Hello, everyone! Another update is here for you all! So, I think this story might be taking a short break while I get more chapters sorted out. Don't worry, if you don't see a new chapter next week - that's probably the reason why. If I get it done early, maybe, but until then, enjoy! Thank you for your continued support with your comments and favorites.

Planet Vegeta

Raditz sighed, as he looked through the flight transcript book once more. He had held out hope for so long that maybe he had overlooked something. Maybe he missed something on his last read-through. If he looked through it one more time, he would have a breakthrough. And yet he wasn't any closer to finding his little brother than he was, before.

He closed the book and held his forehead. Why did he even try, anymore? Even if he did find out where Kakarot was sent, how would he find him from there? He didn't even know what he looked like, and even if he had, he could have looked completely different by now. He didn't even know if he was still alive. Saiyan babies were stronger than most, but still – a tiny infant living on his own on a faraway planet? The odds of survival were slim, at best.

He shook his head. Even if Kakarot was dead, he at least wanted closure. He at least wanted to know what became of him. Then he could finally move on with his life, after two decades of wondering.

"Raditz, be careful! I just mopped!"

Young Raditz stopped his running and looked down, sheepishly. "Sorry, mother…"

Raditz's mother shook her head, as her son walked to where she sat down. She tossed his hair. "Now, remember what I told you. When your little brother gets here, you'll have to set a good example for him."

His eyes widened. "Brother? Are you sure?"

She nodded, as she rubbed her rounded stomach. "I have a feeling it's going to be a boy."

Raditz stared at his mother's stomach, in awe. "Wow. I can't wait to meet him." A little brother meant that he could train with him, and they could get stronger, together. It was going to be so cool.

"I've always liked the name Kakarot. What do you think?"

He nodded, enthusiastically. It sounded like the name of a true warrior. It made him even more excited about his little brother's arrival. He hoped that it would happen, soon.

When he heard his mother sigh, he looked back up. She had a somber look in her eyes, and she was staring right through him. "Mother? What is it?"

"Nothing, Raditz. I want you to promise me something." He nodded, confused as to why she was acting like this. "I know you're excited about training him and fighting with him, but little brothers need more than that. Promise me that you will look after him. He'll need his big brother around – to help him and teach him about everything. Just promise me that you will. Okay?"

His brother hadn't even been born, yet, and he already felt the weight of this responsibility on his shoulders. Well, if he was going to be a big brother, then he should be the best big brother ever. He nodded. "I will."

She smiled. "I know you will." She lifted Raditz into her lap and nuzzled his cheek. Raditz cringed and tried to push her away, making her laugh.

"Mooooother, I'm not a baby, anymore."

"You'll always be my baby, Raditz. My little, tiny baby boy." She squeezed him tighter. Raditz frantically tried to escape, but was smiling and laughing, as well.

"Gine."

Raditz looked towards the door and immediately jumped off of his mother. His father stood in the doorway, with a hardened expression in his eyes.

Gine put a hand on his shoulder. "Raditz, would you go outside? I'd like to speak to your father, for a moment."

He nodded, and marched towards the door, keeping his head down. He glanced at his father, scowling at him and following his every movement. When he was out of the house, he sighed, in relief. He did not go far, though. He ducked beside the door, to listen to his parents conversations.

"You baby him too much."

"He's just a child, Bardock. I won't apologize for letting him be one."

"All you're doing is making him weak."

"Just because you had no childhood doesn't mean that our children won't."

Bardock huffed. "Whatever."

Gine giggled. "So, how was your day, my love?"

"I went to the bazaar, again."

"Oh… and?" Gine's voice was now quiet. Raditz didn't know why. He wanted to get a look and see what was happening, but he didn't want to be caught eavesdropping.

He jumped, when he heard something crash onto the floor. When Bardock spoke once more, his voice was tight, as if he was restraining his anger. "Those bastards still won't let us have the incubator. I've thrown every offer we have at them, but they still won't budge."

"I-it'll be alright. Then I'll just have a natural birth. Lots of women still have one. We'll still be fine, even without the fancy tech."

"Are you daft? Do you remember how sick you were, when you had Raditz?! You still aren't as strong as you were!"

Raditz's heart dropped. His mother had been sick, because of him. He knew that she was weaker than most of the other Saiyans, but he didn't know it was because of him. Judging by his father's words, it sounded like she was still sick.

Bardock continued. "By the gods, we should have been more careful, with your situation. You can't have another child like this. What if he turns out to be as strong as Raditz was? Gine, I don't want to lose you!"

"You won't. And I hope you aren't implying that we should do away with him. Even if you're scared, I still want this child. Nothing you could say will make me change my mind."

He huffed. "How did I end up with such a sentimental fool like you?"

Raditz tuned out the rest of the conversation, caught up in the horror of these circumstances. Was his mother going to die? That couldn't happen. Saiyans died in battle, proudly fighting for their race. Even if his mother wasn't as strong as the others were, she still fought, before. She couldn't die like this.

Had this been why she made the promise?

He clenched his fists, as unshed tears stun his eyes. He wouldn't cry; it would only give his father another reason to call him weak. Now, he had to learn to be strong. As his mother had told him, he had to protect him and teach him everything about the Saiyans.

And he was not going to let her down.

His mother had died, giving birth to little Kakarot. His father, angered and distraught by her passing, blamed it on the helpless infant. Before Raditz ever got to meet him, he had been tossed into a pod and sent away to another planet. Ever since that day, he had been continually racked with guilt. If he had been there, he could have stopped it somehow. He had broken his promise, and couldn't even fulfill his mother's final request.

Raditz pinched the bridge of his nose, and shut his eyes. It didn't matter that twenty years had passed since this happened – the pain was still as fresh as it was the day he had found out about it. Perhaps this was why he still searched. Any sort of closure might ease some of it, even if just a little.

He stood up, tossing the book into an empty chair. He left the library with dragging steps. If he kept wallowing in his own misery, he was going to drive himself insane. There was still the smallest bit of hope. If Bulma could get them into the archives, then he could find something there. Sure, the archives were endless and a Saiyan could get lost just through searching them, but that shred of optimism was all he had left.

If he could not find Kakarot, he did not know what he was going to do.