Chapter 2
"You and I we're like 4 year olds
We want to know why and how come about everything
We want to reveal ourselves at will and speak our minds
Never talk small and be intuitive…"
Alanis Morisette, "Joining You"
"B-Bulma? N-nani?" Vegeta stammered. The aqua-haired Chikyuu princess looked up at her husband, a look of disbelief on her own face. Rei broke the silence as she always did.
"BULMA-CHAN! YOU'RE A SAILOR SENSHI! Err, or should I call you Super Sailor Chikyuu?" Rei yelled happily.
"Sailor Senshi? Wha- - Oh, that's right. That's what you turned into when we first--ahem--met, Rei," Vegeta thought out loud. "So now Bulma's one too?"
"Hai," Luna said. "Bulma has become Super Sailor Chikyuu, the Earth Princess. Her power is similar to Super Sailor Moon's; well, when she used to be Super Sailor Moon, that is. How fantastic, our search is over, Artemis!"
"What search, Luna?" Serena asked, a puzzled look on her face. The rest of the Inner Senshis had similar expressions. Artemis and Luna developed large sweat drops.
"Well…err…ya see…we didn't tell you about this because we thought it would intimidate you. The power of the Chikyuu Princess is unbelieveable, and even as of now she has not reached her final stage. She too, has a fantastic Eternal form, which she will reach only at the proper time. Serena, this is why the White Moon Kingdom guarded Chikyuu so closely; they knew that the power of the green planet they watched over would someday take Sailor form, guarding the universe from all evil within her grasp.
"Queen Serenity, the original one I mean, not Neo, saw the Eternal Earth Princess in a dream, and she knew that if Chikyuu were to be destroyed, this phenominal golden power would never arise. At the same time, however, the Silver Millenium Queen sensed something unusual about this future senshi, this wonderful Earth princess. She felt that Sailor Chikyuu was not originally from Chikyuu, but somehow reincarnated onto the planet as a human, having no memory whatsoever of her mysterious original life. To this day I don't know if that's true, but who really knows?" Luna concluded.
"You--you mean, I'm from somewhere else?" Sailor Chikyuu asked.
"Hai, Princess. Or at least that's what we think," Artemis replied. Everyone's eyes widened.
"I wonder from where," Goku thought out loud, in a simple, Goku-like way.
"For once, I share your simple thoughts, Kakkarott," Vegeta said. Goku smiled at him when the prince was looking in a different direction.
"Well, I guess I'll have to wait and fight untill we have to go up against Freezer," Bulma stated. She took a breath, and in a flash she was back to her normal self. "Let's all just go back to the Capsule Corporation and consider our options."
"Sounds good to me," Goku said. He put his fingers to his forehead, but removed them after a few seconds of silence. "Oh yeah, I forgot. No other ki except Freezer's around here. Oh well, guess I'll have to travel the old fashioned way!" A golden light surrounded the Saiya-Jin warrior and he took off towards the Capsule Corporation. In flashes of blue, red, and a blinding white, Juuhachi, Krillin, Gohan, Goten and Trunks took off into the horizon. Bulma wrapped her arms around Vegeta's neck, and they too blasted off in a flash of bright blue. The female senshis, those others who couldn't fly (Bra and Marron), and Darien, plus the two cats, walked to the building, discussing the day's events on the way there.
***
Bra looked in the window of her huge home, watching her family and friends discuss battle tactics in the living room. Now that she had discovered from her new very best friend, Rini, that she and all of her friends were warriors as well, and that Marron was beginning her training despite her mother's pleas, Bra felt very alone. Everyone could or was going to fight except her, now even her mother. She used to stand with her mother and observe the fights, watching over their loved ones in case healing was needed, but there would be no more of that now. She would have to watch over her whole family.
Bra slumped down against the wall of the house, sitting in between two bushes and some flowers in her mother's beautiful garden arrangement. Once again, the days of blissful playing and peace were over, there was going to be fighting, blood, anger, hate, and maybe even death once more. She could understand why her mother had finally exploded, but venting her rage and helplessness just wasn't Bra's style.
The young teen felt so unbelieveably powerless and weak, like she was slipping into an endless black hole, being swallowed by the neverending darkness. Her spirit grew less and less, her will to live dwindled down to almost nothing. She closed her eyes and slumped down, her breath slowing, all of her muscles relaxing. Her mind slid into a calm state of nothingness. She had no purpose in life, so why live?
The peaceful silence of her final subconcious was broken by a voice as beautiful as a bell, ringing through the darkness. Her mind was illuminated by a warm white light. A figure in a long green silk dress with a metallic green crown nestled in her hair and huge, feathery, white wings appeared right in front of the tired girl. The beautiful entity took Bra's chin in her fingers, lifting up her head so that she was looking right into the beautiful woman's face.
"Small Lady Chikyuu," The woman said. Bra's eyes opened wide.
"Small Lady?"
"Yes, Little Princess of Earth, listen to me."
"I'm too tired to listen, too tired to care. Let me sleep."
"You have so much to live for, Little Princess."
Bra looked into the woman's eyes and saw peace, love, and comfort."What do you mean? I have no power, no meaning in this world of battle, strength and honor. I mean nothing anymore, I am just a daughter of powers greater than I could ever dream to be."
"You are so wrong, Little Princess."
"Nani?"
"While you may never be as powerful as your mother or father, power has no meaning in the world of love. Think of what it would do to them if you died."
"I don't know if I have enough strength now…maybe before, but I--"
"You must find the strength. Do it for those who love you. Think of Son Goku, Gohan, Goten and Chichi, Marron and Small Lady Serenity, Krillin and Juuhachi, your brother Trunks, and most of all, your own parents. They all love you so much, Little Princess.
"You may not think you are anything special, but you are so much more than you realize, Small Lady Chikyuu. You are born to royalty, a beautiful princess of the green planet."
"Born to royalty? What do you mean?"
"Your father, Vegeta, is the high prince of the Saiya-Jins, forever holding his title no matter how few Saiya-Jins are left, for it is a title made out of honor now, an honor he still remembers, and your mother is the gorgeous High Princess, Lady Chikyuu, the eternal guardian of love. You are a true light, Small Lady. The Prince and Princess need you so much, more than you know. Go to them now."
"I--I will, I will live! Everyone cares about me, I don't want to let them down!"
"That's my Little Princess of Earth! Here, another of your dreams will come true today." The woman pulled away from Bra, stretched her arms out and cupped her hands. A green light glowed there, then dimmed, revealing a beautiful green gem.
"Take it. It's your Chikyuu crystal. Now, whenever you wish to assist your friends, just call out Chikyuu Crystal Power, and Princess Chibi Chikyuu, your true self, will be revealed. Go now, I think someone's calling." Neo Queen Chikyuu faded from Bra's vision, and the sudden darkness lifted, revealing two faces hovering anxiously over Bra's head.
***
Vegeta and Bulma breathed a sigh of relief as their daughter's eyes finally fluttered open. It was dark outside already, the others had gone home after an unsuccessful discussion on battle tactics. They had found Bra slumped against the house about fifteen minutes ago, barely breathing and very pale and limp.
"Wha--oh--"
"Bra-chan? Are you OK?"
"You scared the shit outta me, kid…"
The two relieved parents saw how weak their daughter was and wondered what happened to her. They were even more mystified when thier child started talking in a clouded, dreamy way.
"Prince Vegeta, Princess Chikyuu, I promise I'll fullfill my place, be the princess I should have been for all those years. I'll make you proud, my Prince and Princess, I promise…" After those words, Bra fell into a peaceful, even sleep.
Vegeta and Bulma looked at eachother, each confused by how respectfully thier daughter had adressed them.
"Prince Vegeta…I haven't heard it said with that respect in so many years…" The Saiya-Jin said quietly.
"And I've never been called Princess Chikyuu myself ever. Luna mentioned me as her, but didn't adress me as the princess herself…" Bulma replied.
"You'll always be my princess," Vegeta sighed in Bulma's ear, then took her chin in his fingers and kissed her, their faces illuminated by the moonlight.
***
The next day had begun. Vegeta looked at the clock on the bedside table: 6:34. He had been up all night pondering his daughter's odd behavior and still trying unsuccessfully to think of a good battle plan. He gazed at his sleeping princess, and one of his rare, pure smiles crept over his features. Knowing that she was a princess of a planet had amazed and dazzled him so he had hardly been thinking of much else besides her and battle since the other day. Now her knew that he and Bulma really were made for eachother.
The prince rose out of bed and quickly got dressed in a black tight bodysuit and white chest armor along with the traditional white gloves and boots. He opened the window and blasted over to the Son house, where he knew Kakkarott would be waiting for him.
***
He was. Goku smiled at his friend and sparring partner. Vegeta smirked back.
"So Kakkarott, hanashite, did you come up with any bright ideas last night?" The prince asked. Goku could only shake his head.
"Sorry, Vegeta, not a thing. Were you up all night too?"
"Yeah, couldn't clear my mind enough to sleep. Dunno how those women do it: no matter what's going on they always fall right asleep. That's one trick I'd love to learn." Vegeta looked contemplatively up into the dark morning sky. "Whaddaya say we spar just to get ready? Harsh, like at Super Saiya-Jin Four?"
"Yosh'! Let's go!" The two blasted off towards the traditional barron battlegrounds: the historical site of the two's very first meeting. They hadn't sparred there in so long; the sight of the place brought a slight chill to Vegeta's heart as he breifly remembered his old self, fighting to murder those whom he now knew so well. Goku seemed to sense this, and somehow, sent an unspoken, unworded comfort to his Prince. He felt his companion relax and silently say "Thank you."
The two's toes touched the ground lightly, followed by their heels as they immediately began katas. When done, the two warriors began a shaking powerup, making indents in the earth below. Green lightning crackled around both bodies as they made the final trasnformation into SSJ4. Their warrior's insticts and want for battle sharpened, the two flew at eachother in a blur of speed, thrashing blows at eachother and sending wracking blasts of ki thundering through the air at tremendous speeds, creating monsterous explosions, one dodging the other's attack milliseconds before impact, rolling to a stop from their dive, then springing back onto thier feet in a split moment and charging at his opponent once again.
***
After three hours of pelting eachother with near life-threatening blows, the two's perfected techniques really did show when the final dust settled and the two remained nearly unscathed after their intense attempts at mauling eachother. The warriors relaxed and sank back to their original forms.
"Well, that was refreshing," Goku said happily. "Now to see what we can do about Freezer. He's expecting us tomorrow, and I still don't have the faintest idea of how we could ever crack his defenses. How about you?"
"My mind is a blank, for once. You know, after you left last night, Bulma and I found Bra slumped against the house outside," Vegeta said. Maybe Goku's somewhat feeble mind could help him solve some part of his little mystery.
"Nani?! That sounds pretty bad, is she OK?"
"She is now, but when we found her I swear she was almost…dead…she was barely breathing. And then when she finally woke up, she was talking really strangely, calling me Prince Vegeta in this totally respectful way and calling Bulma Princess Chikyuu, telling us that she would become the true princess she always was and make us proud. That and battle tactics were all I could think about last night."
"Nanda? What's that all about?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be blabbing it all out to you, would I, Kakkarott?"
"Guess not. A little to complicated for me, maybe you should try asking her."
"I could get Bulma to…I'm…not very good at asking my daughter about near-death experiences."
"Yosh'. Well, I gotta get back to Chichi, it's almost 10:00. She'll have my head if I'm not back for lunch! Sionara!" Vegeta watched as his Saiya-Jin companion took off towards the Son household. Vegeta knew Bulma would at least try to beat him up for the same crime, so he, too, flew back to his Chikyuu home.