A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a little while, life has been a bit crazy
this last week and sadly this will be kind of a short chapter. I'll get
another up by the end of the weekend...hopefully.
Chapter 27
"How much longer is this going to take woman?" Vegeta growled as he entered Bulma's lab.
Bulma looked up from the machinery she was welding together and lifted her goggles. "I'm nearly done, but it'll go a lot quicker if you bugging me and let me work!"
"Well if you'd hurry the hell up, I wouldn't have to bug you!"
Bulma scratched the side of her head with her middle finger. "Look, I'm working as fast as I can."
"Need I remind you that our lives depend on you finishing this ship with some pretence of speed?"
Bulma threw a wrench at him, "I'll finish that much quicker if you would just shut up and quit interrupting me you jerk!"
Vegeta stepped close to her and smirked, "Don't act as if you don't like my...interruptions."
Bulma could feel the warmth radiating off his well sculpted body, somehow fighting with him always made her more susceptible to his advances, she smiled, "Well, I suppose it's important to make a little time for interruptions. Like they say, all work and no play..." She tilted her head back and kissed him. The two of them didn't get anything done the rest of the afternoon.
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Akira and Piccolo were sitting under the lone tree on King Kai's planet, the Namek had been granted some time outside of HFIL due to deal that King Kai had negotiated. The two had been meditating for nearly the entire day.
Finally Akira opened one eye and peaked at his companion
"What?" Piccolo asked gruffly without opening his eyes.
"I was just wondering if you knew anything about those two Saiyans. Raditz and Nappa."
Piccolo opened his eyes and looked at Akira curiously. "They were two of the last full blooded Saiyans in the universe, Raditz was Goku's brother and Nappa was Vegeta's right hand man. I killed Raditz with the help of Goku when he came to earth and kidnapped Gohan. Vegeta killed Nappa after Goku defeated him. I know that they had worked for Freiza conquering planets and selling them to the highest bidder, but that's about all I know of their lives. Why do you ask?"
Akira looked down and took a deep breath, "I don't know anything about my past, but I have a tail that looks just like theirs... and I can turn into a Super Saiyan, unless there's another species out there with tails that can change into blond-haired, blue-eyed super fighters. The only other full blooded Saiyan that I've met is Vegeta and he doesn't exactly strike me as the type to sit down and discuss his life story over tea."
"You're a Saiyan? A full blooded one?" Piccolo asked in disbelief.
The young man shrugged, "As far as I know. I mean, I don't have any idea who my parents were so who knows what I am, right?"
"You don't know anything about your past?"
"The farthest back that I can remember is waking up on an island about six months ago. I knew my name was Akira, but that was pretty much it. I could fly and fight, but it was all on instinct, I didn't really think about how I was doing it until after I finished."
Piccolo sat quietly for several moments while he thought. Then he turned to Akira and said, "Let me try something, it might help us figure this mystery out." He stretched his hand out to place it on Akira's forehead, but the young man pulled away.
"You don't want to do that," he said, "I tried it with Vegeta and I think it nearly drove him insane."
Piccolo smiled, "I used to be the Guardian of Earth, kid. I think I have a little more experience with this sort of thing than you or Vegeta."
Akira looked doubtful, but he moved his head closer, "Alright, if you think you can handle it."
Piccolo placed his hand on the young man and closed his eyes in concentration. All at once images flooded into his mind, Akira at the tournament, a kiss from Gohan's daughter, Akira at school, Akira in a small town, an island being hammered by a storm, and then a bright, white light. The light swirled around his brain at a frantic pace, but he thought he could make out images in the light, or perhaps they were feelings and they seemed somehow familiar...suddenly the light grew brighter, it began to overwhelm the Namek's defenses. Piccolo struggled to breathe, trying to maintain the connection, to focus on the images in the light. Finally he was forced to pull himself away; he and Akira fell to the ground in exhaustion, breathing hard as sweat ran down their faces.
"Well?" Akira asked.
"Well what?"
"Is that normal? I mean, you were the Guardian of Earth, have you ever seen anything like that?"
"No," Piccolo said, still struggling for breath, "I've never seen anything like that. Perhaps in a bit, when you've recovered, we can have King Kai try, he has incredibly powerful telepathic abilities."
Akira nodded and lay down on the grass, in a moment he was soundly asleep.
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Pan was walking through a field of flowers that seemed to stretch on forever. Suddenly she realized that she had lost something, something precious. She began searching through the flowers and grass, hoping to come across the item. In her increasingly panicked search, she began to hurry, throwing dirt, flowers, grass, and rock everywhere.
Finally her hands unearthed a small, glass globe; she sat down and cradled it to her chest, rocking gently. It began to grow warm; she looked down and found that it was now glowing slightly also. Pan held the globe out and watched in fascination as the light grew brighter and the glass became hotter. Soon the light was so bright that she had to turn her head; her hands began to shake as the glass began to burn her skin, she knew that she would have to let go soon, but she couldn't bare the thought of losing the precious object again.
Finally she was forced to wrench her blistering hands away, but the globe did not drop, it hovered in front of her and began slowly rotating. Pan tried looking at the light again and found that while it was painful, the beauty of the ball compelled her to keep watching. The glass globe began to change, as if melting, but the shape it was becoming was somehow familiar. It was her Grandpa Goku. The glass Goku smiled at her and gave her a happy wink, then it began changing into something else, something slightly smaller and with shorter hair. It was Akira.
Pan reached up to touch the glass face, slowly, not caring if she burned herself. Her hands cupped it; the light spread around her and the glass sucked her in.
She was falling, tumbling head over heels in a profoundly bright pit. Indistinct voices whispered all around her, following her as she fell. Then up a head she saw a dark spot, an end to the tunnel she travelling. She closed her eyes as the darkness rushed up to meet her.
When Pan opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in her grass field again, the sun was shining, but she could also see the stars twinkling in the blue sky. Birds were chirping and numerous animals were playing without a care in the world; Akira's glass face was nowhere to be found. On the horizon, Pan noticed a darkening of the sky, as if dusk were quickly approaching despite the sun's position over head. Soon the darkness had spread causing the stars that it touched to wink out of existence, but it did not just eat at the sky, it was also spreading across the land. The animals began to run and the birds ceased their song as they fled in terror, but all were consumed.
Pan powered up to Super Saiyan, determined to confront this threat head on and for a moment her golden aura seemed to hold the darkness back, but slowly her light faded as the dark began to take her. She dropped to her knees, accepting the inevitable. Just as the cold darkness was about to touch her, a light appeared in the distance, making its way towards her. The darkness fell back, unable to consume it. Pan looked up and found Akira, his aura bathing everything around him in beautiful golden light.
She watched in wonder as he pushed the darkness away. He looked the same as ever, except for his eyes, which seemed to be older and wiser somehow. He smiled gently and helped her to her feet.
She tried to make her mouth work, to find something to tell him, but she seemed frozen. His smile grew bigger and he brushed his lips gently against hers. She reached for him.
Pan's eyes snapped open as her alarm began beeping. She looked around and groaned unhappily before pulling herself out of bed and heading to the shower.
Chapter 27
"How much longer is this going to take woman?" Vegeta growled as he entered Bulma's lab.
Bulma looked up from the machinery she was welding together and lifted her goggles. "I'm nearly done, but it'll go a lot quicker if you bugging me and let me work!"
"Well if you'd hurry the hell up, I wouldn't have to bug you!"
Bulma scratched the side of her head with her middle finger. "Look, I'm working as fast as I can."
"Need I remind you that our lives depend on you finishing this ship with some pretence of speed?"
Bulma threw a wrench at him, "I'll finish that much quicker if you would just shut up and quit interrupting me you jerk!"
Vegeta stepped close to her and smirked, "Don't act as if you don't like my...interruptions."
Bulma could feel the warmth radiating off his well sculpted body, somehow fighting with him always made her more susceptible to his advances, she smiled, "Well, I suppose it's important to make a little time for interruptions. Like they say, all work and no play..." She tilted her head back and kissed him. The two of them didn't get anything done the rest of the afternoon.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
Akira and Piccolo were sitting under the lone tree on King Kai's planet, the Namek had been granted some time outside of HFIL due to deal that King Kai had negotiated. The two had been meditating for nearly the entire day.
Finally Akira opened one eye and peaked at his companion
"What?" Piccolo asked gruffly without opening his eyes.
"I was just wondering if you knew anything about those two Saiyans. Raditz and Nappa."
Piccolo opened his eyes and looked at Akira curiously. "They were two of the last full blooded Saiyans in the universe, Raditz was Goku's brother and Nappa was Vegeta's right hand man. I killed Raditz with the help of Goku when he came to earth and kidnapped Gohan. Vegeta killed Nappa after Goku defeated him. I know that they had worked for Freiza conquering planets and selling them to the highest bidder, but that's about all I know of their lives. Why do you ask?"
Akira looked down and took a deep breath, "I don't know anything about my past, but I have a tail that looks just like theirs... and I can turn into a Super Saiyan, unless there's another species out there with tails that can change into blond-haired, blue-eyed super fighters. The only other full blooded Saiyan that I've met is Vegeta and he doesn't exactly strike me as the type to sit down and discuss his life story over tea."
"You're a Saiyan? A full blooded one?" Piccolo asked in disbelief.
The young man shrugged, "As far as I know. I mean, I don't have any idea who my parents were so who knows what I am, right?"
"You don't know anything about your past?"
"The farthest back that I can remember is waking up on an island about six months ago. I knew my name was Akira, but that was pretty much it. I could fly and fight, but it was all on instinct, I didn't really think about how I was doing it until after I finished."
Piccolo sat quietly for several moments while he thought. Then he turned to Akira and said, "Let me try something, it might help us figure this mystery out." He stretched his hand out to place it on Akira's forehead, but the young man pulled away.
"You don't want to do that," he said, "I tried it with Vegeta and I think it nearly drove him insane."
Piccolo smiled, "I used to be the Guardian of Earth, kid. I think I have a little more experience with this sort of thing than you or Vegeta."
Akira looked doubtful, but he moved his head closer, "Alright, if you think you can handle it."
Piccolo placed his hand on the young man and closed his eyes in concentration. All at once images flooded into his mind, Akira at the tournament, a kiss from Gohan's daughter, Akira at school, Akira in a small town, an island being hammered by a storm, and then a bright, white light. The light swirled around his brain at a frantic pace, but he thought he could make out images in the light, or perhaps they were feelings and they seemed somehow familiar...suddenly the light grew brighter, it began to overwhelm the Namek's defenses. Piccolo struggled to breathe, trying to maintain the connection, to focus on the images in the light. Finally he was forced to pull himself away; he and Akira fell to the ground in exhaustion, breathing hard as sweat ran down their faces.
"Well?" Akira asked.
"Well what?"
"Is that normal? I mean, you were the Guardian of Earth, have you ever seen anything like that?"
"No," Piccolo said, still struggling for breath, "I've never seen anything like that. Perhaps in a bit, when you've recovered, we can have King Kai try, he has incredibly powerful telepathic abilities."
Akira nodded and lay down on the grass, in a moment he was soundly asleep.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
Pan was walking through a field of flowers that seemed to stretch on forever. Suddenly she realized that she had lost something, something precious. She began searching through the flowers and grass, hoping to come across the item. In her increasingly panicked search, she began to hurry, throwing dirt, flowers, grass, and rock everywhere.
Finally her hands unearthed a small, glass globe; she sat down and cradled it to her chest, rocking gently. It began to grow warm; she looked down and found that it was now glowing slightly also. Pan held the globe out and watched in fascination as the light grew brighter and the glass became hotter. Soon the light was so bright that she had to turn her head; her hands began to shake as the glass began to burn her skin, she knew that she would have to let go soon, but she couldn't bare the thought of losing the precious object again.
Finally she was forced to wrench her blistering hands away, but the globe did not drop, it hovered in front of her and began slowly rotating. Pan tried looking at the light again and found that while it was painful, the beauty of the ball compelled her to keep watching. The glass globe began to change, as if melting, but the shape it was becoming was somehow familiar. It was her Grandpa Goku. The glass Goku smiled at her and gave her a happy wink, then it began changing into something else, something slightly smaller and with shorter hair. It was Akira.
Pan reached up to touch the glass face, slowly, not caring if she burned herself. Her hands cupped it; the light spread around her and the glass sucked her in.
She was falling, tumbling head over heels in a profoundly bright pit. Indistinct voices whispered all around her, following her as she fell. Then up a head she saw a dark spot, an end to the tunnel she travelling. She closed her eyes as the darkness rushed up to meet her.
When Pan opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in her grass field again, the sun was shining, but she could also see the stars twinkling in the blue sky. Birds were chirping and numerous animals were playing without a care in the world; Akira's glass face was nowhere to be found. On the horizon, Pan noticed a darkening of the sky, as if dusk were quickly approaching despite the sun's position over head. Soon the darkness had spread causing the stars that it touched to wink out of existence, but it did not just eat at the sky, it was also spreading across the land. The animals began to run and the birds ceased their song as they fled in terror, but all were consumed.
Pan powered up to Super Saiyan, determined to confront this threat head on and for a moment her golden aura seemed to hold the darkness back, but slowly her light faded as the dark began to take her. She dropped to her knees, accepting the inevitable. Just as the cold darkness was about to touch her, a light appeared in the distance, making its way towards her. The darkness fell back, unable to consume it. Pan looked up and found Akira, his aura bathing everything around him in beautiful golden light.
She watched in wonder as he pushed the darkness away. He looked the same as ever, except for his eyes, which seemed to be older and wiser somehow. He smiled gently and helped her to her feet.
She tried to make her mouth work, to find something to tell him, but she seemed frozen. His smile grew bigger and he brushed his lips gently against hers. She reached for him.
Pan's eyes snapped open as her alarm began beeping. She looked around and groaned unhappily before pulling herself out of bed and heading to the shower.