Vegeta was rather impressed by my ploy, smirking and nodding at me when we told him the deal we had struck.
"Appealing to his ego," he said with a grin, "Good idea."
"My stars, are you complimenting me?" I asked with a grin. Vegeta glared and turned his head.
"I have one question," Vegeta said.
"Okay," I prompted, surprised that Vegeta had said more than two words to me aside from his explanation of mine and Trunks' bond.
"Why have you not sought out your own parents in this time?" he asked. I scowled and turned my head, glaring angrily out the window. The question both surprised and angered me. Surprised because Vegeta was showing a general interest in me. Perhaps it was simply his own curiosity at my disregard for my own family while Trunks had seemed very interested in his own. My anger came from the answer to that question.
"My parents aren't dead in my time," I said. Vegeta's eyebrow shot towards his hairline.
"What?"
"I wasn't alone because they were dead. I was alone because I got tired of being my drunkard father's punching bag," I said, tears pricking my eyes. "I ran away. I figured getting killed by the androids was better than what I faced at home." I turned to look at the Prince. "A strange decision for an eight year old to make, huh?" Vegeta regarded me with a strange expression.
"Yes, it is," he said in a low voice that I would almost call tender if it weren't for who the words came from.
"Your son saved me," I said, casting my gaze to the man in question who stared out the window of the ship, deep in contemplation. "Your son and your wife. Not just my life. I was broken. They put me back together. It's a debt I can never repay. It's also one of the reasons I can't bond with him."
"I don't understand," Vegeta said in an almost drawl.
"What if we bond and it's a mistake?" I asked. "Then he's stuck with me. Me, a broken doll. He deserves much better than that." Vegeta stared at me for a long moment, seeming to consider his next words with the utmost care. When they came, I was floored by them.
"I think, the boy deserves the right to make that choice. It's his life as well. And you don't seem all that broken to me." My mouth dropped open, a million questions coming to mind, but Vegeta denied me the chance to ask them as he quickly stood and strolled to Paragus, demanding to know how soon we would reach our destination.
"What's wrong?" Trunks asked as he walked towards me, no doubt sensing the sudden great turmoil of emotions inside me.
"I think Vegeta just complimented me," I breathed. Trunks smiled and sat next to me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and hugging me close.
"I told you he wasn't so bad," Trunks chuckled.