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