Chapter 1: The Past and the Present
What if Goku had never left his home planet for earth when he was a baby? What if Vegeta-sei had never been blown up, Bardock had succeeded in stopping Frieza, and Vegeta had become king? What if no one had ever heard of Cell, Buu, or any of those other annoying guys that take up most of the time in our hero's lives? What if Bulma, Chi-Chi, and everyone else were all Saiyans living on Vegeta-sei? And what if Pan started having dreams that predicted the future? Well, there would be a whole lot of chaotic happenings in this alternate universe. Let's face it; you can't live on a world with both Goku and Vegeta without some sort of universe threatening evil running amuck. But perhaps there are more changes than you think…
A note to those of you who don't know basic Japanese;
chan - friend, a child, or someone younger than you
kun - mature guys only
san - adult
sama - lord, god-like
chama - young master
Otou-san - father
Okaa-san - mother
Onii-(chan, kun, san) -brother
Onee-(chan, san) -sister
Ôjii-(chan, san) -grandpa
Obaa-(chan, san) - grandma
Ohayou -good morning
Konnichiwa - hello
Konbanwa- good evening
Oyasumi - good night
Ja ne -see you later
Arigatou -thank you
Arigatou-gozaimasu - thank you very much
Gomen - sorry
Gomennasai - really sorry
Matte - wait
Baka - idiot
Ouji - prince
Hime - princess
Well, if you can memorize all that, you're all set!
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z. Licensed by FUNimation Productions Ltd. All rights reserved. Dragonball Z and all logos, character names, and distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of TOEI ANIMATION. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
"Onii-san! Wake up, Onii-san!"
The young man awoke with a start at the wailing sound of his little sister's voice. He opened his tired blue eyes, and brushed back his lavender hair to find her jumping urgently at the foot of his bed. Her short black hair was very untidy, as if she herself had just been rudely awakened. Her wide black eyes flashed with some urgency he had never seen in her before. Her baby blue flannel pajamas were bouncing up and down along with her, her top occasionally revealing a bit of her small stomach.
The man looked at the clock, as it read 4:37 AM in big, red numbers. He groaned, and looked back at his sister, who had stopped jumping, and was now panting heavily.
"What could possibly make you so excited that you wake me up at four in the morning, and on a Saturday? You're only fourteen years old! You need your sleep."
The girl stopped panting, looked up at him, and took a deep breath.
"It's Okaa-san! It's time!"
"What? Already? She isn't due for another two weeks!"
The man suddenly leaped out of bed, and threw on a bright red robe, then ran after his sister. He ran down the brilliant red hallway, not stopping to admire the old paintings on either side as he usually did when lazily wandering his home, looking for something to do with himself. No, this was certainly not the time for that. This was his mother.
And she was in labor.
FLASHBACK
"Well, that's it. There's no room in here for this one."
"What should we do with her?"
The two dim-witted guards were loading a prison ship on its way to the mining planet some 5 million light years away from their home planet of Vegeta-sei. They were sending a large group of weak Saiyans to that planet so they could mine for the rest of their pathetic lives. It just so happened they had one too many passengers that day. One of the guards held up a small bundle wrapped up in a light blue blanket.
"Just throw it out. We have no use for it."
The guard holding the bundle walked over to a nearby stone well, and prepared to drop the now wailing bundle into it.
"Stop right there!"
Both guards immediately looked up to see a 9-year-old boy surrounded by armed bodyguards. His light blue eyes flashed dangerously at them. The boy was wearing a bright gold uniform with navy blue boots. He had a long, navy blue cape flapping in the breeze. To top it all off, on his head sat a brilliant gold crown, covering up most of his lavender hair. The guards immediately fell to their knees, and bowed to their prince.
"P…prince Trunks-sama, sir!" one of the guards stuttered.
"What are you two lunkheads doing?" The prince eyed them both suspiciously.
"We… we were just about… to dispose of this…" the guard held up his bundle, and Trunks took it from him. He unfolded the blanket to see two shining black eyes, wet with tears, looking back up at him. He tenderly brushed back her short, untidy black hair. She goggled at him curiously. Her crying died down to whimpers, then sniffles, then nothing at all. The little girl started to swat at his dangling bangs, and laughed when he quickly pulled away.
During all this, the guards just stared, utterly confused by the gentleness displayed by their normally hard-core prince. Then, one unfortunate guard spoke up.
"Uh, sir? So, what do you want us to do with it?"
Trunks suddenly looked up; giving them the same cold stare he had given them when he had first showed up.
"What I want you two lunkheads to do is get back to your jobs! You're lucky I'm in a good mood today, or you both would have been fired a long time ago!"
Both of the guards jumped up, and quickly ran back to their posts by the loading dock. Trunks watched them with a great feeling of satisfaction. His five bodyguards also looked puzzled by his actions. Trunks chuckled under his breath, and looked up at them.
"I'm going back home."
The bodyguards nodded, and followed him back to his castle, the baby still in his arms.
"Does she have a name?" Trunks had been home for only a few minutes, and already his 3-year-old brother, Vegeta Jr. was pestering him with an endless list of questions.
"No. We'll have to think of one for her."
"Do you think Otou-san will be mad?"
"Of course he'll be mad, baka."
"Then why did you even bring her here in the first place if you knew he would get mad anyway?"
"I already told you. Okaa-san is heartbroken after her miscarriage. She doesn't eat or sleep anymore. She thinks it's her fault. I thought that if she had another baby, she would feel better."
"She already has two babies, so why does she need more?" Trunks had to laugh at that question. Why did she need more? Vegeta was too young and innocent to understand. His black eyes shone with curiosity at the sleeping baby in Trunks' arms. His eyes… they were exactly like his father's. And his hair… the same color. Vegeta got bored, and started to see if he could wake the baby by nuzzling her face with his nose. Seeing this, Trunks lightly pushed his head away.
"Don't do that, she'll wake up."
"I just want to play with her some more."
"No! If she wakes up, she'll cry. And then Otou-san will hear."
"He's going to find out sooner or later anyway."
"Well, I just want Okaa-san to see her first. That way, she won't let Otou-san get rid of her." The baby began to stir, so Trunks started rocking her back and forth, praying she wouldn't wake.
"Oh…" Getting entirely too annoyed with the fact that his brother was paying more attention to someone else besides him, Vegeta went to his room to play with his toy soldiers.
Later that night, Trunks decided it was time to show the baby to his mother. Since he had been hiding out in his room all day, he had worked up quite an appetite. Opening the door slowly, he poked his head out to make sure the coast was clear. Then he walked as quickly as he could down the red hallway to his mother's room. He slowed down and gazed at the numerous paintings on the walls. But he quickly shook himself out of the trance, and continued down the hall.
To his great relief, he met no one along the way to ask him about the dirty old blanket in his arms. He slowly opened the door to his mother's room.
"Okaa-san?"
"Hmm? Oh, come in Trunks." Trunks opened the door to see his mother sitting up in her bed with dark circles under her eyes. Obviously, the insomnia had taken its toll. She looked about ten years older than she really was. She managed a weak smile as her eldest son walked over to the side of her bed.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing a little better, thank you." She caught sight of the small bundle in his arms.
"What's that, Trunks?" He lifted the bundle and placed it in her arms.
"It's for you, Okaa-san." He watched as his mother carefully opened the blanket. The baby had still been sleeping, but at the sudden light of the room, she stirred, and opened her eyes. She looked from Trunks to his mother, then at Trunks again. Then she started cooing and talking in her own language, as if she was carrying on an intelligent conversation, and her audience could understand.
"Oh, Trunks…" Her blue eyes suddenly shone with tears, and she tried her best to hold them back. But it was no use. "Trunks, how did you… why did you… what would your father say?"
"It doesn't matter what Otou-san says. She's yours. If you want her, Otou-san can't do anything about it."
"What's her name?"
"That's your choice. She doesn't have one."
He watched his mother think for a few moments, and then a bright smile crept slowly onto her face.
"I think… I think I like… Pan."
END OF FLASHBACK