Disclaimer: As if…you know if I owned DBZ, I soooo wouldn't be here…or maybe I would…I have to think about that one…

Thanks so much for all the reviews! I would never give up on this story, it's too much fun to write! I love you all! Keep reviewing, please!!!!!

p.s. always remember to drink PEPSI!!!!!!!!!! It's the drink of yaoi lovers everywhere! Just had to add that I love PEPSI *hugs Pepsi* ok…I'm a little to hyper for my own good, just read the story….

A Thin Line between Dreams and Doppelgangers

Ch. 2

Vegeta sat on his soft bed gripping the blankets in his hands. His mind felt numb. He didn't feel like thinking right now, if he did, he would be forced to decide if what he had just been through was real or not, and he wasn't up to that decision right now. Even though he had come to the conclusion, that is was very real. Why he continued to refuse to accept that was beyond him. He stared carefully at the shadows in his room, wanting them all to be Kakarott…hoping the tall saiyajin would step into the light and comfort him.

The Prince laid back on his bed, feet dangling off of the end. He should have been getting ready to go to Kakarott's woman's house, but he just felt so tired…to tired. He hadn't even realized how exhausted he was until his head had hit the plumpness of his pillow. He wrapped his arms around the soft mass and frowned into it.

He didn't want it to be true. He didn't want Kakarott to be… dead…no! He hadn't spent enough time with him yet, he wanted to spend his life with him. Stubborn tears fell from those dark orbs wetting the pillow below him. He loved that big baka, how could he let something like this happen? Why didn't he stop it? How could he? He didn't know or did he? They were supposed to protect each other, love each other, be there for each other…but he had failed miserably.

He had hoped to Kami, that he wasn't the one who killed Kakarott. There was no way he could do something like that. He just wouldn't. He blamed himself for not being able to protect his mate and his saiyajin, after all he was the Prince and wasn't it his duty to protect his race?

His tears continued to flow as he turned his head out of the pillow and stared out of the window. The sun was setting and it's golden rays were being stolen from his room slowly replaced by the darkness of night. So many questions were trapped inside of his mind, and none of which he had answers to. He wasn't sure he wanted the answers…

He replayed the events of his day through his head again and shuddered when he thought of Kakarott's dead body on the floor. He was confused, no that wasn't the word, it was far more complex than confusion. He had also eaten ice cream with the man how could he be dead? His mind drifted from his thoughts…

Trying his hardest to keep those ebony mirror's open, but he was fastly losing his fight as they shut all the way and he drifted to sleep.

-~*Dream Sequence*~-

The soft crunching of leaves beneath someone's feet was exploding through Vegeta's suddenly sensitive ears. He could hear the breaking of each delicate leaf, the dry foliage turning to dust underneath the pounding of heavy shoes. There were two sets of footsteps, that much he knew, because he heard, crunch, crack, crunch ,crack.

His dark eyes searched for the owners of the footsteps, but found no one. A rustle in a nearby bush, made him turn his head, only to see the scurrying of some forest animal, the crazy thing was running tail first, that made the Prince almost chuckle. It was as if every little sound had been amplified just to personally annoy him.

He looked around at the shaded forest, amazed he could see anything it was so dark. The crunching of leaves seemed to stop abruptly. He took a few steps forward, feeling a gentle breeze embrace his features, making his flamed hair sway with the beat of the wind. The Prince ran a hand through his hair to remove it from his eyes, the wind was getting stronger. He continued walking, now there was no noise at all and the silence was almost unbearable.

His unknown path forward continued, until he reached a circle shaped spot with barely any trees. The grass seemed worn away and there were very few patches here and there. As he observed closer, allowing his eyes to consume the scene, he saw everything was moving backwards. He rubbed a hand across his face.

Yes, the animals were running backwards, and even the wind seemed like it was getting sucked away. What the hell was going on? He watched as a half eaten rabbit's body was slowly coming back together, and a slender brown fox trotted backwards over to it sinking it's teeth deep into the furry flesh replacing the lower half of the body. The rabbit slowly began to breathe, it's lungs pulsing with life as it got up running backwards. The fox trotted back to hide behind a tree. Vegeta shook his head, wondering if he was dreaming because if he wasn't, he sure the hell must have finally trained himself into a delusion.

The breeze kissed his face, crying out his name, leading him to the edge of the circled area, next to a small tree and a bush. His eyes slowly looked down, he saw a body on the ground, face down, and there was a lot of blood. He knew by the spiky ebony mass that it was Kakarott. Tears jerked at his eyes again, at the sight of him, but he didn't cry, instead he became angry.

"Who would do this?! Why?" A small leaf floated across the ground catching itself in Goku's hair. He reached down to remove the leaf from the lifeless saiyajin, but found he couldn't. He couldn't touch anything. It was then he realized he was on the outside looking in…and he was all to familiar with that, and he didn't like it. Time seemed to reverse itself around him. He cursed lowly not being able to help Kakarott.

Slowly, so slowly, red liquid climbed it's way back up and into Goku's throat. The ground becoming it's normal color. Vegeta growled at the thought of the person who did this to Kakarott. If time was reversing, would he see the person…the bastard who killed his love?

He almost smiled…he couldn't wait, and when he did see this person, he would kill them. Rip them limb from limb. His thoughts discontinued as he saw Kakarott's eyes fluttering open, struggling so hard to try and see. They were only partially cracked, and they drifted closed again. His mouth closed then opened the blood still making it's way back to his neck.

He caught a glimpse of something shiny, next to Kakarott's right hand. He bent down closer to see what it was. Then he heard it, the crunching of leaves, but this time it was only one pair of footsteps. He grinded his teeth, and bared his fangs. "Come on you fucking bastard…let me see you, so I can kill you!"

"ateg…" The breathy whisper left Goku's lips, so dry, the words breaking in the air, falling to the ground becoming buried. Vegeta's head snapped in Kakarott's direction. His eyes were still closed and the blood from his neck still seeped back inside of him.

"Kakarott?" Even backwards he knew Goku had called him by the silly nickname he had been given...Geta… His anger flurried into a snowstorm. Kakarott had called out for him, and he wasn't there! He didn't save him! He growled deep in his throat his ki blaring around him.

The crunching sound coming closer and closer, pounding in his ears, only he awaited the sound, the louder and closer it came, he knew he would discover the killer…closer still, he saw black boots through the trees. Black boots, he would remember forever. They stepped closer walking backwards.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kakarott's right hand slowly clench and unclench. He caught notice of the gold glimmer again and reached for it this time, grabbing it. He actually touched something, he brought the foreign object to his face. A ring….he looked at it for what seemed to be forever and read the inscription on it.

"I love you Geta, always Kaka…" Crunching in the back of his head was driving him mad. "Kakarott…why?" He gripped the ring in his hand tightly. Was he killed because of this? Killed because he was going to leave his wife…and give him this ring…maybe marry him?

The pounding of the black boots on the ground was intense, he felt the whole forest shaking. "Kakarott, gods…you were going to leave your wife for me…did she do this? Your woman? Did she kill you?" He slowly turned around as he felt the person closely behind him and the scenery faded out and the last thing he saw was black boots.

-~*End dream sequence*~-

Vegeta sat up in his bed sweat trickling from his brow. He looked at his surrounding and realized he was in his room. "Fuck!" He tossed the blanket that somehow got around him off, and threw his legs over the side of his bed. He glanced at the time, it was after midnight. He shook his head, he was supposed to go over that damn woman's house, not fall asleep.

But that dream, it was so real…He was about to see Kakarott's killer…that couldn't have been real. It was just a dream. The Prince stood up and watched a shiny gold ring fall from his lap and roll along the floor, stopping in front of the night stand. The moonlight danced upon it making it sparkle on the floor, like a prayer in a sea of sins.

He walked over to it and picked it up, examining the inside of it, it read: I love you Geta, always Kaka. His breath hitched in the back of his throat as he held the ring.

"It was real…"

"Yes it was." Vegeta turned around at the sound of the voice.

"Kakarott?" Goku walked closer to him and hugged his Prince tightly.

"Yeah Geta?" Vegeta pushed Goku back slightly and looked at him, tracing a finger across the mans features.

"Are…are you dead?" Goku took Vegeta's hand removing the ring from it and staring at it, as if it was the first time he had seen it. The taller man smiled and brought Vegeta's hand to his lips kissing his fingers softly. Then taking his left hand and slipping the ring on his third finger.

"I bought this for you Vegeta…" The Prince smiled and looked at his hand.

"I know Kakarott." He looked at the other saiyajin for a long while, thinking of just what it was he wanted to say. There was so many things, but he just didn't know how. "Is this why? This ring? Is this why someone killed you? Who was it? Tell me."

Goku shook his head his raven mass flying all over the place. "I don't know who it was, I need your help. I need your help to figure out who killed me."

"So you, you are the one making me see things, dream things?" The taller saiyajin nodded.

Vegeta stared at the ring again and turned on his finger over and over, playing with it. "How come you don't have a halo?" Goku turned his back to Vegeta and a sigh escaped him.

"I'm not dead." Vegeta grunted in annoyance, at first he was confused now he was just angry. He grabbed Goku by the arm and spun him around.

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me, Vegeta…."

"I will do no such thing. I demand you explain to me what the hell is go-" Before Vegeta could finish Goku touched his shoulder and instant transmissioned them someplace else.

"ing on!" Vegeta crossed his arms as he was standing in the middle of a mountainous valley. "What are we doing here?" Goku pointed straight ahead to a meditating Piccolo. Vegeta shrugged. "So what, it's the Namek, big deal."

"He knows a lot about this kinda stuff and maybe he can help us, explain to us what is going on, just go ask him."

Vegeta's arms uncrossed and his nose tilted upwards. "I don't need his help. I can figure it out myself."

"Vegeta…" Piccolo started as he opened his eyes and stood to his feet. "What brings you here? Now I know you didn't come all this way to belittle me, but I wouldn't be surprised if you were that bored." The Prince snorted.

"Don't flatter yourself Namek. Kakarott brought me here."

Piccolo stared strangely at the little Prince. "What!" The tall namek walked closer to Vegeta.

"Goku? I don't see him."

Vegeta threw his arms in the air and turned to Kakarott. "He can't see you?" Goku shook his head and frowned.

"I think you're the only one who can see or hear me Geta."

"Is that so…" Vegeta said flatly. "So now I look like a lunatic, talking to myself…"

Piccolo ignored the one sided conversation he heard. "Although I do sense something different about you. You mind telling me what's going on?" It came out as more of a demand than a question which made the Prince scoff.

"Vegeta, please tell him…for me…maybe he can help us." Goku pleaded with his Prince. Vegeta shifted in his stance angrily. Of course he would tell the Namek. He wanted answers to, he just hated to admit he needed help, especially from the Namek But he guessed it was better than going to any of the other Z fighters.

So Vegeta told him the whole story from when he saw Kakarott on the floor, to the dream he had, and the ring he wore. Piccolo closed his eyes for a long while.

"Here's what I think your dealing with." He started looking for permission to proceed which was given with a nod of Vegeta's head.

"A doppelganger."

"Doppelganger? But I thought, they were only visible to their owner, I can see Kakarott?"

"True, but some instances can change that. Doppelgangers tend to cause great confusion within a person and are often very evil…"

"No! I am not evil, Geta!" Goku protested. The Prince turned to him.

"I know that, your anything but…" He turned back to Piccolo. "How do you think this happened?"

"We all have a doppelganger. Some do nothing, just following us around, kind of like a shadow. They may show us things, visions, or dreams, sometimes they want revenge, and tend to feed their owner evil and malicious thoughts."

"I would never do that! I just want to know who killed me!" Goku yelled.

"Kakarott, I know calm down…" He rubbed the man's shoulders in an attempt to soothe him. Piccolo stared at him.

"Is Goku becoming upset?"

"I have it under control…just go on.."

"Fine. From everything you said. Goku has no halo, he appears when he wants, his ki is not the same, it seems to be a copy of your ki, mixed with very little of his. I believe that when he was being murdered, his doppelganger didn't die, but instead used instant transmission to go to your house. Once there he must have made you black out, then killed your doppelganger, replacing it with himself. And when you woke up from the black out he showed you a piece of his death by letting you see him bloody on the floor."

"That explains why his ki felt so familiar to me. So Kakarott is now my doppelganger?"

Piccolo nodded. "Yes, but even though he seems to be like the old Goku, doesn't mean he is. He has a need for vengeance now…he wants to search out who has killed him."

"Of course he does! So do I."

"Vegeta don't be foolish and listen to me! Goku could become dangerous to you. Doppelganger's are very emotional, jealous, and possessive and they often tire easily. You see Goku is always with you, It just takes a lot of his power for him to appear to you, and he needs to be able to recharge. He may use you to recharge, because you are powerful…"

"NO! I want to leave Geta…"

"Namek! You know Kakarott…you know he wouldn't do those things! He has been murdered and I will get my revenge. We will find out who killed him."

"Why don't you just use the Dragonballs and wish Goku back…"

"No, Vegeta…I need to know who killed me…"

Vegeta shook his head. "No Namek, I need to know who killed Kakarott!"

"Hn…So it begins…" Piccolo stated.

Goku touched Vegeta's shoulder in signal that he wanted to leave. Vegeta nodded.

"Of course, your stubborn, you will do what you want, regardless…when you feel like you have gotten in deep enough shit, you know where to find me."

Vegeta ignored his last comment as they faded out and seconds later appeared back in his bedroom.