Prologue

If Gine ever told anyone that she had shared a bed with King Vegeta, nobody would have believed her. Not that she was looking to brag anyway - it hadn't exactly been her choice. If the king of your planet showed up on your doorstep, told you that he considered you beautiful, then invited himself in, you wouldn't have much choice over the following events, either.

Therefore, it tore the girl up to look upon the face of her son and know he wasn't her husband's. With her free hand, she brushed the baby's hair away from his face and put on her most convincing smile as she cradled him.

"I know that look," Bardock stated, leaning on the frame of his wife's hospital bed, "What're you thinking about?"

"I don't know," she lied, "I'm just worried."

"That he'll be like Raditz? A weakling?"

"Bardock!" Gine reprimanded, still managing to sound authoritative despite her frail voice. Giving birth tended to take it out of you.

"Sorry," Bardock hummed, "So, I've been throwing some ideas around for his name. How does Kakarotto sound?"

Gine curled her fingers into one of her son's twin bangs, forming it into a messy curl that spiralled down over his chubby face. "I don't know," she repeated, "That doesn't sound quite right."

"You're right. He looks more like a Burcol."

"We are not calling our son Burcol," Gine shot Bardock a weak smirk, "I think you were onto something with Kakarotto, though. Maybe..."

She paused, furrowing her brow as she thought. "Vegito," she finally spoke.

"Sounds a little too much like Vegeta, don't you think?"

"It has a nice ring to it," Gine's newfound frown did little to convince Bardock of her sincerity. Regardless, he shrugged.

"Vegito it is," he scribbled the name onto a tag, then gently fastened it to the baby's ankle, "Can I hold him?"

Weakly, Gine passed the baby to her husband. He took hold of him, watching his tail flow wildly. "There's my boy. Vegito. That's a powerful name for a powerful saiyan," Bardock grinned. Gine couldn't force herself to do the same.

Then, the sliding door burst off its frame. With his cape billowing behind him, King Vegeta waltzed in - shadowed by a few saiyan guards. Perplexed, Bardock handed Vegito back to his wife and stood to attention. "My king," he greeted as Gine went pale.

"Soldier," King Vegeta responded, marching towards Gine's bed. To Bardock's surprise, he knelt down in front of the girl and ran his gloved hands through her baby's thick hair. "What's his name?" he asked her.

When Gine didn't respond, Bardock spoke up. "Vegito. We just decided it now. Now, what do you need from us, my king?" he said.

"Vegito?"

Gine managed a nod.

"Kill them both," King Vegeta took his son from Gine's frail grasp, rising. Without turning to watch, he made his exit.

. . .

His palace was cold, but he kept walking - his boots tapping against the cold marble. As soon as he approached the pod resting in front of his throne, Nappa bowed in front of his king. "At ease, Nappa," Vegeta ordered, still holding Vegito.

Nappa rose, then hurried over to inspect the saiyan in his king's arms. "That's him, then? Your son?" the soldier asked, his dark eyes wide.

"My only son," Vegeta confirmed, "And my greatest mistake."

"I prepared the pod you ordered. I thought we were gonna kill him, though," Nappa observed.

"I can't," Vegeta admitted, opening the pod for his son. He lowered Vegito inside, frowning at the abject confusion on his son's face. "We'll send him to a far away planet. One that he can grow up on," he explained, shutting the baby inside.

"Are you sure that's wise, King Vegeta?"

"No, I'm not."

"My lord!" a soldier burst into the throne room, "Two low-class warriors have just stole a pair of space pods! Guards at the pod depot identified them as Bardock and Gine of Bardock's Planetary Squadron."

Vegeta cursed under his breath. "Can you trace their pods?" he asked.

"Colonel Paragus tried, sir, but they didn't put in any specific coordinates. We can only assume that they piloted the pods manually."

"Then it's no matter," Vegeta decided, "Thank you, soldier."

The saiyan saluted, then hurried out of sight. "What now?" Nappa asked.

"I want you to go after them, Nappa," Vegeta ordered, "Take the fastest pod you can find and make sure those two worms don't make it out of this solar system."

"Got it, my king!"

With that, Nappa leapt and burst into flight. He rocketed through the nearest open window and into a city. Vegeta watched him go, then turned back to his son, who was staring up at him through the tinted glass of the pod's door. Without a word more, he tapped on the ignition and stepped aside. Engulfed in a red aura, the pod lifted off the marble tiles and floated upwards, through the vast skylight overhead.

. . .

Birds fluttered from the trees as Vegito's pod crashed into the dirt. Smoke rose from the crater as the tiny ship cooled down, the persistent flames still burning on its shell from re-entry gradually settling.

Covering his mouth as to not breathe in too much of the smoke, Gohan edged towards the crash site - hobbling on his cane. "Hello down there?" he called, stroking the grey hairs on his jaw. The only response that came from the strange orb below was a hissing noise. Its door gradually slid open, and Gohan leapt down to get a better look.

Inside was a baby: a baby with a monkey's tail. The infant looked up at Gohan with something of a confused look, then giggled. The old man smiled back, reaching down and gently lifting the small boy up. "What's your name, my boy?" he asked. Then, his eye caught the tag on his ankle. "Vegito?" he read it, earning a happy goo. "Where are your folks, Vegito? I guess you can't tell me. Well, my name's Gohan. It's lovely to meet you."

A/N: Thanks for reading through the prologue. If this story is something you'd be interesting in seeing continue, let me know. I've wanted to write something like this for a while, but I don't know if it's something anyone would want to read.