Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Chapter 1: Ashes

He had been beaten. He never thought in all his years that something like this could have happened. He could feel the rope biting harshly in his skin. The taste of the metallic sting of his own blood filled his mouth. He felt the bruises forming all over his body and the broken bones from his ribs and right leg were throbbing in pain as he hung from a beam in his own house. But he held onto the comforting fact that his family was safe and that was more important than any pain this freak could inflict on him.

"Where is your son Vegeta? Don't make me ask you again."

Vegeta raised his head up enough just to spit the blood that was warm in his mouth at the monsters feet. He heard the monster hiss at his defiance and would have raised his head to see the disgust look on his face if he could.

"You Saiyans are always so stubborn. Really, I would have let you go. I would have left your kingdom and everything would have gone back to normal if you just would have given me your son."

He didn't say a word. There was nothing he needed to say. He'd die before he told him. So he didn't flinch when the monster placed another blade in his vision.

"You know, I really do love knives. Swords end the fight to quickly. One must be able to enjoy the death to truly be victorious." He then took the blade and sliced it slowly and firmly into Vegeta's chest. The King hissed violently at the action. The slice was going over already numerous cuts causing a searing hot pain that was worse than the others. The Monster smirked and leaned down into the Kings ear as he gasped for breath. "Come now Vegeta, you're not going to moan for me anymore? I liked it so much better than your hissing."

His words ended as another glob of spit purposefully came from the Kings mouth, but this time it actually landed on the monster's feet. With a growl he kicked the soiled foot into the already broken ribs, causing the King to groan loudly. "Now that's more like it!" The monster said while laughing. He then stepped away from him very disappointed. "You brought this on yourself you know. Calling yourselves the fiercest warriors on the planet. It insulted my father's empire. We told you that we wouldn't punish you like this if you would hand over your son, but you just had to be stubborn. Fiercest warriors...more like Monkeys playing with swords." He saw that the King was completely unresponsive now and clucked his tongue in disappointment. "Alright, well you want to be complicated. Bring her in!"

King Vegeta resisted his throbbing pain and looked up as fear washed over him. "Cellena...no..."

Two of Frieza's men dragged a woman who was kicking and screaming and threw her down at Frieza's feet. "Look what we have here. The Monkey Queen. Now be a good girl and tell us where your son is...or we are going to have to kill you in front of your husband or you in front of him. I haven't figured that part out yet."

Cellena lifted her head and just kept her eyes on her husband. "It doesn't matter what you do to either of us. The result would be the same. You will not get your answer. My son is long gone by now and you will never find him."

That was not what Frieza wanted to hear. His body shook with rage as he yelled, "Stupid Monkeys! Tie her up next to him. They want to be together so badly then they can die together. But know this, while you both are resting in your graves, I will find your son. And everything will turn out the way I planned it to. Burn it down. Let the prideful king die while watching his beloved kingdom burn to ashes."

Freiza left out the room as his men threw torches around the room causing flames to burst around them. The two men pulled the queen up and tied her hands up around a beam in front of the King. Once their task was done they left the couple to their fate.

"Cellena what have you done?"

"I had to see you. If I could not rescue you then I knew that I couldn't let you die alone."

"Where is Vegeta?"

"Safe. Bunny has him. They are far away from danger." The fire was growing higher and it was getting hotter. The smoke was getting thicker, and all King Vegeta could think about was holding her in his arms one last time. He mustered whatever strength he could find. He pulled from deep down within his Saiyan pride and pulled as hard and as powerful as he could on the beam above. A crack gave way and he was able to slip one arm off it and then the other. The room was blocked off and there was no way they could make it out, but still he untied her wrists and gathered her in his arms and with their last breath they shared their last kiss as the burning roof began to collapse around them...

Outside the palace walls...

"Give it up Bardock. You are no match for me." Dadoria said as he knocked him down a second time."

Bardock got up awkwardly and painfully. He knew that his body was giving out on him, but he was a general in the Saiyan army and he will not stop fighting until he is dead.

"Please. This is nothing. You are nothing. I know why you freaks are here. You are scared of the Saiyins. Afraid of us taking down your empire. So you used cheap tactics and tricks to take us down. Fighting without pride. Without honor!"

"Haha. You don't need honor if you are winning. And by the looks of things, I'd say we won a long time ago. But you are just so persistent. It's pathetic really."

"I'm not going to stop. We are a warrior race. And I'd die before I would ever become a coward like you." Bardock said as he raised his sword once more.

"Well I can help you with that." Dodoria rushed him, dodged a swing from Bardocks blade and pierced him in his stomach with his own.

Dadoria pulled his sword from Bardock's abdomen and watched him fall into the ground. Bardock gasped for breath as his life began to flash before his eyes. "O-one...one day...my blood will avenge me." He said with his final breath. Dadoria looked down at him, making sure that he wasn't going to get up and surprise him. Once he was sure he only smirked at him. "I'll be waiting."

Meanwhile...

Bunny cradled the wailing baby in her arms as she continued on her way. It seemed as if she had been walking forever but she finally made it to her destination. In exhaustion she sat down on the warm grass beneath her tired feet. Her horse was wounded and gave out on her a mile back causing her to walk the rest of the way. The baby in her arms cried even more and Bunny held him tight. "Shh shh you don't have to cry my prince we are safe." She looked up at the palace that sat in the distance from the grassy hill she sat atop of. "Prince Vegeta, Welcome to Brief Kingdom."

After resting for a few moments she got back up and made her way down the hill to the gates of the Kingdom. She strolled in and it didn't take her long to get to the king. She had met him numerous times. King Brief was a friend to the Saiyins. His kingdom was highly advanced in weaponry and the Saiyans were consistently doing business with the King. Whenever he would stop by the Saiyan Empire, he would always find himself flirting with Bunny, the maid and personal assistant of Queen Cellena. He would even tease her about one day stealing her away and promoting her from servant to queen. He was always a kind king, and she knew he was the best person to take the prince to. "Your highness what are we going to do?"

King Brief looked down at the now sleeping prince. He never would have thought something like this could have happened. The Saiyan Empire was some of the fiercest warriors he had ever seen. Everyone had heard about the Cold Empire from the far north, but no one knew that they were that powerful to take out the Saiyans.

King Brief looked up at Bunny and said, "We must hide him."

"Hide him? How will we hide a prince? He looks just like his father, there is no way he will go unnoticed."

"I will think of something. But no one must know that he is here. Frieza will surely send his assassins."

"Yes of course." Then Bunny's eyes became large as she remembered something. "Oh, I forgot about my friend. Colleen! She is the head general's wife, and I told her that I was coming here. She said she had to find her son. Oh your majesty, she's pregnant. And she might still be out there, or she could be-"

"Now don't worry, we will find her. I'll have my guards search for her at once."

Bunny nodded her head as tears of worry, sadness, and tiredness filled her eyes. "I'm sorry your highness, but everything is just so awful."

"Well they don't have to stay that way."

"What do you mean your highness?"

King Brief looked very sincerely into her eyes. "Marry me."

"Your highness?" She whispered in disbelief.

The King smiled at her reaction. "I was never trying to amuse you. I was telling you the truth when I told you that I wanted you to be my wife."

Bunny blushed at the King and nodded in acceptance. "I could never refuse you my lord."

"Good. We shall be married at once. That shall take care of your new identity and when we find your friend she shall be your maid."

Meanwhile...

The pregnant Saiyan woman leaned against her horse as she came upon Brief Kingdom. Depression wrecked her tired body and it was all she could do but to hold unto the reigns. The Horse stumbled upon something and she almost fell off it, but someone caught her.

"Whoa! Be careful there."

She looked up and saw an old man holding her. She pulled away from him and sat back up on the saddle. "I'm sorry."

The old man frowned at her. "What are you apologizing for? I was walking by and saw you about to fall over. I might be old but I'm not going to let a lady especially one carrying a child fall off of a horse."

Colleen would have smiled at his kindness if her world wouldn't have been torn upside down. "Thank you."

The old man looked at her worried. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm just on my way to the palace." She said trying to muster up some more strength.

"Well it's not too far; I'll walk with you, just to make sure that you're alright."

If it was any other day then Colleen would have been embarrassed to be escorted by an old man, especially a non saiyan. But she had to admit, she wanted the company. So she nodded her head and kicked the horse forward into a slow trot so the old man could keep up.

"My name is Gohan by the way." He said. Colleen only nodded. Even though she didn't mind the company, she really didn't feel like talking at the moment. Gohan didn't know what she was going through, but he could tell that it must have been a lot. "I always wanted children. My wife couldn't bare any though. But we got through it." Gohan stopped his story to chuckle. "To comfort ourselves we would come up with stories about the son we always wanted. We would call him Goku and talk about how strong he is-"

"Why?" Colleen asked sadly. "What can never be will never be. What is gone is gone."

Gohan held her eyes and willed strength into hers. "Never underestimate the power of a story. It can give you strength, courage, and happiness in a matter of moments. You only have to be able to receive it."

Colleen closed her eyes and tears poured down her face. "But they're not real. And they can never happen."

Gohan reached up and grabbed her hands. "They are what you make them. Your story is what you make it."

Colleen nodded her head and wiped her tears away. "Thank you. You have shown me kindness when I needed it the most. I will never forget you."

"I am glad to hear that." They continued on until they got to the steps of the palace. Gohan helped Colleen off the horse and bowed to her. "I am glad I have met you."

"Why?" Colleen asked confused. She was a burden. She was weak, filthy and depressingly desperate. How could he be glad to have met her?

Gohan only smiled at her. "Because you are stronger than you know. You remind me of my wife. She was like you. She like you had more strength inside of her than could ever be known. Your child is very lucky indeed. Farewell and stay strong."

"Goodbye." Colleen said as she saw him go. It wasn't long before a guard approached her and brought her to a private room that Bunny and the King were in. As soon as Bunny saw her she ran and embraced her.

Colleen brought her arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. "I saw him die Bunny."

"Who?"

"Bardock." Tears welled up in her eyes as she replayed the scene over and over again. "I was looking for Raditz. I never found him. He's only a young boy and I have no idea where he is. And I came up over a ridge and I saw Bardock fighting Dadoria. I wanted to help him so bad but I couldn't risk the baby. I couldn't risk losing the last piece of him." She started crying again and Bunny held her tightly.

"Oh Colly I'm so sorry."

"I don't know what to do, or where to go. My whole world has been completely shaken."

"You will stay here." King Brief said. "You will be Bunny's maid."

Colleen blinked. "Her maid? How? She is a maid."

"Soon she will be my wife. It is not safe for you to leave. The Cold Empire will no doubt be looking for the Prince and Saiyan survivors. You must stay within our gates. It's safer that way."

Colleen nodded. "Where is the Prince?"

"Over here." Bunny said walking over to a small cradle on the other side of the room.

Colleen walked over to him and smiled at the sleeping prince. She was glad to see another Saiyan, even if he was a baby. "What will we do with the children?" She asked quietly enough so that she wouldn't wake him.

King Brief spoke up at that. "You will raise your child as well as the prince as your own. And when Bunny and I have a child, we will make the boys our child's own personal body guard."

Colleen frowned. "Children as body guards? You can't be serious."

"I am. That way, Prince Vegeta will get all of the training and education that he will need."

Colleen looked down at the boy again. "But he looks so much like his father, his hair-"

"Then we will cut it. No one will think to look for a crowned prince in servant's quarters."

Bunny sighed. "Well we can't call him Vegeta."

The King placed crossed his arms while he was thinking. Then an idea came. "No, we need something from our own kingdom." His eyes became large as he thought of something perfect. "Ouji! We will call him Ouji."

Colleen nodded. "Yes that does not sound Saiyan at all. What about mine?"

Bunny kind of chuckled. "Well to be honest, Colleen is a popular name in the Kingdom. So calling you Colly wouldn't be bad."

"I agree." Said King Brief.

Colleen only nodded. "I was going to call my baby Kakarot. I almost died on the way here, but a lovely old man came and helped me before the guards found me." She smiled as she thought about the first act of kindness given to her during her nightmare. "Yes, I think I shall call my baby Goku. I probably would have lost him if it wasn't for him."

"Well there we have it. And when Vegeta comes of age, I will find a way to restore his kingdom and give his inheritance to him."

Bunny smiled at King Brief. "If anyone can do it, then you can."

Colleen rubbed her belly and looked to the Prince. It would be such an honor to raise a prince but she didn't even know how. She worried about the future. She didn't know what happened to her firstborn son and she didn't know what will happen to Kakarot. All she could do was tell him the right stories to be strong. "I hope these children will get along."

Author's Note: Wow people. It's been a long time. But I really do love this story. And it's so cool to be writing it once more. If any of you guys remember reading it before let me know, I'm so curious if any of my same readers have returned to like I have. My pen name used to be Trina Monkey. Please Review!