Chapter Six: A Royal Saiya-jiin Reunion
She watched the light move around in the
blue sky. Her eyes
widened as she realized it was getting bigger.
"Ranma, umm, does it
look like it's getting closer?"
He squinted and nodded. "It does...it
almost looks like..." He
shouted back into the house. "Everyone,
come here, quick!" Ranma
released Akane and stepped into the street.
The rest of the family appeared in
the yard after hearing
Ranma's call. Ukyou came bounding
back into the yard. She also had
seen the strange light in the sky and had
a feeling she needed to
come back. Nodoka went up to Akane,
who was staring upwards, and
asked her, "What's wrong, Akane-chan?"
She pointed up into the sky.
"Look, Obaasan. Do you know
what it is?"
She shaded her eyes as she looked up
into the sky. "No, I
don't. What could it be?"
Nabiki sucked in a sharp breath and
pointed to it as well.
"Well, I think we're going to find out,
because it's gonna land on top
of us!" All of a sudden, it seemed
like it dropped out of the sky. It
shot by the house, barely missing the roof
and landed in the empty
lot a few doors down with a mighty crash.
A tremendous cloud of
dust and dirt flew into the air. Ranma
and Akane ran from the yard
and to the crash site. Everyone else
followed.
All they could see was the giant cloud
of dirt and dust. It
seemed to encompass the entire area.
Soon, when the cloud settled
for the most part and everyone coughed a
few times to clear their
lungs, they got a glimpse of what crashed
in their neighborhood.
Everyone let out a gasp of alarm.
For what had crashed was a ship,
and not that different from the ones they
had seen on the old
pictures earlier. Ranma walked up
to the ship and reached out to
touch it, but stopped because of the intense
heat radiating off
metal sides. "It's extremely hot."
He pointed out several holes and
rips in the protective plating. "It
looks damaged, as well." He made
a complete circle around the ship and came
back to the group.
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "On
one side, there looks like a spot
for a door, but I didn't see a button or
anything to open it."
Suddenly, there was a loud creaking,
like metal twisting.
Ranma turned around and moved in front of
Akane and the rest of
the girls, the fathers joining him, preparing
for whatever came out
of the pod. The group turned their
eyes to the sheet of metal that
opened from one side, and watched as a hand
and a head emerged
from the ship.
It coughed, clearing the dust and debris
from its lungs. It
stepped out of the pod and looked around,
taking in the unfamiliar
surroundings. The creature wore white
baggy pants and a skintight
black tank top. Ranma's eyes bulged
out at the sheer size of him.
He was massive! Muscles upon muscles
upon muscles. The alien's
stiff black hair stuck out everywhere; it
seemed to have a life of its
own. Ranma could feel the power radiating
off it, although he could
not detect a visible aura. He knew
it was powerful, way too powerful
for just him to take on. Heck, if
he had every available ally with
him, they still wouldn't be able to bring
him down. Ranma emitted a
small amount of aura himself, and prepared
for the worst.
The alien creature immediately swung
its head around,
pointedly staring at Ranma, when he flared
his aura, and to the
group of people staring in its direction.
It crawled completely out of
the spaceship, and walked over to them,
stopping in front of Ranma.
It started to speak. "Kon'nichi wa!
I'm Son Goku. Do you know
where the Capsule Corporation is located?"
It looked around in
confusion. "I don't think I landed
in the Western Capital..."
Ranma blinked. And blinked again.
"This is Nerima. Part of
Tokyo."
Goku's face brightened. "I landed
in Tokyo? Well, I wasn't
too far off then! Could you point
me in the direction of the Western
Capital?"
Ranma just stared at the male and silently
pointed to the
north. "Arigatou!" He nodded
his head in thanks and turned around.
He flared his aura and made to jump into
the air.
"Matte!"
Goku turned around and looked questionably
at who spoke.
Akane pointed at Goku. "You have a
tail! Where'd you get a tail?"
Goku furrowed his eyebrows and smiled
at the said
appendage. "Yeah, I was born with
one. It was removed a long time
ago, but it grew back last night.
Kami-sama said that he removed it
permanently, but it grew back somehow."
He shrugged his
shoulders, and the said tail lashed about
a few times. "Oh well. Why
do you want to know?"
Akane and Ranma brought their tails
forward to show the
new male. Goku's eyes widened dramatically.
"Sugoi! Are you
Saiya-jiin, too?"
Ranma and Akane both went slack-jawed
at his careless use
of the name. "You're a Saiya-jiin?"
Goku nodded vigorously.
Everyone, except for Ranma and Akane, facefaulted.
Goku looked at the others with confusion.
"What's with
them?"
Akane stammered. "We just found
out about being Saiya-jiin
this morning. We thought we were human..."
Goku nodded in understanding.
"Ah...and then you saw your
tails and you knew you were different."
They nodded in agreement.
"Well, you'll have to come visit sometime.
My family would love to
meet you!" He looked Ranma up and
down, giving him an appraising
nod. "And we'll have to spar sometime.
I am always looking for a
good fight." Ranma nodded silently,
still too shocked to speak
properly.
"Family? You have family here?"
Akane asked. At this time,
everyone had recovered from their facefault
and were talking
quietly to themselves.
Goku nodded, smiling brightly.
"Yes. My mate ChiChi and my
son, Gohan." His smile quickly turned
into a frown. He glanced in the
direction Ranma pointed out earlier.
"I should really get back home.
They're probably worried about me.
I've been gone a long time."
"Why don't you come back home with
us?" Kasumi asked
politely. "You can call them from
there. We were just about to eat
dinner."
Goku's stomach rumbled loudly at the
mention of food.
"Food? Well, that would be really
nice of you..."
"Tendo Kasumi."
Goku smiled brighter. "Tendo-san,
that would be really swell
of you. I could call Bulma and have
the gang come and pick me up!
Would that be a problem if I waited with
you?"
"That would be no problem, Son-san."
Akane told him. "We
would be honored to meet your friends and
family."
Kasumi and Nodoka went ahead and everyone
else followed,
bringing Goku along. "Should we prepare
more food for everyone
else, as well?"
Goku's stomach rumbled again.
"I'll tell Bulma to bring some
along. I tend to eat a lot.
And if everyone comes, then there would
have to be a ton more food for two other
Saiya-jiin."
Ranma and Akane stopped in their tracks,
and paled
noticeably. "Two...two more?"
They had reached the Tendo-ke and Kasumi
showed Goku the
phone. He thanked her and dialed Bulma's
number.
"Moshi moshi! Is Briefs
Bulma-san there?" Nabiki pricked
her ears up at the name of the CEO of one
of the largest companies
in Japan.
"Hi, Bulma! It's Goku!"
Goku held the phone away from his
sensitive ears as everyone heard a scream
come from the phone line.
"Hai, Bulma, I just got back now."
Pause "No, I haven't called
ChiChi yet. I was hoping to surprise
her." Pause "Where am I?
Well...I landed in Tokyo." Pause.
He held the phone away from him.
"Could someone give her directions on how
to get here?" Nodoka
stepped up to the phone and took the receiver
from Goku.
"Moshi moshi?" Nodoka gave her
an approximate location on
where the Dojo was located. "Do we
have a big yard? Well, I think
it is pretty large." Pause "Landmarks?
Well, there is a pond."
Nodoka turned to Goku. "Son-san, she
wants to talk to you again."
Goku took the phone back from Nodoka
and listened to Bulma
speak. He glanced out into the backyard
and responded agreeably.
"I don't see why not. It's big enough.
Otherwise, you could always
land next to my pod."
Everyone who was listening to the one-sided
conversation
looked at each other. Land?
Goku was speaking again. "All
right, Bulma. Who are you
bringing? Could you pick up ChiChi
and Gohan for me?" Pause
"They're already there? Okay."
Pause "They did? He's there, too?
Yatta! He'll want to meet my hosts.
Make sure you bring some food,
too. I'm starving!" Pause
"See you soon, Bulma. Bai-bai!" He hung
up the phone. "Well, they're on the
way!
"That's good to hear!" Nodoka
said, smiling at him. "By the
way, I am Saotome Nodoka."
Everyone began to introduce themselves.
"Tendo Soun, and this is my
home." Goku nodded to him. "These
are my daughters, Kasumi and Nabiki."
Each bowed in turn.
Genma nodded his head. "Saotome Genma."
Ukyou bowed. "Kuonji Ukyou.
It's nice to meet you, Son
Goku."
Akane and Ranma stepped forward.
"I'm Saotome Ranma, and
this is," he said with a small bit of pride
in his voice, "Saotome
Akane, my mate." Both bowed, and Goku
gave a bow in return to
everyone.
"Thank you for opening your home to
me." He turned to
Ranma and Akane. "You both are full-blooded
Saiya-jiin, right?"
They nodded. "I think we are."
Akane looked confusedly at
Ranma. "Why do you ask, Son-san?
Are you?"
Goku smiled at the two young Saiya-jiin.
"It's just that my
son, Gohan, is half Saiya-jiin. My
mate, ChiChi, is human. Vejiita is
the only other full blooded Saiya-jiin other
than me."
Akane went white. "Ve--Vejiita? Did you say Vejiita?"
Goku looked at her curiously.
"Yes, Vejiita is the other
Saiya-jiin on Chikyuu besides me and Gohan.
We thought we were
the last of our race." He smiled happily.
"He'll be really happy that
there are others left."
Ranma looked at Akane in concern.
"Are you talking about the
Saiya-jiin no Ouji, Son-san?"
He nodded, thinking to himself out
loud. "Please, call me
Goku. Yes, Vejiita is the Prince of
the Saiya-jiin, actually, if you
think about it, the King, because the planet
blew up, and everyone on
the planet died."
The room went silent. "Blew up?
Died?" Akane was as pale
as a ghost. "Extinct?"
Goku nodded again. "Yup.
Friezer blew the planet up." Akane
and Ranma got chills down their spine at
the name Friezer. "Hey,
how did you know Vejiita was the Prince?"
Akane looked hesitant. "Well,
you see, Goku-san, about
sixteen years ago..."
Before she could finish her thought,
a loud noise was heard in
the back yard. Everyone turned and
went outside. They watched as
a jet plane with the words 'Capsule Corp
37' painted on the side, land
in the backyard. The engines turned
off, and the door opened. A
woman with blue hair, wearing jean shorts,
a white tank-top, and an
open baby-blue button-down shirt, emerged
from the cockpit and
was greeted enthusiastically by Goku.
He walked up to her and waved. "Hiya, Bulma!"
"Son-kun!" She jumped into his
arms and gave him a gigantic
hug. He returned it, holding her close
to him. Right behind her, a
child with spiky hair similar to Goku's,
wearing a black jumpsuit with
a white collar, jumped from the plane and
literally flew to him, tail
streaming along behind him.
"'Tousan!" Goku opened another
arm and hugged Gohan tight
to him.
"Hey, Gohan! How are you doing?
You've gotten stronger
since the last time I saw you!" Gohan
just laughed and hugged his
father's neck harder. The crowd watched
the happy reunion.
A fairly tall black-haired female stopped
in the doorway and
gasped aloud. "Goku-saa?"
Goku looked up and saw ChiChi standing
there. He put down
Bulma and Gohan and levitated up to the
doorway. "Hi, ChiChi. I'm
home."
ChiChi nodded and smiled. "Yes, that you are, Goku-saa."
Goku opened his arms and ChiChi jumped into
them willingly. They
embraced each other fiercely, trying to
reassure themselves that
the other was real. Goku floated down
to the ground but didn't let
her go. Gohan came back up to his
father and wrapped his arms
around his leg. Goku wrapped his tail
around his son.
A voice sneered from the shadows of
the plane. "Kakarotto.
You finally brought your miserable carcass
back to Chikyuu. Ready
to get your ass whipped?"
Goku/Kakarotto looked up into the plane
and smiled at the
shadowy figure. "Anytime you're ready,
Vejiita."
Akane and Ranma gasped up on the porch
and backed into the
shadows. They watched open-mouthed
as Vejiita emerged from the
plane, floating in mid-air. He wore
a pair of black pants and a black
t-shirt that seemed to mold to his frame.
His hair seemed to stand
taller than normal, jutting into the air
like roaring black flames.. He
hovered inches above the ground, so he could
look Goku in the eye,
his smirk wide on his olive features.
Bulma rolled her eyes and went to the
plane. She pushed a
button and encapsulated it for better storage.
She came over to
the two Saiya-jiin staring each other down,
and reprimanded them.
"Now, don't start fighting here. You
can wait until we get home, and
Goku has settled in. We are guests
here. There's no need for
property damage."
Goku nodded and smiled; Vejiita crossed
his arms with a
snort. "Onna, don't tell me what to
do. I'll do what I want to do."
He did, though, give Goku a final challenging
glance and fall into step
with Bulma, who had turned toward the house,
and their hosts.
Bulma bowed slightly and introduced
herself. "Kon'nichi wa.
My name's Briefs Bulma. Thank you
for letting my friend Goku stay
at your home while waiting for us."
She pointed out everyone.
"You've already met Son Goku. The
little one clinging to his leg is his
son, Gohan; and the lady on his arm is his
wife, ChiChi." They all
nodded at thier names; Gohan waving his
greeting, making sure that
one arm still curled around his father's
leg. ChiChi gave a small bow
of greeting.
Bulma turned to Vejiita, who just smirked
and crossed his
arms. "I am Vejiita no Ouji.
Crown Prince of Vejiita-sei, and Heir to
the Saiya-jiin Empire." He eyed their
unfamiliar people and watched
for the common reaction of shock to his
title.
Everyone threw each other a look and
glanced into the
shadows of the porch. Needless to
say, Vejiita was a tad
disappointed.
Soun stepped forward and returned the
bow. "It was our
pleasure. I am Tendo Soun, and this
is my home." Vejiita, Bulma, and
Gohan looked up sharply at the name 'Tendo,'
and glanced warily at
each other. The others noticed this,
but said nothing. He continued
with introductions. "These are my
daughters, Kasumi and Nabiki."
They stepped forward. "These are my
good friends Saotome Genma
and Nodoka." They stepped off the
porch, and bowed in greeting.
The same three gasped out loud at the name
'Saotome.' They looked
back at each other in amazement. Could
they have...? So soon?
Soun went to introduce the rest, but
was stopped by
Nodoka's hand on his shoulder. He
backed up and the other two
stepped off the porch and stood for everyone
to see. Vejiita,
Bulma, and Gohan all gasped in shock when
they saw who emerged
from the shadows. Akane and Ranma
stopped in front of everyone
and smiled. "I am Saotome Ranma, and
this is my mate, Saotome
Akane." Ranma stepped in front of
Vejiita and bowed deep, his
fisted hand on his chest. "Your Highness."
He stood up and backed
away, his smoky-blue eyes glued on Akane.
Akane stepped forward and bowed as
well, fisted hand on her
chest, but she remained bent. "Your
Highness."
Vejiita's face was paralyzed and frozen
in shock. It was her.
It was Her! He could recognize her
anywhere. Vejiita hesitantly
reached out and touched Akane's shoulder.
Akane stood up and was
eye to eye with him. "Seiika..."
A slow smile spread across the female's face. "Vejiita. Chan."
Vejiita reached out again and barely
brushed her cheek with
his fingers. "It's you. It's
really you." He said breathlessly.
She nodded. Tears started to
form in her eyes. "Yes, it's
me." She stepped forward and threw
her arms around him, crushing
him to her with the hug. Vejiita's
eyes were a bit misty as well, as
he slowly wrapped his arms around her and
returned the hug.
A light flashed in their eyes and they remembered...
******
Akane was running. She didn't
know why she was running, but
she was. Fast. She slowed
down and came to a stop. She was in a
forest of some sort. Green trees
surrounded her on all sides.
Boulders lined the dirt path she was
on. A few small birds could be
heard in the upper ceiling of the trees,
but otherwise, nothing or no
one else was around her.
As she studied her surroundings,
she felt something
approaching her from behind, before she
heard it. It seemed to be
moving fast and furious, and headed directly
for her. She jumped
into a nearby clump of bushes to see
what was about to arrive.
Soon after she was hidden, a small
figure broke through the
underbrush in the same direction she
came from. The figure
stopped, and panted heavily, bending
over and resting its hands on
its knees.
It stood up and turned around, apparently
looking for
something, or someone. "Seiika-chan,
where are you?"
Akane's eyes went wide. It
was looking for her. She crept
closer to the small figure, vainly trying
to see who it was without
making any noise to alert her position.
A branch snapped and she
froze.
The figure also heard the branch
snap and swung its gaze in
her direction. It crept slowly
to where Akane was hiding.
"Seiika-chan, is that you?" It
called out hesitantly.
Akane finally got to see a closer
view of her persuer. She
realized it was a male, a child, really,
wearing a black jumpsuit with a
purple cape. He had black, upswept
hair that looked out of control.
Long pieces fell over his high forehead,
hiding the scowl underneath.
She smiled widely, for she recognized
the boy in front of her. It
was Vejiita, and he was looking for her
because the King had sent
for the two of them, and she didn't want
to go.
The young boy brushed away a chunk
of hair from his eyes.
"Seiika-chan, where are you? We
gotta go see Papa. He's gonna get
really mad if we don't show up soon."
Vejiita turned around and
directed his attention to another section
of the underbrush.
When Vejiita's back was turned completely
away from her,
Akane sprung from her hiding spot and
jumped onto Vejiita's back,
tackling him. "Ha, ha! I
tricked you, Vejiita-chan!"
Vejiita struggled under Seiika,
and finally pushed her off.
"Seiika, where were you? Papa called
for us, and we gotta go!"
Seiika nodded her head. "I
know he called, Vejiita. I just
don't wanna go."
"Why not?"
Akane played with a few pebbles
that were laying in the path.
"I just got a bad feeling about it.
I think Papa's gonna do something
bad to us."
Vejiita looked skeptical.
"Like what? Did you do something
that needs punishing?"
She shook her head. "No, not
bad that way, but bad as taking
us away from each other."
He shook his head. "Papa wouldn't
let anyone or anything
separate us, Seiika-chan. He knows
better than that. Remember
when I was sent off-planet to visit the
Moon? You and I had temper
tantrums that shook the galaxy."
Vejiita smirked. "He knows better
than to separate us for anything."
She smiled at the memory.
"I know, Vejiita. But I really
think something big is gonna happen."
Vejiita furrowed his eyebrows, and
stood up. "Yeah, Papa's
temper is gonna blow if we don't get
there soon. That's a 'big' thing."
Akane smiled. "I guess so. I still feel weird inside..."
Vejiita just scoffed and held out
his hand to help her up.
"Come on, Seiika-chan. We'd better
get back."
Akane nodded and jumped up.
"Okay. Race ya!" She took off
into the air and shot back to the palace.
"Hey, no fair! You got a head
start! Come back, Seiika-chan!"
He jumped up into the air and took after
his sister.
*******
The image faded and Akane and Vejiita
backed up from their
embrace. "That was the day you were
sent off-planet." Vejiita
mumbled under his breath.
Akane nodded. "I told you, I
knew something was going to
happen."
Nodoka shook her head, clearing it.
"What was that,
Akane-chan?"
She turned to her mother-in-law, surprise
written on her
face. "You saw it too? Well,
that was one of the flashbacks Ranma
and I have been having." She looked
around at everyone gathered.
"Did you all see it?" They nodded,
agreeing with her conclusion.
Kasumi smiled and turned toward the
house. "You were a cute
child, Vejiita-san." Vejiita scowled
deeply, and a faint tinge of pink
hinted at his cheeks.
The said male grunted and turned his
attention back to the
female in front of him. "I thought
you died. You were gone. I
couldn't feel or sense you anymore after
you were sent off-planet. I
thought you didn't make it, and that bastard
Friezer destroyed your
pod." A rare tear started to form
in the corner of his eye and
Akane hugged him close again.
Akane released her hold and wiped away
the tear, now
streaked down his cheek. She smiled
at him. "I guess I did." She
eyed him critically. "Although, you
seem to be quite a bit older than
me. How'd that happen?"
Before he could answer, Kasumi announced
through the door
that dinner was ready. Five stomachs
roared in response and
everyone looked at the Saiya-jiin staring
their offending
noisemakers. Bulma laughed.
"It's a good thing I brought a lot of
food. I thought Son-kun would be extra
starving, so I brought a
ton!"
Nodoka escorted Bulma to the kitchen
and told her where to
lay out the food. Bulma then proceeded
to release three capsules of
food in the room. Eyes bugged out
and mouths started salivating.
Everyone helped themselves and gathered
outside to eat. All five
Saiya-jiin had several heaping plates of
food in each hand. The
others not used to Goku's 'style' of eating,
watched in awe as the
large male stuffed his face as fast as possible.
Nabiki was amazed
that there was someone out there that could
eat faster than Ranma.
"Kakarotto, your dinner manners have
not improved. Didn't
you learn anything in space?" Vejiita
sneered disgustedly, noticing
Goku's table manners.
Goku waited until he swallowed, and
replied. "Nani, Vejiita? I
haven't eaten since yesterday, and the food
is really good!" He
blinked confusedly.
Kasumi and Nodoka beamed. "Thank you, Goku-san!"
Others had formed small groups; Nabiki
claimed Bulma's
attention right away, and both were talking
very rapidly to each
other. ChiChi was deep into a conversation
with Nodoka, while
Kasumi was busy filling Goku and Gohan's
plates as soon as they were
emptied, much to the two Saiya-jiin's extreme
pleasure.
Ranma and Akane walked out of the house
with their own
renewed piles of food. Vejiita stood
and motioned for her to sit
near him. Akane gave him a small smile
and pulled Ranma along with
her.
Vejiita was hesitant in talking to
her, not knowing where to
start or what to say. He sat there,
silent, concentrating on his food.
Akane was the one to break the ice.
"So, Vejiita, tell me a little
about yourself. What have I missed
since me and Ranma were
blasted off Vejiita-sei?"
Ranma added his two cents, with mouth
full. "Yah,
Gohkuu-sah sahd id bew yup." Akane
elbowed him in the ribs and
scowled.
"Swallow, baka." Ranma swallowed
and stuck his tongue out at
her. She tried to grab it, but she
was too slow. He stuck it back
out once more, and Akane snagged it before
he got it back in. She
smirked evilly and pulled, making Ranma
grunt and follow her hand.
She winked at Vejiita and turned her attention
back to him, still
holding onto Ranma's tongue. "So where
were we, Vejiita-chan?"
She smiled sweetly.
Vejiita smirked at Ranma, who was grunting
and trying to pull
away from Akane's grasp. "I see, Seiika-chan,
you still have your
stronghold over Serori."
"Always have, and always will."
She grinned and gave Ranma's
tongue an extra tug. He gave a little
squeal and Akane finally let go.
Ranma immediately sat up, holding his tongue
in between his fingers.
He gave her a hurt look and faced the opposite
way, feeling sorry
for himself. She laughed at him and
curled her tail around his wrist
in an affectionate manner. She turned
back to Vejiita and looked at
him expectantly.
He quietly noted their affectionate
behavior to himself and
nodded toward Ranma. "He introduced
you as Saotome Akane." He
said the statement simply.
She nodded. She pulled his tailed
arm into her lap and held
his hand. "Well, I decided to take
his family name now. I used to be
Tendo Akane, but after we revived and resealed
our Bond, the
families decided we were pretty much married,
so..." she trailed off,
blushing slightly.
Vejiita nodded and narrowed his eyes.
"I thought I felt your
aura earlier mixed with another's.
That must have been the Bonding.
I knew then you had awakened your heritage."
He cocked his head
slightly, staring at Akane intently.
"How much do you remember? I
know your memories were sealed away by the
Kami."
She thought a bit. "I think I
remember pretty much
everything now."
Ranma nodded in agreement. He
placed his chin on her
shoulder and added his two cents.
"Yeah, I think there still may be
some bits and pieces that need to be filled
in, but talking earlier
helped a lot."
Akane raised her eyebrows and leaned
back on Ranma a bit.
"You said Kami blocked our memories?
Are you talking about The
Kami? As in Kami-sama?"
Bulma wandered over to the small group.
"Hai, he means The
Kami-sama. Actually, Kami-sama isn't
a real Kami, or what we
perceive a Kami to be. He's a Namek-seijiin;
and actually half of one
person."
Akane furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
"How can he be
half a person? That's not possible."
Ranma teased on her shoulder.
"Did you expect to be an alien
this morning when you woke up?" She
flushed and shook her head.
Bulma sat down next to Vejiita, getting
comfortable by
leaning on his muscular frame. He
glanced at her and his cheeks
tinged a very light pink. He adjusted
his position so she was more
comfortable. "So you had no idea you
were Saiya-jiin?" Bulma
asked.
They shook their heads. "No idea
whatsoever." Akane
answered. "Both of us freaked out
this morning when we woke up
with tails."
"Actually, they were 'reinstated' last
night. It was Kami-sama
who did it." Both raised their eyebrows
in surprise. Bulma
continued to explain. "Kami-sama said
that an enemy was coming, and
we would need all the extra help we could
get."
Vejiita frowned deeply and crossed
his arms. "We will be
ready, Onna. No matter what."
Akane sat up and looked to Vejiita
and Bulma worriedly. "Do
you know who it is? Do you know what
the enemy is capable of? Are
they here yet?"
Bulma shook her head. "Hold on!
Iie. We really don't know
who the new enemy is. Kami-sama had
'a feeling' last night and he
called everyone up to his home in the sky.
That's when he gave
Gohan-chan and Vejiita their tails back."
"Why were they taken off in the first
place?" Ranma
wondered.
"You don't know the significance of
your tails, do you?" Bulma
asked incredulously. Ranma and Akane
shook their heads. She put
her hand on her cheek. "Well, hmm."
She had an idea, turned to
Vejiita. "How far did you get in your
training of Gohan-chan?"
Vejiita raised his eyebrow and smirked
at her. "Onna, how do
you think he did? He can control his
Oozaru form. I trained him; of
course he'd learn immediately." He
crossed his arms. "You doubted
me? I'm shocked."
Ranma and Akane went rigid at the mention
of the Oozaru
form. "What do you mean, can control
it? You don't normally?"
Ranma's gaze went hard.
Bulma shook her head. "Well,
if you aren't trained in how to
control it, the animalistic side of the
Saiya-jiin will overthrow the
rational side. The Oozaru will rampage
throughout the land,
destroying everything in its way."
Akane shuddered. "'Tousan said
we attacked them when we
transformed."
Bulma nodded. "That's because you looked at the full moon."
"The moon?"
Vejiita nodded. "It's what triggers
the transformation."
Bulma continued. "And the only
way to switch back is for the
moon to disappear, or your tails to be chopped
off. That's why
Vejiita, Goku, and Gohan had their tails
removed. Rampaging Oozaru
is not a good thing."
Ranma fingered the tail wrapped around
his waist. "But if
Vejiita-ouji was trainin' Gohan on how to
control his transformation,
that means you can control yours, right?
So why was yours taken
off?" All three Saiya-jiin had unconsciously
wrapped their tails
around their waists when Bulma mentioned
'chopping.'
Bulma hesitated. "Well, when
Vejiita first arrived on Chikyuu
he..." Bulma paused, giving the Prince
a sideways glance. "Why don't
you explain your arrival on Chikyuu, Vejiita?"
She teased him,
knowing the conditions then, and now.
Vejiita scowled deeply, looking at
all three faces. "That is in
the past." He stood up and walked
away from the small group.
Bulma winced and stood, walking over
to him. She talked
quietly to him, laying a hand on his arm
in comfort and support. "If
you don't tell them, I will. They
have a right to know, especially
Seiika-san. Think of the repercussions
later if she doesn't hear
about it from you, yourself. What
if Son-kun says it
nonchalantly--and you know him, he'll say
it eventually--Seiika-san
would be offended that you didn't have the
guts to tell her up
front." She gave his forearm a slight
squeeze.
His expression softened and he glanced
around, seeing if
anyone was watching. He led her away
from the larger group, and
when he felt secure in their privacy, he
took hold of the hand on his
arm and brought her palm up to his face,
brushing his lips across her
wrist, feeling the quickening pulse that
beat rhythmically against her
paper-thin skin increase ten-fold.
Bulma shuddered and molded her
form against his, feeling his own heartbeat
quicken with her contact.
"I don't think I can't wait much longer,
Vejiita-chan, for that
ceremony to take place."
He nuzzled her ear, nibbling on the
earlobe. "I know, Bulma, I
know. You won't have to wait much
longer." He looked into her eyes,
pressing his forehead against hers.
"You might want to talk with
Seiika-chan about the ceremony. She
and Serori performed it
today. She could tell you all the
details, and what is to be
expected."
She nodded and bit his nose.
He responded in kind. "I will, if
you tell them right away." Vejiita
pulled back and turned away from
her. Bulma wrapped her arms around
his chest and continued.
"Vejiita-chan, don't be afraid of her reaction.
If she cares for you
at all, she will understand." She
laughed ruefully. "Hell, I
understand, and forgave you back on Namek-sei.
If I can, she can.
Give her the benefit of the doubt."
He pulled apart her arms and turned
around in her embrace.
"All right, I will." He scowled and
rested her arms around his neck.
"It better be worth it, Onna, or it's all
your fault."
She smiled at him and gave him a hug.
"It will, Otoko. The
truth always does. It may hurt at
first, but it is better in the end."
She released him, and held his face in her
hands. "Facing your fears
is not an easy thing. I'm proud of
you, my Prince." She leaned in and
kissed his lips soundly. He responded
by bringing her closer to him
and deepening the kiss with his tongue.
After a few moments of
kissing, they pulled away, flushed and panting
breathlessly. Bulma
ran a hand through her hair and sighed.
"You really need to go talk
with Seiika. Now." Vejiita smirked
and nodded.
Bulma straightened out her shirt, which
had gotten twisted
somehow, and walked out from their hiding
place. Vejiita followed
closely, face solemn. Akane and Ranma
looked up from their quiet
conversation, and stood up, giving then
worried glances. "If you
don't want to tell us, Vejiita-chan, it's
okay. We understand." Akane
said quietly. She was worried that
they offended her newly-found
brother with their inquiring questions.
After all, it wasn't any of
their business.
Vejiita sat back down, and Bulma sat
next to him. Then he
stood up, pacing in front of them for some
time, his tail thrashing
wildly behind him, disclosing his frustration.
He did not notice that
he drew a crowd with his furious pacing.
The fact that he started
to emit an aura didn't help matters, either.
Vejiita stopped in front of Akane,
boring his glittering orbs
into her own. He started to speak.
"When I arrived on Chikyuu, I
did not come on a peaceful mission."
Bulma snickered a bit. Vejiita
threw a hot glare at her and she quieted
immediately.
"A Saiya-jiin by the name of Radiitzu
arrived before me to
check on Kakarotto's progress here on Chikyuu.
You see, originally,
Kakarotto was sent to Chikyuu to prepare
it for the arrival of
Friezer and his Planet Traders. Radiitzu
found the planet's people to
be surviving and actually thriving.
He went looking for Kakarotto to
see why he failed in his mission.
When he found Kakarotto, he saw
that the Third-class reject was living peacefully
on the planet and
had even mated with one of the occupants."
The 'occupant' by the
name of ChiChi was listening to Vejiita's
account of the origins of
her husband and was starting to get angry.
Goku put a hand on her
shoulder, calming her down, and he shook
his head. He wanted
Vejiita to continue, and sensed that it
was important for all of this
to get out in the open. By this time,
everyone else was listening
attentively to Vejiita's story.
He continued, unaware of the audience
that formed behind
him. "To make a long story short,
Kakarotto and Radiitzu fought,
with the help of some of his 'friends,'
namely that Namek-seijiin,
Piccolo, and were killed. Both of
them. How do I know this you
wonder, well," Vejiita reached behind
him and pulled a scouter from
thin air, or subspace as Bulma called it.
"This is called a scouter."
He handed it to Akane. She looked
it over in her hands turning it
around. She handed it back to him
and he placed it over her ear.
"What it does is measure the fighting levels
of an opponent. By
pressing this button," he activated
it, "you can read their ki levels.
It also has a transmitter." Akane
was pointing the scouter at Vejiita
and taking in the numbers. She turned
it to Ranma and took note of
his level compared to Vejiita's. She
pointed it around the yard,
reading the various levels of the guests.
After a bit she took it off
and handed it back to Vejiita.
He turned it off and put it back in
his 'pocket.' "Radiitzu's
transmitter was on, and I heard the entire
fight. The bald creature
that was one of the fighters there mentioned
something about
Dragonballs. He said they could grant
any wish. That sounded good
to me, so I decided to go to Chikyuu to
get the wish from the
Dragonballs."
"What would you wish for?" Akane asked.
"Immortality." Vejiita said simply.
Both Akane and Ranma's
eyes widened.
"Can they grant that?" He nodded.
"Can they grant any
wish?" Ranma asked, his mind on a
particular wish that he wouldn't
mind asking to be granted.
He nodded. "Anything, except
for resurrecting people dead
for over a year or from natural causes.
The bald creature was going
to wish for Kakarotto's resurrection."
He paused for a moment and continued
on. "When I arrived
on Chikyuu, I came with another Saiya-jiin,
Nappa."
"Is he a tall bald guy?" Ranma wondered, interrupting him.
Vejiita looked at him curiously. "Yes,
he was. How did you
know that?"
He shrugged. "He was your Honor
Guard, right?" Vejiita
nodded. "I remember him from the Mating
Ceremony battle."
Akane said something before Vejiita
could continue. "What
did you mean when you said Kakarotto came
to 'prepare the planet'?
What was he supposed to do?"
Vejiita looked into Akane's eyes and
said it plain and simple.
He decided to not beat around the bush.
If she was going to hate
him, then fine, she hated him. But
he could not do anything to
change the past. With a large sigh
he explained the resident
Saiya-jiin' origins on Chikyuu. "Kakarotto
was sent to Chikyuu to
extinguish its inhabitants so the planet
could be prepared to be sold
to the highest bidder. That is what
the Saiya-jiin did if they
worked for Friezer. It's what Nappa
and I did."
Akane was frozen in shock. Wipe
out Chikyuu? She spoke
slowly. "You wiped out civilizations?"
Vejiita frowned and nodded.
He turned around quickly, though, when he
heard cries and gasps
behind him. He finally saw the crowd
that didn't know about his
past, recoiling and staring at him in horror.
He scowled deeply and
glared at them. They immediately turned
their faces away, blushing
from embarrassment.
"Vejiita..." Akane had stood
up, and was touching his
shoulder. He whirled around to face
her and Ranma, who was
directly behind her, aura flared and eyes
wide with the new
knowledge. "Vejiita, were Ranma and
I sent to Chikyuu to wipe out
the population here?"
Vejiita looked into Ranma's face, seeing
the fierce nature of
the Saiya-jiin senshi buried just under
the surface. He then looked
into Akane's gaze, seeing only the question
in her eyes. Vejiita's own
gaze softened and he shook his head.
"Iie. You were not sent to
Chikyuu to wipe out its natives. I
don't know why you landed here,
but you did. You and Serori were sent
off-planet because Friezer
wanted to have control of the two of you.
The King wanted to
protect you from the cruelties of Friezer's
army, so you were sent
away before Friezer could get his clutches
around you." Vejiita
looked away and into the sky. "No,
you were not meant to see or
hear anything of the massacres." He
sighed and turned his eyes to
his twin's. "I went in your place.
The King knew I could handle
Friezer's army better than you could.
He did not want to send any
Saiya-jiin to Friezer, but he did what he
thought he had to do." The
Prince's scowl turned black with his last
sentence and he spat off to
the side in disgust.
That relevation shocked the Senshi
that knew of Vejiita's
bloodied past, and placed him in a different
light within everyone's
eyes. Akane's gaze softened and she
wrapped her arms around her
twin. "It's all right, Vejiita-chan.
I forgive you. Thank you for your
sacrifice." Vejiita stiffened and
relaxed, and slowly wrapped his
arms around Akane, burying his face in her
hair, returning the
gesture.
Akane released him and stepped back.
"As you said, that is in
the past. So how is this leading up
to the removal of your tail?"
Vejiita frowned and scowled at the
memory. "I was fighting
Kakarotto and transformed into the Oozaru
form. A wimpy asshole
used a sword and sliced off my tail, returning
me to normal size." He
crossed his arms. "He still deserves
a pulping for doing that to me."
Ranma scratched his head. "But
Bulma-san said that the full
moon is what triggers the transformation.
And we didn't have a
moon for the longest time. How'd you
change?"
Vejiita smirked. "I can create
a moon simulation through a
special ki-ball."
Bulma called out to Gohan. "Gohan-chan,
are you ready to
show off what you learned today?"
Gohan looked nervously between Bulma,
Vejiita and his dad.
"I don't know, Bulma-san. I don't
think I'm ready yet."
Goku bent down and rustled his son's
hair. "What did you
learn today, Gohan?"
"Vejiita-san trained me on how to create
the artificial
moonlight and on how to control my Oozaru
form, 'Tousan." Gohan
winced at the memory of the 'training' session.
It was more like a
'beat the hell out of Gohan as a giant monkey'
session. "Kami-sama
said we might need the extra strength that
comes from the forms.
Kami-sama was also the one who asked Vejiita-san
to do it."
Goku stood up and looked surprisedly
at Vejiita. "Did you do
that, Vejiita?" He just scowled and
turned away. "That's awfully
swell of you! Could you teach me,
as well?"
Vejiita snorted. "Have your brat
show you, Kakarotto. I
won't lower myself again to baby Third-class
Saiya-jiin."
"What about me, Vejiita? Will
you show me and Ranma?"
Akane asked next to him. She smiled
mischievously. "Or are we too
low for Vejiita no Ouji, Crown Prince of
Vejiita-sei, Heir to the
Saiya-jiin Empire?"
He snorted at her. "Yes, you
are. No one comes close to the
Prophetized Legendary Super Saiya-jiin."
His eyes glittered in
smugness and amusement.
She glittered right back. "Who
said you would be the
Legendary One? I might be the Legendary
One. The prophets said
the birth of us was a sign; they did not
say which one of us would be
the one." She snorted in his face
and dared him to defy her logic.
He stared right back, getting in her face.
They were locked eye to
eye, nose to nose, daring each other to
back down.
Goku broke the moment. He blurted
out amazingly, "Wow,
Seiika, Vejiita, you two sure do look like
brother and sister doing
that!"
Both turned and glared at Goku, flared
their auras, and
shouted, "Shut up, Kakarotto!"
Goku's eyes widened dramatically and
backed up. "Gomen,
gomen!" The twins looked at each other
and gave each other an
identical smirk. Akane turned around
and sat back down next to
Ranma. Ranma, on the other hand, was
just staring at her, wondering
where Akane went to, and when Seiika came
back. Sensing that
Ranma was staring at her, Akane turned and
gave him a smile,
wrapping her tail around his wrist.
He smiled back, recognizing
Akane in the smile, and put those thoughts
aside to think about
later.
Bulma spoke up again. "Well,
Gohan-chan? Do you want to do
this?"
Gohan swallowed nervously, and looked
up at his dad. Goku
smiled down at him, encouraging him.
"If you don't want to, Gohan,
you don't have to. But I think you
should. Practice makes perfect,
ne?" Gohan nodded and stepped away
from his father. "Okay, I
guess so. Should I make the moonlight,
Vejiita-san?"
"Matte," Bulma stopped them.
"Before you guys start
transforming, shouldn't we get out of town
first? Who knows how
the neighbors will react to a bunch of giant
monkeys running around
town."
Ukyou rolled her eyes. "This
is Nerima. They won't think it
strange in the slightest."
Nodoka nodded to Bulma, agreeing with
her statement and
ignoring Ukyou's. "That is a very
good idea, Bulma-san."
Bulma turned to Goku. "Where'd your pod land, Son-kun?"
"A few doors down."
Bulma nodded. "We need to get
your ship and take it back to
Capsule Corp so the local authorities don't
think aliens landed or
something." Bulma smiled. "Well,
technically, they did, but still..."
Everyone nodded in agreement and trooped
off to Goku's crash site.
When they arrived, Bulma took out her
capsule for the jet.
She found a big enough space and opened
it up, revealing the plane
from earlier. She turned toward the
spacepod and threw an empty
capsule at it. The storage capsule
encircled the pod and contained it
within one puff of smoke. Bulma smiled
and went over to the full
tablet and put in her pocket. "I am
so glad 'Tousan invented these..."
She turned to the group. "All aboard
who's going aboard!" She
turned to the Saiya-jiin. "How about
the canyon back home? It
should be a big enough place for five Oozaru
stomping around."
Vejiita nodded and turned to the others.
"You know which
one she's talking about, Kakarotto?"
Goku nodded and took ChiChi in his
arms and flew her up to
the plane. He placed her inside carefully
and gave her a hug. "See
you in the canyon!"
"Why don't you come with us, Goku?"
"Aww, ChiChi," Goku whined.
"I want to fly with the others!"
ChiChi knew she wasn't going to win
against Goku's whining and
fidgeting. She sighed and pushed him
out the door. "Fine! Go play
with Vejiita. I'll see you in the
canyon." Goku brightened and took
off to rejoin the rest. ChiChi just
sighed again and went inside,
cursing her husband's heritage.
The Tendo's and Saotome's hung back.
Akane turned to them.
"You don't have to come if you don't want
to. Ranma and I
understand."
Surprisingly, Kasumi stepped forward
and put a hand on
Akane's arm. "Of course, we'll come,
Akane-chan. We should
support you and Ranma-kun in learning about
your new lives, right?"
Akane smiled and gave her sister a hug. "Thank you, Kasumi-neechan."
She smiled and turned to Vejiita.
"Vejiita-ototochan, will you
fly me up to the plane?"
Vejiita looked absolutely startled. "Nani? Me?"
Kasumi nodded and smiled again, placing
her hand on his arm.
"Of course, you. You are family, are
you not?"
Vejiita just blinked at Kasumi.
She stood there smiling and
waiting for him to pick her up. He
turned to Akane and she nodded,
encouraging him. Vejiita scowled a
small bit and gently took Kasumi
into his arms. She wrapped her arms
around his neck and looked into
his face. He slowly floated up to
the plane's entrance. He carefully
put her down and waited for her to steady
herself.
Kasumi let go of his neck and leaned
over to give him a peck
on the cheek. "Thank you, Vejiita-ototochan.
It was fun!" He put a
hand on the spot where she kissed him and
floated back down.
Soun went to carry Nabiki, but she
shook her head. "Sorry,
'Tousan, I'm not going to go. I don't
want to take the chance of a
giant monkey stepping on me. Have
fun." She waved to the others
and returned home.
Ukyou stepped up and adjusted her spatula.
"I'll come along,
Ranma. I want to see for myself this
were-monkey schtick." Goku
went to go pick her up but she shook her
head. She got a running
start and jumped into the door. She
waved at everyone on the
ground and went inside. Soun followed
right behind her.
Nodoka went over to Genma and wrapped
her arms around his
neck. "Now, husband, I know you want
to go along and support your
son and daughter-in-law, right?" She
shifted the katana on her back
for emphasis.
Genma nodded violently. "Of course,
dear, of course." He
cupped her in his arms and bounded into
the plane.
Bulma turned to Vejiita and crossed
her arms, raising her
eyebrow in suggestion. "Well, how
am I going to get up there?"
Vejiita grumbled but picked her up and carried
her up to the door,
setting her down as gently as he did Kasumi.
She hung on to him for
a minute longer and whispered something
in his ear. He let go
abruptly and floated down, a pink tinge
highlighting his cheeks.
The five Saiya-jiin watched as Bulma
fired the engines and
took off into the sky, heading for home.
Goku turned to the newest
members of the Saiya-jiin Senshi Team and
smiled. "Well, the
canyon isn't all that far away, so it shouldn't
take that long to get
there. You can follow us with no problems."
Ranma and Akane bigsweated. "Actually, there is a problem."
Goku scrunched his face up in question. "What is it?"
Akane blushed and Ranma pulled on his
pigtail. "Well, we don't
know how to fly." Akane explained,
fidgeting a little.
The three Saiya-jiin opened their mouths
in shock. "You don't
know how to fly? Of course you do...don't
you? Even Yamucha and
the other senshi know how to fly.
It's easy!" Gohan exclaimed in
disbelief.
"Not if we weren't shown how!"
Akane started to get mad.
She didn't like to be humiliated, and even
though she didn't know who
the others were, she felt like she was being
made fun of.
Ranma felt her anger rising and moved
to quickly dissolve it.
"Hey, Akane, don't get mad over it."
Vejiita sensed her anger as well, and
got an idea. He started
to taunt her. "Seiika-chan, what do
you mean you don't know how to
fly? Babies know how to fly!
Even the brat knows how to fly! Are
you sure you're a Saiya-jiin? My sister
could outfly me anyday. I
think you might be an imposter!" He
sneered at her, provoking her
anger.
It seemed to work. Akane gave
Vejiita a snarl and started to
chase after him. He laughed at her
antics and slowly started to
levitate while he continued to taunt her.
Soon, he was several feet
off the ground and Akane was level with
him, yelling and swinging at
him with her fists. Vejiita laughed
and stopped suddenly, catching
her arms in his hands. He smirked
at her and pointed down. She
looked at gasped. She was floating
in the air! She tried moving
around a bit, going back and forth.
She forgot about her anger, and
the aura she had created without knowing,
winked out. Akane yelped
and fell to the ground swiftly.
She did not impact because Ranma had
caught her in mid-air.
He smiled at her and righted her into a
standing position. "Goku-san
explained it to me. You need to keep
your aura flared--that's what
holds you in the air. It's really
easy! And actually, I noticed that my
aura is a lot stronger than it used to be.
I don't really need to think
about it for it to form. Try it."
Akane concentrated on her aura, and
it easily sprang to life, a
blue shield surrounding her. Ranma
released her, and she remained
afloat in the air. Akane smiled, gave
Ranma a peck in the cheek, and
flew over to Vejiita, who was looking smug
with a smirk and his arms
crossed. "Okay, chibi-ototo, let's
see who can outfly who, now!"
With that, she blew a raspberry at him and
shot off into the
distance, in the same direction as the plane.
Vejiita looked startled, and with a
cry, shot after his sister,
yelling at her to come back. A laugh
floated back to the three
remaining, and they watched as the two bright
specks disappeared in
the distance.
Goku turned to Ranma, smiling.
"Yup, those two are definitely
brother and sister!" Ranma shrugged
and the three took off after
the dueling twins.
**********
Nekohanten, Nerima
Not many customers were in the ramen
shop, making for a
quiet day, perfect for inner reflection.
Cologne was stirring a pot of
ramen noodles lazily, thinking about nothing
in particular. She
glanced over at her great-granddaughter,
Shampoo, who was busily
cutting up a pile of vegetables, preparing
for the dinner rush. She
smiled serenely at the girl when she looked
up at her. Shampoo just
returned the smile and continued to chop
the vegetables. Cologne
marveled at the serenity of her distant
offspring, and started to
hum a tune under her breath.
Cologne looked up suddenly, ending
the tune and staring into
space for a few minutes. She came
out of her trance and blinked, a
worried frown taking over her wrinkled features.
Shampoo noticed
this, and abruptly put down her paring knife
and moved closer to her.
"What wrong, 'Babachan?"
Cologne frowned at Shampoo and shook
her head. "I don't
know, child. Something is happening,
or is going to happen. I can
feel it in the air. I felt it several
times today, actually."
Shampoo blinked and a knowing smile
spread across her
features. "Shampoo bet it involve
Ranma, somehow."
Cologne frowned again and picked up
her walking stick. "It
usually does, child. Close the shop.
We're going to see what's going
on."
Shampoo nodded and locked the restaurant,
shooing away the
few customers that were in there.
"Okay, 'Babachan. Shampoo
ready."
Cologne nodded and bounded out of the
store, heading in the
opposite direction of the Dojo.
"Why we not going to see Ranma?"
Shampoo asked
confusedly, glancing over her shoulder.
"He's not there, Shampoo."
"Where Ranma be, then?"
"When we find him, child, we will know."
Shampoo shrugged
her shoulders and bounded after her great-grandmother,
trusting in
her senses to lead them to her Airen.
************