Chapter 10: Odd explanations

AN:

Merry Christmas people!

I don't have much to say other than to read the warnings in the previous chapters. This particular chapter is prone to revision at the end, since it is a cliff hanger and is the last chapter of the year. More will be belted out next year January 2012. :)

Until then, have a happy holiday folks.

The girls didn't take long to revive. In fact, it took them a little less time to revive than it had for the boys to let it sink in the first time they heard about it. They really didn't quite discuss it openly. Rather, they knew it was true, accepted it for what it was, and thought no more about it. Why would they when there wasn't much evidence leading to seeing the physical proof?

Vegeta lightly rubbed the soft subtle rounding of his stomach. It wasn't there now but it wouldn't be long before it was out and about, proudly displaying itself. Goku would probably march right along with it.

The small gesture snapped the girls right out of their stupor. Bra stood up and sat down again, stood up once more and swerved around to sit back down with Trunks aside her. Her brain was in current overload, a condition that left her a little bit ditzy like her grandmother used to be. Pan on the other hand sat back down on the floor rather hard, still in some shock as it really settled in. If it were a joke she would have known by now. Her uncle couldn't keep a straight face for the life of him when he was in on something.

Goten just sat there, silent until he said softly, "I wonder what the others would have done if this happened sooner…"

He hadn't meant to muse about that so loud, but the question was an honest one...one that Goku instinctively answered. "Yamcha would have probably shrugged," he chuckled. Of course that would be right after Yamcha spat and sputtered a huge "what the fuck?" because Yamcha's brain just couldn't quite take that kind of a shock lightly. Goku could see it clearly in his head, which made it funnier than it was to the others. "Yamcha was good to go with the flow of things, even if he didn't agree," he said. "I'm sure after drinking himself stupid that he'd find a way to be a complete perv about it."

"But that's just Yamcha," Goten laughed quietly. "I'm sure he'd be the tamest."

"Oh for sure. Tien….well, Tien probably would have turned around and died before he fell face first into the ground," Goku admitted. The monk was calm for most things, but shocks like this…well, he didn't handle them well. At least, not in the normal manner someone would handle things. "Chou-Zu…the little guy might have freaked quite a bit…and then died." Chou-Zu was the most normal of the two. He certainly would have had some spasms going on, and some sputtering before his brain shorted out on him. It might have been worth the look on their faces.

He sat back and grinned openly, not thinking about it as he said, "Krillin would have definitely freaked the hell out and had an aneurism or five. Shit…I thought he'd have kittens the day I took Gohan to meet him and the others."

His name coming out of Goku's mouth so freely had the others inwardly gaping at the grinning Saiyan smiling wryly at nothing. It was perhaps the first time since Krillin died that he hadn't dropped the subject of him, or walked away growling when someone mentioned him in passing. Vegeta didn't talk of him either, but he'd made his peace with it a while ago. It was different for Goku, Krillin being his best friend from when he was a child. They grew up together, fought together, and Goku had ascended because Krillin meant that much to him. Watching him die in such a manner on Namek rocked something raw and hard; forcing what could not be reached by ordinary means.

Having him die like he did a year back never did settle well with his soul. It left him bitter, wondering what he did or said to deserve such a shock. Nothing ever came of his wondering, until he remembered something Krillin had said a while after he'd lost his child and daughter.

"I don't remember them when they died," Krillin had muttered. His sad smile wavered a bit, tears streaming down his face as he turned to the headstones marking the resting place of his loved ones. "I remember them as they lived…I want to be remembered that way. I never want someone to see me…as I am when death takes me. I don't wish that…on anyone…."

Thinking on it then and now, Goku could see why Krillin didn't tell them. It still hurt, but not quite as much. Now the pondering was replaced with fond goofy memories of a somewhat perverted man who was a walking spasm when something shocked him. The look on his face from long ago had Goku laughing to himself, absently rubbing his head as he settled deeper into the couch. "I thought his brain was going to fall out his nose," he chuckled. "What was he expecting?"

"Probably what you were thinking," Vegeta mused lightly. It was a shared joke between the two of them; Goku's simplicity was not unknown to all, though over the years he proved to be more than cunning. Still, having seen it for himself when they were fused for that short time, Vegeta couldn't contain his short burst of laughter. "I can't believe you didn't know…"

"I didn't! I wasn't really focused on marriage and bride…I didn't even know what all that entailed!" Goku laughed. "Boy was my face red…"

"Grandpa…you're not serious…right?" Pan asked. "You…really didn't know?"

He shook his head, startling his granddaughter once more. "No, I didn't," he said. "But I made a promise to her…and the girl I remembered at the time was someone a little taller than me, in a two piece, and wearing a helmet. The woman I met at the tournament was nothing like what I remembered….and she sure as hell didn't act like it either. But," he sighed smiling fondly at the memory, "I did make a promise…and I honor my promises. It turned out to be one of my better deals in life…"

"I can't believe for a second you were ever that simple," Goten said.

"I can," Trunks muttered. "I relived it when a certain someone was turned into a kid again."

"Then you're probably just as simple for falling for it," Vegeta said. "Assuming something like that often leads to underestimating your opponent. I did it often enough to know…"

"But you still won in the end," Goku grinned. He waggled his eyebrows and laughed when Vegeta pelted him with a pillow in his face. "Oh come on! I think we both got the better end of this deal."

"Only until my ankles are swollen and you're getting up at all hours of the night to feed the brat."

"Hey, if you feed me, I'll do anything."

"True enough!" Bra giggled. "You really know how to put it all away Uncle Goku. Chi-chi certainly was in the kitchen a lot."

"Yes she was…but sometimes her anger got the better of her cooking, and anything and everything would be charred….even the water. Chi-chi was strange like that...but she had a good heart. Bad cooking at times, but a good heart."

"The way you ate, I'd thought she was the best cook in the world!" Pan laughed. "You inhaled all of it!"

"Mainly because I was hungry...And let's face it, I eat everything." They all laughed at this, but there was no lie in what he said. He'd usually eat anything that was edible. "There were times she'd cook for weeks on end…" he said softly. "Always cooking….because I would train day and night. There was always food for me…and she was usually passed out on the kitchen counter waiting. I wished she would have just spared herself the effort sometimes…"

"She only did it because it kept her from thinking about the fighting we did," Gohan sighed. "It was her comfort…and I'm hoping that won't be a problem for us any longer…"

"You're kidding right?" Goten asked. "Who would want to fight here of all places? I mean…it's HIM they have to mess with!" he cried pointing at their father. "They wouldn't last fifteen seconds! And don't say anything about the asshole that was here last year….because dad was totally mind fucking him! He didn't have a chance the moment he breathed!"

"I'm not so much worried about anyone messing with Dad or Vegeta," Gohan admitted. "I'm more worried about the kid…"

"If this child is anything like Kakorrot," Vegeta said as he clung to the comfort of his mate's embrace, "I doubt anyone will live long enough to hold them hostage. If someone of mixed blood can harness the qualities and the deadly traits of his father, then I feel sorry for the bastards that try anything."

"Oh right!" Goten exclaimed. "You did mention that when Gohan was a kid, he tended to go ballistic when someone he knew was hurt. Totally ape shit you said?"

Vegeta nodded, not in the least bit ashamed to admit that scary trait aloud. "Completely." He'd been on the side of it once, and that was enough. "Saiyan children are scary in that respect…and why they were protected so fiercely."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Gohan asked confused by it all. "What do you mean that I went insane? I don't—"

"You did, and you don't remember bouts of rage like that in memories. Just flashes of red," Vegeta explained. "When Nappa killed Piccolo….when Krillin died on Namek…when Cell came after us with those mini-freaks…and remember Spopavich?"

Gohan blinked, then shut his mouth when the flashes came smacking him in his mind's eye. "I remember...and I'm fucking glad too."

"That's one reason saiyan babies were sent away when they were born," he explained quietly. "Under the rule of that freak...anyone born was separated and sent away to cause havoc wherever. If they bonded with their parents...if anything happened to either one, their power levels skyrocketed. He didn't...care...what happened to them. To us. The less of a threat we were, the better."

"I seriously feel like beating his face in all over again," Goku muttered. "Just for that alone."

"It wouldn't change anything..."

"I know. But it'll make me feel better."

"That's scary."

"Yeah. Oh well."

"Guys...do you mind explaining just...how that happened?" Bra asked. Her cheeks brightened at the smug look upon Goku's face and she quickly restated the question. "NO! I meant...how was he able to...you know...conceive? Without the graphic details!" she screamed covering her ears when Goku shifted. He toyed with the thought of explaining, but decided against it. It was better for his sake, as well as his stomach.

"I'll explain...but we need to go to the medical room," Vegeta answered. "Anyone passing out on me will be left on the floor."

"You're a what?"

He'd been expecting that type of reaction, but not from Gohan. If anything he'd thought he'd be the most curious about it. The one who took that role happened to be Gohan's daughter. She seemed intrigued by the little tidbit he'd purposefully neglected to tell anyone for the past twenty some-odd years. Regardless of whoever reacted in whatever way, he twisted Gohan back around to finish inputting the data for the upgrade he'd wanted since he'd learnt of the news. Gohan reluctantly went back to typing, then back to inhaling the sandwiches sitting aside him. Since the kitchen was a burnt hole in the house, it was all they could make at the moment. It was also a good excuse for Goku to set in motion the plans to remodel the place.

But that was beside the point. Was he seriously telling the truth about this?

"If you're what you say...how the hell did you get past Bulma with that one?" Goten asked. "Obviously something had to have gone on if one and two are here!"

"She...was good at keeping certain things to herself," Vegeta said quietly. "THAT...was one of them."

"...you're not going to show us are you?" Trunks murmured worriedly. "That's not why you're sitting on the table...is it...?"

He wanted to smack his child for assuming that...and smack him hard, too. "No, you buffoon," he snapped. "I want to find something out is all."

"Like what?"

"Vegeta, it's ready to scan," Goku interrupted. "You want to do it now?"

He nodded and patiently waited for the scan he'd wanted to take from the first day he'd found out. Once again the computer droned on, this time completing the scan and recording the data without telling them a thing. Once all the information was ingested and reformatted on the computer, Gohan's assignment was completed with the printout that appeared at the push of a lone button. He snatched the paperwork, eyes widening and narrowing with every line read. At the end of it all, he simply looked at his father helping Vegeta to sit up.

"Well?"

"Well...based on the information I was given, he's about two months into it," Gohan mused. "And...it says he's got about four more to go. Five at most."

"So quickly?"

"It's not uncommon," Vegeta reassured. "Our race tended to do everything at a fast pace."

"Huh. So what about the other scan?"

Gohan handed him the paper and inhaled the last sandwich. "You tell me."

He quickly took a glance at the paper and felt his heart leap up with himself. "Oh...oh whoa!" he cheered silently. Vegeta blinked, unsure of what to make of it all when it sank in. He was scared enough when there was only the possibility, but this…this paper just cemented his fate.

"Vegeta?"

He groaned and placed his head in his hands. "What in the hell is in your sperm, Kakorrot," he muttered tiredly. "One baby is enough…but two?"

"You're having twins?" Bra gasped.

Vegeta nodded, slapping Goku's rumbling frame with the back of his hand. "Blame the oaf here."

"If that's the case, why isn't he showing yet?" Pan asked.

"I think because they'll start really growing from now...until the very end of the pregnancy," Gohan explained. "It's like they were storing up the energy to grow that quickly."

They were interrupted by the sound of someone's phone chirping loudly in the enclosed space. Vegeta gasped, wincing at the sound only to cover his ears when the chirping did not stop. Goku caught on and soothed him, glaring at the phone Bra had glared at when she allowed it to ring. She quickly placed the device on vibrate and then decided turning it off would be better in the long run. "Sorry..."

"It's okay...just no high pitched noises," Vegeta sighed. "Everything is enhanced at the moment...including my hearing."

"So...are you going to explain that little fact Bulma hid so well?" Gohan pried gently. "Some of us are dying from the curiosity..."

"Have a happy funeral."

"Hey-!"

"Oh stop...I'll explain if it'll shut you up."

"Yes. Yes it will."

Goku was smacked in his side again with Vegeta muttering something about replicas. "I don't think I can handle many more of you."

"I love you, too...but Vegeta..."

"No...it's fine," he said. Vegeta was highly aware of how his mate felt, and couldn't find fault in him for feeling that way. However, knowing the truth of the matter would probably better prepare them in the long run. "I'll tell them."

Goku offered what comfort he could, standing close to his mate settling down on the table. He knew the story well enough, but hearing it again didn't make it any easier.

"My house was one of several that harbored a trait that was considered significant and held in high praise," Vegeta began. "Our race wasn't one that kept a definitive female population. They were there and we bred with them, but nine times out of ten females were sterile and could bear no children. So as our race was dwindling, and females became scarce, males bonded with other males. It wasn't an uncommon thing to bond with another male...but it was strange when a male became heavy with child.

"After a close study and observing the male who'd conceived, it was determined that a select gene in our DNA at birth decided if one was to become a full blooded male, or a hermaphrodite. Most times full blooded males were born. Other times, a person like myself was born and taken into protective custody under the royal house.

"After generations had come and gone and our war with the other residing race had ended, we became a monarchy. Females were still born rarely, and when they were, they were treated highly if they could conceive. Males who still carried this trait had dwindled considerably, and those who were left were kept and bred within the royal houses. This is how my father was born...and how I was born. We were the product of males bonding that resulted in pregnancies kept secret from all. There were chosen women to take the place as our mothers, though we were raised with our natural parents behind the veil of diplomacy.

"Before Frieza came into the picture, our sister planet, Varga, needed a new heir. I was promised to...Turles...to keep the peace between our planets. Their queen was unable to sire more...and they knew of the potential someone like myself held. I was too young to know this at the time, but Frieza came...and my parents died at his hands. The king of Varga did not forget...and snatched me. Turles was aware of what I was...and..."

Goku tightened his grip on his mate. He hated this...knowing of his past and wanting to take all the pain upon himself. Vegeta willingly fell into his embrace, drawing comfort from his warmth. He'd never told anyone this...and he'd had to fuse with Goku for him to learn half of what he knew then. That night he'd learnt of it all...and somehow he managed to stop him from making a trip into hell.

"Anyhow," he murmured with a light sniff, "...I was taken by Frieza when I failed to deliver what they wanted. I didn't tell a soul...even when Frieza found out, I still wouldn't give him the fucking satisfaction. I thought for a long time...I'd never have to do this. I'd be the last, and it would end with me. But...Kakorrot appeared. Burdock's boy...the one our people thought to be gone...appeared."

"You thought I could be one?" Goku asked.

"No...I thought you'd be alone. Not so. You had established a home here..."

"Had I known-"

"Things would still be the same. It took us three decades to get here, Kakorrot. I'm glad...and I wouldn't have changed a thing."

Hearing him say that was the crushing blow on the urge to travel down into the depths of hell. They were saved for another day. Another wouldn't kill him.

Residing in the other's embrace, Gohan's light cough stirred them out of their sleepy brood. "Hey...um...how...are you going to...you know?" he asked nervous and eager to know the question that popped in mind. They didn't quite catch on, until he pointed to the imagery sitting on the screen. OH. "Are we going to recruit a surgeon?"

"They got in the same way they're coming out," Vegeta stated. "No more...no less."

This time it was the boys to faint dead away, and the girls who were more intrigued than they ought to have been.

Vegeta sighed to himself. This family of theirs was strange at best.

Grand deities were known to appear in the realm of the living under the guise of someone meek. Their power would only surface when threatened, and even then, those deities would continue to hide their true power. It was a truth the old whispered, the young dreamt, and today admired from yesteryear. She herself could see it from within the depths of her mind; a clouded veil that refused to be uncovered unless he willed it.

"He's alive..."

"Of course he's alive!" she spat, waking fully from the dream. "And he's with another male. That one...called Goku."

The eyes behind her bore holes into the frozen image of the offending male glaring at nothing in particular. This one...the one they called Goku, was nothing more than an annoyance the heavens thought would be amusing to send down. However, he wasn't one to underestimate those who hid their power, especially when that frozen image glared at them in a waking moment.

"He's aware...but who is he?"

"That is something we cannot afford to find out." She turned at the voice that had spoken, watching as he rose and walked off to unknown places. "If he were to awaken...I doubt things would work in our favor."

"Grandfather..."

"Put everything in motion. I will have him...and mold his offspring into my own."

See you in 2012! :)