Cold snow on a frozen heart – Part Two
By: Ashford2ashford
Disclaimer: Ooh…imagine the possibilities if you owned Zarbon and Frieza…you'd be on the rampage for world domination… oh…but then again…I don't own them…so bleh!
Pairing(s): Typical love/hate relationship between Frieza and Zarbon
AN: Hmm…it's been a while since my first chapter. Now we're moving seven years forward…and I'm looking forward to writing this section…only because I haven't written in a while…I'm tying up loose ends on my fan art page on http/theminiarkana. - I go under a different name on there.
Hope this chapter suits the needs of any Zarbon or Frieza fan…

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"I like you, baby Zarbon"
They didn't sound like they were my words…but I had since then accepted that they were…maybe because I was trying too hard to make it seem like I was never in denial…maybe it was because I had an honest reputation…or maybe it was because the words were genuine. Either way, they were mine; my silent pledge to the small changeling that lay in the crib. No one could change that. Not even I.

Of course I still remember that day as if it were fresh in my mind, but over the seven years that followed the small miracle of the baby I was worked to the bone in my training sessions – a natural occurrence for the more war-like Ice-jins of the planet Frieza – and I hadn't the time to think about the baby, or the planet of white snow. My armour had since grown, except around my tail, and my senses were as keen as those of the very animals on the planets; instinct and skill mixed into one. My brother had long since evolved, and my tiny form could barely comprehend the power he held, but I was not to be swayed…I would train…

And then…

The time came when my father decided to return to the planet of ice…

…

…

Crunch crunch crunch.

"Left right left right left right…"

Crunch crunch crunch.

"Stand to attention!"

Crunch crunch – crack!

"The eyes of an Ice-jin, cold and glaring. A gaze that shifts through the ranks of an army, picks out strengths, destroys weaknesses, and then moves on to the task at hand. An Ice-jin body, proud and – although short – full of authority and menace. The age of the Ice-jin…the younger…the more experienced they will be when older if trained from a child…"

That is not far from the truth of our society, and it was a lecture that I remembered from being a baby, a lecture that father saw as fit to deliver to his children before and after each training session. The words were now burned into my brain, and even though I was but a child, I was now in charge…in charge of the assistance being sent to the planet of ice.
The assistance was made up of Ice-jin males, with a few females at the front of the ranks, their armour all camouflaged in the snow. I was leading it along side my father, who had walked ahead of us, expecting me to lead his troops to safety. A few had rolled their eyes at being led by a child, but a few guided ki blasts, a few evil glares, and a few nasty smirks soon sorted that out. Now they feared me…

"Here again, King Kold?"
I winced. It was the lord of the ice again. The hideous creature from seven years ago. I gazed over his filthy mutated body with disgust and swished my tail in the snow, my six toes crunching the white substance into water, as I listened and waited patiently.

"Your assistance is here." My father bowed and was permitted entrance, as were we.

"It arrived just on time. We were in the discovery of another planet. Vegeta-sei apparently. A race of savages lives there. Saiya-jins they call themselves. Very nasty little buggers." Lord Zarbon flicked a braid of green hair over his shoulder and snorted in disapproval of the race.
My father's eyes narrowed.

"So…you've found out the name of the planet, eh? Very good. We shall have to see if we can strike a bargain with these savages. What are their tactics…if you've figured them out?"

We carried on walking into the warmer regions, both my father and Lord Zarbon in the heat of conversation, my ears tuned into other things aside. I could hear the echo of many different conversations, and smell the musky charcoal scent of the fires in the different areas. In short, I was merely testing myself in sense and ability…

"Ahh…here he is."

"Daddy."

My head perked up when I heard the tiniest most beautiful voice to ever be blessed to a child, and I prayed it was him…I prayed it was the baby. I moved forwards to grip one of my father's legs, making sure not to gain any eye contact with Lord Zarbon and then saw the little seven-year-old Zarbon doing the same with his father's leg.
Our eyes made contact – crimson against crimson – my lips turned up a little in a shy smile, as did his, and my feet were edging out gently, as were his.

"I see my son has a good memory." My father petted my little horned head gently, his huge hand so strong yet so gentle upon my brow, "Frieza, I see you recognise Prince Zarbon. He's the baby we saw last time we were here. Remember?"

"Baby Zarbon." I murmured, stepped forwards into full view, my tail dragging behind me like a soft pink worm, "I remember baby Zarbon."
The little changeling stepped forwards also, my heart skipping when I saw his form. He was still human-like, still cute, still beautiful…and I loved it. He wasn't like his father…he was simply…baby Zarbon.

"Say hello to Prince Frieza, Zarbon!" Lord Zarbon nudged the little one into the middle of the two adults, so that he faced me, and then coughed to get a reply.
Zarbon trembled a little and then held out his small delicate green hand.

"M' name is…Z-Zarbon…'m a Prince…" Such a heavenly tone! I gripped his tiny hand in mine and then smiled inwardly when he shivered at my natural skin temperature – colder than ice. My black fingernails showed up against his skin as I got a feel for who he was, what he smelt like and how he was in touch. He didn't know this, but I managed to let go before I spoilt too much of him.

"My name is Prince Frieza! I am the Ice-jin Prince!" My voice was somewhat bolder than his, and had a sharp and sly edge to it. He bowed gently and then gripped my hand again in his tiny digits.
"Want to come and play?" He asked, tugging a little.
I shuddered. No one ever dared to touch me! Just who did this little one think he was? I felt so angry at his intrusion onto my person! No one ever touched a prince!

My father stirred behind me. He knew exactly what I was thinking and became aware of me more than anything…and then I walked off calmly with the little changeling…he sighed…

I had considered sending some ki to the little one's skull when his hand had touched mine, but I felt such a thrill from holding him, from touching him, that I had forgotten in that moment that I was a Prince, and that I was also an Ice-jin! He made me feel like the child I was…and I adored him for it.

"What do you play?" I asked, sitting down on a velvet cushion in the plain white room. Zarbon looked up, his eyes lacking the spirit of a child and then hung his head low.
"I don't know." Said he, "I've never played before. I just wanted to play with someone. Anyone. I hate being alone."

"Don't you have any others to play with?" I asked. I'd never been lonely; I'd trained my whole life, so I never acknowledged the existence of other Ice-jin children. I didn't know what he was going through…and it confused me…and made me unhappy.

The little one shook his mane of green hair and then looked down at the floor; his eyes focused on anything…something. He looked up at me again; his beautiful gaze upon mine, and then knelt forwards towards me, his face full of a somewhat pained expression.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He asked, reaching out to clutch at my cold hands, looking down at them upon contact with the Ice-jin flesh – the warmest planet in the galaxy with ice cold residents, such as was my skin now. He shivered I felt somewhat involuntarily, and then looked up at me, the warmth of his hands fading the more he held onto mine. "Can I?"

I looked into his eyes again and broke his contact with my ice cold skin, placing the warmer palms of my hands over his, warming them again with a gentle ki glow. Somehow, all my anger had gone within an instant, my harsh reputation ruined in the eyes of a child, my intelligence higher than his, but my stature smaller. Looking like a child, and technically being a child by Ice-jin standards, I was just another male to play with in his eyes – someone of his height and stature that he could tell a secret too…if I agreed to listen that is. I caught myself, realising my rudeness and then nodded gently.

"You can tell me anything." The words just came out…I have no idea how.

"Really? Even with a big secret?" Just how much goading did he need? Maybe this was a huge terrible secret!

"Yes…even with a big secret." I felt dumb, playing a child in this manner, but this boy, this little one, caught my interest. It wasn't because of the secret either…I believe back then, I really liked him.

He stood up, his feet shuffling, and his hands behind his back. Beginning to pace, he began his story.

"You've seen my father. He's a huge and ugly changeling. When he is with mother, he is beautiful, but when he's with Ice-jins (he cast a somewhat hateful glance in my direction – another reaction) he transforms into a creature, like the one you saw." He paced more rapidly; I wondered where this was going. "Mother is beautiful always. She says she doesn't want me to become like the rest of my race. She wants me to stay beautiful. Father wants me to become hideous. He says I must transform in order to survive. He tells me that our race is born the way we are and the only reason we have a humanoid form is to deceive others. Am I really that evil? Do I deceive?"

Could I lie to him?

Could I tell him it would be all okay?

Could I tell him what he was destined to grow up as should he stay here?

What do you think?

"Evil is only intoned by the person looking upon it. What do you perceive as evil? If what you perceive as evil is what you are, then you are evil. You could master your transformation. Then you would only have to use it as a last resort! If you stay here…you'll become like your father…"

"Then I should leave."

"Why so?"

Then in that moment he looked up at me with eyes full of hurt and pain and then murmured, "Because I don't want to be ugly."

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Ashford2ashford: The start of a beautiful friendship eh? Lord Freeza is showing emotion…that's a surprise. Let's see how well I can keep this thing running, yah?