Chapter Eighty-Five: Land An Extra Blow For Me! Send A Blast Through His Heart!

"This is getting ridiculous!" Diamonique wailed. "So much to do, and so little time to do it! Honestly, a woman of my great beauty and class deserves much better than this! After all that tar-headed, muddy-eyed brat, Tayla Chloe, put me through, I deserve something good! I deserve the best, and I will get it! That scrawny royal brat won't get me down for long! Hopefully, what I'm about to do will make me feel better!"

"Miss Diamonique?"

"That's Commander Diamonique, you fat fool!" Diamonique sharply addressed a plump, frightened Calmagian maid who had been one of the hostages left behind. She and two other Calmagian maids had been forced to raid all of the bedchambers that had been occupied by women in order to procure new dresses, undergarments, jewelry and other trinkets for the excessively vain and greedy Diamonique. The three coerced maids were now bringing Diamonique the dresses from the rooms of the Astorian Princesses of Chloe and their handmaidens.

Diamonique was now standing in Natala and Raakon's room, looking at a lovely ruby velvet caftan of Natala's that was sleeveless with a small V neckline and decorated with glittering diamonds at the waistline. It had been Natala's favorite party dress, and now it had become one of Diamonique's favorites as well. Diamonique also had her heart set on a tiny pale blue dress with delicate lace on the skirt that had been Caline's, but Diamonique was considerably taller and curvier than the small Calmagian princess, so the dress would not fit her. She tossed that little dress aside, and she was now dressing herself in a pale sleeveless tea-length lavender nightgown with a scoop neckline, trimmed with violet rexcon bird feathers (rexcon birds had similar feathers to marabou birds) on the edges. Diamonique quickly slipped that one on, and she was quite pleased with herself, as she strutted about the room like a fine duchess.

"I wonder if Vegeta would like this on me," she wondered aloud in a purr. "If he could see this on me right now, he'd want me back in a heartbeat. He'd rip this off before I spoke his name. I'll definitely keep this one! Whoever thought that Astorian women would have such good taste in nightwear? I certainly never did."

In the men's closet behind Diamonique, a furious Princess of Chloe who had just escaped Balair's clutches, thanks to her husband, was fuming, as the hated slut who had turned her husband into a statue was trying on her favorite nightgown. She watched through the white metal blinds in the closet, as Diamonique paraded around in her beloved nightgown.

"Of all of the nightgowns there, she had to pick mine!" Natala couldn't help but hiss deep below her breath. The lavender and violet nightgown had been Natala's personal favorite-and Raakon's too-and was one of three usually reserved for the nights that was reserved for their lovemaking. "Who does that woman think she is?" Natala was far from being shallow or vain, but she, like Petalia, was fond of fine, elegant clothing.

Before Diamonique had come to raid Natala and Raakon's room, Natala and Raakon had arrived to find Natala a dress to wear in place of the bedspread that she had been wearing. Natala had chosen a pale silver, long-sleeved caftan, silver lacy briefs, and a lavender sash with her most comfortable pair of silver shoes (silver was one of Natala's favorite colors). Then Raakon had sensed Diamonique's ki, and they had fled into the closet before Diamonique could spot them. Diamonique had started to raid Natala's closet, but she had not bothered the one with the black door that Raakon and Natala had been hiding in because the Gemstarian warrior already knew that the bedroom closets with black doors were reserved for men's clothing only, so she didn't waste her time.

"Shhh," Raakon whispered in his wife's ear, as he held her from behind to close him. "A nightgown can easily be replaced, my love. But your life can't, and neither can this little one's." He slowly rubbed the slightly swollen mound that was Natala's abdomen. It wasn't until long after Raakon had defeated Balair and Natala had calmed down that Raakon had noticed a small ki signature between them that were neither his nor Natala's.

He had felt his wife's stomach, and the new ki signature there had confirmed his hunch-and delighted them both, for Natala and Raakon had been quietly trying to create a baby between them before the war had started. Natala was ecstatic to be pregnant again, for she had started to fear after Arlina had been born, that she would never have another child again. Arlina had been a difficult birth that had nearly taken Natala's life, and for a long time, Raakon had been reluctant to impregnate his wife again for fear of endangering her life. Raakon would sooner do with only two children than lose his beloved wife, who meant more than life itself to him. It had taken Natala years to convince her husband to try again for another child, and it was only this year (with some encouraging and teasing from Bajal and Lektron) that Raakon had agreed to try for a third child.

Natala smiled slightly, as she patted her husband's hand, which was still covering her stomach. "You're right," she whispered back to him. "A nightgown is nothing. Our child's life isn't. Raakon, I am so happy to be having a baby again." She turned towards him and kissed him gently on his lips. "Thank you, my love, for this is the best gift you could have given me this year."

Raakon smiled in the darkness, ignoring Diamonique's yelling at the maids to bring her more things to try on. He and Natala quietly, then tensely, watched the Gemstarian woman try on a butter-yellow sleeveless caftan with intricate mauve lace covering it that Natala knew was one of Gracina's favorites. Diamonique then casually removed the dress, and then she stood in her silver-blue bikini underwear and bra, as she studied one of Gorna's dresses.

"Ugh! Whoever owns this dress should be arrested by Intergalacticpol for poor fashion sense!" Diamonique gagged, as she looked at a plain navy-blue caftan with thin black stripes in distaste. Diamonique scrunched up her face when she studied another one of Gorna's dresses, a straight, dull, shapeless dark burgundy caftan with a black herringbone pattern on it. Gorna was well known to be a coordinated, but plain dresser with very little creativity or style. Gorna always dressed severely and conservatively, with no frills.

Gorna's taste did not suit Diamonique's at all, and so Diamonique tossed all of Gorna's dresses aside, as she moved on to one of Alora's dresses. This dress was a sleeveless black cotton-like caftan with a wide yellow band on the waist and a wide yellow band on the cuffs and hem. The dress also had a slit up one side.

Alora had very few actual dresses or caftans to begin with, for like Tayla, she lived in her fighting gi when she didn't have to dress up. Alora's dresses, like Gorna's had no frills or fancy additions; they were fitted to accentuate what few curves Alora had, but they were simple and comfortable. Alora had no need or use for many fancy things; she would have worn her fighting gi to balls and parties had she been allowed to. She was a much more casual dresser than even Tayla.

Diamonique looked at several more of Alora's casual, simple frocks, and she tossed them aside with a bored air. She decided then to settle on the beautiful clothing of Natala and Gracina, and she put on Natala's ruby red velvet caftan again (much to Natala's secret chagrin). Diamonique had just taken a long, luxurious bath, and she felt clean and sensual. She dressed herself up in Natala's silver jewelry, which accented the dress perfectly, and then she fluffed out her magnificent ice-blue hair, which was slowly growing past shoulder-length. A pair of Gracina's crystal slippers with a small diamond on each toe completed the ensemble, along with some of Natala's makeup. Diamonique then twirled about the room, admiring her newfound finery. And as a finishing touch, she added a good dose of Natala's perfume, which smelled of a scent similar to vanilla mixed with lavender; this perfume was Raakon's favorite on his wife.

"I do look divine, even if I do so say so myself!" she purred.

Raakon and Natala (who were hiding their ki signature, so they would not set off Diamonique's scouter [which had been an extra lent to her by Dodoria]) were fervently wishing that she would leave, so that they could escape. Raakon had defeated Balair, but he didn't want to advertise to the other Elite officers yet that he was back to stop them. They both tensed when they felt the ki signatures of Dodoria.

Great, Raakon thought. Just what we need.

"Diamonique, what in the universe are you doing?" Dodoria demanded to know, as he entered Natala and Raakon's room.

"Just finding myself a new dress," Diamonique hummed happily. She paraded her dress and her sultry curves in front of her former trainer. "What do you think?"

"I think it's time to stop playing dress-up, little girl. It's your turn to watch the hostages," Dodoria ordered her sharply.

"I need to rest, Dodi!" Diamonique exclaimed in protest. "After what Tayla Chloe put me through, I must really relax and recover, you know! I will soon need my beauty rest!"

"You're going to take a permanent rest, if you don't get your pampered butt downstairs and watch those hostages!" Dodoria growled. "We're not having any more hostages escape, and you're to help Captain Ginyu watch them. Get going!"

"Don't order me about, Dodoria," Diamonique told him sharply. "I can go down there on my own, even though I really need to find a new outfit. Guess this number will have to do!" And she left the bedroom sulkily.

Just right after Diamonique left, Bhodie and Hazel entered the bedroom, with Hazel coming in the room first. Bhodie had a laser gun poking into Hazel's slender back. Hazel was clinging to her robe, a pink, lacy robe trimmed with marabou feathers that matched the nightgown that she had worn the night that Bhodie and his cronies had invaded the royal Calmagian castle. Hazel had not been able to change her clothes since that night, and she had barely managed to keep herself covered, for Bhodie had tried to take off her robe several times.

The last time he had tried to remove her robe (and her nightgown as well) had been an hour ago when Bhodie had forced her into a closet at gunpoint to "feel her up" before they went upstairs. A furious Hazel had finally lost control, and she had sharply shoved Bhodie away from her hard with a surprising show of strength that only her fury could fuel; the shove was so hard that he had fallen to the floor backwards. The reason for her assault on him was because he had felt her between her legs while squeezing one of her ample brown breasts. Bhodie had retaliated by backhanding her across her eye hard, and now Hazel's left eye was swollen and blackened; Bhodie's strength had greatly increased since the last time she had seen him. That eye was now swollen shut.

A stunned Hazel had thought to herself, He actually raised a hand against me? I didn't think that even he would go that far, but then I should know better. He must have killed thousands of innocent people over the past four years. Bhodie, did I ever really know you? Have you always been this way, and I was too blind to see it? What happened to that charmer I used to know? Was it just a façade, a mask? Is this what you have been all along, even when we were together?

Tears ran freely out of her good eye, as Bhodie once again nudged her with the barrel of the laser gun, as he led her to the bed. Bhodie was becoming more lecherous and more aggressive by the hour; Hazel now knew that Balair was Bhodie's trainer under Frieza, and if Balair had meant for the Human to become a clone of himself, he had done his job well. Hazel cried out when Bhodie poked her again with the laser gun, and she lashed out at him before she thought.

"Stop poking me with that thing! What the hell are you, a Nazi?" Hazel snapped.

"What the hell's a Nazi?" Dodoria wanted to know.

"Evil Earth people who obliterated millions of innocent lives!" Hazel hissed. "You guys and the Nazis would have gotten along great! Your forces are the equivalent of Nazis, and furthermore-"

"Shut your trap, woman!" Bhodie insisted. His scowl melted into a mischievous grin. He winked at his potential conquest. "It's our time alone now, baby girl. Ol' Bhodie can't wait to get a bite of them sweet sugar buns! Yum, yum, yum!" He made slurping noises that made Dodoria laugh.

"Save some for me, would you, Bhodie?"

Bhodie laughed. "Sorry, Dodi, ol' pal, but Hazel's exclusively mine. I've wanted to do her for some time now! That Intergalacticpol chief may have popped her cherry first, but that's okay, he just made the entrance easier for me."

"Bhodie, you and Balair have the same problem, you two just don't know how to share!"

"Sorry, Dodi, but there's still plenty other babes around here somewhere. Me an' Bali's been trying for the past few hours to get ourselves some before the hostages started escaping. Last time, I saw Bali, he was taking Natala upstairs to screw her. Speaking of Bali, where is he anyway?"

"I don't know, Bhode, I'm getting worried. I tried contacting him on the scouter, but he's not replying. All I'm getting is static."

"You don't think that Natala killed him, do you?"

"Hell no! Bali isn't going to get killed by a weakling Astorie woman! C'mon, Bhode, Bali's probably is screwing the brains out of the Astorie woman that used to belong to Raakon Chloe. Anyway-what in the universe-" Dodoria was interrupted when his scouter beeped. He pressed a small button. "Yes?"

"Dodoria, this is Zarbon. Have you heard anything lately from Arachnor or Redusa? I sent them into the labyrinths earlier to finish off any Astorians that may be trying to enter the royal castle through the labyrinths. Have any of the hostages been recaptured?"

"Not yet, sire, but we still have enough important hostages that the others of are no consequence. Crystalis and Pork are still with us, and believe me, I hope that Lord Frieza gives those two little traitors what they richly deserve! The nerve of the little brats, thinking that they can switch sides! Anyway, Zarbon, what's the plan if Arachnor or Redusa fail? Remember that these are Astorians that we are dealing with."

"I do have a backup plan, Dodoria. Arachnor and Redusa are some of our finest Lower-Elite officers, but I have others. There are three other Lower-Elites and five Mid-Elites. The best one that I have is Samsonite, Balair's youngest brother. Next to the Saiyans, he is the strongest out of all the Mid-Elite officers. Also, there's Flirtius, a member of Jeice's race, who's unfortunately every bit as obsessed with humanoid young women as Jeice is, but he's almost as strong. Then there's Seductia, Redusa's cousin, with her famous Kiss of Death Attack and her Fatal Attraction Attack, in which she makes men unwittingly fall in love with her and then makes them do anything she wants, from killing their comrades to even killing themselves to please her. She uses that last attack to make her suitors kill their mates and then themselves; she's such an excellent user of mind control. Fourth of the Mid-Elites is Knightmare, a nasty, but powerful cretin who drives his enemies insane with their own bad memories or worst nightmares; he's also a fine user of mind control. And last, but not least is Splitz, who can do a multi-form technique where he splits himself into up to three people."

"Hmm…interesting," Dodoria noted. He knew Samsonite, Knightmare and Seductia personally; all three were candidates for Top Elite, along with Prince Vegeta. He then asked Zarbon, "What about the Lower Elites other than Arachnor and Redusa?"

"The three remaining Lower Elites are the Terror Triplets, Torture, Torment, and Taunt. All three of them usually enjoy torturing or taunting their victims until the victims literally go insane. Knightmare, as you know is a trainer for Lower-Elites and Low-Levels, and he taught those three all of his tricks. Anyway, Dodoria, I have to let you go now; I must speak with Lord Frieza and try to contact Balair. Contact me immediately, if you've heard from him. Have you tried to contact him?"

"I can't reach him, Zarbon. All I'm getting is static."

"Keep trying, Dodoria. Goodbye for now. I am signing off." And Zarbon's scouter channel closed.

Dodoria turned to Bhodie, who was now forcing Hazel to lie down on the bed. "Bhode, I have to go. Don't take any more than an hour with your little woman there; you'll be needed downstairs shortly. I've got to go try to find Bali."

"Fare thee well, Dodi! Me and my little Hazelnut will be keeping ourselves occupied while you're gone, won't we, brown sugar buns?" Dodoria chuckled at Bhodie's bragging, as he marched out of the bedroom. Except for Raakon and Natala hiding in the closet, Bhodie and Hazel were alone.

"Hell no!" Hazel exclaimed, her full anger returning. "You release me now, you little prick, or I'll-"

"You'll what, Hazelnut? Kill me? You're funny, sweet thing, very funny!" Bhodie laughed. He promptly pinned Hazel down with his weight, as he began to nibble along her brown collarbone while using his right hand to stroke her slender curves freely. His left hand was holding her left wrist.

"Let me go of me, you bastard!" Hazel screamed, trying to push him off of her with no success.

Bhodie ignored her. "Let's play one of my favorite games-What's Under Hazel's Nightie. You've filled out a bit since the last time we were in bed together like this." Bhodie then gave one of her ample mounds a firm squeeze, as if he were testing the ripeness of a tomato. He then began rubbing the center of her breast with his index finger, hoping to make it harden. While he was doing that, he crushed his lips against hers. Hazel writhed and thrashed about the best that she could until Bhodie easily nudged her left breast with his laser gun. He slowly drilled the barrel of the gun into her soft flesh.

Freeing her mouth temporarily, Bhodie said menacingly, "No more protests, Hazelnut. No more fights. We've only got an hour to spare, and I want to get some from you before we have to go downstairs. Your hubby ain't comin' back, and you just going to have to do with ol' Bhodie, who's been wantin' ya for some time! Relax, brown sugar buns, you'll like this. Give ol' Bhodie a kiss, and just think of this as pickin' up where we left off, babes! I don't want to have to hurt you, Hazelnut, but I'm tired of you fightin' the inevitable." And with that Bhodie gave her right breast a hard squeeze.

"Stop it!" Hazel screamed, her terror rising a hundred notches. "Get off of me!" She tried to claw at him with her free hand, but Bhodie quickly seized her wrist.

"No way, brown sugar buns, not while I have you where I want you! Just let Bhodie-" Bhodie's speech was abruptly cut off when he felt the icy tip of a sword blade pressed against the jugular vein of his throat.

"Do as she says, Bhodie, if you value your life," Raakon said severely, with his blade at Bhodie's neck and his hand on Bhodie's back.

Bhodie did not dare turn around, for fear that Hazel's rescuer would slash his throat at any moment. "How-how in the hell did you sneak up behind me?" he demanded to know shakily. "My-my scouter didn't go off."

"I am an Astorian; you know that we can hide our ki and fool your precious scouters," Raakon told the Human coldly. Natala stood next to him, casting her most disgusted, angry look at her former captors. She had grown to despise Bhodie almost as much as she did Balair.

"Get off of her," Raakon told him in a steely tone. "Now."

Bhodie then thought quickly, and he literally shoved the barrel of the laser gun into Hazel's breast. "Forget it, Princie," Bhodie sneered. "You hurt me, and she'll be dead faster than you can say Frieza's name. Now, if you and your sexy little wifey want her to live, you two will leave this room immediately, if you care about her at all."

Natala paled, and Raakon clenched his teeth. Now what in Kami Orchida's name would they do?

"Remove your sword, Princie," Bhodie demanded icily.

Raakon slowly, reluctantly removed his sword away from Bhodie's throat.

"Now that's more like it. Astories can see reason after all. Now, are you two leaving or not?" Bhodie wanted to know. "I intend to have her, and I'll be darned if you two are stopping me. No one's stoppin' our fun, are they, Hazelnut?"

Hazel did not respond, and if she could grow pale, she would have. Sweat was beading upon her chocolate-toned brown, and tears began to form at the corners of her matching eyes. She was now thoroughly scared of this monster, a man that she had once thought that she could trust. Her slim brown body trembled beneath her filmy pink nightclothes. She couldn't repress her sobs.

Natala, seeing her friend's look of hopeless despair, came up with a quick plan. Slowly, she tottered over near the bed where Bhodie and Hazel were, and she lightly tugged at a lock of Bhodie's brown hair. Bhodie looked at her, astonished. Raakon's eyes widened; what was his wife planning?

"Bhodie," she said in her best tone of her normal velvet voice, "why are you wasting your time with her? She's just a Human female, much too weak for a man of your needs. You need a strong woman, sweetheart, and one who would gladly take what you would have to offer. You mentioned before on how you would like to mate with me, and now here's your chance. I've often wondered what it would be like to be with a man who is not an Astorian or a Sistrai."

Hazel's jaw dropped, and Bhodie's jaw dropped further. Raakon stared straight into his wife's eyes. Denim-blue eyes interlocked with azure ones, as a dismayed Raakon looked at his beloved wife in shock. Natala noticed her husband's distress at her propositioning another male right in front of him, but she then winked at him and mouthed the words, "Trust me, I won't betray you."

Their eyes held for several more seconds, as Natala silently mouthed another message to her true love. Raakon then nodded slowly twice, and no more communication was needed; he knew what his wife was planning. He trusted her completely, for he knew that she would never betray their marriage vows.

He mouthed back anyway, "I trust you." Natala nodded once.

Natala ran a slender cinnamon-toned hand through Bhodie's thick hair. Her voice became like melted butter. "You'll like it much better with an older, experienced woman. Most men do. I could teach you things in bed that you couldn't even dream of. Why have skim milk when you can have the cream-a genuine Astorian Princess of Chloe. Think about what you would have to brag later to your friends-that you bedded a real Astorian Princess of Chloe, Prince Raakon Chloe's wife. Balair would never have to know, if that's what you're worried about. He's already had his fun with me, and he was well satisfied, I can assure you. Why not have a bit of what he had with me or more?"

"What about hubby here?" Bhodie asked slowly. He had already viewed Natala Cornsilk-Chloe as a virtuous, pious female. He hadn't thought her the type to cheat on her husband at all of her own free will, let alone in front of him. Then his shock wore off quickly, and then he began to grin, especially after Raakon said easily and uncharacteristically:

"If she wants you, why shouldn't I let her experiment a little? I don't own her body, and Balair's already had his pleasure with her. Why shouldn't I be generous with her?" It made Raakon cringe to hear himself say these words, but he saw Natala's plan as their only chance to save Hazel.

Bhodie's grin widened. "Well, if you say it's okay, Princie…I'll thoroughly enjoy her to my heart's content. It'd be nice to have a woman who won't scream or cuss or cry when I try to have some fun with her."

And with that, Bhodie leisurely climbed off of a shocked Hazel. When he was off the bed with his feet on the floor, Raakon's ample fist slammed into the back of Bhodie's head. With a shocked cry, Bhodie fell face forward into the floor, and when his body crashed into the hardwood floor, he was unconscious, oblivious to the world.

Hazel huddled into herself, ashamed and embarrassed. Her whole body shook, as Natala came closer to her and gathered her close in her arms. Raakon rested a hand on Hazel's slim shoulder. She looked up at him with wide, troubled eyes.

"Okasen?" he inquired softly. (Are you okay?)

Hazel shakily nodded, as the tears flowed down her cheeks. She was not fully fluent in Astorian, but she understood enough of it to understand most of what her in-laws were saying most of the time.

"I hate him so much," she whispered. "So much now. I never thought that it was possible to hate anyone for me. If you two hadn't intervened-"

"You're safe now, Hazel," Natala said gently. "No one will hurt you again. Raakon took care of Balair too, so we are safe now from those vile fiends."

"Bhodie and Balair won't be harming anyone again," Raakon said firmly, as he left the two women temporarily, as he went to Natala's dresser drawer to rummage through it. He pulled out several of Natala's scarves and two of her long sashes.

"I'm afraid that I am going to have to owe you a few scarves and sashes, my love," he told her, as he walked over to the unconscious Bhodie. Using the scarves and sashes, he bound and gagged Bhodie so tightly that it would have almost cut off his circulation, had he been conscious. Raakon then lifted up Bhodie's body and shoved him into the men's closet where he and Natala had been hiding.

"He's not worth killing, even though his death would not be much of a loss," Raakon told his wife and aunt-by-marriage. "When this war is over, he will make an excellent witness, one that may lead us to Frieza-and the monsters who murdered my brother and cousin!"

His voice shook at the last part of the sentence, and Natala excused herself temporarily from Hazel. She went up behind Raakon and gently wrapped her arms around Raakon's waist. Raakon's lean, muscular body began to tremble, as his large fists clenched tightly. He was trying to repress his sobs, but a tear or two escaped his eyes before he could prevent them. He had not cried since the time he had learned of his parents' and his siblings' deaths. On that day, he felt as if his entire world had collapsed beneath his feet, with two dear parents and ten loving siblings gone forever. And now Jaypros was gone, and possibly Farla; Natala had told him that Dodoria had been responsible for Jaypros' death. She had also told him about Marya's visions of Farla's death. Raakon sighed sadly with a catch in his normally smooth voice; his priestess sister's visions about someone's death had always been accurate. The dam in his eyes was now slowly breaking, and tears started to stream down his chiseled cheeks.

Natala smoothed her husband's hair, and she rested her nutmeg head on his broad, trembling shoulder. Raakon finally turned around and embraced her tightly, his body now shaking hard. He was embarrassed to be crying like he was in front of his wife and aunt. Natala hugged him to her securely, rubbing his spine in slow, small circles as he clung to his mate.

"Jaypros wasn't a bad man; he just made a mistake," Raakon chokingly whispered through his tears. "He just loved Farla so much that he was willing to risk all for her, no matter what it cost him. It-it was wrong of them to run off the way that they did, but they surely loved each other, enough to leave everything behind for each other. He gave up everything for her, everything. He risked all for her, everything."

"Like you did for me when you fought Balair," Natala whispered back, tears gracing her smooth cheeks. She kissed him between his wide blue eyes, as she stroked his golden-brown hair. She wrapped her slim arms around his neck and weaved her long fingers into his tangled hair. Their lips met in a soft, warm kiss.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat," he whispered back. "You are everything to me, my Natala."

"And you are my life," she said hoarsely. "I thought that I would never see you again."

"We are very lucky, my love," Raakon told her softly. He brushed a lock of Natala's sugar-brown hair back from her cheek, and then he looked at his own hand strangely, seeing a seemingly insignificant crescent-shaped scar just above the knuckle of his right index finger. He studied the old scar intently.

He whispered softly, "Jaypros gave me this scar when we were training to fight in the Battle of Chloe. He was just learning the fine art of warring, just barely trained to be a good warrior. This scar occurred during that sparring match. We were so close then, him and I, in fact I was closer to him then than I was to Bajal or Lektron or Cletos. He looked up to me, worshipped me, and thought that I was his role model, his mentor. I tried to get him to talk to Farla one last time before she married our brother, Cletos, but he had honestly believed that she wouldn't leave Cletos for him. No one but me saw him cry the day that Farla married Cletos. He was so heartbroken, and my heart broke with him. He was never the same since."

"And now he's gone, and I can never comfort him or be there for him again. I wish that I had been able to talk to him before he and Farla ran away together. It's too late now, too late!" Raakon's voice raised several octaves. "Curse Dodoria! I hate that fat pink bastardi! I should have burst out of that closet and taken him on then and there-"

"Raakon, Raakon," Natala said urgently. "Doing so would have endangered our lives and definitely Hazel's. You will surely be able to take on that monster soon enough. Dodoria will surely get his just deserts, if not in this dimension, then the next."

"I will destroy him," Raakon said fiercely. "He will join Balair in hell."

Natala hugged her husband tighter. She looked deep into his eyes and whispered, "Raakon, you know how I've felt about fighting and warring in the past, but-"

"But what?" Raakon asked slowly.

Natala lowered her eyes and said steadily, her gentle features hardening into a determined expression. "When you see him again and fight him, land an extra blow for me." She took his hands into hers and squeezed them firmly. "Give him what he deserves-for your brother, for Farla and any children that they may have had, for Hazel, for Caline, for all of the people he's hurt or killed."

Hazel joined in from the bed in cheering Raakon on. "Send a blast through that bastard's heart!" she cried vehemently.

"I intend to," Raakon told both of the women solidly. "But first thing is first: I must get you two ladies to safety before I hunt down Dodoria."

Natala left her husband briefly and she gathered Hazel into her arms. "I think I may have found another way into Caline's labyrinths, Raakon. I will get her out of here, and you do what you have to do."

Raakon went to both of them and leaned over to give Natala a long, loving, lingering kiss, which she returned fervently. Hazel watched them with both longing and despair, for she missed her Gohan dearly.

"You will see your husband again, Hazel," Natala reassured her after ending her kiss with Raakon and noticing Hazel's anxious expression. Hazel shakily nodded.

"You be careful, my love, do you hear me?" Natala ordered her husband sternly.

"I will. And you two be careful as well," Raakon told her equally as sternly. All three of them left the room behind. Natala decided that she would tell Hazel about her baby once they got to safety.



A/N: Sorry to be really slack lately on updating. Anyway, I'm thinking about reinstating the poll again, or I may just email it to anyone who asks to see it. If you want to take the poll, just let me know. Also, I'm thinking about starting a mailing list, so if you want to be on it if I put one out, please contact me at mtsawnya@aol.com
Gooden boden fro noy (goodbye for now!) and Dragonspaceballs Ch. 4 should be out. I am currently working on the next Chestra chapter, which should be out (I hope) either tonight or tomorrow, Friday at the very latest.