Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
Another Chance
Chapter 2
"My tail!? How do you mean?! I don't have a tail!"
"Ehm, it comes with the saiyan-thing, Ariel, " Bulma told her quietly.
"Still, I do not have a tail!"
"I do have one too," Vegeta smirked at her, and his dark brown belt unwinded from his waist, and it sort of stood behind him, swaying lightly, like a cat's tail. "See?"
"Now, that's a comforting thought," Ariel murmured softly. Still, apparently Vegeta had heard her, because he glared darkly at her. 'Oops.'
Ariel started to fidget under his dark glare, but was suddenly relieved of it when the short, noseless man spoke up: "Hey, Vegeta, I didn't know your tail had grown back! A good thing we don't have the moon anymore."
"Stupid fool, I can control my transformation, unlike some other people," said he with a sneer.
Transformation? Ariel didn't like the sound of it. She looked once more at her tail. "Why is mine red?"
"Because your hair is red too. Quite an unusual color for a Saiyan, right, Vegeta?" Bulma looked questionally at Vegeta, who only grunted a response.
"My hair's r-red? How?"
Everybody looked at her.
"I mean, I don't have red hair. My hair has a very normal brown color. Nothing special."
"That's interesting... Bulma, dear, do you have a mirror?" The old doctor looked thoughtfully at Ariel.
"Of course," she replied and searched her desk, "here it is." She walked towards Ariel, and handed it to her.
"Wait, maybe that's not such a good idea-" But Piccolo was too late.
Ariel had taken a look in the mirror. And once again, she was speechless. The face staring back at her, she didn't recognize it at all. How was this possible? What happened?
"This is not me. This is not my face. What did you people do to me?" Ariel felt like crying or throwing a fit. She wasn't herself anymore! When she looked down at her body, covered in a large shirt and some shorts, she noticed that she had shrunk too.
Again, it was Piccolo who came to her aid. He had seen how frightened she had become when she looked into the mirror. The girl clearly didn't recognize herself. How sooner this girl had some answers, the sooner she would get some peace of mind. He pulled at her hand; which he had held the whole time. She looked up at him, and gave him an insecure smile. "Are we going now?"
Piccolo reached down and lifted the girl up. She was very light, too light. 'She probably has malnutricion,' he thought by himself.
He walked out of the room, and exited the large building. Vegeta was following him closely.
Ariel looked around in wonder. They were standing in the middle of a large compound, with several dome-shaped buildings. She had never seen anything like it. Suddenly she saw something moving out of the corner of her eyes. She looked at it, and blinked: it was a flying car! Actually, it was more like a hovering car, but still!
"Hey, are we going to use that to get to Dende?"
Piccolo looked at the aircar, and cringed. He mumbled something.
"Sorry?"
"I don't have a driver's licence."
"Oh..."
"Beside, you can't reach Dende by car. He doesn't live on land."
"So... he lives on a boat, or something?"
Piccolo smirked. "Not really. He actually lives somewhere up there."
"In the sky?!" Ariel looked up, unable to believe it. "Are you kidding me?"
"No."
"Well, we need a plane then, or a helicopter."
"No, we don't need them."
Ariel took a good look at Piccolo. "This isn't very funny, Piccolo." She sounded really tired all of a sudden.
"Sorry." He tightened his hold on her, and said: "Put your arms around my neck, and hold on."
"What?!"
"Just do it."
Ariel was in doubt. What was he doing?
"Can't you just hurry up? Or if you aren't comfortable flying with him, you are welcome to fly with me." Vegeta stood there, arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently.
"F-Flying?"
Piccolo said nothing, but suddenly jumped up in the air, and shot off, with a geat speed.
"Aieeeeeh," Ariel shrieked, and threw her arms around Piccolo's neck, nearly choking him. She closed her eyes, because everything was a blur, and it was making her dizzy. "This isn't happening. This isn't happening." She chanted.
Piccolo heard her, and had to surpress a laugh. "Are you all right?"
She didn't open her eyes, but still answered: "What do you think?! You are just doing something that defies every law of nature, and you're taking me with you!"
This time he chuckled.
"Not funny." Ariel pressed her face against his shirt, not caring if he would be offended or not. She started to feel really dizzy now.
"Do you mind if I pass out?" She mumbled.
"What the-," Piccolo looked down at the girl, but she was already out. 'Poor thing, I guess this was just to much for her.'
"- lost consciousness when we were flying. I guess all the surprises she had were just to much for her."
"Pathetic weakling."
"And why did you have to come along, Vegeta? You're only making this harder for her, with the way you're acting."
"You can't order me around Namek."
"And you can't order her around!"
"I'm her prince! Of course I can order her around!"
"She's her own person!"
"Vegeta, Piccolo, please."
Hey, that was a voice that she hadn't heard before. Would that be Dende? Maybe it was time to wake up completely. She had tried to concentrate on her surroundings, but the only things she heard was the constant bickering between Piccolo and Vegeta. Why was Vegeta here? She had to agree with Piccolo; Vegeta was acting like a jerk! No way he could order her around!
"Mmm, wha-"
"Just take it easy, Ariel."
Ariel opened her eyes, and looked straight into another green face. Only, this was the face of a boy, though he looked quite like Piccolo.
"Uhm, hi! Are you Dende?"
"Yes, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
"How are you feeling, now that you've had some rest?"
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Oh, for about two hours."
"I didn't mean to pass out you know, but hey, we were flying."
"Ah, yes, quite the surprise, eh?"
"This is all so very strange, but Piccolo said, you could explain it all."
"Well, I can explain only part of it. Most of this is a mystery to me. I only know what King Kai told me, and he heard it from King Yemna."
"Who are they?"
"Gods who live in the afterlife. King Kai is a god who kind of gives lesson in fighting techniques, and King Yemna, well, he judges the souls of the dead."
"You know about the afterlife? How?"
"well, some people are in contact with it, some people came back to life..."
Dende looked at Ariel, and saw him staring at him, with a hint of panic on her face. He quickly decided to change the subject.
"Now, Ariel, I'm very happy that you're here now, because your arrival here, in this dimension, is very unusual. Actually, it has never occured before. The powers that have sent you to us, sure have a reason for doing it so. How, and why, we do not know exactly, and I think time will only tell us."
"Hold on, you're telling me, that you don't know why I'm here? No, stop," Ariel shaked her head, "first tell me, where am I?"
"Yes, sorry. Maybe I should start with that: You had gotten in a accident, where you were hit by a car. You... you died in that accident, Ariel." Dende looked worried at Ariel; she had become quite pale. "Your spirit, or consiousness, as some people like to call it, passed on to the afterlife. And there something extremely remarkable happened. Apparently, you were special; they saw something in you, that would be wasted, if you were to go to rest. That, and you are so young-"
"A lot of young people die; do they all end up here?" Ariel asked sarcasticly.
"I know it sounds confusing, strange, but let me continue. They decided, that you deserved a second chance at life, and they decided that a dimension like ours is in need for people like you. So, you are now in another dimension, or, another reality. You see, they are many different realities, and normally, they are comletely seperated from eachother."
"That's all very nice, but how did I ended up in this...this," she gestured at her own form, "this body!"
"It's the body of a Saiyan girl, and she has died many years ago, while floating in space. But the body was in perfect state, due to the hypersleep it was in. They decided it was the perfect body for your spirit, and the purpose you now serve."
"A purpose? What purpose?" It was Vegeta who asked this. He looked somewhat surprised at all that had been revealed so far.
"We do not know. But her Saiyan body is a hint, and another is that she has been allowed to keep her memories of her first life. But I don't have a clue how to interpret them."
"So, you are saying that I've died, and that somehow, I've, ehm, reincarnated in this body, and that now I have a new purpose, although it is completely unclear what kind of purpose that will be." She had said that all very softly and slowly, as so it would make more sense to her. But it didn't.
"It also means," now her voice started to rise, " that I will never see my parents again, or my family, or my friends. It means, that I have to completely rebuild my life, in a world I do not know, nor do I know anyone in it." Ariel felt angry, confused, but above all terribly sad. She would never see them again... Her parents. Her sisters. Her best friends . They people she cared the most for. Gone, just like that, with no chance to ever see them again in this life. And she was lost to them too; dead, killed in a stupid accident. But they would never know she was living on in a different dimension; they would grieve over her, probably for a very long time, maybe for the rest of their lives, just like she would, but.... they would have to let her go, but could she? Because she would always be reminded at the fact that they were still alive, somewhere. But she would not have a part anymore in their lives. Ariel felt tears coming fast, and she had a lump in her throat. Would she never see them again? Never? Or maybe... in heaven? When they were all dead? Or would she be kept seperated from them? Was there an heaven at all? She started to cry silently, choking on her tears.
Dende seated himself next to her, and put an arm around her, pulling her towards him. She kept crying silently, but her body shook from the force of her sorrow.
Dende looked at her sadly; when he heard about her, and her story for the first time, he had been exited and curious; after all, he had said it himself; this was very unique. But he had never thought about how she would think about it, how she would react, what she would feel. This was going to be a very difficult for her; to adapt to her new life, and trying to come terms with it. She would need guidance and comfort and friendship, and he would try to give them to her. And when he looked at Piccolo, he knew that he, behind his stoic mask, was worried about her too. And then, there was Vegeta. He would surely demand a role in her life, for she was of Saiyan blood, and that brought him to another problem.
She was Saiyan by body, and that would give some problems. She would have to learn to control the powers that came with the race. But also, she would have really strong instincts; those would, at times, collide with her reasonal, human, mind. Vegeta would have to help her understand them, and how to use them. He would probably jump at the chance.
Dende was pulled out of his thoughts, when the girl suddenly moved away from him. She wept away the tears, and although a few sobs still escaped her, she tried to smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It was just, I just...," she sighed deeply.
"There's no need to apologize. And ignore everybody else who's telling you otherwise," Piccolo said that with a dark look at a muttering Vegeta, who sneered at him. "Got a problem, Greenbean?"
Piccolo wisely didn't respond to Vegeta. "I think none of us can clearly see the consequences of the things that happened. But don't think that you're alone in this. Dende will do anything in his power to make you feel comfortable here. And I will keep an eye on you too. And I'm sure that others will be happy to help you adjust to our world."
"Yes," said Dende, "I'll be delighted to help you! And this world is so very different than your world! There are so many new things for you to learn." Dende suddenly frowned. "Sorry, that must sound really insensitive. I'm not trying to belittle your sorrow, but I... Err..."
Ariel smiled at him, surprising Dende. "I do not think that you're trying to belittle me, or my sorrow either. You just want to give me a diversion, and I think that's a great idea. And, I have to realize, life goes on, wether I want it to, or not. I mean, I can't just lie down and die, right?" She tried to joke, only failing miserably. She sighed deeply.
"We are going to do the best we can, and I can tell you this; in time, it will be easier."
"Yeah," she spoke softly, "I hope."
A/N The second chapter done. I know, it is not much; no action and all. And how I wanted to describe Ariel feelings... well, it certainly didn't turn out on paper like I wanted. I'm trying to establish some kind of background for this story. The next chapter will (hopefully) contain more action, and some other characters! Anyway, please tell me what you people think of it (= REVIEW)! And I want to thank Majin Youkai, for being my first reviewer!
Another Chance
Chapter 2
"My tail!? How do you mean?! I don't have a tail!"
"Ehm, it comes with the saiyan-thing, Ariel, " Bulma told her quietly.
"Still, I do not have a tail!"
"I do have one too," Vegeta smirked at her, and his dark brown belt unwinded from his waist, and it sort of stood behind him, swaying lightly, like a cat's tail. "See?"
"Now, that's a comforting thought," Ariel murmured softly. Still, apparently Vegeta had heard her, because he glared darkly at her. 'Oops.'
Ariel started to fidget under his dark glare, but was suddenly relieved of it when the short, noseless man spoke up: "Hey, Vegeta, I didn't know your tail had grown back! A good thing we don't have the moon anymore."
"Stupid fool, I can control my transformation, unlike some other people," said he with a sneer.
Transformation? Ariel didn't like the sound of it. She looked once more at her tail. "Why is mine red?"
"Because your hair is red too. Quite an unusual color for a Saiyan, right, Vegeta?" Bulma looked questionally at Vegeta, who only grunted a response.
"My hair's r-red? How?"
Everybody looked at her.
"I mean, I don't have red hair. My hair has a very normal brown color. Nothing special."
"That's interesting... Bulma, dear, do you have a mirror?" The old doctor looked thoughtfully at Ariel.
"Of course," she replied and searched her desk, "here it is." She walked towards Ariel, and handed it to her.
"Wait, maybe that's not such a good idea-" But Piccolo was too late.
Ariel had taken a look in the mirror. And once again, she was speechless. The face staring back at her, she didn't recognize it at all. How was this possible? What happened?
"This is not me. This is not my face. What did you people do to me?" Ariel felt like crying or throwing a fit. She wasn't herself anymore! When she looked down at her body, covered in a large shirt and some shorts, she noticed that she had shrunk too.
Again, it was Piccolo who came to her aid. He had seen how frightened she had become when she looked into the mirror. The girl clearly didn't recognize herself. How sooner this girl had some answers, the sooner she would get some peace of mind. He pulled at her hand; which he had held the whole time. She looked up at him, and gave him an insecure smile. "Are we going now?"
Piccolo reached down and lifted the girl up. She was very light, too light. 'She probably has malnutricion,' he thought by himself.
He walked out of the room, and exited the large building. Vegeta was following him closely.
Ariel looked around in wonder. They were standing in the middle of a large compound, with several dome-shaped buildings. She had never seen anything like it. Suddenly she saw something moving out of the corner of her eyes. She looked at it, and blinked: it was a flying car! Actually, it was more like a hovering car, but still!
"Hey, are we going to use that to get to Dende?"
Piccolo looked at the aircar, and cringed. He mumbled something.
"Sorry?"
"I don't have a driver's licence."
"Oh..."
"Beside, you can't reach Dende by car. He doesn't live on land."
"So... he lives on a boat, or something?"
Piccolo smirked. "Not really. He actually lives somewhere up there."
"In the sky?!" Ariel looked up, unable to believe it. "Are you kidding me?"
"No."
"Well, we need a plane then, or a helicopter."
"No, we don't need them."
Ariel took a good look at Piccolo. "This isn't very funny, Piccolo." She sounded really tired all of a sudden.
"Sorry." He tightened his hold on her, and said: "Put your arms around my neck, and hold on."
"What?!"
"Just do it."
Ariel was in doubt. What was he doing?
"Can't you just hurry up? Or if you aren't comfortable flying with him, you are welcome to fly with me." Vegeta stood there, arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently.
"F-Flying?"
Piccolo said nothing, but suddenly jumped up in the air, and shot off, with a geat speed.
"Aieeeeeh," Ariel shrieked, and threw her arms around Piccolo's neck, nearly choking him. She closed her eyes, because everything was a blur, and it was making her dizzy. "This isn't happening. This isn't happening." She chanted.
Piccolo heard her, and had to surpress a laugh. "Are you all right?"
She didn't open her eyes, but still answered: "What do you think?! You are just doing something that defies every law of nature, and you're taking me with you!"
This time he chuckled.
"Not funny." Ariel pressed her face against his shirt, not caring if he would be offended or not. She started to feel really dizzy now.
"Do you mind if I pass out?" She mumbled.
"What the-," Piccolo looked down at the girl, but she was already out. 'Poor thing, I guess this was just to much for her.'
"- lost consciousness when we were flying. I guess all the surprises she had were just to much for her."
"Pathetic weakling."
"And why did you have to come along, Vegeta? You're only making this harder for her, with the way you're acting."
"You can't order me around Namek."
"And you can't order her around!"
"I'm her prince! Of course I can order her around!"
"She's her own person!"
"Vegeta, Piccolo, please."
Hey, that was a voice that she hadn't heard before. Would that be Dende? Maybe it was time to wake up completely. She had tried to concentrate on her surroundings, but the only things she heard was the constant bickering between Piccolo and Vegeta. Why was Vegeta here? She had to agree with Piccolo; Vegeta was acting like a jerk! No way he could order her around!
"Mmm, wha-"
"Just take it easy, Ariel."
Ariel opened her eyes, and looked straight into another green face. Only, this was the face of a boy, though he looked quite like Piccolo.
"Uhm, hi! Are you Dende?"
"Yes, nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
"How are you feeling, now that you've had some rest?"
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Oh, for about two hours."
"I didn't mean to pass out you know, but hey, we were flying."
"Ah, yes, quite the surprise, eh?"
"This is all so very strange, but Piccolo said, you could explain it all."
"Well, I can explain only part of it. Most of this is a mystery to me. I only know what King Kai told me, and he heard it from King Yemna."
"Who are they?"
"Gods who live in the afterlife. King Kai is a god who kind of gives lesson in fighting techniques, and King Yemna, well, he judges the souls of the dead."
"You know about the afterlife? How?"
"well, some people are in contact with it, some people came back to life..."
Dende looked at Ariel, and saw him staring at him, with a hint of panic on her face. He quickly decided to change the subject.
"Now, Ariel, I'm very happy that you're here now, because your arrival here, in this dimension, is very unusual. Actually, it has never occured before. The powers that have sent you to us, sure have a reason for doing it so. How, and why, we do not know exactly, and I think time will only tell us."
"Hold on, you're telling me, that you don't know why I'm here? No, stop," Ariel shaked her head, "first tell me, where am I?"
"Yes, sorry. Maybe I should start with that: You had gotten in a accident, where you were hit by a car. You... you died in that accident, Ariel." Dende looked worried at Ariel; she had become quite pale. "Your spirit, or consiousness, as some people like to call it, passed on to the afterlife. And there something extremely remarkable happened. Apparently, you were special; they saw something in you, that would be wasted, if you were to go to rest. That, and you are so young-"
"A lot of young people die; do they all end up here?" Ariel asked sarcasticly.
"I know it sounds confusing, strange, but let me continue. They decided, that you deserved a second chance at life, and they decided that a dimension like ours is in need for people like you. So, you are now in another dimension, or, another reality. You see, they are many different realities, and normally, they are comletely seperated from eachother."
"That's all very nice, but how did I ended up in this...this," she gestured at her own form, "this body!"
"It's the body of a Saiyan girl, and she has died many years ago, while floating in space. But the body was in perfect state, due to the hypersleep it was in. They decided it was the perfect body for your spirit, and the purpose you now serve."
"A purpose? What purpose?" It was Vegeta who asked this. He looked somewhat surprised at all that had been revealed so far.
"We do not know. But her Saiyan body is a hint, and another is that she has been allowed to keep her memories of her first life. But I don't have a clue how to interpret them."
"So, you are saying that I've died, and that somehow, I've, ehm, reincarnated in this body, and that now I have a new purpose, although it is completely unclear what kind of purpose that will be." She had said that all very softly and slowly, as so it would make more sense to her. But it didn't.
"It also means," now her voice started to rise, " that I will never see my parents again, or my family, or my friends. It means, that I have to completely rebuild my life, in a world I do not know, nor do I know anyone in it." Ariel felt angry, confused, but above all terribly sad. She would never see them again... Her parents. Her sisters. Her best friends . They people she cared the most for. Gone, just like that, with no chance to ever see them again in this life. And she was lost to them too; dead, killed in a stupid accident. But they would never know she was living on in a different dimension; they would grieve over her, probably for a very long time, maybe for the rest of their lives, just like she would, but.... they would have to let her go, but could she? Because she would always be reminded at the fact that they were still alive, somewhere. But she would not have a part anymore in their lives. Ariel felt tears coming fast, and she had a lump in her throat. Would she never see them again? Never? Or maybe... in heaven? When they were all dead? Or would she be kept seperated from them? Was there an heaven at all? She started to cry silently, choking on her tears.
Dende seated himself next to her, and put an arm around her, pulling her towards him. She kept crying silently, but her body shook from the force of her sorrow.
Dende looked at her sadly; when he heard about her, and her story for the first time, he had been exited and curious; after all, he had said it himself; this was very unique. But he had never thought about how she would think about it, how she would react, what she would feel. This was going to be a very difficult for her; to adapt to her new life, and trying to come terms with it. She would need guidance and comfort and friendship, and he would try to give them to her. And when he looked at Piccolo, he knew that he, behind his stoic mask, was worried about her too. And then, there was Vegeta. He would surely demand a role in her life, for she was of Saiyan blood, and that brought him to another problem.
She was Saiyan by body, and that would give some problems. She would have to learn to control the powers that came with the race. But also, she would have really strong instincts; those would, at times, collide with her reasonal, human, mind. Vegeta would have to help her understand them, and how to use them. He would probably jump at the chance.
Dende was pulled out of his thoughts, when the girl suddenly moved away from him. She wept away the tears, and although a few sobs still escaped her, she tried to smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It was just, I just...," she sighed deeply.
"There's no need to apologize. And ignore everybody else who's telling you otherwise," Piccolo said that with a dark look at a muttering Vegeta, who sneered at him. "Got a problem, Greenbean?"
Piccolo wisely didn't respond to Vegeta. "I think none of us can clearly see the consequences of the things that happened. But don't think that you're alone in this. Dende will do anything in his power to make you feel comfortable here. And I will keep an eye on you too. And I'm sure that others will be happy to help you adjust to our world."
"Yes," said Dende, "I'll be delighted to help you! And this world is so very different than your world! There are so many new things for you to learn." Dende suddenly frowned. "Sorry, that must sound really insensitive. I'm not trying to belittle your sorrow, but I... Err..."
Ariel smiled at him, surprising Dende. "I do not think that you're trying to belittle me, or my sorrow either. You just want to give me a diversion, and I think that's a great idea. And, I have to realize, life goes on, wether I want it to, or not. I mean, I can't just lie down and die, right?" She tried to joke, only failing miserably. She sighed deeply.
"We are going to do the best we can, and I can tell you this; in time, it will be easier."
"Yeah," she spoke softly, "I hope."
A/N The second chapter done. I know, it is not much; no action and all. And how I wanted to describe Ariel feelings... well, it certainly didn't turn out on paper like I wanted. I'm trying to establish some kind of background for this story. The next chapter will (hopefully) contain more action, and some other characters! Anyway, please tell me what you people think of it (= REVIEW)! And I want to thank Majin Youkai, for being my first reviewer!