Chapter 29

Nappa entered the room without knocking, Vegeta found this most unusual and was about to question Nappa on his manners, until he saw his face

"What's going on Nappa, have you been crying?" he had never seen Nappa cry in all his life, but the red puffiness around his eyes was unmistakeable. Something had made Nappa cry, Vegeta was instantly nervous the unsettling feeling in his stomach making him nauseous.

"Just tell me" Vegeta said quietly, careful not to wake his mate who still slept peacefully in his arms

"Its fine prince, nothing to stress about. You and Prince Kakarot need to get up and dressed, quickly" Nappa answered in a brisk and efficient manner.

Vegeta sensed the urgency in Nappa's tone, he was acting very formal, this worried Vegeta almost as much as the crying. He asked no more questions before gently nudging Kakarot awake

"So where are we going?" Vegeta finally asked, half dreading the answer

"To the space pods, I'm sending you both off planet, pack a few things" Nappa instructed and handed Vegeta his black holdall, his voice cracking, his perfect composure slipping ever so slightly on the last word.

Vegeta could see Nappa struggling to hold himself together, he understood that when he and Kakarot went off planet, they would not be returning. Whatever had happened was obviously so bad that Nappa had decided it was too dangerous for them to stay here.

Vegeta wasted no time in throwing clothes on and urging Kakarot to do the same

"What's going on?" Kakarot yawned his eyes warily taking in the other two men's worried expression. He felt Vegeta's fear and knew that something bad was happening. Vegeta stopped rushing around just long enough to place a reassuring hand gently on Kakarot's cheek

"I don't know yet baby, but it will be ok. Just get ready quick" he instructed.

Vegeta chucked spare clothes and toiletries into the bag and zipped it up, he looked around at all his other possessions, he wouldn't need them, as long as he had Kakarot.

"Did you find Mayze and Mell? Are they coming with us?" Vegeta wondered while helping Kakarot to get his head through his t shirt

"I found them…. but it was too late, they are both dead, prince Vegeta" Kakarot gasped audibly, Vegeta just silently bowed his head.

"I'm so sorry Vegeta" Nappa Said with unshed tears filling his eyes

"I thought I was doing the right thing, I thought if you two mated they would leave you both alone. But the order has been passed. You are both to be executed"

"Me as well? Surely my dad didn't pass that order?"

"He didn't have a choice, you two are considered a threat to the planet, he would have been overruled anyway, I'm so sorry"

"Please Nappa, stop apologising. You did everything right". Vegeta took Kakarot's hand in his and held it tightly. He thought back to the first time he saw Kakarot, when that unknown boy stared at him with those deep, angry eyes. Had he known then that falling for that boy would cause him to lose his home, his rank and his father, and possibly even his life, he still would have fallen for him. he couldn't have stopped loving Kakarot even if he did want to, they were made for each other, soulmates, no, he wouldn't change a thing.

"Let's go, Nappa" Vegeta smiled at his only friend and led his mate from the room.

The prince felt a strange sensation in his chest as he closed the door to his bedroom for the very last time, never again would he sleep in his soft comfy bed, never would he gaze upon his own beauty in his full wall mirrors, never would he parade around flaunting his new ensembles created just for him by Rube and Celly. Would he miss it? Possibly, but Kakarot was worth the sacrifice.

They hurried down the winding corridors, never before had Vegeta's home felt so cold and alien. He no longer belonged here and he could feel it in the atmosphere, the very walls were telling him to leave.

They passed through areas of the palace that Vegeta wasn't very familiar with, there was no need for the prince to come here any other time. Luckily Nappa knew every part of this maze of a building like the back of his hand. Pretty soon they were in the landing bay. The large room where all palace spaceships were docked.

It was a dull and bland room, grey metal walls, a long grey platform lined with grey space pods, each with a control panel in a pale shade of, yep you guessed it, grey. It was a far cry from the decadence of the rest of the palace. Vegeta had never even seen this room before, he had no reason to use a space pod, until now.

The pods were small spherical, one person crafts, but Nappa bundled them both in, Vegeta on Kakarot's lap and went to shut the hatch. Vegeta stopped him

"Nappa, what about you?" Vegeta touched Nappa's shoulder

"I'll follow in a pod behind, see ya princes" Nappa smiles a rigid smile and quickly closed the glass panel of the round pod. He could already hear a commotion in the corridor and knew it was very unlikely that he would be following.

Vegeta watched through the glass as Nappa punched in some coordinates into the pods control panel. The small craft lurched upwards then continued its ascent at a snail's pace.

Vegeta saw Radditz and a few guards enter the landing bay behind Nappa.

"NAPPAAAA!" he screamed as loud as his lungs would allow, all to no avail through the soundproof pod. As soon as Nappa saw Radditz he put his fist through the control panel, no one would be calling that pod back.

Nappa knew he was about to die, and he was ok with that. He could go out with a smile knowing that he had done everything within his power to make his prince safe.

"Hello Radditz" Nappa greeted him with a salute, as he always did. Radditz lifted his eyes to the leaving pod, then to the broken control panel, before resting back on Nappa.

"Smart move" He complimented. Nappa nodded

"Look, Radditz, I know you're here to kill me, I'm ok with that. I've done my job here. I'm not going to fight you, I wouldn't do that to my king. But can you please wait till he is not watching?". Nappa gestured towards the young prince, whose face was pressed up against the glass, watching intently. Nappa was fine with dying for the prince, but he really didn't want him to see it. Vegeta had seen a hundred deaths, caused most of them, but Nappa knew watching him die, would cause the prince some serious heartache.

"Ah, sorry Nappa, it's about time the little shit got a taste of his own medicine". Nappa didn't have time to react to Radditz's insult, he didn't even see the small blade swinging for his throat. He sure felt it though. The searing heat and excruciating pain spreading through his body like wild fire as he bled out and all his functions began to shut down. He fell to his knees, his shirt soaked in his own blood, he looked to Vegeta before falling to the ground.

Vegeta watched in silence as his only friend fell to the floor in an unmoving heap, a puddle of crimson spreading out beneath him. tears streamed down his face, he tried to wipe them away but more came. The prince's eyes fell onto Nappa's, he could see the light fading from them second by second. Vegeta raised his fist over his heart and bowed his head. A gesture he had never given Nappa before, he just hoped he saw it. His last respects to the kindest, bravest most patient man he knew.

Vegeta then looked at Radditz, he was not smiling as Vegeta expected, they both just looked at each other with blank faces. Vegeta didn't know how he felt about Radditz, on one hand he hated him, he wanted nothing more than to turn this craft around and kill him in cold blood to avenge his oldest friend. But on the other hand, he totally understood. Radditz saw Nappa as a threat to his mate. Had Vegeta been in Radditz's shoes and Kakarot in his fathers, he would have done the same thing without hesitation, it was an uncomfortable feeling.

They stared at each other for a short while before Radditz saluted Vegeta, and Vegeta returned the gesture, one dominant to another. Hating each other yet comprehending every action the other had taken to lead them to this point.

A hatch in the ceiling opened and the pod picked up speed as it flew towards the atmosphere. Vegeta sat back down on Kakarot's lap

"You ok Veg?" He asked quietly, hating to see his mate this heartbroken, he could feel the pain Nappa's death had caused. He hadn't just lost a friend. He had lost his father figure, his teacher…. his brother. Nappa was the only other person who had really known him.

"I will be baby" Vegeta sat back down on Kakarot's lap and snuggled his face into the crook of his neck

"Do you know where this thing is taking us?" Kakarot looked at all the complicated looking screens and buttons in the craft, he was too scared to touch any of them but Vegeta seemed to know what he was doing. He turned and tapped away at a keyboard until a picture came up on the screen

"Looks like we are headed here" A green and blue ball appeared on the screen

"Planet earth?" Kakarot asked

"Have you ever heard of it, Veg?"

"No, but we have a lot of info on it, someone must have researched it at some point. The inhabitants are weak beings called humans, relatively friendly. The planet's atmosphere is much the same as ours. Just a little colder. So Kakarot, how do you like the look of our new planet?" Vegeta tried to sound upbeat, he had to stay strong for his mate, but he wasn't fooling anyone.

Kakarot put a hand each side of Vegeta's face and kissed him gently on the corner of the mouth

"If you are there, its home"