Chapter One

Open Wounds

"Vegeta!" her voice screamed through his mind, pleading, begging for his help….But he couldn't move. He could do nothing to save her. Her long, white hair spread on the ground, stained with her own blood as Freiza's foot came down on her head, silencing her cries.

"Let her go!" He yelled at his tormentor, his eyes blazing with held back tears. "Kill me! I was the one who faulted you! Just let her go!" He struggled against his invisible chains….He could not break free.

Freiza lifted his hand and a large ball of Ki formed in his palm. "I've never known you to beg Vegeta." He taunted to the helpless prince. "This girl has made you soft." He gave one last sneer to the incapacitated woman on the floor before releasing the ball of Ki directly into her heart.

"Tanya!" his voice seemed to ricochet off the walls of the ship, and the tears in the back of his eyes broke free, flowing down his cheeks. For the first time he tossed away his pride and cried for the woman laying before him, her eyes, though lifeless, still open and pleading.

"Vegeta!" the corpse still screamed to him, her eyes wide and accusing, seeming to curse him for not saving her. "Vegeta! Wake up!" No, it was not her…..He knew this voice…."Vegeta!" Bulma?

His eyes flew open and he sat straight up in bed, his heart pounding in his chest and sweat pouring over his body. It was only a dream….Or at least now it was only a dream. It seemed that the worst nightmares though, where simply reminiscent pieces of his reality. Bulma's soft arms wound themselves around his neck.

"Was it that dream again? On Freiza's ship?" He nodded. If only she knew of the entirety of the dream, she may not be so understanding. "Well you know Vegeta." Her tone changed quickly to that of a chiding mother. "You've been having that dream ever since we've been married, maybe even before. I think you need to see someone about it!"

He scowled at her and grumbled. He did not need to do any such thing. What was he going to tell the doctor? I was held captive by an alien? No….Humans would never know anything of what went on in that ship. They would never be able to understand the cruelties of the man who ran it; the soulless tyrant who had enslaved him for a great deal of his young life. He rose quietly from the bed he shared with his wife and opened the door to their bedroom.

"Vegeta, where are you going?" she asked quietly, concern evident in her soft words.

He sighed. She deserved to know the truth, but how could he tell her? He had been pondering that question for years. At first he felt that she was only a human nuisance, and she had no business dabbling in his past. But, as the years of their marriage wore on, and he began to care more and more for this woman who had become his partner, he almost felt guilty in keeping this particular part of his past a secret from her. However, he had still not told her. It helped that Bulma, even though he was sure she was tempted due to her nosey nature, had never asked him about his past. Maybe she felt that it was irrelevant to their life together, or maybe she was afraid of what she would hear. Either way, she had never asked and he had never offered to tell her.

"Just out for some air." He replied, his voice heavy with exhaustion. He didn't turn to look at her. He was sure of what he would see; her deep blue eyes that seemed to span into forever sparkling with worry for him. Why she worried or even cared for him at all was a mystery to him. He had brought her nothing but grief in their life together, never even told her that he loved her, blaming their marriage on the fact that they had a son together. But it was as if she knew that no matter what he didn't say to her, he cared deeply for her and their son.

He padded on bare feet out to the balcony of capsule corp, the chilly night air meeting his body pleasantly. Though he would never admit it, he was glad for his new start on earth. But, though he had a new family here….He would never be able to forget the people he had lost along the way.

"Hey look Vegeta! Fresh meat!" Nappa's booming voice roared across the ship, carrying the promise of a new fight and more bloodshed. Vegeta's insides swirled and he smirked. He had become addicted to the wonderful crimson pools that formed after he had lain a body to waste. "Lord Freiza took a personal interest in this one. It must be a pretty awesome planet. I think Zentu's the name." The big man bumbled up behind Vegeta on heavy feet. "Wonder what we'll find here?"

Vegeta shrugged. He didn't pretend to care about Freiza's planetary endeavors. He simply lusted for the taste, smell and feel of fresh blood. He glanced out the window to the Sapphire blue orb below them. Even he had to admit that it wasn't a bad looking planet. The clouds surrounding it gave off a mysterious glow. Freiza had said there were no moons on this planet, but he had also said that they shouldn't need one to conquer it. This was simply a planet of intellects and supposed 'civilized' people. He let a cynical laugh creep up his throat. Their 'civility' would not save them.

As they landed, the hatch opened and Vegeta, Nappa, and other nameless, faceless members of Freiza's crew flooded out the open doors of the ship, all eager to kill. Vegeta formed a ball of Ki in his palm and smiled. Piece of cake.

The hours flew past as more and more blood gathered on his once pristine white gloves. He was in a place of pure adrenaline, a place he could only be while ending the lives of people who he would never remember, faces that he would never see in his mind's eye again. It was only in this place that he could forget about everything. Here he could forget about his humiliation, anger, and secret loneliness. In this place of pure abandon he didn't have to think of anything else but the blood pooling at his feet, seeping into the ground, staining it scarlet. It wasn't long before the bodies piled up, and no one was left alive. He smiled to himself. Another planet wasted, another day's work done.

"Hey Vegeta! Check out what I found!" Nappa bumbled up to him, his steps heavy and clumsy as usual. Vegeta turned to face his colleague, only to see him holding up a young girl by her snow white hair. She didn't grimace from the pain Vegeta was sure she was feeling as Nappa drug her forward to give Vegeta a better look at his prize. Her eyes where calm and defiant, as if she knew what was going to happen, but her pride would not let her break.

Vegeta sighed, the air leaving his lungs in a disgusted rush. He hated it, but this was the ugly side of pillaging. He had never been a fan of taking advantage of the women of the planets he conquered before blowing them away, but he couldn't say the same for the other men on Freiza's ship. Their stops were few and far between, and the women they saw on these stops where even fewer.

"Men!" Frieza's raspy voice called out to them, closer than he had realized. "If we're done here, can we get going? Or do I have to leave without you?" Vegeta scanned the death ridden area around them and was met with Freiza's cold stare only about a hundred yards away from them.

"Damn…" Nappa muttered, disappointment riddling his voice. "And I was hoping to have a little fun….Oh well." He dropped the girl to the ground and her obviously weak legs crumpled beneath her. She gazed up at them with cornflower blue eyes, so light they seemed to hover in her sockets. They showed no fear in their proud depths as she stared at Nappa, waiting for him to kill her. Vegeta watched, intrigued at this defiant creature in front of him. It was too bad that she was going to die in a matter of moments…..oh well…..

"Nappa!" Freiza's voice shrieked across the small distance between them, halting Nappa as he lifted his hand to form a ball of Ki. Frieza's gaze swung to the girl's pale, broken body. "Princess Zeniotztanya." He smirked, superiority flowing across his face. "It's amazing that you're dear father would send his precious little girl out to fight." The girl's eyes sparked in defiance and she lifted her chin proudly to Frieza. "But I guess he's dead now." The girl's gaze did not falter. She returned his superior look and his smile faded, replaced with a vindictive scowl. "Why don't we keep her? I'm sure a woman's touch will….let's say….brighten things up a bit." He let a cold laugh escaped his mouth, taunting the girl. Vegeta almost felt sorry for the little wretch. A ship full of men was no place for a young woman, let alone one as attractive as this, to be.

"Well I'll be damned!" Nappa laughed jovially after Freiza had dissappeared. "I know he's a sick bastard and all….but DAMN!"

Vegeta simply nodded as he watched Nappa once again grab the girl, though this time by the arm and drag her, her legs struggling to stand, to the ship.

Vegeta took a deep breath of the night air and leaned on the balcony railing for support. He couldn't believe that it had already been twenty years since that day. He thought of his three year old son sleeping contently in his room. Trunks had been given what Vegeta considered to be all of the luxuries in life: A bed, a home, a family, and what things Bulma hadn't given their son, his grandfather certainly had. This little boy, even if only for the moment, lived in peaceful times. Cell had been defeated and Vegeta was now free to live a normal life with the family he never thought he would have.

"Vegeta?" Bulma's voice rang softly from the doorway. "Are you going to come to bed?" He glanced up at his wife. Her short blue hair had been ruffled with sleep, and her deep blue eyes where stained with worry. "You know I can't sleep without you there."

He chuckled. Could it be that she had become so used to sleeping beside him that she really couldn't sleep? Though he knew that she was probably joking with him to get him to come back to bed he still enjoyed the thought of her relying on him, even for something as simple as a restful night of sleep. He smiled at the quirky woman in front of him.

"So you can't even sleep on your own? You really are a worthless woman."

She smiled at his façade and chuckled. "Yes, Vegeta. You have me pegged." She strode up to him and kissed his cheek and in return he forced his smile to dissipate. "Now let's go to bed." She walked into the house and he followed, almost obediently, but for the sake his pride he grumbled, feigning irritation as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Author's babble: Hey yall! I have to say it feels pretty funny (in a good sense) to be writing a fic that is NOT a Yu Yu fic. This fic has been chillin in my files for about three years now and a hair crawled up my ass at about midnight and said POST IT! so I did. Basically this is exploring the time that is unaccounted for in Vegeta's teenage years. It also explores the relationship between Bulma and Vegeta. I REALLY like the Bulma and Vegeta pairing, but I just think that adding another little complication in his life would account for his bitterness when it comes to emotion so read, enjoy and PLZ review! thx!