Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball or any of it's original characters. But if i had the dragon balls...
Chapter 4 - A king's choice.
The king walked through the quiet streets of the settlement. 'This place looks alot bigger than it is...Sure it has the makings of a city but the settlement itself is so...Poor...It's obviously a settlement planet. I doubt there would be a military command centre on a small planet like this. If something were to happen to this planet we wouldn't even know...' The king thought, ashamed at how the empire was struggling to supply all the planets under it's control. The queen once had the job of sending aid, military troops even, to distant planets under control. All to help the inhabitants to the best they could. But the king hadn't been able to fulfil that duty, not with the constant raids from the Ician empire, planets being lost one second and others being reclaimed the next. He needed someone to fill the gap for his race, his empire, and himself.
"Hmm, what do you think of Cabba little Kakarot?" The King asked the small boy cradled between his arms and chest. Kakarot replied with a small giggle and a smile, recognizing the name already.
"You like her don't you Kakarot?" The king said with a smile. The kings smile faded as he thought of the choice he had to make. 'Do i suggest i keep the boy or will she have to take the boy? I mean, he's rightfully hers...But if we were to get along...perhaps become more than-' "Bahh, what am i thinking?!" the king said out loud, frustrated at his train of thoughts running wild.
"I don't know specifically. But i can tell it's women trouble." A mysterious hooded figure said in a croaky old voice.
"On top of everything else, it's basically that. Yes." The king replied, insure whether or not to just keep walking.
"Come, Sit. I may be able to help.." The hooded figure let down it's hood to reveal an old Kannasan man.
"It seems this planet really is just a mix of races huh?" The king said jokingly, sitting down to the small table on the side of a street under a rickety shelter.
"You'd be surprised. Yet until today, there was only one saiyan in this neck of the woods, now there appears to be three more."
"How'd you- Oh yes..." The king cut his sentence off, remembering the kanassan ability of foresight. An incredible gift, which wasn't known until the saiyans arrived on the planet without any warning, to a welcoming committee that had been there for about a week.
"Well, i got a glimpse of the future. It seems your choice will have a large effect on the whole universe. Be careful what you choose my friend, this is very risky."
"What? I'm choosing whether a boy should go live with his auntie or come with me?! How could that affect the whole universe?!" The king asked, unconvinced that what the old Kanassan was saying.
"No. That has already been decided, and even you know that in your heart. No one feels a connection that fast without it being some sort of love, whether love for a child thrown into your arms by chance or love for a stranger you've only just met. There will be a choice for both of you to take, a hard choice but your decision will be the one to change the fate of the whole universe. I can give you a glimpse of two choices, but i cannot tell you which ones they are. I risk enough showing you what you are about to see."
"Umm...Ok" the king said. Immediatly the kannassan grabs his hands and the king felt a sharp pain at the back of his neck heading up to his head like a surge of electricity.
An array of images flashed before the king's eyes. First of an Ician, who he recognized to be general cooler, taking over a planet...on which was him and Cabba and Kakarot, about to die. A flash appeared and another image flew across Vegeta's line of sight. This one of his son and two small framed twins attacking him...winning...beating the prince into a pulp with just a few attacks. Then a last image, a small boy...with a strange thick antenna looking thing protruding from his head...It seemed to be gathering energy into a massive ball, bigger than an entire galaxy! The ball exploded, taking thousands of planets with it in a flash of destruction.
But then, he seen one man. He watches as cooler was defeated with a single blow from the man. He watched as these two androids were absorbed by an insect and then humanoid looking creature, and then watched this mysterious figure and a young teenage boy defeat this monstrosity. He was as the mysterious figure powered up, as a super saiyan, then flashes of lightning danced across his body, making him look so much more powerful, and then finally his hair growing, his eyebrows disappearing for some reason and him destroying the small pink boy that had destroyed the universe in Vegeta's mind only seconds ago. The last image he saw before a flash allowing him to regain his normal sight was a dark haired man. With a saiyan tail and power beyond the king's imagination. A powerful being, with a grin as if he was just a boy, defeating many more opponents time after time. Vegeta's vision blurred and faded back to reveal a grand gathering in front of him, in an extravagant hall. He noticed he was sitting down at the head of the hall on a throne. He looked to his right and a man who looked just like he did when he was younger sat in a smaller throne. 'Vegeta?' the king thought, wondering if this man was his son grown up.
"Gah!" King Vegeta spluttered, recovering from his sudden glimpse into the future.
"Now. There will be two options you will face, but you must think about what is happening now though. Do not dwell on what has been or what might be. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to take my leave. But we'll see each other a few years from now...the future is not as far or as set in stone as you may think." the kanassan walking getting up from his seat and walking away.
The king turned to stop the man but before he could speak the man was gone. "Well...That was quite an encounter wasn't it?" The king as I'd to Kakarot. Still wondering what just happened himself.
*7 Years later* (Age 744)
"Damn it! We missed them again! How can't we find them!" The king shouted, storming through the door and continuing his journey down the corridor. "6 years and the best we've had are rumours! We cannot go on with such little information. Get the scouts out again." The king told the young, long haired saiyan boy at his side.
"Right away but..." The saiyan boy started.
"Yes? What is it Raditz?" King Vegeta asked.
"I don't think we should begin the search again so soon..."
"Why not?"
"As it stands the treasury is depleted. We cannot spend so much money on just two missing saiyans! We know they're alive, we know they're out there. We may not know where but we know enough. Maybe they don't want to be found" Raditz said, not caring about the surprised look on the king's face.
"What you say is true Raditz...You have grown up quickly from the boy I found so many years ago on planet Ustaifa. 10 years old on his first training year. You really have grown...But you have not lost your desire to find your parents. I know this."
Raditz hung his head and looked down at the floor. The king's words rung true in his ears and eachoed in his mind. He remembered being a lost boy, waiting for his father Bardock to arrive at the launch pad...
As he watched all of the other saiyan children his age run to their fathers and some to their mothers and all of them leave in the small saiyan pods he wandered why his father would be late for such an occasion. Raditz was now a student in the saiyan warriors acedemy. He had excelled in his tactics and done well enough in his fighting style learning and ki concentration. He wasn't the best in his class, but he knew he was getting to the top. He was eager to show his father the results which he had worked all year for.
The launch pad began to grow empty and soon became still. Raditz was left there on the steps, alone. He wandered why his dad wasn't there. 'If he can't get here then why isn't mother here!' He screamed to himself within the confines of his mind. The next moment Raditz heard footsteps behind him and the faint murmurs of a baby. Without another thought he turned to see who he thought was his father. He was sadly mistaken.
"Who...Who are you?" Raditz asked, unsure why this flame haired man was here while his father was nowhere to be seen.
"I am king Vegeta." The mans voice boomed. The king looked down and slowly got to one knee in front of Raditz. In a more hushed and gentle tone Vegeta said to Raditz "and this Small child I hold before you, is your brother, Kakarot."
Raditz gasped and as the thousand thoughts raced through his mind he asked but one question.
"Where is my father?"
"6 months ago...your father fought valiantly against the armies of Ice, and is presumed dead."
"This can't be...He promised he'd be here! There's no way!..."
The king looked at the boy and seen a mirror of himself. So many years ago the king received word of his own fathers demise at the hands of King Cold in battle. Hink new what Raditz was going through, what emotions were overpowering his mind and heart. He knew the desire to scream in denial, refusing to believe the truth.
"It's alright Raditz," the king said reaching out for the boy. "I am here to do whatever I can for you and your brother for as long as I can. I know what you are feeling. I was once in an identical situation to this, finding out my father had died. It's alright to cry for those you have lost. Just know that they died protecting what was precious to them, and use that to push yourself. Push yourself beyond your limits and become stronger for them. Mourne for them now, but do not dwell. You have people who are willing to put their lives on the line for you. You have me, no doubt Kakarot when he is older and even your auntie, Cabba."
Just on cue, Cabba walked out to see the teared up boy next to the king, who was looking just as torn up.
"It's been a while Raditz."
"Aun- Auntie Cabba?" Raditz shakingly began to speak, his tears fading and his mood brightening slightly thanks to the king's kind words. "How are you here? I thought that- that you broke the family ties and deserted us"
"Oh Raditz, I could never do that. But you must understand there were people after me that would stop at nothing to find me, so I faked an escape. Only your parents knew where I was, just in case. But the people who were after me are gone now, thanks to Vegeta..."
"Anyway, now we have the reunion out of the way..." The king said, standing up and looking down at Raditz. "How would you like to come live with us in the royal palace?"
"what?!" Raditz exclaimed, wondering why the king of all saiyans would simply offer up his home to the sons and sister of lower class saiyans.
"You heard him, how would you like to come live with us for a while? I've decided to look after you two as much as I can and technically you should be in my care due to our blood relation, but the king has made an exception...though I think it's because he's become too attached to Kakarot..." Cabba looked at the king who was still cradling the 6 month old baby.
"Kakarot isn't the only one I've become too attached to..." The king muttered under his breath. He returned to like king like stature immediately. "So, how about it kid? Wanna be a prince?"
"Well, when you put it like that..." Raditz said as the king turned to Cabba. 'What is he doing' Raditz wondered, just before being swept of his feet by the smiling king.
The king let out a yell of joy, spinning the 10 year old Raditz around. Cabba let out her laugh, carefully holding Kakarot in her arms. Even Kakarot had a smile on his face, as the four of them all smiled with joy, welcoming Raditz into their makeshift family.
"That lost boy has come a long way indeed. Raditz, you've overcome your grief and become a strong boy, worthy of the title of Prince. But don't forget how and why you are this strong. I know that deep down you still wish to impress your father."
"But you are my father!" Raditz shouted.
"I know...but I just want you and Kakarot to be happy..."
"We are! You are our father! Regardless of blood ties. Cabba is like a mother to us, and she is blood related. It only makes sense that you two are our parents!"
The king was taken aback, thinking of himself and Cabba. He loved Cabba and she loved him but they couldn't marry. They couldn't do it because of Vegeta's obligation, no, obsession with finding Bardock and Fasha. 'I've been blindly following after them two for so many years now...but maybe Raditz is right...'
"Please father, listen to Raditz. He's got more sense than you, and more right to call of this search."
"Vegeta? I thought you were still on mission?" The king asked his son.
"It was a false lead, no doubt intending to corner me and end my life. There was no army on raitga. Simply assassins most likely hired by the icians."
"I see, so-"
"Stop trying to change the subject" Raditz interrupted.
"Right, I'm sorry Raditz. I have decided..."
"What is too be done father?"
"It's up to you, as a liutenant of the Saiyan Retrieval Squad. You have more rigand to call of a search due to your connections to the saiyans in question. Just make sure you make the right call, for your sake." The king said, walking into his chambers at the end of the corridor.
He walked over to his bed and immediately dropped onto it, exhausted from the days events.
"Ugh, kids...Raditz just turned 17 and Vegeta is nearly 12. Both of them are already growing up so fast..."
"Calm down dear...they're just looking out for eachother as brothers do." Cabba said, getting up out of bed attempting to comfort the king with soft words.
"I know...but at the rate they're growing up, they'll leave little Kakarot behind...Speaking of Kakarot, we still need to talk about our decision...the announcement is tomorrow...Vegeta is to absorbed in his training and missions and Raditz is a liutenant of the SRS So he is needed here. Have you talked to Kakarot about it?"
"Umm...He's asked about it strangely enough...He seems pretty to open to the idea."
"Well, I guess I have no other choice...it has to be Kakarot..."
"Hey now, don't get yourself down. He's the only one that can do it and I'm sure he'll do a great job. He's such a cheery young boy. Hard to believe that he's Bardocks son, the way he bounces around and smiles how he does."
"I know...it's just..."
"You'll miss him?"
"Yeah"
"Well don't worry. It'll only be for a few years, and besides, you got me to keep you company..."
The king turned around to see Cabba on the bed signalling for the king to join her. As the king slowly crawled and looked down into Cabba's eyes and leaned in to kiss his, very long term, fiancé.
The next day the king and Cabba both woke up with a start. They knew the importance of this day. Every year they would have the announcements to the public and to the whole empire. Whether if it was just to keep up with appearances, welcome a new planet to the empire or even announce a great loss to the planet, the announcement was watched by everyone in the empire. As they rushed around the place to get the royal attire they both ended up lost in their own thoughts. No matter what else they say today, nothing could compare to one thing...
The announcement of Kakarot's ambassadorship, and him leaving the planet for many years...
For us, this is really where the story of the great Goku begins, though under a different name and different history. We all know of his epic fights, grand adventures and the many friends he makes oh is journey. But that's not Kakarot. You must remember the difference between the two, even if I forget. Now, let's see exactly how this story pans out.
Author notes:
So, we've skipped ahead quite a bit ^^' Cabba and Vegeta are engaged, though due to many complications that may be revealed in time, they aren't married yet. Raditz is a respected luitenant in the Saiyan Retrieval Squad; a squad which specialises in retrieving information but primarily in capturing stray saiyans because of the secrets their DNA hold and any information the Stray Saiyan may have. Prince Vegeta is young, but very strong. Since he met his adopted brother Raditz he pushes himself to get stronger than Raditz.
Truth be told, though I may rarely update right now, I do plan to have this fan fiction go on until i have exhausted all relations to Goku/Kakarot. We are only on Kakarot's story at the moment, but I plan to write fan fictions related closely to this one on different characters. There will definitely be one on Bardock, Gohan and possibly even Goten. Due to king Vegeta having adopted Kakarot, I may go into detail on his life and prince Vegeta's.
I may have left this update for far too long, so I apologise for that, but I'm sure that any fellow writers know how bad writers block can be at times, and how creativity can seem to disappear without warning. I will try to update the next chapter as soon as I can.
Power Levels
King Vegeta (beginning) - 13,000/SSJ-650,000
King Vegeta (end of chapter) - 16,000/SSJ-800,000
Kakarot (1 day old) - 5/SSJ-250
Kakarot (7 years old) - 330/SSJ-16,500
(Note)
At such a young age, Kakarot still has not got used to switching between his super Saiyan form and base form. Only when his body automatically activates it in great danger etc. can he access his true powers.
Raditz (first seen) - 450/SSJ-22,500
Raditz (17 y/o) - 8,000/SSJ-400,000
Prince Vegeta - 7,500/SSJ-375,000
Cabba - 9,000/450,000
Please leave any constructive criticism or suggestions in a review of any length if you have the time. Thanks for reading.