Disclaimer-I don't own DBZ or any of its characters.
Prologue
Chichi stared into Kakarott's disbelieving face. Frieza's pronged fingers gripped the back of his neck, pushed him to his knees and grabbed a fistful of that onyx hair that she loved so much. He made him watch as two soldiers strapped her to the pyre. She wasn't sure why Frieza felt the need to use two men for this. She would have gladly tied herself to it. She could only assume that he wanted her to be in more pain the absolutely necessary. Her body was already beaten and bruised and the soldiers seemed to be going out of their way to ensure they gripped and ripped at her wounds.
"This is your last chance, little monkey," Frieza hissed. "Tell me how they work right now, or watch your woman burn."
The muscle in Kakarott's cheek twitched and his eyes left hers just long enough to search the crimson skies. He looked to be looking for an answer. Chichi found herself grateful once again that she never got around to telling him the secret to summoning the dragon. Even if he told the tyrant everything, nothing would change. Frieza would wish for immortality and then kill them anyway.
"It's okay, Kakarott. Really. I prefer it this way." Her voice held a soothing quality in it, which contrasted with the way the two soldiers jerked her arms behind her and slammed her wrist together. The taller of the two bound them with a rope of ki before stepping down to observe his handiwork.
"How touching," Frieza drawled with a roll of his eye.
Out of the corner of her eye, Chichi saw Bulma lurch forward. She looked like she was about to tell him everything, but Vegeta caught her by the upper arm. She looked back at him and he shook her head. That's right, Chichi thought. Keep her silent, Vegeta.
For a brief moment she allowed herself to scan the faces of the Saiyans she'd grown to love like family. She didn't know what the afterlife would hold for her or if they would joining her soon, so she wanted to at least be cable to carry them with her in memory. There was the patriarch- King Vegeta-, Nappa, Bardock, Radditz, Prince Vegeta and…. Kakarott.
"You monkeys never cease to amaze me," Frieza sneered. "Perhaps this will be more persuading," he said, pointing one of his well-groomed fingers directly at her the small bump in her stomach. She could feel his ki gathering at the tip of his nail and swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. Part of her wanted to be grateful—grateful that the miracle she and Kakarott had made would have a quick death. She hated the idea of her unborn baby burning along with her. She hated that he had to die at all. She would gladly give her own life a hundred times over if it meant that their little Gohan could live.
Bulma sobbed and buried her head in Vegeta's shoulder. Bardock and Radditz were grinding their teeth and clenching their fists while Nappa and King Vegeta looked angry enough to spit fire. Kakorott gave another feeble attempt to tear out of Frieza's grip, but he was too weakened from his previous beatings to get very far.
Frieza's cruel laughter echoed throughout the empty planet as tears began to stream down Chichi's face. He assumed she was crying out of fear. He didn't realize the truth. He didn't realize that his maniacal actions had given her a revelation. Ten years' worth of guilt was suddenly lifted off of her shoulders as full understanding of a mother's love donned on her. For so long she had blamed herself for her own mother's death. It never occurred to her until now that her mother was happy to do it.
A small, yet lethal ki now gleamed at the tip of Frieza's finger. His laughter had stopped without her noticing and had been replaced by a bone chilling glare. He seemed to finally understand the situation. No one was going to tell him how to work the dragon balls. They would die before watching him get his wish. "This is your last chance, bitch. Tell me now, or die."
She fought the urge to smile. Ironic, she thought, that she would die now, just as she was finally learning to feel again.
Kakarott's muscles bunched, preparing for another wasted attempt to help her. She smiled down at him, communicating with a simple expression to save his strength. His body stilled as he stared back at her. The look of hopelessness that filled his face was absolutely heartbreaking. She hated to see him like that when he was normally so full of life.
"Kakarott," she whispered, "I love you."
The guards on either side of her lit the pyre at the same moment Frieza fired the ki. She never looked away from Kakarott.
And in the heat of the moment, she could have sworn his eyes turned blue.
Author's Note:
I had the idea for this fic a couple of days ago and couldn't get it out of my head. If you're following my other fic, Superior, don't worry… I haven't given up on it.
Anywho—this was the prologue… in chapter one we're going to go back a ways to see how all of this began and then build our way back up to this moment. It isn't as planned out as I normally prefer… but I think it will be fun to write. While this is mainly Kakarott/Chichi, there will be a good bit of Vegeta/Bulma in the later chapters. Let me know what you think.