The Life of a Prince
Chapter 4: Good News and Bad News
AN: Hey peeps! Me again. Never thought I would ever be caught dead writing more of dbz fics, but here I am again doing just that. Well, kinda got back into dbz after CN started showing the uncut episodes. Thought of new ideas for this after some weird dreams and after having read some random fics on this site from various authors. Without further delay, here's chappy 4!!
Disclaimer: Now why the deuce would I own dbz? If I did, then I wouldn't be here writing this, now would I?
Previously on LOAP: King Vejiita bid farewell to the love of his life, Queen Serenity, but not before she gave birth to a healthy boy whom they named Prince Vegeta. And now the continuing adventures of LOAP.
The Life of a Prince
Chapter 4: Good News and Bad News
The afternoon sun peeks through the curtains of the medical wing of the expansive Saiyan Palace. Inside one of the rooms in this wing, the corpse of the beautiful Saiyan Queen lays beneath the white linen of the bed. Upon her lifeless body, the limp form of my father and me lay. My father's knees sit on the ground, barely holding up his weight. He still sleeps, dried tears being slowly replaced by fresh ones. I have been awake for several hours now and am crawling around on the bed. I snuggle up against his muscular back and chew on his ear for a bit before falling asleep again. The nibbling wakes him up I'm sure. I can feel his back muscles start to grow taut and move. He slides out from underneath me. My eyes flutter open with a yawn. I look at him, and our eyes meet. His eyes seem to be smiling at me. This makes me happy, and I begin smiling at him. He studies me closely and carefully. His eyes especially look at me hair.
"Black," he whispers. He almost looks disappointed. I tilt my head to look at him. My hair catches the sun's rays.
"Not black," my father says. He looks closer.
"Amber, but only in the sun. Interesting. You don't normally see Saiyans with raven colored hair," he says. A tear forms in his eye and slides slowly down his face. He turns toward the form beneath the pure white sheets. My eyes follow his. He notices my eyes on her as well.
"This is your mother, my son. Her name is Serenity," he explains, tears flowing freely from his face. From outside the small room, I hear footsteps approaching. The doorknob turns. My father is still too focused on my mother to notice. The door opens, and I turn to see a man with a clipboard in his hand. This man is tall and skinny. He almost looks like a skeleton with flesh and muscles.
"Your highness?" the skinny man asks nervously. My father lifts his head up. He turns to look at the skinny man. The skinny man's eyes widen.
"Your highness?" the skinny man asks again, even more nervously than before. With a single swipe of his arm, my father wipes away the remainders of his tears.
"What is the problem, Hier?" my father asks, his voice not betraying any hint of his earlier sadness. The man known as Hier straightens up and glances frequently at his clipboard before starting.
"My Lord, there have been rumors circulating among the elite that you have had a child. Perhaps it is due time that you and her highness announce the birth of your son to the common Saiyan," Hier suggests. My father's face falls. He casts a glance at my mother's corpse. Hier doesn't seem to have noticed.
"My dear Serenity is dead, Hier," my father chokes. Tears threaten to spill out, but my father stays strong and doesn't shed a single tear. My father's strength is amazing. I watch as Hier's face morphs into one of pure horror and guilt. He lowers his head.
"Forgive me, my Lord. I know how much she meant to you," Hier says softly.
"It's alright. You didn't know," my father tells him. I snuggle up to my father. He looks down at me and his eyes soften.
"My son," he says. He tousles my hair. A quick one armed hug from my father sends a stream of warmth throughout my body.
"You want to make your father feel better about the loss of your mother; don't you Vegeta?" my father asks. I look up into his eyes. I see him smiling at me. My lips curl themselves into a smile as well. I look over to the man known as Hier. The skinny man glances at me, a nervous smile on his face.
"Your highness?" Hier asks. My father's head perks up.
"Yes, Hier?" my father asks as he turns to face him.
"Is that him?" Hier ventures.
"Yes, Hier. This is my son, Prince Vegeta," my father tells him.
"Has he gone through the trials, your highness?" Hier asks.
"I care not about the trials. He is my son and the only one I will ever have. He is more than worthy of the name," my father explains. A flicker of light catches my eye, and I decide that I'm going to hunt it down. As I go to pounce on my prey, my father spoils my fun and scoops me up in his arms. He laughs heartedly as he keeps me at bay. I squirm desperate to get at the flicker, but to no avail, my father is far stronger.
"Even though you're still an infant, I can tell that you already have all the instincts of a fully grown adult," my father says in between laughs. I stop squirming to glare at my father. My father glares back. My father's eyes carry such an intensity to them that I am forced to look away. My father's fingers tangle themselves in my hair. As I see the flicker again, I try my best to squirm my way out of my father's arms. My father lets out a hearty laugh.
"How cute! You're angry at me," my father says as he holds me tight against his chest. I still try to squirm against him.
"You're so strong, my little boy," my father beams.
"Why don't we see just how strong he is," a man's voice says from the door. My father turns towards the door. He turns me to face the newcomer. I see a short man with long wild locks of dark brown hair. Compared to my father, he looks rather tiny. His muscles aren't very well defined, and they look rather tiny when compared to my father.
"Argo," my father says warmly. The tiny man nods as he walks over to my father. My father gives the man a one armed hug; as he holds me securely with his other arm. From the doorway behind my father and the man he called Argo, I see another tiny man. This man is shorter than Argo and my father, but he seems a fair bit stronger than Argo at least. His hair is shorter than Argo's but is just as wild. I notice that his tail doesn't seem to be moving the way that Argo's or my father's have been.
"Vejiita?," the newcomer asks. He peeks out from behind Argo and slowly makes his way over to the bed.
"Shinji," my father says warmly as he quickly releases Argo and grabs the short man in a one armed hug.
"It's nice to see you too, Vejiita, but do you have to choke me while doing it?" Shinji asks.
"Oops. Sorry, Shin," my father says as he releases his friend who gasps for the air that he was deprived of.
"So, that's the little brat," Argo says, regarding me with a thumb. I notice that every eye in the room is on me. My tail wags a bit nervously from the staring, but I don't let that shake me.
"Aww, you scared the poor little thing, Argo," Shinji says as he advances on me. He reaches out to touch me. I find that the shock of seeing his friends has caused my father to loosen his grip on me a little bit, just enough for me to escape. I take the opportunity and break free of my father's grasp. As my father tries to snatch me again, I manage to crawl to Shinji's outstretched hand and clamp down on it. He lets out a shriek of pain. My father manages to snatch me and get me off of Shinji. All the while, Argo has been laughing hysterically, and Hier has been looking on in absolute horror, probably knowing that he can't do a thing about it. My father, having finally gotten me under control at least a little bit, decides that I need to have a bit of punishment for hurting his best friends hand. He raises his hand to strike at me, but I manage to let out a tiny whimper that seems to melt my father's heart. He lowers his hand a little bit.
"Vejiita, this isn't the way to punish your brat," Argo insists. My father lowers his hand to his side. I lower my head and stare up at him. My father reaches out to me with his right arm. I crawl across the bed and into my father's awaiting arm. He brings me closer to his body, and I feel the warmth of his body circulating within me. Being this close to him, makes me feel safe and loved.
"My little boy," my father says to me.
"Aww, Vej is an old softy," Argo coos mockingly. My father glares at Argo, who shrinks away slightly. Argo turns away from my father and paces around the room a bit.
"All I'm suggesting is that you're being too soft on the little brat. That's no way to raise a child. This isn't Serenity's property anymore, Vejiita. This brat is now your responsibility and strictly yours, you can't have anyone else take that from you. Or is this just you wanting your brat to have a better life than you had? The whole my father hated me so I have to be a better father than he was type of thing," Argo rants, never once looking at my father. I can see that my father doesn't like where this conversation is going. My father grits his teeth, and I swear that I hear an angry growl escape from a space between his canines. His grip on me becomes tighter and he balls his other hand into a fist.
"Just because you had a bad childhood and a horrible relationship with your dad doesn't mean that you have to spoil this kid's life by turning him into a kind-hearted retart," Argo finishes, not having noticed that change in my father's demeanor.
"Argo…" my father hisses, his anger barely in check.
"Yes….?" Argo replies as he finally turns to look at my father. When he does see my father in all his fury, Argo quivers and stumbles back, falling as he does so, onto the floor.
"Never speak about that man EVER again. Do I make myself clear?!" my father hisses, his anger slowly leaking out. Argo is too scared to speak and instead only slowly nods his head. My father calms a little, but he still holds me tightly. I rub my head against him and whimper a little like a hurt puppy. My tail is stuck firmly between my legs like that of a scared puppy. My dad looks down at me and notices how hurt I am. He loosens his grip and smiles warmly at me.
"I heard tell that that boy was strong, but I wonder how strong," Shinji thinks aloud.
"Well, there's the old fashion way of figuring it out," Argo says.
"And how is that?" my father asks suspiciously.
"Grab hold of him by the tail and see for how long he cries. The less he cries the stronger he'll be," Argo explains.
"I don't think that I want to do that to my son," my father says.
"Well then I'll do it," Argo eagerly says. My father glares daggers at Argo. Argo backs off a bit. My father loosens his grip on me as he sets me back down on the bed and sits beside me. I look up just in time to see him reach down and grab hold of my tail. A tingling sensation courses through my tail and up my spine. It doesn't really hurt, but it does annoy me.
"Well he's not crying," Argo says.
"This is what you should be doing, Vej," Shinji says.
"I just had to see for myself. I'll let him go very soon," my father says as he lifts me up level with his eyes. A low growl escapes my lips. I decide that if he isn't going to let my tail go; then I'll just have to do it myself. I flex my tail and that action alone loosens my father's grip on my tail enough where my tail can slip through unhindered.
"Incredible," Argo says.
"I've never seen anyone save maybe an adult of the elite do that before," Shinji remarks. I watch as my father's face contorts into a smirk.
"He really will be a strong child," my father gushes. My tail wags furiously as I growl and stare angrily at my father.
"Looks like the brat is angry at you now, Vej" Argo says.
"Yeah, looks like it," my father says. He turns to me.
"I'm sorry my son," my father apologizes. He walks over to where I sit, and gently pets my tail. I find myself growing more and more relaxed and find that my anger dissipates with each passing second. A low purr escapes my lips as I curl up into a little ball and begin to fall asleep.
I awaken to my father looming over me with several other adults that I am not familiar with.
"Aw, the little prince is awake now," one of them, a women, coos.
"He's so adorable," says another, a man.
"He looks just like you, your highness," another very big man and muscular man says.
"He's also very strong," my father brags.
"What was the boy's reading?" the first man asks.
"Around 2,000," my father explains.
"Did you do the old fashion test yet?" the woman asks.
"Yes, and he managed to get out of my grasp with his tail alone," my father beams.
"That's incredible," the woman beams.
"Only full grown elite are capable of doing that sort of thing and only on the rare occasion at that," the man says.
"I know isn't that wonderful. Think of it my son as strong as a full grown elite and only an infant," my father brags.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, your highness, but I'm afraid that Lord Frieza might just be interested in your son's strength," Hier says as he looks down at me.
"What would you do if Frieza wants to train him?" the first man asks.
"I don't know, Zorn. I just don't know," my father answers as he runs a hand through his hair.
"I'll tell you what he'd do. He'd do what any sensible Saiyan would do. Give him to that freak. That's what I would do," the bigger man says.
"Why would you do that to your own son, Nappa?" Zorn asks.
"To get him out of my hair first of all, and second, that freak may be bad but he has a lot more powerful warriors. The boy might be better off," Nappa explains. My father looks thoughtful at this, but he shakes his head to get these thoughts out of his mind.
"I don't want to think about this eventual outcome just yet. Let's wait 'til he's a little older to go on about this," my father says.
"Of course, my king," Zorn says with a bow.
"Anything you say, King Vejiita," Nappa says with a bow.
"Yes, sire," Hier says with a bow.
"Whatever you say, your highness," the woman says with a bow.
"Now leave my son to sleep. He's just a little one after all," my father commands as he pets my tail. I feel sleep take me once more.
AN: I know a long chappy and an abrupt ending, but I have writer's block and needed a place to end it so I could put it up.