Author's note: This is happening about a thousand years before the story's present timeline.

Kara sat huddled in a dark corner of the refectory, her eyes travelling across the crowd of loud, burly men that constituted the regiment.

She felt both feverish and nauseous this evening, and the rather insalubrious environment wasn't exactly heightening her spirits. The room reeked of sweat and urine; it was narrow enough to induce claustrophobia, and overheated by the foul breaths of two dozens ravenous soldiers, who sat around large tables, vociferating and belching, drinking and shoveling food down their throats like there was no tomorrow.

Kara would have normally joined their rambunctious assembly, but she wasn't particularly hungry and didn't feel like battling her way through all the soldiers of the garrison for a bloody chunk of meat. She'd feed later on, if any scraps remained.

Or perhaps she wouldn't feed at all. She could stop eating altogether, let herself starve to death. Who cared? Certainly not them. And to think for a moment that she had dared to imagine they'd celebrate her victory. Well, it certainly looked like she'd do the celebrating on her own. Winning a measly third division sparring tournament would be the one notable highlight of the entire eleven years of her miserable existence.She could die in peace now that she'd left her mark in the world.

Kara sighed, trying to dispel the flood of depressing thoughts that washed over her. Spells of despondency rarely befell her, but she hated every second of the moments when her mind reeled with self-pity.

Still, reality had backhanded her a little harder today. She couldn't just pretend their disdain and feigned indifference didn't affect her.

She hurt.

Winner she may be, but it meant nothing to the people in this room. Or worse, it had reinforced their hostility towards her. They hadn't said a word to her, except for the occasional grunt or the usual not-so-friendly insult.

Maybe that simply was the price to pay for being  the youngest member of the regiment, moreover a small female, who not only was annoyingly irreverent, but also regularly humiliated the men around her in sparring matches.

And to top it all, she was growing up.

Sexual tensions had begun to arise; she'd already had to turn down -in a rather violent fashion- advances from some men who refused to take no for an answer, and didn't think much of the fact that she was still very young and barely nubile. What else was there to do against some 250 pound, inebrieated male whose capacity to comprehend language had been overruled by mad, impulsive desire?

Most regarded her now with a certain degree of apprehension, mingled with the ever present layer of contempt. Granted she was a dangerous and swift little bitch, and one always had to keep a wary eye on her. But it went without saying that she wasn't to be feared. A woman was never to be feared.

"Oi, chibi."

Kara's head jerked up to find a fresh piece of meat dangling in front of her eyes, from the hand of Pepa, a giant bulk of a man, who had taken into teasing her on a daily basis.

"You kinda look down today, let me cheer you up," he said, sniggering. "Maybe you want me to feed you?"

That was the last straw. Kara didn't answer, but she was starting to get really, *really* pissed off. Without any other warning than a raging snarl, she lunged at Pepa.

Screams and sounds of things being broken could be heard behind a door at the end of the long hallway. *Typical lowlife*, the chief in line thought with contempt. *No wonder they never make it up the social ladder. I wonder what Yasai-sama expects us to find down here...He must be insane to think that__*

The group came to a sudden halt, as a thundering explosion burst through the door, collapsing the surrounding walls and part of the ceiling. A small ki ball shot at lightening speed towards them, but the chief caught it in one hand, and thwacked it upwards, making another hole in the ceiling. Without a word to his aides, he briskly strode over to the remains of what was supposed to be the regiment's refectory. A short, stout man appeared before him, and bowed immediatly, as he recognized the uniform of the royal guard.

"Are you in charge here?" the guard inquired, impatience edging in his words.

The soldier bowed again. "Hai, Negi, Captain of Regiment 32, Division 11...huh, I mean 12. Everything's under control...huh..."

"Good man," the royal guard said, ignoring the captain's discomfiture at his obvious lack of decorum.Glancing over the latter's shoulder, he quickly scanned the room. A few bodies scattered here and there, some survivors limping or crawling out from under the rubble. Whatever fight had just taken place on the premises was now over.

"Well under control indeed...Tell me, is there anyone here who goes by the name of Kakarotto?"

For an instant, the Negi's eyes widened like saucers, as if he couldn't make the connection between the name and the matter at hand.

"E..to...hai," he stammered, as he turned around and bellowed, "Oi, chibi!! Kara!! You come here this instant!!"

"What?!?" A high-piched, furious voice yelled back. "What do you want, you big moron?!?"

"Why, you little...Don't you dare talk to me like that! There's someone important here who wants to talk to you!"

Negi stepped aside, and the royal guard found himself staring down at a little girl, dragging a man nearly three times her size by the hair.

"So you are Kakarotto," the guard said slowly, mild surprise dancing on his features. "I'm Kyuuri, lieutenant of their Highnesses' Royal Guards."

A moan escaped from the battered, half-conscious man's lips.

"He started it," Kara said defiantly, dropping him.

Kyuuri grinned, as surprise lead way to a pleased expression on his face. *Feisty one. No wonder that sod of a captain can't even stand up to you...* "Prince Yasai wishes to congratulate you on yesterday's victory at the tournament, and your presence is requested at the palace tomorrow at sunrise. We'll give your fighting skills a... little test. Will you be there?"

The question sounded superfluous to Kara. An invitation to the palace usually didn't leave the guest with much of a choice: it was merely a veiled order. Nevertheless, she nodded, her eyes never leaving the officer's.

It was Kyuuri's turn to nod curtly, in silent understanding. *Now either that girl has no idea what she's getting herself into, or she likes a good challenge.* "If you're nearly as good as Yasai sama thinks you are, your life could change for the better."

He turned on his heels to leave, as Negi slavishly bowed to him all the way out.

An invitation at the palace? From Prince Yasai himself? Tomorrow? Wasn't tomorrow the day of the Crowning?  Kara had tried to keep it cool while talking to the famed lieutenant, but now she felt blood rushing up to her cheeks. Third class tounament. One way ticket to the palace.

Some leap of fate.
 

Kara was late.

Not terribly late, but where an audience at the palace was concerned, a few minutes constituted a near capital offense. That wasn't a particularly brilliant mark on the record, and she was full aware that this slip in the etiquette could cost her a lot. Or simply everything, if such was her ill luck.

But she could still make it, if she hurried.

It was well past dawn outside, and she could already hear the space pods being launched. She ran breathlessly out of the dorms, her best armor -the one that looked halfway decent- on her back. She didn't believe the Prince had noticed her for her outstandingly neat appearance, but at least, the guards wouldn't mistake her for a filthy street urchin and have her thrown out before she could even reach the outer courtyard.

Today, if she played her cards well, she would move away to the palace. What were the chances of that happening, she wasn't quite sure, but Kyuuri had clearly hinted at the possibility. And if it was true, it meant that she wouldn't have to set foot in this hellhole ever again. She wouldn't have to share sleeping space with smelly fourth class soldiers. She wouldn't have to stay up all night, on guard, waiting to fight for her honor when some drunkards got funny ideas into their heads.

Her low birth had always kept better positions out of her reach up until now, and she wasn't about to let what might be the chance of a lifetime slip by her.

She finally stepped outside, and fresh morning air hit her face.

Vejitasei's capital was awakening, aglow under the warm first rays of sunlight; the streets were clamoring and vibrant with life, and civilians were going about with their daily activities. But all bore in mind the significance of this very day : something quite special was going to take place in their city, something no Saiyajin had ever witnessed before.

Today, for the first time in all of Vejitasei's history, a female sovereign would ascend the throne.

Kara took to the air, and flew at full speed in the direction of the Palace. Soon the giant central dome, and the white, gleaming towers appeared in the horizon.

The Palace...In there, Kara thought, lived a girl whose life seemed to have been carved out of some wondrous legend.

Princess Vejita had been born to an old, paranoid king who wanted her dead, but fate didn't allow him to lay a hand on her. She was saved in extremis by her older brother Yasai. The latter killed his father in cold blood, but was never unclear about his motives: the crown did not interest him, and he'd only rule as regent for his sister until he judged her old enough to become Queen.

An heir, who'd give up the throne in favor of a younger sibling, that was just unheard of. And the fact that the sibling in question was female only added insult to injury. For months following Prince Yasai's public declaration to abdicate, the high class had been in uproar.Who did His Highness think he was mocking? No elite soldier would ever lower himself to follow a woman's orders in battle, even if she was royalty. Not to mention all the complications that would surely arise when the time came to produce another heir...

But for all his strangeness and outwardly calm appearance, Yasai was not a man to argue with, and many overzealous dissidents had learned it the hard way. The Prince had no qualms about stripping the entire higher corps of his army of both rank and title, a humiliation which in the end, seemed like a fate worse than death.

However, what most people didn't understand, as Kara would later come to realize, was that Yasai was simply a leader of extraordinary insight and revolutionary thought who'd been cursed with one setback : he'd happened to be born far too ahead of his time, to a race that abhorred the slightest change in its established rule and beliefs...
 

"Please wait here," the guard said, as he left Kara alone in the high ceilinged antechamber.

He scurried away, his footsteps echoing down the hallway until the girl found herself listening to a heavy silence. This was nothing like she'd expected. From the moment she'd stepped inside the palace, the guards had almost treated her with deference, as if she'd been someone important.

But then she could hear new footsteps, a group approaching. Six council members entered the room, followed by Kyuuri, and Piiman, the captain of the royal guards. At the sight of her, a discontented frown came over Piiman's handsome face, while Kyuuri simply smirked. As for the six elders, they were exchanging uncomfortable glances.

However, when the last man walked in, the groups attention's turned back to him. Kara drew in a sharp breath. She'd never seen him before, but she immediately knew she was looking at Prince Yasai.

So the rumors she'd heard about his appearance were not unfounded. The present ruler of the Saiyan empire was as ugly as his right hand man Piiman was handsome. And yet, what a powerful ugliness his was! Yasai was a striking figure to behold : he was tall, gaunt, with long, sinewy limbs and an aquiline profile. A deep scar ran down from his left brow to the lower part of his cheek and he'd lost an eye in some battle, probably due to the same blow that had slashed half of his face. His remaining eye sparkled with an exceptionally sharp intelligence and the unmistakable authority of one who had every confidence in his own power.

Piiman was first to break the silence.

"Yasai, you can't be serious about this..." he said on a casual, but falsely calm voice.

"I wouldn't have bothered if I weren't..." the Prince replied dismissively, as he approached Kara.

Encouraged by Piiman's bold comment, one of the council members stepped forward.

"E...to...Denka, with all due respect, you cannot expect us to__"

One glare from Yasai had the elder reduced to silence. Kara suddenly found herself shivering. What could this man, that some said to be mad, possibly want from her?

"You're probably wondering what all the fuss is all about, aren't you?" Yasai asked Kara, as he knelt down to talk to her.

The little girl only responded with a nod.

"Well you see, we're not just looking for some random soldier or guard today. As you probably know, my sister Vejita will be crowned this afternoon as Queen of the Saiyan empire. I want you to become her companion," he said, underlining his last words.

He paused, allowing Kara to register the information.

"It's lonely up on top, and every leader needs good support, I'm the first to admit it," he continued wistfully."Now I know a good fighter when I see one, but some people here," he said louder, motioning towards the group of councilmen, "seem to think that I make poor judgements."

"Denka," the same elder protested hastily, "I didn't mean__"

Another glare had him nearly running for cover.Yasai turned back to Kara just as she bit down a smile.

"Whatever you do, don't pay attention to them, " he said with a grin. "All I really ask from you is to prove them wrong."

Yasai then stood up and lead the girl to the throne room. As the doors closed over Kara's small figure, Kyuuri leaned towards the Prince.

"Denka, you didn't tell her about the last part."

Yasai glanced at the lieutenant. "I will. But I want her to test out of this first. No need to put more pressure on her," he said softly.

The guards charged her all at once.

She nimbly dodged all of their attacks, anticipating all of her opponents' movements, waiting for the right moment to strike. She was having a lot of fun, watching their faces contorted with rage and listening to their angry snarls as they desperately tried to scratch her skin. They were eight men, elite soldiers, against a tiny little girl, and they couldn't even touch her.

But she was also acutely aware of the Princess who was standing behind her, scrutinizing her every move.

Now seemed like a good time to finish. She caught a fist in her right hand and blocked a kick with her left arm. It took her less than a few seconds to deliver the fatal blows, and a little more time for the bodies to fall with a thump on the cold floor.
 
*She's taller than me...* realized Vejita, not without some annoyance, as the girl straightened up and walked towards her.

"So, Princess, doo datta?" said the girl on a rather cavalier tone. "D'you think I passed the test?"

Vejita gauged her up and down.

Simple armor. Inappropriate stance. Slightly fidgeting. Her tail, uncurled and whipping nonchalently the floor behind her. No apparent fear in the presence of a superior, possibly thoughtless. Casual demeanor, bordering on brazenness.  A low class warrior's daughter...who had just defeated eight royal guards. Not the strongest in the division, but much stronger than the average soldier.

"If it weren't for your passable fighting skills, I would have failed you on manners alone," Vejita replied icily. "You can start by adressing me with a little more respect. You're no longer in the streets or in some low division's quarters."

The little soldier almost felt like screaming for joy. But she didn't let anything show, that was at least the one rule of behavior at court she had well digested. She merely tilted her head and smiled, a hint of mischief in her eyes.

"Domo sumimasen degozaimashita, denka."

Vejita snorted at the overly obsequious apology. It almost sounded like an insult to her.

"You'll be here every morning, you'll attend to me and you'll train with me."

The girl bowed her head silently.

"And I don't advise you to hold back on me, like you did with these fools."

"I wouldn't dare, denka."

"You will accompany me wherever I go, you'll be my own personal guard from now on."

"Hai, denka."

"You will not take a mate unless I allow you to."

"...Hai, denka."

"Until further notice, you're dismissed...Go to the intendent's, they'll have a new armor for you there."

"Hai," the girl said, as she headed for the door."But if there's anything you need, just call me."

The Princess made a slight movement towards her.

"Chotto matte...you..."

Vejita realized she had never once asked anyone's name in her entire life. She never had to. People presented themselves to her, not the way around. This one obviously hadn't been well taught how to behave.

However the girl turned around and smiled, this time almost gently.

"I'm Kakarotto. But you can call me Kara."

From the high perched terrace up in the new Queen's appartments, Kara surveyed the scintillating panorama spreading before her eyes, a smile of smug contentment floating on her lips. The capital's gleaming cityscape laid below in all its glory, a jewel nestled in the sultry colors of dusk.

Third division seemed so very far away all of a sudden, faded in the background like some long forgotten memory.

Like a dream.

And now that she'd woken up, she was once more Kakarotto, Lieutenant of the Royal Guards.

*Lieutenant of Her Majesty's Royal Guards*, Kara mused gleefully. She could get used to this.

Prince Yasai almost seemed to take a certain delight in deliberately infringing with tradition. When everyone thought he couldn't pull his eccentricities any further, he'd suddenly announced that Piiman would be promoted to General of the Saiyajin armies, the post's former occupant being one of these rare faithful, yet aging soldiers, whose failing health had been a growing cause of concern the past few years. One would have wondered why a man who had not shown the slightest hesitation when slaying his own father, stubbornly refused to let the younger challenger get rid of an old, therefore useless officer. But again, Yasai had been adamant in his decision, fueled by some enigmatic motive.

As for Kyuuri, he'd naturally replace Piiman as Captain of the Royal Guards. And when someone finally dared to ask what noble soldier would be appointed as Lieutenant, the Prince had simply introduced Kakarotto to a very stunned crowd of Saiyajins.

The look on the Council members' faces had been priceless, Piiman himself had stared at her with barely concealed annoyance and Kara only wished she could have seen her former "comrades" at that precise moment in time, although it wasn't too difficult to vizualize their thoroughly befuddled expressions. One thing was certain though: if there was anything she could do about it, she'd make sure that regiment 32 from division 12 would be at the bottom of all the lists of recruits.

Oh yes indeed, she could very well get used to all this. Power could be such a great substitute for...other things.

Yet Kara wondered, as she strode back into the room, if this one was entirely comfortable with the prospect of being first among all Saiyajins for the remainder of her potent years. She spied Vejita, who had discarded her formal attire, and was now lying on her back on the large bed at the center of her room.
 
"Heika, when shall we get ready for the full moon celebration?" Kara inquired.

Vejita didn't look up. She didn't even appear to have heard the question. Kara inched closer.

"Heika, daijobu desu ka?"

The young Queen finally turned her gaze towards the girl leaning over her. Unless Vejita was very much mistaken, the latter was actually looking at her with an expression of genuine concern on her face.

"Do I look like I want to celebrate?"

Vejita sighed, and continued, without waiting for an answer.

"Well don't just stand there like a baka! Sit down!" she snapped."And drop the 'heika-I'm-licking -your-feet' act. Leave it to those sniveling bastards out there."

Taking Vejita's angry words as an invitation to shed the formal veneer of court demeanor, Kara immediately complied, and flopped down on one side of the bed. Her keen sense of smell picked up the fresh, clean smell of the sheets. Those probably got changed in the morning. Kara started imagining her own bed, neatly made and waiting for her in her new quarters.

"So, how do you like it so far?" Vejita asked, a hint of amused interest in her voice, as if she'd guessed what was going through the other girl's mind.

Kara chuckled. "How do I like it? Princess, I don't know if you've realized, but I've lived in a pisshole since I was born. I had people spit on me, treat me like dirt, try to rape me or beat me up. Then one fine day, out of the blue, your oniisan picks me-ME, of all people- among hundreds, gives me some highflown title my old captain couldn't put together even if he tried real hard. Now I have quarters all to myself in the freaking palace, I can eat as much as I want to without having to fight over food with other people, and elite soldiers bow before me. And you're asking me if I like it? The question would be, what's not to like?"
 
"More things than you'd actually care to know about."

Vejita's eyes slowly drifted from the girl at her side to the ceiling.

"Piiman doesn't seem to like you much, now does he?" She said thoughtfully.

"Tell me about it. He looked like he was ready to choke when he realized your brother was actually serious about makin' me Lieutenant. Is he always that touchy, or is it just me?"

Vejita made a face. "Let's just say he doesn't like surprises. They probably mess up his plans for world domination or something...But yes, he always acts like he's got a stick up his ass, so don't  feel so special."

Both girls involuntarily started giggling then stopped, surprised at the sudden intimacy that was forming between them.

"They never even had a woman as royal guard before." Vejita said after a short silence.

"Well, you can talk! They never had a woman as monarch before either! But... Kyuuri seems to be taking it ok..."

Vejita gave out a small humph. "Fool's so besotted with that mate of his, he even forgets about his pride!"

"What's so bad about it?" Kara wondered innocently, as Vejita stared at her in disbelief. "Take your brother, for example. He's the one who gave up the throne for you, nobody forced him into it..."

"Don't even go there, " Vejita admonished. "You can't start comparing my brother to other people. In case you haven't noticed, he's weird. Do you want to know how he found out about you?"

"He sent a trusted witness to watch the tournament for him..?" Kara offered.

"Uh uh. He sent himself," said Vejita, rolling her eyes, "in disguise, so he wouldn't stir up a riot..."

Kara started laughing again.

"You know, I don't think we ought to let these guys wait," said Vejita, sitting up. "Let's get out of here."

"I thought you didn't want to celebrate."

"Who says I want to celebrate this? I haven't done anything to get here. I haven't done anything worth celebrating. You, on the other hand..."

Vejita self-consciously averted her eyes from Kara's inquisitive gaze. "Let's... Let's pretend we're celebrating you instead."

For the first time, the young lieutenant looked in surprise at her Queen.

Kara didn't exactly know how the feeling hit her with such certainty, but she suddenly had the intimate conviction that if the day ever came, she would lay down her life and her honor to protect this girl, without thinking twice.

Another girl... just like her.
 

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