Chapter 10: Devotion
Vegetto's eyes darted around in nearly every direction in his slow walk, having finally descended down the stairs away from the entrance to the Time Vault. The open garden of the Time Nest remained peaceful, the only sound originating from the tapping of Vegetto's boots across the stone walkway. His eyes landed on the new medium sized hut built by the Kai to accommodate the three Time Patrollers, moving through the open ended entrance into a long hallway.
The Potara fusion instinctively paused for a moment, picking up on the ruffled sound of clothes being rapidly thrown around. He furrowed his brow, standing still before the sight of his former blue gi top slinging out from the closest open doorway. Knowing Kassava must still be changing out of the gi he had given her in frustration, Vegetto remained still at his position. His mind wandered on the sounds, attempting to filter them as signs for when she was finished changing.
The fusion rubbed his chin for a moment, staring at the open door for a brief moment once the sounds of clothes ruffling had stopped. He slowly tip toed forward, bending over to pick up the blue gi top of his former outfit in one hand. Thumbing the material, Vegetto's eyes narrowed a bit before he slowly rose back up to his feet, moving towards the entrance.
Vegetto's eyes landed on the sight for a split second, having noticed Kassava had kept on the lower half of the same gi his top went to. Her chest was completely bare, her attention locked on the orange undershirt she thumbed in her hands.
The fusion let out a small embarrassed gasp with bright red cheeks, catching Kassava's attention. Her eyes immediately widened, rapidly covering herself with the orange undershirt and letting out her own frightened gasp.
"What the hell?!"
Vegetto cringed heavily, bowing his head and shielding the sides of his eyes.
"I'm sorry! I thought you were done changing!"
He took a couple steps back.
"Why aren't you at least wearing a bra?!"
"Have you ever considered that maybe some of us don't like wearing those uncomfortable abominations?!"
The two still stood in awkward silence, Kassava quickly throwing the orange shirt over her head and covering up. Her arms immediately crossed across her chest, turning back to face Vegetto with a venomous glare.
"And I thought you were going to be too busy staring at that scroll all day! What the hell do you want?!"
Vegetto kept his red cheeks, slowly reaching back and scratching his neck.
"I...umm...well..."
He glanced towards her shirt, slowly offering up the blue top to the gi.
"I thought you were leaving after I saw my old top out there in the hallway and just wanted to know if you're giving up on us."
Kassava let out a scoff, her eyes wide in a level beyond fury.
"Oh? You mean like all those people you're giving up on in Trunks' timeline?"
Vegetto sighed lightly, narrowing his eyes as well.
"I already told you, we need him. He can be a valuable ally; we need to have every advantage we can get."
Kassava snarled.
"You don't even know if it'll work, let alone how long it will take for him to change his attitude."
Vegetto shook his head once.
"It shouldn't take any time at all. We exist away from the flow of the universe, Kassava, with the Scroll already foretelling the future. The second I put Frieza in that timeline, we can choose to pull him out at any point in the future. A year, ten years, it makes no difference. Time does not flow for us the same as it does for the rest of the universe."
Kassava kept her glare strong.
"The only difference is how many die for your little pet in the long run."
Vegetto frowned immediately, his stern stare intensifying.
"And what is so bad about a few million lives being lost? Have you ever stopped to think about what happens to all those people who die in Frieza's wake?"
The fusion glanced upwards towards the ceiling, pointing.
"The ones who have lived well find themselves in a paradise far away from the troubles of their former daily lives, free from their pain and suffering. While the evil and vile atone for their sins in Hell, where they rightfully belong. If anything, he's doing them a favor!"
Kassava uncrossed her arms.
"It's the principle of it all, Vegetto! No one should rob people of their ability to experience the life they have, no matter how strong they are!"
Vegetto sighed slightly.
"I know, but if we have a chance to develop someone into being one of the strongest defenders against any possible threat that may come, then I'm willing to sacrifice those lives for it. What good is saving a few million if we suddenly reach a threat that can destroy all of existence without the power to overcome it?"
Kassava shook her head.
"The good is in being able to say there were people we tried to save if we do fail! You sacrifice millions of lives away like it's nothing; where does it stop?!"
Her eyes narrowed a bit more.
"You think you know me, but I know things about you too. I've went to study the Scroll before seeing you and Whis in that courtyard, I saw your little temper tantrum on Namek."
Vegetto's eyebrows perked up at the mention of Namek, watching Kassava dropped her arms to her sides.
"I thought you were different...that you wanted to have people to care for other than all of..."
She hung her head a bit, gesturing around to the room.
"This."
Vegetto glanced down as well, still keeping his frown. His eyes still remained locked on Kassava, before letting out a small sigh.
"Is that what this is all about? You think I don't care about you or that I'll throw your life away if it means saving the timestream?"
The Saiyan female kept her gaze down, silent in response. However, Kassava lifted her head slightly, the weight of Vegetto's hands on her shoulders catching her offguard.
"I do care about you, Kassava. I care about what happens to you and Trunks, and I wouldn't ever want anything bad to happen to you..."
Kassava's solemn expression remained unchanged, meeting Vegetto's stern eyes.
"But we're still Time Patrollers. Our mission is to make sure there is a universe for people to live out their lives, regardless of how they end or if they're robbed unjustly from others."
Vegetto pulled his arms back down to his side, keeping his frown at the sight of Kassava's defeated body language. His chest dropped, placing his hands on his hips uncomfortably in the silence between them.
"You're worried about your brother, aren't you?"
Kassava weakly nodded her head once.
"Will I ever see him again?"
Vegetto paused, the sting in his chest forcing him to regain his composure before continuing.
"We can always go and check up on him. He probably won't have the chance to become immortal like you and I, but we can make sure he lives a good life and you can visit him whenever you choose."
The fusion offered a small smile.
"You can literally be there with him every day for the rest of his life if you really wanted to. And you'd never have to worry about any pain; the Scroll records history so you could see him whenever you feel down."
Kassava kept her head bow.
"But we won't grow old with each other. We won't be able to finish our lives together...I'll always be here and he will be there."
Vegetto's smile faded in response, dropping his hands off his shoulders.
"Well...I guess that's true."
A minute of silence passed by between the two, Vegetto still staring down at the sulking Kassava with a heavy frown. He soon broke out into a sigh, resting his right hand on her shoulder.
"Hey...let's go see him. I know it won't be the same, but it'll cheer you up nonetheless. We'll visit him before we look into Frieza."
The woman glanced up, weakly nodding once more as Vegetto guided her out of the room with his arm draped on her shoulder, heading back towards the Time Vault.