Once Upon a Dream
Part Five
"Are we there yet?" Goku asked for the fifth time. He had an incredibly bored look on his face and was just staring out a window at the endless sea of stars. No one even bothered to answer him.
After the first hour boredom had settled over everyone as the length of the three day journey made it's presence fully known. Vegeta was no less bored, though, he spent most of it catching up with his friend. Goku finally sighed, pushed away from the window, and walked over the Trunks and Bra. The pair had a deck of cards and were currently playing Spades.
"Can I play too?" he asked hopefully. After they exchanged some silent communication, Bra nodded.
"Sure Goku-ojisan."
He sat down on the floor as Trunks dealed the cards. Then he remembered something from before.
"Hey Kat-chan!"
"Hai Goku?"
"How did you speak to Frieza? He's dead!"
All movement ceased as four sets of eyes trained themselves on her face. She blinked.
"I don't know if you will believe me but I *did* speak to him. I can do that you know, converse with the dead. It's an innate ability." Her tail swayed uncertainly. "You believe me?"
Bra nodded. "After everything else you've told us, how can we not?"
She nodded. "Good. Well, there's one other thing."
"Hai?"
"I can cross planes too. I think Frieza knew this and that's why he told me."
Trunks' eyes widened. "You mean that you can go into the realm of the dead? While you're *alive*?"
She nodded. "This is another innate ability."
"How many abilities do you have?" Vegeta asked suddenly, surprising them all with the question.
She shrugged. "Only time will tell."
"I really don't like the sound of that," Vegeta muttered but he didn't say anything further. Tapping his fingers against the side of his chair, he just about lost it.
"Can *someone* find something interesting to do?" He jumped to his feet. "Sitting around and being idle is just not me!"
Goku sighed as he laid down another card. "I know what you mean. This waiting is driving me crazy!"
"I can show you something," Kat said. "To stop the boredom. I'm don't think I'm really supposed to but you two are getting on my nerves!" She motioned for them to follow her to the sleeping area. "C'mon and don't take all day!"
"Jeez she's cranky," Trunks complained as he gathered up the cards and stood. She spun and fixed him with a glare.
"Don't think I didn't hear that!"
Trunks opened his mouth to protest but Bra gently shut it. It didn't do any good to argue with her. The four saiyans followed her without any further conversation and watched out she sat on her bed.
"Okay," She said as she settled herself into a cross-legged position. Then she noticed that no one was following her example.
"You're supposed to do this too you know."
Nodding they each did the same, or rather Goku tried and was unsuccessful.
"Goku-ojisan," Bra said. "If you take off your boots, it will be easier. You too Papa."
Goku did so but Vegeta had to be stubborn about it.
"Excuse me?" He asked in disbelief. "Take off my shoes?"
Bra nodded. "I know you're small and everything," He began to sputter indignantly, "but if you don't get into position, Kat might murder you."
Seeing the look on her face, Vegeta came to the conclusion that she just might. Pulling off his shoes and giving time to everyone to notice that he was sockless like Goku, he quickly crossed his legs hiding them from everyone's sight.
"I don't know what the big fuss is about Veggie, you have nice feet!" Goku grinned. Vegeta just shot him a look that pointedly said 'Shut up Kakarott'.
Kat blew out a frustrated puff of air that rustled her long bangs. "Can we please begin now?"
There were three nods and one grunt. She smiled.
"Alright then. Close your eyes and concentrate on my voice and the kis of everyone in this room." She said this in a soothing, calming voice that erased most of the tension in everyone, even Vegeta. "Let me into your mind please. Especially you Vegeta." Her mouth quirked slightly at the corners but she didn't say anything else for a while. Slowly each appeared in a darkened room. They all looked around in surprise and instantly noticed that Vegeta, or rather his metaphysical form, was not with them.
"Vegeta is being a little difficult," Kat explained as she close her eyes. Her brow furrowed as she attempted to coax Vegeta into the 'room'. "Vegeta it's okay. You will not be labeled weak by allowing me into your mind."
She felt Vegeta's mind jump a little in surprise. Ah, she had found the reason.
"It's hard to let go of old habits Katrinka," He said slowly. "You of all people should know that."
She nodded and continued to let everyone hear what he was saying. "I do. And so does everyone else. You may not realize it but we all care about you a great deal."
"That's not necessarily a good thing." He paused briefly but continued in a strong voice. "It's a liability, trusting someone like that."
"Yet you do." She spoke with soft certainty. "Vegeta, love and trust are not the bad things here. Emotions are often useful things that give you strength, to allow you to do something that you would otherwise not even consider." She reached deep down into his memories and pulled something free. "Like when you gave up your life in an attempt to kill Majin Buu. You did it because you loved Bulma and Trunks. It made you feel stronger." She fell silent waiting for him to process everything that was said.
Vegeta had a lot of thoughts scrambling madly in his brain. She brought up an interesting point, one he had not looked at before. Slowly freeing himself from his ridged control, if only for a moment, he appeared in the place where the others were weakly at first but growing ever quickly.
Kat smiled and motioned for them all to join in the center. She would give Vegeta time to go through the conversation and wait patiently for the others to ask about *this* ability.
"What place do you find the most relaxing and the most fun?" She asked them all. They looked at her in confusion.
"Place?" Trunks questioned.
Bra smiled suddenly. "I like the beach. Especially when kaasan, papa, and niichan, and I would go and have fun. Or rather everyone except papa did." She smirked at him, somehow feeling him hang his head in slight shame.
"Okay! I'll take you there!"
There was stunned silence. "Kat-chan?" Goku said. "If you haven't noticed yet, we're in the middle of space."
"Well hai. Our *physical* bodies are still on the ship but I'm taking your *metaphysical* ones." She began to concentrate and slowly the walls of the 'room' began to melt away and form into something more.
The floor became coarse white sand, the ceiling bright blue sky, the walls turned into reality and soon they were standing on a tropical shore. White sea gulls called to each other in the air, a warm and slightly humid breeze blew and stirred their hair, and the sound of the waves made it's way over to them. It was almost beyond belief.
"I took memories from each of your minds and joined them together to form a sort of reality." She explained even as her clothes turned into a navy blue and white two piece bathing suit. "What you feel is how you *remember* it to be. The same with what you hear and what you experience."
"This is so wonderful!" Bra squealed as she quickly pulled off her shoes ran to the shore to stick a toe in. "The water's warm too!" She turned to look at Kat. "How did you change your clothes?"
"The same way I brought everyone here. I thought it."
Bra, Trunks, and Goku each did the same as they waded out into the softly crashing surf but Vegeta hung back, hesitating.
"Did you really mean what you said before?" He asked, almost without voice.
Kat nodded. "It's true you know. No one can do anything alone, no matter how hard you try." She extended her hand. "Let it go for one day and truly have fun. I have a feeling that there hasn't been much of that in your life."
He stood there a moment, looking deep within himself. Finally, he shed his control completely and nodded.
Taking her hand he exhaled, all of his former teaching washed away with one breath.
"Let's go."
***
They came back from their mental trip right before dinner time. Boredom was the last thing on their mind because everything they had done was basically reality. It wasn't like they hadn't done it before.
Vegeta had sunk right back into his troubled thoughts as soon as he came back to his physical body and nothing or no one could snap him out of it. They were all giving him a pretty wide berth in hopes that he would solve his internal conflict soon. But it would never be completely gone, at least not for a long while. He had too many emotions and problems he had kept locked up in a tiny corner of his mind for so many years that it would take a while to sort through. It was like a war was going on in his subconscious. New experiences versus old teachings. Every single thing that they had been trying to teach him since he first made residence on Chikyuu, compassion, honesty, kindness, trust, and, of course, love, were fighting a high pitch battle with the old lessons of murder, slavery, wickedness, obedience, and, the most important one, pride. Until he could figure out which ones were the best for him, Vegeta would never be truly at peace.
Kat was checking on the course when a computerized voice startled her. Stating that they were now approaching the area where Vegeta-sei used to be, it would be wise to sit down. She sat immediately, a frown crossing her face. Was going to the empty space really going to clear up the mystery?
The debris floated everywhere, large rock from the planet itself and even pieces of buildings that had survived. Everyone was silent, subdued, as the space ship slowly came to a halt on one of the larger pieces of the former planet. Kat stood and turned to everyone.
"You can all stay here if you want, but I have to go see about something." She began to move towards the airlock to pick up a space suit. Vegeta stood and blocked her way.
"You can't go alone." He took a deep breath. "I need to face this sometime and right now is the best time to do so." He stepped away. "I am coming with you."
"So am I," Trunks spoke firmly.
"Me too," Goku nodded.
"Bra," Vegeta turned to his daughter. "You're going to have to stay here okay?" She opened her mouth to protest when he continued. "There needs to be someone to stay with the ship just in case."
She nodded at length, clearly defeated. "Don't take too long."
The four of them floated out in weightless space for a short while before Trunks asked Katrinka what exactly she was looking for. He got an uncertain answer.
"I have no idea." She sighed and then grinned a little. "I know it's something *really* special though! Just try to find something that seems out of place and then call for me."
They all nodded and each went a separate way.
The digging took hours to do and still no one found any sort of artifact or relic. Then, as Bra looked around through a window, she saw something in a rock. It looked metallic.
"What is that?" She asked herself. Then she ran to the airlock, got a suit, and joined the others.
"Kat-chan!" She shouted as she approached. "I see something over there."
Kat looked up at Bra. "You were supposed to stay inside." Then she nodded. "But take me to it."
They jumped from rock to rock using the mini thrusters on the spacesuits and made it to the thing embedded in a large chunk of rock. Both Kat and Bra pulled but it wouldn't come free.
"We're going to have to dig it out somehow without damaging it." She chewed at her bottom lip. "I really didn't think to bring mining equipment."
Soon all five of them stood around the thing, each trying to come up with a way to free it.
"We can use our ki to melt the rock," Trunks suggested. "It might take a lot because I have no idea what kind of rock this is exactly. The melting point could be incredibly high."
"It's just your average stone," Vegeta said. "It came from the planet itself so it shouldn't be any problem. Only the mountains probably escaped disintegration in Frieza's giant energy blast."
"But Vegeta-sei was mostly rock," Kat said. "I thought you knew that."
Vegeta frowned. "We did not have geography lessons Katrinka. Vegeta-sei was a big planet and I spent most of my time either locked in the palace, on Frieza's ship, or," his expression became dark, "getting planets ready for sell."
She smiled, trying to get his mood to change. "I did a little exploring on my own. That and I asked everyone else. Not all saiyans were idiots though most were." She smirked. "Take Nappa for example."
Goku began to laugh but stopped abruptly when he realized Vegeta wasn't.
"That was another life you can add to my death toll," Vegeta said softly. No one knew what to say after this. Goku broke the silence by nodding.
"I think we should get down to work," he said. "It's going to take a while."
Kat was debating whether or not to try it. "I have to," she said to herself, "I didn't bring anything with me no matter how stupid it was." She held out her hand, palm down at a area of the rock around the item. "Don't hurt it."
They all nodded and did the same. Steady beams of various different colors of yellow, blue, red, and green shot out from their hands. After some time, the layers of the rock slowly started to decrease.
"I don't see a difference," Vegeta said suddenly, his yellow beam halting. "Is this working?"
"Hai Vegeta," Kat said patiently. "It is. Just a little more and someone can pull it loose." This went on for about twenty more minutes until Bra stopped, panting.
"I can't use any more of my energy. I'll be too weak."
Goku nodded and reached down. "I think I can get it now." He got a firm hold of the object and, his muscles straining with the effort, pulled it free. It sent him flying backward a few feet but he righted himself and floated back.
"It looks like a box." Kat took it from him. "A really weird looking box."
It was made of a metal that still appeared new even after the beating it took with the blast and everything. She turned it around, gazing at every side, until she saw words inscripted on one side. She read them aloud, in a language that sounded very much like grunting.
"What did you say?" Bra asked, sort of startled.
"It is the language of the saiyans," Vegeta whispered. "It means..." He continue but failed, unable to go on. Kat finished for him.
"It means 'The Lost Legacy'."
"Do you mean that there's something in that box about the ancient saiyans?" Trunks questioned her. She nodded.
"It looks that way."
"I don't want to see it," Vegeta turned away. "I don't want to know."
"What do you mean by that?" She asked. "Do you say that because you really don't want to know or because you are afraid to?"
He spun, looking her straight into her blue eyes. "Does it matter? Nothing will change. My race is gone and nothing can change that!"
"You need to understand Vegeta! The saiyans were always as you knew them. You have to know that!"
"It was a *dream* Katrinka," He sighed. "Nothing more. No use in deriving false hope from a mere dream."
Her eyes flashed with coldness, her temper and frustration barely kept in check. "That may be all it was to you Vegeta. But unlike you, I need something to believe in." She turned away, letting it go, and headed towards the ship still carrying to box. "Come on," She said tiredly to the others. "We're going home."
***
She sat there at the table they used for meals, looking at it like the weight of her stare would open it. She hadn't moved in a very long time and still found no way to open the box. As if Vegeta wasn't frustrating enough.
Vegeta...
He still wasn't speaking to anyone. Every single honest attempt at comforting him was silenced with a single piercing look. It wasn't one of his usual glares however, it was filled with uncertainty and mental anguish. It made the others look away quickly and try to erase the memory from their mind. It was sort of frightening that he could look that way after all.
Katrinka picked up the rectangular storage unit and examined it yet again looking for any sort of button or opening mechanism. She sighed as that attempt failed just like all the others.
The box was more like fairly large cube than anything else. It was seamless and smooth though the corners were pointed. She shook it and handled it and knocked it against the table but again nothing happened. Then something in her mind made her look at the bottom were the words were printed.
"Why are these here if I can't get this thing open?" She sighed and then her eyes widened. "How did I know the words were on the bottom? I mean, it's not like anyone can tell!" She thought about it a brief moment before folding her arms on the table and rested her head against them. "It's hopeless!"
Bra shot her friend a sympathetic smile as she put the finishing touches on her lunch. After putting all of the food on a tray she took is a short way down the hall to the place where her father was currently moping around. She placed it onto a nearby table and spoke softly.
"Papa, you need to eat something."
He didn't look up or even indicated that he had even heard her. Instead he said something to himself. "I should have been stronger."
Bra blinked. "Huh?"
He slowly turned his face towards her, it was wet with tears. "I should have been stronger Bra. If I was, then I could have killed Frieza before he destroyed my home."
"But I thought that you didn't know he had done it for a while."
He laughed then, one full of derision and self-reproach. It hurt Bra to see him that way. "Oh I knew. I knew that he was going to do it for a long time. He was afraid of us you see, afraid of anything that would jeopardize his silly little empire. But I did not push myself to the limit. I failed my people and I failed myself."
"Papa," Bra took his hand in hers. "You were only seven years old. There was nothing you could do. But," she cocked her head to the side, "that's not all there is to it. Is there?"
His lips turned up in a expression that could have been a smile. "I could never hide anything from you. You're a very perceptive twelve year-old."
She shrugged. "I don't see anything overly special about me."
He sat up quickly to give her a hug. "Don't say that about yourself. You're intelligent, brave, and wise."
She nodded. "And so are you Papa. So are you." She gently removed herself from his arms. "That's why it's hard for me to see you this way. I look at you and wonder, where has my father gone? Your body is still physically here but your mind is light-years away. It's like a stranger has come in your absence. Everyone is worried about you. Won't you please work through this and rejoin us? You've always told me that it doesn't do any good to dwell in the past." She placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sayonara Otousan." She stepped away and left the room, her footsteps light on the metal floor.
Vegeta stared at the doorway for a long time contemplating her words. "She's right as usual. I need to just get over it." He picked up the tray and walked out into the hallway.
It was time to once again join the living.
***
The journey going was just as boring and uneventful as the one coming. Trunks and Goku invented a whole new card game, Bra helped Kat try to open the box, and Vegeta slunk around as normal. It was no small surprise that when Chikyuu came into view, the excitement level was off the charts.
"I get to see Goten again!" Trunks said happily. He hated being apart from his best friend and often whined annoyingly when it happened. The ship landed as violently as ever and the door opened, releasing an anxious Trunks from his prison.
"Where's Goten?" He asked his mother who had came outside to see what the sound was. She smiled.
"Where else? The kitchen." He hugged her briefly and ran inside. Bra and Goku were next to depart.
"Bulma," Goku said while rubbing his rear a little. "couldn't you make a the landing a little bit softer." He winced slightly. "Oh boy. This is going to hurt tomorrow." Bra grinned and went to greet her mother.
"Hey Kaasan!" She chirped. Then her smile toned down a little. "Papa's going through some things so don't mind him for a while."
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" She noticed his behavior when he came out of the ship. "Oh."
"It's okay Bulma-chan," Kat whispered. "After Bra talked to him, he cheered up slightly. It was a lot worse believe me."
"You gave your father a pep talk?" She asked her daughter in shock. Bulma received a nod.
"He needed one," She said simply.
"Hey Bulma, can you look at this thing for me?" Kat pulled the box from her knapsack. "I can't open it. *No one* can open it."
Bulma took it from her and looked it over. "This is odd." She saw the bottom. "What's this?"
"It's in saiyan," Bra spoke up. "It means 'the Lost Legacy'."
"Does it give you any clue to your dream?"
Kat nodded. "It's basically a missing link. If someone could get it open that is." Then her eyes lit up with wonder. "I think I know how to open it!"
Everyone heard her as she shouted with glee. Trunks and Goten came running from the house even as Vegeta and Goku made their way to the three females. They all stood around Katrinka, waiting.
She took the box from Bulma and turned it, word side up. "Vegeta, give me your hand."
He looked at her funny before he did so. She placed his hand palm down on the top and the reaction was almost immediate.
It began to glow. Not softly like the figure in her vision but incredibly bright like the light of a super nova. They all turned their faces away from the thing hoping that it would quit soon. Throughout the whole thing, the box remained cool to the touch in a dormant sort of way.
Katrinka placed her hand atop Vegeta's and began to concentrate. Slowly and silently the top of the box shimmered a bit then disappeared altogether the last of the glow vanishing with it.
"What's in it?" Goku asked curiously. Kat stuck her hand inside and pulled something free.
"It's a book."
"That's all?" Goten asked.
She nodded. "It looks like it." She opened it a bit and on the first page there was only a brilliantly colored picture. It was so well drawn it looked almost real.
"Does that look a little funny to you?" Bra asked as she touched the page. When it distorted a bit she jerked her index finger back. "What the heck was that?"
Kat stared at it, her eyes wide. "I have no idea!" Then, below the picture, some words appeared.
"The Lost Legacy," Bulma's brow furrowed in thought. "Just like what the bottom of that cube said."
Kat touched the picture and it swirled maddeningly before her eyes. The edges of her reality faded and blackened and all became empty and silent.
'I have no idea what happened but I'll just be patient and see what's going to happen." She sighed, the sound muffled by the darkness. 'No matter how long that takes.'
And so ends book one. How did you like it? Comments appreciated!