Well, better get it over with. He went inside.
Zarbon looked around. In front of him was a stairway, just like he remembered. And there was a door on the left hand side of the room and a door on the right. These lead to some of the children's bedrooms. There were a few kids playing that he didn't recognize. Well, he wasn't surprised that he didn't recognize them. They didn't look like they were even born when he was here. How long ago was that now... well, he was eighteen when he left, so...
"Twelve years..." Zarbon mumbled. He looked around some more. Frieza wasn't anywhere in sight. Probably in the guest room, if he new Samedin. The guest room... they'd he'd have to go past - hey, don't worry about it! Silvia and Leela wouldn't be in their rooms. Silvia would be out training, or rehearsing her act at the night club, and Leela would probably be training or wandering around in the wood. Tsk! Peasant. She hardly ever rehearsed, but she still managed to perform beautifully on the stage. She was so pretty, too. Zarbon hated it.
Zarbon went up the stairs. He turned left, and made his way along the corridor. Along this corridor was Silvia's bedroom, one of the bathrooms, Leela's room, and the guest room. If he'd taken a right, he'd have found Samedin's room, Maple's room, and... hmm... maybe his room was a guest room now...?
Zarbon was walking past Silvia's room when the door opened. He froze.
"Er... are you sure Leela will like this -" Vegeta stopped when he saw the green man standing in front of him.
"Zarbon? What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Me? What are YOU doing in Silvia's room?!" Zarbon demanded.
"Did I hear you say Zarbon?" Silvia's voice asked.
"Oh no..." Zarbon mumbled. Silvia appeared at the door. She stood there, staring at him with a small smile on her face.
"I can't believe it! Is that really you, Zarbon?"
"Yeah, it's me..." Zarbon said. "Hi, sis."
~~~
"WHAT?!" Vegeta jumped back, making Silvia move quickly to the side.
"Did you just say sister?!" Vegeta gasped.
"That's right." Silvia replied. "Zarbon and I are blood - related. I'm his older sister." she eyed Zarbon as she spoke to Vegeta.
"He's the brother we were telling you about."
"Hey guys, look what I found!" Maple came to the doorway, holding a cape. She saw Zarbon, and gasped.
"Z - Zarbon?"
"Maple..." Zarbon said.
"What are..." Maple dropped the cape. "Are you here for Frieza?" she spoke as she walked past Vegeta and Silvia, into the hallway. Zarbon nodded.
"He's having a meeting with mom. As his right hand man, I'm to accompany him."
"No kidding." was all Maple could say through her disbelief. She looked at him.
"Zarbon..." Maple began.
"Yes?" Zarbon asked.
"Oh, man. This is gonna get nasty." Silvia sighed. Vegeta looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"Watch."
Vegeta looked at Maple and Zarbon.
"Well..." Maple looked at the ground. Zarbon waited for her to continue. Maple looked at the ground for a little longer, then jerked her head up to look at him.
"YOU BIG JERK!!!" she threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground. Maple started punching him.
"H - Hey!! Maple!" Zarbon cried out.
"You stupid jerk! How could you just leave me like that?!" Maple yelled. "Twelve years and not a single word, not even a letter! I'M YOUR TWIN SISTER!!"
"Hey, get off me! Come on, Maple! What was I supposed to write? You all hated Lord Frieza! All of you, you especially, Maple, were mad at me for leaving to work for him!" Zarbon protested, pushing her off him. Maple climbed to her feet, as did Zarbon.
"SO?!" Maple slapped his across the face. "You could've still written, there was a chance I'd read the letter!!" she yelled.
"Will you quit slapping me?!" Zarbon exclaimed. Maple just seemed to get angrier.
"JERK!!" she slapped his again. Zarbon cried out as Maple started pounding his chest angrily.
"I hate you I hate you I hate you I HATE YOU!!" she came closer to tears with each word, and finally threw herself against him, tears flying sideways out of her eyes.
"Zarboooon!" she cried. "Why did you have to go away and leave me? You were the greatest brother in the world!"
"Uh..." Vegeta watched with a surprised and confused expression on his face, while Silvia stood there seeming a little fed up of the old routine she seemed to have seen before. Apparently this behaviour was typical of Maple.
"Maple - chan..." Zarbon said softly, wrapping his arms around her as Maple cried against his armor. Maple lifted up her head to look at him.
"I left to find a job. You know that. And working for Frieza's a great job. It's well paid, and you get to travel and train a lot."
"Liar!" Maple shouted. Zarbon closed his eyes, trying to block out the noise as Maple yelled at him.
"You didn't leave just because the job was good! You left because Leela stole your place at the Samedin Night Club! That little brat! She drove you away!"
"That's not true!" Zarbon argued, but he didn't sound too confident.
"Is - too!"
Vegeta looked at them.
"What's the Samedin Night Club?" he asked.
"None of your business!" Zarbon snapped. "What are you even doing here anyway? Don't you have a mission to go to, monkey?!"
"Not today." Vegeta replied. He smirked smugly. "Until Frieza has that meeting with Samedin, Nappa, Raditz and I are free to do whatever we want in your house! We even get free entry to your training facility!"
"Grr..." Zarbon growled. He looked at Vegeta, and for the first time noticed that he wasn't wearing his usual clothing.
"Vegeta, what are you wearing?" he asked.
"Huh - oh, er..." Vegeta reddened.
He wore a creamy colored jacket that had a golden belt wrapped around the waist, and creamy colored trousers. He wore ruby cuff links and black shoes. On his shoulders were a pair of golden epaulets.
Zarbon smirked.
"You look ridiculous. Why're you dressed like that?"
"Why WOULD any prince that's met Leela dress like this?" Silvia asked, picking up the red cape Maple had dropped. She tied it around Vegeta's neck as she spoke.
"To impress Leela, of course."
"Leela?!" Zarbon repeated.
"Yeah, that's right." Maple nodded. "We need to make Leela fall in love with Vegeta."
"Why?" Zarbon asked in confusion.
"Well, basically, our little baby sister had got a big girl's crush on fairy tale prince Frieza." Silvia explained.
"Yeah! And we need to make her fall in love with someone else who she can't stay with otherwise she'll go off to live with Frieza just like you did!" Maple added. "And there's no way I'm losing my sister to him, too!"
"But Maple, just the other day you were slagging Leela off behind her back because you blamed her for Zarbon leaving." Silvia said. "And now you're saying you want her to stay?"
"Well..." Maple looked at the ground. "I may not like her sometimes, but she's still my sister..."
"Hey," Raditz appeared on the scene. He looked at Zarbon.
"You're here? So what are you waiting for? Lord Frieza's becoming impatient." he told him.
"Yaa!" Zarbon gasped. "Lord Frieza! I completely forgot! Where is he?!"
"In the living room." Raditz told him.
"I'd better go." Zarbon headed for the stairs. Raditz looked at Vegeta.
"Er..."
"Don't even say anything." Vegeta growled.
"Yes sir ^_^;"
"Come on," Silvia took Vegeta's hand. "It's time the dreamer met her dream." she led him downstairs. Maple took a step after them, and stopped. She looked at Raditz, who was staring at her.
"What?!" she demanded.
"Nothing... it's just..." Raditz saw her angered face. "Er... never mind."
"Tell me!" Maple grabbed him by his collar and held him a few inches off the ground.
"A - Aren't nameks asexual?" Raditz choked.
"YES! I just LOOK like a girl, okay?!" Maple threw up upwards.
"Yaa!" Raditz couldn't gain control before he hit the ceiling. He hovered there, rubbing his head. His eyes were slightly out of focus.
"Hmph!" Maple smirked a little, and went down the stairs with her nose in the air.
"What a brat..." Raditz mumbled.
~~~
Samedin and Frieza (with Leela on his arm) were talking when Zarbon walked in. Frieza noticed him.
"Ah, here you are." he stood up, glad for an excuse to get Leela off him. It was because of his gratitude that he didn't comment on how late Zarbon was. Instead, he looked at Samedin.
"Samedin, allow me to introduce Zarbon. My right hand man."
"Yes..." Samedin, who had already realized who he was, stood up. She stared at him.
"It is... really you?" she asked.
"Huh?" Leela looked at her mother. "Who is he?" she asked. "Wait, Zarbon? Isn't that...?"
"That's right." Samedin nodded. She looked at Zarbon.
"Are you the same one?"
"Hm?" Frieza looked at her in a puzzled manner. "You two have already met him?"
"Not since I was five years old..." Leela replied. "I'd forgotten what he looks like." she looked at Zarbon.
"Until now. Now I remember it all perfectly."
"Yeah..." Zarbon mumbled. He looked at Samedin. "Hi, mom."
~~~
Vegeta looked at the many bowls on the large table. He'd never seen so much food in his life.... except on Planet Vegeta... that bastard, Frieza.
"Well, dig in ^_^" Samedin smiled. Of course, Nappa and Raditz didn't need to be told twice. They dived for the bowls and scooped out large portions of the different foods. Normally, Vegeta wouldn't be bothered because he was used to it, but if Leela thought saiyans were pigs, she wouldn't even think twice about falling for Vegeta. Vegeta nudged Nappa and Raditz, who were sitting at either side of him. They looked at him.
"Quit it. Don't screw this up for me, bakas!" Vegeta mumbled. The two other saiyans tried to use more manners. It didn't work very well, but it was the best they could do.
Samedin sat at the far end of the table, opposite an empty chair. Next to Raditz was Zarbon and opposite Zarbon, Raditz, Vegeta and Nappa were Silvia, Maple (directly opposite Raditz which he was quite uneasy with), Leela and Frieza. Vegeta was glad to be directly opposite Leela, maybe she'd notice him more that way.
It didn't seem too promising, though. Vegeta was using the best of his manners to try to impress her, but she seemed too interested in Frieza to notice anyone or anything else. Frieza had half a mind to say something to her to make her go away, but he didn't want to get on Silvia's bad side before their meeting - which was now going to be after dinner.
"So how did Zarbon get here anyway?" Nappa questioned. Zarbon looked down, trying to hide his face. Brother of a saiyan and a namek... what would Frieza think? It wasn't that he hated Leela and Maple - well, not Maple anyway, but surely Frieza was wondering why he never told him about his past..?
"Well, it all started twenty five years ago..." Samedin began. "The orphanage was already open, and had been for ten years, but I had no children of my own. Then two orphan children came to me."
"Zarbon and Silvia." Leela said. Samedin nodded.
"Zarbon was five years old and Silvia, ten." she explained. "At first, they were just regular orphans in the orphanage. But I really took a shine to them." she smiled. "They were such cute kids. A pleasure to be with, too."
Raditz and Nappa sniggered a little, while Vegeta couldn't help but smirk though he tried not to. Zarbon reddened.
"I adopted the two that year." Samedin continued. "Then, a year later, Maple came. She was six years old. The same age as Zarbon. Again, she was just an orphan at first. But she got on so well with my children - Zarbon especially."
Zarbon went even redder.
"I've never seen orphans so close in so little time, the three were like family. So I adopted Maple." Samedin explained.
"And finally, seven years later, we found little baby Leela." Silvia carried on. Samedin nodded.
"That's right. Her story was quite a sweet one, actually. With Zarbon, Silvia and Maple, they had been sent over from their home planets because they had lost their parents. But Leela... a man in a nearby town found her in the forest. An abandoned baby. Not even old enough to crawl or even raise her head. He gave her to me, and I adopted and named her."
"Then Zarbon got jealous of her talents and left." Maple added.
"Shut up!" Zarbon snapped. "That isn't true!"
"Maple!" Samedin scolded. Maple turned away guiltily.
"Sorry..." she mumbled.
"Talents?" Vegeta looked at Leela with amazing (false) interest. "Flatter her"
"Besides your amazing looks and strength, what else is there?" he asked. Was that too corny?
"Vegeta..." Leela blushed a little. Vegeta smiled. It was working.
"Ever heard of the Samedin Night Club?" Silvia asked.
"We passed that place on the way here." Vegeta said. "But what exactly is it?"
"The biggest and best night club on this whole planet!" Maple boasted, and the bragged: "And we're the main attractions."
"Well, I'm not sure about you..." Silvia looked sideways at her. Maple glared at Silvia.
"Grrr..."
"Alright, girls, that's enough." Samedin said.
"Hmph!" Maple folded her arms and turned away from Silvia, who smirked.
"The three of us perform at the club every weekend and often weekdays." Leela told her guests.
"People come from all over the universe to use the arena and see us sing and dance at the club." Silvia said.
"Hey, did Zarbon ever sing or dance?" Raditz asked, smirking a little. Vegeta and Nappa also smirked. Frieza seemed interested to know the answer. And Zarbon, he went bright red and tried to hide his face.
"Are you kidding me?" Maple replied. "Ever since we started performing Zarbon was the star!"
"When did you start performing?" Vegeta asked.
"Since I came." Maple told him.
"Zarbon used to sing and dance?" Frieza smirked. The saiyan males started sniggering.
"That's right." Samedin nodded. "The crowd was always enchanted by Silvia's grace and Maple enthusiasm, but when Zarbon came onto the stage, the crowd went wild."
"So why'd you leave?" Nappa wondered aloud.
"I told you." Maple said. "Because when Zarbon and I were thirteen, Leela was five years old and old enough to perform, and she was such a great dancer. She was a cute singer and she was really pretty - she still is. When she was eight she took Zarbon's place as the star. He got jealous and left when he was eighteen."
Zarbon stood up, and leaned across the table at Maple.
"For the last time, I did not leave because of her!!" he yelled. Maple sweatdropped, while Silvia didn't seem at all surprised by her brother's behaviour. Vegeta, Raditz, Nappa, and Frieza, however didn't know how to react. Leela just seemed to be watching with curiosity.
"You left because you were jealous of me?" she asked.
"NO!" Zarbon exclaimed. "I did not leave because I was jealous of you little brat!"
"Take off the little brat and we might've believed you." Silvia said casually.
"Huh - Grrr..." Zarbon growled, but didn't argue. He couldn't win. So he sat back down, his fists clenched.
"Anyway..." Samedin tried to change the subject. She looked at Frieza.
"Lord Frieza, will you be leaving after our meeting? There are plenty of spare rooms in you wish to stay."
"Yeah!" Leela exclaimed. She latched herself onto Frieza's arm. "Let him stay for tonight!"
"What's happening tonight?" Zarbon asked.
"We're performing at the club." Silvia told him.
"Frieza, you can come and watch me perform!!" Leela beamed.
"Er..." Frieza really didn't want to stay any longer than he had to.
"Yeah, stay, Zarbon!" Maple urged.
"I'm sure our handsome saiyan prince," Silvia had said this intentionally for Leela. "Would like to stay a little longer." she looked at Vegeta.
"Er..." Vegeta glanced at Frieza, who didn't seem too thrilled with the idea. But he had to risk it anyway. "Sure..."
"Then it's settled." Samedin clapped her hands together. "I'm glad, actually." she smiled at Zarbon. "I haven't seen my son in years. You and I need to have a long talk, I want to know everything."
"There isn't really much to tell." Zarbon shrugged.
"You left twelve years ago, there must be something." Samedin replied.
"Well, why don't we all have a talk? If they're staying overnight you can have your meeting tomorrow." Maple suggested.
"Is that alright with you?" Samedin asked Frieza.
"Well actually -"
"Yeah!" Leela exclaimed. She hugged Frieza. "We can have a nice, long talk and really get to know each other and then later on you can watch my performance at the club!!"
"...." Frieza sighed. "Fine, then..." he mumbled. Vegeta and Silvia exchanged worried glances. No way! If they got to know each other...
"Um... Leela," he looked at her.
"Yeah?" Leela asked.
"That sounds great, but... you've never actually been to Planet Vegeta or seen a saiyan - not that you remember anyway, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Well... uh... why don't the two of us talk?" Vegeta offered. "I could fill you in on everything about the saiyan race."
"That's tempting, and kind of you, Vegeta..." Leela said. "But it really doesn't bother me that much. I already know a saiyan's strengths and weaknesses. And as for their history, if I really wanted to know I could always look it up in the Samedin Library."
"Geez, is there anything you don't have?!" Raditz exclaimed.
"Oh... okay..." Vegeta said. What was he meant to do now?! Maybe he could try to convince her...
"Has everyone had enough to eat?" Samedin asked, standing up.
"Yup!" Nappa replied, grinning. Everyone else nodded.
"Good." Samedin looked at her daughters. "Then you three can help me clear away these plates."
"Aww, mom!"
~~~
Vegeta looked out of the window. It was after dark. The garden in this place was huge. It went of for miles in all directions. Vegeta could only just see the end of it. To see the sides he'd have to go outside, he couldn't see from the window. There were more different species of flower than he ever knew existed, and there was a lake, too. It was coated with lilies and lily pads, and the different features of the garden attracted wildlife. Frogs, fish, insects, a few small mammals, birds...
There was a tall fence that went around the garden. Probably to stop the little kids from escaping and getting lost. There was a river that ran through a small, cut away gap in the fence, through the garden, and into the lake. Going across the river was a bridge. Vegeta looked at who was on it. Oh on! Leela. And she had Frieza out there with her. Oh, man! And such a romantic night. Standing alone on a bridge under the moon, in a beautiful garden.
Vegeta wished he could go out there and kill the moment, but the moon was out - wait. The moon was out! Why wasn't Leela -
"Drugs."
"Whoa!" Vegeta jumped as Silvia's voice came up behind him. He turned around to look at her.
"You have GOT to stop doing that!"
"I like my boys to keep on their toes." Silvia smirked sexily. Vegeta knew she meant nothing by this, but it was still weird.
He shook his head.
"Anyway, how can Leela stand out there without turning oozaru?" he asked.
"Oh, come on!" Silvia said. "We have an orphanage, a gym, and a night club. We can't have all that without having a decent bunch of scientists."
"Huh?What do you mean?" Vegeta looked at her. Silvia sighed.
"Isn't it obvious? The scientists in our lab have studied over two hundred races. Including saiyans. With the help of their favourite specimen Leela, they know exactly how the saiyan body works. Thus, they've made a little something to stop her going on a rampage whenever she's exposed to moonlight."
"She takes DRUGS?!" Vegeta gasped.
"Technically, I guess you're right." Silvia shrugged. "But it's just a little injection. It's not addictive, and there are no side effects. She doesn't even use it that often anyway. Well, by that I mean she doesn't use it when she doesn't have to. She needs it when she's performing when the moon's out, because she has to go outside to get into the club. I guess tonight she just used it a little earlier because she wanted to get Frieza alone."
"How long does that thing last? Are they going to be out there all night?!" Vegeta asked.
"That would be almost impossible, and very expensive. It lasts for twelve hours, and can only be used once every twenty four." Silvia explained.
She looked at him.
"But don't look so worried. We're leaving to go to the club in ten minutes. Once we're there, it'll be an hour before my sisters and I do our performance. I'll help you keep Leela and Frieza separate."
"Okay..."
"Actually, I'd better get Leela inside." Silvia said. "See you in a minute." she left the room.
Vegeta looked outside, at Frieza and Leela. Injections? Vegeta didn't even know that was possible.
He heard footsteps. Vegeta turned around to see Zarbon.
"Vegeta," Zarbon said. He looked outside, and his face twisted up at the sight of them. He closed the curtains so Frieza and Leela didn't see him talking to Vegeta, and looked at the saiyan.
"You're trying to make Leela fall in love with you, right?"
"Who told you that?" Vegeta asked.
"Maple." Zarbon replied.
"Oh..."
"Vegeta," Zarbon stepped forward in a determined manner. "I want to help you!"
"Huh?!" Vegeta gasped.
"What Maple said was true!" Zarbon declared. He then said dramatically:
"I was the star. The crowd loved me. I had everything I could ever possible dream of..." he clenched his fist, and his face went red with anger. "Then SHE turned up! She was perfect! Her sweet personality, her cute movement, her angel voice, her pretty golden hair, and her cute little tail! That little brat, she stole my fans with her innocence!!"
"Uh..." Vegeta sweatdropped.
"Well, she may have stolen my place as the star but she won't steal my Frieza!!"
"Your Frieza?" Vegeta looked at him.
"Yes! That's right!" Zarbon clasped his hands together, and stared dreamily into space. Star - eyed, he said romantically
"It's my deepest, darkest secret. So deep and dark I can't even tell him in case he disapproves. But I adore him in every way possible! My one true wish is for him to be mine forever!"
"Er..." Vegeta backed away a little. Zarbon snapped out of his daydream, and leaned down to Vegeta's height, his face only inches away from Vegeta's.
"There! Now you know! And if you tell ANYONE I will kill you myself, okay?!"
"O - Okay..." Vegeta leaned back, staring at him, kinda freaked out.
"I'll help you win her heart and drive her away from my beloved Frieza!! Deal?!" Zarbon yelled.
"D - Deal..."