Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Against All Odds ❯ Our Son ( Chapter 23 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, if I did I would have made Vegeta taller.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Our Son

Vegeta stiffly settled back into the curved seat of his space pod. His limbs responded sluggishly and he felt as though his entire body was carved from ice. He hadn't been this cold since he had sat waiting for his death back on PX3. The worst was the numb sensation that was spreading through his chest, freezing his useless beating heart and crushing the air from his lungs.

As he blast off from Capital World the computer automatically triggered the sleeping gas, but Vegeta belayed that order. He didn't want to surrender to oblivion before hearing the last words of his woman.

He popped the capsule revealing a video chip and a data chip. He picked up the vid chip and inserted it into the onboard computer and waited impatiently as the viewer flickered to life.

His mate appeared, huddled in what looked like a docking bay next to a Saiyan pod he had never seen before. She had cleaned herself off and changed her clothes, but it was obvious by her ashen skin and the strained brackets around her mouth that it was only hours after she had given birth.

She had their son cradled in her arms and he was cocooned in a swatch of silver tipped fur from the pelt he had given her. She looked into the recorder, a wan smile playing across her quivering lips. At the sight of his mate and cub, Vegeta felt his cold heart clench with white hot pain.

"Don't worry about Frieza seeing this." She picked up a small pen like object, showing it to the recorder. "I have figured out the frequency of his surveillance equipment and I have jammed the signal. I am a genius after all." Her smile widened slightly at their private joke and Vegeta allowed a ghost of a smirk feather across his lips instead of his customary eye roll. Her smile faded a little as she put aside the object. "Unfortunately, I only have about twenty minutes before they figure out what I have done. So I don't have much time."

Vegeta snarled inwardly at her words. Time was such a fleeting thing. You always think you have all the time in the universe. Time to train. Time to live. Time to love? But then one day that time was up and all you could do was look back with sorrow at how much of it was wasted.

Vegeta regretted that he hadn't trained longer and more vigorously while at the same time remorse rose within him for not spending more time with his mate. Training harder would have meant saving her, but closing himself away in that metal room meant not having as many memories of her as he would have liked.

He hated the fact that so many of those memories were filled with images of him yelling at her or mistreating her in some way. He comforted himself with the thought that there were good memories mingled in with the bad as well. Her animated chatter from across the dinner table and her quick, glorious smile that made his stomach do flip-flops. Or the way the tip of her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth when she was concentrating on something. Best of all he would cherish the memory of her soft moans panting lightly in his ear as he brought her pleasure over and over. A sound he would never hear again.

Bulma glanced down at the bundle she held in her arms as she brought her hand up to pull aside the soft fur. She tilted her arm so he could see a small red face scrunched into a scowl of displeasure at his forceful exodus from the fluidic limbo that he had floated in only hours before. Even though he was only a newborn he had a thick crop of lavender hair and his blue eyes were bright with intelligence.

"Vegeta I want you to meet your son."

His gut clenched and his hands fisted in his lap at the sight.

His Son

How could someone as tainted as he ever father something so beautiful? He had told Frieza that he was disgusted by the boy's purple locks, but in truth he swelled with pride. It seemed only fitting that his son, the heir to the throne, should have hair hued in the royal color.

All of his life he never dreamed of having a child. He never even considered the possibility that a man such as him, who was responsible for an untold amount of death, would have the honor of helping to create life.

"I know that you are angry that I didn't tell you sooner, but I thought it would be for the best. The knowledge would have distracted you from your training and you would never have agreed with my decision to keep him."

He turned his face away, unable to look at the truth reflected in her clear blue eyes. If he had known of her pregnancy he would have ordered her to abort the child. He owed nothing to some faceless brat that was not even born yet. Its very existence threatened their safety and he would have exerted all of his limited power over the woman to get her to comply with his wishes.

If she had refused then he would have risked death to return to Capital World, but not for moral support of her hardship. In order to save his mate's life he would have beat the child from her womb if he had too and to hell with the repercussions. In the end she would have hated him, but she would still be alive.

She looked at him with knowing eyes, seeing the monster inside of him, but steadfastly refusing to flinch away.

"I know Vegeta. It's okay. You would have done what was necessary and I don't blame you for that. By keeping our child, I knew exactly what I was risking, but I was weak and I couldn't bring myself to kill him. You are so much stronger than I ever could be."

Lies. She spoke nothing but lies. He may outmatch her in physical prowess, but he could never do what she did. Silently she bore their child alone, laboring for hours to give him life in the darkness of a deserted lab with no one to hold her hand. Months she had lived in fear of her secret. She hid her pregnancy away to protect her unborn child not only from her evil master but also from her ruthless mate. And every day she survived brought her closer to her predestined death.

She would rather die than kill her child. She would rather let Vegeta murder her than revel the whereabouts of their son. At that moment Vegeta hated her as fiercely as he did Frieza. She had made the decision that had brought them to this crisis. She had months to prepare for her death, while he had only moments to comprehend their situation. To make matters worse, she had known that Frieza would demand that he kill her. By keeping the child she had set Vegeta on a path of pain and sorrow, which he may never recover from. Vegeta had murdered millions of people in his lifetime, but killing his mate nearly destroyed him.

"I just couldn't do it. I told myself that I had every reason in the world to abort him, but every time I thought about it I broke down into tears. I don't know exactly how to explain it to you." She looked at him, her lower lip caught indecisively in her teeth as a slight blush heated her pale cheeks.

"I was so happy on Primus. Oh, I know we argued constantly and I annoyed you more than words, but to me it was pure bliss. You made me forget about my life before going to that base. You made me forget about all of the torment that I had suffered at the hands of Frieza and instead you made me feel safe and protected in a way that I have never felt before." She paused to smile angelically down at the child sheltered in her arms with all the love she possessed shining out of her eyes, before glancing back up at her lover. "You treated me so differently than any other man I had met. You didn't cower down to me because I was beautiful or run away because I was too intelligent. You looked at me and saw a woman, who wasn't perfect, but you didn't scorn my flaws. Instead you embraced them. You accepted me for who I was and didn't expect anything less."

Vegeta took a ragged breath while staring steadfastly at the monitor. He was afraid to blink, afraid that he may miss something. Her beautiful face burned into his mind like the sun, etching her perfect features into his memory. Her words pierced the darkness of his vanished soul, calling into the abyss. In all of his tortured existence he had never known happiness until he had met his mate. She had shown him a brief moment of peace before the demons of his past came to drag him into the reality of his life.

"The moment I found out that I was carrying your child, I knew that Kami was smiling down on me. Our child is an embodiment of that happiness and to destroy him would mean destroying that memory, erasing it as though it never happened."

She caressed the face of the infant and he gurgled happily at the attention. Vegeta's heart seized at the sound and he fought down the wail that threatened to escape his lips. How could he continue on with his mockery of a life without her? How would he survive another day in the suffocating darkness without the guidance of her light?

"I guess love really does make you a martyr." She whispered absently while still staring down at their baby. She composed herself after a moment and looked back up at the recorder.

"I wouldn't go as far as to say that you love me Vegeta, but I would like to think you have some warmth of caring for me in your heart."

Vegeta clenched his eyes shut, desperately trying to control the hot sting of tears behind his lids. Remorse howled through him viciously as he realized that his mate had died without knowing the full depth of his emotion for her. So many years of perfecting an emotionless mask had resulted in him shutting out the very one he cared the most about. His breath caught in his throat and blood began to pour from his palms as he knotted them into tight fists. True to his word, he would never be able to forgive himself for being the monster that he was.

"I want to ask a favor of you. Two actually."

If she wanted sun and the stars then she would have it. Anything she asked of him would be granted, no matter how long it took or what the consequences were. He would give her everything he had to give and more.

"You have been provided with a data chip, which holds the coordinates for the planet that I have sent our son too. I had to send him alone, but I am confident that he will survive. After all he is a Saiyan and his father is the strongest to ever live."

Vegeta nodded his head in understanding. It had been common practice in the past to send Saiyan infants to planets so they might grow strong. It was a way to thin the herd. Only the ones who were strong enough to make it back to their home world were worthy enough to be accepted back into society. Their son would have his physical strength and his mother's incredible intelligence. Vegeta had no doubt that their child would thrive on the alien planet that he was sent too.

"I want you to retrieve him as soon as you have defeated Frieza. I know that he is only half-saiyan, but I hope that you will raise him as your son and as the prince of the realm."

She shamed him with her doubts that he would not accept the child due to his heritage and abandon him on some strange world. Vegeta would make sure that the boy would grow up happy and secure, never having to face the trails that he had to endure as a child. Their son would never know a universe where a maniacal tyrant ruled, destroying everything in his path. He would be pampered and spoiled, never knowing a day of sadness. Their son would want for nothing, except perhaps a mother.

She looked sadly down at the bundle in her arms, rocking him gently. "Secondly, I have named him Trunks, after my father. I would like him to keep that name if it is alright." She looked up at Vegeta, pleading clear in her eyes. Her lower lip quivered and he wanted to reach out and soothe her. "Please Vegeta, tell him about me. Tell him about all the good things you and I shared. Tell him how much that I loved him." She paused as she swallowed hard, her voice breaking under the strain. "Don't let him find out about…about the bad things that I have done. Let him believe that I was a good woman." She tried to say more but she broke into sobs and her words were lost. Her shoulders shook and Trunks began to fuss in response to his mother's upset.

Vegeta felt something hot and wet slide down his cheek and he reached up to brush it away. Belatedly he realized that it was a tear that had escaped him. He was shocked at his show of emotion. The last time he had cried was when he found out that his home had been destroyed along with his entire race. Since that night he had never shed another tear, not even in pain. Ruthlessly he suppressed the urge to give into the flood of emotion that washed through him.

His cold heart began to throb with a burning ache and he clutched at his chest, certain that such pain could only be caused by a physical wound. With every shudder of her delicate body he felt an answering stab of pain within him. Guilt and remorse flogged him more brutally than any survivor from the Resistance ever had. How he wished he could do it over again. He would have taken her and fled Primus, completing his training away from the monster's evil reach. He would have made sure that she was safe in some distant galaxy, alive and well, instead of cooling in her grave.

As soon as Trunks fussing threatened to give way to wails, Bulma composed herself and shushed the child. After he quieted she looked back up at Vegeta, clearing her throat and the no nonsense woman that he knew so well appeared once again.

"I have been doing other things in the last couple of months besides getting fat, you know." A shadow of a smile flitted across her lips, but it was quickly lost to her sadness.

"I found some fascinating facts about some magic balls on a planet called Namek. Apparently they have the ability to grant the user three wishes. I didn't believe it at first, but my research seems to indicate that the myth may in fact be a reality." Her eye grew wide as she related the story to him.

"I don't know what the limitations are, but think of the possibilities if it is true, Vegeta. You might be able to wish for something as grand as your world back into existence or only something as small as getting your favorite supper. I don't know what the rules are so you are going to have to ask the Nameks." Her voice took on a chiding tone as she addressed him.

"This means you have to be nice to them. No terrorizing the ignorant masses. These sorts of things always have some sort of string attached, like a password or something. So try to get on their good side and get them to like you." She held up her hand to ward off a reply on his part, while shaking her head.

"I know, I know. Impossible you say, but I know you can do it if you just put your mind to it. It's all in how badly you want something. Now I have downloaded the coordinates for Namek on the data chip and I know you will do what is best."

She looked up at him, pride for him shinning out of her eyes. "I know you will defeat Frieza very soon and you can bet your steel-toned butt cheeks that I will be cheering you on when you do." She flashed him a brilliant smile while giving him the victory sign.

"Your Torque and my list of informants are still back on Primus in that hidden safe under the floorboards in the bedroom. I know you will honor word, I am just sad that I won't be able to see you wear that beautiful necklace. I spent a great deal of credits on that you know." She smiled again, but the strain of trying to appear upbeat wore down on her and she couldn't keep her happy-go-lucky act up any longer.

Her lips slid down into a grim line as she looked at Trunks once again. With a sad sigh she reached up to settle him in the open pod that she was sitting next to. She wrapped him tightly in the soft pelt, smoothing her hand against his cheek one last time. The babe slept peacefully, unaware of his mother's silent goodbye. She turned back to Vegeta, her arms empty and her heart nearly broken.

"My time is almost up and I have saved the hardest part for last." Her cerulean eyes shadowed with a mixture of uncertainty and resolve as she looked steadily at the recorder.

"Vegeta, I want you to know that I love you. I have never said that beyond the childish uttering to my parents. I have never felt about someone the way I do about you. I would spend the rest of my life with you if it was possible and I would never regret a day of it. I love you with all my heart and nothing will ever change that."

Vegeta looked away, unable to fathom her words. She must be delusional from blood loss, because there is no way that such wonderful woman like her could ever love a cold-blooded murderer such as he. Her feelings must be a strange side effect from creating a child together with him. Perhaps, in order to reconcile the fact she had given birth to a monster's spawn she had to tell herself that she loved the father.

"No Vegeta that's not true." He softly spoken words jerked him out of his reverie and he glanced back at the view screen. Her mouth had hardened into a serious line and her brow furrowed.

"I do love you no matter what. So don't let that wicked little voice inside of your head tell you otherwise. I can think of no other man that I would rather be with. You are strong, proud and fierce and I love every little thing about you, even the part that terrifies me. I don't care about the sins you have committed." She dropped her gaze for a moment, before looking back up to the monitor. "Or the sins you are about to commit, because I have met the man inside of the monster and he is worthy of my love and devotion."

Vegeta felt as though the world had dropped out from under him. Her words struck him in the heart, jumpstarting the cold, hard organ that had ceased to beat. He reached out a trembling hand, laying it flat against the monitor, his thumb brushing against the curve of her pale cheek. Her conviction gleamed in her eyes, convincing him of the truth of her words. She loved him without question and he had killed her. He destroyed the one being in the universe that looked at him unflinchingly. He stood alone on top of a mountain built out of the corpses of the innocent people that he had slaughtered with his bare hands, but his woman would have clawed her way to the top of the mound to be by his side. The pod shook with his roar of remorse as all of his agony and fury poured out of him in a wordless scream. He slumped down in his seat, emotionally drained while Bulma's dulcet tones echoed in his ears.

"Trunks will love you too, when you are finally reunited. Just you wait and see Vegeta."

His son. How would he ever be able to look at their child without toppling over with guilt? He would never be able to be honest with his son about his mother's demise. Barely born and Vegeta had already robbed the child of his happiness.

She sat forlornly on the floor of the docking bay, picking that the hem of her shirt. Her next words were so quiet that he had to strain to hear them.

"Do you believe in an afterlife, Vegeta?" She asked softly and he blinked in astonishment.

"On Earth, we believed that you had to pass through The Gate of Judgment. You stand before the great God, King Yamma as he sits at his desk with a list of your sins before him. He decides whether you go to heaven or hell or somewhere in between." Her shoulders slumped even lower and she refused to look up into the recorder as she spoke. "I suppose that I am not destined to exist in eternal bliss, so that means I will end up somewhere…darker." She looked up into the camera, shadows of guilt lingering in her crystal gaze. "I'll be waiting for you there, Vegeta. In the dark place." Vegeta knew that he would travel the long road into hell when he died; there was no question in the matter. It saddened him that his mate would reside there as well. How could the Gods pass judgment on deeds that were beyond your control? Some monsters were born, like Frieza. Others were created by circumstance. Did the Gods take that into consideration, while deciding the fates of the souls that passed by them?

She held his gaze for a long moment before her mouth stretched into a mocking smirk and a hard taint of vengeance glinted in her diamond eyes. "Now kill that fucker Frieza, so I can spend eternity terrorizing him down in hell."

His lips curled in an answering sneer as her beautiful visage winked off the screen. Thoughts of heaven and hell were of no concern to him. He already knew what hell was, he lived it everyday of his life. He reached down to insert the data chip, uploading the information into the ship's computer before reprogramming his destination for Namek. He had three wishes that were in need of granting.

A/N: I have no idea what that hall where King Yamma sits in DBZ is called so I named it the Gate of Judgment. Don't flame me for ignorance, pretty please.