with the character's personalities. Anyway, this fic is a companion to Neko-chan's fic, "Never Pure and Innocent". waves in a hyper way>
Hiiiiiii, Neko-chan!!!
"Impossible"
It had all started
out innocently enough. Well, now that I think about it, it wasn't that
innocent. We were fighting for Chikyuu, after all. But
we were so used to fighting that it was innocent
to us. Perhaps that was the reason it ended up this way. The dragonballs
allowed a 'second
chance' for those who had died for the first
time. Even after death, I could still see the ones I loved. Maybe that
made death seem like less
of a barrier, and made fighting more of a game
than a challenge.
So there we were again,
the three that offered the best protection for our planet, facing another
enemy. We were cocky- we'd won
battles harder than this before. We'd already
made our way through a round of minions. It seemed so easy.
But then it happened.
We were all just standing there, waiting for Babidi to make his next move.
Debora had retreated at least an hour
ago. Now that I look back on it, I wonder why
we were so naive, why we weren't on guard. We should have known something
would go
wrong. We should have known that Babidi would
strike.
The last thing I remember was asking
how long it was going to take Debora to return, or something along the
lines of that. The next thing
we knew, Vegeta was on his knees, howling and
clutching his head. His rough voice was screaming bloody murder as loud
as he could, and
curled up in a fetal position on the floor.
Gohan and I, naturally, had
no idea what was going on. Unfortunately, or fortunately if you want to
think of it that way, the Supreme Kai
knew all too well.
"Babidi is trying to take over
his mind," he told us. "He's trying to exploit Vegeta's dark past. He'sthe
new recruit they were talking
about."
And there was nothing we could do.
"Be pure and innocent, Vegeta!" the Kai called out to him, that being the only thing he could do.
It might have been my imagination, but I thought he started convulsing a little more violently after that.
Gohan and I immediately
began calling out to him as well, attempting to coax Vegeta away from the
pain that he was feeling. It seemed to
be the best way, the only way to help him. I
remember the half-confused, half-worried look on Gohan's face as he did
so, and I know that it
was a mirror of my own expression. I won't pretend
I fully knew what was going on. I most certainly didn't.
But whatever it was, it scared me.
It sounds stupid, doesn't it? Goku, the great hero who's saved the Earth countless times, scared? Impossible. But it's true, painfully true.
Vegeta was, believe it or not,
a sort of calming force in my life. As long as he was there, insulting
me or challenging me, I knew everything
would be okay. On the battlefield, Vegeta was
a constant reminder of what I had to come back to, what I had to live for,
and he wasn't going
to let me forget it. Ever since our battle with
Freeza, he was by my side. He had nowhere left to go, but he could have
lived thousands of
miles away from me. Instead, he chose to remain
close, and even formed a bond with Bulma. There he remained, always near,
and in his
own way, he gave me his support.
And then, within a few moments, that all ended.
We all saw his aura surge powerfully, and we all
heard his final scream that sounded as if his heart was being torn from
his body. It very well
could have been.
When the blinding light from his ki faded, we witnessed for the first time Babidi's power. Vegeta was no longer our ally.
And now he
stands in the middle of an arena, telling- no, commanding me to fight with
him. To prove his point, he lets loose a ki blast
that takes out a good bit of the stadium.
He's already begun to kill innocent people.
I glance at the part
of the area that used to exist. My breath catches in my throat. Does he
know how close that blast was to our families?
If that blast had been a mere six inches closer
to them, there wouldn't be anything left to say goodbye to.
My shock is forgotten instantly when I see the look on Bulma's face. I can't make out what she's saying, but the message is clear.
Her heart is breaking.
Can he see this? I don't think he can.
I doubt that he could go on with this if he did. That expression is one
of utter shock, disbelief, and
horror- but also one of love.
He's done the last thing
she thought he would do. It's tearing her up inside, slowly and painfully,
because the one she loves nearly killed
her.
And she doesn't even know why.
I can feel a look of stony resolve come
over my face. This is it. It's too much now. I just can't let this go on
any longer. I- no, we all need
Vegeta back.
And so I utter the impossible
words that I thought I'd never say, at least not for a long while. But
then, everything about today has been
seemingly impossible.
"I'll
fight you, Vegeta."
--