A/N: I do not own Frieza, Vegeta, Zarbon, nor any of the other DBZ characters. Thank you so much for your reviews, and for reading this.

            And so now you know the tale. Or at least most of it. You know all of the truly important things. My love for Laylyn, her inherent goodness, my own stupidity for thinking she'd betrayed me. Never had I met a heart so pure, and I wronged her, killed her. An innocent. Oh yes, I learned the truth. My annoying pet, Vegeta, discovered that one of my own men had betrayed me to the Sivare. Thage and the unfortunate traitor, a sniveling creature named Barox, still live. Death was too easy for them.

            At first, Thage was tortured for months on end. Sometimes by me, sometimes by Zarbon. For all his physical beauty, Zarbon is a twisted creature, ugly and dark. His methods of punishment are quite…stomach turning. Eventually, once Thage's spirit had been broken, I decided that he'd had enough physical torture, and I turned him into something of a pet for the crew of my ship. An errand boy. His Magic is actually quite useful. He is the last of his kind, unfortunately. I had him castrated before I'd discovered the truth about his relationship with Laylyn. They never were lovers, even when they were engaged. I take great delight in that fact. I think that made it easier to forgive him. That, and the fact that he once told me Laylyn loved me more then life itself, and had never betrayed me.

            It's amazing how readily I accepted his word when he told me that. It's amazing, because when Laylyn had lived, I'd believed everyone but her, and she was the one I had loved. I'm not sure why, but love makes you raw, it leaves you open and vulnerable, and it causes you pain like nothing else can. Perhaps that's why I was so quick to believe everyone else before her. The pain drove me mad.

Barox is another matter entirely. At first I wanted to kill him, to tear him to pieces for turning me over to the Sivare, and, more importantly, for driving me away from Laylyn. Dodoria and Vegeta were the voice of reason, amazingly enough. They pointed out to me that death would be quick and easy, and my thirst for vengeance demanded he pay a much higher price then a moment of agony before dying. He still lives, but every day he begs for death. His torture will never cease. His betrayal cost me the life of my love, and while I am also to blame for my lack of trust in her, it was his fault we were separated. He will live in pain and suffering until the day he dies. Which I intend to prolong for as long as possible. Why should he be spared, when my grief never leaves me?

            I looked up to see the ghost of Laylyn dancing around my room, laughter in her eyes, and love. And there I am with her, so many years younger, so incredibly happy. The pain flows through me now with as much intensity as ever. Her curse is as strong today as the day she died. Strangely enough, I never want it to end. These visits are the only tie I have left to her, and I refuse to lose her completely. I will take whatever pain I must endure to see her, to remember. I will never forget.

            I am feeling more anguished then normal tonight, and I'm not certain why. Perhaps it's because I'm growing older. I find myself thinking of having a family, but I cannot. My mate is dead. My empire has become all to me, it has become the child I will never have. I have allowed the culmination of power to consume me completely. I no longer care for the softer things of the universe. I have no use for other women, I will never love another. When I lay with women now, it is impersonal, and the act of sex is quick. I feel almost disgusted with myself for touching another, but my body has needs. I have simply learned to shut down my mind at such times, distancing myself until the dawn when I have the woman removed. I have never found another who could stir me half as much as Laylyn could with a simple smile. And I would trade every woman I've ever known just to have one more hour with her.

            As I watched my love whirl around the room, something inside me broke, and for the first time in years, I said something other then what the visions themselves say. "I am so very sorry, my love. I was wrong, and I hurt you without cause. I am going insane without you, and I don't even care. I deserve the madness as punishment for what I did to your people, your planet," and then I laughed, a hollow sound choked with tears. "But do you know what? I never wish for you to forgive me, because then this might all end. And if the curse is lifted, I could never see you again. And this is all I live for now, these nights when you dance for me."

            The beautiful woman said nothing to me, continuing in her graceful movements around my quarters. If she seemed a bit out of her normal routine, perhaps that was wishful thinking on my part. I'd never once seen her stumble in the years since her death, surely I'd imagined it just now. I hadn't expected any response, of course, but somehow I felt comforted by the words I'd finally spoken. Even if she couldn't hear me, at least I knew I'd said them. My men would laugh at me if they knew how weak I was, how my very existence centered around the ghosts of my past. I do not care. I have no pride where Laylyn is concerned. I never did, and I never will.

            I watched my love with sorrowful eyes, and inside my heart is weeping. For so long I have come to him. While he watches the images of our past, I stand in the shadows behind him and watch his face. He is as breath taking as ever, as proud and commanding. But over the years he has become hollow. A shell of his former self. He is growing more cruel and cold to the outside world. At first I refused to care. I was angry and hurt, and I was glad to see him in pain. But vengeance is a consuming thing, it takes up your whole being until there is room for nothing else, and true love will not be so easily cast aside. Not even by vengeance. Slowly, over time, my love for Frieza cast out my desire for vengeance. Now I no longer come to glory in his sadness, I come to see the face of the man I love.

            He was very vicious in his treatment of Thage, but I never bothered to interfere. I felt that the Prince had earned his fate. As Frieza discovered the truth about the traitor on his ship, I too discovered the truth about his intentions for Nayr. At first he had come to take over the planet, possibly enslave some of the Sivare. But then he'd met me. And he had fallen in love, for the one and only time in his life. He had changed, the Unicorns had known it, and so had I. He had become a man of good heart, his spirit slowly shedding the taint of his past, bathed by the purity of our love.

            Thage had been jealous and resentful of Frieza, and he had allowed his personal feelings to overrule his upbringing as a just ruler. The result had been the destruction of our people. His own punishment was well deserved. But over time, Frieza had forgiven him, and eventually freed him. While it was true that Thage was now only a shadow of the man he'd once been, he was free to do as he pleased, and he was actually treated quite well. As for Barox, that was another matter altogether, but I feel the worm should be made to suffer for an eternity for the death of Nayr.

            It's a funny thing, this curse I placed upon Frieza with my dying breath. I damned him to never forget me, but I can never forget him as well. I am bound to him for eternity. Once a month, I return to this realm to visit him, to hide in the shadows while our past is brought to life. It is an exquisite experience of pain and pleasure, and I cannot bear the thought of it coming to an end. I cannot bear to be without him. And yet I am still angry with him. We lost so much because of his arrogance and his willingness to believe I had played him false. We lost each other.

            I was lost in my thoughts, so his voice caught me by surprise. Never once, in all these years, had he spoken. Except to repeat things that we said to one another in the visions from the past. Now, as I heard him apologize to me, and ask my forgiveness for what he did, I am overwhelmed with the need to go to him. As he admitted to never wanting this sweet torture to end for fear of being without me, I wanted to run to his side and fall to my knees before him, to pull him into my arms and tell him I had forgiven him. But I am afraid if I go to him, if I give him my forgiveness in words, the curse will be lifted. I will never be with him again.

            Yet how can I let him live in suffering? How can I deny him my forgiveness? If I truly loved him, his peace of mind would be more important then my seeing him. And who knows, perhaps if I go to him, I will still be allowed to see him once a month. My forgiveness should not lift the curse, I said he'd never forget me. I never mentioned he'd forget me once I'd forgiven him. If hate can endure beyond the grave, then love, the most wondrous thing of all, surely can.

            With a gentle smile, I moved forward out of the shadows, my body trembling, and I circled around to the front of his chair so that I could see my love's face when I told him I had forgiven him, and that I loved him still.