Sins of the Fathers-Part Two
'Let me get this straight; you had a Saiya-jin daughter by another woman while you were out in space looking for Goku after the fight on Namek and you never even told us?! You never even thought of telling Bra and me that we had an older half-sister?!' Trunks' lavender hair was standing on end due to the number of times he had run his hands through it in sheer frustration. By comparison, his father appeared to be completely unruffled, although inside he was still deeply shaken after Kitara's reappearance.
'He does have a point Vegeta. We all deserved to know there was another full-blood Saiya-jin still alive, especially if she's related to you.' Goku, to put it mildly, was flaming. It didn't help his conscience that he felt a certain sense of responsibility for the present situation. /If I had just come back to Earth when Porunga had searched for me, Vegeta would never have gone looking for me and this whole thing would never have happened./ Kitara, Gohan and Bulma had remained in the medical lab to monitor the changeling's healing process, the human woman accepting the arrival of another Saiya-jin with barely a shrug. It appeared that she had already guessed this would happen someday. Goku, Goten, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Yamucha, Kuririn and Trunks had taken their 'discussion' with Vegeta to the rec. room near the lab in the hope of receiving an explanation.
The Saiya-jin prince's scowl had returned along with his natural hatred of talking. The glare he turned on his son would have made any other person run screaming from the room. Trunks, however, wasn't a normal person. He simply returned the look in kind, enhanced by a snarl of anger. 'So why didn't you tell us?'
'I have my own reasons for my silence on this matter, baka.'
Trunks raised his eyes heavenward. The impatience and irritation was starting to bite. He spoke with more sarcasm and anger than he normally enjoyed. 'The reasons being?
Vegeta's increasingly agitated façade broke down into uncharacteristic rage and grief almost instantly. 'Because I thought she was dead! Now are you satisfied?!'
A stunned silence fell over the room as he sat down heavily at the small table and rested his face in his hands. 'Because I thought she was dead.'
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It felt warm, the fluid surrounding him. The screaming pain in his skull and tail had lessened considerably, and his muscles no longer ached with every movement. He could sense something…no, someone, watching him. Cautiously opening his eyes formerly sealed in blood, the changeling studied his surroundings. The interior of an isolation chamber, the synthetic DNA surrounding him fading from blue to light violet as it cleansed and healed his wounds. Outside the dome, he could make out the shapes of three people, two of whom were strangers. The Saiya-jin female standing barely a foot away from the chamber however, he recognised instantly. The battered armour and spandex had disappeared; she was now dressed in a pair of baggy black training pants and a white sweatshirt just slightly too large on her small frame. He didn't recognise the words printed on it, but it hardly mattered.
The breathing mask over his face was marring his lip movements, but his eyes still told her what he could not say. Kitara pressed her hand over the plate glass in front of her, never once breaking eye contact with the chamber's occupant. Bulma watched in amazement as the changeling's heartbeat started to slow down, his initial panic fading as he recognised the girl before him. Satisfied that the readings were stable, she moved to stand behind the young woman, placing a tentative hand on her shoulder, expecting her to move away.
She flinched slightly at the contact. Her defensiveness showed that she was expecting, even resigned to a verbal attack from her father's new mate. 'Please, don't hate me Bulma. And please don't hate my father.'
Even though they fought constantly, routinely insulted each other and disagreed over nearly everything in the known universe, she and Vegeta had always been close. Despite his insistence that she would never understand what it was to be a Saiya-jin, he had told her of his race's legends and customs, including a few small details of his life before he arrived on Earth. Bulma had always known that he had taken a Saiya-jin mate while he was in Frieza's personal guard, but had been highly reluctant to tell her of why they were no longer together. It didn't bother her that there had been someone else in his life before her; she just wished she had known that he had fathered another child. Still, Kitara was Vegeta's daughter, they had clearly been close despite their long separation, and that was good enough for her.
She turned the girl around to face her. 'I don't hate you; I'd never hate you. You're Vegeta's child just as much as Trunks is, and that makes you my daughter as well.'
Kitara sighed and gazed up at her, sadness clouding her dark brown eyes. 'Trunks doesn't seem to like me much.'
'He's just shocked.' Gohan spoke up from the lab bench where he was repairing her armour. 'If you found out your father had taken a mate before he met your mother and had fathered another child, you'd be shocked too. Vegeta never told any of us he'd had a mate before Bulma, much less another daughter.'
She looked over at him in confusion, then turned back to Bulma, an expression identical to Vegeta's frown covering her face. 'Another daughter?'
'Yes. Bra's my youngest. She's about three years old now.' She smiled gently at her, a small hint of amusement creeping into her voice. 'At least I now know why Vegeta's so good about looking after her.'
'So…I have a baby half-sister?' She looked thrilled at the realisation.
Bulma nodded. There was something about her she couldn't help but like. 'You can meet her later. I'm pretty sure she'll want to meet her big sister.' A loud beep distracted them from the conversation, the three of them turning towards the isolation tank. The changeling was healed.
Having spent most of her life in and out of the tanks had given Kitara an excellent knowledge of how they worked. Tapping at the control panel, she drained the synthetic fluid away from the tank and watched as the breathing mask was removed from her partner's face, his body starting to reanimate. Opening the chamber, she reached an arm in to steady the changeling as he crawled out of the tank.
The expression on the changeling's face completely baffled both Gohan and Bulma. Far from looking disgusted, it actually appeared to be pleased at the contact, mixed with a look of relief that Kitara was fine as well. The expression rapidly transformed into a frown upon closer examination of its surroundings.
'No-one ever informed us that Chikyuu was this technologically advanced. Isolation tanks…' He caught sight of several modified scouters sitting next to the said tanks. '…Scouters…where are we?' Something rose out of Gohan's memories. The voice had an unusual inflection…
'Relax, we're on Earth, and we're in a place called Capsule Corps.' She gestured to the writing on the front of her shirt, and then to Bulma. 'This is Bulma; she's the one who designed the regen tanks.' Satisfied that he could stand unaided, she let go of his arm, but remained unusually close to him. 'Rei, there's…there's something else as well. Vegeta…he's here as well.'
His expression was unreadable. 'Does he know?'
'I think I took ten years off his life when he realised it was me. Other than that, nothing else.'
Gohan interrupted at this point. 'Rei? Weird name.'
'It's short for Reizoku. Only Kitara is permitted to call me Rei.' He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly at the young warrior's appearance. Spiked hair, powerful muscle density…'You're a Saiya-jin as well, right?'
The demi-Saiya-jin sneered, his memories of Frieza flooding his brain. 'Got a problem with it, changeling?'
Reizoku backed up slightly, unsure as to what he had done wrong. 'Uh…no.'
Unfortunately Gohan had inherited more from his father than simply his Saiya-jin blood. Appetite, strength, the love of battle…all of them had come from Goku…along with the same goofy expression of total confusion. Which he was brilliantly demonstrating right now. 'Huh?'
'I said I don't have a problem with you being a Saiya-jin. Why should I?' His expression darkened into a scowl. 'Or maybe I should have a problem with it. Maybe I should possess the same genocidal tendencies as Frieza. Would that make you happier?'
'It'd give me an even better excuse to kill you.'
'Just try me!'
'Gladly!' The young hybrid immediately raised his hands above his head, forming a Masenko blast while the changeling lowered his hands to his sides, gathering ki for his own attack.
'Gohan! Reizoku! Would you both grow up!' Bulma stepped in between the two fighters before they attempted to annihilate each other. Scowling in irritation, she shoved Gohan backwards, his Masenko dissolving into the air while Kitara pulled on Reizoku's arm, forcing him to power down.
'You got lucky this time. But just don't ever cross me, changeling.' With that, he stormed out of the lab, the Saiya-jin girl letting out a breath she barely been aware of holding in. 'So, it's the traditional warm welcome then?'
'Apparently so.' Reizoku stared out into the hall after Gohan's retreating back, a resigned expression marring his face.
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Vegeta stared at his fists, clenched on the table before him. 'After Kakarott refused to return to Chikyuu, I travelled out into space in the hopes of finding him and learning how to become a Super Saiya-jin. The most obvious areas to search were the surrounding systems around Namek. After a week of continuous travel, I reached the planet Ryusha, one of the smaller, insignificant worlds in the Planet Trade.'
'There were two reasons I had for landing there; to refuel the ship, and to find any information as to Kakarott's whereabouts. Instead I found someone else…Frieza was unaware that more than four Saiya-jin had survived the explosion of Vegeta-sei. Those infants sent out at the same time as Kakarott had also survived the blast, but out of all of them, only three survived. Brolli was one of them, Kakarott the next…and one other. Apri was a first-class female in the Saiya-jin elite, although she never joined the Planet Trade. We were together for over 6 years before Nappa and I travelled to Earth. Back then, Frieza was never aware of her existence.'
'We resumed our relationship where we had left it; nothing had changed between us. She learned about the fight on Namek; both from me and the few Planet Trade contacts she could trust. For a while, she travelled with me in my search, helping more than I had thought possible. Then…' He kept staring at his fists, although only Goku and Trunks were able to detect the barely noticeable slump of his shoulders. 'Then she discovered she was with child, my child. I couldn't risk anything happening to either of them, so at the first Trade port we arrived at, I made her leave, with strict orders to contact me once the child was born.'
'Six months later, I received a transmission from the planet Kinassa; Apri had given me a daughter, a first-class fighter like her. I was…proud to say the least. Abandoning my search temporarily, I returned to her and the child. She had been named Kitara after my mother. I stayed with them for a few months until the search called again. I told her that once I had found Kakarott and had learned how to transform into a Super Saiya-jin, I would return to her permanently.'
Trunks' self-control was wavering badly. 'But you told me the Saiya-jin mate for life! You abandoned her for Mom?'
Uncharacteristically, Vegeta didn't snap back with a retort. He refused to give in to his grief. Instead, he merely stared up at his son, whose expression changed from rage to bewilderment as he registered his father's silence.
'That was 18 years ago. The last time I ever held Kitara in my arms was the last time I ever saw Apri alive.'
Goku and Kuririn immediately felt a pang of understanding and grief for the Saiya-jin prince. Both of them were fathers; they knew how protective Vegeta was of his children, even if he chose not show it much. As for their wives…Chichi and Juuhachigou meant the world to them. But only Goku could understand what it felt like to lose the mother of his sons. Losing Chichi to Majin Buu had almost destroyed him. But at least she had been revived by the Dragonballs. Apri had been dead for over 18 years; Shenlong had no jurisdiction over the dead if they had been in the afterlife for more than a year.
Oddly enough, Yamucha spoke up from his place near the door. He felt a strange connection between himself and the Saiya-jin prince, even though he still resented the fact that Bulma had rejected him for Vegeta. 'How…how did she die?'
Vegeta looked back down at his fists. 'It was a year and a half later that I discovered she had died at the hand of Frieza. The first thing he did after being rebuilt by his scientists was finding Apri, then destroying her personally. Ripped her heart out through her chest and then crushed it in his hands.' All of them winced at the images thrown up by the blunt description. 'I had believed Kitara had been destroyed along with her mother. Once again, my family had died due to my inability to protect them against Frieza. After that…I didn't care much about anything.' He sighed. 'It was partially that fact which triggered my transformation into a Super Saiya-jin. After that, I returned to Earth.'
Trunks and Goten were staring at him wide-eyed. Yamucha and Tenshinhan were more reserved, but their eyes still belied their shock. Piccolo remained stone-faced and impassive as always, while Goku and Kuririn had abandoned all pretence at control and were both fighting the urge to go into the medical lab and blast the changeling straight to hell and back.
All of them looked up as Gohan quietly entered the rec. room. Clearly, he had heard enough to piece together what had happened. He stopped in the doorway, looking uneasy, but choosing to continue.
'The changeling's healed. Thought you'd want to know.'
Piccolo moved away from the wall he had been leaning against, flexing his muscles under his weighted cape. The smirk on his face, pointed fangs gleaming in the light, had made grown men cower like babies back when he'd been Piccolo Daimao, and even now, most of the Z fighters backed away from him in apprehension.
'Time for the Demon King to play hardball.'