Divergent Paths
Disclaimer: Premise and characters are the property of Akira Toriyama, I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.
Chapter Three: Plans Laid
After Raditz had been introduced the whole group decided to call Bulma and relocate to Mt. Paozu. No one wanted to deal with the uproar that would ensue if Bulma or Chichi were left out. Raditz contacted Appura as well.
Raditz watched 'Geta superstitiously as they flew. He wanted to speak with his prince, but 'Geta had been so withdrawn since killing Nappa, he didn't knew how to begin.
He couldn't really blame Vegeta for abandoning them. What Frieza had done to Nappa physically he'd been doing to Vegeta mentally. Raditz wasn't angry with Vegeta. Even if he had been it wouldn't have been his place to question his prince's actions, especially not now that Vegeta was an adult. Raditz's forehead creased in puzzlement; Vegeta was a substantially younger adult than he ought t have been, he barely looked older than Kakarrot.
Raditz wasn't angry, but he was wary. He hadn't forgotten his prince's mercurial temper... Or the way that Vegeta transformed every emotion he felt into fuel for the rage that had been slowly burning him alive.
Oddly enough, Raditz couldn't find any signs of anger in 'Geta. Whatever 'Geta was feeling, he was actively trying to conceal it. It almost seemed like he was hurting, but Raditz couldn't believe that his prince would ever allow himself to regret a kill. Still Raditz would have liked to tell 'Geta that there'd been nothing left of Nappa for years, just a shell molded to Frieza's liking.
Goku was also quietly watching 'Geta. He decided it was better to leave his friend to his own thoughts than to remind him of years of arguments about whether or not to kill enemies. Once the other fighter had been down 'Geta could have chosen to disable rather than kill. Goku was relieved that 'Geta didn't seem happy about the choice he'd made, but he didn't want to rub it in.
When they arrived Chichi greeted them. "So that wasn't the big invasion?" She was dressed in armor and carrying a long spear. Gohan peaked out from behind her shyly at the large group who'd suddenly descended on his quiet home.
"How far are we from Frieza's territory?" 'Geta demanded.
"Six months to a year," Raditz answered promptly. "Depends on where they're coming from."
"Frieza knows I'm here now," 'Geta said. "He'll come himself."
Before anything more could be said Tienshinhan spotted Bulma's jet-copter and everyone sensed Appura's approach. They waited for the late arrivals.
"What's going on?" Bulma demanded as soon as her feet hit the ground. "Vegeta just takes off, then Kuririn calls and says come here. And everyone is here. I don't even know those two" Her eyes widened as she noticed a pair of small hands clinging to Appura's shoulders.
"Everyone this is Raditz, my older brother," Goku said.
After 'Geta's sudden introduction, Raditz's arrival years later was accepted more or less without comment. Curiously Gohan slipped out from behind his mother. Once he was securely clinging to his father's leg, closer to Raditz but still sheltered by a parent, he asked. "Are you my uncle?"
Raditz grinned and nodded.
Goku scratched at the back of his head. "I don't know her." He glanced at Raditz. "Was she who you wanted me to meet?"
"This is Appura, my er... wife?" Raditz hesitated as his translation chip offered a variety of choices. Then he reached behind Appura to take the small child who'd been clinging to her piggyback style. The little girl immediately wrapped her arms around Raditz's neck and buried her face against his shoulder. "This is Plum," Raditz said proudly.
Like her mother Plum had long raspberry colored hair, but where Appura's hair pulled back into a smooth plait, Plum's was a wild main like her father's. Even with her hair restrained into a pony tail it still stuck out in a dozen different directions. From her size Plum looked to be a bit younger than Gohan.
Gohan tugged at Goku's arm and Goku picked him up. "She's a kid like me," Gohan whispered.
Goku nodded. "Plum's your cousin."
"Hello!" Gohan chirped.
"Say hello to...um..." Raditz encourated then trailed off as he realized he hadn't been introduced to his nephew yet.
"Gohan," Goku supplied.
Plum only clung more tightly to her father.
Raditz scratched at the back of his head. "She's usually supposed to hide when anyone else is around," he explained awkwardly.
"We have six months until Frieza comes," 'Geta stated, impatient to get the conversation back on track. "Neither Goku or I have the power to defeat him yet. And he won't come alone."
"We know," Yamcha said. "We figured this would happen a long time ago." Silently he brought up his ki to it's max. The other human fighters followed suit. "We're ready for this."
Raditz just stared as the numbers on his scouter registered. Every fighter there was at least in his league.
In the distance one more power flared brightly in response to the show of force. "Piccolo," Goku said to himself. "I better let him know what's going on. This is his home too."
"You're not strong enough," 'Geta stated.
"Then we fight in teams," Yamcha argued. "This isn't a tournament, this is the fate of the Earth."
Tienshinhan nodded. "We do what we have to. We'll find a way, there's no other choice. We'll deal with the lesser fighters. You and Goku deal with this Frieza."
Kamisama's voice echoed in their minds //If it's simply a matter of needing more time to train, I have the means to help.//
"Thanks," Goku replied. "But I don't think that's it. There's just some key to becoming Super Saiyan that we're missing." He shrugged. "We're strong enough in our normal forms to make the change, but it just doesn't happen."
"We're standing?" Raditz asked incredulously.
"This is our home," Goku replied.
Raditz looked to 'Geta and got a silent nod of confirmation. They would defend the Earth, or die trying.
Bulma was surprised and more than a little worried when 'Geta accepted her offer to give him a ride home.
When she'd arrived at the Suns' 'Geta had looked awful. He'd been dripping with blood and his forearms in particular had looked like they'd had a close encounter with a meat grinder. But no one had been acting particularly worried. Bulma knew that her friends' ability to sense ki gave them a better indication of the seriousness of 'Geta's injuries than her eyes did. She knew 'Geta was easily embarrassed by anything that smacked of being publicly fussed over, so she'd held her peace.
Now though... 'Geta had no fondness for 'human flying contraptions'. He never accepted rides. Bulma only asked because his responses were a good indicator of his moods. When he was in a good mood he'd laugh and complain about how slow the jet-copter was, then fly her home himself to demonstrate. Bulma loved flying with 'Geta, the feel of his arms around her, the wind whistling around them protected from the cold by his ki. When he was irritated with her he'd use the jet-copter as an excuse to criticize human technology and by inference the abilities of human scientists like herself. When he was brooding about something he'd simply decline her offer. When he was angry, truly angry about something he wouldn't respond to her at all. Bulma wasn't sure what it meant when he actually let her give him a ride home, but it worried her.
Tentatively Bulma snuck a glance at her silent passenger. "Should I call ahead and warn the infirmary?" she asked.
"They're barely more than scrapes," 'Geta replied flatly. "Not worth bandaging."
Bulma made a face. From the rare training incidents that led to broken skin she'd learned that 'Geta preferred to deal with cuts by letting the wounds bleed until they clotted. 'Geta said it cleaned the wound and prevented the possibility of infection. Bulma said iodine did the same, and without the icky (scary) blood loss. If she'd been objective Bulma would have admitted that Saiyans seemed to have a more robust clotting mechanism than humans, and could safely allow more serious wounds to simply close on their own.
On the other hand 'Geta generally underplayed the seriousness of any injury, a habit that made Bulma insist on verifying all claims of being 'fine' if there was any indication otherwise.
"If you think I'm just going to let you bleed all over the place, you've got another thing coming mister," Bulma declared.
"No infirmary," 'Geta stated.
"I'll take care of it," Bulma replied.
'Geta didn't argue. He rarely minded having her fuss over him a bit, as long as no one else knew about it.
Once they arrived at Capsule Corp 'Geta led the way to Bulma's bathroom.
Bulma slid her hands under 'Geta's gi, gently freeing the fabric from his wounds before removing it. For a moment she just let her hands rest on his mostly undamaged chest. Subtly 'Geta leaned into her touch.
After a long moment Bulma directed 'Geta to sit while she filled a basin with warm water and gathered her first aid supplies.
She started with the damage to his cheek. 'Geta rested his hands on the curve of her waist while she carefully dabbed away the dried blood to reveal four scabbed over lines. 'Geta tilted his head to the side both to allow her better access and to watch her.
Bulma's eyes darkened worriedly as she began work on 'Geta's hands. His knuckles were split and blood still welled up to replace what she washed away. She gathered her resolve and probed more firmly. "Nothing broken," she reported in relief several minutes later.
'Geta didn't comment. Under normal circumstance there was no way he'd break bones just by punching something, but when that something was a s uneven and as hard as Nappa's flesh had been all bets were off.
Bulma used a few butterfly bandages to pull 'Geta's torn skin back together then wrapped his hands with a light covering of gauze.
The worst of the damage was the defensive wounds criss-crossing 'Geta's forearms. "Scrapes, lacerations, its all the same right?" Bulma asked trying to keep her voice steady as she tried to find any undamaged skin between 'Geta's wrists and elbows.
She was almost as disconcerted by 'Geta's passive acceptance of her ministration as she was by the damage. Normally he would have been laughing at her worries over 'such minor injuries' and making an effort to undress her.
"I think you should get an X-ray," Bulma's voice rose with the beginning of hysteria. "I think I can see cracks in your ulna. Kami, Vegeta! I can see your bones!"
"The flesh is thin there. It doesn't take that much of a cut to get to the bone," 'Geta told her. Bulma was less reassured than he'd hoped.
"And infection. There's no whole skin left. That's why people die of burns, the skin's all gone and there's nothing to keep infection out. And they die!"
"Bulma," 'Geta interrupted firmly.
She stopped babbling and stared up at him with wide, frightened eyes.
'Geta sighed. "Will it make you happy if I let your med-techs look at me?" he asked.
"Please?" Bulma replied.
"I prefer having you touch me," 'Geta grumbled, repeating one of his common complaints when Bulma over-reacted to the normal damage he suffered during training.
It was odd to think that a more mature version of his Bulma would eventually perform an optimization study on his training. For her own peace of mind she would eventually correlate the rate at which his power increased with the harshness of his training regime and the amount of recovery time he allowed himself. She'd prove that a healthy training regime for a Saiyan meant doing some damage, that it was good for them to exercise their natural ability to grow stronger through healing from injuries. She'd also prove that healing meant healing. That going back to train while he was only half recovered accomplished nothing and in fact hindered his efforts.
They were good for each other, 'Geta realized. They had both been a little too used to getting their own way for all the wrong reasons. Bulma threw tantrums and he had relied on intimidation and violence. But he was too stubborn to give in to end Bulma's screeching the way the other Z-Fighters had and she was too stubborn to let herself be afraid of his power. 'Goku couldn't be intimidated either,' 'Geta thought. 'But Goku also considers two out of three falls to be a reasonable means of deciding a theoretical dispute.' Bulma kept his wits sharp.
'Geta wished Bulma would treat his injuries like normal training damage. He wanted to focus on her fussing, her touch and forget what had happened. What he'd done.
But Bulma was upset, honestly scared. Maybe it was the blood. Maybe it was that they weren't training injuries but injuries taken in a fight to the death.
'I killed Nappa.'
"Just wrap it, Bulma," 'Geta said tiredly. "I'll go to the infirmary in the morning, I swear. I just want to sleep now."
Bulma gave in to the faint note pleading in 'Geta's voice. She cleaned the battle grime out of his nearly filleted forearms and lower legs. Then she wrapped his limbs. 'Geta led her to the bed and pulled her down beside him.
The tension in 'Geta's body didn't ease and Bulma knew he wasn't sleeping even as the hour grew later. "Vegeta, please talk to me," Bulma begged. "What is wrong?"
"It wasn't supposed to be like that," 'Geta said after a moment. "They were supposed to fade into the ranks without me around to draw Frieza's attention."
Raditz and Appura?" Bulma asked in confusion. "They seemed to have done okay."
"Nappa was Saiyan too," 'Geta said.
"Nappa? Who?"
"The one I killed. He raised me."
Any shock or revulsion Bulma might have felt was washed away by the horrible guilt in 'Geta's voice. Bulma rested her head against his shoulder, hugged him as tightly as she could and wished she knew what to say to make it better.
"Don't you have anything better to do?" Piccolo demanded as soon as Goku's feet touched ground. He'd been glaring in the direction of Goku's approaching ki signature since well before the Saiyan had come into visual range.
"Hi Piccolo," Goku replied, unperturbed.
"Don't you ever get tired of rubbing it in?" Piccolo growled.
Goku scratched the back of his head and looked puzzled. "I just..."
"Had to remind me that you've no fear of me, nor any need for fear," Piccolo accused.
"No, I was going to tell you that the Earth is going to be invaded in about half a year," Goku explained. "We're expecting a number of strong fighters, we could use your help."
"While it would not grieve me to see your little band suffer, this planet is mine to conquer. I will brook no outside interference," Piccolo declared.
Goku grinned. "Thanks Piccolo. We'll be counting on you."
"Insufferable, utterly insufferable," Piccolo muttered as Goku flew off.
"We're not running?" Appura asked Raditz. "Why aren't we running? This is our chance. Nappa's dead. It'll be six months before anyone else gets here to pick up our trail."
"Vegeta-sama and Kakarrot are staying here," Raditz said. "They're going to need every fighter they can get."
"But why us? This isn't our planet," Appura argued.
"My prince and squadmate, my little brother, what's left of my race. How can I leave them?" Raditz asked.
"Your daughter, me," Appura replied. "You barely met Son Goku and Vegeta abandoned you quickly enough."
"What was quick about it?" Raditz snapped. Then he grimaced. "I know it was before you met me mostly, but King Vegeta made the prince our shield when he was just a kid. For six years he protected all of us and after Vegeta-sai was destroyed he shielded Nappa and I from Frieza for another five years. I belong here."
Raditz watched his daughter play. Within the confines of the ship, with only her parents around, Plum was a different child than the one the Z-Fighters had met that afternoon.
Plum dashed back and forth across the living space chasing her bouncy-ball. Raditz smiled, she was a graceful child, his beautiful little girl.
"Take Plum, go on ahead," he said. "I'll catch up when I can."
"If you can," Appura replied.
"If we win Frieza'll be gone, there'll be no one chasing us," Raditz said. "If we lose, he'll have Vegeta-sama again. Frieza won't bother with you, we've kept Plum hidden. Either way it goes you'll be safe."
Appura shook her head. "I've only allowed us to be separated once." She glanced at Plum. "And that was only because I knew you'd do whatever it took to get back. You had someone to meet after all." She grinned a little than sighed. "I don't trust you to come back to us this time. If this is where you're making a stand, I'm making a stand here too."
