"Wicked Game" Ch. 19
By Shawna
"Mother! Mother!"
The young boy came running up to Katsu, who laughed and swung him into her arms.
"What is it, Miki?" She asked the boy, still smiling.
The boy in Katsu's arms looked to be about 4 or 5 years old, and his black hair was long, pulled back into a ponytail. He had a very shallow widow's peak, which would inevitably deepen as he got older, just like his father. He had his father's hair color and of course the widow's peak, and he also had his father's facial features, he could practically be a clone of his father, except for his eyes. His eyes were large and vibrant green, his mother's eyes. Katsu smiled as she looked at him, seeing herself reflected in the eyes that were just like her own.
"It's dad," Miki said softly.
Katsu did not know what it was about her husband that had caused Miki to come running to her, afraid, but she figured he had probably just blown his temper, as he was apt to do. She began to walk across the marble tile, her heels clicking on it, her long white dress swirling around her ankles. She was wearing a crown, and her dress bore a crest on the bodice and sleeves. She was a queen, this young boy, her son, was the prince, Vegeta was the king. All of these things she knew, of course, because this was her life. She passed through a door out of the throne room and onto a great balcony. A large, bald Saiyan was feeding a cat and singing quietly to himself: "Cat loves food, yeah yeah yeah…" Upon seeing Katsu he instantly silenced himself and stood up straight, saluting her.
"Good afternoon, Queen Katsu. Are you looking for King Vegeta?"
"Yes," she said softly, and Miki burst into tears and buried his face in the shoulder of her dress. "I think maybe his Highness lost his temper with the prince," she said in response to Nappa's confused look.
"Oh, right," Nappa said, flustered. "Well, the king is in the bedroom."
"Thank you Nappa," she said softly.
"Of course, your majesty!"
Katsu trailed through the castle, knowing the way to the bedroom she shared with Vegeta. The walls in the inner halls were decorated with pictures, pictures of her and Vegeta kissing on their wedding day, of the two of them holding each other and smiling, a picture of the proud parents and a Miki who was only a few hours old. The present-day Miki was crying softly in her shoulder, she rubbed his back. He was a superb fighter and very strong, but he was apt to cry and get very hurt emotionally whenever his father was short with him, which he so often was. Katsu shook her head, but she was smiling. She knew Vegeta well, of course, and he was always short with people, even her on occasion. Perhaps it was even one of the reasons that she loved him, because he was so difficult and yet he always gave both her and their son everything they wanted. He was a paradox, but he was the man she loved.
"Wait, mom, you never let me tell you what it was about dad that upset me!" Miki suddenly blurted. He was young, but very articulate for his age. Katsu froze, turned to look at Miki.
"Well, what is it? What did your father do?"
Miki became very solemn. "He said he was going to kill me."
Katsu's mouth dropped open in horror. She stared at her son, her son who looked just like Vegeta, but with Katsu's eyes, her son who was more powerful than both herself and Vegeta combined, who already possessed fighting skills that could nearly put his parents to shame. Tears were spilling down the boy's cheeks, he looked afraid, and then there was a crash and Vegeta, dressed in a suit bearing that crest that Katsu's dress had, burst into the hallway, the doors flying off their hinges as he pushed them open. He did not say anything, Katsu opened her mouth to speak to him.
"Vegeta! Wha-"
He came at her, and his hand closed around her throat, cutting off her voice and her air. His other hand wrapped around the neck of their son. He began to squeeze, to close her airway, and she clawed futilely at his hands and small bolts of energy shot out from Miki, but he had been taken by surprise and could not concentrate his power to overcome his father. Yellow spots flashed before Katsu's eyes, she saw her son's eyes roll up into his head, she tried to scream, to kick Vegeta, to do anything to save herself and more importantly her son, her dear son, he was dying, they would both be dead soon...
Katsu opened her eyes, a scream in her mouth. It died instantly when she realized that she was in Vegeta's bed and that he was not trying to strangle her and that their child was still many months from being born. She had been dreaming, dreaming only. She was not in danger now...
But she was. What had happened before she had passed out poured back into her mind, and she sat up quickly in the bed, realizing too late that she should not move so quickly. A rush of blood went straight to her head, making her feel dizzy and she collapsed back onto the pillows. She heard footsteps crossing the floor towards her, and when she could see clearly again, she saw Vegeta peering down at her, looking concerned.
"You shouldn't try to move so much," he said, placing a damp cloth on her forehead. "You're running a high fever and you're malnourished, and both of those things are more dangerous for a woman who is... for someone in your condition. Lie still."
She saw him take a syringe from his pocket, remove the cover, and place it in the underside of her elbow.
"What is that, don't-" She tried to resist, but Vegeta was already depressing the plunger, injecting whatever it was into her veins.
"Don't worry," he said. "It will make you feel better and it won't hurt... our baby."
Their baby. Without thinking about it Katsu reached out and grabbed Vegeta, he dropped the syringe in surprise, and she pulled him against her and buried her face in his hair and wept. She had not really felt the tears coming, but suddenly they were there, spilling from her eyes. Vegeta was stiff in her arms, but he did not move, merely letting her cry herself out against him.
When she could finally dry her eyes and pull away, she suddenly realized who it was she was holding and looked scandalized.
"You-what..." She had nothing to say.
Vegeta stared at her helplessly, seeming at a loss for words for the first time in his life. He reached out slowly, placed his hand on her cheek and he was warm and soft and she wanted to let him touch, to tell herself that it was not he who had destroyed her planet and killed her people, but this was not the truth, she could not tell herself this and so she pushed Vegeta's hand away from her and could not help but notice the fleeting look of pain that crossed his face.
"Lord Frieza just left," Vegeta said quietly, by way of changing the subject.
Katsu did not meet Vegeta's eyes. "What did he say?"
"Not to kill you."
Katsu's head rose quickly, she stared at Vegeta. "He did? Wh-why?"
"Because our baby is going to be more powerful than any other life form ever before seen."
Katsu looked briefly horrified by this news and then she shook her head. "No," she said simply. "I know what he's thinking. My child will not be a weapon for his filthy objectives."
Vegeta closed his eyes and took a breath, as if trying to calm himself. Opening his eyes, he spoke. "I know that's not what you want, Katsu. But it's either that or you die tonight."
Katsu pressed herself against the headboard, clenching her fists. "Then I choose death."
Vegeta popped out of his crouch and pressed his hands to his eyes and growled in frustration. "You can't make that choice! You can't make that choice for our baby!"
"I'd rather us both dead than slaves! Better dead than murderers!" She cried.
Vegeta seemed ready to yell at her more, to tell her that he was taking the choice away from her, but suddenly his whole body relaxed, he seemed to deflate, and then he collapsed onto his knees by the bed.
"Katsu," he said very seriously. "By the time that child is old enough to fight we will not be serving Frieza anymore. I promise you that."
Refusing to meet his gaze, wondering if this was true, Katsu fixed her eyes on the ceiling. "How can you promise me that? Do you know for sure?"
Vegeta grabbed her hands, but still she did not look at him. "Why do you think I've been training so much? Why did I want to fight you all those times? We've all been training because we're going to defeat him and throw off the yoke of his rule for good! I believe I am the Super Saiyan!"
Katsu's nose wrinkled and now she did look at Vegeta. "Super Saiyan? What is that?"
"There's a legend," Vegeta said excitedly. "A legend that tells of a Saiyan who will be so powerful that no one can defeat him. I believe I am that Saiyan."
"But you don't know for sure," Katsu interjected, incredulous.
"Even if I'm not, which is highly unlikely, all this training has made me powerful! With the help of the other Saiyans I think we can one day, one day soon, get rid of Frieza once and for all."
Silence settled over them, Vegeta staring at Katsu expectantly, as if she should just jump back into his arms at hearing this news, and Katsu eyeing Vegeta dubiously. Seconds ticked by.
"You... you're sure about this? You won't be serving him anymore? And what about me, will I still be a slave?"
"No!" Vegeta said quickly, seeing that he was convincing her. "No, Katsu, you'll be my Queen."
Queen. The word resounded through Katsu's ears, pumped through her brain. Queen, her, a monarch, all that power, respect, everything she wanted, all hers. She could be a queen. By Vegeta's side, she could have everything. Their power combined, the power of their offspring, all of that power centering on her... Power, power, power; the word throbbed through Katsu's mind. All of her senses tingled, and she suddenly became aware of how close Vegeta was to her, of how long it had been since she had been with him. Now she could smell him, could see every curve of the muscles in his chest and arms. Lust flared in her, a lust not just for him, but for the power he had suddenly promised her, and she grabbed him, pressing her lips to his. He stiffened briefly, and then kissed her back, his hands already removing his shirt and then going to hers, and he climbed up on the bed with her, and she exalted in his power, thinking of herself as a queen.
Several hours later, she was lying alone in Vegeta's bed, staring out the window. Thinking about how she had acted that afternoon made her feel sick now; she had acted worse than any of these Saiyans, responding to the idea of power so powerfully that she had pulled Vegeta into bed with her and let him have his way with her again, had done everything he had always liked, all because she had been overcome with lust at the thought of power.
Disgusting, she told herself. I'm disgusting. I'm worse than Vegeta. She buried her face in her arms, not crying, not making any sound or movement, but feeling as though she were being swallowed alive by a sudden and complete misery.
All I could think about was being a queen, all I wanted was that power. Power. Power. When she was queen, she would have power. It struck her suddenly, joltingly, and she was instantly flooded with a relief. When she was queen, she could change things here. She would free the slaves, look for alternate means of survival other than destroying civilizations. She could change everything and make this place better, make a difference. That was why she wanted to be queen so bad, to make things better. This thought made her happy, her lust for power was justified. In the back of her mind, though, it haunted her that she was just making excuses for herself, that she truly did desire power after all and the thought of it being suddenly attainable had made her desire flare like it never had before.
No, she told herself firmly. No, I want to be a queen for benevolent reasons.
More excuses.
That night, after she had showered, she dressed herself in a black shirt from Vegeta's closet, leaving the neck open and not bothering to wear anything under it. When he entered the room, she would be waiting for him.
"Vegeta," she purred when he came back to his bedroom. She had dimmed the lights, and she went to him slowly, walking sensually.
His eyes opened wide at seeing her; apparently he was not prepared for her mood to switch so rapidly to this.
"Katsu," he said softly. "What..."
"Shh," she said quietly. "Let's not talk."
She pressed herself against him, running her fingers slowly across his lips before bringing her mouth to his, sliding her tongue between his lips slowly. She wanted this to be slow, to be like it had the time right before she had remembered all of the painful memories, before her love had been destroyed...
It was slow and by the end of the night, when they finally rolled apart and Vegeta drifted to sleep, Katsu felt good for the first time in weeks. The back of her mind still pestered her, reminding her who Vegeta was, what he had done, but she was in love with him. She had fallen in love before her memories returned and now she could not shake the feeling. She looked tenderly at Vegeta's sleeping form, vowing to herself that she could change him, make him softer, more considerate. She did not try to fool herself too much, though; she knew he would never be a kind and gentle family man or a benevolent king, but she would always be at his side, to counter his harsh personality. This was going to work out. Even if Vegeta never became strong enough to defeat Frieza, her child would be able to do it, of this she was confident. One way or the other, everything was going to work out as she was envisioning. Everything was going to work out perfect.
**To Be Concluded.**
