Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Some Life... ❯ Nightmare Vision ( Chapter 6 )

Haze… It was so thick she couldn't see anything through it. //Where am I,// she wondered, trying to make out something… anything… through the fog that covered her entire field of vision. Slowly, the mist began to dissipate, and little by little a scene unfolded before her. It was a planet, angry red coupled with a striking orange-tan, and splotched with a few small bodies of water. It had a certain harsh beauty to it, and for some odd reason, it seemed vaguely familiar. Slowly, an odd disc shaped spaceship hovered into view, approaching the planet ominously. //Cold,// she thought, looking the ship over, //Why do I feel so cold and helpless when I look at that ship?// Soon, a hatch on the top opened, and a creature emerged, secured in some kind of vehicle. Only the top of the… thing… was visible. It was grotesquely proportioned-a large horned head sat atop a small thin body, white, pink, and purple adorning it's skin… Her view zeroed in on this frightening small figure, and she saw the thickly lined black lips curl up into a wicked grin. It raised a single finger, gathering together a ball of energy of unimaginable size, then simply flicking it towards the planet. Her view zoomed out, allowing her to watch the ball of energy lazily approach the unsuspecting planet.

Her fear and panic rose as she was suddenly thrust onto the planet's surface. She looked around at the people, all of them raven-haired with eyes of gleaming onyx, and tails… //Saiyans!!! This must be Vegeta-sei… Then, that means… NO!!!// She watched some panic and some resign themselves quickly to their death as the news spread. Then, the energy ball hit the planet, jarring it off its axis and sending a shockwave over the globe. Kori watched as a wall of fire and debris headed straight for her, watching people be swept up, or blown apart, or simply disintegrated as the wall bore down on her. She could feel the heat of the fire, and a disembodied hand shot past her face on the left. Just as she looked back, the wall hit her, she could feel her flesh sear as it was so quickly burned from her frame, and she let out a cry of pure agony as she shot up from her bed…

Vegeta was jarred from his slumber by an ear-shattering scream. He jumped up, stumbling over the dog, who was still sitting on one of his feet. The scream had ended, and was reduced to a quiet anguished sobbing and sniffling. Vegeta ran quickly to the source of the pitiful noise, which just happened to be Kori's room. As he neared her bed, he saw her sitting up, hands clenched on her knees, rocking back and forth and sobbing. "What is it, girl," he asked irritably. Surely it isn't pain, for she would have cried out earlier when her injuries were fresh.

Kori didn't respond to him, just drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, burying her head in her knees and sobbing harder. Vegeta didn't know what to make of it, having never witnessed a display of this sort before. He was becoming increasingly irritated with her unresponsiveness as he sat in front of her on the bed. "Quit your pathetic whimpering, you can't possibly be in that much pain," he growled at her. She tried to right her shaking shoulders as she slowly peeked up at him.

Her eyes locked with his, and he was struck by the torment and pain peering back at him from within those obsidian depths. Her eyes had been so clear before, and he could think of nothing that could have changed her in such a short time. Something stirred in him as he took her chin with his thumb and forefinger, pulling her face up to look at her. "What happened," he asked so softly he barely recognized his own voice.

She attempted to slow her choked breathing enough to get words out. She swallowed hard, wondering if he'd think she was crazy for what she was about to say. "I saw… Vegeta-sei. I don't know how but I know that was the planet. It was horrible. There was this monster with horns, and he," she shivered unknowingly at the mental image of it, "He gathered up so much energy, and he wasn't even trying! He threw this giant ball of it at the planet. I could see everything… The looks on the faces of all those Saiyans as they were blown apart..." She turned away from his grip, gritting her teeth and scrunching her eyes shut, trying to ward off the images that she had seen as clear as day. She cursed herself for seeming so weak in front of her prince.

The prince's head was swimming. He knew that Bardock had been clairvoyant, and had professed to see something of the same nature as what his daughter had just seen. //Could it be that she has the same ability to see the future? Then why is Kakkarrot not endowed with the same trait…// He wasn't about to doubt that she had actually seen it. And the fact that she had no idea what Frieza looked like and had described him almost to a T lent credit to what she had said. Vegeta growled at that thought. //There is no way I'm going to let that freak blow up my planet… My people…// He looked back to Kori, whose head hung shamefully, though her weeping had finally stopped. With as simple and sheltered a life as she had lead, the scene that she had been witness to would probably have unnerved her more than enough to send her into hysterics. He remembered his first purging mission at the young age of four. Upon seeing the massive bloodshed and mutilation of the victims, he escaped to a secluded spot on the planet and proceeded to rid his stomach of any and all contents as he cursed his own race's brutality. His only comfort was that it was not the Saiyans who ordered the purges, but Frieza. He had grown hard and calculating since then, but he could not blame the girl for being troubled at what she had seen. Placing a hand over hers, he looked somewhere far off as he said, "I understand."

She gazed at him in awe, blushing as his hand squeezed hers lightly. One look on his face told her he had been through horrible things in his lifetime. Probably more horrible than she could imagine. Suddenly, he let go of her hand, rising from the bed and retreating towards the door. Rising shakily to her feet, Kori began following and called out, "W-wait…"

He spun around to look at her questioningly. Kori fidgeted nervously for a second, as if arguing with herself, then suddenly flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle and burying her face in his shoulder.

Vegeta instantly tensed up, his back stiff as a board. He didn't ever get this close to anyone unless they were sparring or fighting in earnest. She clutched at his back and nuzzled into his shoulder softly. He suddenly felt his arms come up around her, pulling her tighter against him against his will. He realized she was shaking hard, and finally let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, giving in to the hug and relaxing a little.

For a moment, he wasn't sure he was really himself. But... perhaps she wasn't the only one who needed comforting...

The moment of almost-realization ended all too soon as the sound of the telephone ringing jerked them both out of their silent reverie *and* each others' arms. Kori walked slowly over to the other side of the room and picked up the telephone as Vegeta made a strategic retreat to the living room.

"Hello," she asked weakly.

"Kori!!! Where have you been?! Weren't we supposed to train this morning," Melissa sounded more worried than disappointed.

Kori took a deep, calming breath. "Melissa, you're not going to believe this..."

"Believe what? What happened?!"

"Well... As I was flying home yesterday, this guy stopped me... In the air..."

"WHAT?!"

"Lemme finish... He pretty much beat the crap out of me, and then he saw my tail... Turned out- he had one too! He's an alien, the prince of a race of aliens called Saiyans. And I'm half-saiyan... My mom's human, but my father was an alien."

There was silence from the other end of the line for almost too long, but finally, Melissa answered. "Well... I... Guess it makes sense..."

Kori sighed. "I know it's weird, but you're just going to have to see it to believe it... Besides, I need your help..."

"You do?! How?"

"Remember how I had absolutely no idea who or where my father was? Well, it turns out there was a laboratory right near my house that he left because he was being chased by some inter-gallactic bad guys or something. He left blue-prints for a spaceship that will get us to the planet he went to, assuming he's still there... I remember you said something about working with NASA... Is there any way you could take a look at the blue-prints and see if you could build it?"

Melissa replied quickly, and with enthusiasm, "Hell yes! When can you come over?!"

Kori smiled wearily. "How does ASAP sound?"

"Great! I'll get my dad, I'm sure he'll love to get a look at this..."

"But Lyssa... Won't your dad get freaked out by the fact that we're aliens? And this prince isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with..."

"Don't sweat it. Dad's so scatterbrained he'll accept anything."

Kori laughed, but was still just a tad uncertain. "Well... Allright, but if he freaks out, I get to say 'Told ya so'"

Melissa laughed, "Allright, just get your tails over here!"

"Allright, see you in a few."

"Bye"

Kori hung up the phone and went to find Vegeta. As she walked into the living room, she saw him petting the dog with an almost serene look about him. She smiled and politely cleared her throat. Vegeta whipped around to stare at her, quickly assuming his normal "bad-ass" demeanor. "That was my friend Melissa. She wants us to come over so she can get a look at the blueprints for that ship."

"Will she be able to build it," he asked gruffly.

"That's what we're going to find out..."

Vegeta nodded. "Let's go."

Kori gave her dog a pat on the head, then led Vegeta out the door. But when she tried to take to the air, she could barely lift off. Wincing in pain, she said, "Obviously I'm a little more injured than I thought..."

Vegeta said nothing, just walked over to her and scooped her up, blasting off. "Where are we going?"

Kori blushed lightly and directed him the rest of the way there.