Kera:
Another month passed with intensive training until Vegeta decided they could fly off. Kera had longed for this day so much, packed the most necessary things and said goodbye to her family extensively the following morning. She met Vegeta again at the spaceship in the Briefs' garden. Bulma was saying goodbye to Vegeta.
As she passed by, Bulma turned to Kera. "Kera, do you remember my request?"
Kera thought for a moment. "The DNA sample?"
Bulma nodded. She lowered her voice as she continued. "I didn't want to bug you about it again during your pregnancy and when they were so little." She cleared her throat. "And maybe if you could still convince Vegeta ..."
Kera smiled. "As good as done."
It didn't take Kera long to convince Vegeta to give a DNA sample as well. Probably the upcoming flight into space was his motivation to comply with her request as soon as possible.
Then they set off. Earth disappeared from their sight at breakneck speed.
"So, where are we going first?" asked Kera.
"To a planet where I've heard the inhabitants talking about a Saiyan." He checked the coordinates in the system and then turned to Kera. "In the meantime, we can train." He grinned.
The spaceship looked a lot like the one she had flown to Namek in with Kakarrot. Vegeta increased the gravity.
The days passed without anything special happening. When they arrived at the planet Vegeta had mentioned, they began to question the inhabitants. However, they seemed intimidated by Vegeta and retreated to their huts. Kera took over the questioning and sent Vegeta back several yards. He definitely needed to practise his negotiating skills, she thought.
Thanks to her outspoken nature, Kera learned a name. The inhabitants told her that a Saiyan had lived with them some years ago, but had moved on in the meantime. He had given the name of a planet. Whether he wanted to stay there, however, they did not know. Kera thanked them and they left for the next planet.
They used the flight time again for intensive training. When they had already trained for a few hours at a time, they simultaneously fired energy balls that met in the air and exploded. Kera and Vegeta were knocked off their feet and lay dazed on the ground.
Kera was the first to recover. "Wow, that was a bit intense."
She looked to Vegeta and ran to him in horror. He didn't seem to have moved yet. She shook him in a panic and was greatly relieved when he opened his eyes.
"Too small a space, too much energy," he said quietly.
Kera sighed. "True. Time for a break."
Vegeta smiled and looked at her briefly, then pulled her down to him and kissed her. Totally caught off guard, she let it go for a moment and then broke away. She took a few steps back, not knowing what to say. She tasted his lips on hers and longed to feel them again. She knew those thoughts were wrong. Vegeta sat up, shaking his head. He seemed to have been surprised himself by his action. He mumbled an apology and went to his chamber.
After a few hours sleep and a hearty meal, they continued their training. Kera found it difficult to concentrate. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Vegeta very close in front of her. His lips slightly parted. And inside her the urge to get closer to him grew. To run her fingers through his hair, to feel his muscular body close to hers.
"Where are you with your thoughts, Kera?" A blow sent her reeling. Vegeta had not struck with all his might, but already in such a way that she felt a distinct pain on her upper arm. She hadn't blocked soon enough and cursed inwardly. What had she just been thinking about?
Vegeta didn't give her a chance to rest, but set right after her and pushed her against the wall of the spaceship. She tried to duck away, but was too slow. Vegeta reared up close in front of her and braced his arms to the left and right of her head.
He was out of breath and looked at her. "Do you need a break?" he asked, unusually concerned.
Kera looked down for a moment. Her hands, which she had crossed in a defensive position in front of her body, moved to Vegeta's chest as if by themselves. Fascinated, she watched as one hand began to stroke Vegeta while the other moved further up his neck.
"I'd like to move the training." She wanted to shake her head. What was she talking about? She would never say such a thing to Vegeta. Especially not with his insinuating undertone.
Vegeta's expression expressed surprise and scepticism. He was probably also wondering why she was talking such crap all of a sudden. But then he smiled. Desire flashed in his eyes. He leaned towards her and pressed his lips to hers.
"Landing will take place in 20 minutes," the tinny voice announced from the loudspeaker.
Confused, Kera looked at the control panel. Had she dozed off? She couldn't remember that they were so close to landing already. She looked at the planet in front of her through the wide glass panel above the control panel. Wasn't that Earth? But they were supposed to stay in space for at least six months to search Saiyans and to train. And they had only visited one planet.
Kera's gaze fell on the display in front of her. It was clearly Earth's coor-dinates. She looked to her right. There sat Vegeta in the second pilot's chair. His head was tilted to one side. He was asleep.
"Vegeta!" Somewhat rudely, Kera shook his shoulder. Quite the warrior, he was instantly awake. When he recognised her, he slumped back into the chair and yawned.
"Why are you waking me up? Are we there yet?"
"Yes. We land in twenty minutes." She paused. "On Earth."
"What?" He sprang forward and checked the display on the control panel. "How is that possible? We were on our way to Polia, weren't we?"
"I have no idea," Kera confessed. Then she slapped her hands over her mouth. "Shit," she murmured.
"What now?" asked Vegeta in alarm.
"Look at the date!"
Vegeta followed her outstretched finger. And snapped his eyes open in wonder. "That ... that can't be," he stammered. "That's impossible!"
"I know," she whispered, "We were in space for a year. But I don't remember anything."
The spaceship landed in the Briefs' garden. Kera and Vegeta looked at each other.
"What do we do now?" asked Kera uncertainly.
For the last twenty minutes they had barely exchanged a word. They were both far too carried away by the fact that they had been out in space for months and couldn't remember it. This had to be a bad dream. But all the pinching had not allowed themselves to wake up.
Vegeta threw his hands in the air and sank backwards into the seat. "I don't know. We haven't found any Saiyans. Or if we did, we can't remember. We couldn't have been gone for a year. It must be a mistake on the spaceship. Maybe ..." He pondered feverishly. "Maybe we got into a black hole or something. Aren't there phenomena like that?" Hopefully, he looked at Kera.
"I have no idea." Kera bumped her thumbnail against her front teeth. "What if we fly to Dende first and he examines us? Maybe there's something physically wrong with us."
Vegeta considered for a moment, then nodded. "Quick, before someone gets out."
With the push of a button, he opened the boarding hatch, grabbed Kera's arm and ran. Stumbling, she followed him. As soon as Vegeta was outside, he pushed off and pulled Kera with him. Below her, Kera saw Bulma and Trunks running out of the house, waving at them. Bulma would be pissed.
Without exchanging a word, they flew towards Kami's palace.
"Dende!" shouted Kera as soon as they landed.
The young Namekian stepped out of the palace a few moments later and looked at the two of them in wonder. When he recognised them, he smiled.
"Kera, Vegeta, how lovely! I had ..."
Kera interrupted him and knelt in front of him. "No time, Dende. How long has it been since Vegeta and I left for space?"
Dende didn't let on if the question irritated him. "It's been exactly a year."
Kera looked behind him at Vegeta. His usually controlled expression was panicked.
"Please examine us. We need to know if there is something wrong with us," Kera pleaded.
"Kera, what's wrong?"
She took a deep breath. "Vegeta and I visited a planet where we found signs of a Saiyan. Then we left for a second planet and the closest we can remember is waking up just before we landed."
Horrified, the Namekian's eyes snapped open. "Come along."
They followed him into one of the many rooms. Dende pointed to the bed. Glancing at Vegeta, Kera lay down first, while Vegeta stood close by. Dende squatted down on the other side of the bed and then began placing his hands in several places. He did not say a word. After a while he sighed.
"Now you please, Vegeta."
Hesitantly, the two switched places and Dende repeated his examination on Vegeta. Then he told them both to sit down on two chairs beside the bed, while he himself remained seated on the edge of the bed.
"So ...?" asked Kera.
Dende shook his head slightly. "I don't know. I felt something with you two that I can't place. Like there's something inside you that's deeply hidden but I can't get to it or read it." He shrugged. "I will try to find out more about it. I'm sorry I can't help you more right now. Physically, you are in good health."
"Dende, please don't tell anyone about this," Kera asked quietly.
Dende nodded and dismissed them.
Outside the palace, Kera and Vegeta looked at each other. "What are we going to tell our families now?"
Vegeta bit his lower lip as he considered. "We try to stay as close to the truth as possible. We've visited several planets, found traces of Saiyans, but that's about it."
"What about the soil samples Bulma asked us to bring back?"
Vegeta cursed. "We just forgot about those."
"Okay. I'll fly over to your place to get my stuff, then I'll fly on to Piccolo's."
When they landed in Bulma's garden, Kera wanted to disappear into the spaceship as unseen as possible to get her things, but Bulma noticed her anyway. Beaming with joy, she ran towards them.
To both their amazement, she fell around Vegeta's neck, kissed him, then pushed away from him again and rammed her fist against his chest.
"Why did you just leave earlier?"
Kera glanced uncertainly at Vegeta. "We, uh ..."
"Dende was checking us out. We wanted to make sure we didn't catch anything there. Dende said it was a clear go."
Kera had to concentrate to keep her features under control. Vegeta was surprisingly good at lying.
"Okay," Bulma said stretching.
"I'm going to go fly to Piccolo and the kids, then." Kera was about to say goodbye to Bulma and Vegeta, when the blue-haired woman held her back once more.
"Are you coming over in the next few days? My friend has analysed your DNA and I'd like to explain the results to you."
"Will do."
Piccolo and the children were already waiting for her in front of the house next to the waterfall. Overjoyed, she fell into her soulmate's arms, inhaled his scent and hugged him tightly. Menka and Reyak jumped at her and almost knocked her over.
'It's so good to have you back,' she heard Piccolo's voice in her head.
Two days later, Kera was back up to date and they all flew to Bulma's, who had prepared food. Reyak and Menka had grown a good bit again. Reyak had already overtaken Trunks and they were also much further ahead mentally than he was. Menka was smaller than Reyak, but according to Piccolo had developed insane mental powers. That was why he had spent a lot of time with the children last year with Dende, who had taught Menka as best he could while he trained with Reyak. Kera was worried that this would prevent them from being proper children, but Piccolo reassured her. Namekians, especially those with warrior genes, would grow very quickly at first so they could defend their clan. Since Saiyans were also born much more mature than human children, it was only natural that the twins would grow quickly.
They were barbecuing on the large terrace. Chi-Chi was there with Gohan and Goten as well. After the meal, Bulma asked Vegeta and Kera to a corner of the terrace, a little away from the others.
"My friend analysed your DNA samples. The results were very interesting," Bulma began her narrative. "He has thanked me several times because it has opened up so many new possibilities for him to understand the different life forms in our universe. He believes he is on the trail of why you can mutate into Ozaru." She paused.
"Is that all?" Vegeta looked displeased.
"No. He's been studying Kera's and your DNA closely. You are related."
"Bulma, this is not news to us. We're cousins."
Vegeta growled. "I can't believe you're making such a big deal out of this."
"If you'd let me finish, I could explain what's meant by that." Her eyes flashed angrily.
"What now?"
"The analysis suggests that you are not cousins, but brother and sister. Probably twins."
Kera didn't know if she had understood Bulma's words correctly and looked to Vegeta, who just stared at his wife.
"That's impossible," he finally said.
"That would mean Vegeta's parents lied to us? I can't imagine that. My mother was Vegeta's mother's cousin and died young. Why wouldn't that be true?"
"I don't know. I can only tell you what the analysis showed. Here's the kicker. My friend compared your samples with Goku's. There is a very high probability that the three of you have the same mother."
Kera's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe it.
Vegeta was the first to regain his speech. "That's impossible. Kakarrot is an underclass warrior. I am the prince of the Saiyans. We can never have the same mother in our lives."
"Bulma, that sounds very unlikely," Kera said.
"I'm just passing on to you what the analyses of your DNA have revealed. Whether you believe me or not is up to you." Snapped, she turned away, leaving Kera and Vegeta standing there.
Vegeta snorted. "What a bummer. That just can't be true," he muttered to himself.
"What if it is true?" Angrily, Vegeta's head wheeled around to Kera. "Maybe not about Kakarrot, but about us being siblings."
"It wouldn't change anything, would it?"
"Maybe not. But I'd like to know already."
"Too bad there's no one left to ask." Vegeta clenched his fists. Kera could only guess what it was like inside Vegeta.
"I'll ask Dende tomorrow if he has any ideas."
No one felt like socialising after this news and Kera flew home with Piccolo and the children after a short while. She told Piccolo about Bulma's news, who wasn't that impressed by the news that Vegeta and Kera were siblings.
"Your auras feel very similar and you are also very similar in face and body size. So it really could be."
Kera didn't know what to make of his answer. To her, Vegeta had always been just her cousin. Her prince. And she his bodyguard. How was that going to change now?
After a restless night, Kera flew to Dende to ask him if he saw any possibility of what they could do. She had taken Menka with her as she was keen to visit Dende.
"Since you haven't found any living Saiyans, we'll have to try something else. We first have to find out if Goku's mother or your mother or whoever ..." He broke off. "If there is anyone in the underworld who could answer your questions. Living beings who have done evil during their lifetime go to the Underworld, their souls are purified and they are born again. Good souls have the possibility to live on in paradise or something similar if they wish. If there is someone there, you could question him or her."
"And how should we question the person?"
"If you wish Shenron to allow you to go to the underworld for a limited time ... Yes, that might work."
"Fair enough: how do we find out if there is someone who can answer our questions?"
"You do have someone dead in the underworld."
For a moment Kera looked at Dende in confusion. Then she smiled. "Of course. Kakarrot is there. Can you make contact with him?"
"Not with him. But to King Kai. Goku is certainly with him."
Nervously, Kera stepped from one foot to the other. "Can you please contact him now?" Pleading, she looked at Dende.
He smiled and looked to Menka, who had been quietly listening to their conversation. "Would you like to call King Kai?"
Menka seemed overjoyed that Dende had given her this task. She sat down beside Dende, crossed her legs and closed her eyes. Straining, she drew her brows together. Dende leaned over to her and placed his hand on hers.
"Don't force it. Take it easy. Like I showed you."
Menka relaxed. Seconds passed with no one speaking a word until the corners of Menka's mouth pulled up.
"Hello, King Kai," she said in her high-pitched voice. "I am Menka, calling on behalf of Dende, God of Earth, and my mother Kera of the Saiyans."
Kera was filled with pride. Her little daughter was able to contact someone else over such a great distance. It was then that she heard King Kai's voice in her head.
"Pleased to meet you, little miss. How old are you?"
"Age doesn't matter."
Kera sensed a falter from King Kai and couldn't help grinning. Dende, too, smirked.
"But how ...?" stuttered King Kai.
"I'm half Saiyan and half Namekian."
"What! Kera and Piccolo have a daughter?!" She heard Kakarrot's voice.
"Hello, Kakarrot!" said Kera.
"Kera! You really have a daughter? With Piccolo?" Even though she couldn't see him, Kera knew that Kakarrot looked more than puzzled.
"Yes. And a son. They're twins."
"Wow, congratulations!"
"Thanks." Then she remembered something else. "You've become a father for a second time." She heard a soft cry of pain. Obviously Kakarrot had fallen down in fright. "His name is Goten."
"I'll have to take a moment to digest that." He took a few deep breaths in and out. "How is Chi-Chi?" he then asked quietly.
"She's doing fine. She misses you a lot. With Goten and Gohan, she has a good distraction. How are you doing?", Kera tried to bring him back to his thoughts.
"Good. King Kai let me enter a really cool tournament with fighters from all sorts of planets. Dead ones, that is. There was this guy, Paikuhan. Man, he was really good and ..."
"Sounds great," she interrupted his ramblings. "I need to talk to you about something else. It's urgent."
Kera sensed Kakarrot's disappointment that he couldn't go on about his fight, but he wasn't going to turn her away. "About what?"
"Do you remember giving Bulma a sample of your DNA once?"
"Uh..."
"Never mind. You definitely did. Vegeta and I left for space for a year last year to look for other Saiyans and ..."
"Cool, did you find any?"
"No," Kera replied indignantly. "That's not the point either. Vegeta and I also gave Bulma a sample of our DNA before we left. Her friend analysed it and found out that Vegeta and I are not cousins, but siblings."
Of all the questions Kera had expected, he asked one she hadn't. "You can find out something like that through DNA?"
"Yes, you can. Something else is much more interesting. You and I are also very likely related." There was a long silence. "Kakarrot?"
"That's quite a lot of news at once," he said slowly.
"For us, too. Vegeta won't believe it."
Kakarrot snorted. "I can imagine."
"Is there any way you can find out if there's a Saiyan there who can help us?"
"That might be difficult. Saiyans tend not to be known for their good deeds," King Kai interjected.
"Please, King Kai," Menka pleaded.
Kera heard a sigh. "All right, we'll ask around. But don't expect too much." With these words, King Kai ended the conversation.
At the same moment, Menka toppled to one side. Dende, who had been sitting next to her the whole time, caught her. Startled, Kera rushed forward.
"What's wrong with her?"
"It's all right. She's just exhausted. Maintaining a mental link over such a great distance is very tiring. She'll be all right in a minute," Dende reassured her, placing his hand on Menka's forehead. His palm began to glow and a few moments later Menka opened her eyes again.
"You did great," Dende said softly to her and stroked her cheek.
When they got home, Kera reported on her conversation with King Kai and Kakarrot.
"I'll just let Vegeta know, and maybe we'll start looking for the first Dragon Ball."
Kera could barely contain her excitement. Piccolo looked at her for a while and seemed torn as to whether or not he should approve of all this. Finally he nodded and gave her a kiss before she flew off.
She found Vegeta in his gravity room and also told him what had happened in the last few hours.
"I just can't believe we're related to this underclass warrior." Vegeta snorted snidely.
"Even if that's not true, I'd like to know if we really are siblings."
She stood in front of him and looked at him firmly. Only now did she realise that their eyes were level. Why had she never noticed that before?
Vegeta made an undefinable noise, which Kera took as agreement, and unceremoniously pulled him out of the training room.
"Where's Bulma, then?"
"Probably in the lab."
Kera let Vegeta go ahead and followed him. Bulma was engrossed in looking at a technical drawing on the computer display and startled when Kera addressed her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. You still have the dragon radar, don't you?"
"Yeah, sure." She rummaged in a drawer of the desk. "What do you need it for?"
"Stupid question. To look for the Dragon Balls," Vegeta said with a snide undertone.
Bulma's eyes flashed angrily.
"No need to argue," Kera intervened. "Vegeta and I want to find out if it is true that we are siblings. Kakarrot will try to find other Saiyans in the Underworld with King Kai, and we want to go there too with the help of the Dragon Balls."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
Kera shrugged. "Probably. But it's our only option."
Bulma sighed and handed her the radar. "You guys can never just do nothing either, can you?"
Kera grinned and saw Vegeta lift the corners of his mouth as well.
They said their goodbyes and headed for the first Dragon Ball.
"We still have a little over two hours before the sun sets. We don't have to find them all in one day," Kera called to Vegeta in the air.
"Fine by me. But don't bitch if it's not fast enough for you."
Kera rolled his eyes. He still had to squeeze one in.
They arrived in a small forest, not far from the main town where Bulma's estate was located. They landed among the trees. Kera checked the display on the radar. "We're very close."
Vegeta landed close behind her and reached for the dragon radar. "Let me see."
"Hey!" she shouted, pulling the device out of his reach.
A scramble ensued for the radar. As she held her hand up triumphantly, Vegeta ducked and swept her foot away with a swift movement of his leg. Kera stumbled. Vegeta took the chance and pushed her down.
"Won." He grinned at her.
"Very funny. Can we keep looking now?"
Dear reader,
Wow, 50 chapters. As you will have noticed, I am following the original Dragon Ball story. After the Cell saga, several years pass before Boo appears. Time, therefore, in which a lot can happen. Time that I would like to use to expand my story a bit more without changing the connection to the Boo saga. I'm looking forward to seeing how you like it.
Yours, Jessica