Chapter 13:
"Wake up Vegeta."
His eyes snap open and Kakarott is above him, face inches from his own. Only the expression is all wrong. Cruel smirk and vicious, green eyes in place of placid stupidity and kindness, yellow blaze of hair framing it all.
He straddles Vegeta's waist, and when he tries to move, he can't, finds his arms trapped above his head, pinned to the ground at the wrists. Kakarott's powerful hands squeeze over thin bones underneath skin, threatening to break, and he grins at Vegeta with sick satisfaction.
"What's the matter?" He asks, leaning closer, hands squeezing tighter, and pain surges down Vegeta's arms, into his shoulders. "Does the great Saiyan Prince have nothing to say?"
Rage erupts behind Vegeta's eyes, and he thrashes, trying with every ounce of his strength to break free. How dare such low class scum speak to him so?! How dare he lay hands on him like this!?
Only he can't move at all, his efforts yielding nothing, Kakarott holding him easily as he might a newborn kitten, and gradually rage turns to familiar fear... turns to despair. Can't win, can't break free, can't fight back...
He turns his face aside as Kakarott leans closer still, until his breath is hot on Vegeta's skin, and he laughs, low and deep.
"Look at you." He says, voice thick with disgust. "Pathetic. You're nobodies prince, Vegeta. Nobodies savior. Weak, useless. You make me sick."
And Vegeta feels one of those giant hands press then against his face, against his mouth, his nose, pressing, pressing, and he can't breathe suddenly, can't get any air. Panic swells merciless from the pit of his stomach, his eyes wide in terror, and he can't breathe, can't breathe, can't breathe...
Thrashes, twists and pulls and fights, and he's too weak, too weak, can't break free, can't get out...
Kakarott laughs, laughs and laughs, hand pressing harder, and Vegeta feels himself begin to sink into the ground, the dirt crumbling, caving in beneath him. Pushing down, down, pushing him into a shallow grave.
He's going to die, he thinks vaguely, the light above him beginning to dim. Going to die.
Scary as it was the first time. Doesn't want to. Scared. He's scared.
Sorry Papa... sorry, sorry... sorry...
"Vegeta?"
His eyes snap open and Kakarott is above him, face inches from his own.
He gasps, rocketing up and scrambling away, back hitting the trunk of the tree he'd fallen asleep under.
"Woah, hey..." Kakarott holds his hands up, palms out. "calm down! You were havin' some kinda nightmare and I thought I should wake ya up before someone else saw."
Vegeta's chest rises and falls with too rapid breath, his heart hammering painfully behind his ribs as he glares at the other Saiyan.
Dream... it had only been a dream.
He wasn't dying. Kakarott wasn't...
"Are you okay?" Kakarott asks. He's sitting on his knees, a few feet back from Vegeta, staring at him with his usual, dull witted confusion, and the relief Vegeta feels at that is embarrassing.
He turns his head away, staring at the lush grass stretching out towards the house.
"Go away." He says flatly, praying his humiliation isn't making itself known on his face.
The last person he wants to see is Kakarott, the insufferable buffoon. Just wants to be left alone.
His hands tremble and he clasps them together hard in his lap, keeping his eyes away.
"Just thought I'd see how you were doin'!" The idiot rambles on, not at all listening. "Last time I saw you, things weren't so hot, huh?"
Vegeta's teeth grind together, his eyes screwing shut. Why was Kakarott here? Why was he talking to him. Go away, go away.
"Actually, Bulma called me. She said she was worried about ya." He goes on. "Wanted me to check in. So, here I am!"
Vegeta turns to look at the other Saiyan then, his heart kicking faster.
"What did she tell you?!" He demands, already feeling his temper rise dangerously.
Kakarott shrugs, oblivious.
"Nothin' much. Just said you were havin' a hard time. She said she didn't think you were trainin' even! She thought I might be able to help, I guess."
"That bitch knows nothing!" Vegeta growls, pushing himself to his feet, fully intending to take off, away from here, away from Kakarott and all of this.
"Hey!" Kakarott says, getting to his own feet, and it's shameful the way Vegeta has to force himself not to take a step back, the other man towering over him reminding him of bad memories. "That's not very nice Vegeta! Bulma's been nothin' but good to you, lettin' you stay in her home and everything!"
Vegeta stares at the ground, hands curled to fists at his sides.
That was shameful too. He shouldn't have called the woman that. He knows it. Shouldn't have. Just confused, didn't know... didn't know what was happening. Wasn't her fault what happened. Wasn't her fault he was so fucked up, too weak to... too weak to even...
It had felt nice, what she'd shown him. Thought about it a lot since. Thought about what she looked like, how beautiful... how beautiful she was. Wanted to touch her again, wanted her to... to kiss him again, wanted...
Hadn't meant to hurt her. Forgot his own strength, sometimes. She'd looked so scared, and that was it. She probably never wanted to see him again. Probably hated him now. Wouldn't blame her if she did. Surprised she hadn't thrown him out yet. Didn't know why. Thought she would have, expected it... Why would she...
"Yo, Vegeta, are you..."
Kakarott's hand is suddenly on his shoulder, and Vegeta reacts without thinking, reaching up and smacking it violently away.
"Don't touch me!" He snarls, and he hates the way he has to crane his head all the way back just to see the other Saiyan's face. Hates the way he feels like a child standing next to him. Wonders why he couldn't have been tall like his father, couldn't have been more like him in every way.
"Why're you so mad?" The idiot asks, that same, dumb, innocent look on his face. "I'm just tryin' to help. You seem like you're havin' a bad time, and Bulma said..."
"I could have had your head for touching me like that!" Vegeta snaps, cutting him off, regret and shame and hate and loss, and he can't control any of this. Why is he here? What is he doing?
"Huh?" Kakarott looks at him in confusion.
"You put hands on me!" Vegeta snaps, vicious, sick. Can't take it anymore. Nappa would never have, Raditz... "Your Prince! Low class scum! You dare!?"
The confused look drains from Kakarott's face, replaced fast with displeasure.
"You don't gotta..." he starts.
"You are a Saiyan warrior. My subject. You should bow at my feet and beg my forgiveness, you disrespectful, obtuse..."
"I'm not a Saiyan, I'm an Earthling." Kakarott talks over him, friendliness gone from his voice. "And you ain't my prince or whatever. You're just an opponent I already beat..."
Vision goes red, hate, hate, hate... Can't control how much he hates.
Kakarott saying something else, but Vegeta doesn't hear him, doesn't know what he's saying.
Hates him though. Hates Kakarott so much. Wants to hurt him. Wants to beat him bloody. Doesn't think. Just react. React when there's an enemy, don't think.
He lashes out, grabbing hold of Kakarott's gi, hooking his calf round his ankles, sweeping his legs out from under him.
Kakarott starts to go down to his back, and Vegeta moves to pin him, wants to punch his face in, break it all apart.
The world spins, too fast. Vegeta doesn't know what happens. He's on his back now, Kakarott over him.
Reversed. He reversed their positions, somehow.
"Stop it!" Kakarott screams, holding him by the material of his shirt, holding his head off the ground.
Vegeta thrashes, wild, desperate.
Fear... fear...
He'd been afraid, that first time. That battle, that first battle with Kakarott. Impossible. It had been impossible. There wasn't another Saiyan as powerful as he was. Wasn't another more... more powerful. Impossible.
That first blow, Kakarott had hit him... hit him, and he shouldn't have been able to! And he'd been scared, he remembers. Been scared of another Saiyan, and how was that possible? How, how? Sick fucking joke of it all. Couldn't even be the most powerful among his people, even when he was supposed to be. Outdone by a lower class, by a... a...
He lashes out blindly, trying to hit Kakarott's face, to get away from him, and Kakarott dodges easily.
Angry now, Vegeta can see it on his face.
Kakarott hauls him up from the ground, spinning him, slamming him against the tree.
Vegeta growls, tries to hit him again. Nothing working. Kakarott's too fast, too strong...
"What are you doing!?" Kakarott shouts, pinning him against the trunk, leaning his forearm against his chest.
Losing it. He's losing it. Can't see straight. Can't think.
"I am an elite! An elite warrior of my people!" Vegeta cries, reaching up, wrapping his hands round Kakarott's forearms, trying to pry them free. It's like trying to move an entire mountain.
"Yeah!? And so what!?" Kakarott screams back, and Vegeta freezes, mind blanking out. Fear, fear, fear. He stares up at Kakarott and wants to be away from here.
"So you're an elite, and I'm a low class whatever." Kakarott goes on, refusing to loosen his hold, and Vegeta bites down on his tongue to keep from begging. "I'm still stronger than you!"
Red rage, dazed, doesn't know. Confused. Always so confused.
His voice chokes in his throat.
"... Y-you would renounce your heritage, your people." He stammers out, and he's so alone, doesn't know what to do anymore. "The pride... pride of your people..."
"They aren't my people. You aren't my prince." Kakarott says, pity in his voice. Can't take that. Doesn't want anyone's pity. "Why are you so afraid of me?"
Vegeta turns his face away, wants to beg. Wants Kakarott to let him go. Shame that he can't break free. Papa would hate him.
"Not afraid of you..." he mutters weakly.
"Yes, you are." Kakarott says.
They stand there like that for long seconds, and Vegeta stops fighting, goes limp in Kakarott's hold. Can't fight, can't break free anyway.
"I'm gonna let you go now, alright?" He hears Kakarott say.
Doesn't answer. Eyes sting. Wishes they would stop doing that.
Arm pressed against his chest pulls away, pressure gone, hand fisted in his shirt gone.
Vegeta stumbles, starts to go down, Kakarott catches him, sinks to the ground with him.
"Hey," he says, and Vegeta shoves him off.
"Fuck off me..." He says. "Not scared of you..."
Somehow, Kakarott listens this time, doesn't touch Vegeta again, lets Vegeta go as he crawls like the useless animal he is to the tree again, pressing himself against it, turning away from the other Saiyan.
Humiliating. That's all Vegeta seemed to know anymore.
"... Gonna surpass you someday. I'm gonna beat you Kakarott." He says, not really caring if Kakarott hears him at all.
"Okay." Kakarott says, so easy, so sure.
What's that like, Vegeta wonders. What's that feel like?
Another long stretch of silence.
Just wishes the bastard would go away.
"I can help you, ya know." Kakarott says. "You wanna know how to become a Super Saiyan, right? I can help you."
Vegeta doesn't answer. Feels sick. Doesn't want some low class scum's help. Doesn't need it. He'll become a Super Saiyan on his own. Always did everything on his own anyway.
"It's cause you're always angry, ya know." Kakarott keeps talking, and Vegeta fucking hates him. "I couldn't figure out at first how I became a Super Saiyan. It just sorta'... happened, ya know?!"
No, he doesn't know. Doesn't know anything. Tried so hard, for so long. Pushed and pushed himself, almost died, so many times almost died, wanting to get stronger, never strong enough. Never got anywhere close.
"And then it hit me one day!" Kakarott goes on, that carefree tone back in his voice. "It was when Frieza killed Krillin, and I got so angry, it just happened. I don't think I've ever been that angry in my life. That Frieza guy sure was bad."
Rage again, like fire on his insides.
He turns to Kakarott, burning, hating.
"You know nothing about Frieza!" He spits, voice guttural, thick.
Kakarott frowns, stupid look on his stupid face.
"Well I know he was strong." He says. "And fightin' someone is like knowin' 'em, in a way. It was so much fun fightin' him too! I still can't believe..."
His voice fades off. Can't take it. Can't take listening to it anymore, Vegeta thinks. Gonna be sick.
Dumb bastard.
"... You didn't kill him." Vegeta mumbles.
"Huh?" Kakarott says. "What?"
Vegeta's lids squeeze shut, head spinning.
"You didn't kill him, you stupid fucker. You didn't... thought it was fun..."
A half choked laugh bubbles up from his throat. It's funny, really. Funny. So easy for Kakarott. Everything's so easy.
"Well, no." He's talking again. "I tried to give him a second chance. Everyone deserves one."
Can't take it. Oh gods, can't...
He pushes himself to his feet, moves away. Fast. Got to get out of here.
"Hey, where are ya goin'?!" He hears Kakarott yell behind him. Just keeps going. Can't listen to it anymore. "I was gonna tell you how to become a Super Saiyan!"
Didn't even know what a Super Saiyan was, Vegeta thinks, and he keeps going. Didn't know until he told him, didn't know what he was at all, even, his whole, dumb life didn't know...
Didn't need his help, then. Didn't need anyone's help for anything. Would do it on his own.
Always did everything on his own anyway...
Nothing happens for weeks.
And there's nothing worse than living in fear, Vegeta is beginning to realize.
He knows something is going to happen, knows it's coming.
It's the waiting for it, the dread of waiting... It's almost worse than whatever it might possibly be.
Frieza acts as though nothing at all had happened.
As though Vegeta hadn't failed to appear with his unit at the launch sight, where two hundred of the emperors men had been waiting, hadn't failed to travel to the designated sector, hadn't failed to repress the rebellion and deliver the planet to the PTO within the promised time constraint.
That's how Frieza acts, but Vegeta knows, as does Nappa and Raditz, that of course he does. Knows, of course, he isn't going to let it stand without retribution.
Every day is a nauseating waiting game, just waiting... waiting for something to happen.
Vegeta can't stand it, can't anymore.
He feels sick all the time, on the verge of vomiting.
He has, more than a few times, whenever Frieza has called him to his private quarters, and he knew, just knew, this time was going to be it. This time Frieza was going to let him have it.
Nappa watches him with concerned eyes. Raditz insists on following him everywhere. He wishes they would stop it. It's just making it worse. Making him feel worse.
Can't sleep, can't hardly eat. Convenient, that, considering they have no real food anyway.
That opportunity was lost with his fuck up.
"You're hair's fallin' out." Nappa tells him one day while brushing it, and it's true. His bangs have started to thin out, receding along his forehead.
Nappa's too though. There's hardly anything left of that Mohawk of his.
Only Nappa's almost thirty years old. Vegeta's eight.
Keeps having nightmares, can't sleep.
Dreams about his father a lot. Dreams awful things. Dreams that Frieza kills him, and Vegeta tries to stop him, tries to fight him, only he's too weak, too weak to save his father, and his father looks at him with so much disappointment in his eyes before... before Frieza...
Best not to think about those things though.
Vegeta hasn't heard from his father in nearly four years. Hasn't seen him since...
He's alive though. He has to be alive. He's coming to rescue him, someday. Vegeta knows that. Knows his father wouldn't leave him here. Wouldn't abandon him.
Tries to ignore the guilty look in Nappa's eyes when he asks about Father. Tries to pretend he doesn't see it, doesn't know what it means.
Tries to tell himself Nappa isn't lying when he says Father's coming for him. When he says Father's going to beat Frieza, restore their planet and their kingdom...
"It'll be alright Vegeta." Nappa says, and he tries to tell himself that isn't a lie either.
Raditz is with him now, helping him bathe.
Vegeta half-heartedly tries to tell him he can do it himself. He doesn't need help. Only deep down he doesn't want Raditz to go. Doesn't want to be alone now.
Raditz is smart. He knows without Vegeta having to tell him.
Vegeta feels grateful to him for that.
"Come on," Raditz tells him, helping to pull his armor over his head. "a warm bath will help you relax some. You've been too tense lately little man."
Vegeta scowls at him. He hates it when Raditz calls him that. The other boy is hardly older than he is, after all.
He looks grown though, already over six feet tall. Broad and muscular.
Vegeta looks like a toddler still. Has hardly grown two inches in four years.
The head physician in the med bay is supposedly concerned. Says Vegeta's severely undersized. Stunted growth, she says a lot. Not getting proper nutrition for someone of his age and with his metabolism. Says he should be at least six inches taller than he is, instead of the 34 inches he currently stands at. Says he should weight at least 50 pounds, instead of the 28 he does.
Nappa and Raditz look at him with scared eyes, disappointed, no doubt, in the pathetic stature of their prince.
Vegeta wants to be tall like his father when he grows up.
Raditz is looking at him with that same scared expression again as he helps peel Vegeta's undergarments off, exposing his skinny, pale torso.
"I can do it." Vegeta tells him when he moves to get his pants down, and Raditz only nods, waiting as Vegeta struggles momentarily out of the form fitting garment. A moment later he's standing naked in their tiny washroom, and Raditz is again checking the temperature of the water in their bathing tub.
"Seems alright." He says after a moment. "You wanna get in?" He turns to Vegeta.
Vegeta nods, doesn't protest when Raditz picks him up under the arms and places him gently down in the warm water.
It feels nice, and Vegeta lets himself sink down into it, the tension in his body loosening up as the seconds pass.
Feels nice as Raditz brings a wet cloth up to his shoulders, dragging it across them, down his back, strong fingers massaging the knots of tension as he goes.
Vegeta's shoulders droop, his chin dipping down to his chest. Let's his eyes drift closed.
"You're too thin Vegeta." Raditz' voice filters in, and Vegeta's eyes come open, staring listlessly at the wall in front of him. He doesn't say anything. What is there to say? They can't get any food, and it's his fault. "Close your eyes." Raditz goes on, and Vegeta does, feeling the warm water pour over his head a moment later, flattening his hair. Wet strands come down over his face, sticking to it.
He sighs brokenly as Raditz begins working the conditioner into his scalp. They'd bought that special. For his birthday last year. It had eaten up a lot of their credits, and Vegeta had been upset, but Nappa and Raditz had insisted, had even foregone purchasing their own personal items for the next several weeks, the few there were, to make up the difference.
Vegeta had always had unusually thick hair, and without conditioner it always became impossibly tangled and difficult to manage.
They tried to use it sparingly then, so they wouldn't run out too soon.
The two of them sit quietly for the next several minutes, Raditz rinsing the conditioner out of Vegeta's hair, Vegeta trying to think of nothing.
"You alright?" Raditz eventually asks, moving around to face the younger boy, dragging the cloth across his chest, lifting his arms, running it down to his small hands, cleaning between his fingers, cleaning his arm pits.
Vegeta shrugs after a little while, not saying anything. He keeps his eyes on the water.
Raditz reaches out, pushing Vegeta's wet hair up off his forehead, looking at him intently. Vegeta wishes he would stop.
"You wanna talk about anything?" Raditz presses quietly.
Vegeta's eyes flash up to him quickly before skittering away. Hates the concerned look on the older boy's face.
"Talk about what?" He finally says. He feels tired. Wishes he could go to sleep. Wishes he could sleep at all.
"Anything you want to." Raditz answers. "Doesn't have to be anything important."
Vegeta keeps his eyes on the water, distracts himself with running his hands over the surface, watching the ripples it makes.
He used to talk to Raditz more, he thinks. Wants to talk to him all the time still. Wants to tell him all kinds of things, ask him all kinds of questions. Raditz is easier to talk to than Nappa. Doesn't ever really get mad at him, the way Nappa sometimes does. Lets him talk about silly things without getting mad.
Nappa tries to teach him. Gives him lessons. Some of the same things he'd been learning when he still was with Father and had had a daily tutor. Different languages and things. Political things. Only Nappa isn't a very good teacher, gets angry when Vegeta doesn't learn fast enough, when he gets distracted. Yells at him, tells him he needs to learn to survive, needs to know more than just how to fight with his body, needs to know how to fight with his mind too, says he needs to know these things for when he takes over from Father as King. Says he needs to know them to fight Frieza, someday.
"You're our only hope Vegeta." Nappa tells him.
Doesn't want that. Doesn't want to be the only one. Doesn't want everyone's hope. Doesn't think he can do it. Doesn't think he can be that for them...
"Hey," Raditz' voice jars him from his thoughts, and he looks up, the older Saiyan smiling vaguely down at him. Reaches out, tapping his knuckle under Vegeta's chin. "you know you're fucking' great, right?"
Vegeta stares up at him, saying nothing.
He used to think that. Used to believe all the things everyone said about him. How great he was, how great he would be...
Doesn't anymore. Not really.
Raditz taps him under the chin again, still smiling.
"Hey, I'm practically a little girl compared to you man." He says. "You've sure as hell made me feel like one, slappin' me around in our sparring sessions." He laughs, and Vegeta can't help the small smile which tugs at the corners of his lips, a swell of pride bubbling up in his chest.
He had started to get the better of both Raditz and Nappa in sparring sessions, even though both of them were so much bigger and stronger than him. Probably always would be, a voice in his head tells him, and he tries to ignore it.
His ki was more powerful, though, and he was faster. It made him feel good, when he did so well.
Raditz smiles broader at him, laying his hand along Vegeta's crown.
"There you go!" He says. "There's the Vegeta I know! Little bad ass mother fucker!"
Vegeta laughs, can't help it, pride swelling bigger.
"... Yeah." He says, unconscious as he straightens up a little.
"Don't get too cocky though." Raditz mock warns, pointing a finger in his face. "I can still kick your ass at eating and hand stands."
"Can not!" Vegeta puffs up, swiping at Raditz' arm, and Raditz pulls out of reach, laughing.
"Can too!" He insists back, reaching into the water, splashing it into Vegeta's face.
"Hey!" Vegeta cries, indignant, and he splashes Raditz back.
It sets them off, the both of them laughing now as they splash water at each other, neither of them really noticing as it sloshes over the edge of the tub, onto the floor.
For a moment, Vegeta forgets where he is. What his life is. Feels almost happy for a moment. Like when he was with Father still, at the palace, when he was back home...
Doesn't last long.
"Well isn't this adorable!"
Vegeta nearly gasps as he feels his breath leave him, the sound of Zarbon's voice suddenly filling the small space. Watches as Raditz' face goes pale, the smile draining from it and replaced with plain fear, laughter dying instantly away.
"I told you you can't go in there, you fuckin' green skinned piece of..." Nappa's voice drifts in from the other room, and it's cut off an instant later by a strangled choking noise, followed by the sound of Nappa's huge frame hitting the floor.
Raditz rockets to his feet, moving around the tub, and with hesitation, Vegeta turns to see what he's looking at.
Zarbon is standing there in the doorway, hands grasping the frame on either side, smirking at the both of them. Can see Nappa on his knees behind him, arms wrapped round his stomach, face contorted in pain.
"Though I do hope you realize any structural damage your rooms incur will be docketed out of whatever credits you earn." Zarbon goes on. "That includes, of course, water damage."
That haze again in Vegeta's brain. Feels his fear give way to blinding rage and hate. Body tensing, wants to smash Zarbon's stupid, perfect face in, wants to kill him...
Doesn't think, mouth comes open, starts screaming at Zarbon.
"Get out!" He cries, as if he has any authority. "You aren't... aren't allowed in here! Get out!"
Zarbon's smirk only widens, stepping fully into the wash room, starting towards Vegeta.
Humiliation begins to sink in as the boy realizes how it is Zarbon found them, laughing and playing like children, fear beginning to rush back as Frieza's lieutenant draws nearer.
"You're almost cute when you laugh Vegeta." Zarbon keeps talking. "Well, as cute as a savage, dirty little beast like you can be, I suppose. You know, I don't believe I've ever seen you actually play before. I forget sometimes that you're a child. Forgivable, of course. Ugly as you are, anyone would mistake you for a midget instead."
"Don't..." Radtiz moves in front of Vegeta, momentarily blocking him from the boy's view. "Zarbon, don't..."
"Move." Zarbon says, and Vegeta watches in horror as he sinks his fingers into Raditz' long mane of hair, tossing him bodily across the room to crash hard into the adjacent wall.
Vegeta's given no time to react at all as Zarbon is upon him then, reaching for him, hand plunging into the bath water, fingers like a clamp of iron closing round his tail.
A shock of paralyzing pain strangles him as Zarbon jerks him up out of the tub, and he can't move, can hardly breathe as he hangs limp, upside down in Zarbon's hold, agony, agony... Hurts so much, can't think, can't breathe, can't move. Mouth falls open, scream tries to come up, but can't, can't make a sound.
Thought he'd been getting better. Nappa was teaching him, showing him how to overcome it, thought he'd been...
Somewhere, distant, like he's under water, he can hear Raditz and Nappa struggling to regain their footing, hears Raditz' voice, begging weakly.
"Don't... don't hurt him Zarbon, p-please, don't hurt him..."
"Lord Frieza commands your presence in his private suites." Zarbon says, ignoring him. "All of you. You have twenty minutes to comply, so I suggest you hurry it up and make yourselves presentable."
Dizzying motion then as Zarbon swings him viciously round, head snapping painfully back, then forward, and then he's flying through the air, no control, too fast to do anything.
He crashes into the wall, explosion of fresh pain, blacks out a moment then.
When he wakes, Raditz and Nappa are crouched over him, head in Raditz' lap. Concerned look on their faces.
Wants to cry. Doesn't let himself. Pushes himself up, pushes them away.
"... I'm fine." He mumbles. Gets to his feet, knees buckle, goes back down.
Dizzy, nauseous. Scared. So scared. Doesn't want to see Frieza, doesn't know what's going to happen. Throws up, water and nothing else.
Doesn't have the strength then to push them away. Doesn't even try as Nappa puts his hands round his shoulders, as Raditz brings a cloth to wipe at his mouth and chin. Wants to bury his face against them. Wants to hide. Hears them talking, saying something to him. Doesn't know. Can't make out their words anyway.
Wants to be away from here.
Wants to go home.
Wants to go home and be with Father so much.
/
AN: As always, massive thank you's to all my readers and supporters! You guys are the best!