~Began: 1-12-00~
Disclaimer: The usual plus one more. I own Katrinka. You steal her, you die.
Warnings: Hmm, none really. Vegeta probably will seem OOC at times but either it was attempted humor or a mistake. Oh, and this is sort of a partial Myst fusion. I just took one small idea from it. No biggie.
Once Upon a Dream
Part One
'I haven't seen him in so long,' the red-haired woman sighed. 'Won't he be surprised!'
Katrinka yawned loudly and again checked the data in her spacepod. It was indeed correct, as usual.
"How much longer? This is boring!" Pressing a few buttons, she received her answer. She was coming up to the planet at that moment.
Kat pressed her face to the window and gazed out into the dark space. "Is that Chikyuu? It's so, so..." She paused, trying to come up with a good word. "Blue!" Then she shook her head. "It doesn't matter *what* it looks like. As long as he's there. That alien better be right or I'm going back to teach him a lesson!"
Katrinka was a fighter, a first class one to be exact. After her home planet was destroyed by the very same alien she had questioned, she roamed space as a mercenary, helping other species to conquer their foes. After tiring of that line of work, she began to search for any remaining friends and family that were floating around the vast area of the universe. Unfortunately, her search only turned up a one person.
And it was time to reappear.
It had to have been over twenty years the last time she had seen him. They were sparring against each other regularly, she almost winning every time, although she was not of the same race as he. She was surprised that his father, the high-ranking official that he was, allowed her to even be near his son. But their friendship had blossomed from almost nothing. In fact, they started out hating each other.
But all of that was in the past.
She moved her bright red hair back from her face and smiled. "I wonder how many people he's killed! Is he the strongest, just like he said he was going to be? Just like everyone else said he was going to be?"
Relaxing into the chair, she closed her bright blue eyes. 'I'm descending now. I wonder if he'll be happy to see me? V-chan better be!'
***
Today was the anniversary or "her" death and Vegeta usually spent the entire day just thinking about "her". The fiery jokester had been his best-friend and she had been unique in every single way. No one knew about majority of his past and Vegeta hoped it would stay that way.
She was younger than him, by only a year, and bothered him almost as much as Goku did. She had a knack for popping up in the weirdest places at the weirdest times, always smiling and ready to spar. Vegeta himself got into lots of trouble for sneaking off in the middle of the night with her.
Not all people approved of their relationship; Nappa was the main one. They thought that the future king should only associate himself with people of his own status but the young prince detested those other first class bakas. For many different reasons.
They were too snooty and too boring, too lazy and too unpredictable. One could only wonder how they became that way in the first place. Majority of the first class didn't even act saiyan, it was like a mixture of other cultures downplayed on a smaller scale. They picked up fashion trends and speech habits from the aliens, foods and mannerisms. King Vegeta more than once complained to their faces but nothing even changed. That was just the way it was.
But then she stepped into his life. The small red-haired girl was like a ball of irrepressible energy that could not be contained no matter how hard they tried. She was anywhere and everywhere, playing tricks on the servants and driving Vegeta and his father insane. And even though they said otherwise, both Vegetas actually enjoyed having her around. She brought a little sunshine into their lives.
And now she was gone. Disappeared in that bright blast that murdered off the saiyan race. He often thought about this, in the wee hours of the morning, that he should have made Frieza bring her along on the ship. 'It would only be a small trip,' he said with a sneer. 'It won't take more than a few days. Then you can get back to your little friend.' But her never saw her again since that day when she had come to wish him farewell.
He would never, ever forget that day either, how the blue the sky seemed, how bright the sun shone, how green the grass grew, or how sad her expression was. She looked like she had lost her best-friend or, now that he thought about it, that she knew that she was. Her eyes seemed to reflect the deepest sadness in existence while she struggled not to cry, but Vegeta couldn't bear to see such a usually cheerful girl so melancholy so he told her so.
'V-chan,' she had whispered softly as he grew near, 'I won't make you promise to return because even I know you might never get the chance.'
Vegeta had gasped slightly and gazed at her. 'Why are you saying such things? Why now?'
She appeared to have wanted to tell him something but she hesitated and finally fell silent. 'It is not for us to know the future though some are cursed with that ability.'
'Cursed? Why do you call it that?'
She lowered her eyes from his and gathered him into a hug. 'Not now Vegeta. Not now.'
No. He would never forget those words as long as he lived.
***
Bra and Trunks both peered around the doorway of the living room wondering what was on their father's mind. He was uncharacteristically quiet. In fact, every single year on this day he became the very same way, quiet and brooding. Bulma just shrugged and said leave it be, but once both children were baited they would be reeled in to completion.
"Papa," Bra said softly as she sat next to her father on the couch. "What are you thinking about?"
He remained silent, as if he never heard her.
She poked him, jarring his mind from past memories.
"What is it child?"
"I have a name," She said patiently. Then she shook her head, he didn't mean to do that. "What's on your mind?"
Trunks moved over to listen as well, a small measure of concern etched on his face. Vegeta sighed.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. She's long dead, a pleasant memory."
Trunks' brow furrowed. "I don't understand..."
Vegeta then began to start his story. "Let me tell you about Katrinka..."
***
She found his house with no small amount of effort. She had asked person after person for directions who, time after time, had shrugged and gave a negative answer. Then she had taken out her micro-computer and assigned it the task of finding saiyan life forces. There were several. Using logical reasoning, she made her way toward the one area with the most in it. It turned out to be a large building in the center of a city called the 'Capsule Corporation'. She shrugged, it was better than nothing.
As she had made her way through the town while searching for the location, she had received many odd stares for passersby. Having no clue what was wrong, she stared them all in the eye until they turned tail and fled. Cowards the whole lot of them. Her red furred tail lashed the agitatedly during her search, there was nothing wrong with her.
The people were all a bunch of weak ones, she had mused, next to no fighting energy at all. They dressed strangely, she observed the many different styles that ranged from skin-tight dresses to loose baggy jeans. While she approved the ease of movement formfitted clothing gave the wearer, she curled a lip slightly at the gaudy colors. Bright pink and lime green were not good at being obscure. Her own blacks and dark browns -- from her tunic to her boots -- were ideal for melting into the shadows.
Smiling at the prospect at seeing her friend's face again, she marched up to the doorstep and knocked.
***
"Who's turn is it to answer the door?" Vegeta asked, still thinking about his friend. No one moved. Rising, he grunted. "I guess that would be me then..." The front door opened and standing there was a young woman who had her hand poised to knock again.
"Hello," She said.
Vegeta blinked. It was the only outward sign that he was slightly annoyed. "I don't want nothing you're selling."
The woman's mouth dropped open and she gasped. "You don't remember me?"
He studied her face and then shook his head. "No, I don't. Would you mind telling me who you are?" That was when he saw it, the tail gently swaying back and forth. Piecing things together, much like a puzzle, he came to a final conclusion.
"It can't be...." He trailed off, his mind still processing everything.
"Yep!" She grinned and grabbed him into a hug. "It's so nice to see you V-chan!"
'V-chan...' That one nickname was accompanied by a lot of memories.
"Kat-chan!" He hugged her back enthusiastically. He felt a practically foreign feeling of water trickling down his cheeks. Tears. "I had given you up for dead!" He pulled her inside even as he shut the door. Vegeta had the happiest expression he had ever worn in his life, save the time of his daughter's birth. Practically dragging her to the living room, he sat her down on the couch and perched right next to her. "You have to tell me everything!"
Then he realized he was acting extremely out of character and schooled his features into impassive silence.
Bra and Trunks quietly returned to the living room and made themselves comfortable on nearby chairs. They tried to remain silent through what was the most shocking change in Vegeta's behavior yet, but Bra could contain herself no longer. Her curiosity at it's highest, she asked the question that was foremost on both her and Trunks' minds.
"Who are you exactly?"
The woman smiled at her and extended a slender hand. "They call me Katrinka of the Wilds. But, you can just call me Kat."
She repeated the name and title as if trying to figure out it's meaning even as she briefly grasped the proffered hand. "Katrinka of the Wilds..."
"What does that mean?" Trunks blurted. Then he blushed slightly. "If you don't mind me asking..."
Kat smiled again. "Not at all. It's just something I've picked up, or rather it followed me. In the Rigor sector, there is a planet that has the most violent and deadly people on it you could ever see and they needed someone to get a rare plant from it's surface. Since the settlements on the planet are widespread, you were basically on your own for a lengthy amount of time. I volunteered my services and made planetfall.
"Surviving on that planet is no piece of cake, believe me. It took almost a week for me to find the plant and another to make it back to my pod. Every other person they had sent for the job had, er, met unforeseen consequences and because I came back at all was a large feat in the everyone's eyes. So, because of my survival instinct, people have taken to calling me Katrinka of the Wilds."
"You're the one from Papa's story!" Bra marveled suddenly. "His best friend!"
"I didn't think Papa was capable of making friends," Trunks said. "He must love you a lot because he mourns your supposed death every year on this day."
Vegeta blushed slightly and Kat smiled at him.
"You do? How sweet! But as you can see, I'm alive and been that way my whole life." She broke out into giggles at her joke but no one else did.
Bulma entered the room then, holding a stack of paperwork in one hand and the phone in the other. "What's going on? I hear laughter and because Vegeta's in the room, I'm getting a little scared. You usually only hear that when he's about to kill something."
Vegeta glared at her. "Onna hush."
"You know it's true! The last time you laughed out loud was when I caught you shooting birds in the backyard with your ki. Do you know how long it took me to get the blood out of the carpet? You could have at least *cooked* it!" Her rant trailed off as she noticed the visitor. "Oh hello. Who are you?"
"I'm Katrinka. Pleased to meet you." Bulma stared, expecting more. "Oh. I'm a friend of Vegeta's."
"How nice," Bulma said and began to walk away. Then she trailed off, spun around, and stared at Kat liked she had grown two heads. "Friend?! Vegeta doesn't even know the meaning of the word!"
"It's true! V-chan and I are the best of friends!" Kat nodded and raised an eyebrow. "And who are you?"
"That's our Kaasan," Bra spoke up. "She lives here too."
Kat grinned and hugged the startled scientist. "Oh!" She squealed, "Veggie has a wife! I'm so proud of you both!"
Vegeta began to pry Kat away. "Kat-chan, calm down. It's not that big of a deal..."
"No big deal? Of course it is! I'd never thought to see you domesticated!"
Bulma and her children exchanged looks behind their visitor's back. Hyper must be her middle name.