it would have to wait. Now she had to put up with Oniro. Suddenly, Beruna realized that Oniro had been talking the whole time she had been absorbed in her own thoughts. Oh well, she likely hadn't missed much. Typically, Oniro only talked about himself.
"So I decided to come see how you were faring here." Oniro finished whatever he had been saying. "And how has everything been, Beruna?"
Kami, he made her skin crawl. Something about him was just…so…wrong. "Just fine, Oniro. And last time I checked, my correct title was Princess Beruna, if you please." She sipped casually at her tea to hide her smug smile. She delighted in putting him off. If he'd only get the message and leave her alone.
"As you wish, Princess Beruna," Oniro emphasized the title just as she had, "I was talking to your mother, the Queen Efuda, earlier. She sounded concerned about the fact that you have yet to decide upon a mate." His leering smile left no question as to who he thought she should choose.
Beruna choked on her tea despite her decision to maintain her dignity. She quickly set her cup down and put a napkin to her mouth, dabbing slowly so that she might not have to answer right away. Should she act as though she had someone else in mind? No, Oniro would want to know who, and she could only act secretive for so long about a man who didn't exist. There wasn't any man she had any sort of interest in. Except Vega that voice came again to her unbidden. She forced it away, but she suddenly remembered the gardens, their indescribable aroma and the feel of Vega's lips on hers. It could never come to anything more than that. Her father wouldn't allow it. But it took all her will to hold in a sad sigh of regret. If she could just get that kiss out of her mind…Beruna noticed that Oniro was waiting for her to answer his insinuation still. "Quite right." She spoke in a crisp, cold tone. "There don't seem to be any suitable males that I can think of." That should get her point across.
"It can be a very difficult decision, one that lasts a lifetime, my Princess." Oniro told her, smiling warmly. "I have as of yet to find a mate as well. Perhaps you'll find the one you seek is right in front of you."
"Doubtful. I think it is much more likely that I will end up alone." Beruna lifted a regal eyebrow. "I would rather be lonely my whole life than make a decision I shall live to regret."
"But Beruna, you know your position demands that you find a mate. And perhaps the regrettable decision would be forgoing men altogether. Forever can be a very long time." Oniro told her wisely.
"Exactly why I don't want to spend forever bonded to some last resort man to make my father and my planet happy." Beruna shot back. "What kind of ruler would I be then? If I were too busy regretting my mistakes, I would never be able to concentrate on my people and what they need. Perhaps the laws should be changed."
"How so?" Oniro asked incredulously.
"First of all, why must all royal marriages be approved by all members of the High Council? It isn't fair that I have so much power, but on the one most personal decision in my life, I have to depend upon the approval of the eleven most powerful Saiyans on the planet. It makes it seem like the less power a person has, the less we all care about their personal choices. If I were to mate for the same reasons as a peasant woman, how come she doesn't have to get permission from eleven scary old men? Why must I prove myself? If the High Council doesn't trust me to mate wisely, how can they trust me to be the queen of Saiya?" Beruna spoke passionately. "And why are Royal Prince's required to name their mate by their twentieth birthday? In fact, since I have no brothers, I must mate by my twentieth birthday if I want to be Queen of Saiya, since I'm heir to the throne. Just because I may not find the right man now, or ever, does that mean I'm not fit to rule? Can that be said of any royal heir? We go through so much training and preparation, yet if we don't choose a mate by the day we turn twenty, we are not allowed to fulfill our blood right, and the position we trained for our whole life. It just isn't fair."
"Then choose a mate." Oniro laughed at her. Beruna made an impatient growling noise deep in her throat.
"That's the point. I shouldn't be forced to follow all these laws. What about love? Doesn't that matter? Does the world have any care for what might make me happy? And while we're on the subject of what is wrong with royal mating ceremonies, consider this. Why must we mate out of our own class? If a peasant and a lord fall in love, should they not be allowed to mate?" Beruna asked pointedly.
"Of course not! That's disgusting." Oniro's mouth twisted at the thought. "The royal bloodlines would be soiled with the blood of commoners."
"But aren't we all Saiyans?" Beruna pointed out. "It shouldn't matter who loves who as long as everyone is happy."
"Princess Beruna, you don't seem to be feeling well." Oniro stood up, a tight set to his mouth. "I think it would be best if I left for now."
"Yes, it would be best." Beruna told him coldly, not even bothering to rise as stood and bowed to her before leaving. She hated that man. He was the epitome of aristocratic pigheadedness. You just miss Vega the voice said. She shook her head irritably, banishing the voice once more, useless as it might be.
----------
"Hi Vega!" Nabana greeted her brother brightly.
"Go away Nabana." Came his automatic response.
"I'm in love!" Nabana skipped into his room, ignoring his command and sighing dramatically.
"I really don't care." Vega informed her. "You're in love with a new guy every week."
"I'm in love with Leturu." She continued, giggling in her girlish fashion.
"For the love of Kami, Nabana." Vega growled, "First of all, Leturu is my best friend. Second, he is definitely too old for you. And third, you know he intends to ask Carnada to be his mate." Vega explained.
"See, he hasn't named his mate yet. That means he could fall head over heels in love with me." Giggled Nabana.
"Just go away." Vega groaned.
"I don't have to!" Nabana refused him indignantly. "At least not until you ask Leturu to have lunch with me."
"I'm not going to do that!" Vega yelled back at her. "Why don't you ask him?"
"Hey, that's a good idea! Thanks Vega!" Nabana squealed happily as she skipped out of the room.
"At least she's gone." Vega grumbled, as thoughts of Aperu crept through his mind unbidden. Shaking his head as though to get the mysterious girl out of his mind, Vega bent over his studies and got back to work. At least, he tried to.
----------
Several days later, Saiya's royal family was eating dinner in the royal dining room when King Saiya decided to finally broach a subject Efuda had been pressing him on for months. "So, ah, Beruna." King Saiya turned his head to face his eldest daughter, "What have you been up to lately?"
"Oh, not much more than the usual, father." Beruna paused in her meal. "Studying, fulfilling my responsibilities as Royal Princess of Saiya. Avoiding that horrible Oniro man." At that last one, Beruna's face twisted in disgust.
"Now Beruna," King Saiya stopped her, "Oniro is a powerful Saiyan and a dedicated suitor."
"Ha!" Beruna laughed incredulously. "He's also a disgusting, dirty, obsessive man." She opined. "I can't stand him."
"Perhaps so." He nodded in allowance. "But you have many other suitors, and you aren't getting any younger Beruna."
"I'm barely nineteen years old!" Beruna protested indignantly, "I will mate when and if it pleases me!"
"Beruna, you must understand," King Saiya reasoned, "you are nineteen. Most women mate at fifteen or sixteen years of age. Few mate once they've reached twenty. And you are Beruna, Royal Princess of Saiya and my daughter. If you intend to take the throne of Saiya after me, you will have to choose a mate. I will not have you give up your birth right and become some old maid." He lectured. "Besides, you are royalty. And with your coveted title comes many responsibilities. You must realize that."
"How could I not know that?" Beruna rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You remind me every single day."
"I just think you need to find a noble, powerful man to mate with and settle down into your position with." King Saiya spoke in soothing tones.
"That's the problem dad!" Beruna stood up from her seat, tossing down her napkin in a fit of rage, "It can't just be a man I care about; it has to be one of those flaky, phony, boring, old nobles that you and mother insist on pushing me around with!"
"Honey, that's not true," Queen Efuda protested, "we only want for you to be happy."
"Ha!" Beruna scoffed, "You are the worst, mother! How many lunches in the past four years have I had here at the palace without one of your annoying, obnoxious, 'surprise' suitors!?" Queen Efuda looked at her plate uncomfortably.
"It is our responsibility to provide you with a variety of suitors, as it is your responsibility to choose one!" King Saiya bellowed angrily.
"Then I needn't choose!" Beruna shot back, "All of those nobles are the same! I want someone different! And I don't care how rich he is, or how powerful he is!" She shouted angrily. "And I don't care if you approve; I'll mate a man I love when I mate!" Beruna stormed out of the room, ready to run away again. After all, she had promised to meet with Vega tomorrow. At least that prospect helped assuage her bad temper as Beruna gathered some belongings and left the palace, set on taking the first capsule she could find to Vegeta-sai.
From a high tower window, Queen Efuda and King Saiya watched their daughter rush away with a simple bag of belongings. "Should we go after her?" Saiya's brow furrowed in concern.
"No she'll be back." Efuda smiled at him serenely, "She may be gone for a bit more this time, though."
"She sounded so angry." Saiya told his mate, "I've never heard her that upset before. I wonder why?"
"I have my suspicions." Efuda grinned secretively.
"What do you mean?" Saiya asked, baffled.
"Think about it, dearest." Efuda spoke slowly, "She runs off to Vegeta-sai for a few days and suddenly she takes such offense at your lecture. Not just any lecture, either. The mating lecture."
"I know, what's your point?" Saiya asked impatiently. Efuda laughed lightly, leaning forward to kiss the king.
"For the King of Saiya, you are not exactly a bright one, are you dear?" she teased, "She didn't seem to be simply angry at you, she was upset with the subject of the lecture. She doesn't want to mate a noble, and I suspect she's got an alternative in mind. Someone she met on Vegeta-sai, no doubt." Efuda explained.
"You mean…" Saiya began to understand.
"Beruna is in love, my dear King." Efuda beamed happily.
"Ah, that is all good and—" Saiya stopped suddenly, "Wait!" his eyes went wide in panic. "Where is she leaving for now?"
"Vegeta-sai, I'd assume." Efuda guessed.
"I have to stop her!" Saiya exclaimed, "Who knows what kind of scoundrel she could have fallen into the clutches of!" he made as if to dash away, but Efuda held him back, laughing.
"Don't worry, dear." She reassured him, "She's older than you treat her."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Saiya muttered, giving into his wife grudgingly.
----------
Vega sat in his room, where he was supposed to be studying Saiyan history. Instead, he had begun to draw. Vega found that drawing was a way to calm his spirit when he felt restless. He was working on a drawing of Aperu at the moment. She was smiling at him with her dazzling face, twirling her sundress with one delicate hand as her hair blew lightly in the wind. He was beginning to work on the finishing touches when Nabana entered his room noisily, as she often did.
"Hey Vega!" she greeted him, skipping over to him as she clutched a half-eaten cookie in one hand. "Whatcha doin'?" She craned her neck in an attempt to get a look at his sketch book, but he clutched it to his chest secretively.
"Nothing Nabana, now go away." He ordered, doing his best to hold down a fond smile so that he might glare at her more effectively.
"Come on, you always draw such pretty pictures!" Nabana stuck out her lower lip pitifully. "Can I just take an eensy-weensy peek?"
"Nabana!" He growled, doing his best to sound as scary as his father.
"Please, brother?" she continued to pout, eyes big and pleading.
"Will you go away?" he asked her, ready to give in.
"Sure, if you lemme see!" she brightened up, sensing she was about to get her way. Vega sighed in defeat and handed her the sketchbook. "Ooh!" Nabana squealed in delight, cramming the rest of the cookie into her mouth.
"You like it?" Vega asked unsurely. He couldn't help but let out that fond grin. Nabana was his youngest sister and the only one of his siblings who didn't seem to be jealous of his position as heir to the throne of Vegeta-sai. She was also the only soul who had ever seen his drawings. He felt embarrassed to show them to anyone else. Nabana could be irritating at times. She wasn't very responsible, and she acted like she was only half her age. Vega guessed that it was because she was the baby, and their father had a soft spot for Nabana that allowed her to get almost whatever she wanted. She was spoiled, but her cheerful disposition kept her from being any sort of brat.
"This is that girl!" Nabana pointed at the drawing, excited that she could recognize it's subject. "Aperu! That one I saw you kiss! She's so pretty!" Nabana giggled, "And this looks just like her! You are such a good artist Vega." She attested firmly.
"Do you really think it looks like her?" Vega asked skeptically. He had always been very critical of his own work.
"Are you kidding?" she laughed, "Course it does Vega. You should give it to her. Like a present."
"No, it's not that good." Vega took the sketchbook back and sat down with it, continuing to finish the last details of adding shadows and texture to the picture.
"It is so good!" Nabana protested, "I wish some guy would draw a pretty picture of me and let me keep it. That would be so romantic!" she flopped back into a nearby chair.
"Really?" Vega asked, looking up momentarily.
"Oh, yeah." She sighed dreamily. "I wonder if Leturu likes to draw."
"Enough with that." Vega commanded as he looked back at his drawing. "He loves Carnada, you know that! And she's your sister! Show some respect, Nabana."
"I know, I know." Nabana nodded her head sadly, "Carnada gets everything. She's Royal Princess of Vegeta-sai, and I'm only Third Princess. She is going to mate Leturu, and I'm left to be hopelessly in love with him."
"I'm sure you'll get over it." Vega smirked at his fickle sister.
"Oh no," she gazed into the distance, "I'll never forget dear Leturu. I'll love him forever and ever."
"Sure you will." Vega chuckled lightly at Nabana and then turned his attention back to his drawing. If he was going to give it to Aperu, it had to be perfect.
*****
***The End (Of Part 3, that is)***
Whew, I am on a roll, I just keep typing and posting. I wasn't even this good about typing when I put out A Shelter From My Storm. I am being a good little writer, so please be a good reader and review!