Finally I got to it -laughs- I've been looking forward to this chapter for a while now, and I had quite a good time writing it.
I won't be saying all too much about it and let you read on, hoping you'll enjoy it! Off goes:
Chapter 10
Legacy
"You want what?" Eyeing his long-time rival with clear suspicion, Vegeta narrowed his eyes, hands flexing in the confines of their white gloves.
"A sparring match. You're the strongest training partner I could ever hope to find and well, be honest, aren't you tired of beating up droids?" Smile as carefree and sociable as ever, Goku was still mindful of his choice of words. He was treading on thin ice here and the last thing he wanted was to set off Vegeta's notoriously irascible temper. "Neither them nor the boys can provide you a real challenge." Yet, anyway. Once Goten and Trunks would grow up some more, get stronger and more mature, Goku was sure both and either one of them would be more than a worthy match for their fathers.
"Why now all of a sudden? And what about your oldest brat? Isn't he priding himself on being the strongest warrior there is?" Vegeta's scowl was a frank display of how much he disliked the very idea of it, though thankfully Goku knew a more or less surefire way around it.
"Well, today's as good of a day as any, right? So I thought I'd just pop by and see if you had time. As for Gohan, he's all wrapped up in his studies since summer exams are rolling in. I got him roped into training yesterday already, and I don't want to harass him with it." That wasn't a lie, either. The boy was a teenager now, he had an own life to live, all the more so now that romance was involved. Goku would never want to impose on that, especially because he knew Gohan would never be able to say no to him. "Plus, he's got a girl now, too. That will probably beat exchanging blows with his old man anytime."
The prince snorted in a mix of both amusement and a touch of disapproval; he would likely never really understand why Gohan lacked that innate Saiyan love for fighting. Both Trunks and Goten had it, even Kakarot with all his happy-go-lucky attitude always seemed excited by the prospect of battle. He could sympathize with the whole having a girl thing he supposed, but studying? The only thing a Saiyan had to study was the art of winning a fight.
Pushing himself away from the tree trunk he had been standing leaned against in the backyard of his home, he gave a short nod. "Fine. The spot where we first fought, in thirty minutes." With that he began walking away towards the Capsule Corp. house.
Goku grinned, brightly and happily, calling after the retreating figure. "Great! See you there in a bit, then!"
He knew what the half an hour was for and he put it to good use, briefly stopping by Korin to fetch a couple of Senzu. He went a floor further up as well, sensing Piccolo in his bedroom and with the assumption that his friend was taking a rest after yesterday's training he left a word with Dende to warn the other Namekian not to worry should he feel some power levels explode soon. He repeated the process with the rest of his friends, taking a few minutes to exchange a few words with them as well, from Krillin and Eighteen, to Tien and Chaozu, Master Roshi, and Yamcha. He warned Gohan and the other two demis this morning before school already, so hopefully nobody would be alerted or come to interfere. He knew Vegeta wouldn't appreciate any interruptions and he was sure their clash would be more than perceptible to every of their friends who could sense ki.
Somewhere Goku actually found himself getting hyped for it; he was looking forward to testing his fellow kinsman's strength and let him test Goku's own. It had been quite a while since they last fought each other and he didn't doubt that Vegeta had improved plenty, much like he himself. It was even more rousing because the prince had picked their very first battleground as their training spot, almost like a wordless challenge to the past, daring his rival to repeat his former victory.
Goku's next destination was his home, storing the tiny lifesaving legume into a travel capsule together with a spare set of attire which he was more than sure he'd need by the end of this. His last stop was the Capsule Corp, even though the prince was already gone by the time he ITed himself there. It only took a minute to do what he'd come for anyway, saying hi to Bulma and picking up a spare attire for Vegeta as well. With all the preparations completed, he focused on that familiar ki and brought two fingers to his forehead , teleporting himself off and away in order to reappear in a few feet distance from the older Saiyan.
"I hope you're not expecting me to take it easy on you just because it's supposed to be a friendly spar, Kakarott." The elite greeted him with a word of warning right off the bat, dressed down in the very same outfit he'd arrived on Earth in all those years ago. He looked as imposing as he'd done back then, too, perhaps even more so with the demeaning smugness from back then replaced by poised composure of the now instead.
Goku's mouth twitched its corner upward in a no less confident manner. "Wouldn't want it any other way." He felt the tingle of excitement settle into his nerves, Vegeta was serious about this and that combative drive was resonating with the younger man, stirring his Saiyan nature to a wake.
Standing across from each other, face to face, both of them went Super Saiyan without twitching a muscle, watchful eyes staring into another pair which mirrored the flash of teal to replace the deep black, much like soft yellow burned out the ebony of dark hair that now stood proud and even more spiked than usual. Neither man moved, just letting their aura flare around them until they slowly started drawing on their energy, still motionless - only staring at each other while electricity began to flicker from spot to spot across their bodies.
The ground beneath their feet commenced a tremble, gently at first and increasingly heftier with every passing second, smaller and bigger rocks lifting into the air and getting ground into dust if they happened to as much as touch the sun-colored glow around either of them. They still didn't move but now, there was visible tension in their bodies, visualized by two tight sets of strong jaws and the veins beginning to protrude from underneath tough skin, the fabric cladding their tautening figures straining and expanding as the muscles beneath the material bulged, growing in size.
It was a medium earthquake happening around them by now, yet aside from the shaking ground and the splitting rocks not a sound was made until both kis thunder-spiked, the two of them abruptly coated in electrifying gold, signaling the next level of transformation. Either of them was like a ball lightning, ready to implode any given second and yet goading each other higher and higher before making a move. It all unfolded rapidly, within a split of a second as both Saiyans flickered from their spots and met high up in the air, fist to fist. It was almost something familiar, Goku was the one to go on the defense with Vegeta aggressively leading the onslaught, his hits coming hard, fast and precise but the younger man wasn't far behind, absorbing blow after blow with equally accurate blocking.
It was a mutual assessment more than it was actual fighting just now, even though all and any slip up could have heavy consequences regardless. Vegeta had certainly improved and that came as no surprise; the power behind his hits was enormous. Goku could feel the air stirring all around them with the force of the impacts, although the prince's defenses were top notch as well - none of his own kicks and punches were getting through, right from the get-go he could tell they were evenly matched. Nevertheless, he was also well-aware of the fact that neither of them was fighting at full strength so far, by a rough estimate they both should be at around half their current transformation's overall potential. Yet when Vegeta would hit the limit on his, Goku still had an ace up his sleeve, one he didn't intend to use however. So he supposed it was best to try and not push this whole training session quite as much.
"What's wrong, Kakarott?"
An opened, white-gloved palm right in front of him, he saw the garish ivory of gathered energy before a ki blast was fired at him from such close distance, blinding him as it exploded into his eyes. He managed to bring both arms up to shield his face, finding himself grip-locked from behind a heartbeat later. The voice at his ear was foreboding and nonchalantly admonitory.
"Don't space out amidst a fight with me. That could cost you dearly."
Those steely limbs were like tongs around his neck, squeezing off his air and his elbow punched backwards into nothing, realizing that his opponent was hovering upside down above him using those arms like a noose to hang him. A clever tactic and with the proper force and angle, this predicament could leave him with a broken neck, too. But thankfully Goku's wit and instinct worked incredibly swiftly when it came to battle. Throwing his hand straight up above his head he fired a barrage of own ki blasts, feeling the older Saiyan flicker away. He gasped for sweet, precious air and swirled around, bringing his hands into the typical position at his side for his signature Kamehameha.
"Thanks for the warning." He wheezed out through a grin, the bluish orb of force between his palms gradually growing in size.
Vegeta smirked. "It's the last one you will get." Instead of meeting the rapid ball of compressed ki, he shimmered out of the way and had fully expected Kakarott to follow right after him. Which the other man did, only not the direction the elite had thought it to be.
Instead of going after Vegeta himself, Goku went after his own fired Kamehameha, pin-balling it with another blast of energy back towards his rival. This time it was the prince who raised his arms to form a shield which the deflected Kamehameha hit straight into, engulfing him in a small cloud of smoke. It was instinct and experience more than anything else that made him blindly veer around and punch into the seeming nothingness behind him, yet instead of air he hit the blocking forearm of his adversary. They exchanged a fury of blows and flashed apart, both panting softly.
Casually, Vegeta wiped at a thin trail of blood sneaking from the corner of his mouth."I see you learned a couple of new tricks as well."
Goku chuckled, using the edge of his palm to brush at the warm crimson trickling down from his split brow. "Well, I didn't sit idly on my butt all day during my seven years in Otherworld either, you know."
Drawing on his ki to raise his power almost to max, the prince scoffed. "I'd sure hope not." A second later he was charging onward again.
About three hours later, with the pointers nearing midday, the terrain around them looked post-apocalyptic. Craters, crushed mountains and deep cracks in the ground were all over the place and the only thing appearing messier than the landscape where the two Saiyans amidst it. Bruised, bloodied and barely covered by ragged clothes, they were right in the middle of the mayhem they were causing, the heat and the adrenaline surge of the battle forcing out the pain of cracked and broken bones, ruptured organs, torn muscles and the chafed, scraped, cut or burnt skin. The golden ki coursing through them was holding it all firmly together like superglue preventing the whole of shredded parts and pieces from falling apart. It was making either of them a titanium giant, brutally crashing together in order to see who would shatter first.
Although Goku really didn't want to see anybody shatter here and he sorta had a plan that might or might not work. He probably could have gained an upper hand if he played out his little ace but he knew that if anything, it would only make things worse and piss Vegeta off real bad, considering how competitive the other man was especially when it was Goku himself whom he competed with. So far, despite the very serious mood of this encounter, he sensed no real anger from his former nemesis, if anything he might have even dared say that Vegeta seemed to enjoy himself. Therefore he tried to bring this sparring match to a soft close, as soft as you could possibly end a match between two full-blooded Saiyans that was.
The next time Vegeta lunged forward in his characteristic forceful manner, Goku took the blow instead of dodging or blocking it; it hurt like hell, very likely snapping what ribs had already been cracked but it was okay. He saw the flicker of stun and confusion in teal eyes so much like his own, using that tenth of a second to bury his own fist in the other man's toned abdomen. The taut muscles there softened the impact enough to prevent too heavy damage and for the next tenth of a second, before the pain given and received could really settle in and incapacitate either of them for a heartbeat or two, both of them flared their energy and shot a parting ki blast into each other's faces. The force of the impact barreled them away from one another, crashing them through several debris in opposite directions.
A fair distance away from each other and thus temporarily out of each other's eyesight and earshot, either man took a breather to grunt and groan through the white-hot agony pulsating through their maltreated and yet exhilarated bodies, wiping sweat and spitting blood and struggling with their labored, coppery-flavored breath. They rose into the air slowly and simultaneously, and once face to face again, Goku didn't follow Vegeta's example as the elite began drawing on his largely depleted ki reserves to keep his transformation going. Instead the earth-raised Saiyan powered down, gold mellowing out into yellow and ultimately yielding to familiar coal-black.
"How about... a break...?" He wheezed through a smile of stark exhaustion, warily watching his rival's unreadable expression as Vegeta seemed to ponder the proposal. If the prince would strike out now, Goku might not have enough time and strength to properly defend himself which could end in quite a dire situation for him, but somewhere he knew that the other man's inherent pride would not allow him to go for a low-blow like that.
Indeed, after a few moments, Vegeta exhaled a prolonged breath and released his transformation as well, smirking lightly. "And there I was only starting to have fun. Your timing sucks, Kakarott."
Goku laughed out very gently with thoughtful regard to his battered chest, looking around as though in search for something. "Sorry. I just really didn't want to cause any more ruin and destruction to both the planet and ourselves."
His reply was a curt "Hmpf," that he simply decided to interpret as some sort of disgruntled agreement.
"There it is!"
Vegeta rose a brow at the unexpectedly joyful exclaim from the younger man, watching him hobble his airborne way over to something on the ground. It was the top of his gi that he had discarded somewhere during their battle - with purpose actually, because in its inner pocket that Chichi had sown onto all his training attires a long time ago hid the travel capsule carrying just what both of them needed right now.
"Here you go." He pitched a Senzu towards his fellow Saiyan warrior not little later, the prince catching the small legume in his palm that was barely covered by the remains of a once white glove.
"Surprisingly smart for somebody like you." He commented offhandedly, swallowing the bean and immediately feeling the sweet sensation of fading pain as the magical all-heal-pill mended broken bones, fixed ripped flesh and reconnected severed nerve tracts.
Goku's laugh was more zestful and sonorous this time, with his strength and energy restored as well. "Well, my noggin is not quite as hollow as most people like to think." Before he went on to switch his rags for a new attire, he tossed a set of clothes to his training partner as well. "I even stopped by your place before getting here. Bulma told me that if one of us ended up dying, she would kill the other one herself."
Vegeta chortled. "Sounds like her." For some reason or the other, he indeed was in a relatively good mood. It might have still been the aftermaths of his yesterday's conversation with Trunks, or maybe the spar had done him more good than he could admit to. It truly was nice to get away from training droids and face off against somebody who could more than equal his own strength. That could have probably been the case if he'd ever sparred with Piccolo and perhaps even Gohan, but he would never ask and they had never offered. Kakarott however...
They changed in silence and throughout the entirety of the time he couldn't get those words out of his head. My noggin is not quite as hollow as most people like to think. He always called his fellow kinsman a fool and an idiot, an oaf, an imbecile, a carefree cretin. It seemed to stick with the younger Saiyan like some others designations stuck to Vegeta himself - killer, aggressor, prick, antisocial choleric... Both of them bore a stigma in the eyes of somebody else. Also in each other's? Remembering his conversation with Trunks yesterday as well... Those words, observations, insights... they were not those of a fool.
I had asked uncle Goku yesterday... Why the two of you had fought. He'd told me... You were simply very upset, and angry. He said you wanted revenge... and that had blinded you. You didn't care what it would cost, you wanted to achieve your goal. He said that is your nature.
No. No, Kakarott saw him differently. He saw him. Maybe not everything, but crucial parts of what was essential. How? Did he carry parts of it within his own heart, mind, character as well? Now, today... what was really the purpose he had wanted this sparring match for?
"Vegeta?"
Blinking, addressed man raised his gaze to meet the astute one of his taller, younger opposite. The expression in those eyes just now was not that of a fool either. "You talked with Trunks the other day." He said, seemingly sudden and out of place, but somewhere he had simply followed the trail of his thoughts. Of course, the confusion on Kakarott's face was still warranted.
"Uhm... yeah. He seemed a bit upset that you hadn't come along to our little fishing trip. So I tried to cheer him up a little."
The prince snorted softly. "By telling him about Freeza and the destruction of our home planet? Or by trying to find redeeming words for what I've done in the aftermath of those events?"
Having tied the knot of his navy-blue belt, Goku slowly let his hands sink, onyx eyes attentive as he observed the other man. Vegeta's sentence had sounded accusatory and yet the undertone of that sentiment had been... halfhearted, in a sense. There was no typical anger, and he didn't know what to make of it. "I just, well." Would the other Saiyan take offense if he told the truth? "I didn't want to-"
The answer resulted out of Vegeta's words all by itself as he interrupted: "Make me look bad? So you tried to make it sound better?" There was no offense in them, just... some sort of somber calmness. "You're the same as Bulma, she tries to find pretty words for it as well. Hell, when I sat down with him yesterday, attempting to tell the truth, I found myself paraphrasing back and forth just the same." Sitting down onto the ground beneath a big, crushed rock, the shadow of the chosen shelter shielded him well from the consistently brightening sunlight.
Walking over, Goku plopped down next to the prince, both of them staring off into the distance and the destruction their training match had caused to the scenery. "I don't badmouth friends, Vegeta. I know you hate the very thought of it, but personally, I consider you a comrade. I would never say a bad word about you in front of your kid." Nobody of their little gang ever would. Goku knew that not all of his friends were as welcoming of Vegeta, that some tolerated the elite there because they were considerate of Goku and of Bulma, but also because all of them were decent people. They could accept. They could forgive.
"Yes, I know. And sometimes it takes the piss out of me, your whole viewpoint on this." That whole... camaraderie thing. "I also don't need anybody justifying what I did in front of others."
Curling one leg up, Goku placed his chin atop his bent knee. "If you want me to apologize for it, I can. But it wouldn't be sincere."
Vegeta snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the wall of rock behind him. "I don't need your apologies. Or your verbal protection." He paused for a moment. "But I can accept the latter when it's for Trunks' sake." Not only from his lover, but from his fellow Saiyan, too. Kakarott had tried to be tactful and subtle about it, and going ballistic on him for it really seemed... petty.
A small smile twitched Goku's lips. "Thank you." It was almost amusing, how Vegeta would manage to turn anything done in his favor by others into something that sounded like he'd done them a favor instead. That pride of his was indeed a mighty amazing thing.
They sat in silence for another short while, until the earth-raised Saiyan broke it quietly again. "Goten mentioned something very curious yesterday afternoon. He said Trunks had told about having a real aunt and uncle out in space somewhere."
Vegeta chuckled lightly. "The brat's got a big mouth. I suppose soon enough everyone will know." Not that he was desperately trying to make a secret out of it anyway. He simply never brought it up.
Expression in a mix of disbelief and astonishment, Goku turned to look at the older man. "So it's true? You have siblings out there somewhere?" There were more Saiyans out there? The thought was so... strange, and yet oddly heartwarming.
The elite shrugged his shoulders mildly. "I might. I haven't heard from them in ages and all things considered, they might be dead or have long forgotten me already." He had made it clear back then, that he hadn't cared for any alive relatives. It was only logical for them to discard his existence, too; not that cutting already feeble bonds came at all hard for Saiyans anyway. However, he hadn't expected the response his statement would elicit out of the man sitting next to him.
"At least you can still hope. I killed the last of my kin with my own two hands." There was remorse and notes of muted bitterness in that soft, self-admonishing sentence.
This time it was on Vegeta to turn his head and stare. "You mean Radditz?" He watched his long-time rival nod faintly and huffed somewhat incredulously. "I can't believe you would feel guilty for killing somebody who tried to kill you." It was ludicrous. If anyone had made attempts on his life or the life of those precious to him, Vegeta would never have any qualms about kicking their ass six ways from Sunday.
But the sadness in that voice was real, and the heartache that co-vibrated was genuine: "He was my brother. When I look at my own boys, or at Goten and Trunks... I just-"
"He didn't give you a choice, Kakarott." The older Saiyan cut off, and still there was something close to... sympathy in his determined interruption. "He was an excellent fighter and he used to be a great soldier, but after the destruction of Vegetasei he was a troubled man." Much like I've been, he'd almost added, but held that comment back, even though he suspected that Kakarott could guess it either way. "None of us was the same after that. We weren't a particularly friendly bunch to begin with, but under Freeza the rest of our goodwill and good sense had eventually evaporated as well."
Both of them were looking out into the distance once again, and something within Vegeta's chest couldn't help constricting at the quiet, forlorn request - nigh a plea - that passed his fellow Saiyan's lips in almost a whisper just then.
"Vegeta... Could you tell me about them? Our planet, our people... My brother...?"
Casting a sideward glance at the troubled existence beside him, for the first time since they'd met as enemies in battle Vegeta really caught a glimpse of the man beneath. He'd never really bothered to look but just now, right here, he saw the other Saiyan the way Kakarott had seemed able to see the prince himself. Son Goku was at home here and he loved the planet, the people, he'd grown up as one of them and they accepted him as willingly as he accepted them. But some part of him was still feeling out of place; uprooted, lost. Some piece in some small, hidden corner deep down inside was still amiss. His true heritage, his real home, his real parents... they were all blank spaces, an emptiness that would hurt from time to time regardless the happiness surrounding him because a small part of him was and always would be Kakarott. That identity he had never hoped to shape up and understand, simply feeling it there sometimes but unable to give it an image. Vegeta was the only link he had to it and for a moment, the elite was stunned by an emotion he hadn't really thought he'd ever feel. Duty. Responsibility. Obligation, even. As a prince to a vassal, as an elder to a youngster, as a leader to a soldier... a kinsman to a kinsman. There was a legacy the two of them shared; traditions, customs, beliefs... a kinship. Knowledge he could, should, had to pass on. Values and morals and ideals that might not have been good and just and right all the way through, but that still belonged to both of them. Kakarott deserved to know. He had a right to.
"I guess that would be only fair." He thus replied placidly after a long moment of silence. "I don't know all too much myself, but that which I can remember and that which Nappa and Radditz would sometimes tell me about... plenty of it connects to you as well. You and I were sort of intertwined long before we ever met face to face."
Tilting his head lightly, Goku watched the other man with an expression of anxious curiosity. He hadn't held much hope that Vegeta would grant him his undemanding request but it seemed as though the elite was actually willing to share, and it made him feel grateful and nervous both. Grateful for the opportunity to get to know his past and history, and nervous in the prospect of just what that past and history might look like.
"Your father, Bardock, was the leader of one of our best elite squads. Your mother was a member of it, too, and even though she was a below average fighter and too gentle for a Saiyan, your dad and she had been on the same team since they were kids. So he had insisted she remained a member of his squad. My father valued yours enough to permit that, and I suppose eventually your parents had Radditz. He was born a strong kid with a high power level, so it was clear that he'd go far. By the time you were conceived, he was already touring the galaxy with Nappa and myself."
Kakarott's heritage was in fact as noble as a Saiyan's could be, it was just him who had been regarded unkindly by fate, much like Vegeta's own younger brother had. Even more unkindly in fact, because... "Your mother died not that much later, during childbirth."
Goku's eyes narrowed lightly in upcoming, sorrowful realization. "Childbirth..." That could only mean one thing. "Me...?" He'd been the thing that killed her, coming into this world?
Vegeta nodded. "Yes. Atop of that your power level was indeed one of the lowest ever seen, and I don't think Radditz ever got over the fact that his mother died for a reason like that." A lot of Saiyans had held little regard and affection for their parents yet they had been no strangers to it either. Vegeta hadn't ever really had any deep connections to his own folks, but Radditz had been different. He had loved his parents and even if his pride would always hide it well, in certain moments it shone through very clearly.
"You were to be sent away and I suppose seeing Bardock fight that decision tooth and nail only festered his grudge against you. It was... unusual, by Saiyan standards. No other father had ever cared much for a weak kid when one was born to him, most were glad to get rid of what was considered low class Saiyans and a disgrace. My own father was much the same. If my mother hadn't stepped up and stepped in, Tarble would have ended up just like you."
The words were like small revelations presented to Goku's rapidly working mind, constructing vague personalities of people he hadn't known but had an irrevocable bond with all the same. A gentle mother unloving of fighting and death. A father unwilling to let go of his son no matter of everybody around him dooming his decision. A brother who blamed his sibling for the death of one parent, and the resolve of the other. His heart was beginning to ache, pumping a quiet sense of woe throughout him.
"The king got furious. He demoted your dad and stripped him of all ranks, threatening to kill both him and his sons if he continued resistance. I suppose keeping Radditz alive and sending you off into space was still better than getting all three of you killed, so Bardock complied."
Dropping his head, the earth-raised Saiyan shook it faintly in some sort of mute remorse. He would have never guessed... He'd gotten his mother killed, his father relegated and his brother infuriated with him by simply coming into this world. Nonetheless... it was proof that he had been loved by those parents he had never had a chance to meet, and it hurt. It hurt to know that neither them nor his sibling were alive anymore for him to say 'thank you' and 'I'm sorry' to.
"The three of us were on a mission in space when Radditz got a call from him. Bardock was telling us not to return home, that Freeza was planning on destroying the planet. He had tried to warn my father and everybody else, however after everything that had happened nobody would listen to him." It was one of the major reasons Vegeta was so disgruntled with Kakarott as well, even if you couldn't really blame the younger Saiyan for it. Still, his father was the reason the prince himself was alive; it almost made him obligated to the man's son.
Moreover... Bardock had been the only Saiyan to recognize the threat. A demoted soldier having more insight and understanding than the king himself... Was there a greater disgrace for a royal lineage? Watching out for his race and his people... Bardock had been doing a better job at it than the ruling monarch himself and Vegeta, too, had made the same mistake back then. As a prince, he should have at least lent an ear and listened, and yet...
"Neither me nor Nappa had believed him either, but Radditz had. He managed to convince me to delay our return by a day, and it saved our lives." Otherwise Freeza would have likely blown the planet up together with them just as well. The Icejin hadn't really cared, overly amused over what he'd called 'a lucky coincidence' after having learnt about it. "That was the first and last time I've seen your dad - on the communicator in our ship. You're the spitting image of him, too. As is your youngest." It was remarkable how much they looked like him, not unlike Tarble and Vegeta himself seemed to mirror their own father. Was fate trying to tell them something? He wouldn't know.
"Nappa was furious when we faced Freeza thereafter; if I hadn't stopped him, he might have gotten us all killed. But Radditz was far more upset over something entirely else. Zarbon had flaunted to him about how your father had tried to stop Freeza all but himself and what a sad show it had been, how the Icejin had blown him to smithereens with the energy ball he'd tossed at the planet itself." Alone against an army and the space tyrant himself... How bitter would it be that an iconic scene like that, fighting for the sake of their race, would have a common foot soldier depicted where it had been the duty of a king. But instead, his own father's blindness had been their demise.
"Years later he'd eventually learnt that you were alive, found out where you were and blasted off to Earth. Wouldn't obey my direct order to stay." Vegeta shook his head, as though still disbelieving of that past disobedience. "I suppose he blamed you for the ruin of your family, for your mother's death and partly also for what had happened to our planet, saying that if your father hadn't discredited himself by trying to protect you, maybe others would have listened when he'd tried to warn them about Freeza. He claimed that he wanted to see if you were really worth it all, and was gone. Not that either Nappa or I had cared too much for it back then." Not until hearing that Radditz had learnt of the Dragonballs anyway.
"He was angry, all three of us were. Perpetually, for years." It had been building within, enhanced by helplessness and their unfavorable, humiliating position in Freeza's service, disfiguring their hearts and minds until all that had remained were blind fury and the violent ruthlessness of killers. "I guess he blew the gasket entirely after witnessing what you'd become when he landed here. Frankly, back then, I would have likely killed him myself if he'd succeeded in killing you and returned, for plain insubordination."
Vegeta fell silent, staring on ahead at the scenery before him. He didn't need to look in order to feel the upset radiating from his fellow Saiyan next to him, it was obvious and somewhere a given how much everything of what he'd just heard was afflicting Kakarott, his voice stifled by balled up emotions pressuring his chest as he let it resound:
"I never knew any of this..." If he had, back then... If he'd known... If he'd know... "I wish I would have talked to him... I wish he would have talked to me. I wish he'd told me..." Perhaps everything would have been different. Perhaps he would still be alive. But all Radditz had spoken about was death and destruction and that stupid Saiyan pride... Nonetheless, it didn't change the way Goku felt about it now; dreadfully awful. He'd killed his brother for all the wrong reasons.
Vegeta shook his head lightly, speaking quietly and with a note of resignation. "Much like myself, he was blinded as well, Kakarott." He didn't know if it was an attempt at making the other man feel a little bit better about it; it was not on him to try and offer comfort. And yet... and yet. "It's a trait all of us share, we let our anger get the best of us. Anger turns to rage, rage to hatred, hatred into death and destruction. It's the flaw of Saiyan nature, our pride and ego, our superiority complex... we seek the fault in everybody else, never in ourselves. We blame all and everything, but never our own bigotry. And once we get an idea stuck inside our heads, no matter how wrong and ridiculous it might be, not seldom only death can ever convince us otherwise."
The remorse and aimless anger transpiring right there, was his own. Not over the way the last of them had found their deaths or lived still, but over the way his entire race had led their existence. They could have been so much more... Instead, they were now fading into the never-ending trail of history as another failed species soon to be forgotten. "Sometimes I wish I could have-" He didn't finish, his poised fury without a target. So stupid... so, so stupid; the way the strong, proud Saiyan people had found their end.
"If only the you of now could have been the king of then." Goku remarked softly, raising his eyes up to the endless skies above them, his sad, contemplative gaze trying to pierce the firmament and steal a glimpse at the vastness of the galaxy beyond. "You would have changed it all." He didn't know how, but he knew it regardless. Just now, the prince had spoken like a true king and his sagacity in that one moment was worthy of a true monarch who would have the necessary vision and wisdom to lead his populace to prosperity.
Vegeta on his part, chuckled cheerlessly. "By doing what? Bringing humanity to Saiyans?" That was silly. Saiyans would never, should never be humans.
The expression on Goku's features was solemn, and gently introspective. "No... By giving heart to your people. By showing them a different way. A better way." The way that both of them had experienced, adopted, accepted and comprehended by now, and there was nothing human about it. "Emotions, compassion, togetherness... trust, love, family, home... those aren't the traits of a human race, Vegeta. It wasn't invented by them, it's not exclusive to them. Just like strength, pride, ego, honor isn't exclusive to Saiyans either. Those are all traits of any living, conscient being, felt throughout the galaxy, the universe. Our species simply chose to ignore and discard some of those traits and focus on others. The wrong ones, perhaps. That's why there's possibly only two of us left."
The elite was silent for a moment, looking somberly reflective. "It doesn't matter now. It's too late." He could change nothing for their dead race now. Nor was there a future, pure-blooded generation to hold a strong leader's guiding hand over. Their legacy, their heirs, albeit dearly beloved, were but demis now and the further their lineage would go the more that Saiyan blood would continue to thin out and fade away.
Goku turned his head and focused his gaze on the Saiyan prince for a long moment, pensive and momentous, and when he raised his voice again it was quiet but firm, traced by a hopeful conviction. "Who knows. Your kingdom might yet come one day, Vegeta."
