Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Amara ❯ Memories ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter Three- Memories

Amara came out of the bathroom in only a towel. Her tail brushed against her legs as she moved. Her bedroom was right through a connecting door.

She sat down on the bed and opened one of the bags her father had sent her away with. She pulled out a photograph of her family. Her mother was sitting in a chair on the left. Her long hair hung loosely around her shoulders and her intense eyes seemed to pierce through Amara even in the picture. She wasn't smiling. Her mother had all ways been stern and painfully proper. She was all ways criticizing Amara and telling her how much more feminine she should be.

~FLASHBACK~

Amara stood before her mother after returning from sneaking out to spend the night at a bar with a soldier named Radditz.

"You should spend less time at the palace hanging around the guards and more time with me and my friends," her mother said. "You could learn much from us if you pay attention. Do you want to follow in your father's footsteps and advise the king? That wouldn't be fitting for you at all! Or would you rather be a guard? A low-class Sayain?"

Amara listened and did not utter a word.

"Let me tell you something, Amara," her mother continued. "You are a first-class Saiyan! You're better than the rest and you don't have to settle for same as other people, you deserve more." She placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "Concentrate on making your beauty work for you and finding a suitable husband in our class."

"Are you saying you want me to be a pretty little fool?" Amara erupted. "A brainless object for men to admire and fight over? Well I'm not going to play that little game! I want what will make me happy. I want to learn to fight, and I want to learn science and medicine!"

"Amara…"

"No! I won't listen anymore! I don't want to end up like you!" Amara shoved her mother away and ran off in the opposite direction.

~END OF FLASHBACK~

She'd left her mother on such bad terms; it almost made her feel guilty. It wasn't her mother's fault that she thought the way she did. It was the brainwashing of the first-class society who was to blame. Her mother was just another victim.

Amara stood in the center of the photograph. She was just 16 years old then. She was smiling, brightly like she was the most fortunate girl in the world.

Her father was on the right, resting his hand on the chair his wife sat in. A small smile curved his lips and made his eyes gleam just a touch. He looked more amused than anything and that look suited him just fine. Her father was often on the receiving end of constant bickering from his wife.

~FLASHBACK~

Amara stood in the shadows of the doorway as her mother told her father about how she had snuck out that night.

"There was no harm done," her father said. "What's the problem?"

"The problem is we have no control over our daughter!" her mother shouted. "How will that look to the others?"

"I don't care how it looks," her father said. "We can't hold on to her forever. She's almost a woman now and she can do what she pleases."

"I can't believe my ears," her mother said. "You're too lenient with her! Next you'll approve her to marry some third-class soldier and disgrace our whole family."

"Honestly, take it easy," her father said. "Amara wouldn't go as far as that. She knows the boundaries. She's not ignorant! She wants to learn to fight, so humor her. She wants to learn about medicine, encourage it! She's not harming anyone. She just wants to explore the world around her. What's so wrong with that? Just leave the girl alone. She'll find her place back to our class soon enough."

"But…"

"That's enough!" her father shouted. "Don't forget your place. I don't want to hear anymore of this and I want you to leave Amara alone about it. The girl doesn't want to be a brainwashed drone and I'm proud of her! End of discussion."

With that said he walked off, leaving his wife to stare after him.

Amara slid down the wall into a sitting position and whispered, "Thank you father for being so understanding. I love you."

~END OF FLASHBACK~

Hot tears slid down Amara's cheeks. Even though her family had its ups and downs she would have liked nothing more to come home to her mother running up to her and demanding where she had been. Then pulling her into a hug and wondering out loud what to do with her rebellious young daughter. Her father would come too and hug his daughter.

No matter what problems they were having, Amara knew one thing for sure; her parents loved her. And all she really wanted right now was to be held in the arms of someone who loved her.

~~~

Amara woke with the sound of birds singing, pleasantly. She sat up and realized she was still only wearing a towel from last night's shower. She had crawled up to the top of the bed and covered herself in the sheets, but she hadn't bothered to get dressed.

She had cried herself to sleep last night and it left her feeling emotionally drained. She threw her legs over the side of the bed and looked at her reflection in a mirror on the wall. Surprisingly, her eyes didn't look puffy or red.

She got dressed in her Saiyan uniform. That was all her father had packed for her with the exception of a few dresses, but Amara didn't feel like wearing a dress. She slipped on the bodysuit, gloves and boots. She decided to forgo the armor. It wasn't like she needed extra protection from anything.

She washed up in the bathroom, brushed her teeth and her hair. She exited her room and looked up as she heard footsteps coming her way. She watched Vegeta come around a bend in the hallway.

"I was just coming to get you," Vegeta said. "It's breakfast time and Bulma says she won't let me eat until you get down there."

"I was just on my way, Prince Vegeta," Amara said.

Vegeta's eyes widened. No one had called him Prince Vegeta in a long time, yet Amara spoke it casually.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "It's just that no one really calls me prince anymore."

"Why not?" she asked. "You're still a prince, even though you have no planet to be prince of." She paused. "Technically, that would make you a king, but you'll all ways be a prince…to me."

He laughed. "That about finalizes my decision."

"What decision?"

"I'm going to let you stay here and I will train you to become a better warrior," he said. "I was a little confused from yesterday. How did a prime and proper woman like you acquire such skill? I wouldn't think you'd want to take the time to learn to fight."

"Prime and proper?" She laughed. "That was the stereotype for my family, but I…I was the odd one. The rebel."

He smiled. "Of course. Now come on and let's get you into the dining room all ready so I can eat."

Bulma and Bra were all ready downstairs in the kitchen when Vegeta and Amara arrived.

Bulma was standing near the stove. Bra was sitting at the table.

"Good morning," Bra and Bulma said.

"Good morning," Amara responded. Vegeta just nodded.

Amara sat down next to Bra. Bulma placed food on everyone's plates and sat next to her husband. It was quite a spread.

They all ate in silence and when they were finished, Bra offered to help Bulma clean up. Vegeta and Amara stayed seated while Bra walked over to her mother.

"Aren't you two going to make a beeline for the Gravity Room?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta shook his head. Bulma looked at him suspiciously, but didn't say anything else.

Amara looked at him. He was probably still feeling a little drained from the SAS antidote. Amara knew she still wasn't quite feeling like herself. Vegeta would never admit to that, though.

Amara excused herself and left the dining room. She made her way up to the infirmary. She pushed open the door gently and peered inside. She walked inside the room and closed the door behind her.

She went over to Trunk's bed and sat down in a chair beside it. He was asleep, but unlike yesterday he looked like he was sleeping peacefully. She reached out and brushed her fingers over his forehead.

He was warm from sleep. She worked her fingers into his fine hair and then down the line of his face. Before she realized what she was doing, Trunks stirred in his sleep. She jerked back. He sighed and turned his head away from her, but didn't wake.

She let out a breath and looked down at her hand. What had come over her so suddenly that made her what to touch him?

She looked up at him. His closed eyelids fluttered and he twisted in his sleep. His arm lashed out at her and he moaned.

He was dreaming now, having a nightmare. She reached out again and laid her fingertips against his cheek. He stopped moving and turned his face in her direction again. His body calmed and he let the graceful arms of sleep take him away once again.

The door opened and Amara slowly took her hand back. Bra entered the room. "What's up?"

Amara shook her head.

"I convinced my dad to take me to the mall," Bra said. "Do you want to come?"

"The mall?"

"Sure," she said. "Shopping for clothes."

She blinked. "How could you want to shop at a time like this?" She looked back at Trunks.

"Well, it's not like he's going anywhere," Bra said. "He'll be here when we get back." She sighed. "We've all ready done what we can for him. I'm worried, too, but I need to do something to take my mind off of it. It can't just stay at home; it's driving me mad! I know he'll be all right."

Amara knew there was truth in what the girl was saying.

"Come on," Bra said. "Are you going to wear Saiyan uniform for the rest of your life? You've got a nice body and I've seen some clothes at the mall that would look great on you."

"Well, all right." Amara stood. "I guess it won't hurt anything."

~~~

Pretty soon, Amara, Bra and Vegeta were out on the streets in really nice top-of-the-line, dark blue convertible.

"This is nice," Amara said.

Vegeta looked at her in the passenger side seat. Bra was sitting in the back.

"I can't wait to get there," Bra said.

"Sure," Amara said. "But how will we pay for it all?"

Bra giggled. "My mom owns Capsule Corp."

"What is Capsule Corp.?"

"It's a company that makes things that can fit into small capsules so they're easy to carry around," Bra said. "We're extremely wealthy."

"Oh." Amara settled back against the leather seats. The wind made her hair billow around her like a dark cape.

Amara had never been in a mall before. It was large and filled with hundreds of people.

"Now where to start?" Bra pondered aloud.

"Meet me here in three hours," Vegeta said.

Bra turned. "But Daddy, three hours isn't enough."

"I don't want to spend the whole day in this wretched place," Vegeta said.

Bra looked at her father with large blue eyes full of sadness.

"All right," he finally gave in. "Four hours."

"Yeah! Thank you, Daddy!" Bra said, hugging him.

He scoffed. "Just make sure you two are on time." He turned and left them.

Amara laughed.

"What's so funny?" Bra wondered.

"You've got him wrapped around your finger," Amara said.

Bra laughed. "Well sure! I'm his little princess." She grabbed Amara's arm. "Come on! Let's get started!"

As they were going from store to store Amara and Bra busied themselves by conversing with one another.

"Were you ever in love?" Bra asked, suddenly.

"What's that?" Amara asked.

"Back on your home planet, did you ever fall in love with anyone?"

"No, not really," Amara said, putting a shirt back on the rack. " A few men claimed to fall in love with me."

"Really?" Bra asked. "I bet it was fun being a teenager then. Was it?"

"It was all right."

"Did you go to parties, a lot?"

"The King held large banquets that I was forced to attend because of my father's position," Amara said. "Those were boring. The best parties were the ones held by the soldiers." She laughed. "Now they knew how to have fun!"

"Are soldiers the ones who fell in love with you?"

"Well there was Radditz," Amara said. "I'm sure you've heard of him. He was Goku's brother. He was a pretty cute guy, sweet too. He told me one night that he loved me. I was so shocked that I didn't know what to say. But I ended up saying the worst thing I possibly could."

"What was that?" Bra asked.

"I said I couldn't have a relationship with him because he was a third-class soldier," Amara said. "The moment it came out of my mouth, I regretted it. It sounded like something my snobbish mother would say."

"How did he react?"

"He understood," Amara said. "You see we were all raised knowing intimate relationships between different classes was unacceptable."

"I see," Bra said.

"Then there was Kale," Amara said, drawing in a sharp breath. "He was the man my mother wanted me to marry, but I couldn't stand him. He was a snooty, egotistical jerk! If I would have married him, all I would be able to do is stay at his side and look pretty, like some kind of doll."

"That's terrible!" Bra said.

"Yeah. If our planet hadn't have been destroyed I probably would have ended up having to marry Kale. My father wouldn't let me date any common man because the King would frown down upon it and my father couldn't afford that as one of the most trusted advisors."

Bra nodded. "You're so interesting. Don't get mad at me for saying this, but yesterday you kind of came off as hostile toward us. I can totally understand why though."

Amara nodded. "I was feeling kind of…"

"I know, I know," Bra said. "I was just saying…but you're a really cool person. This is like having an older sister!"

Amara smiled.

"Did you have a sister or brother?"

"No."

"See it works!"

"How old are you?" Amara asked.

"I'm almost 14."

"Really?" Amara asked. "You come of as older. I thought you were closer to my age."

Bra giggled. "Nope. Let's finish up shopping and get a bite to eat. I'm starving."

~~~

In four hours, the girls had eaten and had many bags full of new clothes and accessories. They met Vegeta in the spot they had agreed on.

"Good you're on time," he said.

Amara noticed he wasn't carrying any bags. She wondered what he had been doing in the last four hours. He had probably left and come back for them.

"Did you enjoy yourselves?" Vegeta asked, as they walked out to the car.

"We sure did," Bra said.

"Good," he said. "Have all the fun you can today, Amara, because tomorrow we start to train."

Amara nodded. "Don't worry, I'm ready for it."