Chapter Three

Serena gave a loud shriek of delight as she fell through the sky like a skydiver except without a parachute. A wave of exhilaration washed over her as a beautiful countryside filled her vision when she plunged through a cloud.

"Wow..." Her mouth was set in a small 'o' as she looked around at the hover cars and astonishingly pollute-free lakes. This new world was quite different from hers, only slightly though. The houses still looked the same and the animals were pretty much the same. Well, that was what she thought until some large flying animal blasted passed her, causing her to spin in the air full circle.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed in shock as she got a good look at it. "A dinosaur!!!"

She simply stared after its shape for a long while until something caught her eye. "Uh-oh," she said softly as the countryside came up to meet her. She'd forgotten about that. 'This is gonna hurt!' she thought, closing her eyes automatically.

Her eyes widened in astonishment when she did crash. Yet, the thing she crashed into seemed unusual soft and was not quite stable.

She heard a cry of "ow!" as she tumbled with whatever she'd collided into.

"Ow!"

She looked down in surprise and laughed nervously when she saw black hair. "Sorry!" she quickly blurted out, jumping to her feet. 'Strange though, an impact like that would've killed any normal human and I would have a lot of broken bones right now.'

"Who are you, woman?" a harsh voice belted out from behind her.

She spun around and came face to face with an unhappy looking man with spiky black hair that completely defied gravity.

She was quite taken aback but quickly put on a game face and replied calmly, "My name is Serena Tsukino," she answered, deciding to use her old surname.

"Why were you falling out of the sky?" he demanded.

For that she had no answer that she could give him. To change the subject, she spun around to face the person she'd fallen on. "Are you all right?"

He laughed good-naturedly. "Hi, I'm Goku. I'm fine. I'm kinda curious, too. Why were you falling out of the sky? Oh, and this is Vegeta."

She simply stared at the young man, dumbfounded. This was her father? She was finally meeting her real father! She eyed him up and down and suppressed a laugh as she took in his untamed black hair and childish grin.

'He looks a little young though. I wonder how old he is,' she thought wistfully.

Her calm mask slid into place again and she asked him a question in response though inside she was bubbling with other questions that she couldn't ask him. "Are you Son Goku, the legendary fighter of Chikyuu?"

"Uh... Yes?" Goku answered uncertainly. "Am I legendary?" he asked Vegeta in all honesty.

The shorter man scowled. "Yes, you are," he growled in reply, clearly not happy about it.

"Oh. Ok then. I guess I am. Is there something you need?"

Serena gulped unnoticeably and nodded, seemingly calm. "I want you to train me."

At that, Goku took a step back. "Why?" he asked, eying her curiously.

Vegeta snorted. "Don't make me laugh, woman. You wouldn't last a day."

"Things aren't always how they seem," she replied, barely concealing her anger.

Goku grinned at her spirit but then took on a serious expression. "But how do we know that you're a good guy?"

That was a question that caught her off guard. Serena's eyes narrowed slightly as she tried to think of something that would show her abilities but wouldn't exploit her identity as Cosmos.

"I don't know," she replied slowly, looking back up at Goku so that they were looking eye to eye. "How can I prove that I fight for justice?"

Goku put a finger to his head as if he was deep in thought and then finally opened his mouth. "Ahhh... I dunno."

Needless to say, Vegeta about fell over.

Serena laughed mentally but simply smiled in reality. "I see."

Vegeta regained his composure quickly and glared at Goku. "You have no brains, idiot." Then he glanced at Serena. "You, prove yourself by telling us why you want to be trained and who you are."

"As I have told you," she answered, choosing her words wisely, "my name is Serena Tsukino. I want to be trained so that I might protect the innocent and fight for my beliefs. I want to be strong and I will not let that dream slip away. You will find that I never give up."

Vegeta laughed scornfully at her words. "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I'm sure you recite that speech all the time. Tell us why we should train you. What is different about you and other humans?"

"I have potential that you have never even dreamed of," she replied calmly, though she eyed him distastefully. 'This guy needs a serious chill pill.'

"How do you know that?" Goku asked curiously.

She smiled slightly again. "You don't want to know."

"We will not train you for no reason!" Vegeta suddenly snapped, far too irritated by her slight smiles and hidden reasons to remain calm.

"Fine," Serena replied coldly. "I won't bother you then. I hope to see you some time, Goku. I can't say the same for your hotheaded friend though."

With that, she turned on her heel and strolled calmly toward the village, every step graceful and poised.

Vegeta glared after her and Goku laughed again.

Serena glanced back as she reached the city, sighing in relief. "That was close. I don't think I could've kept up that face for another second. That guy, Vegeta, he's so annoying. What's with him? Did someone bite him or something? I swear." She shook her head and then continued walking.

'Where am I gonna sleep tonight?' she wondered as she wandered the streets aimlessly. 'And I have to figure out how to get close to Goku. The only thing I could think of was to ask him to train me. It's obvious he's not going to unless I show him some of my power, but then I'll have to tell him everything. Darn. And I can't let my mom and dad here know that I'm their daughter. They wouldn't believe me and then I'd have to let them know everything. I can't do that. Never mind. I'll think about it tomorrow. I'm sure they'll figure out that I'm their daughter sooner or later if I change the papers back. Then I don't have to tell them anything. Good. Now to find a place to sleep so I can wake up nice and early tomorrow.'

Nodding at her perfect plan, she used the Disguise Pen to change herself into a hotel worker and then snuck in, changing a few hotel papers and then sneaking into an empty room for the night.