Chapter six – To Become Stronger
He woke up, and was surprised when he couldn't feel his own body. Then it hit him. Every single piece of him felt like it was hit by an intergalactic train. He gasped for air, managing to hurt himself even more. The air seemed to burn inside his lungs.
"Sire? Are you awake?" His blurry vision began to improve slowly and finally showed him the face of Tara, who was kneeling beside him and looked down at him concerned.
"I… I remember dying on planet Namek," he said, breathing heavily. "It was less painful than this! What the hell did you do to me?" He tried to sit up, helped by Taras strong arm.
"I told you it was going to hurt like hell."
"Did it work?" he asked her.
"See for yourself," she smiled.
He looked over his shoulder to see his tail, still trembling slightly because of what happened.
"Incredible," he sighed. He instantly snapped back to reality when the cold breeze reminded him of his extreme lack of clothing. Tara must have been thinking about the same thing, since she got up and handed him his clothes.
"Let's get out of here. I'm starving," she said. "Do you think you can fly?"
He tried to use his ki to lift himself up, but failed miserably. He still felt dizzy and disorientated.
"I guess I'm walking."
"What? No way! It would take you a day and a half to get back!"
"Your point being…?"
"I'll fly you there. Unless you're scared, that is."
"Are you calling me a coward again?"
"Yep. Now get your ass on my back because I'm really craving for a good breakfast. I'm not leaving you out here in your condition."
Vegeta thought about what to do. The long walk wasn't that appealing; he was hungry too and had to rest to regain his full power. The faster he recovered, the sooner he would get revenge on this annoying little creature.
"Fine."
They flew in silence, each one of them captivated by their own thoughts. Tara looked up to Vegeta, but his face was expressionless, his eyes stared into the distance. His tail was wrapped firmly around his waist. I have to be careful, she suddenly realized. He might become even stronger than I am, since he has royal blood. The King may have been right about him… He has foreseen many things. I wonder if Vegeta has the ability too. She couldn't tell. His mental barriers were stronger than hers, which annoyed her endlessly. I'm going to train my ass off to prevent being surpassed by him. I know he wants revenge and I still don't know exactly what side he's on.
She landed outside Capsule Corp. two hours later. She watched how Vegeta went inside, sighed and stretched her back. Performing the ritual had drained a lot of her energy and she decided to rest today. Training could wait one more day. Breakfast couldn't.
Vegeta got up before dawn the next morning. He wasted no time and got to the gravity capsule. He was very anxious to find out how much stronger he had become. His mind drifted away and he thought about Tara while warming up. He wondered why she decided to dedicate her life to him. Of course, she was trained to be a Royal Guard, but she had no obligations what so ever to him. There was something about her… She seemed so selfless, so loyal. The big question remained 'why'. This wasn't about her being a Royal Guard. He knew her even before she became one. When they were little kids he used to tease her with the fact that she wasn't a pureblood. She naturally responded by kicking his ass, making him furious. Even then she was holding back on him, trying not to hurt him too bad. Damn it, she could've killed him and claimed the throne for herself but she didn't. Again the question: why? Was it because she was half Magician? He knew very little about Magicians, the only thing he knew is that they could grow a lot older than the average Saiyan. Perhaps they didn't care for power. Tara was stronger than he was, but she never used her strength for her own purposes. Instead she made it her job to protect him. It was mind-ravaging. No Saiyan would ever act that way. He shook his head and concentrated on his training. He got sucked into the familiar world of pushing himself to the very limits of his fighting skills.
Tara was sitting at the lake, about a mile away from the main compound of Capsule Corp. Next to her was a small chest with the few things that were left of her home and family. She could hear Vegeta's words echoing inside her head.
"You talk like you don't care about what he did."
"He killed many of my loved ones… But it's done and nobody can change that. I'd rather look forward to see what the future will bring me."
But unlike other people, she already knew what the future would bring. Trunks had told her who he really was… Vegeta's son. Lucky Bulma, she thought bitter. I never imagined that the Prince of all Saiyans would even consider to get acquainted with those 'petty humans', let alone sleep with one. And in Trunks's timeline, Vegeta had died when trying to destroy the androids. Only Bulma and Trunks eventually had survived…
'Wait a second,' she suddenly thought surprised. 'He never mentioned me being in his timeline. What the hell happened to me?'
Something violently disturbed her inner mesmerizing when crashing into the lake.
"Now what?" she thought irritated. She capsulated her belongings, just in case she had to fight.
