Chapter 11

Reconciliation

On the way to the park, Clark looked up at the city skyline taking in the recent news of becoming a slave owner. He would have never agreed to such a thing, but this Saiyan fought for his own freedom. The problem was, there were no known living persons that could vouch for the warrior that walked beside him. He barely noticed when Vegeta had stopped if not for the fact that he found himself alone suddenly.

Turning around, he saw Vegeta's alert posture. His head was raised, his gaze focused in one direction as he stood attentive. The tail that had been wrapped on his waist was down and it flicked from side to side slightly, twitching. Coming closer, the reporter leaned in. "What caught your attention?"

Peering in the same direction as Vegeta, his x-ray and telescopic visions would sweep the area in tandem when he noticed an elderly woman sitting on a park bench, throwing bird seed to a flock of pigeons. "She's a regular here in the park, along with an older man, and another elderly woman comes here quite frequently. They just sit there for hours."

Vegeta turned to Clark and then lowered his gaze furrowing his brow. "I thought I recognized the energy. It's a bit weaker, but it happens with age. May I go speak with her and see if my senses are correct in this matter?"

The taller man shook his head and followed with him. When they got to the woman, she looked up and her eyes brimmed with delight. Her sapphire gaze was a bit more aged, and her skin much thinner, but she recognized the Saiyan right away. "My Darkfire, it has been a long time since I have last seen you. You don't seem to have aged one bit. Time has been kind to you about aging. Unfortunately, it has not been so kind to me."

Only one person called him by that name and he smiled lightly, crouching down to sit a bit lower than the woman. The disguised Kryptonian would sit on the bench next to her as Vegeta almost knelt before this woman. She turned to him and then touched the side of his face running down to the jaw where she would lift his head ever so lightly. Vegeta looked up at her and laid his head in her hand gently. "Yes Lady Kienna, it is your Darkfire. I remember the last time we met so long ago. I was with a couple other Saiyans and you were with Tojar. We were making plans on helping the slaves of Jronia."

Kienna smiled and nodded. "I remember as well. You were a feisty slave then. It hurts my heart to see that black band still about your throat. You have suffered so much under that collar, for so many years. I cannot believe that you are here now. I trust your current Master treats you well?"

"Yes, my Lady, my current Master treats me very well." Vegeta said with a touch of nostalgia upon his voice.

"That is good. You deserve a good home with kind people. You have done so much to set Jronia on the right path again. Syn is no longer there, Valk'nar hasn't been seen in ages. Jerone is an old goat that still kicks, but he is not much of a threat anymore. Oh and Karr was overthrown shortly after you disappeared. The uprising of slaves was something you would have been proud to see Darkfire. It came at great cost to you, but you inspired it, by never giving up, never giving in. You refused to break when all others had lost hope. Thank you so much for everything you have given us. You gave us back our city and we now treat our slaves as they should be treated, with dignified respect as if they were family." Kienna's hands clasped the warrior's tightly in joyous reunion.

Vegeta smiled at the news. "It lifts the heart to know that the sacrifices have not been in vain. It is nice to know that the slaves are treated with much more care and consideration. Someday, let's pray that they may be free."
Kienna pat his hand and smiled. "There is a tradition now. Once a year, any slave that wishes freedom merely takes part in the trek to the Ghost's Lair. They have but to step inside the entrance to obtain their freedom. We Jronians live a long time and my time draws near. My last wish was to see you again my Darkfire, to know that you were at least in good hands that treat you as you should be. They do have choice to be free, and none of this would have been done if not for you."

Clark listened to them talk, hearing the aftermath of what had happened. Kienna looked over at him. "You are his Master now?"

The disguised Kryptonian nodded. "Yes, ma'am. He was nearly lost from my grasp, but he is a quick thinker."

Kienna nodded. "That would be my Darkfire. When you think all is lost, he shines the way through the black veil of despair. He came to you now for a purpose and stays in your care for a reason. Do not be afraid of what he has to offer. You will find a great gift has been given to you. When he was first there, he did not have the ability to choose his Masters. Oh he has suffered greatly under their hand with even harsher tortures inflicted. You seem like a nice young man and if he chose you, then it must be so."

Another elderly woman came up at this time and as she and Kienna spoke, the aging man beside her looked at the collared Saiyan. "It cannot be." He spoke in a hushed voice, choked with disbelief. "Mother, look and see who visits with us today."
Vegeta looked over at the other two and remained where he was as she sat on the opposite side of Clark and the man remained standing. "Do you remember us Vegeta?" The man spoke again as he placed hand on the Saiyan's shoulder.

"You are older, but I recognize you and your mother. Meritha, it is good to see you and your son again. I remember you as a small boy running out after the ball in the snow. I swerved out of the way and it was a nasty winter." Vegeta stated with the certainty of a clear memory.

Meritha nodded. "I remember that horrible accident you were in. Your Master was over you with a whip, lashing you severely for the mishap. You had simply tried to avoid harming my son when you lost your footing on the ice and snow. It was such a treacherous winter. For a time I did not know if you were going to make it. I remember the cart shafts buckling, breaking as the weight of that heavy cart pressed you against a tree. The cart rammed right into your back. It took several of us to get the cart off you and we thought you dead there for a time until you started to move."

The man standing beside Vegeta nodded. "I remember chasing my ball out there, then seeing you come. I froze in panic and you saved me not once, but three times that day. That was the first. The second was during that blizzard when you pushed through white out conditions in sub-zero temperatures. All others were forced inside and yet you were the only one that braved that winter storm getting me to a hospital. The third time was when you gave me some of your own life energy on the bed in the room. You never knew my name, yet you saved me anyway, a common stranger. When your own Master treated you harshly, you still had the heart in you to press on against the odds."

Kienna smiled as she heard the stories as well. "You see now Vegeta, my Darkfire; you made a difference when no one else could. I am sorry your hands had to be stained with so much blood. Your having to kill just to survive, it was not right. You lost the remnants of your people in a horrid camp, a family that you loved and cherished. Your freedom was taken against your will, and still much more for the simple reason of greed."

Meritha nodded in agreement. "It was the fault of the four leaders that you were backed into a corner, forced to fight for your very life. How they degraded you with their methods of trying to break that fighting spirit. You could have left us for good, but you fought for us. Rest assured Vegeta, the blood on your hands is not your fault. No matter what is said or done, the blood on your hands is the fault of those that led us into such dark depths. Wash your hands clean Vegeta, their deaths were forced upon you and being collared, you had no choice."

The man nodded in agreement. "Stand tall and stand proud Vegeta, you deserve to."
Vegeta's gaze lowered, his throat constricted. "All these years, I had blamed myself for resorting to such measures. I thought the blood on my hands my fault. Thank you for this gift. You have given me the ability to finally atone for my race, my people."

Again this aging man would bring Vegeta to his feet and then as their hands met in a handshake, he smiled. "My name is Cydon." After mentioning his name, he pulled the warrior into an embrace like brothers. "Thank you for all you have given, and for saving my life. You will not be soon forgotten."

With that stated the three of them rose and slowly walked away as Vegeta stood watching after them. With a lift of his hand, the Mists rose, to send them home and as they walked through, he took a deep breath and turned to Clark. Vegeta stood there, his shoulders sagged just a bit, as if a great weight had been lifted from them. "Now my true atonement can begin."

Clark looked over at Vegeta and nodded as the Saiyan turned to look after where they had vanished. Walking up to him, he placed a hand on the smaller person's shoulder. "I did not realize your past was so dark. They say it was not your fault, that you were pushed to it. I believe them. You could have killed Luthor, yet you didn't. That says something at least that deep under that coarse exterior, beats the heart of a true hero."

Vegeta looked at the reporter with a furrowed brow. "I do not seek the title of hero. There is only one goal I have in mind, nothing more and you have known what that is."

"Yes I do know what that is, but hero is a title worth having. From the sounds of it, you have already obtained that status." Kal-El would state with warranted certainty.

A scowl crossed Vegeta's brow in a deep furrow. His black eyes turned to the Kryptonian still disguised in human garments. "You may want to have that coined with you, but I could care less. I never asked for the attention and I do not want it."

Putting his hands up, Clark gave in under the temper of the Saiyan. "Okay, it's your decision, but you have already been making the front page for a couple of weeks."

"An expected side effect of the case. Speaking of which, is there to be a trial anymore or am I left at the mercy of the Free?" Vegeta's pace slowed and then looked to his Master as he waited for an answer if it were to be granted.

Clark looked at him. "We've been going over the journals, the Estate, and more. When we presented it to the Courts, they simply tossed the case out citing that with you being a slave, you cannot press charges, nor entitled to a fair hearing."

"I suppose that is to be expected of the vaunted Justice System. It seems that they only care about the Free, instead of justice for all. It seems I will have to make my point another way if they want to play this game." Vegeta turned his head to view the police station on the side. With a light scoff, he turned and stood there momentarily, his head dipped as his tail wrapped about his waist once more.

"What are you thinking, Vegeta? I hope you are not planning on starting a fight with the police." The reporter stated with a tone of warning in his deepened voice.

"A tempting thought to say the least, but I am not stupid. Doing that would not serve my purpose in the long run." The warrior prince coldly replied, and then his gaze lay upon a more welcoming sight, food. Licking his lips lightly from a pang of hunger, he started in that direction. Just before going inside though, he stopped short, remembering what had happened in the past.

With a light smile, the taller man started for the door, turning around only to see Vegeta standing there as if uncertain. Looking back inside, Clark would motion the Saiyan warrior within its doors. Vegeta stepped inside, but instead of going straight for the tables to sit down; he moved to the wall and stood there, his gaze to the floor.

As Clark pulled out a seat, he motioned Vegeta over, but noticed that the Saiyan remained steadfast against the wall. It was all starting to make sense. What the three spoke of was still effecting the Saiyan's mannerisms even when no threat of harm came. As much as the Kryptonian was learning of the Saiyan's past, so too did much more remain mysterious.