Disclaimer: I don't own it. Well, not the characters, at least. I own Meleina, Kieran, Ronan, Vrail, and Reine, but I don't own the rest. My buddy Astiome Debrator owns Socha, Adlteau, Korishico, and Katal, but we're using each other's characters because it's fun.
Author's Note: This is not the end of the fic. Not yet, at least. Sadly, I found another plot line that I really liked and decided that I had to use. The next chapter is titled "Familiar Faces." Maybe. If I find a better title, I'll use it, but no luck so far.
Four years later
Meleina felt something press lightly onto her stomach, and she slowly opened one of her eyes. A curious-looking Goten peered down at her, and she groaned softly. "Go away, Goten, I don't want to get up yet."
"Aw, Aunt Meleina," he whined.
She batted him away with a hand. "Out of my room, squirt."
He tugged her arm, but she rolled over, ignoring him. Suddenly, something struck the back of her head and she sat up. "Goten, do you want to die a slow and painful death? No? Then put the pillow down and let me go back to sleep!"
Gohan popped his head in the room. "Ooh, a pillow fight!" he said, the playfulness showing through. Meleina moaned, but Gohan jumped in and snatched up a pillow, smacking her across the face.
She pursed her lips, then tackled Gohan and knocked him to the floor, wrestling the pillow away from him. "Aunt Mel!" he laughed as she finally managed to steal it.
She snorted. "Great, now I'm up."
"Awesome, now you can come play!" Goten said enthusiastically.
"I think I'd rather have breakfast first," she said, patting him on the head. "I'll play after I eat."
Goten tugged her arm. "You gotta play now!"
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "Goten, dear, you're twelve years old. Aren't you a little old to play?"
He smacked her in the head with the pillow. "Nope."
Gohan laughed. "He's got a good point."
Goku appeared in the doorway, and laughed. "You're never to old for a pillow fight! Right, sis?" he added mischievously. Meleina glared at him.
"Not you too!"
He cackled, then snatched up another pillow from the floor and the three men bombarded Meleina. "Why me?" she moaned, trying to shield her face. Goku tackled her and pinned her to the floor while Gohan and Goten continued the merciless beating with the pillows. Finally, Meleina gave in and started laughing. She reached up onto her bed and tugged down two pillows, then hit Goku on the side of the head. "Do you really want to mess with me, the pillow-fight queen of the world?" she challenged loudly.
The three men looked at each other, then grinned and nodded. "Three against one. I like these odds," Gohan said. "Not that she could take on any one of us and hope to win."
Meleina threw one of her pillows and hit him square in the chest; he tripped over his own feet and fell into the wall. Gohan lay there groaning, and Meleina hurried over to make sure he was all right. As soon as she set a hand on his shoulder, her grabbed it and laughed. "Tricked you. Hit her, Dad!"
"Eep!" she yelled as Goku smacked her on the back viscously. Goten joined in, and the two had her stuck in between them when Gohan let her go. He joined his father and brother, and the three hit her randomly.
"Tag team?" Goku asked with a fiendish grin.
"Hey, I think breakfast is ready!" Meleina said, hoping to distract the men long enough to sneak away. It worked, and all three turned to the door. Meleina raced out of it, hearing Gohan yell, "Hey!" after her. She hurried into the hall, then debated on where to go next. She decided her safest bet would be to head to Chi-Chi's room, because as fun loving as Goku, Gohan, and Goten were, they weren't stupid enough to have a pillow fight around Chi-Chi.
She ran into the room, and Chi-Chi spun around from her mirror in shock. "What is going on here?" Meleina could barely hold back her chuckles as the three men froze.
"Nothing, Mom," Gohan said sheepishly.
"Out!" Chi-Chi snapped. "Out now!"
Goten gave Meleina a look that said plainly, You're not off the hook, missy. I'll get you sooner or later. As soon as they were gone, Meleina collapsed onto the bed and laughed. "Thanks for saving me, Chi-Chi. I wouldn't have been able to get away without you."
Chi-Chi grinned. "Poor Meleina. Were my boys beating up on you again?"
Meleina nodded. "I wouldn't have minded half as much if they hadn't woken me up early to do it, mind. Ah, well, it was fun. Until they ganged up on me, that is," she added as an afterthought. There was a light knock on the front door, and shouts of, "I've got it!" could be heard from Goku, Gohan, and Goten.
Minutes later, Gohan knocked on the door to Chi-Chi's room. "Hey, Aunt Mel? It's Korishico."
She smiled and jumped off the bed. "Great! He hasn't come by in a few days now! I was starting to wonder where he'd gone to."
She hurried to the kitchen. Goku, Goten, and Korishico stood around the table, their hands behind their backs, and as soon as they saw Meleina, they threw pillows at her. She turned to shield her head, but Gohan pulled out a pillow and smacked her square across the face.
"No fair!" she pouted. She glared at Korishico. "Fine then, if that's the way you want to be, then I'll just go back to bed."
"No, Auntie Meleina, you can't go back to bed!"
"I can and I will, if you men don't promise to stop throwing those blasted things at me."
"I promise," Goten said quickly. Gohan agreed, as did Goku, but it took them a while to persuade Korishico to give up his pillow.
Chi-Chi came out of her room finally and Meleina helped her make breakfast. They invited Korishico to eat, but he insisted that he'd already fed and wasn't hungry.
After breakfast, Meleina was torn by her promise to play with Goten and her normal hike through the woods with Korishico. Finally, she asked her wolf friend if it would be okay if Goten went with, and he agreed.
The three took off, and Meleina smiled happily as she chatted with Goten and Korishico. The two adults decided to take Goten to their favorite place in the woods, a meadow at the base of a huge waterfall.
Goten raced into the water, splashing up at the shore where Meleina and Korishico stood, but both refused to get wet. They let him play in the water while they sat and talked. Finally, Korishico smiled at Meleina.
"You really love your nephews."
She looked surprised at the change of subject, then shrugged. "They're like my own kids, Kori. Of course I love them."
Over the years he had known Meleina, Korishico had come to notice a trend in Meleina's behavior. He doubted anyone else had recognized her behavioral patterns as maternal, but he was almost positive that she had at some point had children of her own. He was disappointed that Meleina wouldn't tell him about her family life, but he respected her silence, knowing that it came from an old pain.
Goten splashed onto shore, soaked, and shook his head, flinging water droplets all over Korishico and Meleina.
"Goten!" she blurted. Korishico laughed.
"Great, kid, now I'm all wet."
"And nothing smells worse than wet dog," Meleina teased, playfully shoving him.
He snorted, then met Goten's gaze. He scooped Meleina up off the ground, then calmly walked to the edge of the river and dumped her in. She shrieked and tried to drag him down with her, but he eluded her grasp and stood on the shore, laughing. When she surfaced, she glared at the laughing wolf and giggling Goten. She stepped out of the water and sat down, glaring at her friends.
"That was really mean, Korishico," she pouted.
"Was it?" he asked innocently. "Well...I'm not sorry." She punched his arm none to softly and he chuckled. "You have to admit, it was really funny."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Shut up!" Goten hollered. Korishico laughed, but Meleina suddenly became serious. The argument reminded her of the way she and Kieran had argued- playfully, but getting their point across. Goten put a hand on his stomach. "I'm hungry," he whined.
"Yeah, me too," Meleina agreed.
"You two are always hungry," Korishico pointed out.
"You want to come for lunch?" Meleina asked him.
"Nope, I think I ought to head back to my pack now."
Meleina hugged him. "Take care, then, okay?"
"It's so nice to know that you care," he grinned.
She smiled back at him, then watched him take off through the woods. She chuckled to herself, glad that she'd been able to spend a few hours with him, then turned back to Goten. The twelve-year-old was holding a yellow ball in his hands, and she frowned at him. "What've you got there?"
"It's a Dragon Ball!" he said cheerfully. She froze at the term. "Cool, now I've got two!"
"Can I have it?" she asked cautiously. Goten nodded cheerfully and handed it over. She studied it carefully. He already has two...that leaves five...She shook her head. What am I thinking? It would only hurt more if I wished them back to life. She tucked the ball into a pocket. Why bother? But thinking of her lost family, even for the smallest moment, caused a terrible pain in her heart that didn't leave for the rest of the day.
Deep in the forest, Korishico felt a sudden wave of sorrow wash over him and stopped in the middle of his hunt. His mate, Rillaao, gave him a curious look, then whined slightly. Korishico shook off the strange feeling and continued trudging along in front of his pack.
~*~
It was late at night, but Meleina couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, tried to force herself to think about fighting Vegeta, but her mind kept returning to the Dragon Balls. She had forced herself to believe that she was happy on Earth, that she had all she needed- her best friend, her brother and his family, even someone to constantly fight with- but in truth she had only pushed her emotions aside. She missed with a desperate passion her family- they had molded her into a happy woman, and now they were gone. She knew her friends would never truly understand; only Korishico had suffered a loss as deep as hers. It made perfect sense, then, that she would have told him, but she was too frightened. Besides, she believed that she should tell Socha, her friend for many years, before she told anyone else. Meleina rolled over and sighed. She owed Socha the truth- owed all her friends the truth, but it hurt too much to remember. She sat up and threw on her bathrobe, knowing she would suffer from no sleep tonight, and walked into the kitchen. The light was already on, and Goku sat at the table. He looked up as she came in the room.
"Morning!" he greeted. Meleina nodded in wary reply. "I thought you'd still be up. Goten said you found a Dragon Ball..." Meleina nodded again, and Goku shrugged. "Every time we mention the Dragon Balls, you go...really quiet. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about something."
Meleina smiled at his bluntness. "No, Goku, I'm not sure I want to talk right now."
He nodded. "When you're ready, then you can come to me."
Meleina felt her heart warm. "Thank you, Goku. I'll...I'll remember that."
He stood to leave. "You might want to get some sleep, though. We've got that get-together tomorrow for Katal's fourth birthday." Meleina grimaced.
"Goody, just what I want." She chuckled lightly. "Vegeta around all day." Goku smiled faintly then suddenly embraced her in brotherly fashion. She touched her cheek lightly to his, knowing full well that he wouldn't comprehend the Saiyan gesture of caring. "Goodnight, Goku."
He grinned. "'Night, Meleina."
She returned to bed, her heart more at peace, and fell quickly asleep.
~*~
She awoke the next day and staggered to the kitchen. It was sparkling clean, and Chi-Chi stood over the stove. Not wanting to be rude despite her late awakening, Meleina smiled. "Need any help?"
Chi-Chi turned. "Oh, good morning, Meleina! No, I don't need any help, but thank you for offering. I'm almost done out here."
Meleina pursed her lips and nodded, wishing she could be of more use. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Nope, not a thing!" Chi-Chi chirruped. Goten strode in and Chi-Chi snapped to him, "Goten! Take this outside!" She thrust a bowl into his arms, and Meleina suddenly grew unexplainably angry.
"I could have done that," she remarked snappishly, then stormed back to her room, feeling useless.
Chi-Chi watched her go, then sighed. "Saiyans are so touchy!"
Everyone sat outside laughing while Meleina lay on her bed, depressed, staring at the Dragon Ball she had found the day before. Outside, everyone was talking and having fun. Socha wondered briefly where Meleina was, then smiled, knowing her friend was never skip something so important. She must have something great planned for Katal.
"We're out of chips," Vegeta growled. "I'm going to get more." Socha chuckled, knowing he just wanted to get away from Goku.
Vegeta ignored his sister's laughter and hurried into the kitchen. He had sensed Meleina's energy in the house, but had been surprised that she wasn't celebrating. He hesitated, then made his way to Meleina's room. He knocked and heard her snarl, "Go away, Vegeta!" He opened the door and saw her sitting on her bed, Dragon Ball in hand, drying tear marks on her cheeks. Vegeta froze in shock.
"Look at the poor depressed Saiyan," he sneered. Meleina's head snapped up, and she quickly wiped her tears away.
"I told you to go away," she snarled, throwing her pillow at him with as much force as she could muster. A small dent appeared in the wall behind him as she missed.
Vegeta curled his lip. "Temper, temper."
She stood up and started for him menacingly. "You slimy, arrogant-" The Dragon Ball dropped from her lap and fell to the floor. Vegeta stared at it in vague surprise, then looked at Meleina.
"Well, well. Wanting wishes granted?"
Meleina shot him a poisonous look. "Not that you care," she snapped shortly. Vegeta stared.
"I was going to invite you down to enjoy the party with us, but it looks like you're too afraid to be around me," he sneered, trying to cover his surprise.
"No, I just didn't want to have to deal with your arrogance," she snapped. Vegeta stepped back at the comment, clearly insulted. Meleina sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude. I'm just...not having a good day."
Vegeta relaxed his shocked look. "Why?" he grunted.
She handed him her Dragon Ball. "I miss them so much," she whispered, turning away. Vegeta thought she meant her parents until she muttered, "Kieran...Vrail, Reine, Ronan..."
"Those aren't Saiyan names," Vegeta pointed out.
Meleina turned and nodded. "Thanks, Sherlock," she snapped.
"Oh, so now she's educated in human literature," he laughed.
Meleina took a deep breath. "You have till the count of three to get your tail out of my room, Shorty. One-"
"So are you going to tell me who they are, or just leave me needing to ask Socha?"
Meleina yelped and raced forward, dragging him in the room. "Socha doesn't know, so don't be going to her, okay?" she snapped, bringing her face within an inch of his. Vegeta felt his surprise in the low-level deepen. He waited, uncertain of what to say to her. She sat down on her bed and handed him a picture. He studied it curiously. A tall, green-haired man stood with his arm around Meleina's waist while her head rested gently on his shoulder. Meleina had her hand on the head of a young girl with long black hair and golden-brown eyes. The tall man had his other arm rested on the shoulder of a boy whose blonde hair was cut in the style of Goku's. In the middle of them all stood the youngest, a tiny, slender boy with shoulder-length green hair and stunning blue eyes.
"Who are they?" Vegeta asked, intrigued. When Meleina didn't respond, he glanced at her, then quickly looked away when he saw that she was crying again. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the door burst open.
"Korishico!" Meleina blurted, her tears drying up. The wolf looked at her, then suddenly grabbed Vegeta and slammed him into the wall.
"What did you do to her?" he snarled.
Vegeta flinched. "I didn't do anything to her, you insane freak!"
Meleina stood up. Despite the humor of the situation, she didn't want Vegeta and Korishico to start a fight. She set a had on the wolf's arm and smiled. "It's okay, Korishico. He was helping me."
The wolf frowned, but set Vegeta down. "Somehow, I don't believe that." He embraced her, then suddenly glared at Vegeta. "Your wife is looking for you and sent me." He pulled back his lips to reveal his razor-sharp fangs. "I suggest you hurry up and get down there."
Vegeta walked out of the room, his thoughts on the picture of Meleina's family.
Korishico gave Meleina a curious look. "What was that all about? Because I find it hard to believe that Vegeta would be helping you."
Meleina stared at him, open-mouthed, then sighed. "Yeah. He was actually trying to help me, but...well...it's Vegeta. You know how he is." The wolf nodded, then gently touched her shoulder.
"Want to talk about it?"
Meleina hesitated. First Goku, then Vegeta, now even Korishico's noticing that I'm not acting normal. This is really eating away at me. She sighed. "I don't exactly want to, Korishico, but...I think maybe I need to. Know what I mean?"
The wolf nodded. "Yeah, actually, I know exactly what you mean. Go ahead."
Meleina sat down on her bed and scooped up the Dragon Ball. "This is a Dragon Ball, Kori. I'm sure Goku's told you all about them," he nodded to her, "so I don't need to explain about them. I'm sure Vegeta has told you that the Saiyans were incredibly powerful, and that we were...planet brokers, I suppose," he nodded again. "Okay. So we've got that squared away. Well, a long time ago I was sent to Namek with a friend to blow it up. I was nearly killed, but a kind warrior named Kami saved my life. I stayed on Namek because it was a great place to live, and I loved it. I found out...somehow...through my father that I had a baby brother, and that my home planet was at that moment being destroyed by our overlord, Frieza." She looked up at Korishico. "My father was on Vegeta when he told me this, Korishico. I've never been able to explain it...but I saw some incredible things." She took a deep breath. "I left Namek to look for Kakarot...and learned about the Dragon Balls from Vegeta." She turned. "I could remember Kami mentioning something about the Dragon Balls, so I went back to Namek to ask him. Sadly, a great number of years had passed, and I learned that Kami had become the Guardian of the Earth. I managed to find out about the Dragon Balls from an old Namek, luckily, but before I could head off again, I felt a terrifyingly familiar presence...Frieza was on Namek. I hurried to see if I could stop him, but by the time I reached him, it was too late. Somehow, I knew deep inside that he was going to destroy Namek, also. I fled, but not before I caught sight of a young man...I know now that the familiar young man was Kakarot, my baby brother.
"I hurried away from Namek quickly, and watched in horror as it was destroyed. I prayed to the God of every culture I had ever encountered that Kakarot was still alive, but I had no way of knowing. I launched my ship deep into space and landed on Fhotherite, where..." Meleina stopped to gather herself. "Where I met Kieran."
Korishico looked surprised. "Kieran the bounty hunter?"
Meleina smiled. "Yes. Kieran the bounty hunter. He beat the living daylights out of me shortly after we met, but...somehow we fell in love and got married."
Korishico nodded, anticipating what was coming next. "And because he was a bounty hunter, he faced many dangers and was killed in action."
Meleina shook her head sharply. "He quit being a bounty hunter when we married- mostly upon my insistence." She smiled darkly. "He told me that he wanted one final mission, to find the woman with the dragon tail, that's exactly what he told me. I gave him a pretty nasty black eye and told him that he could have me or he could have bounties. He chose me." She grinned. "We had three kids..." Tears stung her eyes. "They were the most beautiful little angels in the universe...Vrail and Reine were twins, and Ronan was the little one. I loved them so much...
"One day I came home from work in the city to find them all dead," she said, her voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. She buried her face in her hands. "I was so upset...I transformed that night...and Socha found me...but Kieran...little Ronan, his head bent-"
Korishico drew her in to his embrace. "Don't think about it, Meleina. Don't think about it. That was many years ago."
She looked up at him. "If it was so long ago, why do I still feel this pain, Korishico? Why do I still see their smiling faces every night before bed? I don't even think about Dad as much as I think about them..."
He smiled gently. "They were your family, Meleina. Your chosen family. You cannot help but having been born to your Saiyan family, but you chose a husband and birthed three children. Of course you love them more than your own father."
Meleina met his gaze. "I wish I could have them back, Korishico. I truly wish I could have them back."
He took the Dragon Ball and held it up. "You've only got one, Meleina. I believe Goku said it took all seven to make the wish come true?"
Meleina chuckled softly. "Yes, Korishico. It takes all seven to make the wish come true. We already have two of them...there's only five left out there..."
He smiled, then tossed the Ball back to her. "Use it wisely, Meleina, and be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true." He smiled. "Are you going to go down and join the party now?"
Meleina nodded. "I might as well. I expect Socha's starting to get awfully worried, and poor little Katal must miss his Aunt Meleina dearly! It's been so long since I last saw him-"
"Yes, a whole week, if what Socha says is true."
Meleina smiled, then playfully punched Korishico's arm. "So, what did you get Katal for his birthday?"
The wolf smiled. "Just a few toys. Nothing much. You?"
Meleina grinned, then reached into her closet and pulled out a tiny, mewing kitten. "Every growing boy needs a pet," she said, stroking the kitten's fur.
"How, er...adorable."
Meleina laughed. "Oh, Korishico, he's just a little kitten!"
"He'll grow into a big mean cat."
Meleina smiled, then put the kitten in a large box. "Let's go down, I think they're missing us."
When she stepped outside clutching the box, Katal raced up and hugged her leg. "What did you get me, Aunt Meleina?" She smiled down at him.
"Be patient, dear. You'll see in a few minutes."
Katal pouted. "I can't be patient!"
Meleina set the box down next to his other gifts and shooed him away. "Run along and play, Katal. Look- there's Trunks and Goten."
"They'll just ignore me, Auntie Meleina!" He looked at her box hopefully.
"Then go play with Matrian."
Katal's eyes shot open wide. "Yay, Matrian came!" He ran off to greet his tan wolf friend, and Meleina shook her head happily. Socha came over and gave her a curious look.
"So, what did you get him?"
Meleina smiled mysteriously. "You'll just have to wait and see. I'll tell you this- Adlteau won't be too happy with me, but Katal will."
Socha grinned. "Now you've got me excited, too!"
Adlteau came over upon hearing his name and gave Meleina a brief hug. "What did you do to get my son so riled up?"
Meleina laughed easily. "Just refused to tell him what's in the box."
"Meleina says you're going to get mad at her."
Suddenly, Trunks and Goten raced up. "Can Katal open up his presents now?"
Meleina winked at Socha. "Everyone likes a party. Especially when presents are involved."
Socha smirked, then said to the two boys, "Better hurry up and get him, then."
They turned and hurried off to fetch Katal. The kids came running up, laughing, and Meleina smiled at the excited look on Katal's face.
"This is gonna be so great!" he said, then reached for Meleina's box.
Vegeta curled his lip. "Perhaps you ought to open something else first," he growled, glaring at Meleina, who shrugged.
"Not a bad idea." She glanced fiendishly at Adlteau. "Besides, I think I'd like to live for another couple of minutes." She settled down between Socha and Goku, and waited calmly as Katal opened all his gifts. Meleina wasn't the least bit surprised by what he received- mostly toys, although Vegeta gave him weights to train with. He almost blasted her when she laughed loudly and pointed out that Katal wasn't much into fighting, and it didn't help the situation any that Katal whispered too loudly, "Uncle Vegeta sure gave me a weird present."
Finally, the moment came when he reached Meleina's gift. She held her breath as he opened the package, and suddenly reflected on her own family. She had planned on giving her children a pet of their own to play with, but she had never been able to. They had died days before she was going to take them to the city, and she was eager and frightened to see how Katal would react to her gift.
He opened the box delicately and pulled out the silver and black striped kitten. "Ooh, Auntie Meleina! He's gorgeous!" Meleina relaxed slightly and smiled.
"A cat," Adlteau said flatly. "You got him a cat."
"Do you have something against cats?" Gohan asked curiously.
"Adlteau is a lizard at heart," Meleina teased. "Cats like to chase and eat lizards."
While sitting, he drew himself up and glared at her. "Excuse me, I am a dragon."
"Lizard, dragon, same difference." She patted his arm. "Don't worry, Korishico isn't too happy with me, either."
Socha looked at Meleina. "I think it's a near perfect gift." She glanced down at Katal. "You'd better take care of that cat, hear me?"
"Um, sure, Mom," Katal replied disinterestedly. Meleina chuckled. Matrian sniffed curiously at the kitten, then yipped in surprise as the tiny tom scratched his nose.
"What are you going to name him?" Goten asked curiously.
"I dunno," Katal remarked. "I'll have to think about it."
The day after Katal's birthday, Korishico went to visit Socha. Adlteau opened the door and let the wolf in.
"You're here awfully early. Come to rid my house of that stupid cat?" Adlteau asked hopefully.
"No, actually, I need to talk to you and Socha." Socha came into the room holding the striped kitten. Korishico curled his lip, but forced himself to ignore the furball.
"Oh, good morning, Korishico! What's going on?"
The wolf strode into the kitchen, Socha and Adlteau following curiously behind him. "As I'm sure you've noticed, Meleina is extremely moody-"
Adlteau snorted. "That's an understatement." Socha smiled in agreement.
"I found out why yesterday."
"Why what?" Katal yawned, walking in the room and taking his pet from Socha's arms. "Morning Kawly."
"Quiet Katal," Adlteau said lightly. "We're having an important conversation."
The boy looked up. "About Aunt Meleina?"
The adults nodded, and Korishico continued, "A few years back, on Fhotherite, Meleina's family was killed. She had a husband and three children who were murdered the night you met her."
Socha put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, poor Meleina! So that's why she went Oozaru!"
Adlteau set a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Why are you telling us this?"
Korishico cleared his throat. "She's got a Dragon Ball..."
"You want to collect the rest!" Katal blurted.
Korishico smiled toothily. "Yes. I want to give Meleina her family back. You can't tell anyone, Katal. Not even Trunks and Goten."
"Especially not Trunks and Goten," Socha added sternly.
"Don't worry, Mom," Katal said. "Oh, wait a second. Trunks and Goten have two of the Dragon Balls..."
"We'll worry about it later," she said gently, then looked up at Korishico. "This is very kind of you."
"I just don't want Meleina to be unhappy anymore."
"Who all are you telling?" Adlteau asked.
"Everyone but the kids," he said, shooting a sharp look at Katal.
"Hey!" the boy said, growing angry. "I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, and I'm not going to!"
The wolf sighed. "I certainly hope you don't tell anyone. This is going to be a big surprise."
"And Auntie Meleina will be happy again, and I'll have more kids to play with!" Katal said cheerfully.
Socha looked at Korishico. "How old were her children?"
The wolf shrugged. "I don't know. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really matter, as long as she gets them back."
Socha smiled. "You'd better hurry up and tell the others, Korishico. I'm not sure how they'll react, but I know Goku will be glad to help his sister."
Korishico nodded in agreement. "He's eager to help out anyone in need. Thanks for your help, by the way."
Socha shrugged. "Meleina was my first true friend. I owe her something back."
"She wouldn't agree with that."
"No. But it's the truth. Meleina...well, she's like Vegeta. She gives without even realizing it, then argues when you try to repay her."
Korishico grinned. "You think he's going to want to help her out at all?"
Socha nodded instantly. "They might seem to hate each other...but they really do care. You'd better catch him early, though, or he'll be well into training by the time you get there."
"I'll head over now. It was nice talking to you, Socha. Take care, Adlteau, Katal."
"Bye-bye, Korishico!" Katal said cheerfully. "Wanna pet Kawly before you go?"
Korishico grimaced. "Not especially."
As if it understood him, Kawly hissed at the wolf as he was leaving.
"Of course Meleina would get him a cat with an attitude problem," Adlteau chuckled, shaking his head.
~*~
Korishico went to all the Z fighters' homes and asked them for their help. They all agreed readily, and Bulma gave him her dragon radar to use. They agreed that he would be the most inconspicuous person to send on a long search, but he convinced Vegeta and Krillin to gather the two closer to home. Goku volunteered to go with the wolf, but Korishico pointed out that it would be rather difficult, considering Meleina lived with Goku. The warrior was disappointed, but Korishico told him that in a little while he could get the Dragon Ball from Goten.
Once the wolf had told everyone, he headed off to the woods to find Meleina, knowing it would be a while before he saw her again. He was not in the least surprised to find her at the waterfall, as it was her favorite place to spend time. She turned when she heard him coming and smiled.
"Hey, Korishico. What's up?"
He shrugged. "Not much. There is one thing, though."
Meleina frowned. "What?"
"Well...I've got some stuff to do with the pack...we've got to head out for...well, I'm not exactly sure how long we'll be gone. Could be a month, could be a year."
"What on Earth could take that long to do?" Korishico bit his lip, but Meleina nodded. "Must be something only for wolves to know, eh?"
"Yeah, that's it exactly," he said, grateful that she had spoken before he had to make something up. He hugged her. "I just wanted to say goodbye, and to tell you not to worry about me- us."
She grinned. "You're so self-absorbed, Korishico. All right, I won't worry. I promise."
He nodded shortly. "I'll be seeing you."
"Take care, and try to have fun doing...whatever you're doing."
"Not a problem." He turned and trotted off, leaving Meleina alone by the waterfall.
After an hour of running, he paused to take a look at the dragon radar. "Mmm...okay, Krillin and Vegeta are going after those two...Goten has this one...Trunks has this one...um...this should be Meleina's...that leaves two. Oh, great. Of course they'd be on the other side of the planet." He sighed and started out.
~*~
It was growing dark and Meleina was getting ready to head back home when suddenly a wolf-like figure appeared in the clearing. She tensed, figuring that the wolf was trying to take over the territory, then blinked in surprise as she recognized the wolf. "Rillaao?"
Korishico's mate trotted up and gently licked Meleina's hands. Meleina pulled out the translator Bulma had made for her so she could understand the wolves and attached it to Rillaao's neck.
The wolf blinked up. "Have you seen Korishico anywhere?"
Meleina nodded. "Yeah, he said he was leaving with the pack for some special thing, but he refused to tell me. He said it was a wolf thing, and I wasn't supposed to know about it."
Rillaao stared. "What are you talking about?"
Meleina stared back at her friend. "You mean there's no pack business going on?"
Rillaao shook her body, the wolf signature for no. "The only thing we're all doing is looking for Korishico." The female looked up at Meleina in worry. "You don't think he's in danger?"
"No, he'd tell us if something was wrong." She bit her lip, then shook her head. "I can't believe he looked me straight in the eye and lied like that! Ooh, when he gets back here, he'd better have a good excuse or he's wolf meat- pardon the expression."
Rillaao pulled her lips back in the wolf expression of a smile. "I'm sure he's fine. We might go to Socha, I'm sure she knows what's going on."
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "You're right. You want to come with, or leave it to me?"
"I want to know where my mate went. I'm coming with you."
The two women took off for Socha's house on foot. Meleina nearly banged the door down knocking before Katal answered. "Auntie Meleina! Hi, Rillaao! Wow, a surprise visit, yay!"
Meleina couldn't resist a smile as she ruffled his hair. "Hello, Katal. Where is your mom?"
"Making dinner! We're having deer and rice, and it's gonna be yummy! Kawly's going to have some, too. He really likes rice, even if he is a cat. He likes chocolate, too, but Mom says I can't give him any."
Meleina nodded absently and made her way to the kitchen.
Socha turned. "Oh, Meleina, are you here for dinner? Why aren't you eating with Goku?" Rillaao padded into the kitchen, and Socha suddenly seemed to realize what was going on. She turned to hide her face so they wouldn't see the surprise. Goodness, I had hoped they wouldn't figure out something was wrong so fast!
Meleina glared at her. "Where did Korishico go?"
"Pardon?" Socha asked innocently. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
Meleina narrowed her eyes dangerously. "You liar, you know perfectly well where he went."
"No, I do not," the Saiyan princess replied sweetly. "I have no idea where he is." This way I don't even have to lie to her.
Meleina stamped her foot, then noticed Katal looking suddenly shy. "Katal, my darling! Do you know where Korishico went?"
"He said I couldn't tell...oops."
Meleina knelt down and set her hands on his shoulders. "Dear, I just need to know so that Rillaao doesn't worry about him anymore. And I'm very worried, too, you know."
Katal wrinkled her nose. "I know that tone! You always do that when you want something but nobody will give it to you." Meleina pursed her lips. "Well, I promised I wouldn't tell you, and I'm not going to!"
Meleina scowled, but Rillaao looked up at Socha. "Can you guarantee that he's safe?"
Socha sighed. "Not exactly."
"What do you mean, 'Not exactly?'"
Socha shook her head. "I can't tell. I promised. We all did."
Meleina narrowed her eyes. "'We all did?' As in...everyone?" She smiled. "Fine, I'll just ask Goku, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell me."
She stalked off, followed by Rillaao, and Adlteau poked his head in the room. "Is the hurricane gone?"
Socha laughed and threw a towel at him. "She took it better than I thought."
"You mean you thought she was going to start blowing things up, too?"
"Nuh-uh, Auntie Meleina doesn't blow things up!" Katal giggled. "She's more sneaky."
Adlteau and Socha exchanged glances. "Yeah, she is pretty sneaky," Adlteau said. "Think she'll get the truth from Goku?"
Socha shook her head. "Definitely not. He may be sweet, but he's got all the stubbornness of a true Saiyan. If he doesn't want her to know, she won't."
~*~
Meleina looked up at Goku with wide, innocent eyes. "I promise I won't tell anybody, Goku, but I have to know! I'm so worried about Korishico, and I just want some way of being able to tell if he's safe, and you're the only person I know will trust me enough to tell me!"
Goku cocked his head, considering, then grinned. "Well...if you really want to know the truth...you'll have to wait until he gets back. I'm not telling anybody!"
Meleina growled and threw a pillow at him. "You're not any fun."
He shrugged, the dopey grin still plastered on his face. "But I can throw a pillow better than that, at least." Meleina snorted and stormed angrily to her room.
~*~
The desert was hot and brutal, but Korishico trudged ahead. He was sweating profusely, and knew he was severely dehydrated, but he forced himself to continue. Think of Meleina...think of... He collapsed, flinging sand everywhere. A young man came up on a horse and eyed the fallen wolf. He was soon joined by another, older man. "He is dying," the youth remarked.
"Yes," the elder agreed. "Pull him onto your horse, we must help him."
~*~
Korishico awoke several hours later. The first thing he noticed was that the sun was no longer in his eyes. The second thing he noticed was that he was lying on a hard, stiff mattress. Third, two people stood hovering above him.
"You're awake!" the young one said happily. "You see, I told you it would work."
The elder nodded. "And so it did. Greetings, my friend. You have had a hard journey."
Korishico sat up. "You're telling me. What happened?"
"You were dehydrated. We saved you." The elder bowed his head slightly. "I am Ardep, and this is Imodeth."
"I'm Korishico."
"What're you doing out here?" Imodeth asked curiously. "Hardly anybody ever dares to come this far into the desert."
"I'm doing a favor for a friend. A few years ago, her family was killed, and I'm searching for these Dragon Balls so I can bring her family back to life."
"Must be a good friend," Imodeth said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Korishico shows the tips of his fangs but didn't reply. "So, what are...Dragon Balls?"
The wolf sighed, then launched into the strange tale about the mystical Dragon Balls. When he finished, Ardep sighed softly. "Indeed. Why have you come here searching for these...Dragon Balls?"
Korishico dug into his sack and pulled out the dragon radar. "This has an account of where all the Dragon Balls are in the world. According to the dragon radar, there's one somewhere around here. It's just a matter of finding it. Maybe you two could help me."
"Help you?" Imodeth laughed. "We're supposed to be protecting it so nobody like you...oops, I wasn't supposed to say that."
Ardep pulled a sword from a sheath, his face grave. "My most sincere apologies, Korishico. Our duty is to make certain that the Dragon Balls never come together again, for evil surrounds them."
The wolf rolled his eyes. "No, sorry, but evil comes to them. There's a difference."
"We cannot allow you to have the Dragon Ball."
Korishico drew his own sword forth. "Here's the bet, fellows. If I beat you at a sword fight, I get the Dragon Ball. If you beat me, then you get the Dragon Ball." I hope he's not too good with that thing.
Ardep smiled confidently. "A good bet, I suppose. A pity you will walk away from here with nothing- not even your life."
"Oh, so now it's a fight to the death? Fine. I can deal with that."
The two warriors raised their swords high. The fighting was brief, Korishico using his massive strength from fighting Meleina to quickly overpower the warrior and send him flying. To his dismay, Ardep caught himself from falling and landed swiftly in the sand. "Is that all the better you can do?"
"Far from it," the wolf growled back. Their swords locked, and Korishico suddenly found himself focusing all his energy on his sword. It was a trick he hadn't used in many years- a trick he hadn't had to use in many years- but he found himself doing it without flaw all the same. The sword shone brilliantly, and without warning, the enormous figure of a wolf blasted out from the sword and threw Ardep to the ground. The aged warrior lay, nearly dead, and Korishico stood over him. "I believe I have won."
"Yes. You...have my life. But before you end it, I am curious. How...what did you do?"
Korishico took the sword in both hands and stroked the blade gently. "This sword has been in my family for many generations, but originally, it was a gift from the Gods. When the Gods gave it to my ancestors, it was to protect our people. My ancestor agreed to use it for good, and my entire family has followed. When we need, we can call upon the power of the Gods and they will help us win our battle."
"Very...handy. At least...it can be said...that it took the Gods...to kill me..."
Korishico smiled. "I have won the battle, and I will take the Dragon Ball that is rightfully mine, but I will not kill you. I am a protector, and it is my duty to help, not hurt."
"Imodeth...quickly...retrieve the Dragon Ball for our friend..."
The wolf knelt beside Ardep and placed the sword on his chest. He closed his eyes, and began to softly whisper in an ancient language unknown to the planet Earth. After several long seconds he opened his eyes again and smiled at Ardep. "You are healed."
The old warrior stood up. "Wow, I feel...I feel young! That's some sword you've got there, friend."
Korishico sheathed his weapon and smiled. "Yes, I know." Imodeth returned, carrying the Dragon Ball. His jaw dropped when he saw his friend.
"What happened? I thought he was dying!"
"I was dying...but our warrior friend saved my life."
Korishico took the Dragon Ball and smiled. "All in a day's work, gentlemen." He chuckled to himself, then placed the Dragon Ball carefully in his sack. "Thank you. It has been many years since I have had a good sword fight."
Ardep smiled. "I can hardly call it good."
"Against a human foe, you would be nearly unbeatable."
"Perhaps," the warrior replied modestly. "But then again, perhaps not."
Imodeth gave Korishico several canteens filled with water. "This way you don't collapse again. It would be terrible if we had to save your life a second time, wouldn't it?"
"Thank you," the wolf said with a smile. He headed back the direction he had first came, pleased that finding the Dragon Ball had been simple. He had a terrible feeling, however, that his next stop would be more difficult...
~*~
Korishico trembled as he made his way through the humid jungle. Now I know why I prefer nice dry forests, he thought darkly, groaning as his fur clung tight to his body. This is horrible!
He staggered through the dense foliage, his grip tight on the dragon radar, and finally stopped to glance down at it. "The stupid ball should be somewhere around here..."
Suddenly, a panther jumped down from nowhere and eyed Korishico hungrily. "Oh, I hate cats!" he growled, unsheathing his sword. The panther snarled at him, and Korishico grinned. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...I've got a nice present for you!" The panther snarled again, showing his teeth, and Korishico shook his head. "I'm terrified, you big, ugly, fuzz- what the heck was that?" Korishico slapped at the back of his neck as something sharp poked it, then suddenly froze and yanked the dart out. "What?" he asked, feeling the poison work it's way through his system. He fell to his knees weakly and let the blackness overtake his spirit.
~*~
The first thought that ran through Korishico's mind when he awoke was, "I'm not dead?" He sat up and reached for his sword, then grimaced when he realized he didn't have it.
"Your weapon was taken away from you." He tried to twist his head around, but a deep sense of pain overwhelmed him. "As you can see, moving about only makes it hurt worse. I suggest that you remain still." Korishico showed his teeth, not at all liking the fact that someone else was telling him what to do. He sat up slowly, ignoring the throbbing in his head, and focused on the speaker. The man appeared to be middle-aged, with black hair flowing to his waist and deep brown eyes that blinked curiously at Korishico. "I see you don't listen very well, my friend."
"Yeah, well, friend, why should I bother?"
The man smiled and raised a small tube. "This contains the darts made like the ones I used to knock you unconscious the first time. The only difference is that these would be lethal to you."
Korishico raised an eyebrow. "Where's my sword? And my sack?"
The man shrugged. "Your weapons were removed from your person so you couldn't threaten us."
Korishico stood up angrily, but quickly sat down again as a wave of dizziness swept through his brain. "I need those back. I'm on a mission."
The man raised an eyebrow. "And I care, beast?"
Korishico stared at the man. "What did you call me?"
"You are an unnatural beast. I should have killed you when I had the chance." The man raised the blowgun to his lips and blew hard, but Korishico's training with Meleina paid off, and he managed to dodge the dart.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you," Korishico said calmly, "But I will if I need to. I just want to find the Dragon Ball and get out of here." The man blew another dart at Korishico, and this time the wolf caught it. "You're not going to get very far with these, pal. I've trained with faster folks than you."
The man glared at Korishico, but he was struck in awe by the wolf's swift movements. "What do you want from us?"
Korishico cocked his head. "Give me back my sword and my sack. I give you my word that I won't attack you or your people."
The man dug under the bed where Korishico had been thrown down and thrust out the sword and sack. "You have your weapons. Now leave us!"
"I want one more thing," Korishico said, digging through his bag. He brought out the Dragon Ball. "Somewhere in the area is a ball that looks like this. Bring it to me."
"The sacred rock?" he demanded, looking horrified. "You cannot steal our sacred rock! Doom will come to us all if you do!"
Korishico groaned inwardly. Great, religious freaks of the primitive style. "What if I told you that your Gods asked me to retrieve the ball for them?" he asked, hoping they wouldn't demand specifics for his mission.
"Then I would ask for proof. Three miracles."
Korishico cocked his head and shrugged. Miracles for these people should be simple. Korishico nodded. "Deal." He concentrated his energy and forced himself to hover in the air. The man's jaw dropped, and Korishico grinned as he lowered himself to the ground. "That was my first miracle. My second is a bit more difficult." He concentrated his energy into a ball in his hand, and watched as the man took a step back. "That was my second. Do you even need to see the third?" The man nodded fiercely, and Korishico shrugged. "The third involves that ball you've got, as well as my own. Set your ball on the ground." The man complied. "Good, now watch what will happen when I set mine down next to it." Korishico placed his ball carefully on the ground, and both began to glow.
"Amazing!" the man whispered. "You are truly sent from the Gods. Forgive me for ever doubting you, my lord," he said, dropping to his knees.
Korishico grinned at the attention. "Not a problem, my good sir. Now, I'll be taking this ball and leaving..." He placed them both in his sack and hurried away from the village on all fours. "And I thought that was going to be hard." He glanced down at the dragon radar, and smiled. "Good, looks like Krillin and Vegeta didn't have any problems getting those two Dragon Balls. Good, we've got the six that Meleina don't have."
~*~
He raced to Capsule Corp. as fast as he could, and was pleased to see Vegeta answer the door. Vegeta scowled at him, but let the wolf in. Korishico grinned. "I think it's time to let Trunks in on our little secret, eh? He'll be excited to give Meleina the gift."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "I've been thinking about that."
Korishico looked up. "Got an idea of how we give them to her?"
"I asked Socha, and Meleina's birthday is in a week."
The wolf grinned broadly. "Wow, what a birthday present! I like it...we'll just have to get Trunks and Goten to agree."
"Agree to what?" The two older men turned and saw both Trunks and Goten standing in the hallway, toys in hand.
"Did I tell you that you could be in here?" Vegeta said loudly. The boys exchanged glances and turned to hurry away, but Korishico stopped them.
"I might as well tell the both of you at the same time," he said. "It couldn't hurt any, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody."
Goten looked up. "Is it about Auntie Meleina?" he asked. "And the Dragon Balls? Did you get them all?"
"What are you talking about?" Trunks demanded, shoving his friend.
Korishico glared at Goten. "How did you find out?"
He grinned boyishly. "I overheard Dad and Gohan talking about Aunt Meleina and that they were going to get her family back for her. Then I can have more playmates." He looked down at his toy and grinned happily.
Korishico scratched his head. "Trunks, you just heard the whole story. Are you both willing to give up your Dragon Balls so Meleina can get her wish?"
"Yup!" Goten said cheerfully.
Trunks frowned thoughtfully, but nodded quickly at a glare from Vegeta.
"Excellent!" Korishico said. "I just have to go talk to Krillin. I can't believe how well this has turned out!"
~*~
The sky was turning a deep red with the sunset when they celebrated Meleina's birthday. Five gifts lay piled on the ground, each looking identical. Meleina shook her head. "You really shouldn't have done this for me," she grumbled.
"You're only getting five because we all worked our tails off just to get these for you. You hear that? We worked our tails off!" Korishico laughed and gestured to his tail, which was missing a few tufts of fur.
Meleina chuckled, then reached for the first one. She took her time, savoring each moment of opening the gifts her friends had spent much time thinking about. She unwrapped it carefully, then lightly stuffed the trash in a bag for later disposal. She opened the box, then gasped in surprise as she pulled out two Dragon Balls.
"Those are from me and Goten," Trunks explained. She smiled at them.
"Thank you very much, guys. I really appreciate it."
The boys exchanged glances and Goten gave a satisfied nod. Meleina reached for the next box, and Goku grinned. "That one's from me, Gohan, and Chi-Chi."
Meleina unwrapped it, then suddenly dropped her gift. Another Dragon Ball fell out. I have four now, she thought excitedly, then looked at the rest of the boxes quickly, having a sudden sense of knowing what was inside them. She quickly opened the next two, pulling out Dragon Balls with little surprise. One more left! She thought happily. One more and I can make my wish! She glanced at Korishico.
"The last one is mine," he said calmly. "Go ahead, open it.
She bit her lip, then sent him a silent look of thanks, knowing this had been his idea entirely. Meleina tore the wrapping off and pulled out a small Koosh ball. She held it up and looked at Korishico.
"Sorry, I couldn't find the real thing," he apologized, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Alright, I admit it, I have a terrible poker face." He pulled out a Dragon Ball from behind his back. "I didn't wrap it, though. Hope you don't mind."
Meleina took it and placed it next to the other six, then turned to go get her own. She was surprised to find Vegeta coming out of the house, her Dragon Ball in his hand. She frowned at him, angry that he had gone into her room, but took it as if holding a precious gem.
She set it down next to the other Dragon Balls and smiled as they glowed.
"Go ahead, make your wish," Goku said excitedly.
"Before I do," Meleina said tentatively, "I want to thank you all for being so kind. I...I received the best gifts of my life today- and no, I'm not talking about the Dragon Balls."
"You're talking about what you'll get after you make your wish?" Korishico asked with false innocence, drawing a chuckle from the adults. Goten, Trunks, and Katal exchanged blank looks.
Meleina smirked. "That too. But moreover, I meant that I realized I honestly have the best of friends. And the only thing that would make this life perfect is adding my own family to it."
She took a deep breath, then called upon the Eternal Dragon.
Meleina looked vaguely frightened by the Dragon, but took a deep breath and smiled at him. "I...I wish for my family...to be returned to life..."
The Dragon blinked down at her, then said in his booming voice, "Your wish has been granted. Farewell."
There was a moment of silence, then suddenly an unfamiliar voice cried out, "Mommy!" Meleina spun around and fell to her knees as three young children came running up. They flew into her arms, and she pulled them close, tears streaming down her face. A tall man stood slightly away from the group, watching anxiously but not wanting to interrupt. Vegeta stared at him in deep anger.
"You slimy-" The Saiyan prince lunged at Kieran, who managed to duck his head down just in time.
"Whoa, has Vegeta gone insane or something?" Krillin asked, looking surprised.
"No," Socha said, her voice forcefully even. "That man is a bounty hunter- a murderer of Saiyans."
Meleina stood up and stared at Vegeta and Kieran, who lay wrestling on the ground. Kieran was obviously no match for the Super Saiyan, and he was quickly being choked to death. "Vegeta!" Meleina said, her voice sharp. "Let go of my husband!"
The Saiyan dropped Kieran in pure shock. "Your what? How could you marry that...that piece of..."
Meleina frowned at Vegeta. "Like you're one to talk," she snapped, then smiled at Kieran, who stood up rubbing his throat. He saw her, and burst into laughter, drawing her into his embrace. She buried her face in his chest and breathed his familiar scent. "Oh, God, Kieran, I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, beautiful," he whispered back, kissing her.
"Eew," the kids laughed, and both parents broke apart to look down at them.
"Oh, come here," Meleina said, and the three raced up to hug her. She scooped Ronan up into her arms and lightly touched his nose. "How've you been in the other dimension, squirt? Taking care of the others, I hope."
He giggled softly and opened his mouth to respond when Socha interrupted. "Um, Meleina, I think you forgot..."
"I haven't forgotten anything," the Saiyan woman replied joyously.
"I think you forgot that they aren't your only family..."
Meleina turned and stared. "What?" Socha pointed to a group of Saiyans who stood nearby. "Dad!" Meleina blurted, suddenly realizing how much she had missed him. "Mom! Oh, and Raditz, of course. Wait a minute..." She frowned at the group. "What's Taura doing here?"
Socha shrugged. "Family must have meant your really close friends, too, I guess."
"So why did Raditz come back?" she asked, curling her lip the warrior. He sneered.
"So I could get my revenge on all of you brats?" he offered, creating a ball of energy. Meleina stared at it, then burst into laughter. Raditz looked less than pleased and powered up, but froze when Vegeta took a step forward. The two Saiyans eyed each other, and Vegeta raised a hand to blast Raditz.
"Hey!" Meleina yelled, grabbing Vegeta's wrist. "I get to blast him to pieces!"
Vegeta shook his arm loose and turned to glare at her. "Why should you get to?" he demanded.
"Because he's my brother. Is he related to you? No? Has he tried to kill you? No? Then I get the claim!"
"Find a better excuse!"
"And what's your excuse for wanting him dead?"
"I don't need an excuse!"
"They're like two year olds," Bulma said, and Socha grinned.
Raditz watched the display between Meleina and Vegeta with half amusement, then suddenly threw a ball of energy at Meleina. In the midst of her arguing, she held up a hand and knocked it aside, then returned to her argument.
Finally, Korishico interrupted the heated fight. "How about you both just kill him and leave the rest of us in peace?"
Both Saiyans glared at the wolf, and he shook his head and grinned toothily at Raditz. "I suggest you run as fast as you can."
Raditz chuckled, but suddenly darted away. "Hey!" Meleina roared, lunging forward. Her mother suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Don't you dare go after him," she snapped. Meleina's jaw dropped, and she opened her mouth to retort when Vegeta burst into laughter.
"Listen to your mommy, Meleina," he sneered. Meleina wrenched her arm out of her mother's grip and glared at Vegeta.
"Shut your mouth, you ugly ape," she snarled.
"Here we go," Chi-Chi sighed. "It never changes with those two. One little sentence and suddenly they're at each other's throats."
"Keeps life interesting," Korishico said with a smirk.
"What did you call me?" Vegeta demanded.
"You heard me." She raised a challenging eyebrow at him, and Vegeta curled his lip.
"You arrogant-"
"That's enough." Socha's voice was quiet yet firm and both her friends looked at her in surprise. "Normally I'd let this go on, but we have company. Oh, and in your fighting, Raditz got away."
Meleina looked surprised but this news and glanced around. "Oops?" she offered, a sheepish grin on her face.
"You let him get away?" Vegeta demanded, glaring at her.
"Oh, so suddenly this is all my fault? Never mind that you were half the reason he got away!"
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Well I'm giving it to you, loud and clear, and if you have a problem with it, take it up with the complaint department!"
Taura leaned over and poked Bardock's arm. "What a charming daughter you have. It seems she doesn't know how to respect her betters."
Meleina's head twitched slightly and she turned slowly to look at him.
Vegeta snorted a laugh. "Ah, so I'm not the only one to think that!"
"I'll respect my betters when I find some to respect," she ground out through clenched teeth. Socha cleared her throat, and Meleina shrugged. "I'm done. I've had my fun."
"So you're my father," Goku said aloud, studying Bardock closely. The elder warrior eyed him.
"Kakarot."
Tears welled in his mother's eyes. "Oh, my baby! You're so grown up! And you have children of your own now. We missed so much, didn't we, dear?" she asked, her gaze never leaving Goku.
"More than I like to think. So, how did you kill Frieza?"
"Ahem." Meleina cleared her throat. "Maybe we ought to do a real, proper introduction to everybody."
"I'm talking here," Bardock growled to Meleina.
She shrugged. "So'm I. And I think you should maybe meet everybody before we get into the war talk. Because once we get into the war talk, we'll never get back out of it."
Goku gave her his trademark dopey grin. "Yeah, you're right. Once we get started, we can never stop."
Meleina nodded in agreement. "Yup. Okay, here goes then. This is my dad, Bardock, my mom, and my dad's best friend, Taura. And this is Goku, also known as Kakarot, his wife Chi-Chi, his oldest son Gohan, and his youngest son Goten. Then we've got Vegeta, his wife Bulma, and their son Trunks. Then Socha, her husband Adlteau, their son Katal, and their pet cat, Kawly. Then comes Korishico, and Master Roshi, Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Videl and Yamcha. There's Krillin, Android 18 (we call her 18) and their daughter Maron. Then there's the tagalongs, Oolong and Puar." She paused, and her voice swelled with pride. "Then there's my own husband, Kieran, and my kids, Ronan, Reine, and Vrail."
"I'm oldest," Reine said cheerfully. "And Ronan's just the baby."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
The two children glared at each other, and suddenly Bardock burst into laughter. "Better be careful there, Mel, or you'll have another you and Raditz."
"It's not Ronan and Reine that I'm worried about; it's Vrail and Reine."
"They seem like such good kids," Goku said cheerfully. "I'm sure Goten would love for you three to come and play some time. And it'd be good for family get-togethers, too, you know. But I don't think we have enough room in our house for all of you. Or enough food," he added as an afterthought.
Meleina nodded in agreement. "We're going to have to find a place of our own. Shouldn't be too hard, I thought we'd build something."
"I'll help," Goku offered. Taura and Bardock exchanged glances at his willingness to help.
"He's...not normal," Taura muttered softly.
"I noticed," Bardock hissed back. "But he did kill Frieza."
Piccolo, with his sensitive ears, heard every word and turned, revealing his fangs in a grin. "You'll have to forgive Goku. He's not at all a typical Saiyan."
Meleina grinned. "Nowhere close. Too trusting. Too easy-going. Too loveable."
He grinned back at her, and again Bardock and Taura exchanged glances.
There was a long moment of silence, then suddenly Meleina's youngest, Ronan, tugged at her leg. "I'm sleepy, Mommy," he whined.
Her glare softened, and she smiled down at her son. "Of course you are, dear. It's late." She cast a final glance around, searching for Raditz, then patted Ronan on the head. "Bed time."
"Where are we going to put everybody?" Chi-Chi asked worriedly. "Our house isn't big enough for so many people!"
"Everybody who was wished back can bunk in my room," Meleina offered. "We'll just need a few extra blankets, and we should be fine."
It took a while, but Chi-Chi and Goku managed to get everybody comfortably situated. Nearly everybody was asleep, but Meleina lay awake long into the night, tossing and turning. Finally, around midnight, Kieran awoke and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Relax, Mel, everything's fine."
"I don't like Raditz being here," she said flatly. "I don't trust him at all."
"Meleina, he can't hurt you. You've gotten way too tough."
There was a moment of silence, then she whispered, "It's not me I'm worried about, love. What if he decides to go after the kids? What do we do then?"
Kieran laughed softly. "Meleina, the kids would gang together and beat the living daylights out of him. They grew up on Fhotherite, remember? If they can handle life there, they can handle life anywhere." He touched her cheek. "It'll be okay, I promise."
She smiled suddenly. "You're right. They're strong kids, all of them. Even Ronan."
~*~
The next day, Chi-Chi was extremely relieved when Korishico and his pack brought her extra food to cook for the group of Saiyans, and they all ate to their hearts' content. After breakfast, Meleina and Vegeta insisted on going to look for Raditz.
"We've gotta kill him before he kills us," Meleina told everyone.
"You just want revenge," her mother argued. "He knows he's no match for all of us, and he'll stay away."
"That is far from the truth," Vegeta growled. "He probably can't wait to start a fight."
"No," Meleina said. "Mom's right. Raditz is a coward. If he knows he can't win, he won't fight." She looked disappointed. "Too bad. We should go after him anyway. What do you say?"
"I'm game," Vegeta grinned.
"No," Goku said. "If he leaves us alone, we should leave him alone. He's not causing any damage hiding away, and there's no reason to fight him."
Meleina pointed at her shortened tail. "There's plenty of reason to fight him!"
"Or not so plenty," Vegeta sneered. Meleina hit him on the back of the head, but the fight stopped there.
"It doesn't matter what he did in the past," Goku said patiently. "The only thing that matters is what he's doing now."
"That's the most messed-up theory I've ever heard," Bardock said, startled by his son's peaceful nature.
"No it isn't," Gohan said pointedly. "If that were true, we'd have to kill most of the people here."
Meleina and Vegeta exchanged glances, disappointed that they weren't going to get their fight, but understanding the simple logic in the discussion.
"Fine," Meleina managed. "If he doesn't bother us or anybody else, we'll leave him alone."
"But the minute he starts terrorizing people, he's mine," Vegeta growled, making a fist.
"Mine." Meleina glared at him.
"Don't start," Bardock warned her.
"You either, Vegeta," Bulma agreed, frowning.
"Whipped," Korishico mock-sneezed into his hand. Within seconds, both Saiyans had tackled him, tickling viscously.
To be continued...
Author's Note: This is not the end of the fic. Not yet, at least. Sadly, I found another plot line that I really liked and decided that I had to use. The next chapter is titled "Familiar Faces." Maybe. If I find a better title, I'll use it, but no luck so far.
Four years later
Meleina felt something press lightly onto her stomach, and she slowly opened one of her eyes. A curious-looking Goten peered down at her, and she groaned softly. "Go away, Goten, I don't want to get up yet."
"Aw, Aunt Meleina," he whined.
She batted him away with a hand. "Out of my room, squirt."
He tugged her arm, but she rolled over, ignoring him. Suddenly, something struck the back of her head and she sat up. "Goten, do you want to die a slow and painful death? No? Then put the pillow down and let me go back to sleep!"
Gohan popped his head in the room. "Ooh, a pillow fight!" he said, the playfulness showing through. Meleina moaned, but Gohan jumped in and snatched up a pillow, smacking her across the face.
She pursed her lips, then tackled Gohan and knocked him to the floor, wrestling the pillow away from him. "Aunt Mel!" he laughed as she finally managed to steal it.
She snorted. "Great, now I'm up."
"Awesome, now you can come play!" Goten said enthusiastically.
"I think I'd rather have breakfast first," she said, patting him on the head. "I'll play after I eat."
Goten tugged her arm. "You gotta play now!"
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "Goten, dear, you're twelve years old. Aren't you a little old to play?"
He smacked her in the head with the pillow. "Nope."
Gohan laughed. "He's got a good point."
Goku appeared in the doorway, and laughed. "You're never to old for a pillow fight! Right, sis?" he added mischievously. Meleina glared at him.
"Not you too!"
He cackled, then snatched up another pillow from the floor and the three men bombarded Meleina. "Why me?" she moaned, trying to shield her face. Goku tackled her and pinned her to the floor while Gohan and Goten continued the merciless beating with the pillows. Finally, Meleina gave in and started laughing. She reached up onto her bed and tugged down two pillows, then hit Goku on the side of the head. "Do you really want to mess with me, the pillow-fight queen of the world?" she challenged loudly.
The three men looked at each other, then grinned and nodded. "Three against one. I like these odds," Gohan said. "Not that she could take on any one of us and hope to win."
Meleina threw one of her pillows and hit him square in the chest; he tripped over his own feet and fell into the wall. Gohan lay there groaning, and Meleina hurried over to make sure he was all right. As soon as she set a hand on his shoulder, her grabbed it and laughed. "Tricked you. Hit her, Dad!"
"Eep!" she yelled as Goku smacked her on the back viscously. Goten joined in, and the two had her stuck in between them when Gohan let her go. He joined his father and brother, and the three hit her randomly.
"Tag team?" Goku asked with a fiendish grin.
"Hey, I think breakfast is ready!" Meleina said, hoping to distract the men long enough to sneak away. It worked, and all three turned to the door. Meleina raced out of it, hearing Gohan yell, "Hey!" after her. She hurried into the hall, then debated on where to go next. She decided her safest bet would be to head to Chi-Chi's room, because as fun loving as Goku, Gohan, and Goten were, they weren't stupid enough to have a pillow fight around Chi-Chi.
She ran into the room, and Chi-Chi spun around from her mirror in shock. "What is going on here?" Meleina could barely hold back her chuckles as the three men froze.
"Nothing, Mom," Gohan said sheepishly.
"Out!" Chi-Chi snapped. "Out now!"
Goten gave Meleina a look that said plainly, You're not off the hook, missy. I'll get you sooner or later. As soon as they were gone, Meleina collapsed onto the bed and laughed. "Thanks for saving me, Chi-Chi. I wouldn't have been able to get away without you."
Chi-Chi grinned. "Poor Meleina. Were my boys beating up on you again?"
Meleina nodded. "I wouldn't have minded half as much if they hadn't woken me up early to do it, mind. Ah, well, it was fun. Until they ganged up on me, that is," she added as an afterthought. There was a light knock on the front door, and shouts of, "I've got it!" could be heard from Goku, Gohan, and Goten.
Minutes later, Gohan knocked on the door to Chi-Chi's room. "Hey, Aunt Mel? It's Korishico."
She smiled and jumped off the bed. "Great! He hasn't come by in a few days now! I was starting to wonder where he'd gone to."
She hurried to the kitchen. Goku, Goten, and Korishico stood around the table, their hands behind their backs, and as soon as they saw Meleina, they threw pillows at her. She turned to shield her head, but Gohan pulled out a pillow and smacked her square across the face.
"No fair!" she pouted. She glared at Korishico. "Fine then, if that's the way you want to be, then I'll just go back to bed."
"No, Auntie Meleina, you can't go back to bed!"
"I can and I will, if you men don't promise to stop throwing those blasted things at me."
"I promise," Goten said quickly. Gohan agreed, as did Goku, but it took them a while to persuade Korishico to give up his pillow.
Chi-Chi came out of her room finally and Meleina helped her make breakfast. They invited Korishico to eat, but he insisted that he'd already fed and wasn't hungry.
After breakfast, Meleina was torn by her promise to play with Goten and her normal hike through the woods with Korishico. Finally, she asked her wolf friend if it would be okay if Goten went with, and he agreed.
The three took off, and Meleina smiled happily as she chatted with Goten and Korishico. The two adults decided to take Goten to their favorite place in the woods, a meadow at the base of a huge waterfall.
Goten raced into the water, splashing up at the shore where Meleina and Korishico stood, but both refused to get wet. They let him play in the water while they sat and talked. Finally, Korishico smiled at Meleina.
"You really love your nephews."
She looked surprised at the change of subject, then shrugged. "They're like my own kids, Kori. Of course I love them."
Over the years he had known Meleina, Korishico had come to notice a trend in Meleina's behavior. He doubted anyone else had recognized her behavioral patterns as maternal, but he was almost positive that she had at some point had children of her own. He was disappointed that Meleina wouldn't tell him about her family life, but he respected her silence, knowing that it came from an old pain.
Goten splashed onto shore, soaked, and shook his head, flinging water droplets all over Korishico and Meleina.
"Goten!" she blurted. Korishico laughed.
"Great, kid, now I'm all wet."
"And nothing smells worse than wet dog," Meleina teased, playfully shoving him.
He snorted, then met Goten's gaze. He scooped Meleina up off the ground, then calmly walked to the edge of the river and dumped her in. She shrieked and tried to drag him down with her, but he eluded her grasp and stood on the shore, laughing. When she surfaced, she glared at the laughing wolf and giggling Goten. She stepped out of the water and sat down, glaring at her friends.
"That was really mean, Korishico," she pouted.
"Was it?" he asked innocently. "Well...I'm not sorry." She punched his arm none to softly and he chuckled. "You have to admit, it was really funny."
"No it wasn't."
"Yes it was."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Shut up!" Goten hollered. Korishico laughed, but Meleina suddenly became serious. The argument reminded her of the way she and Kieran had argued- playfully, but getting their point across. Goten put a hand on his stomach. "I'm hungry," he whined.
"Yeah, me too," Meleina agreed.
"You two are always hungry," Korishico pointed out.
"You want to come for lunch?" Meleina asked him.
"Nope, I think I ought to head back to my pack now."
Meleina hugged him. "Take care, then, okay?"
"It's so nice to know that you care," he grinned.
She smiled back at him, then watched him take off through the woods. She chuckled to herself, glad that she'd been able to spend a few hours with him, then turned back to Goten. The twelve-year-old was holding a yellow ball in his hands, and she frowned at him. "What've you got there?"
"It's a Dragon Ball!" he said cheerfully. She froze at the term. "Cool, now I've got two!"
"Can I have it?" she asked cautiously. Goten nodded cheerfully and handed it over. She studied it carefully. He already has two...that leaves five...She shook her head. What am I thinking? It would only hurt more if I wished them back to life. She tucked the ball into a pocket. Why bother? But thinking of her lost family, even for the smallest moment, caused a terrible pain in her heart that didn't leave for the rest of the day.
Deep in the forest, Korishico felt a sudden wave of sorrow wash over him and stopped in the middle of his hunt. His mate, Rillaao, gave him a curious look, then whined slightly. Korishico shook off the strange feeling and continued trudging along in front of his pack.
~*~
It was late at night, but Meleina couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned, tried to force herself to think about fighting Vegeta, but her mind kept returning to the Dragon Balls. She had forced herself to believe that she was happy on Earth, that she had all she needed- her best friend, her brother and his family, even someone to constantly fight with- but in truth she had only pushed her emotions aside. She missed with a desperate passion her family- they had molded her into a happy woman, and now they were gone. She knew her friends would never truly understand; only Korishico had suffered a loss as deep as hers. It made perfect sense, then, that she would have told him, but she was too frightened. Besides, she believed that she should tell Socha, her friend for many years, before she told anyone else. Meleina rolled over and sighed. She owed Socha the truth- owed all her friends the truth, but it hurt too much to remember. She sat up and threw on her bathrobe, knowing she would suffer from no sleep tonight, and walked into the kitchen. The light was already on, and Goku sat at the table. He looked up as she came in the room.
"Morning!" he greeted. Meleina nodded in wary reply. "I thought you'd still be up. Goten said you found a Dragon Ball..." Meleina nodded again, and Goku shrugged. "Every time we mention the Dragon Balls, you go...really quiet. I was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about something."
Meleina smiled at his bluntness. "No, Goku, I'm not sure I want to talk right now."
He nodded. "When you're ready, then you can come to me."
Meleina felt her heart warm. "Thank you, Goku. I'll...I'll remember that."
He stood to leave. "You might want to get some sleep, though. We've got that get-together tomorrow for Katal's fourth birthday." Meleina grimaced.
"Goody, just what I want." She chuckled lightly. "Vegeta around all day." Goku smiled faintly then suddenly embraced her in brotherly fashion. She touched her cheek lightly to his, knowing full well that he wouldn't comprehend the Saiyan gesture of caring. "Goodnight, Goku."
He grinned. "'Night, Meleina."
She returned to bed, her heart more at peace, and fell quickly asleep.
~*~
She awoke the next day and staggered to the kitchen. It was sparkling clean, and Chi-Chi stood over the stove. Not wanting to be rude despite her late awakening, Meleina smiled. "Need any help?"
Chi-Chi turned. "Oh, good morning, Meleina! No, I don't need any help, but thank you for offering. I'm almost done out here."
Meleina pursed her lips and nodded, wishing she could be of more use. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Nope, not a thing!" Chi-Chi chirruped. Goten strode in and Chi-Chi snapped to him, "Goten! Take this outside!" She thrust a bowl into his arms, and Meleina suddenly grew unexplainably angry.
"I could have done that," she remarked snappishly, then stormed back to her room, feeling useless.
Chi-Chi watched her go, then sighed. "Saiyans are so touchy!"
Everyone sat outside laughing while Meleina lay on her bed, depressed, staring at the Dragon Ball she had found the day before. Outside, everyone was talking and having fun. Socha wondered briefly where Meleina was, then smiled, knowing her friend was never skip something so important. She must have something great planned for Katal.
"We're out of chips," Vegeta growled. "I'm going to get more." Socha chuckled, knowing he just wanted to get away from Goku.
Vegeta ignored his sister's laughter and hurried into the kitchen. He had sensed Meleina's energy in the house, but had been surprised that she wasn't celebrating. He hesitated, then made his way to Meleina's room. He knocked and heard her snarl, "Go away, Vegeta!" He opened the door and saw her sitting on her bed, Dragon Ball in hand, drying tear marks on her cheeks. Vegeta froze in shock.
"Look at the poor depressed Saiyan," he sneered. Meleina's head snapped up, and she quickly wiped her tears away.
"I told you to go away," she snarled, throwing her pillow at him with as much force as she could muster. A small dent appeared in the wall behind him as she missed.
Vegeta curled his lip. "Temper, temper."
She stood up and started for him menacingly. "You slimy, arrogant-" The Dragon Ball dropped from her lap and fell to the floor. Vegeta stared at it in vague surprise, then looked at Meleina.
"Well, well. Wanting wishes granted?"
Meleina shot him a poisonous look. "Not that you care," she snapped shortly. Vegeta stared.
"I was going to invite you down to enjoy the party with us, but it looks like you're too afraid to be around me," he sneered, trying to cover his surprise.
"No, I just didn't want to have to deal with your arrogance," she snapped. Vegeta stepped back at the comment, clearly insulted. Meleina sighed. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be so rude. I'm just...not having a good day."
Vegeta relaxed his shocked look. "Why?" he grunted.
She handed him her Dragon Ball. "I miss them so much," she whispered, turning away. Vegeta thought she meant her parents until she muttered, "Kieran...Vrail, Reine, Ronan..."
"Those aren't Saiyan names," Vegeta pointed out.
Meleina turned and nodded. "Thanks, Sherlock," she snapped.
"Oh, so now she's educated in human literature," he laughed.
Meleina took a deep breath. "You have till the count of three to get your tail out of my room, Shorty. One-"
"So are you going to tell me who they are, or just leave me needing to ask Socha?"
Meleina yelped and raced forward, dragging him in the room. "Socha doesn't know, so don't be going to her, okay?" she snapped, bringing her face within an inch of his. Vegeta felt his surprise in the low-level deepen. He waited, uncertain of what to say to her. She sat down on her bed and handed him a picture. He studied it curiously. A tall, green-haired man stood with his arm around Meleina's waist while her head rested gently on his shoulder. Meleina had her hand on the head of a young girl with long black hair and golden-brown eyes. The tall man had his other arm rested on the shoulder of a boy whose blonde hair was cut in the style of Goku's. In the middle of them all stood the youngest, a tiny, slender boy with shoulder-length green hair and stunning blue eyes.
"Who are they?" Vegeta asked, intrigued. When Meleina didn't respond, he glanced at her, then quickly looked away when he saw that she was crying again. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly the door burst open.
"Korishico!" Meleina blurted, her tears drying up. The wolf looked at her, then suddenly grabbed Vegeta and slammed him into the wall.
"What did you do to her?" he snarled.
Vegeta flinched. "I didn't do anything to her, you insane freak!"
Meleina stood up. Despite the humor of the situation, she didn't want Vegeta and Korishico to start a fight. She set a had on the wolf's arm and smiled. "It's okay, Korishico. He was helping me."
The wolf frowned, but set Vegeta down. "Somehow, I don't believe that." He embraced her, then suddenly glared at Vegeta. "Your wife is looking for you and sent me." He pulled back his lips to reveal his razor-sharp fangs. "I suggest you hurry up and get down there."
Vegeta walked out of the room, his thoughts on the picture of Meleina's family.
Korishico gave Meleina a curious look. "What was that all about? Because I find it hard to believe that Vegeta would be helping you."
Meleina stared at him, open-mouthed, then sighed. "Yeah. He was actually trying to help me, but...well...it's Vegeta. You know how he is." The wolf nodded, then gently touched her shoulder.
"Want to talk about it?"
Meleina hesitated. First Goku, then Vegeta, now even Korishico's noticing that I'm not acting normal. This is really eating away at me. She sighed. "I don't exactly want to, Korishico, but...I think maybe I need to. Know what I mean?"
The wolf nodded. "Yeah, actually, I know exactly what you mean. Go ahead."
Meleina sat down on her bed and scooped up the Dragon Ball. "This is a Dragon Ball, Kori. I'm sure Goku's told you all about them," he nodded to her, "so I don't need to explain about them. I'm sure Vegeta has told you that the Saiyans were incredibly powerful, and that we were...planet brokers, I suppose," he nodded again. "Okay. So we've got that squared away. Well, a long time ago I was sent to Namek with a friend to blow it up. I was nearly killed, but a kind warrior named Kami saved my life. I stayed on Namek because it was a great place to live, and I loved it. I found out...somehow...through my father that I had a baby brother, and that my home planet was at that moment being destroyed by our overlord, Frieza." She looked up at Korishico. "My father was on Vegeta when he told me this, Korishico. I've never been able to explain it...but I saw some incredible things." She took a deep breath. "I left Namek to look for Kakarot...and learned about the Dragon Balls from Vegeta." She turned. "I could remember Kami mentioning something about the Dragon Balls, so I went back to Namek to ask him. Sadly, a great number of years had passed, and I learned that Kami had become the Guardian of the Earth. I managed to find out about the Dragon Balls from an old Namek, luckily, but before I could head off again, I felt a terrifyingly familiar presence...Frieza was on Namek. I hurried to see if I could stop him, but by the time I reached him, it was too late. Somehow, I knew deep inside that he was going to destroy Namek, also. I fled, but not before I caught sight of a young man...I know now that the familiar young man was Kakarot, my baby brother.
"I hurried away from Namek quickly, and watched in horror as it was destroyed. I prayed to the God of every culture I had ever encountered that Kakarot was still alive, but I had no way of knowing. I launched my ship deep into space and landed on Fhotherite, where..." Meleina stopped to gather herself. "Where I met Kieran."
Korishico looked surprised. "Kieran the bounty hunter?"
Meleina smiled. "Yes. Kieran the bounty hunter. He beat the living daylights out of me shortly after we met, but...somehow we fell in love and got married."
Korishico nodded, anticipating what was coming next. "And because he was a bounty hunter, he faced many dangers and was killed in action."
Meleina shook her head sharply. "He quit being a bounty hunter when we married- mostly upon my insistence." She smiled darkly. "He told me that he wanted one final mission, to find the woman with the dragon tail, that's exactly what he told me. I gave him a pretty nasty black eye and told him that he could have me or he could have bounties. He chose me." She grinned. "We had three kids..." Tears stung her eyes. "They were the most beautiful little angels in the universe...Vrail and Reine were twins, and Ronan was the little one. I loved them so much...
"One day I came home from work in the city to find them all dead," she said, her voice dropping to a hoarse whisper. She buried her face in her hands. "I was so upset...I transformed that night...and Socha found me...but Kieran...little Ronan, his head bent-"
Korishico drew her in to his embrace. "Don't think about it, Meleina. Don't think about it. That was many years ago."
She looked up at him. "If it was so long ago, why do I still feel this pain, Korishico? Why do I still see their smiling faces every night before bed? I don't even think about Dad as much as I think about them..."
He smiled gently. "They were your family, Meleina. Your chosen family. You cannot help but having been born to your Saiyan family, but you chose a husband and birthed three children. Of course you love them more than your own father."
Meleina met his gaze. "I wish I could have them back, Korishico. I truly wish I could have them back."
He took the Dragon Ball and held it up. "You've only got one, Meleina. I believe Goku said it took all seven to make the wish come true?"
Meleina chuckled softly. "Yes, Korishico. It takes all seven to make the wish come true. We already have two of them...there's only five left out there..."
He smiled, then tossed the Ball back to her. "Use it wisely, Meleina, and be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true." He smiled. "Are you going to go down and join the party now?"
Meleina nodded. "I might as well. I expect Socha's starting to get awfully worried, and poor little Katal must miss his Aunt Meleina dearly! It's been so long since I last saw him-"
"Yes, a whole week, if what Socha says is true."
Meleina smiled, then playfully punched Korishico's arm. "So, what did you get Katal for his birthday?"
The wolf smiled. "Just a few toys. Nothing much. You?"
Meleina grinned, then reached into her closet and pulled out a tiny, mewing kitten. "Every growing boy needs a pet," she said, stroking the kitten's fur.
"How, er...adorable."
Meleina laughed. "Oh, Korishico, he's just a little kitten!"
"He'll grow into a big mean cat."
Meleina smiled, then put the kitten in a large box. "Let's go down, I think they're missing us."
When she stepped outside clutching the box, Katal raced up and hugged her leg. "What did you get me, Aunt Meleina?" She smiled down at him.
"Be patient, dear. You'll see in a few minutes."
Katal pouted. "I can't be patient!"
Meleina set the box down next to his other gifts and shooed him away. "Run along and play, Katal. Look- there's Trunks and Goten."
"They'll just ignore me, Auntie Meleina!" He looked at her box hopefully.
"Then go play with Matrian."
Katal's eyes shot open wide. "Yay, Matrian came!" He ran off to greet his tan wolf friend, and Meleina shook her head happily. Socha came over and gave her a curious look.
"So, what did you get him?"
Meleina smiled mysteriously. "You'll just have to wait and see. I'll tell you this- Adlteau won't be too happy with me, but Katal will."
Socha grinned. "Now you've got me excited, too!"
Adlteau came over upon hearing his name and gave Meleina a brief hug. "What did you do to get my son so riled up?"
Meleina laughed easily. "Just refused to tell him what's in the box."
"Meleina says you're going to get mad at her."
Suddenly, Trunks and Goten raced up. "Can Katal open up his presents now?"
Meleina winked at Socha. "Everyone likes a party. Especially when presents are involved."
Socha smirked, then said to the two boys, "Better hurry up and get him, then."
They turned and hurried off to fetch Katal. The kids came running up, laughing, and Meleina smiled at the excited look on Katal's face.
"This is gonna be so great!" he said, then reached for Meleina's box.
Vegeta curled his lip. "Perhaps you ought to open something else first," he growled, glaring at Meleina, who shrugged.
"Not a bad idea." She glanced fiendishly at Adlteau. "Besides, I think I'd like to live for another couple of minutes." She settled down between Socha and Goku, and waited calmly as Katal opened all his gifts. Meleina wasn't the least bit surprised by what he received- mostly toys, although Vegeta gave him weights to train with. He almost blasted her when she laughed loudly and pointed out that Katal wasn't much into fighting, and it didn't help the situation any that Katal whispered too loudly, "Uncle Vegeta sure gave me a weird present."
Finally, the moment came when he reached Meleina's gift. She held her breath as he opened the package, and suddenly reflected on her own family. She had planned on giving her children a pet of their own to play with, but she had never been able to. They had died days before she was going to take them to the city, and she was eager and frightened to see how Katal would react to her gift.
He opened the box delicately and pulled out the silver and black striped kitten. "Ooh, Auntie Meleina! He's gorgeous!" Meleina relaxed slightly and smiled.
"A cat," Adlteau said flatly. "You got him a cat."
"Do you have something against cats?" Gohan asked curiously.
"Adlteau is a lizard at heart," Meleina teased. "Cats like to chase and eat lizards."
While sitting, he drew himself up and glared at her. "Excuse me, I am a dragon."
"Lizard, dragon, same difference." She patted his arm. "Don't worry, Korishico isn't too happy with me, either."
Socha looked at Meleina. "I think it's a near perfect gift." She glanced down at Katal. "You'd better take care of that cat, hear me?"
"Um, sure, Mom," Katal replied disinterestedly. Meleina chuckled. Matrian sniffed curiously at the kitten, then yipped in surprise as the tiny tom scratched his nose.
"What are you going to name him?" Goten asked curiously.
"I dunno," Katal remarked. "I'll have to think about it."
The day after Katal's birthday, Korishico went to visit Socha. Adlteau opened the door and let the wolf in.
"You're here awfully early. Come to rid my house of that stupid cat?" Adlteau asked hopefully.
"No, actually, I need to talk to you and Socha." Socha came into the room holding the striped kitten. Korishico curled his lip, but forced himself to ignore the furball.
"Oh, good morning, Korishico! What's going on?"
The wolf strode into the kitchen, Socha and Adlteau following curiously behind him. "As I'm sure you've noticed, Meleina is extremely moody-"
Adlteau snorted. "That's an understatement." Socha smiled in agreement.
"I found out why yesterday."
"Why what?" Katal yawned, walking in the room and taking his pet from Socha's arms. "Morning Kawly."
"Quiet Katal," Adlteau said lightly. "We're having an important conversation."
The boy looked up. "About Aunt Meleina?"
The adults nodded, and Korishico continued, "A few years back, on Fhotherite, Meleina's family was killed. She had a husband and three children who were murdered the night you met her."
Socha put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, poor Meleina! So that's why she went Oozaru!"
Adlteau set a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Why are you telling us this?"
Korishico cleared his throat. "She's got a Dragon Ball..."
"You want to collect the rest!" Katal blurted.
Korishico smiled toothily. "Yes. I want to give Meleina her family back. You can't tell anyone, Katal. Not even Trunks and Goten."
"Especially not Trunks and Goten," Socha added sternly.
"Don't worry, Mom," Katal said. "Oh, wait a second. Trunks and Goten have two of the Dragon Balls..."
"We'll worry about it later," she said gently, then looked up at Korishico. "This is very kind of you."
"I just don't want Meleina to be unhappy anymore."
"Who all are you telling?" Adlteau asked.
"Everyone but the kids," he said, shooting a sharp look at Katal.
"Hey!" the boy said, growing angry. "I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, and I'm not going to!"
The wolf sighed. "I certainly hope you don't tell anyone. This is going to be a big surprise."
"And Auntie Meleina will be happy again, and I'll have more kids to play with!" Katal said cheerfully.
Socha looked at Korishico. "How old were her children?"
The wolf shrugged. "I don't know. Heck, as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't really matter, as long as she gets them back."
Socha smiled. "You'd better hurry up and tell the others, Korishico. I'm not sure how they'll react, but I know Goku will be glad to help his sister."
Korishico nodded in agreement. "He's eager to help out anyone in need. Thanks for your help, by the way."
Socha shrugged. "Meleina was my first true friend. I owe her something back."
"She wouldn't agree with that."
"No. But it's the truth. Meleina...well, she's like Vegeta. She gives without even realizing it, then argues when you try to repay her."
Korishico grinned. "You think he's going to want to help her out at all?"
Socha nodded instantly. "They might seem to hate each other...but they really do care. You'd better catch him early, though, or he'll be well into training by the time you get there."
"I'll head over now. It was nice talking to you, Socha. Take care, Adlteau, Katal."
"Bye-bye, Korishico!" Katal said cheerfully. "Wanna pet Kawly before you go?"
Korishico grimaced. "Not especially."
As if it understood him, Kawly hissed at the wolf as he was leaving.
"Of course Meleina would get him a cat with an attitude problem," Adlteau chuckled, shaking his head.
~*~
Korishico went to all the Z fighters' homes and asked them for their help. They all agreed readily, and Bulma gave him her dragon radar to use. They agreed that he would be the most inconspicuous person to send on a long search, but he convinced Vegeta and Krillin to gather the two closer to home. Goku volunteered to go with the wolf, but Korishico pointed out that it would be rather difficult, considering Meleina lived with Goku. The warrior was disappointed, but Korishico told him that in a little while he could get the Dragon Ball from Goten.
Once the wolf had told everyone, he headed off to the woods to find Meleina, knowing it would be a while before he saw her again. He was not in the least surprised to find her at the waterfall, as it was her favorite place to spend time. She turned when she heard him coming and smiled.
"Hey, Korishico. What's up?"
He shrugged. "Not much. There is one thing, though."
Meleina frowned. "What?"
"Well...I've got some stuff to do with the pack...we've got to head out for...well, I'm not exactly sure how long we'll be gone. Could be a month, could be a year."
"What on Earth could take that long to do?" Korishico bit his lip, but Meleina nodded. "Must be something only for wolves to know, eh?"
"Yeah, that's it exactly," he said, grateful that she had spoken before he had to make something up. He hugged her. "I just wanted to say goodbye, and to tell you not to worry about me- us."
She grinned. "You're so self-absorbed, Korishico. All right, I won't worry. I promise."
He nodded shortly. "I'll be seeing you."
"Take care, and try to have fun doing...whatever you're doing."
"Not a problem." He turned and trotted off, leaving Meleina alone by the waterfall.
After an hour of running, he paused to take a look at the dragon radar. "Mmm...okay, Krillin and Vegeta are going after those two...Goten has this one...Trunks has this one...um...this should be Meleina's...that leaves two. Oh, great. Of course they'd be on the other side of the planet." He sighed and started out.
~*~
It was growing dark and Meleina was getting ready to head back home when suddenly a wolf-like figure appeared in the clearing. She tensed, figuring that the wolf was trying to take over the territory, then blinked in surprise as she recognized the wolf. "Rillaao?"
Korishico's mate trotted up and gently licked Meleina's hands. Meleina pulled out the translator Bulma had made for her so she could understand the wolves and attached it to Rillaao's neck.
The wolf blinked up. "Have you seen Korishico anywhere?"
Meleina nodded. "Yeah, he said he was leaving with the pack for some special thing, but he refused to tell me. He said it was a wolf thing, and I wasn't supposed to know about it."
Rillaao stared. "What are you talking about?"
Meleina stared back at her friend. "You mean there's no pack business going on?"
Rillaao shook her body, the wolf signature for no. "The only thing we're all doing is looking for Korishico." The female looked up at Meleina in worry. "You don't think he's in danger?"
"No, he'd tell us if something was wrong." She bit her lip, then shook her head. "I can't believe he looked me straight in the eye and lied like that! Ooh, when he gets back here, he'd better have a good excuse or he's wolf meat- pardon the expression."
Rillaao pulled her lips back in the wolf expression of a smile. "I'm sure he's fine. We might go to Socha, I'm sure she knows what's going on."
Meleina raised an eyebrow. "You're right. You want to come with, or leave it to me?"
"I want to know where my mate went. I'm coming with you."
The two women took off for Socha's house on foot. Meleina nearly banged the door down knocking before Katal answered. "Auntie Meleina! Hi, Rillaao! Wow, a surprise visit, yay!"
Meleina couldn't resist a smile as she ruffled his hair. "Hello, Katal. Where is your mom?"
"Making dinner! We're having deer and rice, and it's gonna be yummy! Kawly's going to have some, too. He really likes rice, even if he is a cat. He likes chocolate, too, but Mom says I can't give him any."
Meleina nodded absently and made her way to the kitchen.
Socha turned. "Oh, Meleina, are you here for dinner? Why aren't you eating with Goku?" Rillaao padded into the kitchen, and Socha suddenly seemed to realize what was going on. She turned to hide her face so they wouldn't see the surprise. Goodness, I had hoped they wouldn't figure out something was wrong so fast!
Meleina glared at her. "Where did Korishico go?"
"Pardon?" Socha asked innocently. "I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about."
Meleina narrowed her eyes dangerously. "You liar, you know perfectly well where he went."
"No, I do not," the Saiyan princess replied sweetly. "I have no idea where he is." This way I don't even have to lie to her.
Meleina stamped her foot, then noticed Katal looking suddenly shy. "Katal, my darling! Do you know where Korishico went?"
"He said I couldn't tell...oops."
Meleina knelt down and set her hands on his shoulders. "Dear, I just need to know so that Rillaao doesn't worry about him anymore. And I'm very worried, too, you know."
Katal wrinkled her nose. "I know that tone! You always do that when you want something but nobody will give it to you." Meleina pursed her lips. "Well, I promised I wouldn't tell you, and I'm not going to!"
Meleina scowled, but Rillaao looked up at Socha. "Can you guarantee that he's safe?"
Socha sighed. "Not exactly."
"What do you mean, 'Not exactly?'"
Socha shook her head. "I can't tell. I promised. We all did."
Meleina narrowed her eyes. "'We all did?' As in...everyone?" She smiled. "Fine, I'll just ask Goku, I'm sure he'd be more than happy to tell me."
She stalked off, followed by Rillaao, and Adlteau poked his head in the room. "Is the hurricane gone?"
Socha laughed and threw a towel at him. "She took it better than I thought."
"You mean you thought she was going to start blowing things up, too?"
"Nuh-uh, Auntie Meleina doesn't blow things up!" Katal giggled. "She's more sneaky."
Adlteau and Socha exchanged glances. "Yeah, she is pretty sneaky," Adlteau said. "Think she'll get the truth from Goku?"
Socha shook her head. "Definitely not. He may be sweet, but he's got all the stubbornness of a true Saiyan. If he doesn't want her to know, she won't."
~*~
Meleina looked up at Goku with wide, innocent eyes. "I promise I won't tell anybody, Goku, but I have to know! I'm so worried about Korishico, and I just want some way of being able to tell if he's safe, and you're the only person I know will trust me enough to tell me!"
Goku cocked his head, considering, then grinned. "Well...if you really want to know the truth...you'll have to wait until he gets back. I'm not telling anybody!"
Meleina growled and threw a pillow at him. "You're not any fun."
He shrugged, the dopey grin still plastered on his face. "But I can throw a pillow better than that, at least." Meleina snorted and stormed angrily to her room.
~*~
The desert was hot and brutal, but Korishico trudged ahead. He was sweating profusely, and knew he was severely dehydrated, but he forced himself to continue. Think of Meleina...think of... He collapsed, flinging sand everywhere. A young man came up on a horse and eyed the fallen wolf. He was soon joined by another, older man. "He is dying," the youth remarked.
"Yes," the elder agreed. "Pull him onto your horse, we must help him."
~*~
Korishico awoke several hours later. The first thing he noticed was that the sun was no longer in his eyes. The second thing he noticed was that he was lying on a hard, stiff mattress. Third, two people stood hovering above him.
"You're awake!" the young one said happily. "You see, I told you it would work."
The elder nodded. "And so it did. Greetings, my friend. You have had a hard journey."
Korishico sat up. "You're telling me. What happened?"
"You were dehydrated. We saved you." The elder bowed his head slightly. "I am Ardep, and this is Imodeth."
"I'm Korishico."
"What're you doing out here?" Imodeth asked curiously. "Hardly anybody ever dares to come this far into the desert."
"I'm doing a favor for a friend. A few years ago, her family was killed, and I'm searching for these Dragon Balls so I can bring her family back to life."
"Must be a good friend," Imodeth said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. Korishico shows the tips of his fangs but didn't reply. "So, what are...Dragon Balls?"
The wolf sighed, then launched into the strange tale about the mystical Dragon Balls. When he finished, Ardep sighed softly. "Indeed. Why have you come here searching for these...Dragon Balls?"
Korishico dug into his sack and pulled out the dragon radar. "This has an account of where all the Dragon Balls are in the world. According to the dragon radar, there's one somewhere around here. It's just a matter of finding it. Maybe you two could help me."
"Help you?" Imodeth laughed. "We're supposed to be protecting it so nobody like you...oops, I wasn't supposed to say that."
Ardep pulled a sword from a sheath, his face grave. "My most sincere apologies, Korishico. Our duty is to make certain that the Dragon Balls never come together again, for evil surrounds them."
The wolf rolled his eyes. "No, sorry, but evil comes to them. There's a difference."
"We cannot allow you to have the Dragon Ball."
Korishico drew his own sword forth. "Here's the bet, fellows. If I beat you at a sword fight, I get the Dragon Ball. If you beat me, then you get the Dragon Ball." I hope he's not too good with that thing.
Ardep smiled confidently. "A good bet, I suppose. A pity you will walk away from here with nothing- not even your life."
"Oh, so now it's a fight to the death? Fine. I can deal with that."
The two warriors raised their swords high. The fighting was brief, Korishico using his massive strength from fighting Meleina to quickly overpower the warrior and send him flying. To his dismay, Ardep caught himself from falling and landed swiftly in the sand. "Is that all the better you can do?"
"Far from it," the wolf growled back. Their swords locked, and Korishico suddenly found himself focusing all his energy on his sword. It was a trick he hadn't used in many years- a trick he hadn't had to use in many years- but he found himself doing it without flaw all the same. The sword shone brilliantly, and without warning, the enormous figure of a wolf blasted out from the sword and threw Ardep to the ground. The aged warrior lay, nearly dead, and Korishico stood over him. "I believe I have won."
"Yes. You...have my life. But before you end it, I am curious. How...what did you do?"
Korishico took the sword in both hands and stroked the blade gently. "This sword has been in my family for many generations, but originally, it was a gift from the Gods. When the Gods gave it to my ancestors, it was to protect our people. My ancestor agreed to use it for good, and my entire family has followed. When we need, we can call upon the power of the Gods and they will help us win our battle."
"Very...handy. At least...it can be said...that it took the Gods...to kill me..."
Korishico smiled. "I have won the battle, and I will take the Dragon Ball that is rightfully mine, but I will not kill you. I am a protector, and it is my duty to help, not hurt."
"Imodeth...quickly...retrieve the Dragon Ball for our friend..."
The wolf knelt beside Ardep and placed the sword on his chest. He closed his eyes, and began to softly whisper in an ancient language unknown to the planet Earth. After several long seconds he opened his eyes again and smiled at Ardep. "You are healed."
The old warrior stood up. "Wow, I feel...I feel young! That's some sword you've got there, friend."
Korishico sheathed his weapon and smiled. "Yes, I know." Imodeth returned, carrying the Dragon Ball. His jaw dropped when he saw his friend.
"What happened? I thought he was dying!"
"I was dying...but our warrior friend saved my life."
Korishico took the Dragon Ball and smiled. "All in a day's work, gentlemen." He chuckled to himself, then placed the Dragon Ball carefully in his sack. "Thank you. It has been many years since I have had a good sword fight."
Ardep smiled. "I can hardly call it good."
"Against a human foe, you would be nearly unbeatable."
"Perhaps," the warrior replied modestly. "But then again, perhaps not."
Imodeth gave Korishico several canteens filled with water. "This way you don't collapse again. It would be terrible if we had to save your life a second time, wouldn't it?"
"Thank you," the wolf said with a smile. He headed back the direction he had first came, pleased that finding the Dragon Ball had been simple. He had a terrible feeling, however, that his next stop would be more difficult...
~*~
Korishico trembled as he made his way through the humid jungle. Now I know why I prefer nice dry forests, he thought darkly, groaning as his fur clung tight to his body. This is horrible!
He staggered through the dense foliage, his grip tight on the dragon radar, and finally stopped to glance down at it. "The stupid ball should be somewhere around here..."
Suddenly, a panther jumped down from nowhere and eyed Korishico hungrily. "Oh, I hate cats!" he growled, unsheathing his sword. The panther snarled at him, and Korishico grinned. "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty...I've got a nice present for you!" The panther snarled again, showing his teeth, and Korishico shook his head. "I'm terrified, you big, ugly, fuzz- what the heck was that?" Korishico slapped at the back of his neck as something sharp poked it, then suddenly froze and yanked the dart out. "What?" he asked, feeling the poison work it's way through his system. He fell to his knees weakly and let the blackness overtake his spirit.
~*~
The first thought that ran through Korishico's mind when he awoke was, "I'm not dead?" He sat up and reached for his sword, then grimaced when he realized he didn't have it.
"Your weapon was taken away from you." He tried to twist his head around, but a deep sense of pain overwhelmed him. "As you can see, moving about only makes it hurt worse. I suggest that you remain still." Korishico showed his teeth, not at all liking the fact that someone else was telling him what to do. He sat up slowly, ignoring the throbbing in his head, and focused on the speaker. The man appeared to be middle-aged, with black hair flowing to his waist and deep brown eyes that blinked curiously at Korishico. "I see you don't listen very well, my friend."
"Yeah, well, friend, why should I bother?"
The man smiled and raised a small tube. "This contains the darts made like the ones I used to knock you unconscious the first time. The only difference is that these would be lethal to you."
Korishico raised an eyebrow. "Where's my sword? And my sack?"
The man shrugged. "Your weapons were removed from your person so you couldn't threaten us."
Korishico stood up angrily, but quickly sat down again as a wave of dizziness swept through his brain. "I need those back. I'm on a mission."
The man raised an eyebrow. "And I care, beast?"
Korishico stared at the man. "What did you call me?"
"You are an unnatural beast. I should have killed you when I had the chance." The man raised the blowgun to his lips and blew hard, but Korishico's training with Meleina paid off, and he managed to dodge the dart.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you," Korishico said calmly, "But I will if I need to. I just want to find the Dragon Ball and get out of here." The man blew another dart at Korishico, and this time the wolf caught it. "You're not going to get very far with these, pal. I've trained with faster folks than you."
The man glared at Korishico, but he was struck in awe by the wolf's swift movements. "What do you want from us?"
Korishico cocked his head. "Give me back my sword and my sack. I give you my word that I won't attack you or your people."
The man dug under the bed where Korishico had been thrown down and thrust out the sword and sack. "You have your weapons. Now leave us!"
"I want one more thing," Korishico said, digging through his bag. He brought out the Dragon Ball. "Somewhere in the area is a ball that looks like this. Bring it to me."
"The sacred rock?" he demanded, looking horrified. "You cannot steal our sacred rock! Doom will come to us all if you do!"
Korishico groaned inwardly. Great, religious freaks of the primitive style. "What if I told you that your Gods asked me to retrieve the ball for them?" he asked, hoping they wouldn't demand specifics for his mission.
"Then I would ask for proof. Three miracles."
Korishico cocked his head and shrugged. Miracles for these people should be simple. Korishico nodded. "Deal." He concentrated his energy and forced himself to hover in the air. The man's jaw dropped, and Korishico grinned as he lowered himself to the ground. "That was my first miracle. My second is a bit more difficult." He concentrated his energy into a ball in his hand, and watched as the man took a step back. "That was my second. Do you even need to see the third?" The man nodded fiercely, and Korishico shrugged. "The third involves that ball you've got, as well as my own. Set your ball on the ground." The man complied. "Good, now watch what will happen when I set mine down next to it." Korishico placed his ball carefully on the ground, and both began to glow.
"Amazing!" the man whispered. "You are truly sent from the Gods. Forgive me for ever doubting you, my lord," he said, dropping to his knees.
Korishico grinned at the attention. "Not a problem, my good sir. Now, I'll be taking this ball and leaving..." He placed them both in his sack and hurried away from the village on all fours. "And I thought that was going to be hard." He glanced down at the dragon radar, and smiled. "Good, looks like Krillin and Vegeta didn't have any problems getting those two Dragon Balls. Good, we've got the six that Meleina don't have."
~*~
He raced to Capsule Corp. as fast as he could, and was pleased to see Vegeta answer the door. Vegeta scowled at him, but let the wolf in. Korishico grinned. "I think it's time to let Trunks in on our little secret, eh? He'll be excited to give Meleina the gift."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "I've been thinking about that."
Korishico looked up. "Got an idea of how we give them to her?"
"I asked Socha, and Meleina's birthday is in a week."
The wolf grinned broadly. "Wow, what a birthday present! I like it...we'll just have to get Trunks and Goten to agree."
"Agree to what?" The two older men turned and saw both Trunks and Goten standing in the hallway, toys in hand.
"Did I tell you that you could be in here?" Vegeta said loudly. The boys exchanged glances and turned to hurry away, but Korishico stopped them.
"I might as well tell the both of you at the same time," he said. "It couldn't hurt any, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anybody."
Goten looked up. "Is it about Auntie Meleina?" he asked. "And the Dragon Balls? Did you get them all?"
"What are you talking about?" Trunks demanded, shoving his friend.
Korishico glared at Goten. "How did you find out?"
He grinned boyishly. "I overheard Dad and Gohan talking about Aunt Meleina and that they were going to get her family back for her. Then I can have more playmates." He looked down at his toy and grinned happily.
Korishico scratched his head. "Trunks, you just heard the whole story. Are you both willing to give up your Dragon Balls so Meleina can get her wish?"
"Yup!" Goten said cheerfully.
Trunks frowned thoughtfully, but nodded quickly at a glare from Vegeta.
"Excellent!" Korishico said. "I just have to go talk to Krillin. I can't believe how well this has turned out!"
~*~
The sky was turning a deep red with the sunset when they celebrated Meleina's birthday. Five gifts lay piled on the ground, each looking identical. Meleina shook her head. "You really shouldn't have done this for me," she grumbled.
"You're only getting five because we all worked our tails off just to get these for you. You hear that? We worked our tails off!" Korishico laughed and gestured to his tail, which was missing a few tufts of fur.
Meleina chuckled, then reached for the first one. She took her time, savoring each moment of opening the gifts her friends had spent much time thinking about. She unwrapped it carefully, then lightly stuffed the trash in a bag for later disposal. She opened the box, then gasped in surprise as she pulled out two Dragon Balls.
"Those are from me and Goten," Trunks explained. She smiled at them.
"Thank you very much, guys. I really appreciate it."
The boys exchanged glances and Goten gave a satisfied nod. Meleina reached for the next box, and Goku grinned. "That one's from me, Gohan, and Chi-Chi."
Meleina unwrapped it, then suddenly dropped her gift. Another Dragon Ball fell out. I have four now, she thought excitedly, then looked at the rest of the boxes quickly, having a sudden sense of knowing what was inside them. She quickly opened the next two, pulling out Dragon Balls with little surprise. One more left! She thought happily. One more and I can make my wish! She glanced at Korishico.
"The last one is mine," he said calmly. "Go ahead, open it.
She bit her lip, then sent him a silent look of thanks, knowing this had been his idea entirely. Meleina tore the wrapping off and pulled out a small Koosh ball. She held it up and looked at Korishico.
"Sorry, I couldn't find the real thing," he apologized, then suddenly burst into laughter. "Alright, I admit it, I have a terrible poker face." He pulled out a Dragon Ball from behind his back. "I didn't wrap it, though. Hope you don't mind."
Meleina took it and placed it next to the other six, then turned to go get her own. She was surprised to find Vegeta coming out of the house, her Dragon Ball in his hand. She frowned at him, angry that he had gone into her room, but took it as if holding a precious gem.
She set it down next to the other Dragon Balls and smiled as they glowed.
"Go ahead, make your wish," Goku said excitedly.
"Before I do," Meleina said tentatively, "I want to thank you all for being so kind. I...I received the best gifts of my life today- and no, I'm not talking about the Dragon Balls."
"You're talking about what you'll get after you make your wish?" Korishico asked with false innocence, drawing a chuckle from the adults. Goten, Trunks, and Katal exchanged blank looks.
Meleina smirked. "That too. But moreover, I meant that I realized I honestly have the best of friends. And the only thing that would make this life perfect is adding my own family to it."
She took a deep breath, then called upon the Eternal Dragon.
Meleina looked vaguely frightened by the Dragon, but took a deep breath and smiled at him. "I...I wish for my family...to be returned to life..."
The Dragon blinked down at her, then said in his booming voice, "Your wish has been granted. Farewell."
There was a moment of silence, then suddenly an unfamiliar voice cried out, "Mommy!" Meleina spun around and fell to her knees as three young children came running up. They flew into her arms, and she pulled them close, tears streaming down her face. A tall man stood slightly away from the group, watching anxiously but not wanting to interrupt. Vegeta stared at him in deep anger.
"You slimy-" The Saiyan prince lunged at Kieran, who managed to duck his head down just in time.
"Whoa, has Vegeta gone insane or something?" Krillin asked, looking surprised.
"No," Socha said, her voice forcefully even. "That man is a bounty hunter- a murderer of Saiyans."
Meleina stood up and stared at Vegeta and Kieran, who lay wrestling on the ground. Kieran was obviously no match for the Super Saiyan, and he was quickly being choked to death. "Vegeta!" Meleina said, her voice sharp. "Let go of my husband!"
The Saiyan dropped Kieran in pure shock. "Your what? How could you marry that...that piece of..."
Meleina frowned at Vegeta. "Like you're one to talk," she snapped, then smiled at Kieran, who stood up rubbing his throat. He saw her, and burst into laughter, drawing her into his embrace. She buried her face in his chest and breathed his familiar scent. "Oh, God, Kieran, I missed you so much!"
"I missed you too, beautiful," he whispered back, kissing her.
"Eew," the kids laughed, and both parents broke apart to look down at them.
"Oh, come here," Meleina said, and the three raced up to hug her. She scooped Ronan up into her arms and lightly touched his nose. "How've you been in the other dimension, squirt? Taking care of the others, I hope."
He giggled softly and opened his mouth to respond when Socha interrupted. "Um, Meleina, I think you forgot..."
"I haven't forgotten anything," the Saiyan woman replied joyously.
"I think you forgot that they aren't your only family..."
Meleina turned and stared. "What?" Socha pointed to a group of Saiyans who stood nearby. "Dad!" Meleina blurted, suddenly realizing how much she had missed him. "Mom! Oh, and Raditz, of course. Wait a minute..." She frowned at the group. "What's Taura doing here?"
Socha shrugged. "Family must have meant your really close friends, too, I guess."
"So why did Raditz come back?" she asked, curling her lip the warrior. He sneered.
"So I could get my revenge on all of you brats?" he offered, creating a ball of energy. Meleina stared at it, then burst into laughter. Raditz looked less than pleased and powered up, but froze when Vegeta took a step forward. The two Saiyans eyed each other, and Vegeta raised a hand to blast Raditz.
"Hey!" Meleina yelled, grabbing Vegeta's wrist. "I get to blast him to pieces!"
Vegeta shook his arm loose and turned to glare at her. "Why should you get to?" he demanded.
"Because he's my brother. Is he related to you? No? Has he tried to kill you? No? Then I get the claim!"
"Find a better excuse!"
"And what's your excuse for wanting him dead?"
"I don't need an excuse!"
"They're like two year olds," Bulma said, and Socha grinned.
Raditz watched the display between Meleina and Vegeta with half amusement, then suddenly threw a ball of energy at Meleina. In the midst of her arguing, she held up a hand and knocked it aside, then returned to her argument.
Finally, Korishico interrupted the heated fight. "How about you both just kill him and leave the rest of us in peace?"
Both Saiyans glared at the wolf, and he shook his head and grinned toothily at Raditz. "I suggest you run as fast as you can."
Raditz chuckled, but suddenly darted away. "Hey!" Meleina roared, lunging forward. Her mother suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Don't you dare go after him," she snapped. Meleina's jaw dropped, and she opened her mouth to retort when Vegeta burst into laughter.
"Listen to your mommy, Meleina," he sneered. Meleina wrenched her arm out of her mother's grip and glared at Vegeta.
"Shut your mouth, you ugly ape," she snarled.
"Here we go," Chi-Chi sighed. "It never changes with those two. One little sentence and suddenly they're at each other's throats."
"Keeps life interesting," Korishico said with a smirk.
"What did you call me?" Vegeta demanded.
"You heard me." She raised a challenging eyebrow at him, and Vegeta curled his lip.
"You arrogant-"
"That's enough." Socha's voice was quiet yet firm and both her friends looked at her in surprise. "Normally I'd let this go on, but we have company. Oh, and in your fighting, Raditz got away."
Meleina looked surprised but this news and glanced around. "Oops?" she offered, a sheepish grin on her face.
"You let him get away?" Vegeta demanded, glaring at her.
"Oh, so suddenly this is all my fault? Never mind that you were half the reason he got away!"
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Well I'm giving it to you, loud and clear, and if you have a problem with it, take it up with the complaint department!"
Taura leaned over and poked Bardock's arm. "What a charming daughter you have. It seems she doesn't know how to respect her betters."
Meleina's head twitched slightly and she turned slowly to look at him.
Vegeta snorted a laugh. "Ah, so I'm not the only one to think that!"
"I'll respect my betters when I find some to respect," she ground out through clenched teeth. Socha cleared her throat, and Meleina shrugged. "I'm done. I've had my fun."
"So you're my father," Goku said aloud, studying Bardock closely. The elder warrior eyed him.
"Kakarot."
Tears welled in his mother's eyes. "Oh, my baby! You're so grown up! And you have children of your own now. We missed so much, didn't we, dear?" she asked, her gaze never leaving Goku.
"More than I like to think. So, how did you kill Frieza?"
"Ahem." Meleina cleared her throat. "Maybe we ought to do a real, proper introduction to everybody."
"I'm talking here," Bardock growled to Meleina.
She shrugged. "So'm I. And I think you should maybe meet everybody before we get into the war talk. Because once we get into the war talk, we'll never get back out of it."
Goku gave her his trademark dopey grin. "Yeah, you're right. Once we get started, we can never stop."
Meleina nodded in agreement. "Yup. Okay, here goes then. This is my dad, Bardock, my mom, and my dad's best friend, Taura. And this is Goku, also known as Kakarot, his wife Chi-Chi, his oldest son Gohan, and his youngest son Goten. Then we've got Vegeta, his wife Bulma, and their son Trunks. Then Socha, her husband Adlteau, their son Katal, and their pet cat, Kawly. Then comes Korishico, and Master Roshi, Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo, Videl and Yamcha. There's Krillin, Android 18 (we call her 18) and their daughter Maron. Then there's the tagalongs, Oolong and Puar." She paused, and her voice swelled with pride. "Then there's my own husband, Kieran, and my kids, Ronan, Reine, and Vrail."
"I'm oldest," Reine said cheerfully. "And Ronan's just the baby."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
The two children glared at each other, and suddenly Bardock burst into laughter. "Better be careful there, Mel, or you'll have another you and Raditz."
"It's not Ronan and Reine that I'm worried about; it's Vrail and Reine."
"They seem like such good kids," Goku said cheerfully. "I'm sure Goten would love for you three to come and play some time. And it'd be good for family get-togethers, too, you know. But I don't think we have enough room in our house for all of you. Or enough food," he added as an afterthought.
Meleina nodded in agreement. "We're going to have to find a place of our own. Shouldn't be too hard, I thought we'd build something."
"I'll help," Goku offered. Taura and Bardock exchanged glances at his willingness to help.
"He's...not normal," Taura muttered softly.
"I noticed," Bardock hissed back. "But he did kill Frieza."
Piccolo, with his sensitive ears, heard every word and turned, revealing his fangs in a grin. "You'll have to forgive Goku. He's not at all a typical Saiyan."
Meleina grinned. "Nowhere close. Too trusting. Too easy-going. Too loveable."
He grinned back at her, and again Bardock and Taura exchanged glances.
There was a long moment of silence, then suddenly Meleina's youngest, Ronan, tugged at her leg. "I'm sleepy, Mommy," he whined.
Her glare softened, and she smiled down at her son. "Of course you are, dear. It's late." She cast a final glance around, searching for Raditz, then patted Ronan on the head. "Bed time."
"Where are we going to put everybody?" Chi-Chi asked worriedly. "Our house isn't big enough for so many people!"
"Everybody who was wished back can bunk in my room," Meleina offered. "We'll just need a few extra blankets, and we should be fine."
It took a while, but Chi-Chi and Goku managed to get everybody comfortably situated. Nearly everybody was asleep, but Meleina lay awake long into the night, tossing and turning. Finally, around midnight, Kieran awoke and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Relax, Mel, everything's fine."
"I don't like Raditz being here," she said flatly. "I don't trust him at all."
"Meleina, he can't hurt you. You've gotten way too tough."
There was a moment of silence, then she whispered, "It's not me I'm worried about, love. What if he decides to go after the kids? What do we do then?"
Kieran laughed softly. "Meleina, the kids would gang together and beat the living daylights out of him. They grew up on Fhotherite, remember? If they can handle life there, they can handle life anywhere." He touched her cheek. "It'll be okay, I promise."
She smiled suddenly. "You're right. They're strong kids, all of them. Even Ronan."
~*~
The next day, Chi-Chi was extremely relieved when Korishico and his pack brought her extra food to cook for the group of Saiyans, and they all ate to their hearts' content. After breakfast, Meleina and Vegeta insisted on going to look for Raditz.
"We've gotta kill him before he kills us," Meleina told everyone.
"You just want revenge," her mother argued. "He knows he's no match for all of us, and he'll stay away."
"That is far from the truth," Vegeta growled. "He probably can't wait to start a fight."
"No," Meleina said. "Mom's right. Raditz is a coward. If he knows he can't win, he won't fight." She looked disappointed. "Too bad. We should go after him anyway. What do you say?"
"I'm game," Vegeta grinned.
"No," Goku said. "If he leaves us alone, we should leave him alone. He's not causing any damage hiding away, and there's no reason to fight him."
Meleina pointed at her shortened tail. "There's plenty of reason to fight him!"
"Or not so plenty," Vegeta sneered. Meleina hit him on the back of the head, but the fight stopped there.
"It doesn't matter what he did in the past," Goku said patiently. "The only thing that matters is what he's doing now."
"That's the most messed-up theory I've ever heard," Bardock said, startled by his son's peaceful nature.
"No it isn't," Gohan said pointedly. "If that were true, we'd have to kill most of the people here."
Meleina and Vegeta exchanged glances, disappointed that they weren't going to get their fight, but understanding the simple logic in the discussion.
"Fine," Meleina managed. "If he doesn't bother us or anybody else, we'll leave him alone."
"But the minute he starts terrorizing people, he's mine," Vegeta growled, making a fist.
"Mine." Meleina glared at him.
"Don't start," Bardock warned her.
"You either, Vegeta," Bulma agreed, frowning.
"Whipped," Korishico mock-sneezed into his hand. Within seconds, both Saiyans had tackled him, tickling viscously.
To be continued...