Disclaimer-DBZ is copyright of Akira Toriyama. A Cruel Angel's Thesis is from Neon Genesis: Evangelion. The other song titles are from Ai Yori Aoshi and Escaflowne.
The Cruel Angel's Thesis
Bardock and Celipa—Celipa still holding the twins and Bardock holding Radditz by the shoulder—entered the spaceship. Kakarot looked at everything with wide eyes, his small, round, black pupils just barely moving.
"Move ahead," someone said roughly, and the family obeyed, moving forward. They notice that the Earthlings had stopped using the Saiyan language. That made it just a bit easier to bear, without the patronizing voices of uneducated foreigners.
They were nearing a desk. Behind it sat a bored-looking man in an Earthling uniform.
He glanced up as they approached. He looked at them all, sizing them up in a few seconds with his trained eye.
"You, you, and you," he said, pointing with each "you" to Bardock, Radditz, and Turles. "Go left. And the woman with the small one." He glanced at Celipa and Kakarot. "Go right."
"Why are you splitting us up?" Celipa asked, using Earthling like the man.
"The males and the stronger children are to be unloaded at a different stop than the women and weaker children. It's strategic marketing."
He looked up at all of them. "Halfway down the hall, you'll approach another Earthling. Stop there. You'll get your numbers."
"Numbers? We're just numbers?" Bardock thundered.
"Just go." He waved them aside, looking at the people after them.
The divided family looked at each other, for what they well knew could be the last time.
"Sayonara [Good-bye]," Bardock said.
"Daisuki. Aishiteru." Celipa turned away and started walking.
Kakarot peeked his head above her shoulder at his father and brothers. He raised a tentative hand and, spreading his fingers, waved good-bye.
Celipa stopped in front of the other Earthling the first one had mentioned. This time it was a woman, with a sharp, hard look on her face. Everything about her was sharp and hard, including her eyes, her hair, and the shape of her face.
"Gimmee your arm," she snapped out.
Celipa glared at the woman and switched Kakarot to her other arm. She held out her arm, underside-up.
The woman picked up the brand, grabbed Celipa's wrist with her free hand, and brought the brand onto her lower arm. Celipa flinched and gritted her teeth. She mustn't cry out. She mustn't disgrace her race's name.
The brand lifted, and she looked at it. FX27. Vegetasei's number.
"Gimmee the kid's arm."
Celipa took Kakarot's arm and brought it in front of the woman. She picked up the brand, grabbed Kakarot's wrist, and brought the brand down.
Kakarot had no sense of dignity or pride that was evident in Celipa. He screamed.
"Shut up, kid!" the woman yelled, and put pressure on the brand.
"Kakarot-chan, don't yell out," Celipa whispered in his ear. "It's only a damn Earthling."
The woman brought the brand away and dropped it on the desk. "Proceed to the next door," she said sharply.
Still glaring death at the woman, Celipa turned and walked down the hallway.
The hold was empty except for the two of them, but Celipa remembered that there were among the fist in line.
It was almost pure steel, except for a window on the far wall. The lights overhead were blinding white.
"Itai," Kakarot whimpered, using the Saiyan sound for "ow".
Celipa reflected on the differences between Earthlings and Saiyans as she walked to the far wall. Their grammatical structure, their words for simple things like "huh" and "ow", their legal ages for marriage, how long a pregnancy lasted, were different.
Even their legends were different, and here, legends could be fulfilled.
"Supa Saiyajin," she whispered, looking down at her son.
Kakarot looked up at her. "Mama?"
She shook her head. "Oyasumi nasai." She kissed his forehead and sank down to the ground. She drew her knees to her chest, as if guarding her child with a fortress, and loosened her grip on him a little so he could move into a sleeping position.
Kakarot could become a Super Saiyan. If he was treated this horribly for the rest of his life, if his anger could explode into energy, he could become one. It was a perverse way of achieving legendary status, but that couldn't be helped. At least something good might come out of this nightmare.
"Song."
Celipa looked down at her son. "Song" was his favorite Earthling word, just as "Thank you" was his favorite Earthling phrase. He said "Song" when he wanted her to sing to him. Sometimes she sang for her children. She had a beautiful singing voice, especially when she sang Saiyan. Saiyan could be a very elegant language if you took the time to listen.
"Song," he said, insisting though sleepy.
She searched her mind for songs she had memorized, which weren't that many. Towa no Hana [Flower of Eternity] and Yubiwa [Ring] were both love songs, and they wouldn't interest a 6-year-old boy. She racked her brain for more as the hold began to fill up. When the door to the hold slid shut, the perfect one finally came to her.
"Song?"
"Hai," she said. She held Kakarot against her and put her lips to his ear so the others wouldn't hear. This song was just for her son.
"Zankoku na tenshi no you ni [Like a cruel angel]
Shounen yo shinwa ni nare [Young boy, become the myth]!"
She paused as the lights went out ad they were plunged into darkness. There was a frenzied murmuring among the smaller children. Kakarot whimpered, so she held him tighter against her. She moved her face to the side of his head and began whispering the lyrics again.
"Aoi kaze ga ima [A blue wind is now]
Mune no doa wo tataite mo [Knocking at the door of your heart, and yet]
Watashi dake wo tada mitsumete [You are merely gazing at me]
Hohoende'ru anata [And smiling]
Sotto fureru mono [Something gently touching]
Motemeru koto ni muchuu de [You're so intent on seeking it out]
Unmei sae mada shiranai [That you can't even see your fate yet]
Itaike na hitomi [With such innocent eyes]
Dakedo itsuka kidzuku deshou [But someday I think you'll find out]
Sono seanake ni wa [That what's on your back]
Haruka mirai mezasu tame no [Are wings that are for]
Hane ga aru koto [Heading for the far-off future]
Zankoku ne tenshi no te-ze [The cruel angel's thesis]
Madobe kara yagate tobitatsu [Will soon take flight through the window]Hotobashiru atsui patosu de [With surging hot pathos]
Omoide wo uragiru nara [If you betray your memories]
Kono sora wa daite kagayuku [Embracing the sky and shining]
Shounen yo shinwa ni nare!"She moved her head and leaned it against the wall. Rthymically, she began to stroke his head gently.
"Thank you," he said in his imperfect English, leaning his head against her chest, and began to slowly doze off.
"Shounen yo shinwa ni nare," she whispered, and then kissed his head. "Oyasumi nasai."
For that theme song, go buy a Neon Genesis Evangelion DVD. But be warned, the translation was dubtitled! It's hard to explain…well, that translation was sabotaged. It's not the real thing.
No, you people are all probably thinking that Celipa is horribly OOC, but the Bardock Special didn't give me much to go by, so I took what they gave and took it to the extreme. That means: A) She likes kids, B) She's a good fighter but she doesn't fight as much as the others. The singing part I made up. She seems like she'd be a good singer.
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