BUTTERFLIES
Settling in the Palace
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Dragonball Z. I'm in love with them though.
WARNING: In this part there will be descriptions (not too graphic) of the horrible way Saiyans treat their slaves. If that offends you, stay away. But, chill, it's not that bad. It only suggests.
Today's quote is called: COMMUNICATION: "Shut up and touch me!"
(Anyone who is interested, this was a Loesje-quote. They are from a Dutch site, which has been made international. You can visit it at:
Hello y'all. I'm so happy that there are already thirteen (!) reviews to my story, and that was only the prologue!! Guess my trick about the day early worked really well, didn't it? Anyways, I'll stop my blabbering, and quickly go on with the story.
Sixteen years later:
"Trunks, promise me that you'll be careful. I just couldn't get this out of your dad's stubborn head." Bulma sighed, as she hugged her son. Trunks was now twenty-five years old, and Vegeta had told him that it was time for him to learn about his culture, language, and rule the Saiyan race. Trunks didn't really feel like it, he rather just wanted to stay at his job at CC, but Vegeta had insisted. He had told Trunks that he could not break his oath to his old mentor, and that Trunks had to be a Saiyan, or Vegeta would not consider him a worthy son of his. And Trunks really, really wanted his father to be proud of him. So he had agreed, and Bulma had readied the spaceship. And now, the two men stood ready to go. Trunks would stay on Vegeta-sei for at least a year, so Bulma was finding this good-bye really hard. Trunks hugged his mother back. "It's okay mom, you can always come and visit. I'll be fine." Bulma smiled at him. "You're right. No big deal…" and then she started crying again. Trunks helplessly handed his mother over to his father, who kissed her and comforted her while at the same time mumbling about the stupid human emotions.
"So! Are we ready to go?" Suddenly a happy voice sounded. They all looked behind them to see Bra, who was all dressed up in a sky-blue pair of hot-pants, a yellow T-shirt with huge purple flowers printed on it, a green hat, green slippers, about five bags in all colors of the rainbow with labels and stickers printed all over them, and, as the finishing touch, a pair of huge pink sunglasses. She grinned widely and gave them the peace sign. Everyone sweatdropped. "Uhm, Bra, sweetie, where do you plan on going?" Bulma cautiously asked. "Where Toussan and Trunks are going, where else?" she answered contently. Bulma raised an eyebrow. "I don't recall saying anything about you going there too." She said sternly. "But Mommy…" Bra whined. "I'm already sixteen, don't you think that…" Bulma opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by her husband. Vegeta put an arm around Bulma's waist from behind and began softly kissing her neck, which worked immediately, because her features softened. "I think she can go, onna. She is capable to take care of herself, and there is always still Trunks to protect her." Bulma closed her eyes and leaned back against his chest. Vegeta always knew how to make her do things his way. "Alright. She can go." Vegeta kissed her lips softly. Bulma opened her eyes again, and saw Bra looking at them with her hands clasped together, squealing on how cute this was, at least, until Vegeta send her his glare. And Trunks was indifferently looking at the sky and the trees. Bulma giggled, and gave her daughter a hug. "Take care." "Sure mom. See ya again in no time." Bra said happily, and walked into the ship. Trunks followed suit. Vegeta gave Bulma one last kiss. Not that he would be gone that long. He would go back to his mate in a month or so, and he would take Bra back with him. "Be careful." Bulma whispered to him. "Onna, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Vegeta snorted. Bulma kissed him lightly. "I know…" He smiled at her, and went inside the ship, which blasted off immediately after. "…but take care anyways." She whispered, as she watched the ship go.
***
"Toussan!! Wake up!!" Bardock groaned, as he woke up from Sanae pulling his arm and excitedly talking at him. "Now what?" he asked her groggily. He stood up and stretched himself, as he took his time to look at the girl who was happily talking to him about a tournament or something like that. She had just celebrated her sixteenth birthday, and had grown into quite a beauty over the years. If she hadn't been his daughter… he was glad that he had taken her home so many years ago, she was such a sweet girl. But she also had a firm fighting spirit. Especially in the first years, she had only wanted to wear boys-armor, and enter tournaments and train. And only at her thirteenth birthday she had started to become more of a woman. Now she hadn't fit into her boys-clothes for a long time, and started to wear woman-armor. But she had also discovered an asset in being a woman. When she really wanted something, she could manipulate almost any male with a smile. Even him. Bardock groaned. "Calm down, brat. Tell it again, but this time slowly." He grunted. "But, Toussan!! You mean you haven't even listened to me? I told you that the King and the Prince are coming to Vegeta-sei tomorrow. And to their honor, a tournament has been organized, and I was just wondering…" she gave him the puppydog look, "…if I could dress up as a boy and enter the tournament… please?" Bardock frowned. "Brat, if the King would find out that you are really a woman, he would have my head. You cannot." Sanae said nothing, but just gave him the puppy-dog look again. "Alright. You can take some of Radditzu's old armor, and enter it. But be very careful, you don't even want to know what would happen to us if they caught you." Sanae squealed happily and gave Bardock a hug and a kiss. "Thanks Toussan!" she yelled, and ran up to the attic. Bardock shook his head. She had done it to him again…
***
"Greetings, my King, my Prince." Cambras mumbled, as he bowed deeply before Vegeta and Trunks. "And may I be so rude as to ask who this lady is?" Trunks grinned. "She is noting, just our servant maid." Bra snarled and jumped at him, while he tried to pry her off, rolling on the floor with laughter. "She is my daughter, the Princess." Vegeta answered. "The princess?" Cambras raised an eyebrow as he looked at the sixteen-year-old who was just getting up, clothes torn, hair ruffled, and a pair of huge pink sunglasses hanging from one ear. Vegeta looked at her too and snickered. "If you want people to actually believe you're a princess, brat, you should better behave like it!" Bra grunted, and pulled her clothes right. "Can I have a bath please?" she asked Cambras really nice. The man quickly bowed. "Of course, milady." He then called for someone to take Bra and all of their luggage to the Royal wing. He then followed Vegeta to the throne room, telling Trunks to come too. Vegeta sat down at his throne. "Well, Cambras. For as far as I've heard, you've done a pretty good job ruling Vegeta-sei during my absence. The planet is said to have known years of prosperity and welfare. I am pleased with your work." Cambras bowed again. "Thank you, my King." He said humbly. "Now, I want you to tell us about what you've done the past few years. That should teach my brat quite a bit about governing a country. Pay attention, brat" he directed the last part at Trunks. Trunks leaned in a little closer, as he internally sighed. This was gonna be one long afternoon.
Bra sighed contently as she let herself fall upon her bed. Her wing was sooo great. It had three rooms in it. Firstly the bathroom, which was enormous, even larger than the one they had at CC, and had two baths, a shower and a toilet. The entire room was done in red, gold and green, with pretty mirrors and candleholders on the wall. The entire room smelt like a forest, and Bra had breathed in very deeply, that was the smell she loved. One of the baths was a bubble bath, and the other one was a normal bath. They were both very big and red-colored. On the left wall there was a large wooded closet with towels in them, all green with the emblem of the Royal House of Vegeta-sei embroided on it. The towels were, as Bulma had noticed sixteen years ago, heaven. So soft, that Bra had the feeling she could stand there with such a towel wrapped around her forever. But she had gone over to the living room eventually. The living room was another breath-taking sight. It was enormously large, and done in navy-blue. It had blue walls, with paintings and lamps and mirrors and weapons hanging on them. There was a sitting-corner, with some nice dark-red couches and chairs in it. In the middle stood another bunch of green couches, with a table against the wall, on which Bra immediately installed her capsule-TV-set. On the right hand was a mini-bar and a phone, supposedly to call with for meals and stuff. But the most breathtaking aspect of the living room was the balcony, or to be more specific: the view. When Bra had first gone out there, she had been smashed with the gardens. She hadn't noticed she had been that high up, but, as she was looking down she saw that she was at least at the fifth floor. But still, she could catch the scent of all the flowers down there. She remembered what her mom had told her about that garden, and how she loved to walk around there with Vegeta, after he had been back to normal.
(This is a flashback for all you guys who haven't read 'Breaking Through' yet, which you really should, since this is the sequel. Okay, it is also because I'm too lazy to do another description. So just deal with it!!)
Flashback
"When we arrived at the palace, I was just stunned. I remember I almost crashed the aircraft, looking in awe at the building. I found it amazing! I never really thought about how your Toussan had lived, and it was beautiful! The palace was huge! It was really high, and reached way up into the clouds, and everywhere you looked there were towers, and balconies, and high windows. And around it were beautiful gardens. About the whole planet was red, dry and nothing would grow. But this garden was enormous and beautiful. Everywhere there were trees, and flowers, and ponds, and creeks. Some parts were with trees, a little like a forest, and other parts were more fields, with grass and all sorts of flowers. Birds were everywhere, and the whole place was just beautiful. When I had landed the aircraft and got out I could also smell it. I could smell the just mowed grass, and the forest, which I have always thought a great perfume, as it is the smell of nature. I could also smell the flowers, thousands and thousands of them. They smelled in a very sweet, but also fresh way. I really, really loved the palace." Bulma told little Bra, as she was telling her about daddy's home. "Wow, mommy, that sounds so pretty!! Can I go there too once? I wanna see it!!" Bulma smiled and kissed her daughters hair. "I'm sorry sweetie, but daddy's planet is really far away. Maybe later, when you're grown up…"
End Flashback
And this was exactly what Bra saw, and she was probably just as amazed at the gardens' beauty as her mother had been sixteen years ago. Finally, Bra walked over to the bedroom, and gasped again. It was so pretty!! Her bedroom was done in orange, with a fireplace and another cuddly couch. But the main item in the room was what Bra had gasped about. It was a really big, round, king-sized bed, in yellow, with two dozens of yellow pillows and blankets on top of it. Bra walked towards it, and let herself fall upon it, burying her head in one of the pillows. Her rooms were heaven. She then noticed a door, linked to her bedroom. She tried to open it, but noticed it was locked. Oh well, I'll ask about it later she thought as she just shrugged it off. But first, I need a nap. I have just about two hours of sleep till I should start dressing for dinner. Lets use those two hours wisely. and, after slipping into her favorite pj's, Bra cuddled up on one of the pillows, and fell into a peaceful sleep.
***
"…and, as I was saying, one should always inform themselves before taking such a heavy decision as this one. Therefor, I decided to go talk to the leader of that Tribe, so he could provide me of some more detailed information on the matter. And this leader told me some interesting things, namely…" Vegeta looked aside as he saw Trunks' eyes slowly slipping closed. "I think that will be enough for today, Cambras. We thank you very much for telling all this." Cambras bowed again. "It was my pleasure, Ou-sama." Trunks groaned. You can say that again. He just wouldn't stop! "I want you to go get teachers from the entire planet to teach my son in laws, culture, and religion." Vegeta ordered Cambras. "Yes, my King. I hope you still remember that tomorrow is the day of the tournament in your honor. It will be the Princes' first public performance." Vegeta nodded. "I remember." He just said, and dismissed his mentor. After Cambras left, he turned to his son. "You should've paid more attention, brat. This is all very important to know, as a Prince. You may not take over the throne and rule the Saiyan race, but you should at least know how to. You are, as a matter of fact, their prince, so behave like that." Trunks shot up. "Yes Toussan. I'm sorry." Vegeta grinned. "Don't think I don't know how this feels like. I had all this education when I was four, and believe me, Cambras is still as much of a boring talker as he was then." Trunks snickered. "Really?" His father smirked at him. "I swear." Trunks then laughed out loud. Vegeta stood up, and pulled Trunks out of his chair as well. "Come on. You and I both need a shower and new clothes for dinner." Trunks nodded, and followed his father, the King of Vegeta-sei, who proudly strode down the halls.
***
Vegeta smirked when he heard all the guards gasp as his daughter came in. He looked up at her, and grinned even wider. His daughter looked gorgeous. She wore a long, purple dress, which was low-cut and flowed down all the way to her feet. Her hair was gracefully falling down her shoulders. Finally, she looked like a princess. Vegeta had been rather embarrassed, when Bra and Trunks had behaved so childlike that morning, but this was much better. Princess from head to toe. She unhooked her arm from Trunks', walked over to her father and gave him a small kiss before she sat down on his left side. Trunks shoved her chair behind her and then sat down himself, at Vegeta's right hand. Vegeta beamed in pride. His brats behaved perfectly. He nodded for some servant to bring in the food, and almost winced as he felt a hard foot kick his leg. He angrily turned his head to see Trunks' scared look, and heard Bra snicker softly, knowing that the kick that had been meant for her had hit her father instead. Boy, Trunks was gonna get it now! But, to her surprise, as Vegeta would start yelling on any other occasion, he didn't right now, because they were in public, and he couldn't yell at the brat when his entire royal guard was watching. He would save it for later.
"Toussan?" Bra asked, after the three of them had finished almost everything on the table in sight, Vegeta paying close attention to the table manners of his brats. They had behaved perfectly. He had begun to worry that Trunks would start eating like Kakarrots brat, in a disgusting way of gulping down anything edible, but luckily he hadn't. Both Trunks and Bra behaved fine. "Yes, what is it, Bra?" he answered. "I was just wondering, there is this door attached to my bedroom, which is locked. I was wondering what was inside that room?" Vegeta thought for a moment. "To the right side?" he asked, just to make sure. Bra nodded. "That is a room for your servant, whoever you chose. For the month that we are gonna be here, you will have a servant near at all times to… yeah, serve you. Make your bed, bring your food, fill your bath, wash you… everything. I will take you to the slave's quarters so you can pick one after dinner okay?" Bra's face turned dark, and she started to open her mouth to protest at the barbarity of keeping persons who didn't want to as slaves, when Vegeta, knowing what she was about to say, raised his hand, and signaled with his eyes that they would talk about it later. Bra shut up, till after dinner.
"Toussan!! What kind of a barbaric race are these Saiyans? You can't possibly keep slaves!! That is something of the former century!!" Vegeta growled. "Shut up, brat. I am the King, and I happen to want to have slaves. It is normal in the Saiyan society to keep slaves, so you'll have to deal with it. I will tolerate no words of disagreement from you. Now, do you want a slave or what?" Bra bowed her head. Well, maybe I'll at least be able to save one. she thought to herself. "Yes, Toussan. I would like to have a slave." Vegeta nodded shortly, and took Bra over to the slaves quarters. When they got there, he walked over to the first guard he saw. "I want three slaves now." "Yes, Ou-sama. If I may make a suggestion, a ship with a new load of slaves will be arriving any minute now, you can go get some 'fresh' ones from there. Vegeta nodded again and pulled Bra to the dock. The ship had just landed, and slaves were being led out. Vegeta walked over there. "I wish to inspect this load, and take three slaves with me." The men quickly dropped to the ground as they saw their King. "Of course, Ou-sama." Vegeta motioned for them to get up again, and was brought over to the line of slaves that was currently going out of the ship. "We are so honored for you to come here, Ou-sama. We have been gone for over a year now, and are now finally back." Vegeta only muttered a not interested 'whatever' in response, while dragging Bra behind him. "Here we are, my King. Just pick." Vegeta began to look over the slaves, as Bra saw a crying girl, only two years older than herself standing in the group. The girl was clothed in rags, was extremely dirty and bloody. She probably hadn't had a decent bath in that whole year. As Bra walked over to her, she softly grabbed the girls' hand, causing her to jump in shock. "Are you okay?" Bra asked, features twisted in concern. The girl shook her head. "What's wrong then?" Bra asked in her nicest tone of voice, trying desperately to earn the girl's trust. The girl just pointed to her side as she burst out in tears again. Bra looked over there, and howled in rage. "TOUSSAN!!!" she screamed, as she ran up to Vegeta and kicked him in the legs. "HOW DARE YOU!!" Vegeta grabbed her arms and held her away from him. "What is it!" "YOU STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!!!" she roared, as she pointed to where the girl had just pointed. Vegeta looked over there, and saw his soldiers busy with carrying babies out of the ship, probably all born out of slaves sleeping with Saiyans. But what had shocked Bra, was when she saw them powering up to finish the babies off. Of course, Vegeta had been taught all his life that the babies of slaves were worthless, and should be eliminated, but as he looked now down at his daughter, who was crying in anger, he suddenly thought about it. If Bulma had been a slave, and I just some normal Saiyan, my brat's would've been finished off like that too… "STOP THAT!!" he roared over the dock. Everyone was silent, and stopped what they were doing immediately. "Bra, sweetie, I will have the babies taken care of okay? No one will get killed, or even hurt." He whispered, as he kissed her hair. She looked up at him with teary eyes, as he let go of her wrists. "Okay, daddy. Can I…" Vegeta just nodded, and then looked up again. All eyes were set on him. "What are you all staring at? Don't kill the brats, and the rest of you, get back to work!!" And everyone got back to their occupations. He looked around for Bra, and saw her leading a small shivering female Porti-jin over to where the babies were. She softly talked to the little female as she began searching through the babies, and finally ordered a guard to go find the womans' baby for her. He smiled a little. My little daughter. He then took out two beautiful female Ltofa-jins, who were humanoid, actually looking a lot like humans except for their sharp canines and their big ears. Ordering these two to be taken to the entrance of the port, he went after his daughter, who happily held up a small baby with a tail and green hair, just like the woman she had with her. Bra carefully handed the infant over to the girl, who started crying in happiness again, and thanked Bra from the depth of her heart. Then, suddenly a large Saiyan came walking over to them, grabbing the Porti-jin by the arm, pulling her away. He saw Bra scream and kick the man. The Saiyan, now read with anger, raised his arm to backhand her, and was blasted into nothingness by Vegeta. Bra looked at him a bit in a daze. "You want this girl as your slave, sweetheart?" He asked his daughter nicely. She smiled at him. "Yeah, if that's okay with you." "It is." Bra then turned to the girl. "Ysonia, would you be my servant? You can say no if you want to." Vegeta looked at her weirdly. He had to teach Bra a lot. Asking a slave for permission? That's just weird. But the girl nodded, and smiled at his daughter. "I would love to, Bra. Thank you so much for saving Bechso from those…" she looked at Vegeta and didn't dare finish her sentence. He angrily glared at her. "You'd better show some respect, wench!" Bra turned to her father, fuming, but didn't say anything, as she saw all the people looking at them. She didn't want to embarrass him in front of his people anymore. She had made enough of a scene. She carefully took Ysonia by the hand, and followed her father. As they came back at the entrance of the port, Vegeta grabbed the rope that held the other two girls together, and stalked back, followed by Bra. They made a stop at the bathing house, where Vegeta dropped the two Ltofa-jins to be cleaned and dressed, and then have one brought to his quarters and one to Trunks' who was currently studying Saiyan laws. He tried to have Bra's slave bathed too, but Bra insisted on taking the girl with her like that. Then so be it. Vegeta didn't mind. They walked back to their rooms together, where they eventually split up, after Bra had kissed her father good night.
After they were in, Bra led Ysonia to the bath, filled it, and left the girl alone to take her bath, while she took Bechso herself, and washed him carefully in a foothbath. After that, she went to her room, leaving Ysonia to herself and calling for some baby-clothes, a baby-bed and some food to be brought. She then sat upon the bed with Bechso wrapped in a towel, waiting for the clothes to arrive. Fifteen minutes later it was all there. Servants came in to set the table, and put the baby-bed inside Ysonia's room, which was now unlocked. After they were gone, Bra dressed the small child up in a cute little pj-suit, and carefully started to feed him some of the soup. After about fifteen minutes, Ysonia came back in, a towel tightly wrapped around her body, as she asked Bra for some clothes. Bra put Bechso down for a minute, and gasped as she saw the numerous bruises on Ysonia's arms and shoulders. "A-are you okay?" she asked. Ysonia smiled sadly. "Yeah, I'm fine." "No you're not!" Bra said softly, as she pulled the towel down to Ysonia's waist, and gasped when she saw that her chest and back were also horribly bruised. "Come here. Let me tend that." She said, as she grabbed a capsule with bottles of Bulma's famous healing salve in it. She then gave some of it to Ysonia, and told her to smear it over her body, as she began to spread it over Ysonia's arms. Finally, when all was done, she handed the girl some undergarment, a pair of her own pj's and a bathrobe. "Come on. You should eat something. I bet that with all those awful Saiyans you haven't eaten well in year have you? Bechso was also almost starved." Ysonia nodded, and gasped as she only then saw the food. "This…I…. what luxury." She panted, and then, after a side-ways look at Bra, who smiled at her, began to eat all the food. After she was done they put Bechso to bed together. "You should go to sleep as well. We can talk further tomorrow." Bra said, giving Ysonia a gentle hug. "I know, I should. Thank you, Bra. I will stay forever grateful to you for saving me and Bechso." Bra got tears into her eyes. "It's okay, Ysonia, everything will be fine." Bra dropped onto her bed as Ysonia had closed the door. "Jeez…" was all she could say, as she let all the horrible events replay in her head. "I'm sure happy that I saved Ysonia and Bechso. I hope we will get to be friends." She whispered to herself, as she undressed and crawled into her bed. "But that's all for tomor…" and Bra was fast asleep.
***
Don't you all think that this is the perfect place to end this chapter? *grins evilly* Or am I leaving you all wondering if Ysonia and Bra will be friends, what's going to happen to Pan/Sanae in the tournament and when she and Trunks will finally get to meet face-to-face? Or are you guys all interested in further stories of what Bra is gonna do when guilt starts eating her away, and she tries to save the slaves? Well… you'll have to wait until the next chapter!! Let's see if a nice lil' cliffhanger will make you guys review. The more reviews, the quicker I'll write the next chap. *smirks* I hope you will all try getting the chapter out the soonest time possible, and review, review, review (and nicely at that). Love you!! - Marlyne
