Chapter 13 – Fate

Vegeta wakes up, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

"What the hell happened?"

He sits up groggily and looks up into the sky. His sons are up there, beaten and bloody, getting ready for the final blast. He feels Trunks' hand squeezing his shoulder, letting him know that his other son is glad he's awake again.

"Toorah knocked you out to have his shot at Glacier," Trunks says to him. "It's hard to tell who will win, they're both exhausted."

A tremendous energy wave emerges as both fighters hit each other with everything they have left. Rocks crumble and Chikyuu trembles underneath the ones who watch the fight. They have to take cover not to get hit by flying debris.

When the earthquake is over, Vegeta shakes off the rocks and dust that settled down on his body. It takes a while before the dust blows away in the breeze. Glacier's body is broken and torn apart by the blast; he's finished alright.

"Toorah?" Goku cries out, his voice trembling because he fears the worst.

"I can still sense his ki," Vegeta says. "He's over there." He points to another pile of rubble and flies towards it.

Toorah stretches out his hand as he sees his father kneel beside him. Beyond speech because of his injuries, he contacts Vegeta telepathically.

Father, I'm sorry to have hit you like that. I had no choice.

Vegeta looks at him, his face softening when looking at his dying son.

I understand. It's a pity we only meet now and not under better circumstances.

Toorah's body tenses and his breathing becomes even more ragged than before.

This was my fate… I knew I had to sacrifice my life to protect you… Father, please don't be harsh on Kakarot. He never meant to hurt you.

Vegeta cocks an eyebrow when Toorah brings up Goku in this conversation.

Kakarot is not your concern, son.

Toorah squeezes his hand and pulls his head closer to his own. He whispers something into Vegeta's ear and then his spirit gives up the fight. His body relaxes and a tear falls from Vegeta's eye. Vegeta puts his forehead to his son's motionless hand and cries, sobs racking through his body.

"Vegeta? Are you awake?"

Vegeta comes to with a mind-blowing headache.

"My head hurts like hell, so I guess I am," he growls. His vision improves slightly and he recognizes his bedroom in Capsule Corp. The figure standing next to his bed is Kakarot.

"You passed out after Toorah died," Goku says softly. "We brought his body back here to give him a proper burial."

"Hn," Vegeta grunts. He's really not in the mood to talk about the loss of his son. He doesn't give a damn about Glacier, but Toorah… He never even knew Radditz got pregnant! Suddenly he remembers what Toorah told him right before he died.

"Toorah told me what you've been through in Hell," he says questioningly. "Is it true what he told me?"

Goku nods. "It's true."

"I can't believe it." Vegeta shakes his head and consequently groans in pain as his headache reminds him not to move his head in that way. He growls defiantly when Goku hands him a bag of ice, but then he accepts it and puts it on his forehead. The cold numbs his pain.

"Did you check if Glacier was dead?" he asks.

"He was torn apart. He won't come back." Goku stretches out his hand to stroke Vegeta's hair, but Vegeta turns his back to him.

"Leave me, Kakarot. I need to rest."

Goku's face falls, but he leaves anyway. He never expected Vegeta to forgive him for what he did.

Bulma almost jumps him when he enters the living room.

"What the hell happened out there? Why did you return? Why did you kill Vegeta in the first place?" She fires questions at him as if she holds a machine gun.

"I can't tell you why I killed him, Bulma. I can only say that it wasn't me at the time."

"You mean you were possessed?"

"Something like that."

"Please Goku, tell me what happened out there today. I need to know."

"Vegeta fought Glacier after me. It didn't work. Then another fighter, Toorah, appeared and fought Glacier. He had to knock out Vegeta first because he wouldn't let him fight. Toorah killed Glacier and then died himself. End of story."

"Who were those guys anyway?"

"I'm not sure I'm allowed to tell you that."

"I know Toorah is related to Vegeta somehow, Goku, I'm not stupid nor am I blind. Now tell me!"

Goku rests his head on his hands as he whispers: "Toorah was the son of Vegeta and Radditz."

"N… nani?" Bulma flops down on the couch as her legs give up supporting her weight.

"You mean… Saiyan males can get pregnant?"

"Some of them."

"How come I never knew? I gave you guys tons of medical check-ups."

"Vegeta and I are not the kind that can get pregnant."

"I see…"

"Glacier was also Vegeta's son. Frieza created him by mixing their semen."

"You mean Vegeta had a child from Frieza?" Bulma's eyes become wider every second.

"No. He can't get pregnant. Frieza must have had help from scientists to create an Ice-jin/Saiya-jin hybrid. Glacier was meant to be Frieza's successor."

"And now Glacier and Toorah are dead. That means… Vegeta lost two sons in one day!"

"I know. He'll probably shut everyone out for now. I'll stay around for a while, just in case you need me. I won't show my face though; Vegeta hasn't forgiven me for killing him yet."

"I'll be there for him… if he lets me."

"I know. Thank you, Bulma."

Several months later…

Vegeta stands on the balcony, looking at the stars above. They are pale; the moon is almost full. He inhales the smoke of his cigarette; a bad habit he took over from Bulma's family. His Saiyan body isn't affected much by it though. He can feel a bit of a rush when the nicotine starts to get to his blood. Without turning around, he knows who just appeared.

"I guess you caught me."

"I never knew you smoked," Goku says surprised.

"There are many Chikyuu temptations… I couldn't resist this one." Vegeta turns around and puts his elbows on the railing. "Why are you here?"

"To ask you for forgiveness for what I did to you." Goku falls down on one knee and bows his head. "I'm yours. Kill me if you wish."

Vegeta looks down on Goku's spiky hair and smiles bitterly. "Don't be ridiculous, Kakarot. Toorah told me that you'd never hurt me and that you changed to prevent it from ever happening again. You know what his last words were? I sacrificed my life to save you, father, but Kakarot changed his whole being for you and he's prepared to live with it. That's what I call a sacrifice."

Goku's eyes well up as he hoarsely says: "I couldn't bear the thought of something like that happening to you twice."

"I have suffered greater evil, Kakarot, and I'm still alive." Vegeta glares at him from under dark eyelashes. "I forgive you, if it helps you to sleep at night. Now get up and stop embarrassing yourself."

Goku gets up and then hesitantly asks: "Do you want to talk about Toorah?"

Vegeta sighs and blows out a cloud of smoke. "I had no idea… Saiyans under great pressure don't get pregnant, because it would harm them and their babies. I never considered the option that Radditz would get pregnant anyway, but I guess it happened. It makes sense now: he must have given birth to Toorah when he was gone for a so-called 'deep space mission'. He was gone for nearly a year, that gave him enough time."

"Do you have any idea why he didn't tell you?"

"No. Maybe he knew I'd never see him, because he was destined to fight Glacier. He may have wanted to protect me from a broken heart, knowing that I had a son but never allowed to see him grow up."

"I think that's the reason," Goku thinks out loud. "I probably would have done the same thing."

"He did the right thing," Vegeta says. "I can still visit Toorah in Otherworld if I want to."

"That's right. I'm going home, Vegeta. Do you want to spar tomorrow?" Goku lifts his fingers to his forehead, waiting for Vegeta to answer.

"Sure."

Goku grins and fazes out.