Disclaimer-We've been through this…

Christmas Eve

"It's snowing," Chichi announced one cold December 24th, trotting down the stairs to the dining room.

"First snow we've had on this island for 20 years," Master Roshi said. "It'll be difficult for you to train," he informed Kakarot, Vegeta, Krillin, and Chichi.

Celipa, her arm now fully recovered, started giggling suddenly.

"What is it, Mama?" Kakarot asked, give her a questioning look.

"I'm just remembering that one winter I had with your father. We were 14 and he, the strongest of warriors in our area, was trying to muster up enough nerve to ask me to marry him. We went for a walk in the snow, in this little area in the woods that was our meeting place. I remember the exact look on his face when he reached into his pocket and nothing was there. He asked me to turn around and not look. I did so, but I peeked. He was digging through the snow trying to find the ring. I could barely keep myself from laughing. He finally found it and proposed. He stuttered over every word. When he put it on my finger, his hand, and this ring," she held out her hand to show a huge diamond on a gold band, "were both ice-cold. Months later I asked him if he was nervous proposing to me. He said he was stuttering because he was freezing from searching the ground for the ring!" Celipa laughed. "We always had a joke between us that if he lost something, I'd say 'Did you pull a wedding ring, Bardock?'. We knew exactly what it meant every time."

Her laugher died away, and a sigh escaped her lips. "I can't believe it…it's been three years since I last saw him…the day before we were captured was the last time I said that to him."

"You must really miss him," Launch said sympathetically.

"Yes, I do. Very much."

"I miss Papa. And Radditz, too," Kakarot said.

Vegeta said nothing and continued eating, but in the deepest reaches of his soul he was yearning desperately to see his mother and father again, to go back to Vegetasei and live in his palace, his home. He had heard it had been torn down and its remains were rotting. The very thought made his stomach turn.

"Wait a sec," Ox-King said. "Did you say you were 14?!"

"Of course. Saiyans normally chose mates at that age and have children around age 15."

"But…"

"Saiyans and Humans are infinitely different when it comes to matters of the heart, Ox."

DING-DONG

"That's Bulma and Yamcha," Chichi said, running out towards the living room. They heard the door swing open, and two visitors dashed into the kitchen, Chichi bringing up the rear.

"Hi!" Bulma squealed. "I would've been here sooner, but I was helping Mom and Dad prepare for their fancy Christmas Eve business party. And I had to pick up Yamcha. His Mom was out with Mai and his Dad, well, he's OUT." OUT was the code word for 'selling and buying Saiyans in the trade'. "With Ms. La."

"I can't believe Ms. La gave us HOMEWORK over the vacation!" Krillin said.

"Did you hear that she's engaged?" Chichi said. "His name's Mr. Ur, and he's got absolutely NO mind of his own. And I heard he can't spell correctly!"

"Well, I heard that when his fiancé's not around, he's a pro-Saiyan," Launch said.

"I don't care," Vegeta said. "I can't stand people who won't stand up for their beliefs despite what everyone says. It's weakness, and I can't stand the weak."

"Vegeta even respects people who don't fight directly if they always stand up for themselves," Kakarot said.

"Our race firmly believes in the fighting spirit," Celipa said. "Why do you think there are no nursing homes on our planet?"

Master Roshi started laughing.

"I was being serious."

"Oh."

"You know…" Krillin drawled. "I've never known much about the Saiyan race. My grandfather told me that they were scum and I wasn't to associate with them ever…that's why I have this," he stuck out his arm to show his scar from the whiplash, "but I don't believe anything that came out of that man's mouth."

"A wise decision," Celipa said. "He might has well have been talking about himself, a man who whips his own grandson and sells him into slavery! Now, on Vegetasei, people are civilized." She was met with many glares. "I mean that, in GENERAL, earthlings are horrible."

"I just realized I don't know a single thing about the Saiyans," Launch said, untying her apron and hanging it on a peg. "You've been here for around 4 months and you've never told us a thing about it."

"Well…" Celipa drawled. "I guess we better. For starters, I'll tell you your Saiyan names. Chichi, your name is universal, so on both planets you'd have the same name. Krillin, yours would be Kururin. Launch, yours would be Rancha. There are no L's in the Saiyan language, so when we translate, we substitute L with R. Bulma's would be Buruma. Yamcha's is Yamucha. Master Roshi, yours would be Muten Roshi, and if we were giving you ultimate respect, it would be Muten Roshi-sama. Ox-King's is Gyo Mou." She made sure had told everyone their Saiyan names before continuing.

"Fighting, of course, is very important to the Saiyans, but we're not bloodthirsty animals who kill for the sake of killing. Our ancestors, maybe, but more than ¾ of us fight just for the enjoyment and strength it gives us. And, contrary to popular belief, we're not sex maniacs. Most of us have one, two children tops. The most I've ever heard of is three. Our school system is pretty much the same as here, but it stops at around age 13. That's because we have only Sundays and two month's worth of summer off. Most of us get married when we're 14 or 15, and have kids when we're 15. That might sound contradictory to what I said about our sex life, but Saiyan biology is just a little different than Earth's. Most of us get married and stay married. Our divorce rate is 10%, while yours is 50%. We don't believe in slavery. Do it yourself is our motto. Owning slaves is lazy and stingy. Servants are a little different, because they actually get paid."

She took a breath before continuing. "Saiyans also put great stock in astrology. Vegeta, here, is an Aries. Kakarot is Sagittarius. If I have the rest of you correctly…Chichi is a Virgo, Launch is a Libra, Krillin is an Aquarius, Bulma is a Scorpio, and Yamcha is an Aries. Ox and Master Roshi I have yet to look up. We also base our lives around astrology. For instance, it says that Vegeta should train 7-9 AM on Tuesdays, on Aries, Capricorn, and Leo days. So, Vegeta trains on Tuesdays 7-9 AM on those days. And Kakarot, he should train 11 PM to 1 AM on Wednesday nights and Thursday mornings. Since he can't stay up that late, we take his health sign, Taurus, and he trains according to that. So he should train 9 to 11 AM on Fridays on Aries, Taurus, and Cancer days. I'll tell the rest of it later, but I'll go onto something else now."

They nodded, and Celipa continued. "Our grammatical structure is totally different than yours. For instants, aishiteru, which means 'I love you' is mixed a little. 'Ai' is our word for love…" Celipa was off and running about the entire Saiyan way of life. It had been a long time since anyone had shown any interest in the Saiyans. It was a revelation to her.

"And that's about it," she said an hour later.

All of them were enthralled, and they looked disappointed when she stopped.

"Well, all that talking made me hungry," Celipa said.

"I'll get the pancakes right away," Launch said, rushing to the stove.

"I'll help!" Chichi said.

"Me, too!" Bulma said.

"Bulma," Vegeta said, "you can't boil water."

"HEY!"

"Stop it, you two, it's Christmas," Ox-King said.

"Fine," the two of them sulked.

'They make a cute couple,' Celipa thought, stifling a laugh.

The pancakes were ready soon enough. All of them could've fed the three Saiyans, but the aforementioned were gracious enough to take the same amount as the rest of them. Well, Vegeta did sneak one off Yamcha's plate…

"You should be a chef, Launch," Kakarot said.

"Domo," Launch said, and smiled. She had picked up a little Saiyan language already.

"Confirmed. They're hooked," Celipa said. "We have to teach them some things now, oro [Huh]?"

"Ee [Yeah]," Kakarot said, smiling.

"You know what?" Krillin said while they lazed in the living room, digesting breakfast. "You never told us how Saiyans celebrate Christmas."

"A lot like you Earthlings do," Celipa said. "We have the tree and the star, the singing and presents. All of us have different traditions. Our family went to Midnight Mass every Christmas. Of course, YOU fell asleep." Celipa shoved her son's head playfully.

"Hey, so did Radditz!"

"ONCE. We also opened one present on Christmas Eve and saved the rest for the morning. Sometime during Christmas Day we'd visit my sister Kiwa and her family. We'd spend half the day there and get home at, like, 1 in the morning. A few Christmases we went to the palace to visit Vegeta's family instead of my sister's. My husband's family lived too far away for us to visit."

"You people were lucky," Krillin said. "I spent my Christmases cleaning stables."

"We didn't have much of a Christmas on Earth. We were slaves just the same as on the holy days as we were on Mondays."

"Before my parents died," Launch spoke up, "they told me that Saiyans had no religion at all."

"It's a common mistake. When Jesus allegedly ascended to Heaven he visited other planets. A good deal of us already believed in God. He converted many before leaving for another planet. Of course, there are millions of Shintoists, Buddhists, Jews, Muslims, Pagans, Wiccans, you-name-it-we-have-it, on our planet. Same as anywhere."

"How do you say Merry Christmas in Saiyan?" Chichi piped up.

"Kurisumasu omedeto," Kakarot said. "And Shinnen omedeto means Happy New Year."

"Kurisumasu omedeto," Chichi repeated. "Cool."

"And December 24th is Juunigatsu Nijuuyokka. The 25th would be Juunigatsu Nijuugo-nichi. And this is winter, or Huyu."

Chichi glanced at the clock. "Hey, it's almost time for the tree lighting at the square!" she said. "We always watch it every Christmas…I mean, Kurisumasu."

Chichi went for the remote and turned on the TV. She switched it to channel 4 and sat back while the others took their places.

"We interrupt this program to bring you this special report," a newscaster said. "3 Saiyan slaves, ages 14, 12, and 7, have decided to rebel against their masters. They are currently holding their mistress and her daughter hostage at 493 Tillerman Avenue, Kame Island. Police have tried to stop the kidnapping, but all attempts thus far have been futile…"

"Tillerman Avenue…" Kakarot mused. "That's not far from here."

"A few blocks south of us," Chichi said.

Vegeta smirked and eyed Celipa. "Shall we…"

Celipa smiled. "Kakarot, I think it's time the Resistance starts."

"I think so, too."

OOH, the Resistance! See how it all begins!

Remember, I'm still taking authors! If you want to be in here, review me and tell me if you want to be a Saiyan, Human Resistance fighter, Human slave-holder, or Soldier under Frieza.

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