Raditz backed up. "Kakarot…what are you talking about?" There was no way that his brother remembered what had happened. He had been careful so that could never happen. But as he stared at his brother in a dumbfounded state, Raditz could see that he was wrong.
"My memory, you messed with it." Kakarot said, wanting to know if it was true. He was having flashbacks; he knew that he had killed their mother. All he needed was conformation from Raditz. "Tell me what you did."
Raditz sighed, looking at both of his parents. His father had a grim look on his face, telling Raditz that the man knew what had happened. His mother looked on the edge of tears. "I…I had no choice, Kakarot."
The captain turned pale. This wasn't what he wanted to hear. "So I really did kill Mom…" He felt sick to his stomach and cold at the same time. "Why did you keep this from me?"
"Because I needed you." Raditz said, knowing that wasn't a good enough answer.
"Was I just another experiment to you?" Kakarot demanded angrily. "How many of my memories have you messed with, huh?"
Raditz looked down. "I only did it once." He needed to be strong; he had to make his brother understand. "I did it for you."
"You just said that you needed me, and now you're saying that it was for me? What kind of bullshit are you trying to pull?" Kakarot growled.
"Kakarot, please understand." His mother moved forward, trying to hug him. She was in tears, but Kakarot backed away. He didn't know if he could even be around her. He didn't deserve to be around her.
"How can you even be close to me? You know what I did," Kakarot said, keeping his distance.
"It wasn't your fault." Gine started.
"Then who's fault was it? I was the one that killed you, plain and simple. No one else can be at fault." Kakarot turned to look back at Raditz. "You still haven't answered me."
"Kakarot, if I didn't do it, then I would have been left with nothing." Raditz said, trying to calm his brother down.
Chichi grabbed her husband's arm, watching him flinched. "Goku, just take a deep breath. I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this." She leaned up giving him a kiss on the cheek, which made him turn red. "Just listen to them and see."
Kakarot sighed. "Fine, but there better be a good reason for this, but if you go back to using that bull crap, I'm done."
Raditz took a deep breath, he was glad that Chichi was around. If his brother hadn't taken her as a mate, Kakarot may have not listened to reason. "After the battle, I went to find you," Raditz began. "There was carnage everywhere and I just wanted to make sure everyone was okay. I found you alone. You were a mess, Kakarot. No matter what I said, you refused to listen to it. I had just lost mom and dad, I couldn't lose you too. So I did what I had to do. If I had known about the Dragon balls, I wouldn't have done it. But the look in your eyes was so dead. Like you were going to do something dangerous to yourself and I couldn't let that happen."
Kakarot nodded. So far what Raditz was saying matched his memories. "I'm still trying to figure out why I went so far." He looked down. "I remember an uncontrollable rage, but I don't understand where it even came from. It was like there was a fog over my eyes."
"We believe that it is a stage above Super Saiyan," Bardock said. "You transformed after I died. I remember that you were with me when I passed. Your grief pushed you over the edge."
Kakarot looked down at his hands. They were capable of a lot. He had murdered so many people and never batted an eye, but now he felt so sick to his stomach about it. It was different now that the shoe was on the other foot. He was a danger to everyone. "Then why did you let me fight?" He asked, kind of lost on the notion.
"What are you talking about, Kakarot?" Bardock asked.
"All of you let me run off into battle time after time. What if I changed back into that monster?" The captain said in a rush. "I could do serious damage."
"You're not a monster, Kakarot." Gine said. "That really wasn't you."
"But that thing lives in me," He said, keeping his distance from his mother. "How can you be around me, knowing how I killed you?"
"You're my son. You weren't in your right mind." She said, trying to get closer to him.
"Mom, it's best not to push him," Raditz said.
"See? Raditz knows what I am," Kakarot said in panic. He didn't want to be near them. What if he went over the deep end? They could all die. He heard a laugh from the floor and looked down at his son. Gohan was still playing with Turles on the floor.
He had a child… how could he even be trusted around children? Gohan and Chichi weren't safe with him around. He made to leave, but his father came around and grabbed his arm, Bardock had to know what he was thinking.
"Just get that idea of yours out of your head," His father said, sternly.
"But…" Kakarot didn't know why his family trusted him. He had destroyed them.
"No buts," His mother said, coming to stand next to his father. "You're still our son. What happened is in the past."
He was starting to feel like he was getting closed in and he couldn't breathe. Kakarot looked around for an exit in panic. He was just going to hurt them all again. He could feel his anger rising.
Chichi moved over, putting her hand on his arm, which made him jump. She had a sad look on her face. "Goku, why don't we go home? Okay?"
For some reason, he felt like he could relax. He didn't know what it was, but as his mate picked up his son. He started to feel at ease. "Yeah, let's go home." He just needed time to process all of this.
Gine and Bardock looked like they wanted to object, but Raditz stopped him. "Let him go. He needs the space right now."
Both of his parents backed up, and Kakarot gave his brother a nod. He had been angry with his brother in the beginning, but understood him now. Raditz had only been trying to protect him from the truth. Raditz didn't want him doing something stupid.
As they walked down the hall, he couldn't help but stare at his mate. "How do you know if you can trust me?" He said, as his son moved around in her arms.
She gave him a smile. "Because I know who you are."
"What does that have to do with anything?" He pondered.
Chichi continued to smile. "Remember all of those years ago when you first came to Earth?"
"How could I forget?" He smiled at her. "You were always getting mad at me."
She giggled. "Well, at the time I had my reasons, but that's not what we're talking about."
"So what are we talking about?" He asked.
Chichi moved Gohan around so that the boy was now hanging onto her back. "You always protected me."
"That doesn't…" He started.
"Even in the madness of anger, you were able to protect me from Piccolo. When you became a super saiyan for the first time, it was because you were angry and wanted to protect me," She said. "If you were just a monster, you wouldn't have tried to save me. You would have done the same thing that King Piccolo did to me."
"But that same anger killed my mother." He argued.
"No, it's not the same anger." Chichi reasoned.
"What do you mean?" Kakarot couldn't wrap his mind around what she was saying.
"Your anger towards Piccolo was because he tried to kill me. You found something you wanted to protect. The anger you had while fighting in that war was about revenge. You wanted to see them all die because you saw your father die," She told him confidently.
Kakarot stared at her. "You really think that's what happened?"
She nodded. "I know that's what happened."
"How do you know?" He asked. "What if you're wrong?"
"No, I know I'm right." She said with a smile, he was going to question her some more, but she cut him off. "You've never done it again, have you?"
"Not that I know of," He answered.
"Every time that you've been angry or fighting, you've never wanted revenge." They walked into their new house and she put Gohan down on the floor. Coco came out to greet them, chirping against Gohan's head. "You live to protect. That's what Roshi and Grandpa used to say."
He felt at ease for a second, and then pushed that thought away. "But I can also destroy."
"The fact that you know that makes you a kind person, Goku. You know what your power can do. But for the most part, you don't use it. You could have killed the younger Piccolo with ease, but you didn't. You spared him and that gave us an ally." She leaned up and kissed him, making him purr. "Besides, if you were really a monster, you wouldn't be this torn up about it, would you?"
He relaxed against her, using his tail to pull her against his chest. He gave her a smile. "What would I do without you, Chi?"
She giggled. "Probably be a celibate captain for the rest of your life." She could see that the look in his eyes had changed. "I take it that now's not the time for either of us to be celibate, is it?"
He purred against her before pulling her up into his arms, carrying her towards the bedroom. "Coco, look after Gohan for a bit, will you?" The bird let out a couple of chirps, before picking up the child by his shirt and moving him over to the high chair. "You really were right about that bird," He said.
Chichi smiled at him. "You should know that I'm right about a lot of things."
He purred against her one last time before heading off to the bedroom. He wanted, no, needed some quality time with his wife.
The commissioner paced. They had been attacking the place that Kakarot had told them about, but they weren't even making a dent in Frieza's forces. She had to do something or they would be overrun by the Cold Empire.
She moved over to an intercom, ready to spout some orders. "Blue one, run another drill over the operating base one more time." She waited for a reply, but got nothing. "Where are they?" She felt a chill go down her spine as a chuckle came through the room.
"It doesn't matter what you try, you've been defeated." She turned around slowly, finding Frieza standing behind her.
She let out a cry in terror as she was pushed against the desk. "Please, I don't want to die." She had so much to live for. She had clawed her way up to this position, doing things that she wasn't really proud of until she got her prize. She couldn't just die now.
Frieza, moved her hair out of her face. "So now you're going to plead for your life? What a pity. I thought killing you would be more fun than this."
She let out a scream as he pulled at her outfit, ripping the fabric. His eyes going over the curve of her neck. She knew that look. Men made that look at her all of the time. She tried to calm herself. There was a way out of this. "Can I help you?"
His eyes looked over her again, before shaking his head. He had told his father that he wasn't going to fall for something like this. "You have nothing to offer me." He said, trying to look away from her.
She noticed that his grip was looser and moved her arm out of his grasp. But instead of attacking, she only moved her hand up his chest. Her instincts to survive were telling her to do this. He looked back down at her. "Are you sure about that?"
Suddenly, she felt a scale covered tail against her skin. He sighed, trying to hold himself back. "You're allies with those saiyans." If he could get something out of her about Vegeta, then it would be worth it.
She looked up at him. It didn't matter if she was throwing them to the dogs. She couldn't have Kakarot anyway. The captain had been taken from her by some unknown female with no power. She growled in her throat as the thought consumed her. "I'll tell you anything you need to know, just get rid of the mate of Kakarot," She spat.
Frieza grinned. "So you'll tell me everything." He ran his hand down her arm, feeling dizzy. She nodded, as she drew closer to him. He smirked. It wouldn't hurt for him to spend one night with the commissioner. After all, it would get him the information he wanted.
She let out a squeal as he pulled at the rest of her clothing. The gears in her head began to turn. If she played her cards right, she didn't need to do anything else. After all, being a princess would be better than being a Commissioner any day. Her mind went blank as his lips fell on hers. The mate of Kakarot would die. She couldn't be happier.
To Be Continued…