Vegeta sat up in his bed, his heart going a million miles a minute. Goku. Bulma. He remembered the blue haired woman with sudden clarity. How could he have been so stupid?
Vegeta pushed his covers away and groaned in pain. He didn't understand why he was so sore. It felt like every bone in his body was broken and all of his muscles were shredded and torn. It wasn't because of his training, that never caused him to be this sore afterwards. It felt like every bone in his his body had been broken and every muscle had been ripped apart. The pain was excruciating. Without pausing to think, Vegeta flew out of his room and down the hall. He had to find answers in the only person that he knew would have them: Kakarot.
Like he had done almost everyday since the other Saiyan had arrived at the palace, Vegeta barged into the room and jumped onto the man's bed to wake him. He ignored the startled look on the guard's face as he did so.
"Wake up Kakarot!" Vegeta shouted, not noticing the sudden difference in proportion. "GOKU!" He should louder, completely impatient.
Goku shot awake as a heavy mass landed next to him. He heard his name being called, his real name, and knew that something horrible must have happened. When he opened his eyes, he almost had a heart attack. Vegeta was sitting in his bed, rage radiating off of him.
But this was not the boy Goku had come to expect in the past weeks. It was not the adult either. This Vegeta was somewhere in the middle. He had grown almost a foot in height and looked like he was about 14.
"Vegeta." Goku choked out in astonishment. What the hell had happened?
"You knew about her." Vegeta seethed angrily, his power level rising exponentially as he stared down this imposter. "You knew about Bulma!"
As he shouted it, he reached a power level he hadn't been able to since his transformation. He turned full Super Saiyan.
Goku jumped out of bed and away from the distraught teen. He recognized that he was in real trouble here; for more than one reason. Vegeta was furious at him and looked like he was ready to kill something. But what was even more terrifying was the idea of Queen Chiara returning to find out that her son had aged seven years in a week. Goku knew that eventually Vegeta would calm down and not harm him, but the queen? No, the queen was absolutely going to kill Goku. He swallowed hard. The fear prevented Goku to realize what this might mean for his plans on taking Vegeta home.
"Listen, just calm down, okay?" Goku said, trying to placate the furious prince. "If you calm down, then I'll explain everything to the best of my abilities."
Vegeta heard what Goku had said, but ignored it. How could he believe this man who had already lied to him so much? "Don't tell me to calm down!" He raged angrily, still in Super Saiyan form. "You lied to me, you kept secrets from me! I trusted you!" He spat out in hurt.
Goku winced at the accusations. They were all true and he did feel like a jerk for hiding the truth from him. "Only because your mother made me promise." He said, defending himself. The second the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
With a scream of rage, Vegeta threw himself at the older man. He was running on pure anger and his techniques were slopping, however, he was still able to land a few solid punches before Goku also powered up and began to counterattack.
While Vegeta was trying to kill, Goku was only interested in wearing the boy out until he had no more energy to fight with. It didn't take too long and soon, Vegeta had reverted to his normal black-haired state. He was shaking with emotion and tears were running down his face. The exhausted and sore teen dropped to his hands and knees and panted heavily as he stared into the rug of the now ruined room.
"Vegeta." Goku said sternly, using his best parenting voice that he could muster.
After a few more moments of breathing heavily, Vegeta looked up at him, the pain and hurt clear in his dark eyes.
Goku leaned down in front of him and looked him straight in the eyes. "I made a promise to your mother." He said again, bending the truth, he hoped for the last time. "The truth of your past is something that you have to discover on your own. I can't help you get there, you must do that yourself." It wasn't exactly what he had promised the queen, but Goku certainly wasn't going to stop Vegeta if he was remembering everything on his own.
"Yes, I know who Bulma is. Yes, I knew who you were too. But that's all I'm going to say. I'm your friend, Vegeta, don't forget that. I'm on your side."
Vegeta continued to breath heavily. He was so sore. His heart was beating so fast that he felt like it might explode. What was happening to him? His mind was spinning as he went over the past few weeks. He had always thought that his mother hadn't been giving him the whole truth. That would certainly explain why she was so untrusting when it came to Kakarot. Or was it, "Goku?"
"Yes, Vegeta?" Goku had to admit, it was really weird hearing Vegeta call him Goku rather than Kakarot. He had to say, he didn't really like it.
"We probably shouldn't tell my mother, should we?"
Goku laughed and shook his head. "No, I don't think she would take it very well if she found out. But… I don't know how we're going to explain this growth spurt to her."
Chiara hugged Stana fiercely as they said their goodbyes. The week had gone by far too quickly, but Stana had promised that once her baby was a little older, they would come and visit the palace. Chiara had readily agreed, feeling like she needed her childhood friend now more than ever.
"And if you're lucky, I'll bring both Karn and Moira." Stana had said with a wink.
"See that you do." Chiara agreed with a wink of her own. Over the week, Stana had continued to work away at the idea of marrying into the family through Chiara, her son, or maybe even both! Having the opportunity to get to know Stana's daughter Moira had actually warmed her to the idea a little bit. The girl really was everything her mother had claimed. She was well spoken, beautiful, intelligent, and a fierce fighter.
Chiara turned away from her friend's home and walked down the path a little bit, her royal attendees following behind her. With one last glance, she took off into the sky, heading for home. Her spirits were so high that she didn't think anything could bring them down.
"So, remember what we talked about?" Goku asked Vegeta quietly, as they waited for his mother to arrive. It would be any minute now.
"Yes." Vegeta said, annoyed that Goku was asking him. Again.
Goku just blinked at him, expectantly. Vegeta sighed and rolled his eyes. "I don't know why I suddenly aged. I have no memory of my past. Kakarot hasn't said anything." He paused and crossed his arms. "And I certainly don't know that my mother is a scheming, lying bitch." He spat out.
Goku frowned and stared at the teenager. "Don't say that last part. She's still your mom and she's doing all of this out of love."
Vegeta snorted, clearly not believing him.
Goku could sense the queen's power level before he could see her, but it made his heart beat nervously all the same. He looked over to the young prince and saw that his nervously moving tail was betraying his stoic features. It actually made Goku relax a little bit, knowing that Vegeta was nervous too.
Chiara's mood dropped like a stone when she caught sight of the two Saiyans. Something was wrong. Vegeta stood almost a full foot taller than he had before. What had happened? Whatever had caused him to grow so much was not natural.
"What is the meaning of this?" She demanded as she approached the two of them. Although her eyes were on her son, the question was directed at Goku.
"We were hoping you could answer that question, mother." Vegeta said with a stony voice before Goku could answer. His arms were crossed defensively over his chest and he was glaring at the woman. He had wrapped his tail around his waist, preventing it from betraying his emotions, but Goku was pretty sure he could see the thing shaking with fury.
She took a step back at the ice in her son's voice and the fire in his eye's. It completely deflated her.
"He just woke up like this!" Goku jumped in quickly, hoping to calm down the two. It was easy to see how they were related.
"Yes, mother, I just woke up like this. One minute, I go to bed as a seven year old, the next I wake up as a teenager. How. Curious." Vegeta bit out; his tail was acting with it's own mind and was now jerking in agitation. Goku was pretty sure that he could see a vein pumping in the teen's forehead. Goku knew that Vegeta needed to calm down, or else this would turn violent.
Chiara was also breathing heavily, trying to give nothing away. She could tell that her son was furious, but she refused to reveal anything if she didn't have to. "We will… have to talk to the healers about this. Maybe something in all of the restorative medicines they used caused you to grow unnaturally fast." She said slowly, tasting the lie on her lips.
There was a heavy pause as Vegeta stared her down.
"That sounds like a great idea. Why don't you and I head down there now?" Goku said, again trying to break the tension. "Vegeta missed some class to come and wait for you to get home. I'm sure that his tutor would love it if he returned to his lessons."
Vegeta nodded at the suggested. "Sounds like a great idea, good seeing you mother." He said and turned, his whole body still radiating anger.
Chiara and Goku watched Vegeta leave and waited in silence for a long time, before the queen turned to Goku. "What does he know?" She hissed.
Goku had prepared the story, but it didn't make lying any easier. "As far as I know, he doesn't know anything. He said that he's been having weird dreams, but I've been trying to write them off as nothing more than dreams as much as you have. I haven't told him anything and he still doesn't remember me."
Goku made sure to stare the woman right in the eyes as he said this, so she would believe his lie. So far, it seemed she did. "I think what you've got to start dealing with is the reality that whatever magic you used to make him a child again is wearing off."
DRAMAAAAA!
As many of you have accurately assumed, things are indeed going to get messy if Vegeta ever gets all of his memories back. However, the road to that point is long and windy. Hope y'all enjoyed! Please review!