Reunion
The first thing Goku and Tien felt when they were transported back to Kami's Lookout was the two massive energy signals on the planet below. They were staggering, and one of them was unchanging, indicating it was not engaging in battle. They were hardly put at ease knowing he wasn't currently fighting. A power level that high should not be so steady. It wasn't raised for battle. It was his normal level, and though the saiyans may not have known the technique of masking their ki, they could still raise their power a great deal when they powered up for a fight. The other power, which was significantly lower but still impressive, was flickering like a flame as he fought someone with a power so much lower they had trouble feeling it at all.
"The saiyans!" Goku groaned when he felt them. "The fighting already started."
"Yeah, and they're stronger than I imagined," Tien said. He clenched his hands into fists. He didn't want to wait any longer to go fight them.
The saiyan almost smiled. He was looking forward to the challenge. Was it wrong to be excited when his friends were in danger? "Let's go, Tien. They need our help. You take the guy who's fighting now and I'll take the other one as soon as we get there."
"Right."
Goku and Tien shouted their goodbyes to Kami and Mr. Popo as they ran to the edge of the Lookout and jumped off. Goku called for the flying nimbus and landed on the gold cloud while Tien flew on his own toward the high power levels. Goku allowed him to go on while he stopped to get a sack of senzu beans from Korin. He knew that no matter which way the battle was going at the moment, someone would be in serious need of healing. Already he was worried about what was happening far away; he couldn't feel as many power levels as he should. There were two incredibly powerful people, probably the saiyans, and four weaker powers when there should have been five. Either someone was dead or very close to death. Either way, the odds of him and Tien reaching the battlefield on time to save that person were slim.
He easily caught up to Tien on the nimbus and led the way to the battle. One of the two highest powers was flickering slightly, as if in the midst of a fight. The second highest power of the earthling warriors was raised for battle, but it seemed to be slipping, sometimes taking dramatic falls. Whoever it was, he was being beaten down slowly, as if the saiyan fighting him was taking great pleasure in drawing the fight out. The only good thing about such a situation was the chance of them getting there to help before he met the same end as whoever was missing. Goku hastened their pace, anxious to reach them before anything worse happened. If someone really had been killed already he didn't think he could forgive himself. He should have come faster, he should have done something to make it there on time to help. His friends were counting on him and he let them down. With guilt plaguing his mind he rushed to the battle to come to the rescue as he always had before. If they could just wait a few more minutes…
…
Nappa grunted as Krillin's quick right hook clobbered him in the jaw, then caught the short warrior's hand and twisted it around until he howled in pain. The small warrior tried to alleviate the pain shooting through his arm, but it was useless. Nappa's hold was unbreakable and unrelenting. He screamed until his throat felt raw as the bones in his wrist and elbow were slowly broken and he felt as though his shoulder was being ripped from its socket, which wasn't far from the truth. Finally, Krillin collapsed to the ground.
"Giving up already?" Nappa taunted. He released Krillin's wrist and kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him rolling across the ground, getting cut and bruised on the sharp rocks. Krillin groaned in pain; his suffering was excruciating, made worse when he realized he was being toyed with, as if the saiyan was trying to break every bone in his body before finishing him off. It made his defeat that much more painful. There was nothing he could do to defend himself anymore.
"Anytime guys," he said weakly between wheezing gasps for air. He stopped to cough up a glob of blood. "You can step in." He forced himself up on his elbows and tried to take a deeper breath, but several of his ribs were cracked, making the task of breathing too agonizing.
"I'm trying, Krillin!" Chiaotzu yelled. He had been trying his telekinetic abilities to slow Nappa down to give Krillin at least some speed advantage, but Nappa was too powerful to control.
Gohan ran forward a few steps before he felt his mentor's hand on his shoulder restraining him. He looked up at Piccolo with a scowl. "Let me go! We have to help Krillin!"
"We will, Gohan, but we can't just jump into this fight. We'll all get killed. We need to make a plan first."
"We don't have time!" Gohan yelled, furious that he was being held back when Krillin so desperately needed help.
Piccolo roughly shoved him to the ground. "We can't afford to ruin our opportunity!"
Nappa laughed when he heard their bickering. No matter how much time he took killing the midget, they would never be able to formulate a plan good enough to defeat him. They were simply too weak, end of story. He considered telling them so, too, but he decided he would let them try their best. In the mean time, he would kick the midget around a while longer. It wasn't even boring yet. He picked Krillin up and threw him high into the air, then jumped after him with fist outstretched above his head. By the time Krillin stopped his ascent and started falling, Nappa had almost reached him. A second later, Nappa's fist crashed into Krillin's back, eliciting another cry of pain. He continued his fall to the ground, everything from the waist down now completely numb.
Bulma cringed when she heard Krillin's screams, but she didn't let that deter her as she ran over to Vegeta. She saw the glowing orb of ki in his hand and feared she might be killed before she ever got a chance to try making peace, but it was a risk she had to take. Obviously her friends weren't doing too well in battle. If she could somehow bring it to a stop, the risk was worth it. Even if she was killed, she knew she could still be brought back with the dragon balls. She wasn't ready to welcome death, but she would go into danger for the sake of her friends. She unconsciously breathed a deep sigh of relief when she saw his gathered energy dissipate from his hand. He was glaring at her as she approached, the same glare he had given her countless times before, except this time it actually made her want to turn back in fear. He was different. He had changed. He was no longer a young homeless boy in need of love. He was a cruel monster, a killer, a man with seemingly no conscience. Raditz said he wouldn't remember her, and maybe he wouldn't, but she had to try to make him remember. By the time she reached him, he had his arms crossed over his chest and he was already exuding impatience.
She came to a stop a few feet in front of him and bent over with her hands on her knees as she panted for breath. It was only when she was so close to him she realized she should have thought of something to say to him. Now her mind was racing a million miles a second and she had no idea what to do. There were so many things she wanted to tell him, questions she wanted to ask him, insults she wanted to yell at him. But none of that mattered, at least not at the moment. What mattered now was getting him to call off his gigantic brute from killing Krillin. How she was going to accomplish that, she still didn't know. Ask nicely? Demand it? Bargain? She knew the old Vegeta, but she didn't know this Vegeta. She had no idea how he would react to her. Now that she was with him, she was afraid to speak to him. Bulma Brief, scared! She decided to at least wait until she had fully caught her breath, assuming he would be willing to wait that long.
Vegeta ran out of patience a while ago. "What the hell do you want?"
Bulma almost laughed when she heard his voice. Always so deep and gruff even as a child, he sounded exactly like she imagined he would. The question didn't surprise her either. She stood up and rolled her shoulders back. She was a little surprised that he hadn't grown to be much taller than her. Only an few inches, if that. It was hard to tell with his upright hair. She shook those thoughts from her head. She couldn't let herself get distracted. She had to forget that he was once her friend and focus on the here and now, when he is a murderer who wants to kill all her friends and destroy the planet. She cleared her throat. This wouldn't be easy.
"I want you to stop hurting my friends," she said, pointing to where Nappa was brutally beating Krillin. After the words fell out of her mouth she silently berated herself for saying something so stupid. As if that would be enough to convince Vegeta to order the other guy to stop. She winced when she saw his body slam into the side of a tall bluff and large rocks crashed down all around him. She hoped he was still alive in there.
Vegeta snorted. "You came to tell me to stop hurting your friends? Idiot woman. I don't take requests. I should kill you for your insolence."
Bulma gulped. She had no doubt that he would be willing to take her life. The look in his eyes was enough to make her blood run cold. Her mind was screaming at her to run away, leave the planet, go anywhere but here, but her feet wouldn't move. And her determination wouldn't be shaken. She was Bulma Brief, not some scared, frail woman standing on the sidelines doing nothing to help her friends! "You should, huh? That's a strange way to treat your friend."
His eyes narrowed as he wondered what her ploy was. "You are no friend of mine, wench."
"I am not a wench!" Bulma screamed. She stamped her foot and leaned closer to him. "Do you seriously not remember who I am, Vegeta?"
He took a step closer and leaned in until their noses were only inches apart. "I have no idea who the fuck you are, and frankly I don't care. I've never met you before in my life, and I wish I never had. Get out of here before I kill you." He was surprised with himself that he hadn't already, but the reason for his hesitation was irrelevant. His threat was issued and he wouldn't fail to follow through with it.
Bulma opened her mouth to say more but instead shrieked when Krillin went sailing over her head and landed on the ground several yards away. She spun around on her heel and pointed at Nappa. "Hey! Ugly! Leave him alone! Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"
Nappa was momentarily speechless. Who was that woman, and how dare she talk to him that way? He growled, not even knowing how to respond. "Shut up!" He was about to continue his so-called fight when Piccolo sneaked up behind him and grabbed his tail while Gohan shot into the air and powered up a ki attack to throw at him.
But Bulma wasn't even paying attention anymore to see Nappa easily take down Piccolo. She had already turned back around to continue her confrontation with Vegeta. "How can you not remember me? You spent months with me and my parents!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" He was vaguely curious to hear what other wild tales she would come up with to try and convince him they were acquaintances. It was almost humorous how desperate the woman was. As if he would forget anything like that if it really happened. His memory was perfect. He never forgot anything, let alone several months.
"You were eleven years old," she elaborated, stretching her words as she tried jogging his memory. "You lived at Capsule Corporation and went to school with me for a month before you left to go back to whatever hell you came from."
"You obviously have me confused with someone else," Vegeta hissed. "As if I would ever lower myself to do anything so humiliating."
She jumped forward, nearly crashing into him when someone landed on the ground with a grunt of pain behind her. She didn't bother turning to see which of her friends it was. After coughing on the dust the body kicked up and fanning her face, she continued, "You saved me from being kidnapped twice!"
"I would never waste my time helping an ignorant, weakling female such as yourself."
Bulma felt like ripping her hair out in frustration. Could he really not remember or was he playing dumb? Did it really matter? Either way he wasn't stopping the fight. She didn't know what else to do. She had to stop them somehow. "If you've never met me before, tell me how I could possibly know your name, huh?"
Vegeta rolled his eyes. His interest in her was dwindling. She wasn't coming up with any persuasive appeals anymore. "Raditz probably mentioned my name. What I can't figure out is why you're not afraid of me if you know who I am."
"Why should I be afraid of you? You never hurt me before."
He snarled and reached out to grab her throat with his left hand. He had had enough of her mouthing off. He felt her slender neck in his hand and heard her sharp intake of breath. It made his skin crawl. He couldn't do this to her. Something was nagging at him, deep in his mind. There was some part of him that would sooner die than harm her. He had no idea why. She was an audacious, disrespectful, loudmouth bitch from a backwater mudball. She was nothing to him. He forced his hand to squeeze a little. He felt her tiny hands on his own, trying to pry it off, trying to save herself. Why should she have to save herself? Why couldn't he do it for her?
What the hell kind of thought was that? He should be considering how to kill her, not if he should be sparing her life! Still, his grip did not tighten, he did not choke her. She was still able to breathe, barely. Enough. Her face was turning a deep red and beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. He stared her straight in the eye as he held her. Her eyes were such a brilliant shade of blue he could have sworn he was looking into deep pools of clear water. They were innocent, entrancing. He was getting lost in them. He had to break his gaze from her.
"Vegeta," she gasped, "Please, stop this."
His hand seemed to act on its own accord as he released her. He watched as she backed away from him, her hands moving to her throat to ease the pain, and coughed. She didn't make eye contact with him, which for some reason made him more frustrated with her. She was so strong one minute and the next submissive? No. She was not submitting to him, she was trying to keep him from seeing the true signs of her weakness. He could smell it on her, the fear, the tears. He hurt her, and not just physically. Who was this crazy woman? Why did she think she could convince him to stop his quest for vengeance? She was infuriating! But he couldn't bring himself to kill her. Something was holding him back, something deep inside, at the very core of his being.
"Who are you?" he snarled.
She looked off to the side, still gently rubbing her throat. "My name is Bulma. Bulma Brief."
Like a faint echo from his past her name seemed to awaken something in him. But it was so small, so distant, that it quickly disappeared. He was beginning to think she was some sort of sorceress, casting a spell on him, making him dream up things that were not true, to bend him to her will. "What a stupid name."
Bulma shrugged, used to people commenting on her unusual name. "Vegeta, you have to remember me. Quit playing around."
"I do not play."
"You were eleven. I was nine. Don't you remember what happened? I swear it's true! You were here, on Earth. I'm sure you've been to a lot of planets –"
"I've destroyed every planet I have ever been to that wasn't a base," he snapped. "You idiot woman! You know my name but you clearly have no idea who I am! I am Vegeta, Prince of all Saiyans, and it is my job to kill worthless peons such as yourself so your planet can be sold."
"I know what you do, and I don't care!" she yelled, waving her arms around. "I really don't care what you do because you're my friend even if you don't remember it!"
"Shut up, insolent woman!"
Bulma roared with frustration as she swung her arm around and slapped Vegeta as hard as she could, nearly losing her balance in the process. She squealed when she felt more pain than she delivered. Her hand felt tingly as she shook it out. She should have thought before acting. She had known he was harder than solid rock as a child. What made her think she would be able to hurt him now, as an adult? He was even stronger than before. So was she, but he was infinitely more so. She held her hand to her chest and bit her bottom lip. She would not cry, she would not cry. It didn't hurt that bad, really. She shook her hand again. 'Smart move, Bulma. Now he's definitely going to kill you.'
Vegeta's countenance darkened. His head was turned from her hit, mostly because he was too stunned to react. He turned to face her, obsidian eyes burning with a fire of raw fury. There was a red hand print across his cheek that may have been funny had he not been so angry. "You will regret that, woman." His voice was low, threatening. She wiped her sweaty palms on her dress and took a step back. She might have been imagining it, but she thought she could feel the heat from his body rising with his anger.
"I – I'm sorry, Veggie," she stammered as all her courage fled. She backed away from him as he advanced on her, his lips curled in a feral, predatory snarl that revealed his sharp canines. She glanced down and saw the tip of his tail flicking. Yeah, he was definitely mad. She swallowed hard.
"You'll be more than sorry when I'm through with you." His body was burning with suppressed ki. He was trying to keep it in check, but a blazing aura was starting to ignite around him. "And don't you dare call me by that name ever again."
She held her hands up in front of her as she kept backing up, her heart hammering in her chest. Her mouth was dry and she felt like she couldn't breathe, making her chest heave with short, shallow breaths. "Please – please don't hurt me. I'm sorry!"
Vegeta was almost blinded with rage. He wanted to kill her, he wanted to punish her for her foolish, disrespectful audacity. But he couldn't. He couldn't make himself gather the small amount of ki it would take to extinguish her life, he couldn't bring himself to raise his hand to strangle her, to snap her neck, crush her skull, tear out her heart, anything.
"Bulma! What are you doing? Get out of here, now!"
Bulma looked up when she heard the familiar voice yelling at her from somewhere above her. She saw a gold streak shoot across the sky and breathed a sigh of relief. Goku was back, he finally came. He would protect her. Right on time, as usual. She almost forgot the threat standing right in front of her until she faced him again and saw his building rage. At least now his attention was on Goku instead of her. His tail was uncoiled from his waist and lashing behind him. Yep. Definitely furious. She turned and ran away from him as fast as she could. Forget trying to make peace. Vegeta was a crazed psychopath who couldn't remember almost a year of his life. She had never been so utterly terrified before in her life. Not in any of her near-death experiences had she been so sure she wouldn't make it through alive.
"Bulma! Are you ok? What the hell are you doing here?"
She whirled around when she heard Tien shouting at her now. Good, he was back and probably stronger too. He came to save her. She really wanted to get away from here. She must have been crazy to think she could help anyone by interfering. "Tien! You're here! Thank Kami."
"Why did you come here?" he asked as he landed a few feet from her, eyes on the fight between Nappa and the others. He was eager to jump into the fray and help them, but he wanted to know what he was hurling himself into, so he stayed back to carefully analyze his opponent – but quickly.
Bulma laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I thought maybe I could help. But I guess that didn't work out, so I'll be going now." She yelped when she saw Vegeta glaring at her. She wished he would stop looking at her like that. Like he was trying to burn holes through her soul with his eyes.
"Master Roshi is in the jet. Get out of here, now!" Tien barked right before darting off to catch Nappa off guard with a heavy blow to the back of his head.
"Ok, ok, I'm going!" Bulma shouted. She turned and stomped back toward the jet, but she was cut off when Vegeta phased in front of her, blocking her path.
"Where do you think you're going?" he growled. He lifted her chin to force her to look him in the eye. She didn't like what she saw. There was anger, hatred, death, emptiness. "I'm not finished with you, bitch."
"Leave her alone!"
Vegeta suddenly disappeared and a streak of orange flew past her. Bulma stumbled backward a few steps and fell to the ground. She had no idea what just happened, but she knew she didn't like it. She tried to stand, but she was knocked over by a shockwave as two fists collided a few yards away from her. She shrieked as she fell to the ground, scraping her knees on the rocky ground. She felt like crying. Unfortunately, that wouldn't do her any good at the moment.
"What is going on?" she screamed. "I want to get out of here!"
She curled into the fetal position when a nearby bluff crumbled to the ground as one of her friends collided with it and more shockwaves shook the Earth to its foundations from above. 'Kami, Bulma, what have you gotten yourself into? You were an idiot to come here! You should have listened to Roshi, but no, you had to try to be the hero. You're not a friggin' hero! You need to get the hell out here, now!' She nodded to herself and got up on her hands and knees and started crawling toward the jet, hoping it was still intact and Roshi had the engines going and ready for takeoff.
Vegeta saw her trying to get away, but he was unable to distract his opponent long enough to stop her. His opponent had some sort of technique that greatly multiplied his power in short bursts. Well, it wasn't the first time he'd ever faced someone with that ability. It was tricky to counter, but not impossible. He growled and spun around, driving his knee into the other fighter's gut. In the split second the other fighter spent recovering, he fired a small ki blast that hit the ground feet in front of the blue-haired woman. He snapped his attention back to his fight and caught a fist directed toward his chest and a leg aiming for his ribs. He countered with a kick that hit his opponent's groin and an elbow on his head when he hunched over in pain.
"Nappa! What the hell is going on?"
"I'm not sure, Vegeta. Two strong warriors came out of nowhere and started fighting."
"Yes, I know that, you idiot! Can you handle three-eyes over there on your own?"
"Yeah, it's no problem as long as the others don't—" Nappa's thought was cut short when he was surprised by the little doll-looking guy powering up a powerful beam of ki. He jumped over it and kicked the diminutive man in the head, sending him careening through the air and straight into the Namekian.
Vegeta ducked as the stray ki beam shot over his head from the other fight. It caught his opponent's shoulder. The brief pause in fighting allowed him to better see who he was fighting. He was tall, he had black eyes, wild black hair… that hair. His eyes narrowed. He was fighting a saiyan, a third-class. It had to be Raditz's brother. So these earthlings could bring people back from the dead after all. That was good information to have. Not that he had time to think about that right now. For a third-class, he was strong, fast, and cunning.
"So, Kakarrot, what was it like being dead?" he taunted as he punched the other saiyan with a hard uppercut.
Goku allowed his momentum to carry him into a back-flip and kicked Vegeta's chin as he spun around. "My name is Goku, not Kakarrot!"
Vegeta fired two ki balls at Goku as he whirled around through the air. "I don't care what you call yourself! You're still third-class trash!"
"Goku, watch out!" Krillin screamed over the din of battle.
Goku dodged to the left just on time to avoid being decapitated by a destructo disk. He wiped the sweat from his brow and looked down to where his friend, recently healed with a senzu bean, was guiding his disk around to chase the larger saiyan, who was pummeling Tien. Vegeta watched the destructo disk as it curved through the air like a boomerang, easily slicing through another bluff, and headed for his only remaining comrade.
"Nappa, watch yourself. The midget's got a ki disk. Don't underestimate it."
"I see it."
Vegeta phased out of sight when Goku tried to surprise him with a swift kick to the back. The prince caught him in a chokehold and lowered him to the ground near where Bulma was still kneeling and trembling in fear. He wanted her to see that her savior was weak. He wanted to make her watch him die. "So, woman, you thought this worthless trash could save you? Let's see if you still think that as you watch him die."
"Leave my daddy alone!" Gohan yelled as he rushed over to Vegeta and Goku. He jumped high in the air and clenched his fists together to bring down on Vegeta's head, but the saiyan disappeared again. A second later the half-breed was knocked to the ground. He never saw what hit him.
"Stupid brat," Vegeta spat.
Goku saw his son hurt and roared with frustration. He was too late to save Yamcha, almost too late to save Bulma and Krillin, and now his son was struck down right before his eyes. He flared his ki and broke free from Vegeta's hold and roundhouse kicked him, sending him flying straight through a wide bluff. He powered up and darted after him, ready to put an end to the fight.
Vegeta regained control of himself and stopped mid-flight, only to receive a punch to the gut that left him winded. He furiously kicked Goku's ribs and started a barrage of kicks and punches that Goku was hardly able to block, let alone counter. Minutes dragged on like hours as they fought in close hand-to-hand combat, neither pulling punches or giving quarters. Vegeta was out for blood and Goku was determined to protect his friends from the saiyan prince. Battered and bruised they kept fighting until Goku phased out of sight and tried to catch Vegeta with a paralyzing kick to his lower back.
But Vegeta was too fast for him. He saw Goku coming and disappeared. He reappeared behind Bulma and yanked her to her feet. He powered up a ball of ki in his left hand and held it over her chest while he held her arms behind her back with his right hand. "You seem to care an awful lot about this woman!" he shouted. His eyes shifted across the battlefield, searching for his adversary. "What would you do if I killed her?"
"Leave me out of this!" Bulma whimpered as she struggled to get away, but his hold on her was too strong.
Goku appeared in front of them and glared at Vegeta, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "Let her go." He knew he couldn't attack without Bulma being hurt, maybe even killed. He would never be able to move fast enough to get her out of this bind without risking her life.
"What's your interest in this woman anyway? Is she your mate?" Vegeta smirked and pulled her flush against his chest. He felt her shaking. Such a weak, cowardly little woman. He sniffed her neck, enjoying the scent of her fear. Goku growled and stepped forward, not liking his close proximity to his friend.
Bulma's heart skipped a beat. This was it, she was going to die. Vegeta was going to kill her. She squeezed her eyes shut and hastily told him, "We're not mates. We're just friends. We've been friends for years."
"Touching." Vegeta inhaled her scent more deeply, then froze, his breath catching. His eyes widened when he was struck by its familiarity. He let the energy go from his left hand and pulled her hair to the side and brushed his nose against her skin, sniffing from the base of her neck up to her jaw. He vaguely recognized her scent. But he couldn't place it. It was like his memory of it was constantly evading him, no matter how hard he searched for it. He quickly grew frustrated. He knew he knew the scent, but he couldn't figure out why or how. Was the woman speaking some truth? Had he met her before? Where? When?
She tried not to laugh when she felt him sniffing her. It tickled, and despite the obvious danger, she thought it was funny. When he let go of her arms she didn't move away from him, her fear lessening with each passing second he hesitated in killing her. Had he changed his mind? Maybe something clicked. Maybe he was remembering. She knew olfactory memories were some of the strongest, and she knew saiyan noses were much stronger than humans'.
Vegeta lifted her hand and sniffed her wrist. Yes, he definitely knew her scent from somewhere. It was sort of sweet, like some kind of fruit. He imagined it to be small and red. His eyebrow quirked as he dropped her arm. He took a few steps back away from her. His fight with Goku was completely forgotten. He was trying to remember, trying to find the memory, but he couldn't retrieve it. It was there, just out of reach, so close. He growled and clutched his head in his hands, clawing at his temples. It had to be there! He never forgot anything!
Goku watched the other saiyan, bewildered. He had been angry with him; after all, he was threatening to hurt her. Then he suddenly changed from confident and murderous to confused and anxious. He took another slow step forward, wondering if Vegeta was feigning his reaction to make him let his guard down.
"Vegeta?" Bulma took a tentative step toward him and reached her hand out to him. He slapped it away. She hissed in pain but took another step forward. "Vegeta? Are you alright? What's wrong?"
Shaking his head, his fingers tangled in his hair, he kept backing away until he stumbled over a large stone. He didn't bother catching himself before he landed in the dirt on his backside. Something was wrong with his mind. There was something amiss and he had no idea what. That scent. He knew it. He had no idea how, but he knew it. No two beings in the universe had the same scent. He had to have met her before. He knew her. But how? How? He couldn't remember. It was driving him insane.
Bulma moved closer and was going to kneel down next to him, but Goku grabbed her arm and held her back. He shook his head slowly as he pulled her away. This was the opportunity she needed to get away, while the other saiyan was distracted for whatever reason. "Bulma, you've got to get out of here. It's not safe." He pushed her toward the jet.
"I'm not going, Goku," she said, stubbornly digging her heels into the dirt. "Something's wrong with Vegeta. I have to help him."
Goku groaned, exasperated. Getting his friend to leave when she didn't want to was no easy task without accidentally hurting her. He didn't have time to watch her while he was fighting, so in frustration he shouted, "This isn't time for games! Get out of here right now!"
She slapped his hands away when he tried to push her again. "This isn't a game! Goku, you don't understand, I have to help him. I have no idea what's going on in his mind right now, but I can assure you it's terrible. The things he's lived through… Goku, I don't even know what all he's suffered through since I knew him. He was a wreck then and he's a wreck now and I'm not abandoning him."
Goku felt some of his anger melting away as she pled with him. He cast a wary glance over at Vegeta and sighed. 'A wreck' was an understatement. He looked like an invalid from the government mental hospital as he sat on the ground, digging his fingers into his scalp and muttering to himself in his alien language. Somehow it didn't seem right to fight with someone who wasn't at his best. Keeping his guard up, he allowed Bulma to go over to the small saiyan.
Bulma glowered at him as she pushed past and knelt down next to Vegeta and stroked his flame of hair. "It's ok, Vegeta. You can trust me, I promise."
Vegeta wasn't listening to her. He was lost in his own mind, trying desperately to access what seemingly wasn't there. He couldn't figure it out. She said he was eleven when he met her. Eleven years old. He tried to think, but his thoughts were racing and he couldn't sort through them all fast enough. Eleven years old. Where was he when he was eleven? He couldn't remember. It was as if there was a void in his memory. There was nothing. He tried to remember when he was ten years old. He was sent on a purge mission. Planet 1084XR. That's right. He remembered that. He remembered leaving for the purge and entering stasis. And then there was nothing. And then he woke up and he was back on Frieza's ship in the medical bay, and… and he was informed that he crash landed and was in a coma for almost a year.
He looked up at the battle that was still going on with Nappa fighting off all the earthling warriors. He was kept busy trying to hold them all off. They were giving him a difficult time when they all attacked at once. He wasn't losing, but he wasn't making any progress either. Vegeta cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, "Nappa, stop fighting, now!"
Immediately the large saiyan stopped fighting and turned around to where Vegeta was still sitting on the ground. "Why?"
The others all paused mid-attack, dumbfounded by the sudden break in action. Krillin looked back and forth between Nappa and Vegeta, then looked over to Gohan and Piccolo. They answered his questioning gaze with a shrug. Glancing over at Tien and Chiaotzu, he received a mirroring confused expression. They had no idea what led the smaller saiyan to command their opponent to stop fighting, but they weren't going to complain. It meant they might be able to rest a few minutes and come up with a plan to defeat him, if need be. Krillin ran over to them and they started talking amongst themselves while Nappa walked over to his prince to try reasoning with him.
"Why'd we stop, Vegeta?" he asked, glaring at Goku as he brushed past him. "I was just starting to have fun with them."
"Oh, shut up!" Vegeta snarled. "Nappa, what really happened when I was eleven?"
"What do you mean?"
Vegeta stood up and grabbed the front of Nappa's armor and pulled him down to eye level. "Stop trying to cover something! There's no possible way I was in a coma for a fucking year! What happened? Why can't I remember?"
"Um, well, you see, Vegeta, it's kind of a long story, and I don't think now is the time to talk about it."
"Oh, I think now is the perfect time to tell me why I know her scent!" Vegeta growled as he pointed to Bulma.
Nappa looked down at the woman, who was still kneeling on the ground. He had never seen her before in his life. He would've remembered someone with hair that color. Where had Vegeta ever gone that he hadn't? They were always sent on the same missions. He wracked his brain for information that might be helpful to Vegeta. When he was eleven…he crash-landed on a planet in galaxy XR. His eyes widened. They were in galaxy XR.
Well, shit.
A/N: Well, fanfic is definitely being a jerk today, but I have managed to bring you the next exciting chapter of Homeless Boy anyway. I'm sure you're all glad, seeing as I left you with a particularly nasty cliffhanger in the last chapter. For that I would apologize, but I'm not really sorry. Couple things I wanted to say in response to reviews...Nappa, Vegeta, and Raditz all know English because they basically uploaded it into their brains from their scouters while they were traveling. That's my theory on how they could know the native languages of the planets they go to. Francis: I'm actually in the central time zone. Oh, and happy late birthday to "July" - hope this chapter suffices as a belated present. ;)
I hope this chapter was everything you were hoping for. My beta, lilpumpkingirl, and I worked hard to bring you this chapter and make it as satisfying as possible. I'm sorry if you were hoping for more Vegeta/Goku fighting, but I assure you, there will be more later on. Right now just isn't the time for it.
Side note: Go read SecretInk's new story, Between the Lines. I've been beta-reading it and it's pretty good. It's worth checking out.
Review!