Preparing For The Trip

For the rest of the day, Toushiro and Vegeta packed up for their trip to Planet Vegeta. While Vegeta was calm in his own way, Toushiro was excited. He was going to see Vegeta's home planet and see the saiyan race! His excitement was so overwhelming that he was literally bugging Vegeta with questions.

Toushiro: "So what's Planet Vegeta like? Are there cities? Are there farms? Are there forests and jungles?"

Goku sat on the sofa while he watched them pack. He found it amusing at how many questions Toushiro was asking Vegeta and was amazed at how long of a fuse Vegeta had with the boy. Normally Vegeta would have blown up in someone's face by now. But Goku didn't see the prince's patience lasting much longer.

Vegeta: "I don't remember."

Toushiro: "Is there a palace?"

Vegeta: "I think so-"

Toushiro: "What kind of animals live there? Are there oceans, ponds, lakes, rivers? Is there a-"

And inevitably, Vegeta lost it.

Vegeta: "I was only 5 years old when Frieza destroyed it! I don't remember, Toushiro!... OK!"

A second after he had finished yelling at the young captain, Vegeta realized what he had done.

Vegeta: "Uh... Sorry, Toushiro."

Although a little shaken, Toushiro was unfazed. It wasn't the first time Vegeta had yelled at him and it wasn't going to be the last either.

Toushiro: "It's ok, Vegeta... I did get carried away there."

Goku: "That was, by far, the longest I've ever seen you go before losing it, Vegeta. Well done, man. I'm proud of you."

Goku clapped his hands and Vegeta just glanced at him with his left eyebrow raised before going back to packing. But that was when Goku noticed something about the prince that he'd never noticed before.

Goku: "Hey, Vegeta... Is something wrong with your right eye?"

Vegeta: "It's been like that ever since our first fight."

Goku: "What do you mean?"

Vegeta: "Well ever since that fight the vision in my right eye has always been a tiny bit... Blurry. And that's YOUR fault!"

Goku: "Me! What did I do?"

Vegeta: "Remember how I transformed into a giant ape and at one point I crushed your legs, Kakarot?"

Goku: "Yeah... Still, what did I do!"

Vegeta: "(Pointing to his right eye) You shot me, remember?"

Toushiro looked over at Goku with wide, surprised eyes. He was surprised to hear that Goku had done something like that.

Goku: "Oh... ... Yeah, I remember... ... ... Sorry."

Vegeta: "Hmph. Anyway... Don't you think you should get going, Kakarot? You know, before your wife starts screaming."

Goku looked at Vegeta and the prince looked at him with a serious face. Vegeta's eyes soon roamed over to Toushiro who was oblivious to the saiyan's glance. A second after Goku looked over at Toushiro too, he knew why Vegeta REALLY wanted him to leave.

Goku: "Uh... Yeah. Thanks, Vegeta and good luck Toushiro!"

Toushiro: "See you, Goku."

The young captain had one of his seated officers take Goku home. And as soon as the earth-raised saiyan had left, Toushiro was a little bewildered.

Toushiro: "What did Goku mean by 'good luck'?"

Vegeta turned to his young captain and sat on the sofa. Arms crossed, eyes focused and serious. His body language said it all to Toushiro.

Vegeta: "I want you to listen to me. While I know you can fight and defend yourself pretty well Toushiro, you're going to be around an entire race that evolved specifically to fight and nothing more. A saiyan's enjoyment of fighting is very much like Rangiku's enjoyment of drinking, partying, buying expensive things and all that. This isn't something where you can just go in and expect to be left alone. You may have to fight to prove that you are worthy to be there and among the saiyans. Do you understand?"

Toushiro: "Yeah..."

Vegeta: "Are you confident that you can fight by yourself if you need to? Cause if I help you, they'll all think that you're just hiding behind me and are too weak to defend yourself."

Toushiro: "Yeah I'm confident... I think..."

Vegeta: "Hmm... Well just stay on guard. It's like sending a small number of people who have only just finished their military training into combat in a war that's been going on for a few years. You never know what'll happen."

Toushiro: "Right..."

Vegeta: "There's also the other ambassadors. I'm sure that a number of them will feel insulted that a child is among them. Some will probably think that earth is making fun of them. It's pretty much saying 'we think a child can do much better than an adult'."

Toushiro: "But I'm not a child. You know that."

Vegeta: "Physically you are. You have the appearance of a child, that's why everyone calls you a kid."

Toushiro: "How do I 'look' like a kid? It's 'cause I'm short, isn't it."

Vegeta: "No. You have features that a child has until they start maturing. Like big eyes and a roundness of the face."

Toushiro: "Oh... I guess I owe some people an apology."

Vegeta: "And you are also still a kid maturity-wise too."

Toushiro: "What do you mean?"

Vegeta: "You once told me yourself that your powers haven't fully matured yet. That's not from a lack of training or anything like that. Because your body hasn't fully matured yet, your powers won't be able to mature either. As you get older, your body will be able to withstand more and more."

Toushiro: "So all I need to do is get bigger huh. Maybe I need to sleep more."

Vegeta: "Is that why you sleep so much?"

Toushiro: "Yeah... Children who sleep well, grow well. That's what I've always been told."

Vegeta: "That's... Not true, Toushiro."

Toushiro: "It's not?"

Vegeta: "No... And trust me I know that for a fact!"

Toushiro: "But Momo sleeps a lot and she's taller than me!"

Vegeta: "Isn't she older too?"

Toushiro: "Uh... Yeah, she is. What's that got to do with it?"

Vegeta: "Here's a little heath lesson for you. The average time for a girl to start maturing is between ages 10 to 11 and it usually ends by ages 15 to 17, although this varies between individuals. The average time for a boy to start maturing is between ages 12 to 13 and it usually ends by ages 16 to 18, again this varies between individuals."

Toushiro: "No wonder Momo is taller than me."

Vegeta: "And even if you're within that age range, that doesn't mean you're growing. I was 15 when I suddenly shot up and I reached my maximum height within that same year."

Toushiro: "Until you got your spinosaurus form."

Vegeta: "True."

Toushiro: "How old do I 'look'?"

Vegeta: "12 at least and 13 at most. Don't worry, Toushiro, you'll start growing soon enough and you've got a lot of time. If I'm not mistaken, Ukitake and Kyoraku are 150 plus years old. And old Yamamoto is, what, 2000 some years old? You've got time, don't worry."

Toushiro: "Sure, in 1000 years or so I'll look like some old walking skeleton."

Vegeta: "You better pray he didn't hear that."

Toushiro: "If he can hear at all..."

Vegeta: "You've got a lot of time to grow and a lot of time before you look like Yamamoto. Enjoy your youth while you can, Toushiro. Cause once it's gone, you can't get it back. Trust me, you're wishing you were older now and when you finally are older you'll be wishing that you were young again. Use this time to practice and perfect the skills you have now before attempting new ones and never neglect the basics. All true warriors always brush up on their basics."

Toushiro: "Even you?"

Vegeta: "Even an elite saiyan like me never neglects the basics. Sometimes I have to remind myself of the basics... Especially at my age!"

Vegeta was trying to be funny and it worked. Toushiro just laughed. Even the Prince of All Saiyans had a sense of humor.

Vegeta: "Just try to keep out of trouble while we're there, ok?"

Toushiro: "I'll try, Vegeta. I'll try."

Vegeta: "Good, now... You need to know some of the proper edict while you are amongst my father and the other ambassadors."

Toushiro: "Ok."

Vegeta: "When in the presence of an ambassador or the king, you must stand up straight and proper as if you were in front of Yamamoto himself."

Toushiro: "Got it."

Vegeta: "The next thing is very important. When you are greeting the king, you must bow like this."

Vegeta showed the young captain the bow he must do. It was a normal bow but with his right arm crossing his chest.

Vegeta: "You must do that if you don't want to set the king off and, trust me, that won't be pretty."

For the rest of the day, Vegeta taught Toushiro the things he needed to know before dealing with the ambassadors and the saiyans. They went to bed early in order to wake up early. It was still very dark when they got up and finished packing. Once they were ready, they both went to Capsule Corp, picking up a Gigai for Toushiro on the way. It was still dark when they arrived at Capsule Corp, with a hint of the sunrise just beginning to appear.

Toushiro: "I've never been on a ship before."

Vegeta: "Oh boy... This is going to be a long ride."

Toushiro: "Very funny."

Vegeta chuckled as they entered his home. Bulma was already up and finishing the preparations for their trip. The ship they were going to use was much like the one Goku took to Namek, only much smaller.

Vegeta: "It's a little smaller than what you usually make 'em as, Bulma."

Bulma: "Well this one is built with a little more speed in mind."

Vegeta: "Good. This is one meeting you don't want to be late for. If you're late, you're dead."

Bulma: "That's what I figured. I'm almost done, boys."

Twenty minutes later and Bulma was done. The ship was ready to take off. While Toushiro sated his curiosity by exploring the small ship, Bulma ran over the controls with Vegeta. Once the goodbyes were said, Vegeta started the ship up and they were off. The ship was faster. Within a minute of taking off, they were out of earth's atmosphere. When they were, Toushiro got a shock.

Toushiro: "Whoa! What the?"

He was floating out of his seat. The only thing keeping him there was his seatbelt.

Vegeta: "That's the zero gravity. Hang on."

A second later and Vegeta turned the artificial gravity on. Toushiro fell back into his seat.

Toushiro: "That was cool!"

Vegeta: "Again... This is going to be a loooonnng trip."

With this ship, it was going to take them only a day to reach their destination. For the whole day, Vegeta did some mild training while Toushiro just looked out the window, asking a question every now and then. After a day in space, they were less than 30 minutes away from arriving at Planet Vegeta. Toushiro was still looking out the window. First he was the youngest Soul Reaper ever to obtain the rank of captain but now he was the first Soul Reaper to ever go into space. It was all almost overwhelming to take in! But soon his attention turned to his second lieutenant when Vegeta sighed unhappily.

Toushiro: "What's wrong, Vegeta? I thought you'd be happy to visit your old home planet?"

Vegeta: "It's not that, Toushiro."

Toushiro: "What is it then?"

Vegeta: "My father."

Toushiro: "Your father?"

Vegeta: "The only thing my father and I have in common is our physical appearance. Other then that, we are complete opposites. If there is something he wants, he will go to unbelievable extremes to get what he wants. Extremes that I wouldn't even consider THINKING of doing. ... ... I'm almost positive that the second he sees me, he'll try to get me to take over as the new king."

Toushiro suddenly got a horrible sick feeling in his heart. He hadn't considered that. Vegeta looked over at his young captain and saw how uneasy he was and decided to put him at ease.

Vegeta: "Don't worry, Toushiro. I have no intention on becoming the new king. I gave up my title as 'prince' a long time ago."

The young captain looked up at Vegeta and saw the saiyan smiling at him, and that put him at ease.

Vegeta: "I wouldn't give up the life I have on earth for anything... Not even for immortality."

Toushiro smiled as he crawled over and snuggled against Vegeta. The boy then closed his eyes to rest before they arrived. Vegeta only watched the boy for a few minutes before gazing back out into the black void outside. He then smiled at himself for what he had just said. Toushiro would never know how symbolic those words were, for it was the possible promise of immortality that had brought Vegeta to earth in the first place.