Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Dragon Ball Z. I do, however, own the plot to this story and characters such as Princess Neheria and her court.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: This is my version of why Vegeta became the way he is. It takes place just before Vegeta dies from the wounds Freiza inflicted and right after Vegeta tells Goku about his past. Please forgive me if I make any mistakes...I am new to DBZ, and I don't know exactly everything that happened to him, even though I tried to stay true to the story while adding the romance factor. Any comments, flames, etc. are accepted, as well as any help. Thanks... :-)
Remembering Neheria
by
Spike's Angel
As I lay here, my body in shambles, I close my eyes and think. I have just told Kakerot of my past...well, almost all of it. I hate Frieza for doing this, for killing me. It's ironic, really, because I was already dead. My body lived, yes, but I was still dead inside, my emotions killed by Frieza so long ago. The irony is that he finished the job and killed my body.
I feel my body being picked up...Kakerot is burying me...am I already dead? I suppose so. He pities me; Kakerot does, because I told him about my past. I didn't tell him about all of it, though, the real reason why I became the person I am today. I couldn't do it. I couldn't say her name to anyone...I just couldn't. She is mine, all mine, as she always has been, and always will be. She is the reason why I was dead inside, the reason I feel nothing when I kill. In death I will find her again...my sweet Princess Neheria.
I think of her now, I must think of her...I must remember her. How she looked, how she felt, how she smelled, how she tasted. I must...I must remember...
The first time I saw her, I was six years old. My Father the King and I were watching the arrival of a King and Queen from another planet...the great Planet of Goreio. I watched the procession enter my Father's palace with great interest. Then I saw her...the five year old Princess of Goreio...the slender, pale, blue eyed, blonde haired Neheria. Even at five, she had the grace and dignified bearing of a Princess. Yet something was different about her. She was loving, caring, and polite to everyone, even the commoners. My Father scoffed at such nonsense and wondered why her Father didn't prohibit Neheria's generosity. It was then...when she looked up at me and smiled...that I fell in love. It was also then that I learned that she and I were betrothed.
I did not see her again until I was fifteen years old. She had come to the palace for our engagement party. We were to be wed three days after the party. I had already dressed, and was relaxing on my balcony when I saw her pass underneath me, surrounded by her maids of honor. She was laughing...and I took the opportunity to scrutinize my bride to be. Neheria had grown into a beautiful girl, with huge, ocean blue eyes surrounded by long dark lashes, long, wavy blonde hair that fell around her body like a mantle, ivory skin, and a small, slender, delicate body framed by a pale blue dress. I became entranced as I watched her, I forgot where I was. Then, she looked up...and saw me. I jumped back out of my reverie, and felt myself turn bright red. But instead of anger, Neheria smiled at me. She dismissed her maids and motioned for me to come down. I did so quickly. As I approached her, she smiled and curtsied in the graceful manner of the Goreians. I bowed in return, and smiled back at her. She began to laugh.
"Do you find my appearance amusing?" I asked, slightly provoked. She laughed harder. "No, sir, I do not. What I do find amusing is the fact that we are to be married...and yet we greet each other so stiffly," Neheria answered. A smile threatened to cross my lips. "I do not know what you mean." She laughed again and took my arm. "We still have hours before the party. Please, walk with me." I accepted her offer and walked with her throughout the gardens of my Father's palace. We talked of many things...of our youth, our lives, our thoughts on different matters...and found that we were alike in many ways. I realized that I loved Neheria...I loved her more than anything in the world...more than anything I had ever known. She had the same feelings , for she was the one to look in my eyes and say "I love you, Vegeta. It is crazy, but I do. Remember the first time I saw you on the balcony with your Father? Since that day, you are all I have thought about..." She didn't finish, for I kissed her. Her lips tasted like fruit...the sweetest fruit...she smelled of orchids...her skin felt like silk...oh how I loved her! We left the gardens laughing, kissing, and talking of our life to come...the life we thought we would have.
It was not to be.
The party had been on for hours, it was time for the traditional toast to the couple...when all of a sudden a man ran into the hall screaming. "Frieza is here! Freiza is here!" Everything moved in slow motion...Father shouted orders to our armed forces, Neheria and I were sent to a ship to be taken away to Goreio. At the last minute, I grabbed Neheria and embraced her, caressed her hair, and kissed her. I needed no words to tell her what I had to do. She began to cry, but nodded and told me to be careful...but she was going to stay too. I had to have bodyguards hold her down and carry her away. I wept, but firm in my decision, I ran back to my Father's palace...in time to see my Father killed by Frieza.
I was kept by Freiza as his great warrior. I had been trained in the Saiyan art of fighting...no one except Frieza could beat me. I was his pawn for three years...I began to change...I wanted death, destruction...I wanted to rule the universe. I heard nothing of Neheria...except that she was safe on another planet far away. I wanted her to stay there, I didn't want her to see the man I had become. I thought I would never see her again.
But I did see her again...the day Freiza killed my soul.
It was my eighteenth birthday. I had led Freiza's army into battle against many planets and won. Frieza, knowing my taste for pain and destruction, decided to give me a birthday present. He, unbeknownst to me, had conquored Goreio. He was bringing the refugees to my planet to be killed painfully as my gift. I laughed and thanked him as I watched the procession of wounded and dying Goreians slowly march to their deaths. I had no fear for Neheria...I thought she was far away on another planet...safe. Until I looked down. Until I glimpsed the blonde hair. Until I saw the pale blue dress, dirty and torn. Until I recognized my Neheria. I froze as I watched her, a true Princess, marching alongside her people with her head high, ready for death. Freiza, who stood beside me, noticed my anxiety and commented on it. I couldn't stop myself from pointing at Neheria...from demanding that she be removed from those who would die, and to be brought to me. Freiza frowned, and at that moment, I realized that I had just signed her death warrant.
Frieza's face contorted into one of fury. "How dare you order me around Vegeta! Have you forgotten who you are talking to?" Frieza screamed. I shook my head and tried to reason with him...but to no avail. He smiled slowly as he realized my feelings for Neheria. He began to laugh...and pointed at her. I knew what he was going to do...I felt my strength rise as I flew to save her...but I was too late...too weak...too slow to save the one I loved. She felt someone approach. She turned around and saw me, a smile appeared on her dirty face as the wind blew her dress and hair around her. Neheria held out her arms to receive me...but embraced a deadly ki blast from Freiza instead. I was knocked out from the blast...but not in enough time to miss Neheria's body disentigrate into the wind.
I died that day, along with my Neheria. We died together. The way I wanted us to. I was murdered by Freiza...and by the look on Neheria's face when she died. I became the Vegeta I am today...a ruthless killer with nothing on his mind but total and absolute power. But now, this Vegeta has also been murdered. Now Vegeta, the Prince of the Saiyans, will leave this universe for good...soul...and body.