Reclaiming Birth Rights

Rated

Raven had decided she was going to go for a walk after the meeting with the gods and warriors. 'I can't believe everything is about to come to a finish. Will it be for good, or evil? Erebus had us beat last time and there was no doubt about it.' She found a patch of wild flowers, violets and blue-bells growing and decided to lay on her stomach in a day dream. 'I miss my home and I regret never seeing my child grow up to take her first steps or to say her first words. Oh... Pluto, I'm so sorry for not being there like a mother should have been.'

A shadow blocked the sun on her back and afraid that it was Erebus or an enemy she lashed out with a quick upper thrust kick to connect solidly with a strong chest. Jumping up and ready to attack, she gasped in surprise as she saw her husband embedded in a rock face and several twigs in his hair. "Chronos, I'm so sorry."

He pulled himself out of the rock and dusted himself off to approach his wife, who looked like she was about to cry for hitting him. "Are you always this edgy when people walk up on you?"

"Well, after fighting with Erebus for two years, you learn to be that way or get killed." She walked up to him and touched his chest to make sure there was no damage.

"You're going to have to hit me harder than that if you want to hurt me dear. You took me more by surprise than anything." His eyes were the darkest green than Raven had ever seen in anyone, and it seemed to match his hair color. His gaze was settled on hers, as he circled his wife getting a full glimpse of her for the first time since the battle of Erebus began.

Picking up a yellow wild flower he traced the parts of her skin that weren't covered by the dress, smiling as he watched her twitch. She knew him better than anyone and the thing he liked best about being with his wife is the teasing torture he put her threw before he finally relented to give her her release. A teasing smile crossed her lips, that reached her eyes and he wondered what she was up to. She was the only person he chose not to read the future on, or her mind. She turned to walk further into the flowers when she felt strong hands restrain her hips and her movements. "Don't you want to walk Chronos?"

"If I wanted a walk, I would have stayed on Mount Olympus. I want my wife, who's been neglecting her husband for twenty millennium." His hands moved around to her firm stomach as she leaned her head back, closing her eyes.

"I haven't been neglecting you. If you wanted me sooner, you should have woken me up. Now who's neglecting someone?"

He turned her around to crush her body to him, as his hand felt her neck, lifting her chin slightly to look into his eyes. His mouth came closer to her lips, but refused to connect, breathing on them, making them warm and moist. She tried to kiss him, but he held back receiving a whimper of protest and a demanding tone to enter her eyes. "Please, not now. I've been too long without you."

"I didn't make you leave and fight for two years." He smiled at her, "I also remember how impossible you were to corral as you liked to play games and hide behind Hades and Aries whenever I came looking for you. Do you have any idea how jealous I was to watch some of the other gods and even mortals eye you with desire? You were so innocent and naive when I finally captured you."

"You mean you still want me like that, even after all this time?"

"Do you even have to ask? The craving for you doesn't go away as time passes, but only intensifies as I try to find other things to do, to ease the ache. I worried about you in the fight with Erebus, and I checked up on you as often as I could while you slept. You were so beautiful laying there on the crystal bed; healing and I so much wanted to hold you in my arms instead."

She saw the love in his eyes; "Chronos... I missed you too. While I was healing I felt your presence when you came by, but I couldn't break free from the crystal because I was still healing from the fatal wounds I had. I'm sorry if I worried you so."

Shada was in her room crying about the past and the loss of her babies. It wasn't that she wanted to push Aries away; it was that she was scared of allowing herself to care again. Curling her pillow under her, she fell asleep and never saw him open the door and silently sit down on the bed and watch her sleep. The tears were drying on her face and a hand came to brush them away as he moved the strands of hair out of the way.

"Why didn't you tell me about them?" Aries asked her sleeping form. "I had a right to know about my own two sons."

"Thought you hated me," she whispered back to him self-consciously.

He wasn't expecting her to answer him in her sleep, but if she would keep doing it, he would receive some answers that he normally wouldn't get from her. "Why did you not come back to me, Shada?"

"I was scared, alone and felt totally helpless. Couldn't bare to face you after the loss of our sons."

"You should have told me. I loved you more than anything immortality has to offer."

A whimper came from her as she turned her back on him. "How can anyone love me?" She was starting to cry in her sleep, but Aries wasn't going to let her get away that easily.

"I still love you and I'm here to take you back."

"No. I just want to go back to the shadows, where I won't hurt anyone."

Aries didn't know if he wanted to know the answer to the question he was about to ask, but he needed to know, even if it did break his heart. "Do you love anyone Shada?"

At first he thought she wasn't going to answer, then with a sad smile she said, "The Shadow Queen is not to love anyone but the darkness of night, I have been pronounced a disgrace for having my heart taken by the God of War and by two little boys. I am supposed to be as Erebus says, Cold, Dark, deadly, and never care for the pathetic weak hearted fools and their creations. I have watched him and my babies, but had not the courage to step out of the shadows to him, though my heart yearned with longing for the warm safe loving arms of my beloved and only dared to exit the shadows for when our boys were in need of me."

'I'm going to kill Erebus for ever hurting her.' "Shada..."

"Uhmm... What?"

"You're not alone. I wouldn't have ever taken you to my bed if you were all the things you say you are. The person I fell in love with had passion, fire and a wild spirit that was impossible to crush. Don't let your brother guide and dictate who you are."

Shada was in a sleep and thought she felt a comforting voice speaking to her. 'Aries, loves me?' The voice was insistent and she felt something brush her cheek. Opening her eyes she looked into the eyes of the one she had seen in her dreams more times than she could count. "Aries?" Remembering that she was suppose to be keeping him at a distance, she jumped out of bed, to reveal that she had on only a black silky pair of shorts and a black lacy top that hid very, very little. Her hair tried to cover her front, but it only added to the appeal of her body.

Aries admired her toned and muscular build and rested his head in his hands that were resting on the bed. "Not bad. Do you always wear such things to bed?"

"I do, when I think there's no one that's going to enter my room. Don't you know what privacy means? I'm sleeping here and you're intruding on my space."

"I was worried about you."

"Why?"

"You were crying. Besides, you slept with me before and didn't seem to mind. Why can't you understand that not everyone is going to turn away and hurt you?"

"What do you expect? My closest friends turned me away, most of the Gods condemned me, and I couldn't look into my father's face for nearly four thousand years after my brother killed my mother. I betrayed him and everyone else. Why would you want someone that couldn't even save her own two sons?"

Her violet eyes trembled with the anger, mostly pain, which she had kept bottled up inside her for so long. Aries slowly stood up and calmly walked towards her. He didn't make any sudden movements as he knew she would run if he did. "Who said that most of the gods condemned you? I never heard anyone say anything bad about you, except that they took pity on what you had to live with. Your scent lingered in my nostrils for weeks after you left and I kept thinking you would come back and we could talk or become mates like I had planned from the start. I love you Shada and no matter what you've done or who you are, won't change my mind about that feeling."

His words were calming as her heart wanted to believe what he was saying, but fear moved her back as she pressed against the wall behind her. Their eyes never lost contact as his presence was only an arm length away. Gently he reached out to touch her face, to have her jump a little, but not run. Hope entered his eyes, but knew he had to be patient with her to win her completely. Carefully he pulled her against him, tail wrapping around her waist as he gave her the hug that she so desperately needed and never got while she put herself in isolation. "Cry if you must, but don't do this on your own anymore. I would have been there for you if you had let me."

Tensing for a moment at the close contact, Shada felt warmth enter her heart for the first time and welcomed it with a desperation she didn't know she possessed. Grabbing his shirt, she trembled against him, trying to hold back the flood. 'I can't. I've never cried for anyone before.'

"Let it go Shada. You can't keep it bottled up inside of you forever. Even a Saiya-jin cries when he needs to. It's not a sign of a weak person, but one that was strong enough to admit to his own feelings."

She cried. For a long time, he held her against him as her body let loose what it needed to, to purge her of the cold darkness that had surrounded her heart. Getting an idea, Aries took her into the bathroom and started a nice hot bath and placed her inside of it with him crawling in behind her. As he took a hold of her shoulders, he realized how tense she kept her body and began to work at them.

'What is he doing?' She turned to him, to find him smiling at her and the pressure of his fingers felt so good as some of the ache that had been there for awhile, began to leave her body. 'How did this happen? One minute I was pushing him away, and the next, I'm finding myself clinging to him as if he were my last thread for happiness.'

He grabbed some soap and started to lather her long hair. She started to laugh as he moved his fingers behind her ears, and tried to pull away, but he had her beaten as he wrapped his muscular legs around her stomach and kept her still why he made sure he didn't miss a single strand of hair. "I have to make sure my mate is clean."

She turned to stick her tongue out at him, only to have him slap a handful of soap on it. A scowl came on her face as she tried to get the stuff off her tongue. For about five minutes she was under the water washing the soap off her tongue and thinking up a million ways to get him back. 'I know. His one weakness that no Saiya-jin can resist. "You're turn. When was the last time you had that thing on your head washed?'

'I don't know. Does standing in a rain shower count?'

Shada blinked at him and let out a sigh. 'I should have come back sooner.' "Turn around, Aries." He never once thought she was up to something as she started to put the soap in his hair. She thought it would be course, but it was soft, so soft that she thought you could curl up in it and fall asleep. After she washed and rinsed his hair, she grabbed some more soap lathered up her hands and grabbed his tail. Startled he turned his head to look at her and then what she had in her hands. With a smile, she started to slowly wash his tail with her hands delicately moving up and down the soft fur.

Aries wasn't expecting this sudden bold move from her as he bowed his head in contentment. A loud purr started to come from his chest and did not go unnoticed by the one cleaning him. "Shada..."

"Hhmmm...?"

"Stop that, or don't hold me responsible for what happens next."

The pressure on his tail stopped, to be replaced by soft hands on his shoulders and hot breath near the neck. "Stop what? This?" She nipped his neck and giggled as he jerked. "Or how about this?" A gentle tug on his ear caused him to turn around and press her back against the wall of the tub and to press down on her.

"I warned you."

Wrapping her hands around his neck her teeth sank into his neck, marking him as hers. Holding her head to him, while she licked the blood off of him, he finished the bond letting her see his love for her, without him needing to tell her. Her thoughts were darker as he saw the images she was faced with by her brother and his promise to make her his once he's conquered the universe.

"Never! If he lays one hand on you, I'll tear him apart and put each of his body parts in a jar so they can't heal back."

"Aries, I don't want to be alone anymore."

'I love you.'

'The darkness can no longer hide my love and soul from you.' The room and bathroom began to tremble around them as his power began to build. He tried to hold it back, but a burst of golden, red, black ki mixed as one, blowing up the entire room leaving them surrounded in dust and rubble.

They looked around each other and laughed. "I knew we should have done this in my room. It can handle my erratic power bursts."

Kakarot and Vegeta were watching the sunrise, ready for the fight to begin. Usagi had decided to go see her father, in case none of them made it back alive. "Do you think we'll win Vegeta?"

"We have in the past, what's so different about this time?"

"It feels different. The stakes are a lot higher if we lose and many planets are counting on us not to fail this mission. Even the gods are involved with things now, which have to be pretty intense."

"What are you so worried about? We're the strongest Saiya-jins alive, and nothing will stop us from destroying Erebus."

"Is our power going to be enough? Sometimes I feel we have more power to give, but it's being blocked by something. I wish we could unlock our immortal power."

"We're not immortal any longer Kakarot."

"Are you sure about that? Usagi has purged her human blood from her completely now that she has become Sailor Cosmos and is now only lunarian and Saiya-jin. We could do the same thing if we had our full abilities and no longer be related to our parents in this time line. We would be taking on our birth rights and our status among the immortal realm. Do you remember what they said when Raven and Shadow Moon were explaining about how to defeat the enemy?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"Our mortal power isn't enough. It takes an immortal to defeat an immortal and a shadow warrior to defeat a shadow warrior. We're both if we use the powers that are hidden deep inside of us."

"What?" Vegeta asked turning towards Kakarot.

"Think about it. If what Shada said was true, then our former father is the god of war. Our former mother is the goddess of the shadow realm which gives us the powers of the shadows as well."

"For a Saiya-jin that use to be as dumb as a box of rocks, you're actually making sense Kakarot." Vegeta couldn't believe how beautiful the sky was in the morning until you were faced with death. "I can't believe we were brothers at one time. If they had told me that when we first met, I would have laughed my ass off and then killed the person for suggesting such an idea."

"It is crazy isn't it? Now, we're as close as friends can get in a life time, and it's not so bad."

"So you two finally understand everything about yourselves," Aries said coming up behind them.

"Probably more so than anyone else," Kakarot said looking at the Saiya-jin God. Their eyes met and a feeling of understanding passed between them.

"Vegeta's comment was right. You are more like me than we realized. I've watched both of you in the other time line and have to admit I was stunned to watch you two progress through your powers the way you have. There were times when I was sure that Vegeta would win and then you would come from nowhere and challenge his power. Frieza couldn't bring you down and neither could Broli. Now I understand where you got the power from. Although, how you managed to reach level five without having your full powers as immortals is beyond me."

Shada came up beside Aries and she seemed less tense as he pulled her closer to him. "I've been watching both of you grow up and at times when you felt the loneliest and most afraid, I would come out when you were asleep to comfort you the best way I could. Now your past selves have a chance to live the way you two were meant to live if you hadn't met Frieza."

"We wouldn't have lived that life if Erebus hadn't killed us," Kakarot said. He somehow seemed bitter about that time for some reason and he couldn't explain why.

Aries could feel the anger in his heart, and probably figured it out. He was like him in a way. "You're angry about her not staying with me and keeping you two safe."

Startled Kakarot turned to him and looked at him wide eyes. "I didn't even know that was the problem until you said something."

"I've been asking myself the same question when I first found out about you two. Whatever the reason was Kakarot, your mother didn't wish you harm, nor did she expect it. Young people don't always make the wisest decisions in their lives. Can you honestly say you've made all the right decisions in your life?"

"I see your point."

"Are you two sure you want the power to be able to beat my brother? Once you do, there's no going back to reclaiming the blood you have with your parents in this time line."

"They're not our parents," Vegeta said. "Yes they have our blood, but if we had never come here, we would never have met them in the first place. Our parents are dead, killed by Frieza. These Saiya-jins are a lot stronger than what they were when I was growing up."

"You won't be related to Usagi or Hotaru any more Vegeta," Shada told him, making him weigh his options.

"Do blood relations really matter? She'll still be like a sister to me no matter what. Besides, she'll be my sister through Kakarot."

"What about you, Kakarot?" Aries asked him.

"Is it so bad giving up the mortal life?"

"No, but you need to know that many will scorn you for your power and strength. The friends you have will be the only ones to accept you and not talk behind your back or lie to your face. Your bodies will change and you will not look the way you do now."

"We have no choice. If we don't fight with everything we have, then what we want is irrelevant," Vegeta told them. "I am a warrior that is proud and strong and have been all my life. If we allow Erebus to win because we were worried about giving up blood lines and relations to a few people, then that would be a selfish and arrogant choice. Usagi would do the same thing for the greater good of everyone."

"I'm the same way. We fight with everything we have, or we might as well tell your brother he wins. He won't be expecting us, but in the process you better hide our past selves so he won't come and kill them. If they die, we die as well."

Shada and Aries looked at each other and nodded. These two were definitely worthy of their heritage and would not deny them what they needed to win this battle. Aries stepped up to Kakarot, while Shada went to Vegeta.

"Aremes, son of Aries, awaken and discard this life, to accept your blood and title as the God of truth and justice."

"Dion, son of Shada, awaken and discard this life, to accept your blood and birth right as the God of fear and intimidation."

Kakarot and Vegeta growled in pain as they felt their blood being purged of their ties to Bardock and King Vegeta, replaced by the blood of Aries and Shada. Kakarot's hair changed back to black but remained the length it was, as his tail turned red and was a mirror image of his father, Aries. Vegeta's hair grew shorter, to where it didn't stick up any longer and his tail was a combination of black and red, his eyes changing to a violet color that said who his mother was. Power that they never knew existed inside of either one of them, surfaced to the top as electricity, thunder and earthquakes appeared all around them. Vegeta grew to the same size as his twin brother and the age differences between them disappeared completely.

When the change was done, they picked themselves up off the ground and looked over themselves and their tails. "This is what we looked like before we were reborn?"

"Yes. You are no longer Vegeta or Kakarot, but Dion and Aremes."

"We just have one problem," Aremes (Kakarot) said.

"What?" Dion (Vegeta) asked rolling his eyes.

"How do we explain this to Usagi and Rei? You basically disowned your sister."

"I did not disown her. I just changed blood lines and have a different set of parents. Besides, I doubt seriously she would be that mad about it."

"Hey, VE... I mean Dion. If we're now twins, then can you figure out how to do instant transmission without me teaching it to you?"

Dion thought about it and shook his head yes. "Yes. As much as it turns the fur on my tail, I can read your mind and can do that silly little trick of yours."

"Let's get ready to go," Aries ordered. Erebus grows stronger and more destructive with each minute we waste. Let's grab Sailor Cosmos, Piccolo, Raven and Chronos.

The group was waiting outside ready to go when the four of them walked up. Stunned expressions from everyone except for Chronos, looked at the two warriors. They were so different that no one even figured they were Kakarot or Vegeta before. "Where's Vegeta and Kakarot?" Turles asked.

"They no longer exist," Aremes said.

"We use to be them, but have reclaimed our birth right and titles the way we were meant to be."

"I thought you couldn't ever be related again?" Gohan asked.

"That was what would be true if they had never awakened their powers and became the Gods that were sleeping inside of them. By becoming the gods, they had to get rid of the blood inside of them."

Cosmos came up to Dion and looked at him in his violet eyes. "I can tell you were Vegeta at one time. I guess this means were no longer brother and sister."

"I'm sorry Usagi, but yes it does mean that."

"I understand. You did what you had to do so that we wouldn't be short on power when we got to the fight. Just don't ignore me now."

"I won't. I'll still beat Aremes to a pulp if he ever hurts you." Dion walked up to Bra and Trunks and looked at them. "You know if we awaken your sleeping powers as well, you would be using the powers of the gods as well, but only as demi-gods."

"We'll worry about that later Dion. We need you to do something and it's important, Turles."

"What?"

"Keep Chibi Kakarot and Vegeta guarded no matter what. If those two die then we're history as well."

"Are we going then?" Shada said.

"Yes."

"How are we going?" Raven asked. "Or do I even want to know."

"We're going to draw my brother to us by using the shadows. Shada transformed into Shadow Moon and guided everyone into the dark realm once more, but this time to do their battle.

"I hope they succeed," Gohan said. He somehow felt that things were not going to be the same no matter what the outcome was.