Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ, am not affiliated with FUNimation
Three years later, Meleina asked that Frieza allow her to return home to her family for a little while. He agreed readily (though she suspected that it was at Zarbon's insistence), and Meleina hurried to her pod. In the next release bay over, Socha was also climbing into a pod.
"Hey, friend, where're you headed?"
Socha looked over and grinned. "I thought you'd be here. I heard that you were going to go home to your family, so I begged Frieza into letting me go with. It wasn't that hard; I think he was actually pretty glad to be rid of me for a little while."
Meleina's heart skipped a beat. "You're coming home with me? To meet my family?"
"Yeah! How fun does that sound?
Meleina laughed. "Actually, that sounds like a lot of fun." She smiled mischievously. "You know, Raditz should be there. And you'll get to meet Mom! You've met Dad once, but you hardly know him. I bet I can convince him and his crew to come visit for a few days. You know, Dad's the only one of them with a family, so it wouldn't be too much to ask."
Socha grinned. "I can't wait! You talk so much about your family that I've always really wanted to meet them. I already know Raditz, and.well, he's.not like you," she cleared her throat, then grinned. "But your Dad was really nice, and you always talk about your Mom, so she must be really great, too."
Meleina nodded happily. "Oh, yeah, Mom's great, but she's nowhere near as fun as Dad." The two girls grinned at each other. "C'mon, we'd better hurry up. I can't wait to get there!"
Meleina and Socha hurried into their pods, and Meleina chuckled softly. This visit home sure is going to be a lot of fun!
They landed on the pad with a soft, familiar thump that made Meleina grin. She hurried out of her pod, then turned slightly to watch Socha get out. "Is that her?" Socha asked, pointing to a young woman. Meleina laughed and waved.
"Hi, Mom!" She looked over at Socha. "I haven't seen any of them in three years now. I've been so busy working for Frieza that I haven't been able to." Socha nodded slightly. "Mom looks a lot older, though. I think she's been worried about me."
Socha grinned. "That's good." They hurried over to the Saiyan woman, and Meleina gestured to Socha.
"Mom, this is my best friend, Socha. She got permission to come down and spend time with us. Is that okay?"
Meleina's mom looked shocked. "Not.Princess Socha?"
Socha inclined her head in greeting. "The same. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, no, Princess, the pleasure's all mine! Of course it's okay if you stay with us- we'd be honored."
Meleina rolled her eyes. "Mom, she's my friend. Don't treat her like the princess, okay? Treat her like a person." Socha hid a smile.
"Of course!" Meleina's mother exclaimed. "Oh, please do forgive my rudeness."
Meleina grimaced. "Can we just go? We were going to walk back home, right?"
Her mother gave her a sharp look. "Of course not! We're going to fly, like normal Saiyans do."
Meleina scowled. "But, Mom, you-"
"Quiet, Meleina. Quickly now."
Meleina and Socha followed slightly behind the older Saiyan, giving them extra time to talk without interruption. "Why did your mom get so mad at you when you asked to walk?"
Meleina lowered her voice significantly. "Mom's got Hyper Dioslk. She loses energy when she flies, but she doesn't like people knowing. Besides, she wants to make a good impression on the wonderful princess, and walking is, according to King Vegeta, 'A thing for low-level warriors. No respectable Saiyan would ever consider walking an option when he can fly.'"
Socha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that does sound like something my dad would say." The girls exchanged glances and burst into laughter. "So, is Raditz gonna be home?"
"I don't know. Lemme ask Mom, though. Hey, Ma? Is Raditz coming home for this visit?"
Her mother looked back and nodded. "Well, yes, of course. It is a family get together, you know, dear."
Meleina bit her lip. "How long is Dad planning on staying?"
Her mother growled slightly. "Meleina, it's your dad. He never says when he's going to visit, or how long he's going to stay, or who he's going to bring with." She raised an eyebrow. "I thought the saying was, 'Like father, like son,' not 'like father, like daughter.'"
Meleina flushed slightly. "Right, Mom, I'm just like Dad."
Her mother sighed. "I really don't want to discuss this now, all right? The point is that I have no idea when he's coming or how long he's staying."
"But he is coming, right?"
"He said he would be. So, in all likelihood, no, he won't make it."
Meleina shook her head. "He'll make it, Mom."
Socha smiled at her friend. "Of course he will. He loves spending time with you."
Her mother sighed again, then suddenly dropped down and landing on the ground. Meleina dropped next to her and gripped her shoulder. "Mom, are you okay?" Socha landed beside them.
"It's all right if we walk, really," the princess said worriedly. She saw the frightened look on Meleina's face and nodded to confirm her statement. "I don't mind. Besides, walking is a good calming exercise."
Meleina's mother nodded vaguely, and Meleina tightened her grip on her mother's shoulder. They walked the rest of the way back to Meleina's house, Meleina supporting her mother and Socha prepared to help if necessary.
The first thing Socha noticed about Meleina's house was the size. It wasn't huge, but it was a good size bigger than many of the houses she had seen on her way here. The front yard contained a small garden, the plants weaving an intricate design across the huge yard. The grass had been scorched a little (most likely from Meleina and Raditz fighting, Socha thought with a grin). The inside of the house was very well taken care of, things stacked in neat piles.
"Wow," Socha said happily. This place looked more like a home to her than anywhere she'd ever seen- including her own home.
"It's not much, I know," Meleina's mother said shyly. "But we make do with what we've got. I hope you don't feel like it's not big enough, we can always pull up the add-on if we need to-"
"It's perfect," Socha exclaimed. "It's even more beautiful than where I live." She grinned. "Don't worry about any add-ons, this is just great! Where do I get to sleep?"
Meleina smirked. "You can share a room with me, as long as you don't mind the floor."
"Meleina!" her mother said sharply.
"What? What'd I do?"
"Socha is not just any one of your regular friends, Meleina. You have to treat her with respect!"
Socha laughed. "Actually, I'd be quite happy on the floor, if you don't mind."
A voice floated through the doorway to the kitchen. "Is that Meleina I hear?"
"Dad!" She raced through and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"Whoa, kid, you grew up fast. How old are you now, twenty, thirty?"
Meleina grinned and punched his shoulder. "You know full well that I'm thirteen."
"Thirteen? Wow, that's even more important that being twenty." Meleina snorted and punched his arm again, and he staggered slightly. "Jeez, kid, you've got a great arm." This drew a slight chuckle from two people standing behind him. Meleina instantly recognized Taura, and bowed her head to him in greeting, but the other Saiyan she didn't' recognize. The new Saiyan was a young woman who looked to be Bardock's age. She had short black hair and wore pink armor. Meleina forced herself not to comment on the color choice of the other woman, but held her hand out in greeting.
"I'm Meleina."
"Fascha," the other replied with a slight sneer. Meleina saw her gaze flick down to Meleina's shortened tail, and she twitched it.
"Fascha's one of the new members of my crew," Bardock explained. "Taura and I decided it'd be better if we moved beyond just the two of us. There are two others, but they went to visit their own families."
"It's great to meet you." Socha and Meleina's mother walked into the kitchen. Meleina gestured to Socha, unable to resist annoying her father's new friend. "This is my friend Socha. She's going to be staying with us for a while."
She watched with internal laughter as Fascha's jaw dropped and Taura raised a surprised eyebrow. "Socha? Not.not the princess, now, are you?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "Of course not, you're wearing low-level clothing and armor."
Socha scratched her head and smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I am.I just wear this because it's more comfortable and it looks better."
"Not to mention much easier to move around it," Meleina said dryly. "Dad, do you have any of my old armor that I can put on? This stuff is tough, but I can hardly move."
"Yeah, go look in your room, I'm sure we've got something. Unless," he added with a faint smile, "Your mother got rid of your old stuff."
Meleina turned. "Mom?"
"It's in your room still, Meleina. Hurry up, dinner's going to be ready soon and you don't want to miss that, do you?"
Meleina chuckled, then raced to change into a pair of her old clothes before rushing back out to eat.
After dinner, the group settled down in the den and built a fire to relax beside. Meleina leaned close to Socha. "This is what I miss the most," she confided in her friend. "It's so nice to just sit here with everybody." She frowned. "Or, at least, almost everybody. Hey, Dad? When's Raditz supposed to get here?"
Bardock looked up and shrugged. "How would I know?"
Meleina grinned. "Mom?"
"He's supposed to come in late tonight, when we're all asleep."
"That's real safe," Meleina whispered to Socha, who chuckled.
"Going to stay awake all night to watch out for him?" Socha teased.
Meleina shrugged. "There's not much more damage for him to do," Meleina pointed out, stroking her tail softly. "Besides, if he does try anything, I'll just pound him through our house into our neighbors'. The girl he likes lives there." Socha giggled.
"You know he's going to get on our nerves at every possible chance, don't you?"
Meleina nodded, then smiled evilly. "What if we made sure that we embarrass him first?"
Socha raised an eyebrow. "How do you plan on doing that?"
Meleina bit her lip, then glanced over at her family. "I'll tell you later. I assure you, however: you're gonna love this one!"
Fascha gave Meleina a sharp look. "Going to love what?" she asked sweetly. Meleina gave the Saiyan woman a dirty look.
"Wasn't talking to you, was I?" she snapped shortly.
Fascha scowled. "You ought to show some respect to your elders and betters."
"Sure," Meleina muttered under her breath, "just as soon as I find my betters."
Socha raised an eyebrow. "You know what?" she asked, trying to stop the fight before it began. "I'm really tired. Can I go to bed now?"
Meleina nodded, still glaring at Fascha. "Yeah, I should go to sleep now, too," she growled. "Gotta be up bright and early tomorrow."
While they were climbing into bed, Socha looked up at Meleina. "So, you gonna tell me what you're going to do to Raditz?"
Meleina instantly forgot about Fascha and started to laugh. "Yeah. You're really gonna love this idea, I swear." She leaned over the edge of her bed and whispered to Socha for a few seconds. Socha clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from giggling too loudly.
"You're right, I do love that!" She grinned. "This is going to be so much better than when we made him think he was invisible!"
Meleina grinned. "I'm counting on it!"
The next day Meleina awoke and quickly gave herself the once-over. When she was satisfied that Raditz had left her alone, she threw her pillow at Socha, waking her friend up. Socha sat up groggily and blinked blankly at Meleina before grinning.
"Oh, yeah. That's right," she said sheepishly.
Meleina laughed. "Forget where you were?"
Socha nodded. "For a minute there, I did. I had a dream that I was back on Frieza's ship with Vegeta."
Meleina snorted. "Vegeta, shortest Prince of all the Saiyans."
Socha giggled softly. "So, you're still in on piece.guess that means Raditz didn't go after you."
Meleina grinned. "I thought the same thing, you know. Wonder if he's even here."
"Let's go see!" Meleina and Socha quickly dressed then raced out to the kitchen.
"Mmm," Socha said. "That smells really good!"
Meleina's mother smiled faintly. "Does it? It's Meleina's favorite dish."
She whooped in delight, but her cheer quickly turned to anger as Raditz walked in the room. "Oh, so you did make it here. I was hoping you'd have an accident or something."
He sneered. "No, I decided you bless you all with my presence." He passed a hand through his hair and smiled faintly, then pulled out a pocket mirror and looked at himself.
"Oh. My. Word," Meleina said, staring at him.
He looked passed his own image to her. "Is something wrong, little sis?"
She snatched the mirror out of his hand. "What do you need this for? Trying to make sure that you really are ugly?"
He snarled and grabbed it back. "Give it back! I happen to need my mirror."
Meleina chuckled and looked at Socha. I think my plan's going to work just fine.
They sat down to breakfast, each of them eating as if this meal would be their last. After they had finished, Meleina looked up and frowned. "Where's Dad?"
Her mother slammed her silverware down on the table. "How am I supposed to know? I wake up this morning and he and his friends are nowhere to be seen!"
Meleina shrugged. "Good, that Fascha was starting to bug me. I can't believe Dad's got a girl on his crew."
"You're not the only one," her mother growled angrily. Meleina bit her lip, knowing she was going to regret bringing up the subject. "The nerve of him, to spend all his time with that.that."
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, Mom, it's not like anything's going to happen. She's definitely not Dad's type." Her mother glared at her. "So, how about a different subject? What've you been up to, Raditz?"
The tall Saiyan smirked. "I've been handling some rather rough jobs."
Meleina couldn't resist the jibe. "Rough for you, at least. I've read some of your reports, sounds like you've been slacking off."
He gave her a sharp look. "Slacking off? I've been working my tail off- though not literally, like you."
Meleina narrowed her eyes dangerously. "C'mon, Socha, let's get out of her," she snapped, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her away. When they were out of the house, Meleina growled darkly. "I can't believe the nerve of him! He's either really stupid or really brave, challenging me like that. Who does he think he is? He's no elite, not like me, so why's he acting like one?"
Socha bit her lip. "I don't know. So.where did you want to go to?"
Meleina gave her a blank look, then suddenly grinned. "That's right, I forgot you don't know your way around here. I say we go to The Dresselian. It's a hangout downtown, one of the cleaner ones. You'd like it." She smiled. "We can plan exactly how we're going to do this to Raditz while we're there, you know? It'll be fun. Besides," she added in a quiet whisper, "One of the waiters is a good friend of mine, and he is extremely good-looking." Socha grinned.
"That sounds like a good time to me!"
They returned home several hours later, their plan completely ready. Meleina was disappointed to find that her old friend had moved on from The Dresselian and now owned his own restaurant chain. She made a mental note to tell her mother that they had to find the one he worked at and drop by to say hello.
That night, Meleina's mother prepared a fantastic feast for the four, and they all received a shock when Bardock, Taura, and Fascha returned for dinner. Meleina's mother grew extremely angry and nearly threw the three of them out on the street, but Meleina convinced her to let them stay. Bardock explained to Meleina (who seemed to be the only one who had any chance of reasoning with her mother) that they had gotten up early to train and that they would have mentioned where they were going but everyone was still asleep. Meleina believed it and tried to explain to her mother, but her mother would have none of it and denied them dinner. When Bardock tried to argue, Meleina interrupted.
"You know, Mom's got a good point. You did run off and leave us wondering where you were. It's only fair that you get a just punishment. Besides, you should be glad she didn't kick you out completely."
"She might as well have," Bardock complained, rubbing his stomach. Meleina met his gaze and through their loving bond Bardock knew that she had no intention of letting them go hungry and she would sneak some food to him and his two friends later.
They ate quickly. After dinner, Meleina and Socha hurried back to Meleina's room to complete the preparations for their prank on Raditz. They gathered the necessary supplies, borrowing from Meleina's mother and Meleina's closet as much as they could, filling a large cardboard box full of items.
When her mother went to sleep, Meleina slipped some dinner in to Fascha and Taura, then quietly sneaked into her mother and father's room. Her mother was fast asleep, but Bardock sat straight up in bed, rubbing his stomach. When he saw Meleina, his eyes lit up. "Food!" he choked.
Meleina chuckled softly. "You sound like you've been starved, Dad."
"Sure feels like it," he moaned, downing the food as fast as he could.
"You'd better be sure to clean up all the crumbs, Dad, because Mom will find out that you ate in bed if you don't."
He nodded. "No worries there, I'd hate to go without food again."
Meleina slipped out quietly then returned to her room. Socha was picking through the items in the box they had put together. "Everybody's fed, we can go ahead with Operation.um, we don't have a name for this, do we? We should make one up."
"How about.Operation: Twin Terrors?"
"OTT for short," Meleina said, then grinned broadly. "I like it." She gestured to the door. "We need to wait until we're sure he's asleep, okay?"
Socha nodded. "It'd be awful if he woke up and caught us doing it!" she said, and both girls shivered slightly at the thought of a truly angry Raditz.
They stayed up for many long hours, talking quietly and glancing at the box often, grinning broadly at the thought of what they were planning.
Finally, it came time to execute the plan. Meleina crept out first, having no fear of her slightly older brother, and opened the door to his room. After examining Raditz and confirming that he was deeply asleep, she hurried back to her room and nodded at Socha. The two girls sneaked into Raditz's room, Socha dragging the box behind her, and quietly closed his door. Meleina turned the lights on low, then turned to her box. She pulled out the first instrument of torture to use on Raditz- a frilly pink dress. She slipped it on over his head and carefully fit in on him so as not to wake him up. Socha pulled out several large pink bows from the box and tied them up in Raditz's long hair. Meleina looked over at him and snickered to herself. As if the dress wasn't enough, Meleina pulled out a large diaper, a baby bonnet, and a bib out of her box and placed them on over Raditz's armor. Socha clamped her hands over her mouth, then dug into the box again and pulled out the devices they had borrowed from Meleina's mother- makeup.
"Do the honors?" Socha asked, grinning madly.
Meleina laughed. "You do the lipstick, I do the mascara." Though neither girl had every worn makeup, they applied it with expert precision. When they finished, Meleina stepped back to admire their handiwork.
"Not bad, I'd say."
"One last thing," Socha grinned. She pulled up another ribbon and gently tied it around Raditz's tail. "There we go! Am I forgetting anything?"
Meleina looked in her box again and laughed, bringing out a small can. "Yeah- pink hair color." Socha gave her a look.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would." Meleina sprayed several streaks of bright pink into Raditz's long hair. "You know, that actually looks kind of.interesting." She chuckled softly, then looked back in the box. "Ooh.fake nails! I've seen these!" She handed half of them to Socha, and the two girls calmly glued the fake pink with purple polka dotted nails to his fingers.
Socha looked in the box again, then nodded firmly. "That's everything."
"Not quite," Meleina said. "We need to get all the mirrors away from him so he can't see himself until he's been properly humiliated." She and Socha searched through every storage area of Raditz's room until they were certain that they had found every single mirror. Meleina placed one on the kitchen table so he would be able to see what they had done to him. They raced back to bed, still giddy from the devilish trick they had played on Raditz, and eager to see what his reaction would be.
Meleina and Socha awoke before anyone else the next morning and hurried down to the kitchen. Before long, everyone but Raditz was in the kitchen, eating ferociously. When he finally staggered tiredly into the kitchen, all conversation halted and everyone stared at him. It was all Meleina and Socha could do to keep from giggling, but Bardock took one look at his son and burst into laughter, nearly choking on his breakfast.
Raditz looked slightly annoyed and grumbled, "I couldn't get ready because somebody-" he glared at Meleina, "-stole my mirrors."
Taura snorted. "Looks like you did a good enough job without the mirrors."
Fascha gave Bardock a horrified look. "I didn't know your son was a cross- dresser!"
"What?!" Raditz snarled, deeply offended. It wasn't his fault he was born with such long hair. Meleina couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. As soon as she started chuckling, Socha joined her, and soon they were rolling around on the floor in tears of laughter, watching Raditz grab the mirror they had left on the table. As he looked at what the two girls had done to him, his face grew bright red with humiliation and anger. He screamed and lunged at the giggling Meleina, who scrambled to her feet. Raditz chased the two girls out of the house and into the yard, where a crowd had gathered at the sound of his scream. Meleina collapsed to the ground, her sides aching with laughter, gasping for breath, as Raditz froze. Socha looked around at the crowd in mild horror. Maybe we were too hard on him, she thought as Raditz retreated to his room. Meleina waved at the crowd before walking back in the house, followed closely by Socha. Meleina's mother had obviously gone to help Raditz get cleaned up, leaving the two girls alone with Bardock and his friends.
Fascha gave them a hard look. "That was a truly cruel thing to do," she said shortly.
Bardock snorted. "If you think that's bad, you obviously don't know them that well."
"Yeah," Meleina agreed, unwrapping her tiny tail from her waist. Fascha looked mildly surprised, then gave her a cold look.
"Well, I'm glad you're proud of it," she sneered.
"She should be," Socha interrupted with a smile. "Her ability to cope with her disability-" That sounded terrible! "-has led to an incredible amount of strength that has captured the attention of Frieza himself." Though the young princess didn't care much for Frieza's attention, she knew this information would make a strong impression on Fascha. The older woman scowled, unable to come up with a retort. Meleina's mother entered the room, deeply upset.
"You girls have caused a lot of trouble today," she said in a dangerously quiet tone. "I'm sending you back to Frieza's ship."
"You make it sound like that's a punishment," Fascha growled.
Meleina grimaced. "I'd rather be here than up there with him," she whined.
"Go," Meleina's mother ordered sharply. The two girls exchanged glances.
"Can't we pack first?" Meleina asked innocently.
Her mother slapped her on the back of the head. "You don't have anything to pack! Now get out of here!"
Meleina and Socha shrugged, then took off toward their pods. Raditz watched them go from his room. I'll make you pay, little sister. You'll pay for what you've done to me. It was a full week before he finally managed to wash the pink out of his hair.
By the time Meleina and Socha returned to Frieza's ship, news of their prank had already traveled to Frieza's ship. Only King Vegeta had anything bad to say about their joke (to which Meleina retorted behind his back that he had no sense of humor). They had been congratulated by most of the elite warriors on good planning and perfect execution of the plan ("Typical warrior jargon," Socha said with a roll of her eyes). Frieza didn't seem to care either way and soon enough the prank had been forgotten by all but Raditz.
Three years later, Meleina asked that Frieza allow her to return home to her family for a little while. He agreed readily (though she suspected that it was at Zarbon's insistence), and Meleina hurried to her pod. In the next release bay over, Socha was also climbing into a pod.
"Hey, friend, where're you headed?"
Socha looked over and grinned. "I thought you'd be here. I heard that you were going to go home to your family, so I begged Frieza into letting me go with. It wasn't that hard; I think he was actually pretty glad to be rid of me for a little while."
Meleina's heart skipped a beat. "You're coming home with me? To meet my family?"
"Yeah! How fun does that sound?
Meleina laughed. "Actually, that sounds like a lot of fun." She smiled mischievously. "You know, Raditz should be there. And you'll get to meet Mom! You've met Dad once, but you hardly know him. I bet I can convince him and his crew to come visit for a few days. You know, Dad's the only one of them with a family, so it wouldn't be too much to ask."
Socha grinned. "I can't wait! You talk so much about your family that I've always really wanted to meet them. I already know Raditz, and.well, he's.not like you," she cleared her throat, then grinned. "But your Dad was really nice, and you always talk about your Mom, so she must be really great, too."
Meleina nodded happily. "Oh, yeah, Mom's great, but she's nowhere near as fun as Dad." The two girls grinned at each other. "C'mon, we'd better hurry up. I can't wait to get there!"
Meleina and Socha hurried into their pods, and Meleina chuckled softly. This visit home sure is going to be a lot of fun!
They landed on the pad with a soft, familiar thump that made Meleina grin. She hurried out of her pod, then turned slightly to watch Socha get out. "Is that her?" Socha asked, pointing to a young woman. Meleina laughed and waved.
"Hi, Mom!" She looked over at Socha. "I haven't seen any of them in three years now. I've been so busy working for Frieza that I haven't been able to." Socha nodded slightly. "Mom looks a lot older, though. I think she's been worried about me."
Socha grinned. "That's good." They hurried over to the Saiyan woman, and Meleina gestured to Socha.
"Mom, this is my best friend, Socha. She got permission to come down and spend time with us. Is that okay?"
Meleina's mom looked shocked. "Not.Princess Socha?"
Socha inclined her head in greeting. "The same. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Oh, no, Princess, the pleasure's all mine! Of course it's okay if you stay with us- we'd be honored."
Meleina rolled her eyes. "Mom, she's my friend. Don't treat her like the princess, okay? Treat her like a person." Socha hid a smile.
"Of course!" Meleina's mother exclaimed. "Oh, please do forgive my rudeness."
Meleina grimaced. "Can we just go? We were going to walk back home, right?"
Her mother gave her a sharp look. "Of course not! We're going to fly, like normal Saiyans do."
Meleina scowled. "But, Mom, you-"
"Quiet, Meleina. Quickly now."
Meleina and Socha followed slightly behind the older Saiyan, giving them extra time to talk without interruption. "Why did your mom get so mad at you when you asked to walk?"
Meleina lowered her voice significantly. "Mom's got Hyper Dioslk. She loses energy when she flies, but she doesn't like people knowing. Besides, she wants to make a good impression on the wonderful princess, and walking is, according to King Vegeta, 'A thing for low-level warriors. No respectable Saiyan would ever consider walking an option when he can fly.'"
Socha rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that does sound like something my dad would say." The girls exchanged glances and burst into laughter. "So, is Raditz gonna be home?"
"I don't know. Lemme ask Mom, though. Hey, Ma? Is Raditz coming home for this visit?"
Her mother looked back and nodded. "Well, yes, of course. It is a family get together, you know, dear."
Meleina bit her lip. "How long is Dad planning on staying?"
Her mother growled slightly. "Meleina, it's your dad. He never says when he's going to visit, or how long he's going to stay, or who he's going to bring with." She raised an eyebrow. "I thought the saying was, 'Like father, like son,' not 'like father, like daughter.'"
Meleina flushed slightly. "Right, Mom, I'm just like Dad."
Her mother sighed. "I really don't want to discuss this now, all right? The point is that I have no idea when he's coming or how long he's staying."
"But he is coming, right?"
"He said he would be. So, in all likelihood, no, he won't make it."
Meleina shook her head. "He'll make it, Mom."
Socha smiled at her friend. "Of course he will. He loves spending time with you."
Her mother sighed again, then suddenly dropped down and landing on the ground. Meleina dropped next to her and gripped her shoulder. "Mom, are you okay?" Socha landed beside them.
"It's all right if we walk, really," the princess said worriedly. She saw the frightened look on Meleina's face and nodded to confirm her statement. "I don't mind. Besides, walking is a good calming exercise."
Meleina's mother nodded vaguely, and Meleina tightened her grip on her mother's shoulder. They walked the rest of the way back to Meleina's house, Meleina supporting her mother and Socha prepared to help if necessary.
The first thing Socha noticed about Meleina's house was the size. It wasn't huge, but it was a good size bigger than many of the houses she had seen on her way here. The front yard contained a small garden, the plants weaving an intricate design across the huge yard. The grass had been scorched a little (most likely from Meleina and Raditz fighting, Socha thought with a grin). The inside of the house was very well taken care of, things stacked in neat piles.
"Wow," Socha said happily. This place looked more like a home to her than anywhere she'd ever seen- including her own home.
"It's not much, I know," Meleina's mother said shyly. "But we make do with what we've got. I hope you don't feel like it's not big enough, we can always pull up the add-on if we need to-"
"It's perfect," Socha exclaimed. "It's even more beautiful than where I live." She grinned. "Don't worry about any add-ons, this is just great! Where do I get to sleep?"
Meleina smirked. "You can share a room with me, as long as you don't mind the floor."
"Meleina!" her mother said sharply.
"What? What'd I do?"
"Socha is not just any one of your regular friends, Meleina. You have to treat her with respect!"
Socha laughed. "Actually, I'd be quite happy on the floor, if you don't mind."
A voice floated through the doorway to the kitchen. "Is that Meleina I hear?"
"Dad!" She raced through and flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
"Whoa, kid, you grew up fast. How old are you now, twenty, thirty?"
Meleina grinned and punched his shoulder. "You know full well that I'm thirteen."
"Thirteen? Wow, that's even more important that being twenty." Meleina snorted and punched his arm again, and he staggered slightly. "Jeez, kid, you've got a great arm." This drew a slight chuckle from two people standing behind him. Meleina instantly recognized Taura, and bowed her head to him in greeting, but the other Saiyan she didn't' recognize. The new Saiyan was a young woman who looked to be Bardock's age. She had short black hair and wore pink armor. Meleina forced herself not to comment on the color choice of the other woman, but held her hand out in greeting.
"I'm Meleina."
"Fascha," the other replied with a slight sneer. Meleina saw her gaze flick down to Meleina's shortened tail, and she twitched it.
"Fascha's one of the new members of my crew," Bardock explained. "Taura and I decided it'd be better if we moved beyond just the two of us. There are two others, but they went to visit their own families."
"It's great to meet you." Socha and Meleina's mother walked into the kitchen. Meleina gestured to Socha, unable to resist annoying her father's new friend. "This is my friend Socha. She's going to be staying with us for a while."
She watched with internal laughter as Fascha's jaw dropped and Taura raised a surprised eyebrow. "Socha? Not.not the princess, now, are you?" he asked with a slight chuckle. "Of course not, you're wearing low-level clothing and armor."
Socha scratched her head and smiled sheepishly. "Actually, I am.I just wear this because it's more comfortable and it looks better."
"Not to mention much easier to move around it," Meleina said dryly. "Dad, do you have any of my old armor that I can put on? This stuff is tough, but I can hardly move."
"Yeah, go look in your room, I'm sure we've got something. Unless," he added with a faint smile, "Your mother got rid of your old stuff."
Meleina turned. "Mom?"
"It's in your room still, Meleina. Hurry up, dinner's going to be ready soon and you don't want to miss that, do you?"
Meleina chuckled, then raced to change into a pair of her old clothes before rushing back out to eat.
After dinner, the group settled down in the den and built a fire to relax beside. Meleina leaned close to Socha. "This is what I miss the most," she confided in her friend. "It's so nice to just sit here with everybody." She frowned. "Or, at least, almost everybody. Hey, Dad? When's Raditz supposed to get here?"
Bardock looked up and shrugged. "How would I know?"
Meleina grinned. "Mom?"
"He's supposed to come in late tonight, when we're all asleep."
"That's real safe," Meleina whispered to Socha, who chuckled.
"Going to stay awake all night to watch out for him?" Socha teased.
Meleina shrugged. "There's not much more damage for him to do," Meleina pointed out, stroking her tail softly. "Besides, if he does try anything, I'll just pound him through our house into our neighbors'. The girl he likes lives there." Socha giggled.
"You know he's going to get on our nerves at every possible chance, don't you?"
Meleina nodded, then smiled evilly. "What if we made sure that we embarrass him first?"
Socha raised an eyebrow. "How do you plan on doing that?"
Meleina bit her lip, then glanced over at her family. "I'll tell you later. I assure you, however: you're gonna love this one!"
Fascha gave Meleina a sharp look. "Going to love what?" she asked sweetly. Meleina gave the Saiyan woman a dirty look.
"Wasn't talking to you, was I?" she snapped shortly.
Fascha scowled. "You ought to show some respect to your elders and betters."
"Sure," Meleina muttered under her breath, "just as soon as I find my betters."
Socha raised an eyebrow. "You know what?" she asked, trying to stop the fight before it began. "I'm really tired. Can I go to bed now?"
Meleina nodded, still glaring at Fascha. "Yeah, I should go to sleep now, too," she growled. "Gotta be up bright and early tomorrow."
While they were climbing into bed, Socha looked up at Meleina. "So, you gonna tell me what you're going to do to Raditz?"
Meleina instantly forgot about Fascha and started to laugh. "Yeah. You're really gonna love this idea, I swear." She leaned over the edge of her bed and whispered to Socha for a few seconds. Socha clamped her hands over her mouth to keep from giggling too loudly.
"You're right, I do love that!" She grinned. "This is going to be so much better than when we made him think he was invisible!"
Meleina grinned. "I'm counting on it!"
The next day Meleina awoke and quickly gave herself the once-over. When she was satisfied that Raditz had left her alone, she threw her pillow at Socha, waking her friend up. Socha sat up groggily and blinked blankly at Meleina before grinning.
"Oh, yeah. That's right," she said sheepishly.
Meleina laughed. "Forget where you were?"
Socha nodded. "For a minute there, I did. I had a dream that I was back on Frieza's ship with Vegeta."
Meleina snorted. "Vegeta, shortest Prince of all the Saiyans."
Socha giggled softly. "So, you're still in on piece.guess that means Raditz didn't go after you."
Meleina grinned. "I thought the same thing, you know. Wonder if he's even here."
"Let's go see!" Meleina and Socha quickly dressed then raced out to the kitchen.
"Mmm," Socha said. "That smells really good!"
Meleina's mother smiled faintly. "Does it? It's Meleina's favorite dish."
She whooped in delight, but her cheer quickly turned to anger as Raditz walked in the room. "Oh, so you did make it here. I was hoping you'd have an accident or something."
He sneered. "No, I decided you bless you all with my presence." He passed a hand through his hair and smiled faintly, then pulled out a pocket mirror and looked at himself.
"Oh. My. Word," Meleina said, staring at him.
He looked passed his own image to her. "Is something wrong, little sis?"
She snatched the mirror out of his hand. "What do you need this for? Trying to make sure that you really are ugly?"
He snarled and grabbed it back. "Give it back! I happen to need my mirror."
Meleina chuckled and looked at Socha. I think my plan's going to work just fine.
They sat down to breakfast, each of them eating as if this meal would be their last. After they had finished, Meleina looked up and frowned. "Where's Dad?"
Her mother slammed her silverware down on the table. "How am I supposed to know? I wake up this morning and he and his friends are nowhere to be seen!"
Meleina shrugged. "Good, that Fascha was starting to bug me. I can't believe Dad's got a girl on his crew."
"You're not the only one," her mother growled angrily. Meleina bit her lip, knowing she was going to regret bringing up the subject. "The nerve of him, to spend all his time with that.that."
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, Mom, it's not like anything's going to happen. She's definitely not Dad's type." Her mother glared at her. "So, how about a different subject? What've you been up to, Raditz?"
The tall Saiyan smirked. "I've been handling some rather rough jobs."
Meleina couldn't resist the jibe. "Rough for you, at least. I've read some of your reports, sounds like you've been slacking off."
He gave her a sharp look. "Slacking off? I've been working my tail off- though not literally, like you."
Meleina narrowed her eyes dangerously. "C'mon, Socha, let's get out of her," she snapped, grabbing her friend by the arm and dragging her away. When they were out of the house, Meleina growled darkly. "I can't believe the nerve of him! He's either really stupid or really brave, challenging me like that. Who does he think he is? He's no elite, not like me, so why's he acting like one?"
Socha bit her lip. "I don't know. So.where did you want to go to?"
Meleina gave her a blank look, then suddenly grinned. "That's right, I forgot you don't know your way around here. I say we go to The Dresselian. It's a hangout downtown, one of the cleaner ones. You'd like it." She smiled. "We can plan exactly how we're going to do this to Raditz while we're there, you know? It'll be fun. Besides," she added in a quiet whisper, "One of the waiters is a good friend of mine, and he is extremely good-looking." Socha grinned.
"That sounds like a good time to me!"
They returned home several hours later, their plan completely ready. Meleina was disappointed to find that her old friend had moved on from The Dresselian and now owned his own restaurant chain. She made a mental note to tell her mother that they had to find the one he worked at and drop by to say hello.
That night, Meleina's mother prepared a fantastic feast for the four, and they all received a shock when Bardock, Taura, and Fascha returned for dinner. Meleina's mother grew extremely angry and nearly threw the three of them out on the street, but Meleina convinced her to let them stay. Bardock explained to Meleina (who seemed to be the only one who had any chance of reasoning with her mother) that they had gotten up early to train and that they would have mentioned where they were going but everyone was still asleep. Meleina believed it and tried to explain to her mother, but her mother would have none of it and denied them dinner. When Bardock tried to argue, Meleina interrupted.
"You know, Mom's got a good point. You did run off and leave us wondering where you were. It's only fair that you get a just punishment. Besides, you should be glad she didn't kick you out completely."
"She might as well have," Bardock complained, rubbing his stomach. Meleina met his gaze and through their loving bond Bardock knew that she had no intention of letting them go hungry and she would sneak some food to him and his two friends later.
They ate quickly. After dinner, Meleina and Socha hurried back to Meleina's room to complete the preparations for their prank on Raditz. They gathered the necessary supplies, borrowing from Meleina's mother and Meleina's closet as much as they could, filling a large cardboard box full of items.
When her mother went to sleep, Meleina slipped some dinner in to Fascha and Taura, then quietly sneaked into her mother and father's room. Her mother was fast asleep, but Bardock sat straight up in bed, rubbing his stomach. When he saw Meleina, his eyes lit up. "Food!" he choked.
Meleina chuckled softly. "You sound like you've been starved, Dad."
"Sure feels like it," he moaned, downing the food as fast as he could.
"You'd better be sure to clean up all the crumbs, Dad, because Mom will find out that you ate in bed if you don't."
He nodded. "No worries there, I'd hate to go without food again."
Meleina slipped out quietly then returned to her room. Socha was picking through the items in the box they had put together. "Everybody's fed, we can go ahead with Operation.um, we don't have a name for this, do we? We should make one up."
"How about.Operation: Twin Terrors?"
"OTT for short," Meleina said, then grinned broadly. "I like it." She gestured to the door. "We need to wait until we're sure he's asleep, okay?"
Socha nodded. "It'd be awful if he woke up and caught us doing it!" she said, and both girls shivered slightly at the thought of a truly angry Raditz.
They stayed up for many long hours, talking quietly and glancing at the box often, grinning broadly at the thought of what they were planning.
Finally, it came time to execute the plan. Meleina crept out first, having no fear of her slightly older brother, and opened the door to his room. After examining Raditz and confirming that he was deeply asleep, she hurried back to her room and nodded at Socha. The two girls sneaked into Raditz's room, Socha dragging the box behind her, and quietly closed his door. Meleina turned the lights on low, then turned to her box. She pulled out the first instrument of torture to use on Raditz- a frilly pink dress. She slipped it on over his head and carefully fit in on him so as not to wake him up. Socha pulled out several large pink bows from the box and tied them up in Raditz's long hair. Meleina looked over at him and snickered to herself. As if the dress wasn't enough, Meleina pulled out a large diaper, a baby bonnet, and a bib out of her box and placed them on over Raditz's armor. Socha clamped her hands over her mouth, then dug into the box again and pulled out the devices they had borrowed from Meleina's mother- makeup.
"Do the honors?" Socha asked, grinning madly.
Meleina laughed. "You do the lipstick, I do the mascara." Though neither girl had every worn makeup, they applied it with expert precision. When they finished, Meleina stepped back to admire their handiwork.
"Not bad, I'd say."
"One last thing," Socha grinned. She pulled up another ribbon and gently tied it around Raditz's tail. "There we go! Am I forgetting anything?"
Meleina looked in her box again and laughed, bringing out a small can. "Yeah- pink hair color." Socha gave her a look.
"You wouldn't!"
"I would." Meleina sprayed several streaks of bright pink into Raditz's long hair. "You know, that actually looks kind of.interesting." She chuckled softly, then looked back in the box. "Ooh.fake nails! I've seen these!" She handed half of them to Socha, and the two girls calmly glued the fake pink with purple polka dotted nails to his fingers.
Socha looked in the box again, then nodded firmly. "That's everything."
"Not quite," Meleina said. "We need to get all the mirrors away from him so he can't see himself until he's been properly humiliated." She and Socha searched through every storage area of Raditz's room until they were certain that they had found every single mirror. Meleina placed one on the kitchen table so he would be able to see what they had done to him. They raced back to bed, still giddy from the devilish trick they had played on Raditz, and eager to see what his reaction would be.
Meleina and Socha awoke before anyone else the next morning and hurried down to the kitchen. Before long, everyone but Raditz was in the kitchen, eating ferociously. When he finally staggered tiredly into the kitchen, all conversation halted and everyone stared at him. It was all Meleina and Socha could do to keep from giggling, but Bardock took one look at his son and burst into laughter, nearly choking on his breakfast.
Raditz looked slightly annoyed and grumbled, "I couldn't get ready because somebody-" he glared at Meleina, "-stole my mirrors."
Taura snorted. "Looks like you did a good enough job without the mirrors."
Fascha gave Bardock a horrified look. "I didn't know your son was a cross- dresser!"
"What?!" Raditz snarled, deeply offended. It wasn't his fault he was born with such long hair. Meleina couldn't hold in her laughter anymore. As soon as she started chuckling, Socha joined her, and soon they were rolling around on the floor in tears of laughter, watching Raditz grab the mirror they had left on the table. As he looked at what the two girls had done to him, his face grew bright red with humiliation and anger. He screamed and lunged at the giggling Meleina, who scrambled to her feet. Raditz chased the two girls out of the house and into the yard, where a crowd had gathered at the sound of his scream. Meleina collapsed to the ground, her sides aching with laughter, gasping for breath, as Raditz froze. Socha looked around at the crowd in mild horror. Maybe we were too hard on him, she thought as Raditz retreated to his room. Meleina waved at the crowd before walking back in the house, followed closely by Socha. Meleina's mother had obviously gone to help Raditz get cleaned up, leaving the two girls alone with Bardock and his friends.
Fascha gave them a hard look. "That was a truly cruel thing to do," she said shortly.
Bardock snorted. "If you think that's bad, you obviously don't know them that well."
"Yeah," Meleina agreed, unwrapping her tiny tail from her waist. Fascha looked mildly surprised, then gave her a cold look.
"Well, I'm glad you're proud of it," she sneered.
"She should be," Socha interrupted with a smile. "Her ability to cope with her disability-" That sounded terrible! "-has led to an incredible amount of strength that has captured the attention of Frieza himself." Though the young princess didn't care much for Frieza's attention, she knew this information would make a strong impression on Fascha. The older woman scowled, unable to come up with a retort. Meleina's mother entered the room, deeply upset.
"You girls have caused a lot of trouble today," she said in a dangerously quiet tone. "I'm sending you back to Frieza's ship."
"You make it sound like that's a punishment," Fascha growled.
Meleina grimaced. "I'd rather be here than up there with him," she whined.
"Go," Meleina's mother ordered sharply. The two girls exchanged glances.
"Can't we pack first?" Meleina asked innocently.
Her mother slapped her on the back of the head. "You don't have anything to pack! Now get out of here!"
Meleina and Socha shrugged, then took off toward their pods. Raditz watched them go from his room. I'll make you pay, little sister. You'll pay for what you've done to me. It was a full week before he finally managed to wash the pink out of his hair.
By the time Meleina and Socha returned to Frieza's ship, news of their prank had already traveled to Frieza's ship. Only King Vegeta had anything bad to say about their joke (to which Meleina retorted behind his back that he had no sense of humor). They had been congratulated by most of the elite warriors on good planning and perfect execution of the plan ("Typical warrior jargon," Socha said with a roll of her eyes). Frieza didn't seem to care either way and soon enough the prank had been forgotten by all but Raditz.