Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT. I do not own any other licensed
products that may appear throughout this fan fiction piece.
AN: Chapter nine is the banquet, yeah, I finally did it! This is part one of three, so look for the next two parts to come soon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. They mean a lot to me. Also a personal thanks to Niki and to Ren-chan. Each pushed and shoved for this next chapter, some more than the other. Anyways, here it is so now they can calm down [at least for the few minutes while they read this chapter, because once they are done, they are bound to be bugging me for the next. lol] Without further ado, enjoy part one.
Chapter 9: Things Made to be Broken
Part I
The crystals of the chandelier refracted the light leaving a dazzling display of colors that played throughout the room. The large ballroom was filled with people; all dressed in an array of tuxedos and dazzling gowns. Servants milled around holding trays of appetizers and glasses of champagne. People continued to enter through the door at the top of the stairwell. An announcer declared the names of everyone as they proceeded down the stairs and into the crowd. Once the majority of the crowd had arrived, then everyone would go into the dining hall for dinner to be served. Following dinner would be a night of talk and dancing as upper class society is known to do.
Surveying the crowd, one could distinguish some of the most prestigious people of the community. Among them were Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, owner of Capsule Corporation, Dr. Gero, a scientific genius, and of course, the Saiyan royalty, King Vegeta. Like their children, this group was often seen together at social affairs. Gathered together, these four adults discussed things ranging from the newest technological advances to politics. However, their discussion was swiftly interrupted by the arrival of their host and hostess, Count Visto and his wife.
"Ahh, Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, Dr. Gero and King Vegeta! It is good to see all of you." the Count addressed them. Both he and his wife were well known for their parties and as one of the few members of nobility in the area.
"Pardon me, King Vegeta," the Countess began, "but, I was wondering if you could do us a favor." Upon hearing this, the King turned his attention to her, thus allowing the five teenagers, who had been duly listening to their conversations, a chance to slip away.
"You see, tonight a newcomer to the area will be attending this gathering. She is of great importance and I am afraid that I will be too busy to look after her properly. I was hoping that you could introduce her to others and watch over her." the Countess asked with care. She feared the man's wrath, but knew that he was the only one who could do this.
King Vegeta carefully thought of what she had said. He knew she feared him and that it would take a very important figure for her to come to him for assistance. His curiosity was aroused by who could be this important. "Of course, Countess. It would be my pleasure. Has she arrived?" he asked.
Excusing them from the adults, the Count, his wife, and King Vegeta headed to the base of the stairs. "She will be arriving soon, your highness. I can not thank you enough for your assistance." the Count replied.
The arrivals had slowed down for the night, marking the nearness of the meal. The announcer was grateful for the breaks he was able to take. Yelling out the names of hundreds of people became rather tiring. Just as he was enjoying yet another break in attendants, a simple card was handed to him baring the name of the newest arrival he had to announce.
"Princess Chi-Chi Maou, daughter of Gyuu Maou, heiress to the Maou Kingdom."
Descending the stairs was the raven haired beauty, dressed in the sparkling ice blue gown that clung to her curves. The straps of the gown came up behind her neck where they fastened together, enhancing her bust line. The backless gown's twenty eight inch slit, from floor to thigh, displayed her toned and tan legs. Her makeup, though simple, enhanced her natural beauty. Much to her protest, Pierre had adorned her long hair with a simple platinum crown inlayed with diamonds.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she turned to great her host. "Good evening, Count Visto. Thank you for your invitation, my father regrets his inability to join us. He sends his regards."
"Of course, Princess. I must say, you have grown quite a lot since I last saw you." he said, a smirk gracing his face as he took in her appearance. 'Grown up indeed.' he thought.
Ignoring the grin that had crossed the Counts face as he slowly gazed at her, Chi-Chi turned her attention to the Countess. "Countess, it is lovely to see you again."
"My, my, Chi-Chi. You look beautiful darling, so much like your mother. It is travesty she could not see you like this."
"Thank you, Countess. I know that you were close to her."
"Yes, she was. Now, I would like to introduce to you King Vegeta, of Vegeta-sei. He has offered to introduce you to other members of society here. I knew that with you being royalty, that no other person could fit the honor of escorting you." she said with a wink.
"Thank you." Chi-Chi replied, ignoring the Countess's suggestive behavior. Instead, she turned her attention to the King. "It is a pleasure to meet you King Vegeta."
"As it is to meet you, Princess Chi-Chi." he declared as he offered his arm to her.
Taking his arm, he led her throughout the crowd, introducing her to only the best of the society that had gathered there. Chi-Chi couldn't believe the number of people she had to meet. Her face had begun to ache from constantly smiling at others. Luckily, just as this pain was making itself known, they were interrupted by the Count.
"King Vegeta, Princess Chi-Chi," he acknowledged them with a slight bow. Then turning to the King, he continued. "Sir, the Princess will be seated amongst others of her age. It seems my wife has thought that it would be best if she were to meet others of her own age and position. Therefore, at dinner she will be seated with your son."
Acknowledging the man inference with this fact, he dismissed him with a nod. Turning to his companion, he began "As you heard, you will be seated with my son's table for the feast." Suddenly he was interrupted by the call that dinner would be served. "Shall we?" he asked offering his arm once more.
"Of course." she replied taking his arm and being led into the massive dining hall. A number of tables littered the area. Each table held six people. In one corner of the room, a small orchestra was set up, playing soft classical music. Lines of identically uniformed servants waited for everyone to be seated at their assigned tables before they began to serve the different portions of the meal.
Finally arriving at a table, Chi-Chi noticed just who was seated there. At this particular table sat the members of 'the group' that were in attendance that night. One empty seat remained, which she assumed was for her. To the left of the seat was Vegeta, who seemed confused as to why his father was escorting the Princess. To his left sat Bulma, who looked angelic in a snow white princess waisted gown. To her left was Juunana who merely regarded Chi-Chi without a readable expression. To the right of the empty chair sat Goku, who stared at Chi-Chi with eyes that read a complex twist of emotions. To his right sat Juuhachi, adorned in a beaded red gown. To her right was her brother. [AN: everyone got this. clockwise: Chi-Chi, Vegeta, Bulma, Juunana, Juuhachi, Goku.]
Clearing his throat, the King approached his son. "Princess Chi-Chi, I would like you to meet my son, Prince Vegeta." he said giving his son a look that read, be polite or else. The two gave slight nods in each other's direction, indicating the fact that they were on the same level in class. "She will be sitting with you this evening. I trust that you will treat her with the level of respect she deserves." Giving a final glare to his son, he turned to Chi-Chi. "I will be sitting with the Count and Countess, if you have any problems, do not hesitate to come to me, especially if it concerns my son. It was a pleasure meeting you this evening, Princess."
Chi-Chi curtsied toward the King. "As it was you, King Vegeta. I trust that you will save me a dance?" she questioned with a mischievous grin.
Chuckling, the King responded, "But of course." With that, he walked off, still smiling.
Turning to the crowd at the table, she looked at Vegeta with a questioning glaze. Knowing just what she meant, he stood with her and began his introductions. "Princess, I would like to introduce you to my friends." he stated with a slight grimace. "This is Bulma Briefs, her parents own Capsule Corporation. The pair next to her is Juunana and Juuhachi Gero; they are the offspring of Dr. Gero, a resident scientific genius." Each of them acknowledged each other with curt nods and formal greetings. Turning towards Kakkarrotto, Vegeta smirked, knowing full well he had the ability to embarrass his housemate. However, his father's dark glare and stern warning came to mind. "Finally, I would like to introduce you to Kakkarrotto. He is one of the few remaining Saiyans, but I believe the two of you have met. You may know him by his Earth name, Goku."
Chi-Chi turned to the blushing Saiyan, with a soft smile she acknowledged him in a lighter tone then the others. "It is nice to meet you. However, I must wonder, by which name should I refer to you as?"
Shocked by the gentle tone she used, he could barely choke out the words to use. "I-It r-really doesn't matter. Most people just call me G-Goku." he said with one hand rubbing the back of his neck while giving her a sheepish smile.
Smiling gently, she acknowledged his response before turning back to the Prince. Vegeta, in turn, went to her seat and pulled out her chair, indicating that it was his seat. After pushing her chair in, he returned to his seat.
Chi-Chi was quite amused by the scowl he wore when he thought she was not looking. She was enjoying his annoyance. After studying the Saiyan Prince a little more, she noticed that he was quite handsome. 'Too bad he is an arrogant, self absorbed jack ass.' Slowly her gaze drifted to each of the members of the table. 'Let's see. So, Bulma is heiress to Capsule Corp. That explains why she is here. I guess Dr. Gero is of some importance seeing as the siblings are here. And I guess Kakkarrotto goes wherever his Prince and King go. Amusing.'
Her thoughts and the others' chatter were interrupted with the arrival of the meal. After the first course of the meal was served, the group continued their talk, each ignoring the Princess and casting distrustful gazes her way. Vegeta merely focused upon his food and ignored everyone at the table. Goku, remember the Kings forewarnings, ate slowly giving slide glances to Chi-Chi. Noting his glances, Chi-Chi met his eyes and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow in a questioning manner.
Blushing a bright crimson, Goku smiled sheepishly and returned his attention to his food. Smiling, Chi-Chi followed his example and went back to eating. 'At least one of them doesn't hate me.' she thought with a laugh. 'Not that I blame any of them. I feel so much better since I talked to Pierre. His advice is always excellent and I have to follow it. He said I should get to know both of them, which means I have to get along with all of them. Can't be to hard, can it?' she asked herself as she turned her attention to the conversation at the table.
"Vegeta, how the hell can you act that way? I would say that you have no manners at all, but you displayed manners when your father was here and in the way you treated the Princess over there." Bulma declared.
"Woman, shut that loud trap of yours." Vegeta growled.
"Oh, I see, your afraid of your father aren't you? Big bad Veggie is afraid of making a mistake in front of his father…"
Her ridicule was interrupted when Vegeta slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it woman, shut the fuck up. You are so damn annoying with your constant banter." Noticing that everyone's attention was on him, Vegeta calmed down and spoke in a softer voice. "Do not mock me onna. My father is King; he deserves his respect, as do I. And as much as I hate to say this, that onna over there is also royalty. She may not be of my planet, but she is of yours. So as long as I am a resident of this planet, I am forced to display the respect that royalty deserves. Do you understand that?"
"So just because she is royalty, she gets treated above the rest of us. She is a cold hearted bitch and yet she is treated above us. How fucking great, Vegeta."
Goku nervously glanced at Chi-Chi, who was currently trying to hold back her laughter. Her shoulders shook as she bowed her head, attempting to gather control. 'Damn, those two belong together. Those two are so damn funny…." Her train of thought was interrupted as she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Looking up she found Goku peering at her, his countenance displaying his concern. Goku studied her face and found that she was not crying, in fact her eyes seemed to be dance with amusement.
"Are you okay? Don't mind those two; they are always fighting like this. Don't take what Bulma said seriously…." he began only to be interrupted by Chi-Chi's hand.
Noticing that everyone at the table was peering at her with curiosity, Chi- Chi decided that it was time to put this to rest. Looking at Goku, she began. "Goku, it's alright. I am used to that reaction and it's not like I don't deserve it." Turning to the others, she continued, "Look, I am well aware of what you think of me and I certainly haven't done any thing to dissuade your train of thought. However, it seems that we will have to put up with each other more than just in school and when we occasionally meet around my house. It looks like we will be in attendance of just about the same idiotic social gatherings, so I propose this. Let's just put everything to rest and try to get along. We will be encountering each other much more often; in fact I believe I have to attend a dinner party at Capsule Corp soon. That just shows that we will be together much more often then any of us would like to be right now. So, it would be best if we make an attempt to get along."
Looking around, she noticed many carefully weighing her words. She knew that this would be more or less their decision. They were already friends, she was the outsider. Pensively she awaited their answer. Slowly, they began to look at each other, communicating though their eyes. Finally each of them nodded affirmative. Vegeta merely grunted and went back to eating, with Goku following his example. The three girls rolled their eyes and laughed at the Saiyan antics, dispelling the tension of the room
And in that moment, a shaky alliance was made between them.
AN: Chapter nine is the banquet, yeah, I finally did it! This is part one of three, so look for the next two parts to come soon. Thanks to everyone who reviewed. They mean a lot to me. Also a personal thanks to Niki and to Ren-chan. Each pushed and shoved for this next chapter, some more than the other. Anyways, here it is so now they can calm down [at least for the few minutes while they read this chapter, because once they are done, they are bound to be bugging me for the next. lol] Without further ado, enjoy part one.
Chapter 9: Things Made to be Broken
Part I
The crystals of the chandelier refracted the light leaving a dazzling display of colors that played throughout the room. The large ballroom was filled with people; all dressed in an array of tuxedos and dazzling gowns. Servants milled around holding trays of appetizers and glasses of champagne. People continued to enter through the door at the top of the stairwell. An announcer declared the names of everyone as they proceeded down the stairs and into the crowd. Once the majority of the crowd had arrived, then everyone would go into the dining hall for dinner to be served. Following dinner would be a night of talk and dancing as upper class society is known to do.
Surveying the crowd, one could distinguish some of the most prestigious people of the community. Among them were Dr. and Mrs. Briefs, owner of Capsule Corporation, Dr. Gero, a scientific genius, and of course, the Saiyan royalty, King Vegeta. Like their children, this group was often seen together at social affairs. Gathered together, these four adults discussed things ranging from the newest technological advances to politics. However, their discussion was swiftly interrupted by the arrival of their host and hostess, Count Visto and his wife.
"Ahh, Dr. Briefs, Mrs. Briefs, Dr. Gero and King Vegeta! It is good to see all of you." the Count addressed them. Both he and his wife were well known for their parties and as one of the few members of nobility in the area.
"Pardon me, King Vegeta," the Countess began, "but, I was wondering if you could do us a favor." Upon hearing this, the King turned his attention to her, thus allowing the five teenagers, who had been duly listening to their conversations, a chance to slip away.
"You see, tonight a newcomer to the area will be attending this gathering. She is of great importance and I am afraid that I will be too busy to look after her properly. I was hoping that you could introduce her to others and watch over her." the Countess asked with care. She feared the man's wrath, but knew that he was the only one who could do this.
King Vegeta carefully thought of what she had said. He knew she feared him and that it would take a very important figure for her to come to him for assistance. His curiosity was aroused by who could be this important. "Of course, Countess. It would be my pleasure. Has she arrived?" he asked.
Excusing them from the adults, the Count, his wife, and King Vegeta headed to the base of the stairs. "She will be arriving soon, your highness. I can not thank you enough for your assistance." the Count replied.
The arrivals had slowed down for the night, marking the nearness of the meal. The announcer was grateful for the breaks he was able to take. Yelling out the names of hundreds of people became rather tiring. Just as he was enjoying yet another break in attendants, a simple card was handed to him baring the name of the newest arrival he had to announce.
"Princess Chi-Chi Maou, daughter of Gyuu Maou, heiress to the Maou Kingdom."
Descending the stairs was the raven haired beauty, dressed in the sparkling ice blue gown that clung to her curves. The straps of the gown came up behind her neck where they fastened together, enhancing her bust line. The backless gown's twenty eight inch slit, from floor to thigh, displayed her toned and tan legs. Her makeup, though simple, enhanced her natural beauty. Much to her protest, Pierre had adorned her long hair with a simple platinum crown inlayed with diamonds.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs, she turned to great her host. "Good evening, Count Visto. Thank you for your invitation, my father regrets his inability to join us. He sends his regards."
"Of course, Princess. I must say, you have grown quite a lot since I last saw you." he said, a smirk gracing his face as he took in her appearance. 'Grown up indeed.' he thought.
Ignoring the grin that had crossed the Counts face as he slowly gazed at her, Chi-Chi turned her attention to the Countess. "Countess, it is lovely to see you again."
"My, my, Chi-Chi. You look beautiful darling, so much like your mother. It is travesty she could not see you like this."
"Thank you, Countess. I know that you were close to her."
"Yes, she was. Now, I would like to introduce to you King Vegeta, of Vegeta-sei. He has offered to introduce you to other members of society here. I knew that with you being royalty, that no other person could fit the honor of escorting you." she said with a wink.
"Thank you." Chi-Chi replied, ignoring the Countess's suggestive behavior. Instead, she turned her attention to the King. "It is a pleasure to meet you King Vegeta."
"As it is to meet you, Princess Chi-Chi." he declared as he offered his arm to her.
Taking his arm, he led her throughout the crowd, introducing her to only the best of the society that had gathered there. Chi-Chi couldn't believe the number of people she had to meet. Her face had begun to ache from constantly smiling at others. Luckily, just as this pain was making itself known, they were interrupted by the Count.
"King Vegeta, Princess Chi-Chi," he acknowledged them with a slight bow. Then turning to the King, he continued. "Sir, the Princess will be seated amongst others of her age. It seems my wife has thought that it would be best if she were to meet others of her own age and position. Therefore, at dinner she will be seated with your son."
Acknowledging the man inference with this fact, he dismissed him with a nod. Turning to his companion, he began "As you heard, you will be seated with my son's table for the feast." Suddenly he was interrupted by the call that dinner would be served. "Shall we?" he asked offering his arm once more.
"Of course." she replied taking his arm and being led into the massive dining hall. A number of tables littered the area. Each table held six people. In one corner of the room, a small orchestra was set up, playing soft classical music. Lines of identically uniformed servants waited for everyone to be seated at their assigned tables before they began to serve the different portions of the meal.
Finally arriving at a table, Chi-Chi noticed just who was seated there. At this particular table sat the members of 'the group' that were in attendance that night. One empty seat remained, which she assumed was for her. To the left of the seat was Vegeta, who seemed confused as to why his father was escorting the Princess. To his left sat Bulma, who looked angelic in a snow white princess waisted gown. To her left was Juunana who merely regarded Chi-Chi without a readable expression. To the right of the empty chair sat Goku, who stared at Chi-Chi with eyes that read a complex twist of emotions. To his right sat Juuhachi, adorned in a beaded red gown. To her right was her brother. [AN: everyone got this. clockwise: Chi-Chi, Vegeta, Bulma, Juunana, Juuhachi, Goku.]
Clearing his throat, the King approached his son. "Princess Chi-Chi, I would like you to meet my son, Prince Vegeta." he said giving his son a look that read, be polite or else. The two gave slight nods in each other's direction, indicating the fact that they were on the same level in class. "She will be sitting with you this evening. I trust that you will treat her with the level of respect she deserves." Giving a final glare to his son, he turned to Chi-Chi. "I will be sitting with the Count and Countess, if you have any problems, do not hesitate to come to me, especially if it concerns my son. It was a pleasure meeting you this evening, Princess."
Chi-Chi curtsied toward the King. "As it was you, King Vegeta. I trust that you will save me a dance?" she questioned with a mischievous grin.
Chuckling, the King responded, "But of course." With that, he walked off, still smiling.
Turning to the crowd at the table, she looked at Vegeta with a questioning glaze. Knowing just what she meant, he stood with her and began his introductions. "Princess, I would like to introduce you to my friends." he stated with a slight grimace. "This is Bulma Briefs, her parents own Capsule Corporation. The pair next to her is Juunana and Juuhachi Gero; they are the offspring of Dr. Gero, a resident scientific genius." Each of them acknowledged each other with curt nods and formal greetings. Turning towards Kakkarrotto, Vegeta smirked, knowing full well he had the ability to embarrass his housemate. However, his father's dark glare and stern warning came to mind. "Finally, I would like to introduce you to Kakkarrotto. He is one of the few remaining Saiyans, but I believe the two of you have met. You may know him by his Earth name, Goku."
Chi-Chi turned to the blushing Saiyan, with a soft smile she acknowledged him in a lighter tone then the others. "It is nice to meet you. However, I must wonder, by which name should I refer to you as?"
Shocked by the gentle tone she used, he could barely choke out the words to use. "I-It r-really doesn't matter. Most people just call me G-Goku." he said with one hand rubbing the back of his neck while giving her a sheepish smile.
Smiling gently, she acknowledged his response before turning back to the Prince. Vegeta, in turn, went to her seat and pulled out her chair, indicating that it was his seat. After pushing her chair in, he returned to his seat.
Chi-Chi was quite amused by the scowl he wore when he thought she was not looking. She was enjoying his annoyance. After studying the Saiyan Prince a little more, she noticed that he was quite handsome. 'Too bad he is an arrogant, self absorbed jack ass.' Slowly her gaze drifted to each of the members of the table. 'Let's see. So, Bulma is heiress to Capsule Corp. That explains why she is here. I guess Dr. Gero is of some importance seeing as the siblings are here. And I guess Kakkarrotto goes wherever his Prince and King go. Amusing.'
Her thoughts and the others' chatter were interrupted with the arrival of the meal. After the first course of the meal was served, the group continued their talk, each ignoring the Princess and casting distrustful gazes her way. Vegeta merely focused upon his food and ignored everyone at the table. Goku, remember the Kings forewarnings, ate slowly giving slide glances to Chi-Chi. Noting his glances, Chi-Chi met his eyes and raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow in a questioning manner.
Blushing a bright crimson, Goku smiled sheepishly and returned his attention to his food. Smiling, Chi-Chi followed his example and went back to eating. 'At least one of them doesn't hate me.' she thought with a laugh. 'Not that I blame any of them. I feel so much better since I talked to Pierre. His advice is always excellent and I have to follow it. He said I should get to know both of them, which means I have to get along with all of them. Can't be to hard, can it?' she asked herself as she turned her attention to the conversation at the table.
"Vegeta, how the hell can you act that way? I would say that you have no manners at all, but you displayed manners when your father was here and in the way you treated the Princess over there." Bulma declared.
"Woman, shut that loud trap of yours." Vegeta growled.
"Oh, I see, your afraid of your father aren't you? Big bad Veggie is afraid of making a mistake in front of his father…"
Her ridicule was interrupted when Vegeta slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it woman, shut the fuck up. You are so damn annoying with your constant banter." Noticing that everyone's attention was on him, Vegeta calmed down and spoke in a softer voice. "Do not mock me onna. My father is King; he deserves his respect, as do I. And as much as I hate to say this, that onna over there is also royalty. She may not be of my planet, but she is of yours. So as long as I am a resident of this planet, I am forced to display the respect that royalty deserves. Do you understand that?"
"So just because she is royalty, she gets treated above the rest of us. She is a cold hearted bitch and yet she is treated above us. How fucking great, Vegeta."
Goku nervously glanced at Chi-Chi, who was currently trying to hold back her laughter. Her shoulders shook as she bowed her head, attempting to gather control. 'Damn, those two belong together. Those two are so damn funny…." Her train of thought was interrupted as she felt a firm hand on her shoulder. Looking up she found Goku peering at her, his countenance displaying his concern. Goku studied her face and found that she was not crying, in fact her eyes seemed to be dance with amusement.
"Are you okay? Don't mind those two; they are always fighting like this. Don't take what Bulma said seriously…." he began only to be interrupted by Chi-Chi's hand.
Noticing that everyone at the table was peering at her with curiosity, Chi- Chi decided that it was time to put this to rest. Looking at Goku, she began. "Goku, it's alright. I am used to that reaction and it's not like I don't deserve it." Turning to the others, she continued, "Look, I am well aware of what you think of me and I certainly haven't done any thing to dissuade your train of thought. However, it seems that we will have to put up with each other more than just in school and when we occasionally meet around my house. It looks like we will be in attendance of just about the same idiotic social gatherings, so I propose this. Let's just put everything to rest and try to get along. We will be encountering each other much more often; in fact I believe I have to attend a dinner party at Capsule Corp soon. That just shows that we will be together much more often then any of us would like to be right now. So, it would be best if we make an attempt to get along."
Looking around, she noticed many carefully weighing her words. She knew that this would be more or less their decision. They were already friends, she was the outsider. Pensively she awaited their answer. Slowly, they began to look at each other, communicating though their eyes. Finally each of them nodded affirmative. Vegeta merely grunted and went back to eating, with Goku following his example. The three girls rolled their eyes and laughed at the Saiyan antics, dispelling the tension of the room
And in that moment, a shaky alliance was made between them.