Chapter 25.
Name Calling.
The first cave collapsed soon into digging.
Apparently living in one up to the age of ten did not translate into skills for digging one.
"I'm not trying to be annoying, but did you ever dig the hole yourself?"
"Russell and I dug tunnels in the rock… but this stuff feels different."
Looking at the collapsed plateau, Rhuba's biggest fear was their ship being buried under it all with them inside.
"Maybe we don't dig into a cliff face… Maybe we just dig a ditch and land the ship at the bottom? We just need to have it out of view, don't we? Can the natives around here fly?"
"They're insects…" Garagus muttered as he tried to think of a new plan. "I don't think I saw any wings…"
"Like that ever stopped you~" Rhuba teased before climbing aboard the ship and heading to the cargo hold.
Some of the cargo was lost to space, but hopefully…
"perfect…" She grabbed as many rolls of the thick material as she could carry before taking them upstairs.
"I have an idea." She announced when she found Garagus sitting on the ramp and staring at the caved-in rockface.
"Me too." Garagus turned to see her carrying rolls of tarp.
He stood to help her carry them before hearing her out.
"We dig a hole, land the ship out of sight. Cover the hole with logs, cover the logs with tarps, cover the tarp with sand and rocks until it looks natural."
"Oh… yeah that could work."
"What was your idea?"
"I was going to say we uproot and replant trees in the jungle to form a ring big enough to land in. That way we'll be under shade if there's a full moon out."
"Ah… yeah… that's probably easier…"
"I wasn't going to say anything but, we don't know what rainfall this area gets. Flooding is a potential problem too if we dug an actual hole in the ground." He saw her narrowing her eyes questioningly. Basically, she was wondering why he'd even go along with her plan if he thought that could be an issue.
She didn't need to say a single word for him to know her mind.
"Well I was going to suggest we do your idea but up on a plateau. I wasn't going to go keep it to myself and do nothing about it."
"But if the rain seeps in, how much would it take for my plan to have drowned the ship?"
"Well I was going to dig a small tunnel that leads to the outer cliffs of the plateau, so it has drainage."
Rhuba nodded.
"You have an answer for everything, even when you have the better idea, you try to think ahead."
"Can't afford not to." He laughed, falling to his knees and hugging her tummy. "There's people I want to protect."
"yeah…" Rhuba stood over him, running her fingers through his hair as she felt his lips pressing against her. "So… since you have the answers… Mind if I share a few concerns I have?"
"Hmm?"
With some of the fruits Garagus found sliced up for them both to try, Rhuba tried the sour things she'd asked for, but immediately spat them out.
"Nope… nope…" The texture was off in and of itself. Under the thick shell were thousands of black seeds that gave the sour scent which spooned out along with the fleshy membrane encasing them.
But the taste left a lot to be desired. The sweeter ones that Garagus had already prepared for her to try were much better,
Garagus watched with a content smile as she wolfed down all the chopped pieces of fruit. But he noticed some of the black seeds were clumped together around her mouth, so reached out with his finger to scope them off before trying it himself.
Not the nicest, but he didn't feel the need to spit them out.
"So, you were worried about something?"
"Mmm," Rhuba nodded, swallowed her food and stared at the table, struggling to bring her eyes up. "Garagus, are you really sure it's the best idea for us to have this baby?" Straight away, she knew this was going to be hard.
His smile disappeared as he sat up straight.
"What do you mean?"
"We'll be looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. We need to be on alert all the time. Is that any life for a baby?"
Garagus looked at a loss for words.
For someone who seemed to have a plan for everything, it looked like he'd overlooked this.
"I have you… If I didn't, I don't know what I would have done. Even if by some miracle I had gotten off our planet, even if I knew how to fly the ship… I wouldn't see the point in going on."
Rhuba sat back.
Everything she says is still true. It's a little easier to put on a front for him when there's a plan, but since they have this chance to be honest.
"I'm not going to give up on you. Because I know you're not going to give up on me either." She saw the look in his eyes as he glanced up from the table. There was a determination there that could burn through steel. "But our baby, won't have someone like that. I couldn't tell Yena or Ruble I was a Saiyan… I've done nothing but try to be friends with them, but I still had to lie or else they'd hate me. My own friends would hate me if they knew the truth. How can we give our son that life?"
"We'll find a planet. Not this one. But we will find a place where hiding is second nature, and-"
"Garagus, hiding is fine for us." Rhuba took his hand. "Because we always have each other. We always have a chance to be ourselves with ourselves. But think years from now. Do you see him taking a wife? Having children?"
"Not even born yet and you're thinking that far ahead?" He chuckled.
Narrowing her eyes, Rhuba nodded, throwing his words back at him.
"I can't afford not to. There's people I want to protect." Rubbing her tummy, she glanced back down. "Know what I see? I see him falling in love with some native girl, her finding out he's a Saiyan, then breaking his heart… Why not? Just knowing him could be a death sentence."
"We can't allow that." Garagus stated. "If she tells anyone it will-"
"Exactly." Rhuba tightened her grip. "Do you want to be the one to tell him? That we have to kill the girl he likes in case she tells someone about us? Or do we keep it a secret and let him wonder why he never hears from her again. Is he so stupid that when she goes missing without a trace he doesn't figure out that we did something? Garagus, if what I say comes true, then that means there's a baby girl out there Right now, maybe even still in her mother's womb like ours, and we're about to condemn her to death just by having this baby. She has no idea, but her fate will be sealed if they ever meet."
Garagus stiffened as he ran over it all in his head.
He hated killing without a cause but, if someone threatened his family. That's cause enough.
But Rhuba's right. Whoever it is, they'd be in a no-win situation. A decision made right now will set off a chain of events that will end one innocent life and bring grief to many.
However…
"My uncles and my aunt never took mates. They were only interested in being the strongest. Fighting was their life. Our baby might be the same. Love might not even be of interest."
"I suppose… but I don't know if it's worth it. We flip that coin and it could just as easily work against us. Besides, if we walk him down the path of the fighter, that could expose him just as quickly as the path of the lover."
"We'll do it smart," Garagus said. "Whatever we do, we'll be smart."
"Good luck telling a baby that." Shaking her head, Rhuba continued to rub her tummy. "How many times did we ignore my mum…? I wish she was here…"
"Yeah…" If he had the chance, there are so many things he'd ask Cressin. Most of them starting with the words; 'what the hell do I do?'.
"Maybe it's just our destiny to be a trio. Back home we had Cressin, in space we had Granate, now… we have the baby."
"So this is just the universe correcting itself?" Rhuba shook her head. If only it was so simple to just believe that. "To what end?"
"I don't know. But I want to find out together."
Feeling his hands cling to hers, Rhuba struggling to lift her eyes and look at him.
"If it were just you and me, I'd be okay. But you're asking me to roll the dice on our baby as well and-"
"Okay. I know you spent a year on that station, But enough with the gambling metaphors."
"As I was saying…" Rhuba growled. "I don't want to have a repeat of Dishia. I won't let myself become helpless again."
"I… never thought you were helpless." Stabbing a piece of fruit with his fork, Garagus held it up to her mouth. "eat."
"smartass." Rhuba leaned in and took a mouthful of the fruit. "that's nice…"
Leaning on the table, Garagus waited for her to finish eating before asking her what she wanted to do.
The talk went back and forth.
"If there's no hope for our baby, is there any hope for us to be happy?"
"Not without each other," Rhuba said. "I need you. But if we hadn't met, but did both survive Vegeta's destruction, but never crossed paths. Do you think you'd have settled with a Dishian? Or one of these Arlians?"
"What's an Arlian?"
"The bug people."
"oh, then no, probably Not."
"Would you dedicate your life to getting strong enough to kill Freeza and his army?"
Garagus knew the chances of that plan working were very slim. But still. It is probably what he'd do.
A fool's errand to be sure. But if he ever came face to face with Freeza, he'd want to die on his feet.
"I know I wouldn't be happy if I didn't have you. Granate would have had to take me in because I don't know what else would have kept me alive."
And Rhuba felt that would have been worse because her very presence would endanger him and his family. But there's no way he'd have abandoned her in the condition she was in.
"What if I had died?" Garagus asked. "Suppose I died when the station shot me out of an airlock. The GP would have liberated the workers, including you. You'd have the ship to yourself or, I don't know. Maybe you'd work for the GP. But my guess…" He reached out to hold her tummy. "You'd still be pregnant. And if that's the case, the only one stopping you from being all alone would be our baby. A piece of me to annoy you forever~"
Rhuba couldn't picture how that would end. She imagined screaming in her head as the revelation hit her.
For one.
If she'd been with the GP, they'd eventually find out she's a Saiyan and the Saiyans have Definitely committed crimes against the Galactic Patrol by working for their enemy. She herself had scouted planets for Freeza.
"You were close to giving up before. But you gave us a chance. Please, give us a chance." Holding her tummy, he pleaded with his eyes. "all of us."
"You really want this? You really want to be a dad?"
In lieu of answering, he instead kissed her cheek and once again fell to his knees to rest his face on her.
Brushing his hair with her hand. Rhuba could still feel all her doubts, fears, and insecurities about what was coming for her with the birthing alone. But now that it was a certainty, the deeper fear of what was coming for their baby was actually much worse.
Rhuba still wasn't completely convinced that proceeding was the right call.
"Cumbar." Garagus muttered.
"Excuse you?"
"Thinking of a name." Garagus looked up at her. "Cumbar?"
"We Are NOT calling our son Cumbar!"
"I, wasn't thinking of our son…"
"We're definitely not calling our daughter Cumbar!" Rhuba was about to kick him away if he didn't accept her final answer on that name.
"What about Sedal?"
"Um, no. I knew a Sedal and she wasn't very nice to me." She heard him snickering. "What?"
"you…" He chuckled. "Liar. You didn't know anyone back home."
"I knew people." She hadn't reached kicking yet, but she was trying to shove him off. "I did leave the house while you were in space."
"No you didn't."
"Shut up." Slipping away, she started to walk from the kitchen, only to start running when she heard him follow. "Are you chasing me?"
"No. I'm chasing my baby. You just happen to be wrapped around him."
"Piss off~!" Rhuba fled from the ship.
In their new location, canyon walls blocked the moon, so it was safe to head out so long as she didn't fly too high.
When she looked back, she saw Garagus putting his boots on at the door.
"What about Kavlo?"
"Boy or girl?" He asked, locking eyes with her as he stood up.
"Boy, obviously."
"Maybe." He started marching towards her, but Rhuba started backing up faster, then she looked ready to turn and run. "Rhuba…"
"Leave me Alone~!" Before she could finish the last word, she had to turn and fly as fast as she could. "No!"
Garagus knew better than to call to her at their speed. She wouldn't hear him as they shot down the wide split in the surface.
The path eventually led to a wider gorge with a river at the bottom.
Upon reaching the open space, Rhuba took a hard left but dropped down and flew backwards, hoping Garagus would follow her lead and lose sight of her.
Garagus did take the same left, but when he couldn't spot her, he simply searched from where he hovered on the spot.
Rhuba kept backing up.
She wondered if she could fly back into the narrow path they just came from. That would really mess with his head.
But she was a bit distracted at the sight of him from behind.
He looks weird without a tail.
"You better grow that thing back before the baby comes. I'm not letting her first image of her dad be some freak."
Turning on the spot, Garagus clapped his hands, commending her on her divertive tactic.
"Superb form, fantastic execution. But terrible follow up. You should have escaped."
"Where's the fun in that?" She winked before taking off again, she just turned herself around before nearly colliding with a huge column of rock that was protruding from the cliff.
"Careful!" Garagus closed in. "And awful awareness. You need to watch your back."
"Oh shut up! You had no idea where I was, and I was like twenty feet behind you." Rhuba looked over her shoulder to make sure it was clear, then took off again.
Garagus followed, reaching his hand out as he closed in.
"No! Don't get me!" She started going up and down as she pushed through the trench, trying to keep out of his reach before doing a flip and shooting back the way they came.
Garagus had speed on his side, but her midair agility was both admirable and pesky.
"Sorry baby." She said, holding her tummy as she sped up. "You'll soon learn that your father is an arse."
Garagus often tries grabbing her near the top end of her body, but this time he went for her ankles.
Grabbing both at the same time made it so much easier to drag her down.
Her body was curving in a way that made flying straight harder. He was adding extra drag, and she was already at a disadvantage competing against him in flight.
From there, it was a combination of pulling her down and climbing up her legs to her back, restraining her bit by bit until she was trapped, coiled between his arms and legs, suspended above the river.
"You better make yourself comfy, because we're going to take our time…" He whispered in her ear. "You and I are going to have a long chat about what we're calling our kid, and you're not running off. Ye hear?"
"Okay okay…" Rhuba gave up the fight and was swiftly released.
Flying down near the river at the bottom of the ravine, they sat up on boulders.
Rhuba soaked her feet in the water while Garagus skipped stones.
"You mentioned you had aunts and uncles. What were their names?"
"On my mother's side, Broc and Coli. Caban was on my father's side."
Garagus skipped a stone so hard that it chipped the opposing cliff.
"I think we need to stay clear of names of people we lost." He stated, jumping to a rock across from where she was steeping. "Our baby is brand new. Her name should reflect that."
"Maybe." Rhuba could see his point. To call their child after people they knew would bring up painful memories, not necessarily keep their memory alive. Unless… "What about, Vegeta if it's a boy? Not remember someone we lost per say, but the home we lost?"
"Oh no. Chief Vegeta was an absolute prick. And I think the galaxy would say he's the king of pricks, after Cold of course." Garagus shivered at the mere thought of having to call that name on the regular. "Plus, our kid might take that as a call to arms someday. I'd rather he Never approach Freeza."
On that, Rhuba most agreed. Still, as a hypothetical.
"Would you rather he faced Freeza on his own terms, or Freeza found Him?"
The next pebble shattered on impact, sending grit spraying across the river and almost reaching them on their side.
"Rhuba, I'm trying. I'm really trying. But asking me that is like asking for my plan if he gets hit by lightning, but I like my chances better with the lightning. Take Freeza out of this. I don't want his presence being an influence."
At a glance, he knew she was joking. But it's painful to realise that it is futile. But so is death itself.
Their son is going to die, eventually. All they can hope to do is make his life as happy and fulfilling as possible until that day comes, and teach him how to ward off that day for as long as he can.
"Besides. Freeza's reach may be vast. But he can't be everywhere. Let's say we do meet some of his troopers, we snap their necks, blow up their ship, and leave the world. Even IF Freeza learns what happened. Even IF he cares enough to investigate personally, which I don't think he will. Even IF he knows for absolute certain that it was two Saiyans. We'll be long gone before word even reaches him. And even longer gone by the time he arrives at where we were last seen."
Rhuba picked up a stone herself, skipping it lightly into the water but only got one bounce.
"You're saying I shouldn't worry about Freeza?"
"I'm saying, you have enough to worry about without Freeza." Garagus sighed. "I'll help with anything and everything I can. But Freeza is as faraway from us as we are from him. He knows about as much about our location as we do about his. In fact, we have the advantage in that regard."
Pulling off his scouter, he checked the reading history. The numbers were fairly even across the board, but there was one massive spike that dominated everything. Levelling the field for all.
"I can't believe I didn't think of this, but when we get back to the ship, I'm going to hook this up to our long-range scanners. If Freeza gets within a lightyear of us, we'll know. Our readings will be blurred with every other planet masking us."
When put in those terms, it did make sense.
For so long, Rhuba's fear was that upon discovery, Freeza would show up in a heartbeat. Ready to execute them. However, knowing that he would take literal years for him to approach the same star system, there was nothing really to worry about.
"That's the assurance I needed to hear, Garagus."
Smiling softly at her. Garagus offered his hand to take her back to the ship.
But Rhuba slapped his hand aside and shot off ahead.
Following close behind, they raced each other home.
There was terraforming work to be done.
