Hey, peeps, Angel's back and back in style, she's got a good plotline going for all you fans out there, so take up a chair, block out your mother's nagging to take out the trash, and take a read. Let's see if you can keep up with this one, hai?
Neko: She spent only 3 minutes on this intro, nekos, so be careful.
Angel: Neko, for the last and final time, the readers are humans, not cats, understood?
Neko: Fine. See you at the end, nekos!
Angel:...let's just get this story going.
***
Chapter 3: New Beginnings
I had awaken to a great deal of pain in my body once again. I was in the same bed as before, I recognized it now. I heard the pounding of softly-falling feet long before I saw Trunks and heard his words.
"Hey, hey, Angel?" he asked me timidly as he walked to the edge of the bed, "You okay?" I shook my head, tears falling. I understood now. I understood who it was who had beat me up and what some of his words had meant. All except for a few of them. I got here by...other means. What did he mean by that? How had Tiger followed me to the DBZ world, and, more importantly, how had he gotten so strong and fast?
I soon had another of the magical senzu beans in my mouth and was healed of my wounds again.
"I'm sorry," he said with a smile, "That's the second time I've done that today, isn't it?" I nodded, the tears still falling. "Hey, it's okay." Trunks knelt to my eyelevel "I won't let Tiger hurt you again, okay?" he whispered this part, and I nodded slightly. "My family wants to meet you, Angel. You up to it? I told them everything, except the fact that you knew my name and that Tiger was your brother." I smiled at him.
"Thank you," I said hoarsely, "Your dad's not here, is he?" I was suddenly fearful.
"My dad?" he asked shortly, "Yeah, why?" My eyes widened.
"He's going to kill me when he finds out, I just know he will..." My voice trailed off. Trunks laughed, a deep, throat-jarring rumble that I found to be music.
"Now what on Earth or this universe, really, would make my dad want to kill you?" he asked, still chuckling.
"I'm a Saiyan," I said softly, "The last full-blooded female." Trunks' laughter ceased. He looked at me with wide eyes.
"You're not serious!" he exclaimed.
"I am," I sighed, "But not by birth."
"What do you mean?" he asked, now fully looking me in the eyes. I wished he wouldn't, those blue eyes were more than just pretty. They were hypnotizing me.
"It was a wish," I said softly, "On a Dragon Ball and a million different stars." He looked at me sideways.
"Your brother said something about a different dimension. Is that how you knew my name?" he asked. I nodded, feeling pretty dumb now. "I don't know how I'm going to explain all-"
"Then don't," I interrupted, "I'd rather Veggie and Goku not find out." He stared at me as I clamped my hand over my mouth.
"Were you, like, his best friend or something in your world?" he asked, confused.
"I'm not saying another word, I am not saying another word," I hissed between my teeth. He looked at me strangely but shrugged.
"Okay, fine, your choice," he said, "But come on, they still want to meet you." I nodded and followed him, glad that this time, my clothes had not been torn to absolute shreds.
The awkwardness did not stop with Trunks. When I saw Bulma, Vegeta, and Bra, my heart was overjoyed with its desires finally becoming realities. I was glad I was a stubborn girl, because otherwise, my face would have been glowing with pleasure instead of the solemnity of almost being raped by a man. A man who happened to be my brother, but the others didn't know that.
"Uh-uh-um, hi?" I managed to stammer out of my mouth. Vegeta snorted by way of laughter and my face flushed in embarrassment.
"Hello, dear," Bulma said, being polite, "Don't pay attention to my idiot husband. (I don't know if they actually ever married or not, so let's just say they did, okay?) He doesn't have very many manners." I was relieved at how loosely she took this, so I smiled at her as well.
"T-Thank you, Mrs. Briefs," I said, using the name I knew quite well she hated.
"Oh, don't bother with formalities, Angel," she laughed, "my name is Bulma and this walking monkey here (Vegeta snorted at this) is Vegeta. You've already met our eldest, Trunks, and this is our daughter, Bra." I knelt down to the little girl's eyelevel and said, "Hi, there. My name is Angel." She giggled and I smiled gently. "I have a brother who is around your age." I straightened up.
"Really?" Bulma asked, seeming surprised, "Where are you from, anyway?" I clenched my teeth a bit before answering.
"I'm not from the Z warriors' dimension," I muttered, "I'm from another one. As is the other kid." Bulma's eyes widened substantially. Even Vegeta seemed interested, as he asked, "And how did you get here, exactly?"
"I-I," I sighed, "I don't know how to explain it, exactly. I went into an antique store in the mall and this weird guy asked me to make a wish on this ball that had four orange stars on it. I wished to be an alien in another dimension." Now I was certain Vegeta was interested.
"What kind of alien?"
"H-He said it was one of the strongest species in this dimension and that I would 'most definitely need it'," I said as if I had just quoted the elder man in the store, "He called it a 'Saiyan' or something like that." All eyes and mouths were wide with shock except me, while I just blushed.
"Prove it," Vegeta said after the long, eerie pause.
"How?" I asked, my head cocked to one side. I knew full well what he meant. He meant did I have a tail. I didn't notice until right then, but I had one, wrapped tightly around my waist.
"Well, what's different?" Bra asked me, her innocent eyes giving me hope. I smiled down at her in relief.
"Well, for one thing, in my dimension, I had sandy brown hair, not black," I said.
"Did you have black eyes?" Trunks asked me.
"No, blue-green," I answered and then I pulled my tail out, "And certainly not this thing, whatever it is." It was as if the whole room was holding their breath.
"A tail," Vegeta breathed, breaking the imposing silence, "A Saiyan tail." I stared at it along with everyone else. It didn't look like the brown Saiyan tail I was used to seeing on TV. It was pure white with a few spikes of aqua on the tip.
I most certainly was not expecting that to happen.
"Expect the unexpected," I murmured the shop owner's last words to me before the light had engulfed me completely.
"What?" Trunks asked.
"That's what the shop owner told me, just before I ended up in an alley," I said, uncertainly, "He told me, 'expect the unexpected, Angel', which was really weird, considering the fact I hadn't told him my name was Angel."
"Huh," Vegeta grunted, "It seems he was expecting you. Maybe one of those 'higher gods' the short green man is always talking about."
"'Short green man'?" I asked while cocking my eyebrows, "'Higher gods'? Which dimension did I land in?"
"Welcome to our world," Bulma said while rolling her eyes, "You won't be bored ever again, let me tell you that." I looked at her like she was crazy. "Don't look at me like that!" I laughed at this. What else could I do? I had really gotten my wish, and it was getting completely out of hand.
"So..." I drawled, "What is a Saiyan? Besides the tail, I mean. The weird guy said that they were the strongest in this dimension. Is that true?"
"I should hope and think so," Bulma said.
"Yes," Vegeta had answered a split second later. I laughed.
"For a married couple, you two sure don't agree on much," I said with another laugh.
"Welcome to my world," Trunks said while rolling his eyes. Vegeta snorted and crossed his arms, indifferent.
"What do the Saiyans do, anyway?" I asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"We train," Vegeta answered gruffly, "As should you, if that fool comes back again."
"It's Cell all over again," Bulma sighed. Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at her, very unlike him at all, but I kept a straight face. "What I mean is, I sort of-well-I, uh..." she stuttered the last few lines as her voice trailed off.
"What?" Trunks prompted, as did I a flat-second later.
"I made a-a machine," she stammered lamely, "I-It measures p-power levels. That g-guy's stronger than Cell."
"WHAT?!" the whole room roared as one.
"To tell the truth," she squeaked pitifully, "Three times as strong." (AN: OK, peeps, this is important; Buu never happened, Pan is being trained by her father and grandfather [Goku, not Hercule] and nothing has happened since Cell, basically. Marron is a good fighter, better than Krillin at her age, in fact, so let's get back to the story, 'kay?)
"THREE TIMES?!!!" Vegeta roared at her, "Since when were you planning on telling us?!" I was laughing and crying my butt off by then, for Vegeta was way further out of character than I'd ever seen him.
"What are you laughing at?" Trunks asked, puzzled. I, for a spare moment, forgot who I was with and said, "It's so O-O-C that it's funny!"
"O-O-C?" Bulma inquired, "What's that?"
"Overwhelmingly and Openly Crazy," I said, saying the first words to make sense that popped into my head.
"Yeah, that is true," Trunks said, "This is pretty crazy." We laughed and I felt a little more at home than ever before.
"Well," Bulma said finally, "Trunks, why don't you, Bra, and Angel come with me, and we'll go shopping." My face, as well as Trunks', twisted in horror. "What?! We're going shopping, not to your funerals." I knew the way that Bulma shopped, we practically were living our funerals, but I most certainly did not say that aloud. Too many questions would be asked and not enough answers that correlated correctly.
My surprises were not ended when Bulma whipped out a capsule and a red convertible came out.
"Wow, now that's something," I said as I looked at the capsule more closely.
"Let me guess, you don't have capsules in your world," Bulma smiled, "That sounds about right, my dad probably isn't there either." I just nodded and continued studying the little gray tube with careful eyes, not wanting to miss a single detail. Bulma laughed as I handed it back to her with awe in my eyes.
By the time I'd done that, however, we'd reached the mall. It was hour after hour of trying on "cute" clothes on my new body. By the time we exited the store, my hands were filled to overflowing with the type of clothes I'd always wanted and twice as many as I'd had in my own world. I even had several custom-made gis similar to Trunks' at home.
Bra had also gotten many new things, as did Trunks. I didn't know why until after we'd gotten back to Capsule Corp. And they didn't really ask me if I wanted to be trained until then, either. Sometimes I hate being that shy.
"Um...Angel?" Trunks said, "Would you like to be...um...would you like to be..." His voice trailed off.
"Trained?" I supplied. He nodded sheepishly, "Of course I would, Trunks." He brightened noticeably.
"Great!" he said, "Me and Goten and Gohan and Goku are going to train you up in the Black Forest, with Bra and Pan and Videl, too." I looked at him, surprised.
"Why on Earth would Videl want to come?" I asked, "She isn't very strong." I clamped my teeth at my mistake, but he only gave me a sidelong glance before answering.
"She wants to cook for us," was his answer.
"Cook?!" I nearly shouted in surprise, "For four half-Saiyans, one quarter-Saiyan, and two pure-blooded Saiyans, is she mad?!" I gasped upon the outburst and clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to seal what I had just said back inside my mouth, but I knew it was no good.
"I think the picture just got fuzzier on me," Trunks said while looking at me out of the corner of his eyes. Luckily for me, Bulma, Vegeta, and Bra were elsewhere in Capsule Corp.
Or so I thought.
"I wonder..." Vegeta whispered to himself as he watched his son tell the girl about the wilderness training.
"Anyway," Trunks said, trying to shake what I had said out of his head, "We'll be leaving tomorrow, if you want to."
"Um...okay, I guess," I answered, "And I'm sorry." He looked shocked for a moment before I explained, "For not telling you the whole truth. It's hard to trust me when I won't tell you everything, but believe me, it is for your own good." He snorted and crossed his arms indignantly and I just had to laugh at the striking pose.
"What?" he asked innocently.
"You do know that you look much too much like your father like that," I smirked and mimicked him, glad I had my loose-fitting jacket on.
"So I'm told," he answered with a wider smirk, looking even more like Vegeta, and we burst out laughing all over again.
Vegeta left the laughing duet alone. He knew what was happening. And he liked it. He liked it a lot. He smirked to himself as he thought of the possibilities but stopped the instant he entered the kitchen, returning to his typical scowl.
"Vegeta, I'm glad you're here," Bulma said as soon as she saw him, "Could you go tell Trunks and Angel that dinner is ready?" He nodded curtly and was out of the room faster than Bulma could've said another word. "What am I going to do with that man?" she sighed.
***
When Vegeta came and got us, we had finally stopped rolling on the floor and Trunks had been trying to teach me to use my ki to levitate before we left for the next day. I had succeeded, but barely. I was fairly disappointed.
"Hey, chin up," he laughed as he saw my face, "It took me three weeks to learn that from my Dad."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"Yeah," he smiled at the memory, "I was only 4 when we started, 'cause dad said that's when he started himself."
"Hey, brats, the woman has dinner ready," came the rough voice I knew all too well as Vegeta's. I turned around and marched haughtily up to him.
"Prince or not," I growled in a low, dangerous voice, "Stronger or not. Do not call me by anything other than my name." He seemed surprised by this, and speechless, as did Trunks. Both men simply stood there, looking at me. I flushed in anger and embarrassment.
"Fine," he said finally, in a level, cold voice, "Angel." He left and I collapsed to the floor in confusion.
"Wow," Trunks said when his jaw had finally been hinged back into place, "I've never, ever seen anyone do that, ever! You're pretty brave, you know." I smiled sadly.
"Naw," I told him bashfully, "Just foolish enough to challenge the Prince." He laughed again.
"Exactly," he said, "I mean, no one's ever done it before, it was just amazing!" I shook my head and followed him through the winding hallway to the kitchen/dining room and blushed as soon as I saw Vegeta sitting there, as though nothing had happened.
I ate very little that night despite the fact that I was a Saiyan. I decided it must have been because I hadn't trained, or the fact that I had never eaten much as a human, either. It didn't matter, though, not to me.
"Aren't you hungry?" Trunks asked as he wolfed down another bowl of rice.
"I never ate much," was my answer. I shrugged, "Just never did."
"Hmm," he considered this as he took his dishes to the sink for the cleaning bots to do. He shrugged it off and headed for his room. But he stopped and turned back. "I'll wake you up in the morning so we can get ready for our trip."
"Hai," I answered, using a traditional Japanese word.
"Huh?" he questioned. I blushed as the others stared as well.
"It means yes, I'm sorry," I told them.
"In what?" Bulma asked.
"Huh?"
"In what language?" she pressed.
"Oh, you probably don't have it here," I told her, "But it's called Japanese."
"Oh," she said, confused, "No, we don't have that here." Trunks held his head in his hand and walked away, mumbling something about "crazy...girl...-mension". I could pretty well guess he was talking about me.
"Do you know the way to that room you were in at first?" Bulma asked as soon as he was out of earshot.
"Not really," I said as I looked out the four doors that led out of the kitchen, "This place is a maze. Amazing, but a maze." She laughed lightly at my attempt at humor and I found myself smiling a bit.
"I'll take her, woman," Vegeta said gruffly, "I want to talk to her anyway." Bulma was surprised to say the least, as was I, but not as much. I'm sure he wanted to talk to me about what I'd said to him before.
"Um, okay, Vegeta," Bulma said. He walked out of the kitchen through one door and turned an inquiring eyebrow in my direction.
"Well?" was all he had to say to get my feet moving. Man, he had a way of motivation if I ever saw one.
We were silent in our trek and I paid no attention to where we were going. That is, until we reached the front door.
"Follow me," he said mysteriously, "There's something I want to show you." There was something in the way he'd said it that made me trust him. I knew I'd heard almost the same words from my brother, many times before, but there was something about Vegeta that told me his mind was far from those thoughts.
I followed him. He led me down the street and to a secluded area.
"Get on my back," he ordered, "We have to fly." My eyes widened noticeably at this. I was not prepared to fly, not at all. In fact, it was one of my few fears, was to fly. And yet, at the same time, my greatest thrill ride.
Of course, I wasn't very comfortable with touching any man, let alone one that could rip me limb-from-limb in a matter of seconds. I was walking on the edge. Who is to say I wasn't scared much further than out of my mind? Of course, to refuse, I knew, had much greater consequences. I stepped timidly toward him and touched his toned shoulders. I was glad he had worn a jacket, for once in his life, and I still had on my own.
"You're afraid," he said, "Why?" I stepped back instinctively and curled my fingers in a fist, pressing them to my pounding heart to stop its rapid beating.
"I-I-uh, um..." I blushed deep red.
"You're not as brave as he thought," Vegeta chuckled suddenly, a low, throaty sound that was almost unrecognizable.
I snorted. "You try going through what I've been through as a girl and see whether you're not scared of at least a few things." There. I'd said it. I'd finally voiced my fears to someone other than that computer that sat on my desk back home.
"We'll walk then, Angel," he said with a smirk, "If you can work up enough courage to say something like that to me, then you are more than worthy."
"Worthy of what?" I asked as we weaved our way through the streets toward who-knows-where.
"Worthy of my son," he answered. He turned to look at me. "He's already hooked, as are you, so I couldn't have done anything besides, but I had to make sure."
"What?!" I shrieked in surprise. My heart started beating faster than I would've liked. "But we're only 15! How can something like that just...happen?"
"Age doesn't matter," Vegeta said heavily, "It's just a friendship at the moment, but that will change. He is a true friend now."
"A true friend," I whispered to myself, "I-I've never actually had a true friend before." He looked at me, apparently startled.
"Never?" he asked. I shook my head sadly. "Hate to live your life."
"I hated my life as it was going, too," I said with angry tears running down my cheeks, "My brother and father trying to rape me, my mother not caring, my little brother being able to do whatever he pleased unless I stepped in, and my computer and my drawings..." I realized I had been rambling on without thought.
"Your brother and father?" he inquired, "Computer and drawings?"
"That stupid computer," I laughed bitterly through my tears and wiped them from my eyes with my sleeve, "That thing was the only thing that kept me going. I'd type for hours on end, just thinking about things, situations worse-off than myself. It gave me an escape from reality. And I drew pictures when my fingertips grew tired of typing."
"Can you show me them?" he asked. I still had my pack strung to my back. That's when I noticed it. We stopped in a small park on a dimly-lit bench.
"You're a lot nicer than you let on," I said sweetly as I pulled my drawing pad from my pack.
"You'd be surprised what a bond does to a Saiyan," he answered gruffly. I raised an inquiring eyebrow. "We share a friendship bond as well." I nodded in understanding even as I turned the first page.
"Who is that girl?" he asked when he saw the girl on the first page.
"I don't know," I answered, "I never come up with character names unless I want to. Normally, I just sketch out the picture. I work on body twists, arms, legs, feet, hands, and especially my eyes. They all look the same much of the time."
"You're quite good," he said upon observation of the next picture. I bit my lip when he arrived at the next one. It was of all the Saiyans in the Cell Saga in their highest forms. "How did you know?" He looked up at me, shock in his eyes. I blushed as I hurriedly took the pad back and put it in the pack.
"How did you know?" he repeated.
"I-I can't tell you," I told him as best I could, "It would complicate things all too much more than you'd like." He looked at me square in the eyes.
"Fine, Angel," he told me, "But I know one thing. Those Sons and Trunks and Bra will go light on you at first. Have you seen my fighting technique?"
"Of course," I sighed, "How could I forget, the cleverest of the Z fighters. Goku slash Kakarott is the one with the dumb luck and brute strength, but he can't possibly understand that some people don't have a good side. The Yin-Yang theory doesn't always work."
"Yin-Yang?" he questioned even as the shock was displayed on his face.
"It's a certain Japanese symbol I am quite fond of," I smiled, "It means that all have a light side mixed with a little dark and all have a dark side mixed with a little light. But some people just don't have the light inside. Goku saw your light the first time he fought you."
"Noble Kakarott," Vegeta snarled angrily, "He's always getting things easier than I!"
"Nobody gives you a chance, except Goku," I pointed out, "Maybe you should accept the fact that Goku is Son Goku and not the Saiyan Kakarott anymore. As I must accept that I am not fully Sarah the Human, but also Angel the Saiyan. But, as the Yin-Yang theory goes, you always have some of the opposite carried over."
"I'm beginning to like that thing more and more the way you carry on about it," Vegeta said with an edge of ferocity in his tone.
"Let's go now, before we get in trouble with your wife," I grinned as we walked back toward the towering golden building that was still visible in the distance.
I fell asleep before I hit the pillow. I didn't see a dark figure that crept up to my bed and tucked the covers around me more snuggly and kissed my forehead before heading back to bed himself.
"Sweet dreams, kid," he whispered in the night as he shut the door.
I did not have sweet dreams.
I had four of them at once, all about different ways my brother could or was going to beat me up. The set afterwards was how he would rape me. One dream among all this kept me asleep all night long, though. The dream and the hope of defeating Tiger and then living with the Z fighters for the rest of my life in peace.
***
Ooh, getting scared here.
Neko: Easy for you to say, my tail-fur's sticking up!
Angel: Neko, it's just a story.
Neko: When are you going to put me in the story?
Angel: Not this one, Neko, maybe when we get to the chapters I haven't already written.
Neko: Fine, but I'm going to tell what's in the next chapter.
Angel: Only a summary, Neko.
Neko: Fine. Um...how about I just give some quotes?
Angel: Your call this time, kitty.
Neko: Okay. Here goes!
"Tiger, if you don't leave me alone, I swear..."
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, you mean like this?!"
"Trunks?! Trunks! Are you all right?"
Angel: Okay, Neko, that's enough quotes, I think they get it.
Neko: Okay. Bye!
Angel: Ja ne, peeps, see ya in Chapter 4! Peace out!