Chapter 23: Blood Burden

The sheer irony of how father and son now sat in the control room, brought a brief smile to Kakarot's contemplative expression. He remembered it clearly; how his son had slouched on a lounging chair to the side of him, brooding just as he did now. Only back then, it had been through sheer boredom and anxiety to finally reach Planet Earth. This time, Kakarot suspected that his son's deep frown was thanks to his suffering from far different motives. Gohan had said nothing as he'd strolled into the room, and slumped down on the recliner. If it was one thing Kakarot had learnt about fatherhood, then it was how he should never question a teenager. He had to respect his son's wishes for secrecy, knowing that the boy's need for company would soon reveal the need for fatherly counselling. So he regarded his son's presence with a simple nod, before returning his eyes to the navigation screen in front of him. It would be a difficult bridge to cross, to make amends with his father. Especially when Gohan wasn't even sure why they'd suddenly grown apart. It had all started with the human of course, but the rest was unclear. After a very tense and long silence however, he finally took the first step across the gap, much to Kakarot's stoic relief.

"I told her everything."

Though it wasn't what Kakarot had really wanted to hear, he turned his attention wholly to his son regardless, and gave a slow nod. It was a start at least, and he had suspected the female had played a large part in all this brooding. After all, Gohan had gradually grown more and more adamant about her health and safety, to the point of pure ignorance. Even to his own father.

"At least, everything I know. She did not take it as well as I imagined." Kakarot looked away again, finding it difficult to sympathise with the spawn of his enemy. Still, he at least tried, and Gohan continued nonetheless. "But I think she feels the truth. She strongly grieves for Kari."

"It's more than likely Kari met her end. Even if I was only there to witness the start of his rage. She pushed the King too far this time."

"So is that why we can't return? Is Videl in danger, especially now that they know she's her daughter?"

"We are all in danger." Kakarot gravely corrected, brows nudging over his dark eyes. "Don't think for a second that I did any of this for… her. This was all for you, Gohan."

It was true. Had he known which of the two pods had contained his son, he might have been forced to battle the strong urge to let the other pod go. But Kakarot had rescued both of them, knowing deep down that it was the right thing to do. Taking his revenge on the daughter would not be sufficient or fair. Not to mention knowing that the loss of the half-bred female would only destroy his son further. Enough damage had been done. It was time to put things right, and accept the consequences of all their actions. No one was innocent, as Kakarot had already come to realise.

"It's not Videl's fault," Gohan persisted. "But you have my - no, our gratitude."

"You're my son. My firstborn child. Perhaps when you become a father, you will understand how I would do anything to protect you. Even if it would cost me my pride, my loyalty, or even my life."

For a moment, they were both silent again. It was the deepest felt conversation they had shared in quite some time, and so it took some time to sink in. At long last, Gohan tried to approach a different subject matter.

"Then we really are outlaws. Where will we go?"

Another question Kakarot didn't exactly want to hear, as his eyes remained settled on the navigation screen under a stricter frown.

"An un-chartered Asteroid Planet in a mostly empty Galaxy. Frieza made sure of that already. Still, it will be safe there, for a short while. But we will need to decide what's to be done next." He heard his son tense, and lifted his hand in a calming gesture. "Not now. It can wait until we get there. You'll have to go easy on the supplies in the meantime though. We barely have enough as it is, not even for the two of us."

"Understood."

Another awkward silence passed between them, leaving Gohan to quietly sigh with the lowering of his eyelids. This time the tension would be disturbed by Kakarot, as he turned his chair to face his son properly. The teenager was trying his best to relax in the company of his father, while attempting to clear his mind no doubt in a meditative stasis. Kakarot exhaled a heavy breath through his flaring nostrils, and rose to stand. Walking towards Gohan, he realised there was no time like the present. This was his chance to pass the great burden from his shoulders, and share the load with his son.

"There's something you need to be prepared for," he began, gaining his son's attention almost immediately. Pausing, his slightly larger frame descended onto the edge of the opposite chair. Hands clasped between his knees, as he hunched his shoulders slightly. "It concerns the two people, who I'd like you to finally meet."

"You're ... in contact, with other Outlaws?"

"Yes."

The answer was quick and simple, leading Gohan to frown considerably. Since when had his father been keeping illegal contacts with rebellion forces? The General and Council member, had held nothing but the greatest respect and loyalty to his King. He had dedicated himself to erradicating the universe of any opposing forces who dared to collide with King Vegeta's laws.

"They're family, Gohan."

"…Wh-What?" And now his father had taken another woman? Unlike Gohan and Videl however, Kakarot dove straight in with the explanation before further questioning could build up. He wasted no time over personal input or guilt, not when he had already suffered years of that already.

"You need to know, how the former King forbade your mother to see you, soon after you were born. She did not simply die during child birth."

Now Gohan gave his complete attention, as the cat was so immediately pulled out of the bag. Staring with his wholly gaping expression, he couldn't even begin to fathom this revelation. Kakarot didn't stop to let it all sink in either. Not when there was so much more than needed to be shared.

"You were so young. It was easier to tell you she had expired. I tried to bring her to see you, and twice we managed to sneak an hour or two with you. The third attempt was interrupted by the King himself. He had her banished completely. Even when she was so far away from you, ChiChi was happy to watch you grow from afar. ChiChi, that is, your mother's name. Her faith was always far stronger than my own. She believed so strongly, that it would never be like this forever. One day, she knew you would be reunited."

"She's alive?"

"Yes. Your mother lives." Again, Gohan fell silent, and the next barricade of heavy words hit him. Kakarot managed to lift his head, sharing a moment's eye contact with his son despite the difficulty of his explanation.

"The desert outskirts would be her home for several years. I did my best to protect her, and bring her news from the city. It was only when King Cold came to avenge his son, that I realised she was in danger. Together with the help of Kari, we tried to send her to a safer place. For that, I owed Kari a great debt, and with it came her blackmail."

Pausing, Kakarot lowered his eyes with the shaking of his head. He had many regrets in his lifetime, and although he knew talking about things wouldn't change anything, he had to try to clean up the mess left behind. He just couldn't do it alone anymore, and it seemed like fate was finally casting opportunity his way.

"Your mother wasn't the only human sent away from our planet. There was another woman, who carried with her the more precious cargo. Vegeta's unborn child."

"What!"

"Yes, Gohan. It was then that I realised why Kari had helped me. I wasn't the only being entangled in her master scheme, with no way out. If I told the King what I knew… it would only backfire on ChiChi. Or so I was led to believe. Kari's tongue had great skills in persuasion."

"But didn't the King try to find his son anyway?"

"No." Ironically, Kakarot lightly smiled with a dryly breathed chuckle. "It was the perfect plot. Vegeta had no idea of his son's existence, and it would remain this way. In exchange for my silence, Kari promised to give me the co-ordinates of ChiChi's location. For your mother's sake, I committed the highest crime of treason."

"I can't believe you kept all of this from me. I could've helped!"

"You think I wanted it this way? You think I wanted my son to be separated from his mother? To only be able to give her recordings of your training progress, as you gradually grew without her influence? How could I tell you anything, when you were watched constantly. The risk has always been too great."

Gohan snatched his eyes away with the suddenly turn of his head to the side. For the briefest moment, it seemed like he was about to explode with whatever emotion he was holding back. But he didn't. The only explosion, was the heavy sigh that lifted his shoulders, before he spoke careful words.

"I … understand."

Of course he understood. Gohan had been raised within the greatest military structure, forced to rarely question his orders or the actions of his superiors. Part of this felt like another mission briefing, despite the personal subject matter. Kakarot nodded, letting things settle for a moment longer, before he continued with yet more secrets.

"Two years later, after I was made General, I tried to make things right. When I was given command over this ship in order to clean up the remaining Changeling minions in the universe, I made my way to the Asteroid co-ordinates Kari had promised to me. I had two intentions; firstly to check on my mate. Secondly, to return the King's heir to his rightful place. If I could make a peace offering, maybe the King would forgive my failings. Maybe ChiChi would finally be able to see you."

"What went wrong?"

"I didn't want to be a monster." The great General breathed a heavy sigh of his own, before he continued with his lengthier answer.

"Your mother begged me to stop. That should have been enough. But as I looked into the eyes of the other human, I saw her great pain. She told me, how she'd never even wanted the child. But now, she would dare to fight me for him, until her last breath. I realised then, how I could never live with myself if I went through with it. I could never inflict on this other woman, the same pain your mother had endured. So, I left. Completely empty handed."

It was strange how these human females could change a Saiyan so dramatically. Gohan now witnessed the truth behind the transformation his own father had endured, hidden behind the hardened exterior of his more primal shell.

"Was that the last time you saw her? My … mother."

The word sounded strange on his tongue, now that he knew the one who owned such a title still drew breath. He didn't even remember her face, the sound of her voice, or her scent. She was a pure stranger to him and yet, knowing she was alive brought him the greatest comfort. He could feel it, glowing within his chest, and had to struggle hard to maintain his calm composure.

"No," the truthful answer was finally delivered after a moment's hesitation. It was so difficult for Kakarot to just sit there and tell his son these things. How after all these years, he had continued to contact and even visit his mate.

"I had to wait another 2 years to see her, but finally the opportunity arose. Kari again, of all people, helped make it possible. As if she didn't already have enough hold over me."

"Ugh…" The grunt was enough to voice Gohan's irritation of hearing that woman's name. It was enough that he feared being reminded of her, whenever he looked at Videl. He didn't need to know that the woman had meddled in the affairs of his own family too.

"This was the last time I visited your mother, around five years ago. But I would leave her with more than I ever bargained for. Our second son, was conceived."

"S-Son? I… have a brother?"

"She called him Goten," Kakarot briefly chuckled after speaking what he saw as a rather odd, alien name. "I don't know where she gets these names from. I would've preferred to have at least one of my sons named after my father. But, what's done is done."

"Go-ten?"

Kakarot nodded at the correct pronunciation, while remaining astounded by the overall calmness of Gohan. He was dealing with everything far too well, though he always had been a very level-headed boy.

"We're going to meet them," he announced with a deep breath. The hard part was over with, and now there was only positive things to be looking forward to. At least that was how Kakarot saw it.

"We're going to meet them both, on Asteroid Twelve. Our destination. The King never cared for his mate, but now that he knows of his son's existence, he will stop at nothing to find him. Do you see now? It's our duty to finally be a family."

Abruptly, Gohan took that as a cue to stand, and pace to the centre of the room. Kakarot could hardly suppress the light smile, as his son lifted his palm to the back of his neck. It was an inherited gesture, which only proved further the greatest father-son connection they shared. But he couldn't wait to see his mate again, to meet his youngest son and to finally be whole. Deep down, Kakarot was lost without his family. It was painful enough to be parted from his mate, without having to see his newborn son via a communications screen alone.

"I don't know what to say," Gohan finally announced. It was understandable; Kakarot was equally lost for any further words. "It feels like you've just told me something I always knew. How much longer?"

"Approximately three days."

"That's… so soon?"

"It could be sooner, it could be longer. We're flying at max speed, but finding the exact asteroid is always difficult."

Gohan shifted his positioning to cross his arms quite protectively over his chest, still wearing a light frown as he processed everything. He barely registered the shifting of his father too, or the close footsteps that passed by him, as he returned to the pilot's seat. In truth, Kakarot had hardly slept. The manual piloting meant he couldn't be away from the controls for too long, and when they finally reached the asteroid belt, it would be a far greater challenge to navigate through the debris.

"Father," at last Gohan had reached a conclusion worthy of the older man's ears. "You should know there will be another addition to our… family." It wasn't really a term these Saiyans were used to speaking, and Gohan assumed correctly that his father had adopted it from more human vocabulary.

"You plan on taking her as your mate?" Names were not required, nor was Gohan's chance to finish what he'd started. Kakarot already knew.

"We are imprinted."

The father did his best to conceal a disapproving brow, as he distracted himself momentarily with the typing of new co-ordinates in the main computer. The stubborn Gohan wouldn't budge though, not until he heard the words he needed to hear from his father's tongue alone.

"Then I will try harder to accept her."

The female who the two males spoke of, had experienced a multitude of emotions during their lengthy conversation. For a long time, she'd merely lay in a foetal position next to her own bile excesses, willingly breathing in the foul stench of her bitter realisation. This was the room where she had first met a much kinder Kari, and followed her like a little lamb for the processing of similar regurgitation. Videl could still hear the woman's cooing, and tensed as she almost felt the soothing rubbing up and down between her shoulder blades. The mothering soothing.

"That's it. Spit the venom out. All of it."

Videl felt the urge to be sick again, but there was nothing left in her stomach to spew upwards. Instead was the percolation of tears from strained eyes; tears of anger and stress. The emotional human cried out, as she writhed on the floor, clutching at her aching gut as her knees lifted to her chest. The cry was loud enough to force her onto her back, as her voice cracked against the surrounding walls. The room felt smaller.

'Get up,' she heard herself say in her mind alone.

'I can't,' her body replied, while she wailed with the lifting of her knees to her chest again. Videl forced herself to stand, finding hands and knees first, and then her feet. The action caused a wave of dizziness over her senses, but she would persist. Nothing was true, until she had more solid proof. So she set about disturbing the sterile tranquillity of the empty room. The bed was torn apart first, as if there might be some evidence there between the sheets or behind the pillows. She only found the greater stench of Kari lingering strongly there. Then came the pressing of various buttons at the room's only control panel, serving to reveal the bathroom beneath the floor, and highlighting the slabs in the walls that served as cupboards. Videl followed the blue lights, and flung the contents of each drawer one by one over her shoulders. Training suits, gloves and boots. Hidden snacks, towels and spare pillows. Until one drawer refused to budge. The blue lights highlighted a square in the bottom left corner, with the patterning of a handprint. Videl swallowed hard, taking a moment to compose herself in a calmer state. This was it. It had to be. This protected box had to contain Kari's darkest secrets.

Slowly, she pressed her palm against the panel, and allowed what she thought to be a fingerprint scan take place. Instead, something sharp quickly jabbed against each of her five fingertips. Instinctively, Videl pulled her hand back, staring down at the five tiny red dots on her fingertips. Pin pricks that had extracted five, minute samples of her blood. A beeping sound confirmed the correct blood-link, and the drawer slowly slid open of its own accord. As it light gradually scared the darkness away, Videl leant closer, for her eyes to widen at the minimal contents. For such a deep drawer, it hardly housed anything, save for two objects. She reached for the knot of weaved, raven black hair first, secured by a cerise scrap of material. The moment she touched what had once been part of herself, Videl saw the scene replaying in her mind again. How Kari had removed the long strands in a simple, unexplained gesture. She lifted her hand again to her shorter locks, just as she had that same day. Fingertips felt at the cleanly cut edges, while her other hand squeezed at the missing strands.

'She kept my hair,' she told herself, and dropped the tainted object in order to approach the other remaining clue in the drawer. A square, white box, which she was sure she recognised. As Videl lifted the lid, her eyes widened to the array of various little bottles filled with a completely clear liquid. All except for one, which on the contrary contained a plentiful amount of thick crimson. Lifting that bottle, she unscrewed the lid, and put the narrow neck under her nose.

'Blood. Is it… hers?'

Videl lowered her rear back to her heels, as she knelt by the drawer and thought for a moment. Now, chemistry had never been her strongest point, but she clearly remembered how Kari had mixed the two liquids together, until a pink chemical reaction took place. A totally sporadic and crazy thought drove her to treat the box as her little chemistry set. Taking an empty test tube, she measured a portion of the clear liquid from a bottle labelled 'Seoxyrium-Impetus,' followed by roughly the same measurement of blood. Lids were placed over bottle again, and then came the rigorous shaking, until the contents hissed with the reaction. Wide cerulean eyes stared at her creation, and she finally swallowed back a lump in her throat.

'This is crazy,' she told herself, as she eyed the empty needle and syringe. Her hand shook, and she gasped to herself with the sudden shaking of her head. No, she couldn't do it. But the plan wasn't over with yet. In a desperate attempt to savour herself from the inability of being able to see this through to the end, she brought the tube to her lips, and suddenly tilted her head back. The contents slid down her throat with the foulest taste imaginable, but she swallowed it all stubbornly. Videl had a theory, and since Gohan couldn't answer her questions, she would just have to resort to these reckless and extreme measures. If there was something in Kari's blood that effected her, especially when mixed with the Seox-H drug, then Videl would soon be finding out. If it meant she could face the demons that wrecked havoc on her sense of judgement, then the risk was entirely worth it. How difficult a challenge could this be, when she'd already pushed herself through so much?

To be continued…