Chapter 5

"VEGETA!!!"

Goku burst through the rubble, but froze as he saw Moroshka's hand come down. The Prince of Saiyans arched his back, his mouth open in a silent scream-and then he went limp. Goku fell to his knees. "No…"

Gohan staggered to his feet as he watched with an unmasked look of sorrow on his face.

The Supreme Kai had his gaze fixed on the Moroshkian, who, trembling, leaned down and softly kissed Vegeta's forehead. Then, without taking her eyes off of her victim's face, she spoke.

"Babidi! Return us!" she yelled. "I must speak with you!"

There was a pause. Nothing happened. So she spoke again. "I have a better way to end this, Master. Trust me!"

After a few moments, the landscape blurred, and in the last second before they transported back, Moroshka lifted her face and locked stares with the Supreme Kai. Her visage was lit with a different kind of righteous ire, and before she vanished, he saw that Babidi's "M" insignia had disappeared completely from her forehead. His eyes widened in understanding. Then he, Goku, and Gohan all found themselves back in Babidi's chamber.

"Where is she?" Gohan asked, his voice still shaky from watching Vegeta's death.

"With Babidi," the Supreme Kai whispered. "Come. Our job is done here."

"What?" Goku asked incredulously.

"Vegeta--the source of her hatred--is dead," Kai said. "Babidi has no control over her anymore." At their confused faces, he added, "She will finish this job for us."

As if in answer, a loud rumbling shook the ship, and it began to quake with explosions. Goku, Gohan and the Supreme Kai wasted little time bursting out of the thing before it completely blew up, engulfing the surrounding area in a large mushroom cloud.

The Supreme Kai covered his face until some of the dust settled. Then he frantically scanned the ground until he found who he was looking for.

Moroshka had escaped with Vegeta's body, and had laid it reverently in the shadow of a large rock. She knelt by him as would a grieving widow, her obsidian face shadowed by wisps of azure hair. Clenched fists, hung head, and trembling shoulders all evidenced the havoc wreaked on a good soul that was forced to do evil. The Kai dropped down next to her. He heard Goku and Gohan land softly behind him.

"Moroshka-"

"Babidi is dead," she said, her voice hoarse and rugged. "And Buu's egg is safely buried."

The Supreme Kai placed one hand on her shoulder, lifting her chin with his other. She reluctantly met his gaze, her large sapphire eyes moist and bloodshot. Her bottom lip was quivering.

"He was good…when I killed him, Supreme Kai…" She grabbed his wrists and shook them, as if they were bars in a jail. "He was good!"

The Kai ached to see her spirit broken after he'd spent so much time healing it. Curse you to Hell, Babidi for doing this to her! He locked her in his stare. "It wasn't you, Moroshka," he soothed, then grabbed her face with both hands. "It wasn't you…"

She chewed her lower lip between her teeth, and the tears in her eyes brimmed over. She flung her arms around his torso and buried her face in his tunic. Her body shuddered with silent sobs as he patted her back and held her head, whispering reassurances in her ear. It reminded him ruefully of when he'd first taken her under his wing. He'd taught her to store away the pain, and control the power. Through it all, she had become like a daughter to him. It made her pain his pain, and he hurt inside.

It didn't last long. When the last of the hiccups had wracked her body, she pulled back and faced Goku and Gohan, who had been discreetly standing a few feet away. Their eyes were as shadowed as a cavern floor, remorseful and strained. She made no effort to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Trunks and Bulma," she said quietly. "Who are they?"

Goku's mouth opened, then closed. Gohan answered instead.

"Vegeta's wife and son."

The Kai watched her reaction carefully. Moroshka nodded as if it were the answer she had expected. After several seconds, she walked up to the Saiyans and placed her hands firmly on their shoulders. "They are now my responsibility."

She waited for that comment to register in Goku's and Gohan's faces. When the confusion transitioned to shock and then acceptance, she continued. "They can't know that he died by my hand…"

The Saiyans reluctantly nodded, no doubt conjuring stories in their heads that would best suit the late Prince's death.

The Supreme Kai watched the Moroshkian female, who had come so far under his tutelage; who had made him proud on so many occasions. And now he was going to lose her to this planet, and these people.

So this is your home now, Moroshka, he thought solemnly. May it be good to you.