Important notes: Okay, so rather then go through all the battles, I skipped them! After all, Koan and Cumber are no match for the Ginyu Force, so the battles turned out the same as in the show and comic. After defeating Ginyu and Jees, Goku is now in the healing pod thingy, and Krillin is about to go off (and find Dende). Also, by now Vegeta has revealed that he believes Goku will become a Super Saiyan.
Falling Short
Prologue 2: Namek
"Here." Vegeta pulled several combat armors out of the wall-mounted cabinets and dumped them on the floor. "Kakarot will be healed in about an hour, so until then we have time to rest. You should all wear these--they'll protect you better than those ugly suits of yours."
Krillin picked up the offering and frowned distastefully. "You mean, we gotta dress up like Freeza's goons?" He shut up when Vegeta cast him a glare--the Saiyan was, after all, wearing the same.
"I don't want to dress up like a bad guy," Gohan murmured, poking at the suit.
Cumber, however, was absolutely adamant. He quickly selected a blue and yellow one, very much like Vegeta's. "I've never worn Saiyan armor before," he said excitedly. "Will it fit?"
"It stretches to fit the wearer," the prince explained, frowning slightly at the boy's selection. During the last several battles Cumber had stuck close to him, wide-eyed and amazed. The last thing he needed was some snot-nosed kid looking up to him. He was curious, however, why he had been chosen as the center of the youth's admiration. Surly Kakarot would have made a better role model.
Reluctantly, Krillin and Gohan dressed in the armor, complaining a bit--to each other--that it was ugly, and eeire. Vegeta ignored them. Instead he moved away, back to the regeneration room.
Koan was there. She was standing in front of the regeneration pod, one had placed absently on the glass, staring at the man inside. For some reason, that bothered him. "Admiring Kakarot?" he asked coldly.
Koan glanced at him over her shoulder, her expression blank and calm. "Do you really think he's a Super Saiyan?"
He crossed his arms. "I know he is," he replied. "I felt it."
She regarded him silently for a moment. That bothered him, too--he didn't like the way she looked at him. It was as if she were looking for something in his face. At long last she averted her gaze. "What happened to Planet Vegeta?" she asked abruptly. "Our people?"
"Destroyed." Vegeta moved closer, glancing at the recuperating Saiyan in the tank. His innards twisted in disgust. "Freeza destroyed it all--the entire planet. Only Radditz, Nappa, Kakarot, and myself survived." He turned an accusing glare on her. "And you and your son. How?"
Koan swallowed hard, silently considering her answer. He paid close attention to catch any lie she might attempt. "Cumber's not a pure Saiyan," she began quietly. "One of Freeza's men raised me since I was a child, so I escaped the fate of our planet." She shook her head, as if to physically drive some past memory away. "When I was about five he left Freeza and raised me by himself. But when Cumber was born, I escaped and landed here. The Nameks have always been very kind to us."
Satisfied that she wasn't lying, Vegeta seated himself nearby and let the matter drop. He didn't really care; however it had happened, she was here now and they would need her help. In any case," he said, "it's obvious that you've had at least some training. But I don't think you or your son are up to handling Freeza."
"You're right." He was a bit surprised that she didn't contest the fact. "None of us are. Even all of us together aren't enough." She paused, staring at Kakarot. "But a Super Saiyan…."
Yes. A Super Saiyan. Against a Super Saiyan, Freeza wouldn't stand a chance. Vegeta frowned. Kakarot is close--so close I can feel it, waiting inside him. His frown grew more severe, twisting into a scowl. Damn it. I'm not close enough--not yet. For the first time I'm so close, and yet--
Koan was watching him with that same damn expression on her face. Her black tail swung back and forth, gently tapped the backs of her thighs as she considered him thoughtfully. "What?" he demanded.
She shook her head. "Nothing. You just had an odd look on your face, that's all." She looked puzzled. "You really don't care, do you," she mused aloud. "We're the last Saiyans in the universe, and you don't even give it a second thought."
"Why should I? I didn't care about my father, or any of those other inferiors."
Koan blinked slowly, her expression vaguely troubled. "That's…odd."
Who the hell does she think she is? Vegeta snorted, indignant at her tone. She knew he was a prince, and she still treated him no differently. "Whatever."
She let the subject drop, returning to her vigil on Kakarot's progress. He wondered what she found so fascinating about him. Maybe she was searching for something, like when she looked at the prince. Maybe she was trying to feel the Super Saiyan, the monstrous power within him, the way Vegeta could. Maybe something else.
"What are you staring at?" Vegeta asked finally.
"I'm not sure," Koan admitted. Her black-furred tail twitched as it hung, dangling against her legs. "He's not like any other Saiyan, is he? Goku, I mean."
Vegeta snorted again. "No, he's not."
"Do you resent him?" The edges of her lips turned in a faint smile. "I admire him."
"What?" He nearly stepped back in disgust.
Koan collected her thoughts for a moment before trying to explain. "We're alike in one way, you and I," she said, her tone somewhat bitter. "I never cared for our planet, or our race. We're violent, abusive, greedy people." As she continued, her tail snaked around her waist. "But Goku--Kakarot--isn't like that. When Gohan looks at him there's something in his eyes, the way Cumber sometimes looks at me. I never saw anything like that on our home planet, or with Freeza."
"So, you want to know what it is?" the prince said callously. Another fool. Am I the only true Saiyan left?
"It makes me glad. I know that my hopes were right."
Yeah, whatever. Vegeta settled into a nearby chair, hoping to get some rest of his own before the battle with Freeza began. The room fell silent. Koan was still watching Kakarot, and Vegeta was trying to ignore the constant hum of the regeneration pod. He couldn't. Frustrated, he gave up the notion of sleep and was content to gaze about the chamber. His thoughts wondered, shifting through the memories he had of Freeza. He had no idea how large Freeza's true power level was, or what "transformation" Zarbon had spoken of earlier. By the time he found out, it might be too late.
Despite these grave issues, Vegeta found his gaze drifting toward Koan. She was still standing near the pod, one hand on the casing and one on the glass, her right knee slightly bent and her tail curled around her waist. It's been a long time since I've been around a woman the prince recalled, let alone a Saiyan woman. Since the destruction of his planet, there'd been no time for anything but fighting. More than that, traveling with Nappa would restrict anyone's social life. So far he'd been taking what he needed from the women of the worlds they destroyed--an unsatisfying method that he generally didn't resort to. There had been more important things to earn his attention.
Koan was a rare Saiyan woman, really, obviously the daughter of a higher ranking soldier. Her frame was well-built and strong--and proportioned--as proof of her lineage, but there was something more in it that attracted his attention; she was slender, and her movements seemed almost delicately graceful. She was obviously more than a common soldier--perhaps, at one time, even good enough to be an Elite.
This was not her only trait that fascinated him. She was almost familiar to him in a nostalgic kind of way, like the faded image from a dream he'd once had. Her eyes, though he found their intensity somewhat disconcerting, were deep and warm, unlike Saiyan eyes. She was reluctant to lend herself or her son to the fighting, against her ancestry's primitive instinct. And though she'd expressed interest in seeing a Super-Saiyan, she dreaded the upcoming confrontations. Had life on Namek dulled her Saiyan blood, as life on Earth had done to Kakarot? The thought brought another scowl to his lips; was he truly the only "pure" Saiyan left?
You don't have the time or energy to worry about this now. Just go to sleep.
Vegeta sighed, again shifting his position in hopes of finding more comfort. At last he settled, drifting into dreams. But Koan was in those, too.
Koan watched the Prince idly as he slept. She was surprised that she hadn't recognized him the moment she saw him; his royal pride was etched in his features even now. She couldn't keep her eyes off that face which was so familiar to her. Her mind began to drift, recalling all the old stories about the Saiyan Prince. There was a time when he was known as the strongest living member of his race, with the potential to rule over galaxies. It was this power that caused Freeza to fear the Saiyans--the possibility of another such as the Prince appearing was too much of a threat to him. And he eliminated them.
Koan shuddered, imagining the sight of her planet turned to dust. She closed her eyes. I don't care about the planet she told herself. I knew that the title "Saiyan" stopped meaning something a long time ago. None of it matters anymore. She opened her eyes once more and looked to Vegeta. Even asleep he looked as if he were fighting a battle. Did the bitterness ever leave his face? She found it interesting to compare him and Goku.
They're only a few years apart in age. Goku may be more powerful, but Vegeta is right behind him. Both have fought all their lives--how did they end up so different? It was odd, how their love of battling had driven them in separate directions. Vegeta was filled with wrath and arrogance, and Goku determination and care. She was almost glad to see it--a Saiyan wasn't bound to a cruel, violent destiny, but could somehow choose their own path. She wondered if she herself would have grown differently, had she lived on Earth as Goku had. And if Cumber would come to respect he the way Gohan respected his father.
Koan settled herself into a comfortable position. She was thinking of foolish things, given their circumstances. It would be better to focus on the battles ahead, with Freeza. Her eyes drifted to the healing tank. A Super-Saiyan may be our only chance.
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