PrEtTyStUpIdGuRl- Thanks for the reviews. I take it you liked that last chapter! Haha

Dark Storm- Thanks for reviewing! To answer your question, no. Arthos is not going to be related to Vegeta at all. He'll be coming along in a few chapters. Enjoy!

Kataan- Thank you so much! I have a good feeling about this story too. I'm glad you like it so much. Akira was a bit harsh, huh? I'm glad I've kept Vegeta in character so far. It can be hard to do sometimes.

Mela- Thank you! Enjoy the next chapter.

Tsume-Hiei Luver- Thank you for the reviews! You're right. The eldest normally is the heir, and Vegeta was the heir to the throne. But Rall set him up for his father's murder, therefore resulting in Vegeta being banished from the planet and forfeiting his right to the throne. Rall is the second oldest, so he was next in line. That's how he's king. Did I explain it well enough? I hope so. Sorry for any confusion!

Vegeta's first fan- Thank you! Enjoy the new chapter.

Zicke- Haha. Thanks a bunches! I'm glad you like!

Shades of Crimson- Well, I'm glad it wasn't just a filler chapter. ;-) Yep, Arthos will be making an appearance here in a few chapters. He's not part of Vegeta's family, though. Yep, there's going to be all the couples in this one. Lots of stuff is going to happen. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're digging this story. I hope you like this chapter! The next one is going to better, though. This is just setting everyone up!

Seruleyan-Wings- Ahh! I've missed ya! (hugs) Sorry, about the other night. Our electricity went out. If you see me online, just message me. I hope you post for you stories soon. I miss them as well! Thanks for reviewing. It was great hearing from you again! ;-)

KarineD- Thanks! You rock for reviewing!

Garowyn- Hey! Thanks for reviewing! Glad you liked the chapter. I'll answer your question about the rating change below. I want everyone to read it so… Thanks again!

All Readers: The rating was changed because there's going to be some violence and bad language. I don't do lemons at all. I might hint at them, but I'm just not going to do one. So please don't ask for one. It's not going to happen. Period. The end. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 04: Welcome to Mercessei

Bulma looked up through watery eyes at her savior. It was impossible to make out the persons features through the whitish-yellow glow that surrounded them, but she had a strong sense of familiarity. Glancing to her left, she spotted Akira lifting her injured body off the ground on wobbling legs. The silver haired Saiyan woman had been flung through a rock outcropping by Freeza just a moment ago. Bulma smiled gratefully, thanking the gods in the sky that her friend was alright!

Just as she stood up to go over to her bodyguard, a thin, red beam of ki shot through the air and pierced Akira through the heart. The princess opened her mouth in a silent cry of anguish as she watched the other woman's body fall to the ground. Bulma fell back to her knees and fisted her hands in the ragged material of her skirt.

"No!" Bulma sat up, tears streaming down her pale face. Panting for air, she closed her eyes. She kept having these terrible dreams every night, all night for the past four days, and it wasn't getting any better! Throwing back the covers, she swung her body down over the side of the bunk and padded barefoot across the cold metal floor to the bathroom.

Once inside, she rested her back against the closed door. Her eyes drifted shut, and she sighed slowly, trying to calm her nerves. Her father was lying on the floor of his cell face down as she tiptoed closer. She was afraid to wake him, so she knelt down beside him slowly and gingerly tapped him on the shoulder. His fine clothes and beautifully crafted gold jewelry crumbled into dust at her touch, and she stared down at her father's skeleton.

Bulma opened her eyes and lurched forward toward the toilet, where she promptly heaved the contents of her stomach. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, the princess sat back on her heals and began to cry uncontrollably. She couldn't even escape her dreams when she was wide-awake! The sound of footsteps caught her attention, and she quickly jumped to her feet.

"Bulma?" Akira's voice called out from the other side of the door.

"Just a second," the princess responded anxiously. She didn't want anyone to worry about her or answer any questions about what was wrong with her. She turned on the water in the sink and looked down at her hands. They were shaking visibly shaking.

"We just landed on Merces," Akira continued, glancing at the closed door with a look of concern. She knew exactly what was going on, but she'd decided not to pry. Bulma obviously didn't want to talk about. "You should get and have a look around. It'll do you some good to get off the ship for a bit."

"Yeah. I'll be along in a minute," came the muffled reply.

Akira sighed. "Okay. I'll be outside waiting for you."

The young Saiyan woman walked back out of their shared room and down the hallway toward the cargo bay. She hoped Bulma wasn't still silently brooding over what she'd said. She thought they had worked past that a few days ago. Akira moved down the steps slowly and then made her way toward the open ramp. The sun was shining brightly outside, and there was a cool breeze drifting through the air.

She spotted Nor and Vegeta waiting just outside for her and smiled at them. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to wait for Bulma."

Nor looked down at his little sister. "Are you sure?"

Akira laughed slightly. "I'm a big girl now, Bro. I can take care of myself."

He shook his head with an amused look on his face. "Fine. We're going to see about the supplies. We'll meet you back here later."

"Right," she replied. "Have fun."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes. Purchasing supplies. Good times," he muttered sarcastically, walking away.

Nor chuckled and followed his friend. "Don't act like you don't like to heckle with the traders."

"I do not heckle," the ex-prince shot back.

"Oh right," Nor corrected himself. "You intimidate them into lowering their prices."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Vegeta smirked. "It is the only fun part of this job."

"Other than the occasional fight."

"Well, of course."

Nor looked over to their left and nodded his head to Vegeta. "Looks like this port only has one fuel dealer."

Vegeta glared in that direction and spotted the sign hovering over the crowd of people. "Which means his prices will be overkill," he grumbled. Sometimes he hated the outer worlds.

They started walking along the pathway, trying to meander through the people. Nor yawned. "The princess seems pretty distant lately," he pointed out, changing the subject.

"She just lost her father and is running across the universe with a bunch of people she doesn't know," he stated. "Of course she is."

Nor shook his head. "No. This just started a few days ago. Haven't you noticed? She wasn't like that the first couple days. Akira says she's been having nightmares. My poor sister can't catch a wink of sleep," he laughed.

Vegeta groaned. "I know! Where do you think Akira runs to every night?"

"Oh," Nor replied slowly, knowingly. "Same old Akira."

Unconsciously, Vegeta rubbed the kink at the back of his neck. "No, not the same. She's gotten stronger. She can keep up fairly well."

Nor looked surprised. "Really?" He then looked a little worried. "Stronger than me?"

"Quite possibly," Vegeta teased. "But that's not hard to do."

"I'll remember that comment next time your ass needs help," Nor growled.

(Change scene)

Turlis let out a loud chuckle as he watched his twin's cheeks turn bright red. "You're such a girl, Kak," he taunted.

Goku glared up at his brother, the blush immediately leaving his face. "Shut up!"

"Ooh, nice comeback," he went on.

"What are you doing flirting anyway? Indy would kill you if she knew."

"Oh, come off it. I'm doing it for you, Bro," Turlis stated. "Someone's got to get you a date, and the gods know you can't get one on your own."

"I can too," Goku muttered angrily. He picked up his drink and downed it in one gulp, glancing around the small bar. He'd find a damn mate when it made more sense to actually have one. What was the point when you were flying from one planet to the next picking up any job that came your way?

"About time those two showed up," Turlis spoke up over the rim of his cup.

Goku looked over his shoulder toward the entrance. Brolly and Nappa were walking toward them and laughing loudly about something. Nappa clapped his younger brother on the shoulder good-naturedly.

"For real," the twins heard Nappa say. "They wouldn't last a second in a real fight."

Turlis gave them a strange look. "What are you talking about?" He asked them as they pulled up chairs and sat down next to each other.

Brolly snickered. "These pathetic outworlder gangs. They think they're so fucking tough."

"We just ran into a couple of the morons," Nappa told them. "They actually tried to mug us." He laughed uncontrollably. "I mean, come on! They couldn't have had a power level higher than two hundred collectively, and they thought they could take us down."

Goku and Turlis joined in on the laughter, finding it equally as amusing and pathetic. Several tables away, a large group of humanoid aliens with brown skin and shaggy, dirty green hair glared at them. One of them stood up and pulled something from his pocket, flashing it at his comrades. They grinned evilly and watched as their leader pushed his way to the bar.

"You there," he hissed at one of the waitresses.

The young woman turned around and nearly dropped the pitcher of ale she was balancing on her serving tray. She gulped nervously and walked over to the alien. "Y-yes?"

He slapped a small packet onto the counter and reached over, grabbing the terrified woman by the back of the neck and dragging her face close to his own. He smirked at her. "That table over there," he said, nodding toward the four laughing Saiyans. "Slip this into their food."

"But why?" She inquired shakily, her dark eyes flashing in the direction of the table. She yelped when the hand curled tighter around her neck.

"Because if you don't, I'll burn this establishment to the ground with you and the rest of the staff inside." He let his eyes drag over her perfectly shaped body. "But I'll have a little fun first, if you know what I mean. Understand?"

She nodded her head quickly and took the small envelope what she guessed to be some kind of drug or poison.

(Change scene)

Indara pulled her cloak around her body and walked quickly into the temple. Ava was standing next to the alter, obviously praying. The princess stood back, watching the older woman with a sad smile. The priestess Ava reminded her of Akira. They looked so similar because of the pale silver hair and eyes.

"Princess Indara," Ava's voice resounded off the walls as the priestess turned toward her.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, my lady," Indara apologized. On Vegetasei, the monarchy and the church ruled together, and in many cases, some felt that the church held greater power. Indara, however, was simply showing respect to a woman that had helped raise her.

Ava smiled softly. "You don't have to apologize, dear." She walked gracefully across the room and met the princess half way. "What brings you here so late in the evening?"

"Well, you see," Indara started, lowering her voice and looking around cautiously. "I've recently been in contact with Vegeta."

The priestess glanced around as well, her brows drawing together worriedly. "Everything is alright?"

Indara nodded. "Yes. I didn't mean to alarm you." She sighed. "He needs to get onto the planet so he can speak with the council. He says he has something might be able to get him back in their good graces."

Ava stood up straight and blinked several times. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure. You know Vegeta as well as I. He doesn't want anyone to catch on to his plans, so he didn't give me any details."

"So he needs a way to get back here."

"He can get here. He just won't be able to land."

"I could meet him on one of the moon colonies. Security isn't near as tight there," the priestess supplied helpfully. "No one would dare search my ship."

"That could work. I'll run it by him next time he contacts me."

The two women continued speaking in low voices, completely oblivious to the shadowy figure near the darkened entrance. Rall scowled at his sister's back. How dare she conspire behind his back with Vegeta! He clenched his fists at his sides and walked quietly out the doors. Indara's sneaking around was about to come to an abrupt end, and Vegeta's plane was never going to get off the ground.

(End chapter)

Okay. I know it's a bit short, but you see. I've got all the chapters outlined, so I have a good idea about where the best place to end each chapter is and what needs to be in them.

Next time: The boys in the bar get into a brawl. Vegeta and Akira meet with his next contact about a very high paying job, that might be just a bit too risky, but what's a little risky to an arrogant Vegeta? ;-) Bulma gets stuck back on the ship with Radditz, and isn't happy about it. He fills her in on some of Akira's past from when she lived on Vegetasei, and we'll visit there too again!

PANDORA ;-P