Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Saiyan King and the Lunarian Queen ❯ Chapter Six: Am I Delirious, or Are Those Bells That I'm Hearing In The Distance? ( Chapter 6 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

AN: Hi! It's me again! E-mail = happy otaku Rosy, people!

Dedications: Thanks again go out to Desolation and Rhonda-sensei, for
their invaluable support and encouragement. And you readers! Can't
ever forget you guys, you crazy little otaku you! =~_^=

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. I do not own DB, DBZ, or DB-GT.
If I did, I would be the happiest little otaku in the world! But I'm
not. Sailor Moon is owned by the Queen of Manga / Anime, Naoko. Long
live the Queen! Dragonball in all of its incarnations belong to Akira
Toriyama.

The Saiyan King and the Lunarian Queen

by Rosy the Cat

Chapter Six: Am I Delirious, or Are Those Bells That I'm Hearing In
The Distance?

*************************

"Serenity?"

"Rena?"

Serenity, daughter of Queen Tranquility the fifth and King Marcus the
first, Princess of the moon Lunaris, collapsed to the ground as she
lost consciousness, her eyes rolling back in her head.

"MEDIC!!!" bellowed King Vegeta even as he scooped the petite young
woman up into his arms and started racing for the Medical Wing of the
Palace.

He wasn't going to lose her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serenity slowly crept back into consciousness, only to find herself
suspended in some kind of liquid, a breathing mask over the lower
half of her face supplying oxygen to her battered and exhausted body.

What had happened? The last thing she remembered was landing in the
Palace's main courtyard after having spent three days off in the
jungles of Vegetasai, training and camping with Vegeta-sama and Chibi-
Veggie. And then...

She drew a blank.

Wait, there was something about being picked up by strong, muscular
arms. She would have dismissed it out of hand as a memory from her
childhood of her father carrying her, except the proportions were
wrong.

What was up with that?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As King Vegeta stared at the lithe, petite form of his house-guest...
No, she had become more than that.

His friend.

Even as these thoughts ran through his head, he wondered at this mere
girl, no, woman. How could she have such an impact on, not only him,
his life, and his outlook on it, but also on his son, who had been
drifting away from him even as he had been doing the same? And
Professor Anja...

The cold, calculating warrior/scientist, along with her equally aloof
mate, had also been drawn in by the girl's cheerful, bubbly nature,
their loyalty and friendship earned with her warrior's heart and soul.
Only Bardock and Anja's son, Radditz, had ever managed to conjure a
smile from them, much less laughter. Even with the potential terror
of Frieza looming over them, there was, more often than not, laughter
ringing through the Palace's halls these days.

All because of one cheerful, passionate, stubborn, and all-around
amazing girl-woman.

And that didn't even touch upon the way his heart raced whenever she
smiled at him...

"My lord? You wished to be informed of the offworlder's condition?"

He shook himself out of his daze and, without looking away from where
the Tsuki no Hime floated in the ReGen tank, dressed in only skin-tight
shorts and a tank top, he acknowledged the alien doctor's presence.

"Yes, Doctor Rishkan."

"Well, *ahem*, she seems to have picked up an unusual strain of a common
virus."

Giving the lizard-man his full attention, the king narrowed his eyes.
"If it's so common, why is she in the tank? Get her out and fix it."

Nervously, the doctor fidgeted with the vital stats printout on Serenity
in his hands. "Well, you see, Sir, it seems to have mutated, and, with
her unfamiliar physiology...We don't know if we can cure her- *hurk!*"

King Vegeta's eyes narrowed even further, so they looked like obsidian
shards set into his face. His hand was firmly wrapped around the
doctor's throat, and one more than slight squeeze would kill him.
"WHAT?!?"

"Your Majesty?" Professor Anja seemed to appear out of nowhere, one gloved
hand reaching out comfortingly to the arm attached to the hand gripping
the reptilian physician. "What he means to say is, we don't know enough
about Lady Serenity's biological makeup to be certain that conventional
medicine would have any effect on her. Even so, from the tests I've made
on blood samples taken from Lady Serenity, I'm almost certain that, given
time and rest, Lady Serenity's natural defense mechanisms should be able
to handle the virus on its own."

King Vegeta returned his glare to Doctor Rishkan. "Is this true?"

Rishkan nodded desperately, his skin having started to turn an unhealthy
shade of gray. Even though the king hadn't squeezed all that much, it was
still enough to slow blood flow down a bit.

Vegeta released him, dropping the gasping doctor to the floor even as he
turned to his chief scientist.

"Define almost certain."

Flinching only slightly at the emotion that roiled just under the surface,
she answered calmly, "Ninety-nine point nine-seven percent certain, sir."

He raised an eyebrow. "That's not like you, Professor. You're usually
absolutely certain before suggesting a course of action."

Anja shrugged, her eyes twinkling with barely-hidden mirth. "We're
dealing almost completely with unknowns here, sir. Besides, if I were
always certain, life wouldn't be nearly as interesting, now would it?"

Vegeta nodded in acknowledgment. "Then I suppose you had better get to
work then, Professor."

As she strode across the room to retrieve the Lunarian from the ReGen
tank, Vegeta turned and glared at Doctor Rishkan. "If one word about
this, or her," here gesturing to the now-emerging princess, "Gets back
to Frieza, you'll WISH you were dead; do you hear me, little man?!"

Rishkan nodded quickly in fear, then moved to help Anja move Serenity
from the Medical Wing to her quarters.

Before he left to check in with his advisors, King Vegeta muttered one
quick prayer to gods he'd stopped believing in the day his father made
the Saiyans' first deal with the Cold family: "Please, if you really do
exist, please, please let her live..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Serenity's eyes opened slowly, gummed up by far too many sleepies
(a.k.a. "eye boogers") to be reasonable for a simple night's sleep.
She blinked blearily at her surroundings, vaguely recognizing them to
be her guest quarters in the Palace.

Goddess, she felt terrible!

Her nose was all stuffy, her throat was dry and hurt like the dickens,
and it felt like her body was just one big ache.

Heaven only knew what her hair looked like...

She smiled to herself even as she sniffled, looking around for something
to blow her nose with. If her hair's condition even occurred to her, it
meant one of two things: either she was sicker than she thought, or she
was on the mend, but needed something to focus on that was within her
realm of control.

She was startled from that train of thought when she saw a simple, yet
clean, handkerchief being suspended before her eyes by a gloved,
masculine hand.

"Here. You look like you could use this."

Serenity blinked in confusion, then focused on the source of both the
voice and the hand. Her eyes widened when she recognized the jet-black
eyes set into the angular face of King Vegeta.

She nodded her thanks, reaching for the handkerchief even as one hand
went to her nose, finding, to her horror, some boogers having escaped
her sniffling. She quickly sniffled again, snatching the cloth and
hastily blowing her nose repeatedly into it, her face going bright
pink in mortification.

'Smooth, Rena! The one attractive, unmarried guy you know on this
planet, and he's already seen you with bed hair, morning breath, and
snot on your face! Reeeeeeeal smooth, girl!'

A few powerful sneezes later, a couple more nose blows into the
handkerchief, and she felt a great deal better, composing herself
before giving the Saiyajin her full attention.

"*ahem* ..." She waited, hoping to high heaven that, one, he would
take the initiative and speak first, and two, that he wouldn't
mention the snot.

Now / that / would be embarrassing! Good goddess, the first male to
see her looking all...well...sick, she supposed, and it had to be the
one guy in all the universe that made her feel all giddy and hyper
and relaxed and mushy at the same time!

Oh, and he had a killer butt.

'DOWN GIRL!'

"Do you often talk in your sleep, your Highness?"

Eh? What the frilly heck is he talking about? "Umm...Not that I am
aware of, your Majesty. Can I ask why you...?"

"Are asking?"

*nodnod*

Vegeta studied his gloved hands where they hung loosely in his lap,
the rest of him perched upon a small, spindly chair that most would
assume to be delicate and breakable, but for the fact that it was
made entirely of titanium. The only easily-damaged part of it was
the thin, spartan cushion attached to the seat. Vegeta sighed and
directed his gaze back up, though avoiding looking at Serenity by
focusing on the room's far wall.

"Your High... Serenity. Did you, by chance, have an unusual dream?"

Serenity blinked, trying to make sense of this. To cover her confusion,
she decided to go for the old tried-and-true method of getting someone
to lighten up: Make 'em laugh.

"Well, just about all of the dreams I that I have had and remembered
were rather odd. For instance, this one time when I was seven, I had a
nightmare where a possessed wooden doll was chasing me, trying to kill
me with a rather large cutting device," she quipped, hoping to distract
him. She remembered precisely what she had dreamed about most recently
before awakening.

It was one of those dreams where she was talking to Mamoru-kun.

She was most certainly not going to tell him about / that! /

Vegeta simply gave her a *look.*

Serenity continued smiling obliviously, though a sweatdrop had developed
at the back of her head, and was gaining size.

Finally, Vegeta growled to himself, looked her in the eye, and said,
"Last night, you woke up and seemed to be, to some extent, delirious,
though you also seemed to be of the firm opinion that you were dreaming.
Could you tell me why you would think that, Princess?"

Serenity looked away. She was a firm believer in times like these that,
if you couldn't see it, it couldn't see you; or at least that whatever
was the problem would go away.

Unfortunately, that is not how the world works...

"...Perhaps you would prefer if I worded it differently...Kitten?"

Serenity froze. She knew for a fact that she hadn't said anything that
could have tipped him off about Mamoru-kun's nick-name in her supposed
dream, which she now knew to have really been a bout of fever-induced
delirium.

Then, all of a sudden, it made sense: her initial arrival in the Palace
courtyard, Anja, the feeling of security around King Vegeta and Mamoru
alike, her unusually strong need to protect and care for Vegeta-chan...

'Oh, goddess, for such a man, for my soul mate, I left home and all-
Well, almost all -things familiar to me. And damn me for leaving my
mother in the lurch like that, for betraying hers and my Senshi's trust
in me, but he is worth it.

'He is worth Everything.'

"...I really do not know why it took something this drastic realize this,
your Highness; I am not a foolish man, driven by silly fantasies."

'Oh no! Please, goddess, don't let me lose him now! Not when I've only
just found him, only now realized what was before me all along!

'Please...'

"...Princess... Serenity. 'Rena. I'll only ask you this once: are you the
one that brought on these...dreams? Did you have a hand in their creation?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

King Vegeta's P.O.V. ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'I really don't know when I stopped seeing her, this young woman that is
likely barely out of childhood, as the annoyingly-cheerful foreigner whose
only saving grace was that she kept my son from becoming the spoiled brat
I once was.

'Before Frieza came, that is. Having some random galactic despot blackmail
my father into becoming one of his lackeys can damage anyone's ego.

'Even so, I've never really been drawn to anyone. Certainly not my former
wife, the mother of my son. It was a marriage of convenience, and the
only reason why I wasn't out looking for a new wife as soon as she died
was that I felt, somewhere deep inside of me, that I shouldn't. That I
shouldn't have married my wife in the first place, but the universe made
the best of the situation and gave me my son.

'This girl is life and light incarnate, the embodiment of all things
good, the sort of being you only hear about in the ancient legends
these days, and even now they are dying.

'My people are slowly dying, losing our pride and greatness, and she
brings me, us, hope. For that I both hate her...and love her.

'Love. Who would have thought it could be so...complex. I want to hold
her, caress her, mark her as mine for all of creation to see, just plain
*take* her. All rolled up into one driving compulsion, which both eases
and intensifies when I am near her.

'Ah, to hell with it!'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to 'Rena-hime's P.O.V. ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...No, I didn't do anything to cause the dreams. Even if I could have,
I wouldn't have; well, not for no reason."

'...

'He's quiet.

'Too quiet.

'...

'What in the name of all that is holy is he thinking about?! Oh, goddess,
why won't he say anything? Should *I* say something? I'm worried. Did he
really think that I did something to start up those dreams?

'...

'Well, in all honesty, didn't I? I agreed to come here, looking for my soul
mate. I'm hardly innocent in this matter. If I hadn't let Setsuna talk me
into this, I'd be home...being miserable and at odds with the Counsel. That
would stink.

'But, if I hadn't come here, Vegeta wouldn't have had to deal with me and
my weirdness, and could have been spending more time keeping up-to-date
with all of his Kingly duties.

'But, I remember the look on his face when we were flying, totally free
of all responsibilities. I don't think he'd ever just flown for fun
before then. Saiyans seem to be all but born hard-wired for training
and fighting. That's their idea of fun, I'd assumed. I could see where
that might have come from, considering the fact that my Senshi and I
used to spar for fun all of the time when we were younger, but we also
knew when to just run around and be silly. I don't think the Saiyans
have given themselves that option in a long time.

'Veggie-chan certainly took to it quickly, though.

'...

'Hey, wait a minute, what's that look on Vegeta-sama's face? And why
is he leaning forward...?

'...!

'Hey, get your hand off of my face!

'...!?

'Omigawddess, he's gonna-!'

Vegeta's lips pressed down on hers, the pressure intense, yet at the
same time achingly sweet.

'...Wow...'

He shifted his weight ever-so-slightly so that he was now sitting on
the edge of the bed, and his now-free hand that had been supporting
him quickly moved to cradle her head, fingers lacing through her hair.
Serenity's already-there blush went up a few notches as she thanked
whatever deities that were listening that Vegeta-sama had a fondness
for gloves; otherwise she feared he would have been disgusted by the
feel of her hair, which she was pretty darn sure was all oily and icky
from lack of a good shower.

'Note to self: after a long bout of illness, shampoo and soap are your
best friends!'

She started when she felt the tip of his rather insistent tongue
trying to pry open her mouth.

'Okay, I am *so* not ready to go *that* far yet! Hello, Universe?
A LITTLE HELP WOULD BE NICE RIGHT ABOUT NOW!!!'

There was a knock on the door.

'THANK YOU, GODDESS! ...Not that I mind kissing or anything, but...
well...I need tooth-paste, a tooth-brush, and a *really* long shower
with lots of sudsy goodness.'

Vegeta broke away from her at a second, more insistent knock, and
snarled, "WHAT?!"

'Goddess, he's hot when he's all snarly...DOWN GIRL! Tooth-paste!
Remember tooth-paste! And showers! Hmm, I wonder if... ACK!
Cleanthoughtscleanthoughtscleanthoughts...!'

Anja poked her head through the barely-large-enough opening between
the wall and the door, looking in. "Sire, Lord Frieza's ship sent a
subspace communiqué a few minutes ago. They will be here in five
days."

Vegeta growled to himself for a second, then stormed to the door and
was out, stomping down the hallway as he called back over his shoulder:
"Have the Banquet Hall and Throne Room cleaned thoroughly and prepared
for...guests. The little monster will probably insist upon indulging
himself in our...hospitality." He practically spat the last words in
both sentences. A second later, and he had rounded a corner, no longer
visible and out of hearing range, due to the muffling effect the stone
walls had on sound sometimes.

Closing the door behind herself, Anja leaned casually against the
wall next to it, smirking at her friend.

"Someone is certainly having a better day than His Majesty, if the
look on your face is any indication, Lady Serenity."

The Lunarian blinked a few times, then finally managed to work her
jaw enough that a sound came out.

"...Gah?"

*************************

Author' s Note: "Well, just about all of the dreams I that I have had
and remembered were rather odd. For instance, this one time when I
was seven, I had a nightmare where a possessed wooden doll was chasing
me, trying to kill me with a rather large cutting device"...

This is based on an actual nightmare I had, where Pinocchio (don't ask
me / why / he was in my nightmare, because I have no clue!) was all
homicidal psycho luny-puppet, chasing me around, trying to kill me
with a chain saw. *shudder* It still haunts me.

6-10-03

Author's Note Continued: Sorry if the whole kissing thing came off
awkward; I wouldn't know how that sort of thing is supposed to happen,
what with lil' ol' me having never been on a date in my *life*, much
less kissed.

*sigh!*

Yes, Rosy has a sad, sad life.

...

Anyhoot, on a happier note, I have REVIEWS!!! Not all that many, but
hey, it's REVIEWS!!! Guaranteed to make a fic writer happy!

First off, to katsmom14- *smiles cheerfully* Thank you and your
welcome, er, kats-san. (Gomen, but one of my Internet friends' screen
name is Kats) I'm glad I could restore your faith in the fic-writing
community at large, although that seems like a bit much to put on my
ickle neko-jin shoulders. *slumps under the weight of her readers'
expectations* Iteiteiteiteiteite!

*springs back upright, pulls out victory fans*

Wai! =^_^=

princess Frieza- Thank you! *pats chibi-'Rena and chibi-Veggie-sama
on the head* I think this fic is rather cute, too! *backs off and
presents warding signs when chibi-Veggie-sama growls at her!* Err...
in a completely non-butch-degrading way, naturally. *chibi beam at
her!* Aww...kawaii desu ne (Aww...it's so cute)! *chibi-'Rena beckons
Rosy down to her, and whispers in the author/avatar's ear* Ah, yes,
chibi-'Rena would like it to be known that she and the rest of the cast
forgive you for naming yourself after the ever-so-evil-and-un-butch-
*chibi-Veggie-sama gives the description a thumbs-up* -lipstick-wearing
frootloop with an over-inflated ego who goes by the name of Frieza. You
have made up for this transgression by reviewing this story, so chibi-
Veggie-sama won't be dropping by your inbox to smite you on principle.
Arigato! *all three bow*

Anemos15- Thankie for your plot suggestions, but I've got this story
and its sequel pretty much planned out, except for the details. None
of the detailed suggestions you offered would fit into my over-all
plan, however. Thanks for reviewing anyway, though! *smiles*

Dedications: Okay, this goes to Rhonda-sensei, as per usual, because
she is just so gosh-darn COOL! *grins!*

Okay, that's it for this chapter. It'll probably be a while before
anything new comes out for this, but I promise upon all the Pocky
in all the World that it won't take as long as the gap between
chapters four and five.

*sweatdrops*

Then again, that won't be so hard, considering that there was a,
what, two-year gap between those updates?

Anyway, not nearly so long, because I wanna get this sucker finished
so I can start in on the sequel, but I've got other stories that
I've got ideas crowding in for. Gomen.

E-mail me at rosythecat@yahoo.com

-- Rosy the Cat

8-6-03