Title: A flickering Flame
Chapter Title: Una Salus Victus
Disclaimer: Not with the owning.
AN: Peps. Hey all. Guess what, thought you guys could use a chapter early. Oh and Critic? This is an AU, Buu was left out on purpose. I don't like him, at all. So. There yah go, not a missing plot, just a decision made with a creative license. *Shrug*
'No... no, Vegeta behind you, look behind you. No... he'll get you, behind you,' she tried to push it out through her tight throat, but it didn't work. Her voice was clogged, she could bearly breath let alone yell out to save her mate. She felt the clog grow as tears filled her eyes. She moved forward as fast as she could, but it wasn't fast enough, she would never make. He glanced up from the book he'd been reading, to find his mate running at him, fear in her beautiful blue eyes. He closed the book and got up moving toward her. That's when he felt it, a ki suddenly shooting sky high. He whipped around, to see Freaza standing behind him. He gasped, and then they were somewhere else. He was 10 once again, and it was right after his first mission. He'd failed that mission. Vegeta was bowing before the lizard, his right arm in a sling, his left leg out straight to the side because of a shattered thigh bone. He closed his eyes and gritted his aching jaw when Freaza's tail whipped forward slamming into Vegeta's shoulder, sending him flying into Nappa who was kneeling beside him. Nappa flinched and earned a kick to the face from Zarbon for it.
"You failed me, Monkey. What do you have to say in your defense?!" Freaza's voice cut to Bulma's heart. She had run forward to help Vegeta only to pass right though him. She was now standing between him and the fuming Freaza. She looked between the two, and tried to touch the once again kneeling Vegeta. Her hand passed though his shoulder. She started to cry.
"You can't help me. This isn't just a dream, it's a memory. You can't change it," Vegeta said, stepping out from behind Freaza's throne (the 10 younger Vegeta I'll call Veggie, for less confusion on your guy's front). Bulma looked over at him and the tears spilled over. He moved forward and laid his hand on her shoulder. She sniffled and looked back to the scene in front of them. "This is my past, what I had to go through. I was ten, and had failed to complete a mission. I was in really bad shape. Broken ribs, a shattered thigh bone, broken arm, bruised jaw, and yet he still punished me," Vegeta said, watching on in disgust as Zarbon grabbed up the struggling Veggie, and walked out of the room with him. Bulma tried to stay in the room, but they were pulled from the room as they were forced to follow Vegeta's memory.
"What was your punishment?" Bulma asked, glancing over at Vegeta, to find him tense and angry looking.
"He gave me to Zarbon, who was going through a faze. He... had a fetish for little boys, and pain," the words were pushed out through gritted teeth. Bulma gasped as they were pushed into Zarbon's bedchamber. She stepped aside as Zarbon threw Veggie down on the bed and closed the door. She was afraid, afraid to watch what that bastard would do to her mate. But she knew that this was a part of Vegeta, his past was such a secret, and these dreams let her get a glimpse of what he was all about, and her genius brain loved it, but her heart hated it. These dreams were always about pain, and death. In the past three months, they'd gone back from when just before he showed up on Earth, all the way back to when he was 10. His past was so dark, and so painful. She felt it more than saw the anger and pain coming off Vegeta in droves. So grimaced and moved over to him, linking their hands together.
"This is as much a part of you as my past is a part of me. I'm here for you, no matter what we see," Bulma whispered, before looking back to what was going on. Only to find they were no longer on Freaza's ship, they were on a planet, and a teenage Veggie was standing by and watching as Raddiz raped a female, that couldn't be more than 16 years old. Bulma gritted her teeth and reminded herself that he wasn't the same man as he had been. "I'm still here," this time she didn't whisper it. She said it in a normal tone, her chin rising a little. They were suddenly somewhere else, this time she was forced to watch as Vegeta held a pregnant female by the throat, a smirk on his face as his hand was shoved into her bulging stomach and the child inside was ripped out. The female screamed for a second before she slumped to the ground from a crushed neck. Vegeta laid the small child down in the box at him feet, closing it and hitting a couple of buttons on it. Bulma heard a vacuum seal engage and watched as he leaned forward and laid his forehead against the cool metal of the box, his back shuddering for a moment before he moved his head to the side, and threw up what was in his stomach. Wiping his mouth, he picked the box up and carried it away. "See, you mourned that, you regretted it," Bulma said, gripping his hand harder.
"I did. That whole mission was... hard. Even more hard now that I'm a parent. We had been instructed to capture anyone under 2 years of age, even if not born yet. Anyone older was to be killed. The children were slaughtered when they reached 4, and eaten by the clients who bought the planet," Vegeta said, closing his eyes and pushing the tears back. Bulma nodded, moving closer and laid her head on his shoulder.
"I'm still here, it doesn't scare me off. But can we wake up now? I've seen enough for now, and your starting to tire of this," Bulma said, seeing the scene around them waver. He nodded, wrapped her up in his arms and laying his forehead on her shoulder.
Bulma's eyes opened slowly, looking down at her mate's face. He was crying, still asleep though. She smiled gently and kissed away the tears before laying her head down on his shoulder again, and going back to sleep.
Skirt woke and stretched, shivering at the cold of the bed she was in. In the week that they'd been there she'd gotten used to waking up with Goten in bed with her. Shivering, she pulled the blanket tighter around her and pulled his t-shirt closer to her. She'd stolen it from him along with his aftershave. Simply because she felt saver when she smelt him. She was almost relaxed when the phone next to her bed started to ring. Rolling over, she snagged it up and held it to her ear. With a mumbled hello she informed the person on the other side that they'd been acknowledged.
"Hey sweetheart," Goten whispered over the line. Skirt's entire body went rigid with shivers before going completely limp. She shivered once again with she heard him whisper again. "I miss you."
"I miss you too, turtle dove. What time is it there?" She asked, burrowing down under the blankets, pulling them over her head and huddling in the newly formed cocoon. She heard a soft whisper from two beds down. Trunks and Rachel had woken up with the phone.
"Around 5:30, you?" He asked, she could hear him shifting around, she was pretty sure that he'd done the same thing that she had. She shrugged.
"Can't see a clock, so... did you just call to yak at me or did you want to talk about something in particular?" Skirt asked jokingly. There was a long drawn out silence that had Skirt on edge half way through.
"I'm scared Skirt," Goten finally choked out. 'Oh god, he's crying,' her thoughts were enough to launch her into a sitting position, the blanket sliding down her face to puddle around her waist.
"Of what?"
"I talked to Gohan a little while ago, and he said that Videl is part of a legend, a Saiyan legend. I... have this feeling that... not all of us are... going to be coming home. I'm scared that it might be me who's not coming home," Goten said around the lump in his throat. Skirt tried to swallow the lump that was forming in her own throat.
"Una Salus Victus, turtledove. I hope it's true for you," The tears in her eyes spilled over and she heard him sniffle, and knew that tears were falling down his own face.
"The last hope of the doomed is not a hope for safety. I just wish that we could have bonded before I left. But, Dende, Skirt I thought I'd be coming home," Goten whispered, curling tightly into a ball, sobbing.
"I know, but... I can feel it too Goten, and it hurts, much more then I thought it would. Just..."
"I'm so scared Skirt, I fear death. Because I fear losing you," Goten whispered softly. "I love you Skirt."
"I... love you too Goten. But.. I will see you again. No matter if it's in this life or the next, I will hold you again," Skirt whispered, and heard a shuffling in the background on the other end of the line. Goku getting up to comfort his baby boy. Skirt whispered a soft 'see ya than,' and hung up. She curled down into her bed, and was surprised to feel seven people sit down on the bed with her. Her family, her gang were there. She turned toward Splat's smell and laid her head down on her bother's lap, tears pouring down her face. "He... doesn't think... he's coming home," Skirt sobbed out, wrapping her arms around Splat's waist. He sighed and ran his hand through her beautiful hair.
"He'll come home, no worries," Crunch whispered, glancing over at Shirt, his girlfriend. All of the couples glanced at each other, pain in each of their eyes. Splat ignored the rest of them and looked down at his baby sister. He knew long before she did that she loved Goten. If Goten died and killed his sister on the inside, he'd kick his ass.
"Goten doesn't think he's going to come home," Trunks told his father, who was standing on the edge of the lookout. Bulma was sitting a little ways away, leaning against a tree, reading a book. Vegeta nodded.
"One of them won't come home, and I am thinking that it will be Goten. I don't know for sure though," was Vegeta's only reply, before he turned and moved to Bulma's side, crouching down and laying his hand on her stomach. She was just starting to show. He could feel their ki's spiking, one was much stronger then the other one. Bulma smiled up at him and continued to read. He thought of the legend, and it flew past his minds eye. 'A thousand years before the first king took the throne of Pyron, a child of great strength and power was born. As the child grew, her power did as well. Soon, she lost control. Thus wiping her memory of all things but her name and the day she was born. No matter how hard she tried, she could not remember things about herself. Her family, thinking it would help, took her to the shore of the Great Tear. She was left adrift on a boat for seven years. A storm blew in, flooding the Tear, and changing the currents. Going aground she found the one to help her. Spending two days with him, her memories returned. With such memories, she went back to her family, only to find them dead. Those who killed them had figured out the girl's power. They captured her and took some of her blood, finding she was not full Pyronian, she was a Hyprid. When ingested, her blood healed. Only when those who captured her killed her mate, did she find her strength again. Her strength returned, she killed her captures, and released the souls of those they had killed. But she didn't survive the blast she had caused. The year of the first king, another Hyprid was born. History repeated it's self and the Hyprid died saving those she loved. The seers say that in a thousand years the Hyprid will return, and when she finds the one she loves, ruins will appear on her skin, to tell her 'The blood of the Hyprid will restore strength and cure all ailments. In the presence of death lies the key to the Hyprid strength. The Hyprid will deliver the dead from the hands of the Soulkeepers. With the death of the Soulkeepers the Hyprid will find freedom." Vegeta shook the legend from his mind, looking back at the once again reading Bulma.
Videl sighed, and looked over at Gohan, who was looking down at her arms. The other ruins were already there. Tears filled her eyes. "Gohan? I'm... not going to make it through this. I'm... sorry," Videl whispered, pushing herself into his open arms. He held her close and shook his head.
"You won't die unless I do, we're life bound. That's why you didn't die from that blast seven years ago," Gohan said, pain in his eyes. He knew that if he died, then so would she, but... he'd try not to let that happen.
"My mother was a Pyronian? That's a little strange. Well her eyes and hair should have let on. Both bright red. But she was so nice, she was sweet, and honest," Videl mumbled against his chest. "Call him, get him to the cemetery where my parents are buried. I'll kill him there," Videl said, pulling away from him.
Videl closed her eyes and gulped, kneeling between her father and Sanith's graves. Sharpener had ten minutes, and then she'd fight him, and kill him. But could she? Could she kill another being? Suddenly tears filled her eyes when she thought of the baby that she had loved so much, but had lost with a single punch from the man who was responsible for the death of the two people that she was standing between. The pain, anger, regret and hate filled her as she thought of that man. Suddenly, a snarl on her lips, her face went from confused and worried to set and determined. She'd get revenge for the family that Sharpener had killed, and if she died doing so, then so be it. Gohan and the rest... if they didn't understand, then well, she couldn't do anything about it. She understood, and that was really all that mattered.
I love you Videl, and I understand, Gohan whispered through their weak and fragile bond. She nodded, and looked above her. There hover the fighting force of the Son family. Her family. Sharpener would not kill anymore of her family.
"It's about time you came around. Now come here, my sweet, my little Videl," the said women turned around, and looked to find two cat like humanoids, Sharpeners voice coming out of one of them. A growl on her lips, she hopped up and sat down on her father's large gravestone, crossing her legs at the ankles. She was in a pair of goth boots that buckled all the way up to her knees, black. A pair of short shorts clothed her lower body. Her upper body was incased in a very thin strapped tank top, that hugged her every curve. Her hair was pulled up in a high braid. She had a pair of biker gloves on, and a pair of Gucci sunglasses that Bulma had given to her for her last birthday.
"I'M NOT YOUR SWEET! I HAVE A MATE! AND IT'S NOT YOU!" Videl yelled, glancing up over the top of her glasses at the floating Gohan. He nodded, his face set and determined, before he slowly lowered, Goten and Goku following close behind him. Sharpener snarled and his hands curled into fists as he stepped forward, the baggy pants he was wairing swishing as he did so. The pants were tight around his ankles, and his waist, but the rest was baggy. He had a large coat on. Open, and flowing, the coat added to the BIG effect his cloths were meant to act as. They were all deep red and a bright pink (FYI I think that pink is the number one work of the devil. Another thing you might have noticed, Black is used in most of my stories as a color portraying good, not evil).
"You insubordinate bitch, you have no right to talk to my son that way," Sharpeners mother snarled. Videl rolled her eyes, and hopped to her feet moving forward a little, her shoulders square. This is what she was here to do. She watched as Goku, Goten and Gohan landed behind the two of them.
"This fight is between Sharpener and myself, you stay out of this," Videl said, looking directly at Sharpener's mother. She shook her head, a smirk slowly sliding across her face.
"I won't stay out of it," she said, taking a step forward. Next thing she knew, Goten had his arm around her neck, pulling her back. She struggled, and snarled. Digging her fingernails into his sides. Videl glanced at them, before powering up a little and blasting at the befundled Sharpener. She slammed into his chest, and bounced off, landing squarely on her back side. Growling, an art she'd picked up, she jumped to her feet and attacked Sharpener again. She used everything Veto had ever taught her, and yet he just stood there and stared. After a few seconds of watching this, Sharpener grabbed her arm with one hand, pulled his fist back and crunched it into her face, sending her flying. She stopped when she hit her father's tomb stone, and slid down it, her glasses bouncing off her nose. Gohan growled but staid back, knowing that he was there only for moral support, didn't mean that he was happy about it. That was his mate that asshole was beating on. Videl got to her feet painfully, picked her glasses up, and moved forward again.
"Let go, you beast!" The suddenly outburst from Sharpener's mother had all eyes on her. In a sudden burst of speed and strength, she turned around in Goten's arms. He looked down at her, and knew, he didn't know how, but he just knew. This was it. "Any last words beast?"
"Una Salus Victus, Skirt," Goten said, before the witch shoved her hands into his stomach, ripping upward and grabbing his heart. She squeezed, laughing in enjoyment as Goten screamed. With a single twitch of her hand, she crushed Goten's heart.
Videl watched in pain as Goten's limp lifeless body slid down off Sharpener's mothers hands, to land in a heap on the ground. 'No, Goten,' Videl soft thoughts triggered something inside her mind. Something snapped, the dam broke and it flooded her, from her center all the way out like ripples.
AN: So... this is a really painful chapter. What with looking into Vegeta's past, then that talk between Goten and Skirt. Now this, Owy. Well, I'm thinking that this fight will be over with in the next chapter, maybe. And then what, one or two chapters after that. But who knows with me. *does kinda happy dance* I got it out on time though. So yay me.