The Princess
Chapter 21: Forgotten Past
By: senzubean
I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.
Bulma wasn't speaking to Vegeta. Bra had actually started to pack her stuff and no matter what her mother said, she still went in search of boxes in the basement. Trunks left the house, saying he was going to stay in a hotel to try and get some work done without distractions. Letta disappeared somewhere into the depths of Bulma's lab. Argo, pretended to sleep whenever Vegeta entered the living room. And Potay, having gotten used to avoiding Vegeta, continued about his activities as normal.
At about eleven P.M. Potay dropped onto Bra's landing for his daily visit.
"Where're you gonna go?" Potay asked skeptically, he'd noticed that she got all her money from her parents.
"Oh, I'm not going anywhere. I just want Dad to think I am. It's called applied guilt. It's what most parents use to get their kids to do what they want, and it's just as effective in reverse roles."
"Are you sure that will work on your father though?" Potay asked.
"Of course. He'll give me what I want by lunch time tomorrow, guaranteed." Bra said with a wink.
"I'm not apologizing this time!" Vegeta said to Bulma, who was lying in bed pretending to read a novel. "I'm right! And contrary to what you all believe, I have her best interest in mind!"
He looked over at Bulma , who was still oblivious.
"LISTEN TO ME, WOMAN! I'M BEING A GOOD FATHER HERE!" He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Bulma could not resist answering that.
"A good father, Vegeta, would allow his child to make her own mistakes. If not, she'll never learn what's right for her!"
"What these tyrannical spirits want of our daughter will ruin her forever!"
"Bra doesn't seem to think so, and she's a pretty smart kid, you know."
"I know." Vegeta replied. "But she doesn't know anything about the saiyans and what they are capable of! They care for nothing and no one! That power they'll give her will corrupt her! I know it will!"
Bulma huffed. "You care, Vegeta. You're a saiyan, and you were very corrupt once. Look at you now. Not to mention the other five saiyans here."
"Four." Vegeta disagreed. "That boy is a prime example!" Bulma merely glared at him, she wasn't arguing for the hell of it this time.
Vegeta sighed. "Bra will never have to struggle as I did. I won't let my child be told how to live her life."
"Vegeta." Bulma said firmly. "You are telling her how to live her life." With that she rolled over and turned off the lamp, leaving Vegeta standing in the dark.
Aggravated, frustrated and downright grumpy, Vegeta stepped out on his bedroom balcony. If Bulma didn't want to talk to him, that was just fine, he had said all he wanted to say.
He stood there for hours, looking at the stars that Bra wanted so badly to venture into. He would not allow it. Even if Bra did start moving her things out of the house, which he highly doubted she would. He wasn't going to cave this time. One day she would thank him.
Vegeta remembered the day he found that poem Bra had written when she was four. It seemed like just yesterday. He wished he could forget it. When her ability to absorb life energy from others emerged, he was instantly reminded of it. It was obvious that those dead saiyans wanted Bra, his little girl, to reclaim the power of the first Legendary Super Saiyan. How they entrapped the energy he didn't know. But what he did know was that the Saiyan who first possessed it had died by it. He could not allow his daughter to walk back into the hands of death just after escaping from them.
Down below, a long rectangle of yellow light appeared on the lawn. Bra walked over it and into the dark yard. She didn't notice Vegeta watching her as she looked up into the sky. There she stood motionless staring at the sky.
He felt warmth by his side and looked over at his wife.
"My father didn't want me to go looking for the dragonballs. He was so afraid that I'd get hurt that he'd did the same thing you did and confiscated all the capsules I had access to. You know how I convinced him?"
The expression on his face silently urged her to continue.
"I told him I would hate him forever."
Vegeta scoffed at that. She used that threat at least once a week.
"I didn't mean it, of course." Bulma continued. "But I see Bra and you growing farther and farther apart. And while I know that she could never hate you, she won't respect you. You have to respect her wishes, Vegeta. She wants this more than she's ever wanted anything before." Bulma kissed him on the cheek, then went back inside.
Vegeta remained staring at the place Bulma had just occupied.
"You're right as usual, woman." He mumbled to the emptiness. His wife had reminded him of the one thing, besides Bra's little saiyan poem, that he'd forced himself to forget. He hated his father.
As a child, the one thing he'd wanted more than anything was to spend time with his mother. Such a simple request, to have his mother available to him whenever he had a spare moment from training, or studying. He'd done his best, and tried to do more than he was capable of at such a young age, all to please that man. The king had made a promise that he'd be able to be with his mother when he proved himself as a dedicated heir to the throne. The promise was never kept, despite everything Vegeta did for him. His entire life, Vegeta hadn't done anything for himself. Striving to be come a super saiyan was all for his father. He'd wanted to beat Kakarrot more to prove himself to that long dead man than anything else. His pride was his fathers. He'd spent his entire life believing that he had something to be ashamed of. It was only when he realized how easily pride comes to a father, that he also realized that his entire life had been lived for a false belief.
He looked back down at Bra. She'd started back inside and saw him above. She froze startled and uncomfortable for a few seconds, then continued at a run. Vegeta hoisted himself over the railing and dropped in front of the door, almost causing Bra to fall as she tried to stop herself from ramming into him.
They confronted each other with their eyes, neither uttering a word. Bra crossed her arms over her chest and straightened her back.
"I'm leaving tomorrow." She announced.
"Good." Vegeta replied. Bra stayed stone faced, even her eyes didn't falter. "Be out here by six tomorrow morning." He added. "It's probably a long way to Namek."
At that last word, Bra's expression softened considerably. Vegeta braced himself for the inevitable hug. But Bra merely smiled.
"Thanks, Dad."
Vegeta smiled solemnly back.
The first thing Bra did when she and her father descended their ship on Namek, was pull out the Dragon Radar.
"You don't need that." Vegeta chastised. Bra begged him with her facial expression to do as her mother had instructed: Vegeta was to behave himself this time.
Bra thought back to breakfast eight days ago, just before they'd left. Vegeta had insisted that Bra listen to and memorize their 'Dragon ball Retrieval Plan'. He gave them each roles. Vegeta's role was to distract the nameks, while Bra found the hut with the dragonball and steal it from its display. This prompted a lot of screaming from Bulma. Vegeta had said that it was a joke. Bulma said that he wasn't funny, chastised his 'sick sense of humor', and continued to tell Bra that violence wasn't necessary and added that it would be a good idea if Vegeta didn't appear before any Nameks at all, a proposal Vegeta was completely in agreement with.
Bra continued to press the button of the radar over and over, giddy at the site of a full screen instead of the sad blank one on earth. Vegeta, annoyed by the continuous beeping, snatched it from her and shoved it in his jacket pocket. Bra was crushed.
"But its tradition."
"If we're going to do this, we're going to do it my way." He said stubbornly. Bra panicked at that.
"Daddy, please be good."
"Be quiet and search for ki groupings!" He said.
"Found one!" Bra exclaimed almost immediately and she leapt into the air, shooting off into the first villages direction. Vegeta grumbled at their being six more to go.
It was easy enough to get the Dragon balls. They didn't need to resort to the 'Dragon ball retrieval Plan' once. Bra was easily recognized, looking so much like Bulma. A handful of Nameks in each village remembered living at Bulma's house, and were more than willing to give Bra their Dragonball, certain that no child of Bulma's would use the balls for misdeeds. Vegeta had taken Bulma's advice and stayed out of site, therefore having no influence on their decision.
It wasn't long at all and they had six. The eldest Namek was left for last, being the weakest ki signature since there were only two nameks in that house on the rock podium.
Maury, the new eldest Namek, also recognized Bra.
"Dende said to expect you." He said with a smile as both she and her father were invited in by Maury's attendant, Pioan. "He had ensured me that your intentions are good, so I won't hold you up. Pioan will summon the dragon and translate your wishes."
Less than fifteen minutes later, the Sky was black and a giant dragon was floating directly above the trio.
"What are your wishes?" Pioan asked pleasantly.
Bra inhaled nervously, then said: "An evil person called Polkrif caused the destruction of three planets. I'd like to restore them and their people back to life."
Pioan returned a hopeless expression. "The Dragon cannot grant that wish. He only has the power to restore the life of one being at a time."
"Only three people?" Bra mumbled disappointed. She looked at her father, her mother had praised his ability to work within the limits of the dragon countless times. But Vegeta was not going to help.
"If you want this bad enough, you can figure out a way to get it. " he replied. Bra heaved a sigh, she had never made a wish before, what if she did it wrong?
"Hurry up!" the Dragon boomed at them. Pioan's desperate expression was not encouraging.
"Can the dragon bring back just the planets?" Bra asked hopefully.
"Yes." Pioan replied. "The dragon can restore a planet and its vegetation, because it is considered a unit. But all of the individual creatures must be wished back separately."
Bra frowned. "Use the first two wishes to restore the two planets that Polkrif completely destroyed." Bra said. Pioan did so, and each time the Dragon announced that the wishes had been successfully granted.
Vegeta and Pioan both were anxious to know what Bra's last wish would be. Bra inhaled deeply.
"Ask the Dragon if he can restore the Earth's dragonballs."
Pioan returned a puzzled expression, but did as he was asked. There was a momentary pause, the dragon grumbling as if in deep thought.
"It can be done." The dragon replied.
Bra gasped in delight. "Wish for that!"
The wish was granted, the dragon disappeared and the balls scattered.
"I don't understand." Pioan replied. "Why did you want the Earth's dragonballs returned? Surely they have the same limitations as ours."
Vegeta smiled, understanding exactly what Bra would do. "Dende's dragonballs were designed to only grant two wishes. The power sacrificed from the third allows multiple people to be wished back per wish."
"Very Clever." Pioan agreed. "Good luck with your next wishes."
Soon, Vegeta and Bra were in space again. They were eating dinner that Bra cooked. Vegeta tried to ignore the taste, Bra was a worse cook than her mother. Bra merely poked at hers, her mind was somewhere else.
"I hope Dende isn't angry with me for restoring the Earth's dragonballs. He did say that Shen-Leung revoked the privilege of us using them."
"Its too late to be worried about that now." Vegeta replied crankily. He was dreading where Bra wanted to go next and as if she had read his mind, Bra said:
"How long will it take us to get to that other planet?"
Vegeta shrugged. "Three days or so."
There was a lengthy silence. "Dad, why don't you want me to go there?"
Vegeta grunted. "Just because some juvenile poem instructs you to do something doesn't mean that you should."
"But Dende wouldn't tell me to do something dangerous."
"Hmph! That kid would do anything his superiors told him!" Vegeta scowled. "Our ancestors are crafty, Bra. That's what helped keep them leaders of our race. Every member of clan Vegeta was born with a natural ability to conceal our true intentions from others. I wouldn't trust my ancestors as far as I could throw them, and that's pretty damned far considering I'm the strongest of them all."
"What about Grandma? You trust her."
"She's not a member of Clan Vegeta." Vegeta explained sarcastically.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Bra said stubbornly and started to clear the table.
"You're not afraid, even after the dreams?" Vegeta asked.
Bra nearly dropped the dishes to the floor. "How did you know about the dreams?"
"I told your grandmother about one I had, it was almost the same as the ones you relayed to her."
Bra was visibly shaken, then she calmly went back to the dishes. "That's weird. But I still want to find out what it means."
Vegeta sighed, he was not going to convince her to turn back. All he could do was be ready to protect her when the time came.
Three days later, they landed in a thick forest, exactly like the one in their dreams.
"At least we know we're on the right planet." Bra said nervously, looking all around her, half expecting an army to jump out at them. No army came, although two air cruisers appeared above, circling.
"I think we're about to meet the locals." Vegeta said watching as the cars spiraled closer to the ground. One landed directly in front of them in the clearing, one behind. The occupants exited, two in each car, and they were brandishing guns. As they approached they began to look very familiar. They were fuzzy ape men just like Polkrif. Obviously this was the planet he hailed from. They also looked like a more civilized form of the army in both Vegeta and Bra's dream. Vegeta growled under his breath, suspecting that this visit was going to get interesting at any moment.
"Where did you two come from?" One of the apes asked, their uniforms indicated that they were police.
"Earth." Vegeta answered. Bra stood silent, very afraid by these aliens who looked so much like Polkrif and the army in her dream.
"Never heard of it." The ape answered.
"Well its far away from here, and not part of the Galactic Alliance."
"Never heard of the Galactic Alliance either." The man answered again. "Anyone else in that craft of yours?" He asked.
Vegeta told him no, but they weren't satisfied. Angry, but not wanting to cause any trouble yet, Vegeta allowed them to search it.
"What brings you here, then?" the alien in charge demanded when they were outside again. "Ship trouble?"
"No." Vegeta replied at the brink of losing his patience. Choosing his words very carefully, he continued, "We've heard of a site on this planet that we want to have a look at. It's a statue of a giant ape. Is it here?"
All four started at the explanation.
"We don't mix with outsiders." The leader hastily said. "How exactly did you hear of this site?"
"A traveler that has recently visited your planet told us." Vegeta lied
"You're the first people to visit us in over ten years." The alien said nastily, they all took on very suspicious airs.
"Listen, " Vegeta replied. "All we want to do is look at the site. Then we'll leave."
"You'll leave now." The leader ordered. "Just forget what you've heard about that statue. We don't want any outsiders on our planet. We've finally purged it of all invaders, we don't want to be bothered again! If you don't leave right now, we'll kill you, that's how serious we are about our privacy!"
Vegeta scowled at them. But Bra was shaken.
"Daddy, let's just leave. Its not that important."
"Stop allowing yourself to be intimidated!" Vegeta snapped at her. Then confronted the leader. "The Prince of all Saiyans will not be ordered around by men hiding behind guns."
"Saiyans?" One of the aliens gasped
"Don't be a fool!" The leader chastised. "The Saiya-jin left this planet one thousand years ago and became extinct."
"Left this planet?" Vegeta said surprised. "What are you talking about?"
"If you were a saiyan, you would know of this planet's history, and you would know that we pushed those wild beasts out of here in order to save our civilization. Our ancestors culled what was an inferior breed of Simiod."
Vegeta was baffled by that. "Saiyans lived here?"
The leader brought his gun up, aiming it at Bra and cocked it. "You had your chance to leave, now you both die."
Seconds later, all four were weapon-less. Vegeta crushed the four guns with one hand and let the mass of mangled metal drop to his feet.
"I want to know more about the Saiyans." Vegeta replied. "You four will not leave this forest until I am satisfied."
"You've taken our weapons, but you have not disarmed us." The leader screamed and lunged at Vegeta. He was unconscious moments later. Two of the other men attacked at once, they too were added to the pile of fallen aliens. The last, a young man, was left. He was too frightened to attack.
"You're the only one left." Vegeta said. "You can tell me what I want to know, or you can join your friends."
"I..I don't know much sir. It's only covered briefly in history classes."
"Just tell me what you know!" Vegeta bellowed.
"Well, we're members of the species Simiod. Two types evolved from the same base, the Meandols, what I am, and the Saiyans, what you claim to be. Anyway, we all lived on this planet until about a thousand years ago. You see, the Meandols wanted to expand their empires, while the Saiyans had remained hunter gatherers for the most part. Fights broke out when we invaded their territory and built cities. Our breeds are very aggressive, but the saiyans were always a bit more wild, they didn't resort to weapons. And uh...there was one very important difference in our anatomy."
"Tails." Vegeta finished, noticing that this young man did not have one.
"Yes." He replied. "the saiyans transformed on the full moon."
"How often does the full moon appear?" Vegeta demanded.
"Every four months."
"Hmph!" Vegeta scoffed. That must have been very inconvenient for the Meandol invaders. "And what happened to the saiyans?"
"Well our two groups fought continuously, until the Planet was a mess. Then these other species showed up on ships. They were fighters too and had very powerful weapons and technology. Anyway, the Meandols had money and the Saiyans didn't. They paid these new comers to take the Saiyans away. The Saiyans were culled then the best specimens were captured and relocated to another planet somewhere. But Clan Vegeta put up a good fight. They even had a gold fighter that was much stronger than the rest. Apparently, it took ten armies to bring her down and even then it wasn't them who'd destroyed her."
"Who killed her then?" Vegeta asked, not knowing whether to believe all this or not. But the kid had mentioned his name without being prompted to do so, indicating that there was some truth in it.
"No one knows. It was rumored that she self-destructed, but there were remains. Very strange. She remained a giant ape even after death. Saiyans usually de-transform don't they, when they're killed?"
"Yes." Vegeta mumbled going through all this information in his mind. "What were the aliens in ships called."
"I don't remember, sorry." The man replied." Y..you'll have to ask someone else to verify all that sir. I think I remembered right, but I'm not exactly sure."
Vegeta wondered if the aliens tsufurin. But Zorn had told him that the Saiyans had come themselves to Planet Plant, and he was much more reluctant to doubt Zorn than he was to doubt even his father. It was always possible that his people had escaped from another planet and went to Plant. He looked down at the fallen soldiers, wondering if he should wait until they were awake to verify the information.
"That will do for now." He decided. "Bra, capsulise the ship." Bra nodded to dumfound to speak and ran to do as she was told.
"S..sir, um what will you do here?" The young man asked shakily.
"We'll examine the site, then we will leave."
"Y..you promise?" he continued.
Vegeta glared back. "I don't make promises to creatures weaker than myself. Especially when said creatures inconvenienced me as you did."
"Let me make it up to you." The creature babbled on. "I'll take you to the site, It's not far."
"That's better." Vegeta smirked nastily. Bra returned, the ship secure in her backpack. "Go." Vegeta ordered the young man, who nodded and levitated into the air.
An hour later they landed at the foot of the statue, exactly like the one in the dreams.
"It sure is something, huh?" The young man said, fast gaining back his boldness now that he felt himself to be out of danger from Vegeta. "Archaeologists have studied it for years, it's the planets greatest mystery. Energy sensors go off the charts when they're activated within a five mile radius of this place, but the scientists have determined that its nothing but a sculpture in the cliff face."
Vegeta looked at Bra, who felt the energy too.
"You can go now." Vegeta said to the young man.
"Sir, do you know what the mystery of it is? I promise not to tell anyone else."
Vegeta merely glared at him. The aliens face fell defeated.
"Have a safe trip home sir." He said and left.
Bra looked over her shoulder towards the woods.
"I don't think we have anything to worry about, Bra. You saw how weak those men were, and obviously they were the planets best if they sent them to deal with an unidentifiable space craft." Vegeta said.
"I guess." Bra replied. "Do you think it's true what they said?"
Vegeta shrugged. "He had a lot of details straight. The legend of the Super Saiyan, my name, it probably is."
Bra nodded, then advanced towards the stone. "There's a lot of energy in there." She said nervously. She planted her palm on its right shin. She removed it forcefully seconds later. It was as if her hand had been stuck to the stone.
"What's wrong?" Vegeta asked slightly worried.
"It wants me to take it. I barely had to concentrate to get hold of it."
"Does it feel...dangerous?" Vegeta asked.
"No." Bra replied. " I don't think it's anymore dangerous than yours was. But there is a lot of it." Bra stared for a few minutes, then stepped away from it.
"I'm going to leave it there."
Vegeta looked at her questioningly. "Are you sure? It's meant for you to have."
"I don't need it now though. Didn't the poem say I'm supposed to use it to keep the universe safe?"
"I don't care what the poem says." Vegeta spat. "I'm just worried that if you leave without taking any, those damned spirits will continue to torment you."
Bra smiled. "I think we've done what they wanted." Bra replied. "They wanted you to know where we came from." Bra replied. "Why would they send you that dream if they didn't want you here too?"
"Makes sense, Princess." Vegeta agreed. He looked up at the archway, their family's insignia was there and the words "Legumasa, Queen of Saiyans." Written on either side.
""Are you positive that you won't take the power, Bra?"
"There's too much of it. I can't handle it all. It's not going anywhere, it's been there for a thousand years. I could always come back later."
"If you're sure." Vegeta replied with a sigh. "Let's get out of here."
Bra smiled and followed him into the air.
"Now aren't you glad you came? We found out some neat stuff."
Vegeta grunted and nodded.
"I can't wait to get home and finish up my wishes." She said.
Vegeta forced a smile. He secretly hoped that Dende would allow it.