Trunks Jr. flew towards his Grandfather, not really sure what to expect.
"So, what do you want brat?" Vegeta smirked.
Trunks Jr. smiled. Same old Grandpa Vegeta. "Looks like someone shaved a few years off of you. Looking good Grandpa."
"How many times have I told you not to call me that!" Vegeta continued to smirk.
"At least one more time than I have called you that, Grandpa." Trunks Jr. smiled back.
"Be careful brat, I also have all my power back. It's been awhile since I've taken you down a peg or two." Vegeta warned.
"Humph! It's been a while since you've been ABLE to take me down a peg or two." Trunks Jr. retorted.
Vegeta started to get up, but realized that it wouldn't be too much longer before he was due to give his personal statement. "Later boy, when I don't have so much on my mind."
"So, what is it you're doing over here all by yourself? Last I heard was that you were going off to find someone strong enough to defeat you in battle and die in combat. Kind of melodramatic don't you think?" Trunks Jr. said. Trunks Jr. landed on the other side of the tree, sat down leaning back on the tree in the exact same position that Vegeta himself was currently in. Trunks Jr. learned a long time ago that when Vegeta wanted to get something off his chest, he preferred a non-confrontational approach.
"Well, I can't die in battle, or any other way right now or I will lose my body, never see Bulma again, and be tormented by that green skinned asshole over there in hell." Vegeta started. "I don't know what you know about my past, particularly my past before I met your Grandma Bulma, but going to Hell is no more than what I deserve."
"Grandma Bulma talked to me about it once, she would only say that it was very bad." Trunks Jr. said.
"I doubt that even your Grandma Bulma realized just how bad it was back then. Right now I'm the subject of a redemption hearing that's taking place in the next dimension. I have to give a final statement. I am so sorry I hurt and killed all of those people. I just don't know what to say." Vegeta admitted.
"Seems to me that was a good start right there." Trunks Jr. said. "Look, if you're in doubt, go with what you know. You don't have to plead your innocence, or beg for their forgiveness. Most people, most good people, only want to know that you're sorry, and they will forgive you. Just tell them that you're sorry."
"Do you think they will forgive me?" Vegeta asked.
"All of them? No, probably not. The fact is that no matter what you say, there will be some of them that won't. The Kais have to know that too. But the majority of them will." Trunks Jr. explained.
"Thanks Jr., I think I know what I'm going to say now." Vegeta said. "But I'm still going to kick your butt when this is all over with." Vegeta smirked.
Trunks Jr. jumped up and flew around the tree in front of Vegeta, about 30 meters above him. "We'll see…" With that, he unwrapped his tail from his waist and began to power up. "Eeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!" Trunks Jr. hit Super Saiyan 4.
"Crap! When did he start doing that?" Vegeta thought. Vegeta couldn't have been prouder of his Grandson than at that moment. "Been keeping up on your training I see." Vegeta smirked.
"Of course! I am the grandson of the Prince of all the Saiyans, after all." Trunks Jr. said as he powered down to normal.
Roger and Yambia both startled. "What the hell was that?" Roger felt a ki higher than anything he even remotely considered possible. He started to stand up.
"Sit back down and be quiet!" Rou Kaioshin warned. We're on the last legs of this and unless you want to start over, sit still!"
"It came from over by Vegeta." Yambia thought.
"How does anyone generate that much power without exploding or something?" Roger inquired.
"I don't know. I've never felt anything like that before!" Yambia answered.
"Damned! I'll be glad when this is over! I'm feeling so out of the loop over here!" Roger Lamented.
"I just wish that we could attract someone's attention, I'm starved!" Yambia Exclaimed.
"Now that you mention it, it has been awhile." Roger agreed.
"I'll bring something out to you in about 10 minutes." Kaioshin said.
"Ok, thanks Supreme Kai." Yambia acknowledged.
"I don't know whether I should be mad at him for spying, or grateful for listening in so we can get some chow." Roger smirked.
"You humans have a saying, "Never bite the hand that feeds you." Kaioshin said.
"Hehehe.. Understood Kaioshin." Roger mentally sent a smile.
"Father!" Gohan cried as he caught sight of the long absent Goku.
"Gohan, Goten!! It's so good to see you again! I've missed you!" Goku was jubilant as he grabbed both of his sons up in a boulder-crushing embrace.
"So have you guys been keeping up with your training?" Goku asked.
"Well, as much as possible Dad, we do have families to support you know!" Goten said.
"GRANDPA!!" Pan screamed as she hit Goku from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Geez Pan, you're acting like your 14 years old!" Goten said.
"I feel like I'm 14 with my Grandpa back!" Pan answered.
"That's great Panny, but you should probably loosen your hold, dad's looking a bit blue." Goten chucked.
"Sorry Grandpa!" Pan said releasing her grip.
"It's okay Panny. Good to see you again too." Goku smiled.
"Hey Kakkrot! I hate to break up this touching reunion, but it's time to get back to the arena." Vegeta said as he flew up to them with Trunks Jr. right behind.
"Piccolo, I'm taking Vegeta, Bardock, Raditz and Nappa. You take the rest of these guys and get some training going. You're in charge my friend." Goku smiled.
"Yeah, for some of these guys it'll be just like old times." Piccolo smirked.
"I can think of no one else more qualified for the job than you, Piccolo." Goku said.
Piccolo just smiled and headed off towards the other Z-Warriors. "Alright you lunkheads! Playtime is over!"
Vegeta smirked as the Namek started getting his troops in order. "I don't think I've ever seen him any happier."
"I know what you mean." Goku agreed.
"Ok, let's go and get the others." Goku flew off, followed closely by Vegeta.
Piccolo came across Trunks who had gone off by himself almost as soon as he arrived back with Kaioshin. He began to tell him to come along and train, but Trunks had such a look of intense concentration on his face that Piccolo decided to leave him alone, for now.
Trunks was concentrating on being somewhere else. He wanted to learn Kaioshin's teleportation technique. The words of Jonathon Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach kept running through his head.
"I want to learn to fly like that," Jonathan said, and a strange light glowed in his eyes. "Tell me what to do."
Chiang spoke slowly and watched the younger gull ever so carefully. "To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is," he said, "you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived..."
"Isn't that essentially what Kaioshin said? But wasn't there something else that Jonathon had to learn? Yes! Yes! That's it!
"Then one day Jonathan, standing on the shore, closing his eyes, concentrating, all in a flash knew what Chiang had been telling him. "Why, that's true! I am a perfect, unlimited gull!" He felt a great shock of joy."
"I am a perfect and unlimited Saiyan!" Trunks thought!
And with that sudden flash of insight, Trunks Ki rose dramatically, and then he simply disappeared. For an instant, Trunks felt at one with all eternity. Then he appeared in his office on Earth.
"Fantastic!! Utterly Fantastic!!" Trunks screamed out in joy. He concentrated again and by the time his secretary came into the office to see what in the world was going on, Trunks was already back on Kaioshin's planet.
Kaioshin appeared before him. "Congratulations Trunks. You are the first mortal to learn that method of teleportation. The minds of most mortals are too self- limiting to make that sort of jump.
"Thank you Supreme Kai." Trunks grinned. "I had a bit of help from a seagull."
"You'd better go now, I think Piccolo's patience with you is getting short." Kaioshin warned. "I wonder what he meant by getting help from a seagull?" Kaioshin silently wondered.
"Hehehe.. I'm off then! Don't want to keep the green guy waiting!" Trunks said and took off towards where the others were training.
"Vegeta, formerly Prince Vegeta of Vegetasai, currently Vegeta Briefs of Earth, are you ready to address this assembly?" King Kai asked.
"I am sir." Vegeta answered simply. Vegeta stood and let his eyes do a slow 360-degree scan around the arena and marveled once more at the sheer number of souls it contained.
"I come here today in an attempt to redeem myself from the evil deeds I perpetrated against you in times gone by. Earlier I sat and wondered just what I was going to say when we came back here. Frankly I didn't have a clue. At first I thought about blaming my actions on others, such as my father, and Frieza. Surely their influence was instrumental in shaping my early life, and those same evil deeds. Then I thought about the things that I should say. But I was thinking about them in the wrong way, thinking what I should say because it is what I thought you wanted to hear, instead of what I really felt. Then my Grandson came over and with just a few words made things pretty clear for me. Yes, other people did help shape my life, but when the day is done, we all are accountable for our own actions. No, I didn't have to serve Frieza even though it would have meant certain death. That's what a real hero would have done, that's what Kakkarot would have done. So I stand here as the sole person responsible for my actions. I will take whatever judgment is handed to me without question. I then began to search my own feelings. I have never been one to be "in touch" with my own feelings much in my life. I came up with the words that express those feelings, not because they may be what you want to hear necessarily, but because they are the right things to say."
"There is not a day go by that I'm not reminded, or I don't think of the awful things that I did back then, and the pride and arrogance that I was blinded by at that time. Remorse? There was a time in my life when I barely knew the meaning of the word remorse, or love, or forgiveness, or a whole lot of other emotions I used to consider the sole purview of weak minded fools. Then I met my mate, Bulma, who I though was quite mad when I first met her, and I also met Kakkarot, who they call Goku. Slowly, with the patience of a Saint, my mate taught me the meaning of love, remorse, forgiveness, and the other emotions that I lacked, or could not bring myself to feel. Goku taught me that one could, and should, fully experience these emotions, and still be a strong warrior. I owe these two people so much that I can never repay."
Vegeta looked towards Goku, the lovable lug had huge crocodile tears streaming down his face. Vegeta quickly turned away because he wasn't far from that himself. As he turned he noticed that Bulma was standing beside Goku now. She was also in tears. She smiled when they made eye contact. Vegeta returned a genuine smile.
"I guess that I really only have one thing to say and that is I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry. I hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me." Vegeta concluded.
Vegeta walked back towards his group, they were all smiling at him.
The crowd immediately became nosier as the spirits started to talk among themselves.
"Order! Order please!" King Kai commanded. The crowd quieted down. "Ok, as you know it's time know to decide if you're going to forgive Vegeta. Please make your decision and communicate your answer to me."
King Kai stood up and stood still for a long time. Only his antennae would occasionally sweep from side to side, picking up the mental transmissions of the throng.
After about 20 minutes, Goku couldn't stand it anymore. "Well King Kai, what is it!! Is Vegeta forgiven?" Goku was literally hopping from foot to foot.
"Sit down brother! He'll tell us when he has the answer!" Raditz said. Raditz really began to like the brother he never knew, but sometimes he could be such a child.
Goku didn't say anything more, but started pacing back and forth, occasionally casting inpatient glances at the Northern Kai.
15 minutes later King Kai looked up." Vegeta Briefs please come and stand before me.
Vegeta walked up to King Kai, his head held high, all the pride of a Saiyan Prince flowed from his body language. Vegeta was ready to face his destiny.
"Vegeta. It is the wish of the majority of the 273,346,001,789 souls that gathered here today that you be……… FORGIVEN!" King Kai busted out with a huge grin.
"Can I still communicate with them?" Vegeta asked.
"Sure, place your hand on my shoulder." King Kai said. "Okay, say what you want."
"Thank-you all." Vegeta said simply, and removed his hand from the Kais shoulder.
Vegeta then turned and walked back towards the other Saiyans, except for Goku who hung around King Kai for a few more moments.
"So, how did the vote go? Was it close?" Goku pestered.
"No Goku." King Kai smiled. "Almost 90% of them voted to forgive him. You see, good people are most likely to forgive someone, than not. I suspect that those that didn't have some unresolved issues of their own to work out." King Kai explained.
"I see! I never thought of that!" Goku exclaimed.
"Goku, don't tell Vegeta I said that. That was a perfectly lovely speech he gave and I wouldn't want to diminish that in any way. So just keep quiet about it." King Kai warned.
"You got it King Kai!" Goku said then turned on his heel and ran to join Vegeta and the others.
"You guys ready to go? Vegeta and I need to make one more stop before we go back to The Supreme Kai's planet. So do the rest of you want to come with us, or should I drop you off?" Goku asked.
"I think we're going to stick with Vegeta. Wait, where is Vegeta?" Nappa inquired.
Goku looked around, finding Vegeta almost immediately. "Oh, him and his mate are making googol eyes at each other over there." Goku teased.
Vegeta sensed all eyes upon him and pulled Bulma with him to rejoin the group.
"Hey guys! King Kai says that I can have 24 hours to be with Vegeta! Isn't that great!" Bulma exclaimed.
Vegeta looked happier than Goku had ever seen him before.
"Ok everyone place a hand on me, we're off to King Emma's!" Goku said.
"Wait! Wait for me!" Kirillin came running up.
"What's up Kirillin?" Goku said.
"King Kai says I can come and join you guys and train and stuff. If you don't mind?" Kirillin said.
"No problem at all! Come on then and put your hand on my arm." Goku smiled.
King Kai also put a hand on Goku's shoulder.
"Okay, is that everybody? Whew! This is the most I've ever tried to instant transmission with! Okay, hand on to your lunch!" Goku and company winked out.
"Ahh.. Yes, Vegeta.. Wait a minute, what are you doing here now? You're not dead!" King Emma growled.
The Supreme Kai, who teleported in as well, stepped forward. "We're not asking you to pass judgment right now, just tell us what would happen if you were to pass judgment now."
"Very well." The great king sighed. "But this is all very bothersome, you know? I do have a job to do here! Ok, Vegeta…. Vegeta… Ah, here he is. Oh yes… Forgave Frieza… Interesting… Was forgiven by most of the ones he hurt.. Yes… Well, I can say with confidence that if Vegeta were to die and face me right now, he would be able to go to heaven, and probably keep his body. No, I'm quite sure that he would be able to keep his body.
Bulma squealed in delight "You did it honey!"
Vegeta looked around at the people he was with. "No, we did it." He smiled broadly.
"Let me give you a word of warning Vegeta. " King Emma started. "You are still alive, and there is plenty of blank space in this book. Do you understand? What is written from now on could change what I just said."
"I understand fully sir." Vegeta answered.
"Good. Now all of you get out of here so I can do my job! I've wasted quite enough time with this foolishness!" King Emma bellowed.
"Right away sir!" Goku stammered.
Between Goku and The Supreme Kai everyone was teleported away.
"Good job Prince Vegeta!" King Emma said after everyone was gone. "Okay, NEXT!"