Vegeta stared at the various formal armors that filled his closet and debated on which he should wear. It had been almost two weeks since he and Bulma had departed Earth and they'd be arriving on Vegeta in a few more hours. He'd already spoken with his father earlier and a room was being prepared in the castle for them. Vegeta smirked lightly as he remembered the look on his father's face when he'd said that Bulma had come along, and the look when he'd corrected him that they needed only one room.
"I like that blue one." a voice came from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Bulma standing in the doorway to the bathroom, dripping wet, and completely naked. "And where are the towels?"
Vegeta smirked. "The maid came by early to do the laundry. There should be some down the hall in the closet." he said turning around and pulling out the blue armor Bulma had mentioned. It was one of the fancier pieces of armor he had, it had been a gift from... someone, years ago. He could only vaguely remember receiving it. As he laid it down on the bed he noticed Bulma was still standing in the doorway to the bathroom. "You're not going to find any towels standing there staring at me."
"How did you..."
Vegeta chuckled but said nothing. Bulma decided she'd have to speak with her maid when she got back to Earth and proceeded out into the hall to find a closet and a towel. He watched her leave and then turned back to the armor and remembered why he'd never worn it before, since it lacked the chest plate portion. Shrugging he began to smooth out the cape attatched to it when he noticed a pendant wrapped inside the cloth.
Curious he picked it up and gazed at the yellow green gem before flipping it over and spying an inscription on it. "Destiny is what we make it." he said softly. Why did that sound so familiar? He flipped it back over and gazed at the gem again. "When did I recieve this armor? What was I, five? Six maybe..." he said thinking aloud. His thumb slipped down along the edge of the pendant and it suddenly clicked and opened a little.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes and flipped the top open with his thumb. Instantly his eyes widened as he gazed at what he found inside. And with the image came a rush of memories from his childhood. "My fifth birthday." he said glancing to the armor again. "It was a gift from my mother, to mark the beginning of my warrior training." He looked down at the pendant again, the cover side contained a picture of his father, his mother, and him at age five. "Two weeks before the accident..."
He remembered his father explaining the pendant. It had been tradition for generations. The Prince would receive his grandfather's pendant on his fifth birthday. It would contain only an image of him and his parents taken on that same day. The other would be left for a picture of him and his mate that would be replaced only twice. Once on the day of his heir's birth and again on the heir's fifth birthday.
The pendant also marked a transfer of power in a way. The reason it was the grandfather's pendant that was used and not the father's is that they marked the line of succession. Had his grandfather still been alive when he'd turned five that would have also marked the day his father would have taken the throne. Vegeta looked from the pendant to the armor for a moment as he remembered what had happened.
He'd received the news of the explosion... Something had malfunctioned on his mother's spaceship while she was still a good distance from the planet. By the time the recovery ship reached the debris and found her she was dead. At that point he'd not cared about tradition anymore and just hid the pendant so he wouldn't see it and be reminded about that accident the rest of his life. Now, however...
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"I was right, you do look good in that." Bulma said as she walked into the command room. The room had about ten other people in it operating the various systems. Vegeta stood in the middle of the room in the blue armor from earlier, the cape actually reached down to the floor, which somehow it made the outfit even more impressive looking. Vegeta only cast her a glance as she walked up beside him and gazed out the window at Planet Vegeta.
"We'll be entering that atmosphere shortly." Vegeta said turning his gaze back to the planet. "You should activate the barrier field soon."
Bulma looked down at the device on her wrist for a moment before turning it on. Vadora had given her one last time she'd come here, before they were even in sight of the planet, and explained what it was for. The level of gravity on the planet would squash her like a pancake without the barrier field. Vegeta had been working on that with her though. A few simple Ki control lessons worked into her normal morning workouts. Acording to him, if she kept making the level of progress she was, she'd be able to walk around on Vegeta without the barrier in a couple months time. Part of the adjustment was getting used to the gravity itself, which she'd do by lowering the power of the field slowly over the next few weeks, which is why it was currently only set to 9.5 instead of 10.
After making sure the device was working correctly she looked up at the monitor/window again just in time for a face she recognized to appear. "Vadora!" Bulma called happily. "How are you?"
Vadora nodded. "I'm good. And Tien sends his reguards as well. He'd have come with me but he's gone off with Raditz to train. Again." she said laughing. "Anyway, you've been cleared for landing. I'll talk to you then." With that the screen switched back to a view of the planet.
"Well, let's go." Vegeta said turning and leaving the room.
Bulma followed after him adjusting her red dress as she went. Vegeta wasn't the only one dressed up for their arrival on the planet. She'd decided to forgo the shoes, she wasn't in the mood for heels, but she'd still decided on a nice red satin dress. She wanted to make a good impression. Vegeta had suggested one of the formal armors but... she just couldn't see herself in one of those.
It took the two of them almost ten minutes to reach the exit hatch they were going to use when the ship landed and then they just leaned back against the wall and waited. It took a few more minutes for the slight jerking that marked the landing of the ship and both stood upright again and straightened out their clothes. Bulma felt a little nervous as the door began to hiss and then open. Vegeta had told her they'd not be landing within the palace like her small group had the first time, they'd be landing outside, and no doubt a small crowd would have gathered after hearing that he was returning.
Sure enough a fairly sizeable crowd had formed along the walkway from the landing area to the palace. At least a couple hundred people, a good chunk of them probably Sai-jin. She heard the sound of scouters flaring up behind her and glanced back to find four guards standing there and scanning the crowds. She doubted they were there for Vegeta's sake, which made her hair stand on end.
But then her eyes moved to the bottom of the stairs as she and Vegeta started down and she saw Vadora, King Vegeta, and an alien she didn't recognize standing there. As she walked she realized just how much more gravity 1.5 times Earth gravity was. She wasn't so sure of Vegeta's estimate in her ability to walk without the barrier anytime soon. As she and Vegeta reached the stone pathway Vadora knelt and Pug bowed. "Welcome back Vegeta." The king said with a nod.
"Father." Vegeta said with a nod of his own. "I'd like to speak with you about the preparations later. I don't want to admit it but... the chance exists matters won' t stay on Earth."
His father nodded again. "Of course, of course. We'll speak once we get back to the throne room." He then turned to Bulma. "And it is nice to see you again Lady Bulma."
She blushed a little at the title, even though she knew she'd be getting it from everyone now. The two royals spoke for a moment longer and then they walked off with Pug to attend to things. "So, still cute I take it?" Vadora asked walking alongside Bulma as they moved toward the palace.
"What?"
"Don't tell me you've forgotten? The first time you came to Planet Vegeta, when I was speaking with the king..." She trailed off and glanced over to Bulma who had a puzzled expression on her face. "You really don't remember? You saw Prince Vegeta and afterwards asked who he was and said he was cute."
Bulma shook her head. "I don't remember that..."
Vadora laughed shaking her head as well. "Well, trust me, it happened." She paused for a moment before continuing, as the two passed through the double doors into the palace and the guards left. "Though I have to admit, at the time, I didn't think you'd end up becoming queen..." she shook her head as she thought back to the first time she'd met Bulma and the others. "Things have certainly changed lately."
"You're telling me."
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Bulma's eyes went wide as she looked around the room Vadora had lead her too. "Oh wow, this room's almost as big as Capsule Corp!" she said walking in and looking around. The ceiling was at least thirty feet over her head and had two large ornate cyrstal chandeliers hanging from it. Light from them danced along the walls and floor. Along the back wall rested a large king size bed covered in red satin sheets. The left wall was lined with dressers and the right had two doors.
"The Prince never stays in the same room here for more than a year." Vadora said. "This one's actually smaller than his last." She moved into the room and pointed toward the first door on the right. "The bathroom is through there, the other door is a closet. Your suitcases will be brought up shortly and unpacked for you."
Bulma shook her head. "I doubt there's enough room in this entire room to unpack all of my things." she laughed. "I brought my entire wardrobe with me." She was about to say more when the doors to the room swung open and a female Sai-jin in battle armor that she'd never seen before entered the room.
"Mango?" Vadora asked turning. "What's up?"
"Not sure exactly, Toma just asked me to come find you and take you out to the Sparring Grounds..."
Vadora glanced back at Bulma and then turned and started out of the room. "I'm coming too." Bulma said following her. The two other women nodded and the three made their way through the halls. After a few moments they emerged into the light of the outdoors again and Mango lifted up off the ground. Vadora picked up Bulma and they flew off into the distance. As they flew the sounds of fighting echoed over the lands. Flashes of light appeared randomly in the sky before them, blue, red, and white.
Suddenly a bright pink light flared to life high in the sky as a voice called out. "Thunder Crash!" The energy charged down toward the ground blindingly bright. Bulma hadn't recognized that voice but she did recognize the next one.
"Kaio Ken!" There was a flare of red and the pink energy that came to stop before being pushed off into the sky. And then the red streaked up into the air and the sounds of battle resumed. Mango began to descend and Vadora followed her down. They landed on the edge of a cliff where there were a good dozen or so other Sai-jins standing around, scouters on, watching the battle.
"Look at them go." Toma said walking up beside Vadora and Bulma. "They started really going about twenty minutes ago."
"Typical." Vadora said shaking her head.
"I don't get it... what's up?" Bulma asked trying to watch the battle but to no avail.
It was Mango that answered. "Tien and Raditz are showing off again." she chuckled. "These two have more intense spars than anyone I've ever seen. Raditz got it in his head after news reached us that he was going to help in the battles on Earth. Seems he's feeling left out, since the rest of his family gets to play hero and all."
There was a resounding crack as Tien's fist smashed into Radtiz's face and sent the Sai-jin surging down into the ground. He pulled himself to his feet slowly and look up at Tien. "Let's see if our training the other day paid off any, shall we?" he asked as he cracked his neck. Suddenly he launched into the air again. "Kaio Ken!" There was a spark of red energy about him, and then a blinding flash as a red aura flared to life and he flew up at Tien even faster.
The Human dodged to the side quickly, his own red aura fading away as he did. "Nibai Kinryoku!" As his red aura vanished a silver one flared up to replace it. The two shot in at each other again and began trading blows once more. Flashes of red and silver lit up the sky as thunderous explosions rocked the ground.
"Like I said." Mango began. "They're showing off."
Toma grinned. "Just because they're both able to beat you, you know..." She turned and looked at him, raising an eyebrow slightly, at which point he stopped talking but kept grinning. Vadora and Mango both cracked up laughing.
"Lightning Blast!" Raditz called as he flew backward, thrusting his arms out before him. A stream of golden energy surged forward toward Tien.
"Nice try!" Tien called. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!" The Human's power jumped up again and he easily dodged around the attack and surged in at Raditz.
Before the Sai-jin could react Tien had him planted face first in the dirt. Still, Raditz pulled himself up once more. "Double Kaio Ken!" he cried shooting up again.
Tien placed his hands before him as he watched Raditz charge him, sighting up his shot between his hands. "Tri-Beam!" Gold energy sparked between his palms and then shot down slamming into Raditz and knocking him down into the ground once more, this time knocking him out as well.
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Deep Space:
"Cloaking systems are at 94 and holding." a tech called from the controls. "I think we've got the problem fixed."
"See if you can't bring us back to full power." a deep voice ordered from the doorway. "We want our arrival to be a suprise. I don't want to chance the Sai-jins even being remotely aware that we're there until after the attack has begun."
"Yes sir!" the tech said nodding and then began delegating orders to the others.
"So, how much further are we?" he asked the man leaning on the wall just a few feet ahead of him.
The man shrugged, running a hand through is blonde hair. "About two or three more hours I think."