Chapter nine: Vegeta's plan

"Computer!" shouted Vegeta to the air. The voice detector beeped.

"Computer online. Identification required for access to system controls." enquired the light female voice.

"Prince Vegeta, of the Vegeta dynasty. Password: Kakarot."

"Voice recognized. Password correct. Access granted. Welcome aboard, Vegeta. You have been granted full administrative control over this ship. What is your request?"

"Status report, please."

"Hardware check: all engines are running at full power. All systems are operating at optimum efficiency. We are two Earth weeks travelling time from your requested destination. We have left the Solar System, and are now going to the PX67 quadrant."

"Good. Now, to training. Anything to keep my mind off Kakarot."

He transformed into SSJ4, holding his tail upright as he strolled up a level to the newly upgraded gravitron. his spaceship was the best Capsule Corp had to offer. In fact, Bulma had designed it especially for him, just before her death. She knew that he would need it. The battery was powered by ki, absorbed by the walls of the training chamber. In effect, infinite power. Perfect for a space traveler like Vegeta. He closed the gravity room door behind him with his tail, and looked around. he had tweaked a few things here and there, and was quite pleased with his new model. He'd added in a virtual reality system, and improved the AI of the training bots. He had made the entire space ship voice controlled, but it also had manual controls, in case he lost his voice.

"Computer, initiate gravity simulation; one thousand times Earth's gravity, environment 1A."

There was a hum as the machines carried out his requests.

"Request is being processed… Process complete. Gravity level has been set to one thousand times that of Earth, and the environment has been changed to the desert lands."

Indeed, the environment had been changed. It was hotter, by about thirty degrees Celsius, and it was dry and windy. Vegeta prefers to train in hostile environments, always preparing himself for worst case scenarios. He started stretching, as the scorching desert winds swirled around him. He had trained often with Kakarot in the desert , although Vegeta was always the better tactician, using the landscape to his full advantage. He felt a stab of pain at a fond memory of them in the desert…

"Come on, Vegeta! Give me a chance! I'm not great at this heat thing!"

Kakarot looked up at me, panting hard. I will admit, I was being harsh on him, but I thought that he could do with some training in harsh environments. He never knew when it might help him out someday.

"It's because you can't handle the heat that you must learn to deal with it, Kakarot. I'm only doing this to help you."

I grabbed his wrist and pulled him to his feet. I was having a hard time of it myself, but he was far worse off than I was, he couldn't even stand on his own. I guess it had been too soon since his last heavy sparring session to be doing such intense training. His body hadn't quite recovered yet from his sub-zero training. He always said that I was his most brutal sensei ever. I usually just laughed at him and told him to finish his push ups. I wrapped my arm around his waist to support him. I felt guilty pleasure, since I had to wait for him to be injured before I could even dare touch him. I found myself feeling glad that he needed my help, although I smacked myself hard for thinking that way. He just looked at me, that silly grin that I love so much on his face.

"Thanks, Geta. I hate to slow you down like this, but I really want to just eat, and sleep."

I just nodded, then started flying out of the desert storm we were in, holding him as tightly as I could. He just chuckled, and rested his arm around my shoulders and his head against mine. Then I flew the two of us to his house, and we took a three day break from sparring. But, when he'd healed, I took him desert-training again, and the next time, he coped very well. In fact, he had to fly me home. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the attention. It meant everything to me that he cared.

That baka. Nothing ever gets him down.

I miss you so much already…I only wish that you missed me too.

Vegeta checked his watch. It was Wednesday evening on Earth. Piccolo and Gohan would usually be waiting for him to come bouncing into the lobby, dressed in his usual jeans, shirt, leather coat and boots, before they went to the movies at the downtown film complex. He sighed, as he finished his stretches.

It's too late now. I resigned myself to this, and I will go through it, on my own. He cracked his knuckles, then launched into his training.

"It's just not the same." sighed Gohan.

Gohan and Piccolo were having coffee at Koffi Been, the usual coffee shop they went to after movies every Wednesday evening with Vegeta. Here, they argued the virtues and vices of the movie they had just seen, and either praised it lovingly, or ripped it apart with painful critique. Piccolo stirred his extra large decaf with cream inattentively. They had even bought a ticket for Vegeta, without meaning to. A sub-conscious decision on their behalf. Vegeta always sat inbetween Gohan and Piccolo, and his favourite hobby was to throw popcorn at snogging couples during the adverts. He always bought the same snacks; two jumbo double butter popcorn barrels, two super sized vanilla cokes, four slabs of chocolate and three bags of wine gums.

"Yeah, you're right. It's boring without him. Who am I supposed to call 'short shit'? And besides you, he's the only person that can call me 'Pointy Ears', and get away with it. I never thought I'd say it, but hell, I miss the guy."

Gohan reached across the table, and took Piccolo's hand. The Namek blushed. He's never been good with public displays of affection.

"I miss him too. But, he'll come back."

"What makes you say that? You know just as well as I do how stubborn he is, and once he makes a decision, it's final."

Gohan smiled his I-know-something-you-don't smile.

"That may be so, but, remember when he came to say goodbye to us on the Lookout? Notice that he didn't say farewell? He said "see you later." A Freudian slip, on his behalf. Besides, he loves my dad way too much to stay away for long."

Piccolo's jaw loosened, and he looked most undignified for a moment.

"Don't act so surprised, Piccolo. Practically everyone knows that Vegeta has a crush on my dad, well, except my dad, and we were just waiting for them to hook up. But poor Vegeta. My dad really broke his heart. He must feel terrible right now. I know that I'd feel like I'm dying, if I had to leave you."

Piccolo smiled, as he squeezed Gohan's hand.

"Me too, kid. Me too."

Vegeta walked towards his bed, fresh from the shower, his giant blue towel wrapped around his waist, his hair drip drying. He sat on the edge of his double king-sized bed, head resting on his hands, elbows on his knees. As he looked around his new home, his eyes fell upon a silver frame. It was the only photo he had of his birth family. It was crinkled and worn, from being carried all over the universe tucked inside Vegeta's armour. He got up and picked up the frame. There he was, a brat of five, perched on his dad's shoulder. Next to him, on the other shoulder, was his big brother, Vocardo, seven years old. His mother, beautiful Timara, was holding his dad's hand. They were all smiling, on their last holiday together ever. Two months after that, Vegeta watched Frieza murder his mother and brother before his eyes. His father was forced to watch, as punishment. King Vegeta was being punished for not purging his allotted planets in time. Little Vegeta was watching from an air vent, since he used to sneak around the ventilation. He also suspected that Frieza had kept him alive because he showed more potential than his brother did. Even at that young age, Vegeta was already being trained to kill. His soul was being extracted from him, and his conscience dampened. Shortly after the death of his mother, Vegeta became an orphan when Frieza murdered his father as well. By then, the little prince was so unfeeling, so dead on the inside, it didn't affect him anymore. What's another murder? Just another body on the ever-growing pile. Even if it was his father, he thought his dad was killed in battle.

I still have nightmares though…it never stops. Kakarot made them go away, but I know that they'll come back, now that I'm alone again.

Now, Vegeta was going to get some revenge. He was on his way to Frieza's planet purging company. He was going to burn it into space dust and make damn sure that it could never start up again. He had picked up a galactic newspaper while on Planet Bugle, and had found out that the company was still running. After he sorted out that little blight, he was going to journey the universe and get rid of every villain he could find. A sort of vigilante saiyan. In a way, he saw it as a form of atonement for all the murders he had committed so many years ago. He also wanted to make Kakarot proud, even though he'd never know about it. or care. Kakarot didn't care anymore.

But that doesn't mean that I won't try.

Thirdly, it would also pass the time, all the years until he died, or found a mate.

Except…

The only problem with Saiyans is that they only fall in love once. With one person, and that's it. Usually, the love is mutual. But in Vegeta's case, it was too late. He'd never fallen in love with Bulma. Sure, he could mate with some one, but he could never love them the way he loved Kakarot. He liked to think that he'd been Kakarot's first real love. But that bloody baka didn't know that if Vegeta was his only love, then he could never really love Claudia. This was one of the many things that pissed Vegeta off about the whole situation. Kakarot knew that he had loved Vegeta. He said that he did. So why had he still chosen Claudia? Why her? Of course he still loved Kakarot. That wasn't even questionable. But it drove him mad that Vegeta was still second. That seemed to be his curse. Always coming second. Now, two hundred and twenty years of painful loneliness faced him. A slow death. All alone out in space. Rather alone out here though, than being close to the one he loved and being told to go to hell. Vegeta sighed, as he put the photo frame down, and pulled on his black boxers and black cotton pajama pants. He climbed into bed, and clapped twice to switch out the lights. He curled up into a ball, his tail wrapped around his ankles. He wasn't cold, just…lonely. So depressingly lonely.

Hopefully, I'll die in battle soon. Anything is better than this pain. At least in Hell, you don't think about anything anymore. No memory, no problems. I just hope that I can do some good in this universe before I leave, then I'll go peacefully.

Albeit with a shattered heart.

I miss you, Kakarot.

I miss you so much.

An- I know everyone wants Goku to kill Claudia, but bear in mind that he lets people like Frieza and Dr Gero live! He doesn't kill. And Vegeta would try avoid killing her because it would upset Goku that he's still capable of killing. By the way…theres only a few chapters left…

LadyLupin – Claudia will suffer, don't worry.

Veggies boo – Claudia is still alive so that my readers get to have a go at her! But her end is nigh, hehe.

Musaka14 – Goku will go find him…don't worry.

Brian – yeah, but Vegeta is the proud prince.

A Paler Shade of Blue = you should seriously become a psycologist one day. Once again, a perfect synopsis of Goku. I'm going to need a beta reader for my Vegeta/ Piccolo story, because the personality of Piccolo is hard to work with. Would you be interested?

Butterfly13 = we all love a bloody and bruised Vegeta, don't we? But I've got another story brewing, and it does involve a little danger…

Midnight-flame-princess = I agree. The next chapter, he wakes up big time!