Chapter 3
Her eyes were downcast. It always drove him mad. She'd never look at him no matter what the situation was. Not in the eyes, anyway. He wondered sometimes if she even knew what he looked like. She probably knew him by his armor, or his back. Maybe even his neck. But she'd never looked at his face. Ever.
It drove him absolutely crazy.
"The rest of the alphabet, then," Aelia said, firm yet gentle in her voice. "Don't rush this time; you skipped a symbol."
"What's one symbol anyway?" Vegeta snorted, shuffling on the pillow he was sitting on.
"A lot when you're in a hurry to read something," she pointed out logically. "You really want to be in the heat of a battle wondering what something says and then getting hit? You should be at a level where all you have to do is glance at a word and read it. Now come on; I believe in you."
"You and your damned optimism," he grumbled.
Aelia's smile was apparent, even from her slightly bowed head. "Again, Prince."
To keep a level of separation or perhaps even superiority, Freeza's subjects were not allowed to learn how to read or write. The information in the scouters was almost always verbal and the only thing they knew how to read and pronounce was numbers. This was so they could read the power levels of their enemies. The only other information they knew how to read were arrows that would point in the direction of where another being with any power level was coming from so they knew where to turn or look. Outside of that, the information the scouters provided couldn't be read except maybe by Zarbon or Dodoria. The Ginyu Special Force could maybe read a few sentences and perhaps even write their names.
Aelia, however, kept it a secret that she knew how to read and write in the universal language Freeza had established. She had taken it upon herself to teach Vegeta every chance the two had to be alone. She had been able to finish teaching him his own native language, and now Freeza's. He was getting there, but she insisted on reviewing the basics every time.
This was Vegeta's secret. If he could read, he could certainly access the files in Freeza's main computer that even his henchmen couldn't. He wouldn't need the verbal commands like everyone else. This would gain him a very large upper-hand that Freeza most certainly wouldn't know about. If Vegeta was lucky, he could find out even more about whatever race Freeza was, and in turn, find out if Freeza had any weaknesses.
It was good, Vegeta appreciated, to have a scholar for a friend.
Aelia was half Saiya-jin. Only Samphire and Vegeta knew this, but they kept is a secret, as it didn't matter much any considering the fact that Aelia was living her life by the standards of the Hibians; that race was a bit too peaceful for his liking. Specializing in academics and the arts, the planet of Hibi was one of the few that Planet Vegeta willingly did not destroy and opened trade with. They had been unafraid of the Saiya-jin and welcomed them instead of being frightened. Vegeta's father had sent warriors with meat; in exchange their planet received some of Hibi's finest silks and fruits, as well as new ways to cook the meat and fill the Saiya-jin appetite. Truly this was a peace that was worth it! No one in the galaxy cooked a better meal. The spandex layer that went beneath their armor was created by the Hibians for the Saiya-jin, and it was popular and efficient enough that Freeza used it today.
Where the Saiya-jin were rough warriors the Hibians were artists, and the two were exchanging different styles of fighting when Aelia's Saiya-jin father met and eloped with her Hibian mother. Furious, the Saiya-jin side of her family killed her father for having a crossbreed daughter, but her mother begged for Aelia's life and gave her into servitude instead of allowing her to be killed. The deal was set and when she was very young Aelia had been brought to Planet Vegeta to be the life-long attendant of Vegeta's fiancée, Samphire.
Aelia had only been on the planet for a day when he and Samphire left with Freeza, not knowing that the planet would be destroyed the moment their backs were turned.
Despite all this, Samphire and Aelia maintained a close friendship, and she happily taught Vegeta how to read as a wedding gift to her friend. She had taught herself, Vegeta learned, and if she could learn then he certainly could.
Vegeta recited the alphabet again. He did it a bit slower; not slow enough to make her happy, but enough that she couldn't complain. When he finished, Aelia nodded. "Time for a book, I should say. I daresay that I think you're ready for something a bit more advanced."
"About damn time!" he growled. "I was getting sick of those teenage stories. Why don't we read something more useful today, hm? An actual good book, not something so boring I don't hear my own brain snoring inside my head!"
"We could try, 'Of Peace'," she teased gently.
"I could throw up all over your books," he offered back, unable to help the smirk of amusement on his face.
"Hey now, you might even like the book." She shook her head. "Alright, we'll try something different. Something that won't cause you to vomit. Let's see…" Aelia turned on her pillow, digging underneath her bed. "Finding something you might actually like is hard."
"Hurry up," he snapped, tapping his fingers on the table. "You try my patience."
"Everyone tries your patience." Finally finding a book, she took it out. "Here's one you might like. It's about the art of war on Hibi."
Vegeta winced when he heard that name.
Aelia sighed. "Alright, I know you don't like the idea of yielding during battle to overcome an opponent, but it's something at least?"
"That's not what I'm sighing about!"
Concern flashed on her face. "Then what is it?"
"Give me the damn book." Vegeta snapped his hand forward, ripping the book from her hands and slamming it down in front of him. "Alright. I'm skipping the introduction, oh great instructor, because those are pointless. Here. Chapter one."
Aelia nodded, sitting back in her pillow. "Go on."
The minutes passed. To his dismay, memorizing the alphabet like this was helping. Damn. It would only give her incentive to make him keep practicing. They were half way through the chapter (which, Vegeta begrudgingly admitted to himself, was actually interesting – a little) when she interrupted, "Did Samphire talk to you?"
"-an opponent's energy can be used- what?" Vegeta looked up from the book to look at Aelia, confused. She never interrupted him before; she always waited politely for him to finish. It endlessly bothered him. She was ridiculously polite and she never looked at him. Damn her and her distance! But maybe today she'd actually talk about something that was on her mind for a change. She never talked. So damn polite, so damn secretive… drove him nearly mad!
"Did Samphire talk to you?" she asked again. "She seemed a bit upset."
Vegeta snorted, sticking one finger on the page he was on and shutting the book gently. "About marrying me? Yes, the little brat talked to me."
"And your reply?" Aelia looked down even more, almost like she was hiding something. Probably was, damn it all.
"I said no, of course!" Vegeta laughed, leaning back on one hand, discarding the page. He'd find it again anyway. "There is point to doing so. Fiancée or no, there is no more Planet Vegeta, and even if I did allow her to bear any of my children, there would be none of that ridiculous in breeding with our children to try and 'populate' another Saiya-jin race elsewhere. Pity she's the only full-blooded Saiya-jin left, otherwise I might consider it."
Was it his imagination or did she look happy for a split second?
"Still," Aelia said after a moment. "To let it just die like that… tradition, I mean."
"What does it matter to you?" Vegeta demanded after a moment.
"I'm teaching you how to read and write as a gift to her," she reminded him, setting her hands gently on the table. "For her wedding."
"Whatever," Vegeta shook his head, almost laughing to himself. "She doesn't even know we meet like this! She thinks I'm having my way with you since I don't want to run the risk of breeding any more full-blooded Saiya-jin. Freeza's orders and all." It was true. Freeza had deliberately made it known that if Samphire were to ever become pregnant with Vegeta, Nappa, or Raditz's child, Freeza would quickly dispose of Samphire and the unborn child. Her life hung by that very fine thread, and Vegeta wasn't going to risk losing another Saiya-jin to tragedy. Except maybe Raditz. Raditz's power level was barely a thousand anyway.
"So, you won't marry Samphire?" Aelia asked carefully.
"Not a million years," he snorted. "I'll let her have the title of the fiancée to the Prince of all Saiya-jin. If it protects her and keeps her from being eliminated, then fine. We're the last of our kind. I don't give a shit whoever lives or dies anywhere else, but it's bad enough that there are no more Saiya-jin left outside of us."
The silence stretched between them.
Finally rising to her feet and keeping her hands in front of her carefully folded, Aelia walked quietly to her dresser. Vegeta watched her sink to her knees before she pulled out a small piece of paper from an article of clothing. "I was able to get on the main computer the other day," she announced from where she knelt. "Freeza is beginning to… enjoy my company. I think it's because he found out I can dance." She shrugged, looking a little sheepish. "Maybe Samphire mentioned it and her overheard. I don't know."
Vegeta doubted it. The Hibians were well known for their female scholars to be dancers instead of chefs. Despite that Aelia had gone into service when she was very young to Samphire, she was still allowed leave, one month a year, to visit her home planet. Everyone was allowed that if their planets were still in existence as well as under Freeza's empire. Hibi was a member of the empire, as it was conquered the same day Planet Vegeta had been destroyed. That was another reason why Vegeta didn't understand why Hibi's life had to be destroyed. Couldn't Freeza just ask them to leave? There must be something he feared…
"Anyway, I was able to get on his computer when he left with… Zarbon. Something about changing Zarbon's contract of service to be modified." She ignored Vegeta's snort and walked back to the table, sinking to her knees on the pillow before sliding the paper across to him with two fingers. "That's the co-ordinates for a planet called 'Earth'."
"Earth?" Vegeta blinked, surprised. He opened the paper and stared at the numbers jotted down. That was a good year and a half away from here! "Why the hell would I want to go to this planet? It's in the middle of nowhere and not even in Freeza's empire, or on his list of planets to conquer!"
"Because I think there is a Saiya-jin still alive there," Aelia answered, her eyes in her normal downcast position.
Vegeta stared, shocked at what she just said. "You're lying," he said, breathless.
The girl shook her head. "No, Prince. I am not. Apparently Raditz' own brother, Kakarot, was sent there as a child to destroy it. It is still in tact. Perhaps Kakarot is still alive."
"Ridiculous!" Vegeta snapped.
"Then why, Prince, is the planet still there and not overthrown?" Aelia took the book Vegeta had been reading out loud and placed it in its hiding spot. "You'd better go. You've been with me for an hour. People will be looking for you."
Knowing better than to argue, Vegeta pushed himself up and stormed out of her chamber, tucking the small piece of paper in his armor as he briskly walked.
The door shut behind him, clicked.
His mind was racing. The sheer idea of it all! Another Saiya-jin still alive somewhere. Freeza's warning about Hibi. Samphire's insistence that they marry. His plans for eventual open rebellion.
Too many things without concrete solutions. Or even answers.
As he walked down the hallway mulling over all these things a beautiful young healer crossed his path, pushing a cart of supplies and humming to herself. Grabbing her wrist suddenly, Vegeta growled under his breath. "You have an appointment," before dragging her, giggling, to his own quarters, locking the door behind them.
He had to get out his frustration some how. And this one could heal herself if he got, as per usual, too violent.
As he tossed her on the bed, Vegeta caught the soft sound of bells approaching just outside the door. He sucked in his breath. The bells stopped, close.
"C'mon, Prince!" the healer wailed from the bed, already undressed. "What're you waiting for?"
The bells sounded again, fading as they went away. Vegeta exhaled and climbed on the bed, smirking.
The coast was clear.