29 Jewel's Keepsake

More time quickly passed and soon he found the end of the year quickly approaching as he entered the last month of age 737. Each day now passed routinely and like most people he soon fell into an enjoyable rhythm with morning greetings then training, engaging conversations with Jewel, then more training followed by dealing with whatever typical humorous events Jewels continuous experimentation would reliably create followed by briefly scolding her then comforting her and more training late into the night.

One morning Jewel returned from the bathroom her usually buoyant self wearing her usually enticing outfit but with one minor addition whose sudden appearance Brolys keen eyes didn't fail to notice around her graceful ivory neck, a dark metallic decagon pendant 3mm thick, precisely engraved in gold with a roaring Great Ape's face. The Great Ape's eyes were inset with two dark jewels which seemed dull and lifeless.

However while at first it appeared a simple creation, Brolys keen eye's skilled at appraisal quickly realized that its unique design eluded to its rarity and that it was in fact a priceless masterpiece, clearly the brilliant work of a master craftsman who had for some unknown reason chosen to cleverly disguised it as a simple pendant of little or no value.

His curiosity piqued, he warmly inquired, " This is a first, I've never seen you wear jewelry before. But I must admit, that is a rather fetching pendant Jewel. Does it perhaps have some special meaning to you?"

"This...this is the last keepsake I have from my parents. The last time I saw them, just before they went on that fatal last mission my parents gave it to me and said that if I something happened while they were gone and I found myself in trouble it could guide me to a safe place."

"A safe place?"

"Yep, that exactly what they said Broly, a safe place?"

"Huh... it seems your parents left you with a rather cryptic message. I'm starting to sense that their death may have not been so simple as friendly fire during a dangerous mission. Now that I think about it, as veteran mid-class Saiyan warriors and renowned super engineers they would have definitely been exempted from the mandatory 1 mission every year and would have been left to their own devices instead of being sent off on dangerous missions which could get them killed. Tell me Jewel, how often did your parents go off-world on missions?" Broly questioned sharply.

"Well, while I was in my incubator I recall them being gone for long periods of time however on the year I came out they stopped leaving and never left afterwards. In fact the messenger who delivered the dispatch orders said it was a special mission directly from King Vegeta which they were ordered to comply with immediately." Jewel explained pensively

"Hmm...The more I hear the more I realized how much more is hidden, yet I can sense that the answers to all of our questions and the mystery behind your parents last words lie within that pendant they left you with. This fact alone compels me to ask, why did you in fact decide to suddenly begin wearing it now of all times Jewel?" Broly asked inquiringly.

Taking a deep breath Jewel gathered her thoughts, countless feelings running thru her before she slowly started to explain. "When I first learned my parents had died Broly, I was completely devastated. It was so bad, that in order to cope with the pain I eventually placed everything related to them away in storage, but now I realize I was just running away from the problem. Lately however, with all the time we've spent together, sharing with one another as a real family would, I've begun to think about them more and more. Yesterday, while I was going thru one of my piles of stuff in storage I found it tucked away, safely inside the container along with the rest of the stuff that was related to them that I had hid away. Seeing it again, I instantly remembered that final moment with my parents and found that although I still felt pain there was now something else that I felt when I looked at it, Love. I had been so focused on the sudden loss and the pain that it brought me that I had forgotten all the love they had had for me. Yet despite running away from the pain these last few years have only gotten worse with everyone else rejecting me, the pain only continued to grow while my true self continued to sink deeper into the darkest. But just when I thought all was lost and that this was my fate I found you Broly. In the depths of that darkness like a blazing beacon you were the only one who cared enough to pursue me. Without fear or hatred you blazed even brighter, extending your light to drive away the shadows that had haunted me for too long and showed me that I truly mattered. Thanks to you Broly the chains I've felt restricting me for so long are now broken. I don't know what would have happened if I had never met you Broly but I do know that you saved me and now continue to give me the courage I need to finally face my painful past instead of running from it. So, when I saw the pendant I figured wearing it again, the last thing they ever gave me would be a good start." Jewel elegantly finished, raising her head she faced towards Broly wearing a radiant smile upon her lovely face, however the smile soon was replaced by a blank look as her eyes landed on Brolys face and discovered him wearing an unfamiliar expression.

With his faced scrunched up and great big pearl shaped tears streaming from both of his half-closed watery eyes anyone could tell that Broly was crying having been deeply touched by Jewels words, her explanation having reached all the way past his heart, directly to his soul.

In a loud booming voice Broly suddenly tearfully exclaimed, "AH...WAAA...BOO-HOO-HOO What a heartwarming narrative Jewel. My..My gorgeous treasure has been thru so...SO MUCH! I'm so proud of you my LOVELY JEWEL!!!"

This unbecoming yet heartwarming display of affection lasted for several hours during which Broly continued to verbally applaud Jewels character causing her and increasing amount of embarrassment, her face grow redder with each additional adulation before Broly finally managed to stop, having released all of the pent-up emotions he had felt from Jewels earnest explanation.