Meetings
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Unreality swirled before Serena's eyes; black, cold, dark, unreality. It was a relief from the pain- simple, blissful relief. She sensed that she was floating, her body suspended in an underground cavern. Then slowly, so slowly that she nearly didn't notice, her toes touched cold rock, like the inside of a cave. Gently, her whole body touched the ground, until she was lying on the cool, black stone, gently breathing, trying to move her suddenly fatigued limbs and get her bearings, when some of the darkness lifted. Not all of it. She was still surrounded by cold, black space, but she could see that she wasn't in a cave at all, but under a night sky in some vast field of smooth onyx.
"Don't try to get up," … a deep, stern, masculine voice. Very commanding, almost frightening just to hear. She turned her head a bit.
"I said don't try to get up. I suggest you don't even try to move. You've got to take it easy while you're here. There's a lot we have to do for you."
Some amount of defiance arose in Serena, and she weakly turned her head to see her visitor. She finally managed to lift up her head enough to turn her head to the other side. The man standing over her was tall, or at least appeared that way from the ground. She could see a blue sash wrapped around the white robe and sandals poking out from under the hem. He had very nice looking feet… a curious thing to notice, considering the circumstances.
"What happened?" she asked, breathing tiredly between each word. She had exerted herself a lot… just to turn her head.
"Change of plans," came the reply, then he stepped out of her field of vision.
She heard him walk softly away, then there was a soft rustling sound and silence… but something was different. She rolled her eyes around: nothing to be seen but stars and stone. She tried to move, but found it getting harder all the time. She mentally checked over her body, and discovered that she was now wearing a necklace that she hadn't been. It was a small metal chain, she thought from what she could feel on her neck, with a palm- sized pendant inside of her shirt. Though the chain was cold metal, the pendant was warm, and hummed next to her chest. She listened carefully, and barely, just barely, she could discern a tune- repetitive and enchanting. She closed her eyes and focused on it. It brought back the memories of her pain, her loss, her suicide… all of which brought tears to her eyes and hard questions to her mind.
Again, unreality took her up. It was a relief from the pain, but an instant later it became a torment. She felt herself being ripped at, burned, screamed at with voices that spoke in a thousand languages of evil, hate, sorrow, happiness, and awesome, overwhelming power that fell to ruin. However, it only lasted a few moments. A third time reality faded, and this time gray mist floated before her. It stayed… for a long time, until shapes began to form. They came from somewhere beyond the mist, but she didn't know where. She knew very little until she found that she was in the midst of a city. Not just any city- a silver city… a beautiful, silver city. There was no question about it. She was on the moon in it's hey- day: The Silver Age. People milled about, some smiling, some frowning, but all happy for the most part, because what could worry them in this time of peace and prosperity? It would, of course, last forever.
Serena jolted to reality. She looked around, looked for the mouths that voiced the range of emotions and ideas, but in looking around she came to the conclusion that the voices had not come from this little town square. It hadn't seemed like the voices were from outside anyway… more like they were inside her head… even more like they were going through her head.
She shook herself, "Stop that Serena, you'll drive yourself crazy."
Forgetting her moment of schizophrenia, Serena began to ponder where she was; the Moon obviously, but how? How had she gone back in time?
"Maybe I'm in Alesia," she thought. "Maybe that's what heaven is like… just the parts of your life that were wonderful."
That of course, was perfect rubbish. She knew much better than that, but it was the only explanation as yet that she could come up with.
It was at that moment, when she pondered the way that afterlife worked, when she saw him. Standing in the midst of the crowd, staring straight at her. He looked angry, but distantly… like he had been angry over something all his life and then the issue had been resolved. Ironically, this wasn't too far from the truth.
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Vegita saw her fade into view, like some ghost out of a horror flick. She stood there, visibly recovering from some horrible pain. She shook herself and yelled something… what it was, he couldn't hear. She looked around, and her eyes met Vegita's… but they didn't really meet… it was more like they found each other amidst the crowd. Two perfect strangers, looking for each other.
"Ridiculous," he muttered.
"Eh? Excuse me, what now?" said a passerby. Vegita, though, didn't even notice, because when he looked at this girl, he saw something, or sensed something that was akin to that haunting melody- something enchanting… something beautifully mesmerizing.
"You've been deprived of feminine company for too long, Vegita." That thought probably had some truth to it, but that didn't erase the fact, or notion, that this girl, this woman holding a staring contest with him held that impossible quality that the song had- she looked… felt like two opposites, meeting their union. She was strong and weak. She was comforting and frightening. She was slow, fast, east, west, out of his reach, and right in front of him.
This time Vegita dropped his eyes and shook his head and told himself that he was thinking very stupid, backwards thoughts. When he raised his gaze back, she was gone.
No, not gone, just hidden. The pedestrian traffic had shifted and blocked her out of his view, but she was coming, walking towards him. There couldn't be any mistaking it. She looked at him with a… hope? in her eyes. It wasn't so much hope as worried expectation, hoping against the odds. Vegita glanced about him again to see if she could be bearing towards anyone else, but that was clearly not possible- the foot traffic was now flowing around them, like two people at a ball, getting ready to dance in the spotlight.
"Hello," he said, and she stopped, a few feet away. No people passed between them.
"Hi," she replied.
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This was simply too much for Serena. She had just died, took two trips into dreamland, and was now standing amidst a city that was long ago destroyed, talking to an angry man that the crowd seemed to be afraid to approach. There was no way in… wherever this was that she was going to sit here and pretend things were perfectly normal. She hugged herself in her nervousness.
"What's going on?" she asked, not hiding the urgency and sense of imploring in her voice.
"I…" he began, but stopped, and his gaze focused somewhere else, somewhere beyond the Silver Millennium.
"I'm Vegita, last of the Saiyans," such a lie. "Who are you?"
"Serena, a fourteen year old girl," such an understatement.
They both stood, not sure where to go from there. They knew, somehow, unexplainably, that they were there for the sake of each other. They had to meet, but after that, neither had the foggiest idea what to do.
Then again, Vegita did have one specific idea of what he might do… but kissing a girl he didn't know in public… it wasn't his style. And even though Serena was striking, he wasn't about to break down barriers he had set up just to let her in. No, if she wanted in, she'd have to go through the maze.
Serena, however, though she had no ideas, was very tired again. Not quite as tired as when she had been lying, seemingly dead with whoever it was, but still too tired to support her own weight.
She fell into his chest and went to sleep, literally in his arms.
***********************************************************
Unreality swirled before Serena's eyes; black, cold, dark, unreality. It was a relief from the pain- simple, blissful relief. She sensed that she was floating, her body suspended in an underground cavern. Then slowly, so slowly that she nearly didn't notice, her toes touched cold rock, like the inside of a cave. Gently, her whole body touched the ground, until she was lying on the cool, black stone, gently breathing, trying to move her suddenly fatigued limbs and get her bearings, when some of the darkness lifted. Not all of it. She was still surrounded by cold, black space, but she could see that she wasn't in a cave at all, but under a night sky in some vast field of smooth onyx.
"Don't try to get up," … a deep, stern, masculine voice. Very commanding, almost frightening just to hear. She turned her head a bit.
"I said don't try to get up. I suggest you don't even try to move. You've got to take it easy while you're here. There's a lot we have to do for you."
Some amount of defiance arose in Serena, and she weakly turned her head to see her visitor. She finally managed to lift up her head enough to turn her head to the other side. The man standing over her was tall, or at least appeared that way from the ground. She could see a blue sash wrapped around the white robe and sandals poking out from under the hem. He had very nice looking feet… a curious thing to notice, considering the circumstances.
"What happened?" she asked, breathing tiredly between each word. She had exerted herself a lot… just to turn her head.
"Change of plans," came the reply, then he stepped out of her field of vision.
She heard him walk softly away, then there was a soft rustling sound and silence… but something was different. She rolled her eyes around: nothing to be seen but stars and stone. She tried to move, but found it getting harder all the time. She mentally checked over her body, and discovered that she was now wearing a necklace that she hadn't been. It was a small metal chain, she thought from what she could feel on her neck, with a palm- sized pendant inside of her shirt. Though the chain was cold metal, the pendant was warm, and hummed next to her chest. She listened carefully, and barely, just barely, she could discern a tune- repetitive and enchanting. She closed her eyes and focused on it. It brought back the memories of her pain, her loss, her suicide… all of which brought tears to her eyes and hard questions to her mind.
Again, unreality took her up. It was a relief from the pain, but an instant later it became a torment. She felt herself being ripped at, burned, screamed at with voices that spoke in a thousand languages of evil, hate, sorrow, happiness, and awesome, overwhelming power that fell to ruin. However, it only lasted a few moments. A third time reality faded, and this time gray mist floated before her. It stayed… for a long time, until shapes began to form. They came from somewhere beyond the mist, but she didn't know where. She knew very little until she found that she was in the midst of a city. Not just any city- a silver city… a beautiful, silver city. There was no question about it. She was on the moon in it's hey- day: The Silver Age. People milled about, some smiling, some frowning, but all happy for the most part, because what could worry them in this time of peace and prosperity? It would, of course, last forever.
Serena jolted to reality. She looked around, looked for the mouths that voiced the range of emotions and ideas, but in looking around she came to the conclusion that the voices had not come from this little town square. It hadn't seemed like the voices were from outside anyway… more like they were inside her head… even more like they were going through her head.
She shook herself, "Stop that Serena, you'll drive yourself crazy."
Forgetting her moment of schizophrenia, Serena began to ponder where she was; the Moon obviously, but how? How had she gone back in time?
"Maybe I'm in Alesia," she thought. "Maybe that's what heaven is like… just the parts of your life that were wonderful."
That of course, was perfect rubbish. She knew much better than that, but it was the only explanation as yet that she could come up with.
It was at that moment, when she pondered the way that afterlife worked, when she saw him. Standing in the midst of the crowd, staring straight at her. He looked angry, but distantly… like he had been angry over something all his life and then the issue had been resolved. Ironically, this wasn't too far from the truth.
************************************************************************
Vegita saw her fade into view, like some ghost out of a horror flick. She stood there, visibly recovering from some horrible pain. She shook herself and yelled something… what it was, he couldn't hear. She looked around, and her eyes met Vegita's… but they didn't really meet… it was more like they found each other amidst the crowd. Two perfect strangers, looking for each other.
"Ridiculous," he muttered.
"Eh? Excuse me, what now?" said a passerby. Vegita, though, didn't even notice, because when he looked at this girl, he saw something, or sensed something that was akin to that haunting melody- something enchanting… something beautifully mesmerizing.
"You've been deprived of feminine company for too long, Vegita." That thought probably had some truth to it, but that didn't erase the fact, or notion, that this girl, this woman holding a staring contest with him held that impossible quality that the song had- she looked… felt like two opposites, meeting their union. She was strong and weak. She was comforting and frightening. She was slow, fast, east, west, out of his reach, and right in front of him.
This time Vegita dropped his eyes and shook his head and told himself that he was thinking very stupid, backwards thoughts. When he raised his gaze back, she was gone.
No, not gone, just hidden. The pedestrian traffic had shifted and blocked her out of his view, but she was coming, walking towards him. There couldn't be any mistaking it. She looked at him with a… hope? in her eyes. It wasn't so much hope as worried expectation, hoping against the odds. Vegita glanced about him again to see if she could be bearing towards anyone else, but that was clearly not possible- the foot traffic was now flowing around them, like two people at a ball, getting ready to dance in the spotlight.
"Hello," he said, and she stopped, a few feet away. No people passed between them.
"Hi," she replied.
************************************************************************
This was simply too much for Serena. She had just died, took two trips into dreamland, and was now standing amidst a city that was long ago destroyed, talking to an angry man that the crowd seemed to be afraid to approach. There was no way in… wherever this was that she was going to sit here and pretend things were perfectly normal. She hugged herself in her nervousness.
"What's going on?" she asked, not hiding the urgency and sense of imploring in her voice.
"I…" he began, but stopped, and his gaze focused somewhere else, somewhere beyond the Silver Millennium.
"I'm Vegita, last of the Saiyans," such a lie. "Who are you?"
"Serena, a fourteen year old girl," such an understatement.
They both stood, not sure where to go from there. They knew, somehow, unexplainably, that they were there for the sake of each other. They had to meet, but after that, neither had the foggiest idea what to do.
Then again, Vegita did have one specific idea of what he might do… but kissing a girl he didn't know in public… it wasn't his style. And even though Serena was striking, he wasn't about to break down barriers he had set up just to let her in. No, if she wanted in, she'd have to go through the maze.
Serena, however, though she had no ideas, was very tired again. Not quite as tired as when she had been lying, seemingly dead with whoever it was, but still too tired to support her own weight.
She fell into his chest and went to sleep, literally in his arms.