Chapter Six – Separation

"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it."

~ Anonymous

His first thought was that Frieza had found them, and when Vegeta jerked his head up to look around him, he saw that he hadn't been far wrong. The two of them were surrounded by troops wearing Frieza's uniform, but the leader of the small band was a tall human-looking young man Vegeta did not recognise. It was he who had addressed them, and he continued to walk around Vegeta and Bulma, as if he were examining an exhibit at a zoo. Vegeta twisted around so that he stood with his back the onna. He could feel her trembling, though she was smart enough not to make a sound.

Vegeta sized up the quality of the escort with a scowl. As far as he could tell, close to thirty of Frieza's crack troops stood in fighting positions around the clearing. On the bright side, he could see none of the inner circle there – the Ginyu Force was conspicuously absent, as were Zarbon and Kuii.

He cursed himself for letting them sneak up upon him. What had he been thinking? The answer was of course, that he hadn't been thinking, distracted as he was by the onna's ministrations. Damn her. It was all her fault, and now they were caught. As closely as Vegeta could determine, he was the strongest fighter there, with the possible exception of the strange young man. However, against thirty the odds were not good. Even though Vegeta was superior to them all in strength and fighting experience, the troops here were still more than competent, and weighed down as he would be by the burden of protecting Bulma, inevitably Vegeta would be defeated.

When Vegeta turned his attention back to the leader, he was unsurprised to find that he was studying him in turn. What did startle him was the level of hatred visible in his green eyes. Vegeta had no personal recollection of the blond human, and he wondered fleetingly why a stranger would hold such obvious animosity towards him. He dismissed the thought quickly though. It was entirely possible he had purged this young mans planet, or had somehow unwittingly caused him indirect harm, even if he had not done anything to him personally. All that was important right now was that he was captive again, and for the first time, he couldn't see a way out of the situation.

The young man ceased his inspection of Vegeta, and came to a stop in front of him.

"So, we have found you at last," he said softly. "Vegeta no Ouji."

Vegeta said nothing, choosing to merely glare at the young man. Though Vegeta was sure he had never seen him before, something was familiar about his green eyes, like an itch in the back of his head.

Suddenly, the leader lashed out with his foot, catching Vegeta a surprise blow in the stomach. Vegeta's eyes widened at the unexpected pain, and he began to dart forward to retaliate, but something was holding him in place. Invisible bonds wrapped tight around his arms and legs, immobilizing him. He could not move anything but his eyes, which blazed angrily at the young leader who was now standing before him, a tight smile on his face.

"Having some trouble there, little monkey?" he inquired. "Finding it hard to move?" His fist lashed out again, this time catching Vegeta on the nose. Vegeta could feel the fragile cartilage shatter, pain lancing up into his brain like a knife. He grunted and fell to his knees, determined not to make a sound. Warm blood spurted down his face, soaking the top of his already stained uniform. The dying rays of the now setting sun stabbed into his eyes, making it hard to see.

The young man stood over Vegeta for a moment, enjoying the sight of the arrogant young saiyan in pain. Vegeta could hear Bulma whimpering behind him, and spared a glance in her direction. She was standing stiffly, tears of shock and fear running down her face. She made no move however, and from this Vegeta gathered that she too was immobilized by the same strange power, or else was too frightened to move. Either way it didn't matter. With Vegeta incapacitated, neither of them had a chance of getting away.

The green-eyed young man was still staring down at him. "Who are you?" Vegeta managed through the blood was beginning to clog up his respiratory system, making it hard to breathe.

The young man did not answer him. Instead, he turned to his men. "Bind the woman and take her away." Four soldiers detached themselves from their positions and roughly bound the terrified onna with rope. She kicked at them viciously, catching one man a decent blow in the groin, before the young man waved his hand at her and she stiffened instantly, paralysed. Vegeta watched helplessly, still unable to move due to the same trick the man had pulled on him. The soldiers finished their job quickly, though they didn't refrain from cuffing her about. Finally, the four soldiers picked up her inert body, carrying her off out of Vegeta's sight.

"Who are you!" snarled Vegeta. The pain from his shattered nose was excruciating, causing his head to throb, making it hard to think. Close behind that was the image of Bulma being used by the four soldiers. Guilt stabbed unmercifully at him, guilt for not protecting her, for failing again.

The young man looked at him, hatred in his eyes. "I am the one who's going to send you to hell."

Vegeta choked out a laugh that ended in a cough. He spat the blood out of his mouth, and looked up at the young man contemptuously. "Too late," he said. "I'm already there."

~*~*~*~*~

Jalen followed the bound Vegeta thoughtfully. This personal intervention was not exactly according to the rules, but then again, who had expected that the saiyan would be so difficult to control. Vegeta stumbled along ahead of him, his mouth spewing forth a steady stream of curses and imprecations against the soldiers holding him captive. Jalen's trick had been modified to bind only his arms and torso, but a close eye needed to be kept on him in case the enraged prince decided to attack with his legs. However, as Jalen had predicted, once the woman was out of sight, she was out of his mind as well. Vegeta showed nothing of his previous determination to escape, and his resistance seemed merely a protest against his mode of transportation. He had been informed that Frieza had summoned, and Vegeta probably was once again aware of the consequences of disobeying a direct command from their leader. No doubt it was not necessary to bind him in this way, but Jalen felt he owed it to Alaria to make the murdering bastard as uncomfortable as possible.

They drew near the compound where Frieza was holding his temporary headquarters, and Jalen carefully slipped back to the rear of the group. It wasn't necessary that he be present for this part of the proceedings – in fact, Jalen was well aware that the less he interfered in this memory the better. The Federation would not accept a recording that had been obviously tampered with. And without the Federation's approval he could not remove the inhibitions in his mind that prevented him from doing anything permanent to Vegeta. The peace-loving Federation had taken it upon themselves to cripple anyone with dangerous inclinations by placing blockages in their minds that prevented the use of violence with murderous intent. So until Jalen could provide proof of the murder of Alaria, who was important enough that the Federation would bend their rule of non-violence in order to avenge her, Jalen was forced to control his rage.

He felt his gorge rising and a red mist begin to cover his eyes at the very thought of his Alaria dying at the hands of the monster walking arrogantly ahead of him, and was forced to blink rapidly, breathing deeply to calm himself. Not too much longer now, he promised himself.

The troop of soldiers had now pulled ahead of him, and were some distance away. Jalen decided it was time to exit this scenario. He would be able to watch much better from in front of the monitor, with less danger of affecting the outcome of the dream. He concentrated, and the scene around him faded, to be replaced with the inquiring gaze of Remmy. Jalen smiled a tight smile of reassurance at him, and glanced at the screen. Vegeta was entering Frieza's headquarters, seemingly oblivious of his captors disappearance. The woman was nowhere to be seen. He focused his mind, and felt her presence once more within the house. His plan was working perfectly, and he had only really broken the rules a little bit by taking the girl away. She was not even meant to be there in the first place after all, so it was only right that Jalen remove her from the recording, even if it had meant he had to interfere personally.

And what the Federation did not know could not possibly be used against him. All that mattered in the end, after all, was that they find a record of Alaria's death. With luck, the recording device embedded in Remmy's collar would tape this memory. With a genuine record of her murder, Jalen could use his powers without fear of retribution from the Federation against the unwitting saiyan. His death would be inevitable from that point, and Alaria would finally have her vengeance.

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta stood in front of Frieza, his skin crawling at his proximity. Nothing showed on his face though, trained by years of servitude to remain blank. Only his eyes burned.

Frieza lounged on his throne, his tail flicking idly in the air, amused at the young saiyan's anger. Vegeta still bled at the mouth from where Jalen had hit him earlier, though he had been allowed to set his nose back in place. The stabbing pain had dulled, replaced by a smouldering headache and a strange light-headedness due to loss of blood. Frieza was watching him, knowing full well the discomfort that Vegeta was in, and delighting in the fact that Vegeta's pride would not let him show the weakness in front of him. Frieza observed him for a few minutes longer trying to see if he would crack. However, when Vegeta stubbornly showed no sign of relenting he tired of the game, and spoke curtly. "There is a young girl somewhere in this area. She has evaded capture, and needs to be taught a lesson."

Vegeta scowled at the order. "Then why don't you send one of you pet lackeys out after her? You are going to waste one of your best fighters on some little girl?"

Frieza raised an eyebrow.

"Are you questioning my decision?" The tone was deceptively mild, but Vegeta knew the pink snake well enough to understand a threat when he heard it. He did not answer even though he was seething inside. Frieza inspected him for a few moments longer, drawing out the moment, before continuing.

"Two separate squads have been sent after this girl already. Neither have reported back to me. That makes twenty of our best troops annihilated by this 'little girl'." Frieza's eyes narrowed. "I want you to find this girl and kill her, do you understand? She is a danger to our operations here. This will be your last chance to redeem yourself. Fail, and I will have to think of something worse than a little roughhousing to punish you with." Frieza's voice trailed off with a thin smile and his tail darted forward to stroke the inside of Vegeta's thigh suggestively.

Vegeta flinched away from the lecherous tail involuntarily, then froze when he heard Frieza's mocking laugh. Vegeta did not respond, barely able to control his disgust and fear. Frieza smiled and looked at him intently when he did not answer, and seemed satisfied with what he saw in the saiyan's blazing eyes. He waved a languid hand in dismissal, and Vegeta turned around, walking out of the room with his head high and face impassive.

~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta paused behind a cover of bushes in front of a small clearing, a small ki ball in his hand, ready to use. He had prowled though the wilderness searching for the mysterious girl for a little more than an hour now. The scouter he had taken from the store-bay did not seem to work effectively. His own scouter seemed to have been lost or broken at some point - his memories were not exactly clear. Every time he tried to pin down exactly what had happened to it, his mind slipped away like an wet fish. This lack of recollection bothered him, but there was no time to examine the reasons why now.

The young girl stood in the clearing ahead of him. Her body was tiny but fully formed. Vegeta noted with a flicker of surprise that she was not as young as he had assumed at first. The girl standing in front of him was in her late teens, and her features were delicate with a luminous beauty. Long silver-blonde hair whipped around her in the wind. But it was her eyes that struck him the most. Her large round eyes were silver - not silver as the eyes of normal people were coloured, but pure silver from edge to edge, as if she wore sunglasses under her skin. They stared at him like mirrors, betraying no expression. Vegeta could see his reflection clearly in those large silver orbs, a bloody, tattered version of his former self.

For a moment, he wavered. The girl just stood there. The ki ball in his hand was growing uncomfortable. Why didn't she run? If she ran than Vegeta could just shoot her down. But this silent waiting for death was unnerving. Vegeta hesitated, then gave a mental shrug. Dead was dead, after all. Did it really matter how he did it? With that thought, he released the ki ball, and watched to dart through the air towards the girl, passing cleanly through her heart. She fell to her knees without a sound, blood soaking through the soft material of her clothing. She coughed once and blood trickled out of her open mouth. She looked up at him one last time, her eyes still eerily blank. She regarded him for a moment, a look of almost pity crossing her face.

Then she was dead.


Next time on Aishiteru, Bulma tries to persuade herself that it was all a dream, while Jalen carries out Phase Two of his plan. Unfortunately for him, Kalika decides to take some steps of her own. Find out what happens, in the next chapter of Aishiteru ^_^

Thanks so much to all of my wonderful reviewers. Six chapters in, and not a single derogatory comment! ^_^ I think that's a good record.

*sigh* I promised myself that I would finish this on tues night so as to be all ready for Wednesday, and now look at me. Almost tea time wed night, and I'm only just finishing an inexcusably short chapter. I swear its not my fault though. My friend had the bad taste to distract me by d/l the first Inuyasha episode for me, and I got so caught up in writing this idea I got for an Inuyasha-ian one-shot that I completely forgot I was supposed to update today. *throws cd at karen* Blame her, not me! Anyways, at least its here, right?

To outtadaloop - Here you go, some bona fide Jalen and Alaria for you. I wonder if you can see where I am going with this yet…

To DBZjezzy15 - I know! Just as things were starting to go somewhere… I hope this is soon enough for you, I try to update at least once a week, maybe twice depending on how inspired I feel…or how many reviews I get (hint hint) ^_~

To Tempest12 - Thanks so much for reviewing ^_^ Yeah, I love it when Vegeta lets people help him…*trails off* Um, that is I would love it if he ever actually did. *tries hard to think of an episode where Vegeta allows someone to help him* Ah well, it could have happened!

To DBZ-fan-JESS - *blushes* aw, gee shucks ma'am. I am only here to please ^_^

To angel star - Aishiteru is a Japanese phrase meaning 'I love you' It's actually s'posed to be spelt ai shiteru, but it makes a better title if you run it together, and hey! Its not like any of us actually speak Japanese well enough to object, no?

To Lilac Cherry Blossoms - Thanks for reviewing again - I love it when people come back to read my stories. Shows I'm not doing badly enough to scare you away. ^_^ Hope you like this chapter as much as the last.

To Dr Spleenmeister - Hmm, well its hard to say if the idea is original or not. I'd like to say it is, but I think I have read several stories before where people mess with their heads in order to manipulate them - some things like The Wee People, by Terry Pratchett (an actual author), or Run From it, by Bulmaveg_Otaku. I swear the idea of Jalen, Alaria and Kalika are all mine though ^_^ I'm so flattered that you would put me on your favourites list and I'm not even finished! What if the ending sucks? *bites lip, worried* Ah well, I'll just have to make sure it doesn't, right? ^_^

And, of course to DBZ Fanfiction Queen Thanks for your support ^_^ You're the best

Watch out for the next chapter on Monday (25th August). Please Review! Oh, and by the way, does anyone know where I could get decent episodes of inuyasha? The aforementioned one that my friend d/l for me had the stupidest subtitles - translated directly without even an attempt to keep with the spirit of the script. Please, save me from the horror! The horror….