What I Know Now
Chapter 2: On To New Beginnings
Arlia had been… well…..fun. When we arrived, we knew that the planet was worthless. Just another shit planet drifting around in the armpit of the universe. When we arrived, we'd scouted around for a little while before some butt-ugly bug creatures came erupting form the ground like some kind of worm. I ordered Nappa to allow ourselves to be captured, and they took us to their prison. There were a few other bug creatures discussing the corruption of the government, and how the King had unjustly imprisoned them for speaking their mind. Little did they realize their opinions were worthless. There was one who was supposed to be engaged to what the King took as their future queen, and upon our removal of him, he came up to us and thanked us profusely. We would always be welcome there. He reunited with the female, pink bug and told us that we were heros.
Heros.
"We're heros, Vegeta!" Nappa exclaimed in an unfamiliar voice. A voice I only hear from confused children and bewildered lost souls.
"Being a hero is overrated," I'd replied as we sped off in our pods. Hero. The word impacted my blackened heart like a clamp, suffocating me. Despite the scowl and look of indifference I'd given the creature, I couldn't help but feel something. But what?
That had to be when it started. I started to assure my dominance over everything to convince myself that I could never be a hero. I didn't want to be one, did I? I could never be one. I had no need to be one. But it is nature to want what you can't have.
So I did the only thing I could to crush the terrible suffocation griping my heart. I blasted the damn thing.
"Let's make the universe a cleaner place." I watched, unmoved, as the planet burst apart into billions of tiny debris pieces. I listened as I laughed maniacally, automatically, causing Nappa to follow. We laughed as we watched all life on the planet fade away through our scouters. But I felt no remorse. I feel no regret for what I did, or what I've ever done. I'm not sorry for who I am, or who I was. I'll never be sorry about anything. So I'm not sorry for what I've become.
---
When I arrived on Earth with Nappa, their defense was as pathetic as I'd expected. They had a very low number of warriors, and even they were laughable; Nappa disposed of them quickly. Even the Saibamen got rid of a few. I watched on as Nappa had fun with the Earthlings, and they knew that I was a force to be reckoned with in comparison to Nappa. The only two who had potential were not even real Earthlings. The Namek and the half-breed brat of Kakorott put up a reasonable fight, and the brat showed his potential when he landed a few hits on Nappa in an explosion of rage.
I could tell that the boy had suppressed power. The Earthlings had found a way to mask their power, but unfortunately this veiled much of it. Though I still had my reserves, I'd reached my peak many times just to ensure it was there, and to see how high the glass ceiling really stretched. But these people…. they had no idea what their limit was. They just fought and fought without ever stretching themselves, allowing only emotions to show them the depths of their power.
The boy reminded me of what I hadn't been reminded of in a long time: there were no Saiyan females left. The only way for the Saiyan race to survive was through interbreeding. But I did not consider it worth it to taint pure Saiyan blood just to keep it alive. At the time, I'd rather have had the Saiyan race die out pure rather than allow it to linger around, distilled. I considered eliminating the boy, but first I wanted to see that perhaps the Saiyan genes could overcome that of the Earth ones and allow the Saiyan in him to completely control and determine his fighting power.
So I took an interest in the boy. Obviously he'd had some training, and by the style of his fighting maneuvers and clothing, he was the Namek's pupil. But where was Kakorott? I grew increasingly frustrated as Kakorott neglected to show. I knew there was a reason, that he would come. So I continued to wait until he did. Looking back, perhaps this was a mistake. Had I eliminated the Earthlings, and maybe even his son, he would not have had the help needed to defeat me.
I will never admit that Kakorott defeated me single-handedly the first time. He had help, help that could've been avoided had I kept Nappa. But I did not regret eliminating him. I saved him disgrace. Death by my own hand instead of Kakorott's. He should've been honored that I dealt with him myself, rather than allow a low class like Kakorott to dispose of him. I laughed as he died; he was screaming in misunderstand. I laughed at his stupidity, at his inability to comprehend what I was really doing for him.
Regardless of the choices I'd made, Kakorott had defeated me with his alliances. That bald man and his son were key to the battle. And to this day I still wonder who it was that cut off my tail. Kakorott, the brat, and chrome dome were all in my sight when it happened, so it still perturbed me who the perpetrator was. Needless to say, if I find him (or her), he will suffer a slow and terrible death.
I still remember that day like it was yesterday.
"Join me, Kakorott!"
I made him an offer I thought he couldn't refuse. It's Saiyan nature to want power, to obtain it.
"Join me!"
But he gave me that soft smile that drives me insane to this very day. That soft smile that he gives all those he defeats. "I've already seen how you treat your partners," he retorted, citing his dislike of the lack of job security.
"Have it your way."
And that was that. I decided to eliminate him. It sickens me as I remember each event, and those five crucial minutes when he exploded in a burst of power and injured me in normally body-crushing ways. Only one other person had ever beaten me as well as Kakorott had up to that point. It was then I realized he was a real rival. He was also a force to be reckoned with.
Within my brain burns the image of that bald man, slouching over me like some kind of orange phantom, pointing that cursed sword at me as I withered on the floor. The sun beat down upon me as I wheezed and tried to crawl back to my pod. He turned me over like some kind of rock, tossing me over as sweat poured off my face. Kakorott, not in a dissimilar position, was a while away. And he spared me.
He ordered the bald man off me, acting as if I were a wounded dog that had just shit in his yard and needed forgiveness. The bald man debated with him; chrome dome was the smart one. But I was allowed to escape, and as I flew off in my pod I laughed at them, threatening to return and release my vengeance upon them. They were fools for allowing me to live.
Now as I ponder, I'm satisfied with their decision. After all, I've obtained the power of Super Saiyan and even levels beyond. And I've got the woman and my own brats. But that would be for many years to come.
-------
When I first encountered her on Namek, she was a silly, ditzy fool with a lucky inherited talent for mechanics. I knew that she was the one who build the dragon radar, but because of her inability to fight I was not impressed by that. What I was impressed with was her beauty and boldness. I watched as she ogled at Zarbon, unaware of the real monster behind his façade.
"Silly girl."
I observed the way she coward ferociously behind Krillin, aware of her weakness but still unable to hold back her tongue. Rooting for that disgusting lizard, and immediately taking back her words as he transformed. I still chuckle when I think of the shriek that escaped and the look of unbelievable terror on her face. She was such a silly girl.
"Vegeta." I look up and find the woman herself staring up at me, looking at me like I'm some kind of alien. I suppose I am to this world. "Vegeta, what are you doing?" she asks me in a strange tone.
"Meditating," I grunt. I'm sitting atop a tree, the woman below me.
"Oooookaaay," she says slowly, accustomed to my strange ways. "Well, dinner's ready when you're done." I already knew this. I can smell it from here, but instead of spitefully telling her so I nod my head and she heads away.
She is probably the only person in the universe next to Kakorott who will ever come close to understanding me. And she was always this way. That is what made me weary of her when we interacted properly for the first time.
"Vegeta," she called, loudly enough for me to clearly hear her. I was on Earth again, sitting beneath the tree I am currently sitting on now. I was resting peacefully upon a rock when she approached me. And she'd changed. Not a moment before I'd felt a strange fluctuation in an energy signature, and when I traced it mentally, it resided in the woman. It lasted only for a second. She stopped walking suddenly, and her eyes closed. She remained this way for a few moments before opening them and looking around and babbling to her relatives and the Namekians. I had brushed it off, assumed it was just a minor event. But now I know.
From there she approached me.
"You're invited to stay, too," she explained, motioning towards that building I'd assumed she resided in. I couldn't restrain a snort.
"There's nothing you have here that I can't obtain on my own," I replied, unsure of why I'd even bothered to answer or acknowledge her. But her stance and the directness of her speech compelled me to observe her.
I was amazed when she crossed her arms and mimicked my expression, retorting, "Oh, but I think there's something in here that you would very much appreciate." I stared at her, wondering what she could possibly have. I could tell by the confidence she had that it was really something worthwhile, so I waited. "I know you're going off to train somewhere, but I think you'll find that our gravity is a little too… shall we say… light? I can fix that. I can build a gravity room for you. You can train at a hundred times heavier gravity than what you would call this "brain-mashing" vacuum." I could not restrain my confusion.
Why?
Why would she do such a thing for me? What were her real motives? Knowing them now, I feel foolish in my response.
"It sounds… intriguing. Show it to me and I'll consider it." And she held her hand up in that haughty way when she knows she's got you cornered.
"Ah ah ahh! I'll cut you some slack and just GIVE you the gravity room, seeing how you helped my friends out… sort of… But knowing you, you'll probably want improvements and repairs." She looked at me expectedly, for a sign that I thought she was absolutely right. And to conceal the idea that I did, in fact, agree with her, I just glared. She looked only slightly disappointed when I didn't respond the way she'd wanted. "But knowing you…" I scoffed at the idea.
"I'll do that for you if you agree to act as my personal, um, what's the phrase? Security guard?" She smiled at me slyly. So finally the offer came out. I almost smiled at her slyness. I'd finally determined how she got around in life with such a weak body. She used her cunning to have others for her.
"Woman, you would have made an excellent businesswoman on Vegetasei. If I see the room and like it, then I'll accept. These weakling humans wouldn't be able to get within' a mile of you without me knowing," I boasted. I followed her into the residence, eyeing her calm strut. She was the first woman I'd ever met who was not ignorant but still unafraid of me. And the thought was strange. For an instance, my thoughts had drifted back to the boy. Perhaps interbreeding would not be as damaging to the Saiyan race as I thought. The boy had power, a lot of power for a boy his age. But as soon as the thought had come, it had gone.
"Ridiculous."
"Okay. I have to have it set up in the backyard first. It's a bit large to have in the building. So you have a whole day to just do whatever you want. But," she says suddenly. She must've seen me preparing to go my own way. "You must be hungry." I grunted affirmatively and followed her to the kitchen. I hadn't eaten much when I'd been on Namek. She led to me to the kitchen and showed me the refrigerator, which I'd never seen before.
"Here. Help yourself."
"Come back here!" I called as she started to leave. "Make something for me!" I had no idea what kind of food was in that device, or how to prepare it. I didn't even know if human food was edible to me. I assumed that it was, considering Kakorott had lived on Earth his whole life, but I had no idea what kind of diet he'd partaken in.
She looked a little outraged as she demanded, "Do I look like a slave girl to you?"
"As a matter a fact, you do," I shot back automatically, barely even thinking about it.
"If I am indeed a slave girl, where's my master?" she teased suddenly, grabbing my full attention.
"You're looking at him!" I claimed, smirking at her. She looked me over carefully for a while, judging me as I stood and scowled at her.
"Impossible," she decided. "You're much too ugly to be my master." Now that I'm older, I know she didn't mean it and actually thought quite the opposite. But as I was young and hotheaded, I felt like an explosion went off in my brain.
"Woman, you should watch yourself before you mock me!" I hissed. She looked at me as if she were going to laugh in my face, enraging me even further.
Suddenly she a very determined look on her face as she blocked out any fear. "Or what?" she seethed defiantly.
I opened my mouth to give her a low and spine-chilling threat, but she put her hand up and declared, "Enough! If you want something to eat, ask my mother. I'm not a very good cook, so you don't want to ask me." She was always willing to admit her little faults like that. She looked at her wrist and tapped the communicator, calling for her mother.
"Mother! Vegeta would like something to eat."
I ripped it off her wrist, which surprisingly didn't startle her, and barked, "NOW!", still very upset at how our little scuffle had ended. Her mother let out a squeal and appeared in the room as fast as any Earth warrior I've ever fought.
"Oh Mother," the woman sighed fondly. I scowled at her for her display of human emotion. The mother, however, found it necessary to investigate me like I was going to court her daughter. I suppose she had a right. It ended up that way.
"He IS a cute one isn't he?" The woman got a look of utter embarrassment on her face, which pleased me to see finally. I would have endured hours of the investigation to maintain her crushed dignity.
"At least SOMEONE respects a prince's appearance," I muttered.
"Ah, so this is Prince Vegeta!" her mother babbled idiotically, as if she deducted this telepathically or psychically.
"You obviously don't take after your mother. You have no respect for those who are above you!" I sneered, deciding to push the woman more. She flinched a bit, as if trying to restrain herself. She was unsuccessful.
"You arrogant son of a bitch! I make you the deal of a lifetime and you throw it back in my face."
The first feeling that came over me was intense anger. I felt like reaching out my hand and snapping her neck; it would've been extremely easy. But then for the first time I calmed down and thought. If I killed her, I would never obtain this "gravity room." And the woman was an interesting individual, one that I preferred to be around compared to the other Earth idiots I'd met. I felt pleased, pleased that at least one person on the planet had nerve.
"It seems the only one with guts on this planet is a female moron who has no fighting power. Figures." I complimented her subtly. And she picked up on it.
"Thanks for the compliment," she smirked, expecting me to be unhappy she picked up on it. But I wasn't. It was meant that way.
-----
I was very impressed when she gave me the gravity room. I looked around and took in every aspect as she went on about the security measures and features. I accepted her offer about being her "bodyguard," and the idea of the roundabout way in which she crept in close to me makes me laugh now. She really was a clever woman. Manipulative, but clever. She gave me a communicator watch and set me off to train by myself in the GR.
When she forgot to give me the password to the gravity lock, I was careful not to insult her and show her utmost respect as I asked for it. I could've easily added a few curses, but I knew she had power over me that was very rare to have. She had leverage, so to speak. And so far in my life, she was the only person I'd met who had power over me that still deserved respect. So when she practically ordered me to attend that dance with her, I just growled and glared at her without putting up much of a fight.
She was my employer. And I'd been taught, as a worker and businessman, to respect your employer in regards to business. But when it's personal, do whatever the hell you want. (smirk)
When Frieza and King Cold arrived, I failed on the job. First, she insisted on me taking her because she was "tired of watching through a TV." She finally found the action she took Frieza's blast for me and saved my life. It should've been the other way around. I'll never forget the horror I felt as I watched her stand up with a three inch hole going straight through her side.
"What's wrong with everyone?" she demanded, brushing herself off. "I'm fine!" I'll never forget the look of panic on her face as she felt the blood on her hands and looked down to witness the horror of her wound. The blood was pouring tremendously onto the ground without her notice, and yet she instinctively pressed her hands to the wound to keep the blood inside. It soaked her pants and shoes, and even the dirt beneath her couldn't accept the life-filled liquid, rejecting it as it formed in a monstrous puddle above it. She looked like she was going to vomit from her own surprise as she slowly viewed the blood on her hands.
"Well, okay," she murmured shakily, attempting to stay strong. "I'm uh... not fine. But I'll live. I've been through worse. Go fight, they need you." That was when I first noticed Kakorott's presence, but I didn't care.
All I could think of was that I'd failed on the job. I failed. I'd never truly failed at anything in my life, because there was always time, I would always survive. But I didn't know if the woman would survive. I'd never had to take another being into account when determining my own success, and the thought that I'd failed on the first try sickened me. "Woman, I-" I couldn't restrain a choking sound. I felt like apologizing to someone for the first time in my life, but the words had never been spoken. They couldn't come out.
"Heheh. No need to thank me, Vegeta," she chuckled understandingly, trying to cheer herself up as well. She fell slow and hard to the ground as I watched her, horrified at my inability to stop it.
I felt sick. I could feel the pain she felt. I could faintly hear her try to joke about building a regen tank.
And then she started crying.
That pushed me over the edge I'd always tried to pass. I began to shake and snarl uncontrollably, enraged at myself, enraged at Frieza, enraged at everyone around me for not being able to help the woman. I felt a rush of energy engulf me, and everything went hazy.
And next thing I knew, a rush of calm engulfed me as strongly as the energy and power had, giving me collective calmness as I processed what had happened. I looked at her passed out body on the ground through my newly teal eyes and clenched my fists determinedly.
I fucked Frieza up as badly and terribly as I could manage before rage took over and sliced his head off. I had the urge to keep it on a platter. Then after the battle was over, I carried Bulma's body back to CC, barging in on her surprised and heartbroken father as I placed her on his bed and demanded materials for a Regeneration tank. I built it from the Raditz's scouter, feeling pleased with fate as I found it in the room I'd encountered her wearing it. I built it in less than an hour and placed her inside.
She only took a day to recover, and I spent that entire day sleeping by the tank until her all her friends came in to visit her at some point in the day. Her whole group of friends showed up, but she woke when Kakorott and his mate were there. I could hear from the hallway Kakorott explaining what happened; I heard her surprise and awe at how I'd single handedly constructed the regen tank. I waited for Kakorott and his wife to leave before I entered, determined to be stern with her.
"You listen here! I'm only going to say this once! Don't think I'm grateful that you pushed me out of the way and 'saved me' or whatever the fuck you think you were doing. I would've been fine if that blast hit me instead of having you make me look like a weakling!" I hissed as venomously as possible. I kept going, despite the look of surprise on her face. I wanted to ensure that she never do that again. I didn't want to endure that again.
"Now listen up! I've never said this before, and you're probably never going to hear it again, but I'm…" I hesitated. I paused as I couldn't muster the word. She looked at me expectedly, with those bright blue eyes that had gone grey only the day before. I envisioned the hole in her side, and her look of panic as she realized the damage done.
"Sorry." She looked exceptionally surprised. And confused.
"Why?" She asked the question that I always loved to ask. My favorite question of all the questions in the universe: the question I thought was the most important.
And upon uttering such a word, hearing it come from her lips, my soul began to bare itself. "You got hurt. And I was RIGHT there! We made a deal. And I don't break promises." I felt like reprimanding myself more than her.
"It's no big deal," she waves off. I could see her considering that it was the wrong thing to say, and she corrected herself. "I mean, I jumped in front and voluntarily took the blast. It'd be like me punching myself in the face. How are you going to protect me from myself?" She was amazingly logical. Another reason I admire her. But I'll never let her know that. "And besides, for 'insulting your strength', I think we can safely call it even. ESPECIALLY since you gave me this regen tank." Upon such an idea, I decided to let the matter rest and headed towards the door.
"By the way, woman. Don't do something like that again. You're not responsible for me, it's the other way around," I sneered from the doorway as I left. It was my way of letting her know that things were back to normal.
----
I decide to take a break from my meditation for some sustenance. Hopping down from atop the tree, I take off towards the complex about a half a mile away. I realize for the first time how far the woman had to walk to find me. How did she know where I was?
I discard the thoughts as I arrive at the house; landing on the side of the house that led into the kitchen, I entered to find my family already seated at the table, my two offspring wolfing down food like starving warriors.
"Hey, Dad!" Trunks waves to me cheerfully and pulling a chicken bone from his throat.
"Hi, Daddy!" Bura giggles in that high pitched squeal that reminds me of a bird. Her tiny face was already messy, plastered with grease and bits of chicken skin that only a small child can manage.
"You been listening to your mother, brat?" I ask Trunks, who has lately been in his teenage rebellious stage.
"Of course!" he scoffs at me, smirking at me with a smirk that I once thought could only be my own.
"He babysat Bura today while I attended that big company meeting," Bulma interjects, coming up from behind me with another platter of chicken. Most likely the entire thing is intended for me.
"Mom paid me!" Trunks gloats before shoving a few French fries in his mouth.
I stare at her accusingly. "You paid him to watch his own sister?" She smiles and shrugs at me, a signal that it's over and done with and I can't do anything about it now. She hands me the platter and sits down next to Trunks, so I sit across from her.
"How was your 'meditation'?" she asks conversationally before starting into her food.
"Fine," I grunt, starting to focus on the meal. I finish the meal in no time, happy to see that my children had already finished and left the two of us alone for the first time in a while. She is sipping a glass of water, reading the newspaper despite the easy accessibility of electronics. She was always a strange creature.
"What did you meditate about?" she asks suddenly, still able to read the paper at the same time.
"The past," I answer honestly but shortly.
A small smile creeps on her face, many secrets buried beneath. Secrets she is unaware I know. I think back to when I found the device, the cursed chip that caused me many hours of deep and unbearable thought. I knew that the physics of the universe created multiple alternative realities, ones in which the events of my life took different courses and directions. In many of them I'm probably dead, or she is dead, or we never met, or we mated with others. But despite the strong possibility that I am in a different line than the one of the woman in the chip, I still connect the two.
And for this I hate her. I hate her manipulative ways. I hate her cunning. I hate that she knows me. I hate that she's figured me out. I hate that she directed my fate, cornered me into this life. And I hate that I still love her despite all this.
As I read the chip, I realized it wasn't 'her' because a few major incidents never happened to me that were described on the chip. It torments me thinking about what she'd done: how easily she strung me along. She had the advantage and used effectively. She won. I cannot help eyeing her as she reads her paper, not knowing that I've dug into her deepest secret. I read every word of that log. I know that deep in her soul, she cannot let go of the hate she felt for me in her future timeline. This burns even more, knowing that she feels the way I feel about her. It is a paradox in itself, that we can both despise and care for each other so passionately at the same time; a paradox that has wracked my brain many times.
"Well, I'm going upstairs," she informs me softly as she swiftly rises from her chair and proceeds to the door. I watch her go silently. Does she ever think about her past? Or rather… her 'future'? It must be so strange for her, to be living a happy life when she knows what could have happened. How often has she lain beside me at night, haunted by the ghosts of her alternative past? How often has she stared at Trunks and Bura in awe, fascinated that they could ever be conceived?
The log has also given me a new perspective on others as well. I sometimes find myself looking at her mother in some more respect, thinking back to the way she died before. What a hell of a way to go. It was the stupidest, funniest explanations of a natural death I'd ever heard. Death offering cookies. Bah. Damn humans and their diseases. But at least her mother put up a hell of a fight from her explanation, and that's all I need to know.
----
"Go ahead, it's no concern of mine."
I once said that to her about a meaningless matter. I said the response that she claims she will never forget. I watched as her face contorted in pain and anger, which baffled me at the time. I didn't understand how she could become so upset over the fact that I didn't care if she went shopping or not. I'd rarely seen such pain and anger twisted upon her features as her eyes pointed daggers at me accusingly. And then she'd left to speak to her father.
Now I understand.
"I'll ask you one more time."
"And I'll tell you one more time. I. Don't. Care."
The words that sealed her father's fate in her eyes. Often she has eyed me strangely when I interact with him. Even when I pass him she stiffens considerably. Until now, I'd always thought she was worried I'd scare him and give him a damn heart attack somehow. But now I understand.
She didn't describe the struggle in a very detailed manner in the chip, but from the numbers she gave and the major events that occurred I can obviously deduce that for a woman who lived a life of luxury and protection by Kakorott and the other warriors, it was terrible for her. For this I can respect her even more, knowing what she did in a past life. She accomplished her mission. She is a woman who has never failed.
I look at the son of Kakorott, Gohan, and wonder how differently her mission would have been had he gone back with her. It would have been exceptionally strange for him, to arrive back in a child's body, seeing the horrors I'm sure he'd seen. Perhaps it is for the best he did not come. We still beat the androids successfully. For the first time in a while, we are at peace.
My mind wanders back to one of the entries in her log.
"But I can't help but hate him. All those years of pondering what he did makes me hate him. I hate him with a passion. He's the reason I'm here. He's the reason everything became so fucked up. And he's the one that can fix it.
But I have to try and remember that this isn't the same Vegeta. This one is changing, I can see it. He's staying here, he's getting stronger. And best of all, he's obligated to me.
He won't be leaving anytime soon."
I did not leave, and still I will not be leaving anytime soon. All I can do is hope that the anger and fury in her heart has faded away, and now she understands now that I am in fact the wrong Vegeta.
----
The only entry that makes me laugh is the one in which she describes the 'dance' and the terrible outfit she convinced me to wear.
"Yea. Special agents and stuff wear those kind of things. Gives you a 'high up' look, and people will stay out of your way and not question you."
"Blasted woman! If I'd known that I would've asked for one sooner!"
Heheh. The thought makes me chuckle, because I remember the brightness of her eyes and the excited way about which she described her own genius innovation. As always she used her own cunning to force me to accept and actually like the damn suit.
"May I still have his name so I can add him to the guest records?"
"Of course. Vegeta…uh…" Oh man. I just realized he might not have a last name and that even if he did, I don't know it. Vegeta, son of Vegeta? Hahah, I don't think they'll take that.
I can easily recall the young boy that I lied to the night I assumed the name 'Vegeta Nouji.' I recall my confusion at the interaction between Bulma and Mrs. Techlado, convinced that the human species was intrasexual. Within my memory is every word of the conversation we had that night, the conversation which gave her the brilliant plan that originally trapped me here. It had been a nice change to be able to talk with someone seriously about some Vegetasei customs. It was nice because I knew that to Kakorott, it was unimportant.
We even had some telepathic conversations during the exceptionally boring speeches of the Techlados, scaring a few of the witnesses who watched our faces form the matching expressions of comments they couldn't hear. Bulma had made up some bullshit about sign language. She did in fact teach it to me, and now I know four different kinds.
She still uses all the stupid little sayings she explained to me that night, and now they've wormed their way into my brain. Occasionally I catch myself muttering a, "This royally sucks."
"When are you leaving?" she'd asked suddenly, her lack of clarification confusing me.
"The date?" I inquired.
"No. Earth."
I smirked and lifted my nose into the air to receive an extra air of haughtiness. "Until I can turn SS with ease and kick Kakarott's ass."
"Oh," she accepted simply. "Not gonna bother blowing up the planet?" She asked it so calmly, as if she wouldn't care if I did. But the truth was she knew for a fact I wasn't going to.
"Nah," I'd answered honestly. "Waste of time. Besides, I might want to use the GR some more," I replied with another smirk.
"Oh. I see how it is," she answered playfully. "So why haven't you killed me and just taken it?"
"That wouldn't be honorable. We made a deal."
"But you destroyed hundreds of planets, killing defenseless people and taking their stuff. What's so different about me?"
"I…" For the first time in my life I felt a tinge of pain that she would bring that up. The truth behind her words baffled me and astounded me. I realized that I myself didn't have the answer. "I didn't have much choice in the matter then," I said softly, deceiving her by not telling her everything. But then again, she was grateful that I even admitted this much. "And once I realized that I began to do it anyway. But now that I'm not a planet broker, its no concern of mine."
"Haven't you considered taking over Frieza's army? You did kill him," she moved on. She seemed to have accepted my explanation, but from the beginning she never seemed particularly disturbed about my past.
"Yes, I decided I would. The only reason I'm still here is for you and Kakarott." It's so ironic that I said that; I completely admitted to her that she was an important factor in my stay on Earth. I placed her on an equal pedestal of concern, right next to Kakorott. And he was a high priority.
"Why me?" she asked innocently.
"You told me about this thing a while ago and I'd agreed to come. I figured after this party I could go and find Kakarott, but he's gone," I elaborated cunningly, leaving out anything that could reveal my swelling attraction to her.
"I suggested he learn how to mask his ki," she had admitted, as if she were sorry that I couldn't find him and felt guilty.
I didn't know how to comfort her feelings of guilt, so I merely replied, "That's a handy technique to learn. I might have to master it as well."
She paused for a moment before glancing at me. "Hm. I'm beginning to understand more of how you think. Haven't you ever considered defending planets instead of destroying them?"
"If you can't defend yourself then you don't deserve to be defended." I saw her turn away in a flicker of pain, and her ki fluctuated slightly. I'd assumed it was because she felt slightly insulted that I viewed her planet was weak. I realized that I'd accidentally insulted her, telling her that she didn't deserve to be defended. It is one of the few things I admit I was wrong about.
"Humph," she recovered. "Goku defends us!"
"If he'd just let you all die for once he wouldn't have so much stress in his life."
"What does that mean? Stress? What are you talking about?" She didn't know then that I knew about Kakorott's deteriorating condition.
"Nothing. Nevermind."
"Well, at least he has something to live for," she retorted softly. Those words cut into me like a knife as I realized that she was absolutely right.
-----
Here a crucial difference lies. In the chip she described how she explained everything to me after the 'rape'. She confessed her past and elaborated on what the future would've held.
But that did not happen. It was far different. Everything from then on was far different, and a couple events before that were even missing.
The day beforehand, a strange pod arrived in our front yard with the Capsule Corporation logo on it, and a man with purple hair and aqua eyes hopped out to talk to Bulma privately. I'd assumed he was just a worker or employee stopping by to talk about business, and I thought he was annoying due to the haunted look he gave me when he walked out thirty minutes earlier. Bulma had walked out before he reentered the pod, waving fondly to him as he left.
I can recognize that wave now. Because that man was Trunks. The Trunks from what would be a couple decades later. He had cleverly masked his ki level to match that of a normal human, so he walked in without me ever suspecting him. It must have been his arrival that offset a couple of the events afterwards.
The next morning, the morning of the conception, she was exceedingly nervous, jumpy, and suspicious. I'd thought she had some stupid corporate meeting coming up that was important. But by that morning, she'd read the chip, and she'd already planned everything out.
She must've decided not to tell me. After seeing my reaction in the timeline in which she did, she probably decided that keeping it from me was for the best. I suppose she was slightly correct, though how such a tiny, unrelated difference could change so much confounds me. The workings of the universe are ridiculous. But we're all alive now, aren't we?
I can still recall waking up from the night of Trunk's conception. It's been almost 17 years since then, and we've moved far past it, admitting mistakes on both of our parts.
"Ugh, what's wrong with my head?" I'd murmured as I awakened from the deed.
She meekly pulled the sheets over herself and whispered, "A hangover."
I looked around to discover tattered clothes displaced all around the room. And when I turned my attention downward I was horrified to discover that I wasn't wearing pants. I turned slowly to the woman, to her naked form beneath the sheets, unable to move out of the position she was in without bringing about pain. And upon placing my hand on the bed, I felt the mixture of fluids and put two and two together.
"What the fuck is going on?" I whispered anyway.
I felt extreme sorrow, sorrow like I'd never felt before. I'd actually hurt the woman. Badly. She was shivering, unable to bring her eyes to me as she shivered in fear and pain beneath the sheet.
I felt fear.
"Woman," I whispered lowly. "Why…" I paused, noticing the painful and uncomfortable position she was in, already determining the answer before I'd even formed the question. "Why do you look so scared?"
"Don't worry, Vegeta," she managed out. It was the same deathly tone she managed when she had the three inch gaping hole in her side. "You didn't do anything dishonorable. It… it was my fault. You didn't rape me or anything," she tried to reassure me unconvincingly.
I had to look away, ashamed at what I knew I'd done.
"What happened?" I demanded, the anger at myself starting to form in my voice.
"It was my fault," she admitted again, looking away from me in the same amount of shame I felt. "I told you one drink wouldn't get you drunk, and I was telling the truth. But... I put something in your drink." And here she started crying.
Her steady and reckless flow of tears is probably the only thing that stopped me from screaming. And I asked her the question.
"Why?"
She closed her eyes furiously, and a small blush crept up on her face. "Oh Vegeta, I'm such a fool."
"Explain yourself," I demanded, still managing to keep my voice under control.
"I…You… You don't know what its been like! I just wanted you to talk to me without all those damn mental restrictions!" she pleaded. "I put a chemical in your drink that was supposed to simply negate the chemical in the Saiyan body that prevents alcohol from affecting you. I wanted to get you a little tipsy so I could get to know you better. I've never felt so happy as I do when I'm with you! I just… I just wanted to get closer," she finished, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment at what she'd just revealed.
"You silly woman," I muttered, staring at her disbelievingly. I couldn't believe that she would go through so much trouble just to get closer to me. I couldn't believe that she didn't know that she was the closest person I'd ever had.
"I know," she sobbed uncontrollably.
"What… why did the chemical not work properly?" I asked. I never knew her to miscalculate.
"It doesn't matter now!" she sobbed. "It's too late!"
I felt another tinge of pain; real pain that coursed through my blood: a manifestation of the frustration that I couldn't take what I'd done back. For the second time in my life, I experience guilt. And both times were related to her. She is the only being in nature that can make me feel guilt.
I couldn't muster a response to her words, because quite frankly I wasn't sure what she was talking about.
"Too late for what, woman?" I asked.
"Vegeta," she whispered, horrified at herself and looking up from her hands straight into my eyes. "I'm pregnant."
-----
I know now that she twisted the truth magnificently to turn it into a completely different explanation. But the explanation I received was as satisfactory as any truth I could've received that day.
"I've never felt so happy as I do when I'm with you…"
My infatuation with her deepened when I heard those words. Never before had anyone actually been comforted, let alone happy, in my presence. It was a strange and new idea, and new ideas have always intrigued me. And despite reading the chip, I know that she meant it. Bulma continues to update the chip, adding her own memories to it. She probably plans to reveal it to me someday, unbeknownst to the fact that I've already seen it.
Her recent entry logs have confirmed that she meant what she said that day. She constantly reprimands herself for falling in love with me, like it is some kind of sin or naughty doing that she knows is wrong. But regardless, she seems happy with her current life. She feels no regret for that night, and neither do I. The outcome turned out to be quite fantastic.
We made up for that night the night after Trunks was actually born, mating properly and far less messily as the first time had been. The look of satisfaction and passion on her face as she looked up at me in complete happiness still brings a smile to my face.
I did not kill Kakorott as the woman described. I did not kill Kakorott at all, and despite the constant threats I make to actually fulfill it, I am pleased that he is alive and well. I would not be able to bear this world's boringness without another strong fighter like Kakorott: my only peer. Though our offspring can put up a hell of a fight, nothing beats sparring the only other full blooded Saiyan in the universe.
So as you can see, the contents of the chip, the chip you read before this conversation, is a bit different. But I'm sure you could tell that before now. Unless of course you have the wit of Kakorott as well.
Argh! I'm still not sure I should be telling you all of this; but since I've already gotten past the important events that occurred in the chip, I'll move on to what's next.
I'll start from the beginning. My new beginning.
Ta dah! Tis finito! El fine! Yay! I honestly don't know when the next chapter will be out. I wrote this chapter today because I felt a rush of inspiration after reading some Takuma and Selenity Jade fics. Alas, tomorrow (or rather, this morning), I leave for vacation in MN! I shall be fishing (which always allows me to think up some stories, so expect updates when I come back!). But I won't be back for three weeks. I suppose after the three months you waited for this, that'll be nothing.
Well thank you all again! Please R&R! I hope you all still like it so far!