Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea behind the story.

The Child

He ended up in Hell.

Now, that sentence was misleading. He was not sentenced to Hell, he was sent there to save a soul, a friend's. According to King Yenma, it was an accident, a misunderstanding; Vegeta was supposed to be revived almost immediately after the Majin Buu incident, but something went wrong. There has been a lot of confusion, what with 7 billion people suddenly turning up and then the accident with Janemba, Yenma ashamedly explained. Some overzealous clerk took a long look at Vegeta's precedents and immediately had his soul delivered to the only place he saw fit: Hell, obviously.

Down Goku went and immediately noticed that the scenery had once again changed. Janemba turned it into a fairy-tale-like valley of candies and absurd geometries, but now the evil energy had sapped unchecked into the land, transforming it into a diabolic wasteland populated by nightmares. No trees, no lakes, no nothing, just darkness and hints of whispers. Goku was mightily uneasy, but he trudged on. Finally, he reached a body of water; the liquid was transparent, but with a greenish hue that gave it a spectral look. A woman was sitting by it, long green hair flowing freely down her back and into the lake. In spite of the hero clearing his throat to attract her attention, she kept her face hidden, apparently lost in admiring the bottom of the lake. For reasons he could not explain, Goku did not want to go near her, so he cleared his throat again, louder. The figure imperceptibly stirred. "Yes?" a low, almost masculine voice enquired and the Saiyan was relieved he could converse from afar. "Hi there!", he replied as cheerily as possible, "I am looking for a friend, his name's Vegeta but he also responds to Prince of all Saiyans, have you seen him by any chance? He is a bit on the short side but with tall, black hair and…"

He was interrupted before he could finish the detailed description he had prepared. "The child is with his father", the figure intoned, as it hunched closer to the water. Goku was taken aback: his father? The King? But Yenma told him the Saiyans did not dwell in that part of Hell. Had they moved when they noticed Vegeta's energy? He kept questioning the creature for five minutes, trying to obtain more information, but the woman stubbornly ignored him. In the end, he gave up and went on his way. The scenery was once again dark and dull, so he was caught completely by surprise when his foot plunged into sickly-coloured slime. He shrieked with disgust and hurriedly took a step back. The sludge seemed to be concentrated into a swamp-like patch of land, contorted trees almost falling into the blubbering mud. The hero moved back a bit more, furiously looking for a way around it, when the he noticed the slime compacting into a short, frog-like figure; it stood barely over the surface, bits of it constantly falling off and reforming in a disgusting display. Goku cringed when a mouth appeared and the monster grit out a loud "Who are youuuuu?" in a dragging, unpleasant voice. He did not bother to put on a smile, but replied with a perfunctory "I am looking for a soul, his name is Vegeta…" He had to quickly put his hands on his ears to block out the scream that followed. "The Priiiiiinceeeeee!", the creature shrieked, "Sooo proud, sooo loud. Itty-bitty princey. Thought he was better than his owners, never boooooowed before uuuus. Weak, he said. Ugly, he said. He wouldn't tooooouuuch. I hate him with aaaaall my heart!" It was difficult to understand what the creature said, since its mouth kept sliding off, and even more challenging was making sense of whatever Goku managed to understand; the only sure thing was that it appeared to know Vegeta.

"Yeah… Do you know where he is? Is he around?", Goku tried to probe, all the while slowly walking around the swamp, more than eager to leave it behind him. A bitter laugh followed. "Nooooo, princey is with daddy! Not with me, never meeeee. Bring him here, bring him to meeeee!" The monster was falling back into the swamp, fading fast but still muttering. "I'll suuuuuck him iiiiin… Dooown, dooown insssside… keep him warm and… sssssatisfied…"

The hero did not bother to listen to the last of its crazy ramblings and pressed onwards, now convinced the King must have found his son. Darkness swallowed him again and he started thinking that, once he'd eventually found Vegeta, it would take him a while to get out of here. He also needed to report to King Yenma that Hell was really getting out of hand… His thoughts halted as he reached a place strange enough to rival with the one he just visited. His feet were standing on a chequered floor, white and black squares stretching as far as his eyes could reach; he walked a bit further and literally bumped into a tall, stone figure he was sure was not there before. The statue slowly turned around to face him; it was taller than him, with a mop of hair standing at the top of an otherwise bald head. Goku finally remembered where he'd seen it before. "I fought you! On Namek!", the Saiyan exulted, "Hey, do you happen to know where…"

A screeching sound alerted him to the presence of three more statues, who immediately surrounded him. He raised his guard, ready to fight. "I only want to know where Vegeta is", he tried to explain anyway, because he had never been one for senseless violence. One of the statues, a corpulent creature he had never seen before, muttered a "The child is with his father" that did nothing but irk Goku further.

"And where is his father…"

"Let him pass!"

The voice was polite, charming even, but dripping with malice and bold confidence. The hero recognised it immediately. The statues, no, the chess-pieces stepped aside and thus he was free to see the throne standing tall at the end of board. Freeza was sitting on it, white body relaxed and legs crossed while his tail curled lazily around the base of his sit. "This is a surprise", the former Emperor murmured. "To what do we owe the pleasure of your company, Goku?"

"Where is Vegeta?", the Saiyan bit out, feeling he was in the right place.

Freeza's dark lips stirred in a grin, but he said nothing, which irritated Goku even more. "It's you who took him, isn't that right?! What have you done to him!" Freeza gave a tiny laugh. "Do you really want to know?", he breathed playfully and then, without waiting for his answer, theatrically snapped his fingers. The hero felt the ground disappear beneath his feet and with a shout started falling into the blackest darkness. He attempted to fly, but he seemed to have lost all his ki, so that the only direction he could go to was down. As he frantically tried to think of a way to prevent crashing against the ground, he perceived a flash of light coming from his side; he turned his head in that direction and found himself staring at what looked like a window. Other flashes, coming from upwards, downwards and sideward, alerted him to the fact that he was floating among window-like panels. As soon as the realisation hit him, images started playing in the frames and voices assaulted his ears.

"Zarbon is incompetent! He keeps assigning me ridiculous missions, I deserve better!" A tiny Vegeta is screaming at the top of his lungs, stomping his little booted foot on the ground for good measure. Freeza is sitting on his throne, sipping suspicious red liquid from a crystal goblet and smiling wickedly at the display before him. Vegeta looks him dead in the eye then, steps closer and slightly bows his head. "I am sure he would see reason if my Lord were to intervene…" he suggests slyly, regaling the Arcosian with a charming smile. Freeza smirks and carefully starts caressing the bangs falling on Vegeta's eyes; the Prince lets him. "Maybe…"

Vegeta looks older, barely in his teens still. He is petite, lithe and his features are shedding the last of the baby fat that used to round his face. He is once again standing before Freeza, studying his pristine white gloves as a fish-like purple alien screams abuse at him. "He basically threw me in the line of fire! We were supposed to be working together, but he put the mission in danger so many times with his childish behaviour! He deserves punishment, my Lord!" Freeza's eyes never leave his figure and Vegeta's lips stir in a nasty little grin. The Arcosian raises a hand to stop the other soldier from complaining further. "So, Vegeta? Is Cui telling the truth?" The Prince straightens and gives Freeza a malicious grin. "Yes, my Lord. I took your wise words to heart: only those strong and cruel enough to crush others under their power survive. Cui has done nothing but tell me that he is superior to me in every way, so I thought I'd test his theory." He bows for good measure and the Emperor starts laughing merrily. "Oh my dear, you are just irresistible!"

Vegeta is a grown man now, probably in his early 20s. He is standing in the middle of a carnage, bloodied corpses lying around him. He is not bothered, though, merely staring enamouredly at his reflection in one of the few windows still left intact in an almost levelled building. A silver crown is gracing his dark hair, complementing the dark blue of his battle suit. The crown is an exquisite piece and, as per loot rules, should immediately be handed over to the leader. As if he sensed his thoughts, Freeza's reflection appears right beside him, red eyes going briefly to the jewel before fixing on Vegeta's face. "Beautiful", the Emperor whispers, as his tail covertly slides across the Saiyan's waist in a loose embrace. Vegeta nods, devouring his own image. "Do you want it?", Freeza enquires lightly and the Prince smirks almost feverishly at his reflection. He steps back, pressing into the Arcosian and eliciting an almost inaudible gasp from his dark lips. "Yes", he breathes, sparing Freeza a quick smile before returning to stare at his reflected image, hands touching reverently his newest property. He seems to barely hear his supposed Lord tell him: "It is yours then."

Freeza's words still echoed in Goku's ears as he finally touched firm ground again with much less force than anticipated. His mind was in a jumble, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen. In an effort to regain his balance, he started checking his new surroundings: he was in a wide, luxurious bedroom, with a giant curtained bed laying under a circular window showing endless dark sky. The walls were lined with bookcases, showcasing jewels, ancient-looking tomes, bloodied pieces of armour and weaponry and other kind of treasures, a beautiful silver crown among them. Movement drew Goku's eyes to the corner opposite the bed, where a throne-like seat was stationed. Freeza's red eyes were fixed on him and his familiar contemptuous smirk was firmly in place; he was standing behind the throne, his hands slowly moving up and down and, on closer observation, Goku noticed he was holding a mother-of-pearl comb, its whiteness contrasting with the black hair of…

"Vegeta!"

The Prince's eyes, which up to that moment were closed under the pleasant ministration of the comb, flew open and fixed an unimpressed look on the Third-class Saiyan. Vegeta looked younger than he remembered, Goku realised with unease, seeming closer to the one he'd just seen in the last window. Vegeta stared at him for another two seconds before his head tilted backward to throw a dirty look at Freeza. "What is he doing here?", he spat out disdainfully. The Emperor grinned down at him, still gently running the comb through his dark hair to appease him. "Forgive me, my dear, but he insisted to see you so much that I could not possibly refuse him…"

Vegeta snorted and turned back to Goku. "Why are you here?", he asked rudely. Goku swallowed in an effort to convince his dry mouth to form words. "To bring you back…", he started, but Vegeta's nasty laugh interrupted him. "And why would I want to go anywhere?" Goku had no real answer to that. Why would Vegeta want to leave hell? He was not expecting the question. "Vegeta… Your family is worried about you…" The young man looked even less impressed with him. "Family?", he drawled out. "What use do I have for family? What are they good for?" Goku was getting angry, but he'd learnt from experience that it's no good to antagonise Vegeta when he was in that kind of mood. "Well, what is your plan then?", he asked him instead.

Vegeta's eyes had fallen shut again as Freeza carefully massaged his head, smiling affectionately at the sight. "Why, to stay here obviously", he murmured almost sleepily. "I have everything I need." Goku couldn't really believe his ears. "But… but I thought…" The Prince was once again staring at him, eyes half-lidded. "You thought what? That I needed your help? That I could not have escaped on my own if I really wanted? Is that what you think, o Super Saiyan? Let me spell it out for you then. I. Do. Not. Want. To. Leave."

Goku's thoughts came to a halt. "Why?"

"Because it would be foolish! I have everything. Any treasure I see, I can claim. Any life, I can take. I can do whatever I want and have to barely lift a finger for it. What could be worth giving this all up for?" Vegeta exclaimed in an annoyed tone; he gestured to Freeza to stop his combing and the tyrant happily obliged, going to sit on an armrest of the throne and smirking at a struggling Goku. "For… for your freedom!", the hero eventually shouted. "He may give you what you want", he pointed out darkly, indicating the Arcosian, "But there will always be a price. As long as you stay here, he owns you!"

Vegeta laughed so much at that, that tears glistened in his eyes. "Do you think that Bulma and Trunks come at no price?", he finally questioned once he'd calmed down enough. "Such a high price they ask and have way too many obligations. And for all their demands, they give back so little! Father requires less maintenance and has more uses." Freeza good-naturedly gave him a flick on the head, before burying his hand in the Saiyan's dark hair and tightly wrapping his tail around him. "A smile. A bow. A… kiss.", Vegeta continued, as if nothing happened. "And he gives me whatever I ask for. Is your so called freedom worth walking away from this? Isn't the Lord of the Universe way better than a human inventor? Everything is fake anyway, so why not use my charms on someone who really counts? Why not use the one most useful?"

Goku felt himself dying inside. "It is not fake… There is no way it could be fake!"

Vegeta smiled almost sadly. "Come now, we know each other too well to still believe in fairy-tales. Do you truly think that we are capable of doing anything for free? That we would put anyone before ourselves? It is preposterous and you know it! Freedom is a myth at best, a lie at worst."

Goku had tears running down his cheeks. "Freedom is the only thing that matters!", he shouted almost hysterically.

Vegeta sniggered, laying back on the throne and in Freeza's arms. "We will never get such freedom as we have now. The only thing that would come of leaving this position, is regret. So, tell me, are you regretting it already?"

Screams woke Vegeta up and it took him a long time to realise they were his own. Bulma was shouting as well, grabbing at him, trying to tell him to calm down, that it was just a dream, that he's safe… Trunks dashed into his parents' room, breathlessly asking what was wrong, while Bra's cries echoed her father's through the baby phone. Vegeta noticed nothing. All he could do was thrash blindly, shouting stronger than the accusations shrieking from within.

"This is real!", he finally half-sobbed in Bulma's arms hours later, as the woman wordlessly cradled him. "All of this is real! I sought this, sought my freedom so much, gave up everything for it! I NEVER looked for him, NEVER wanted that…"

Didn't you?