Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Being of Sound Mind and Body ❯ Our Lives Were Over ( Chapter 5 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Author's Notes: I got another review. So, to celebrate, I'm releasing another chapter. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Our Lives Were Over

The empire had five years to live.

Now, that's depressing, don't you think? After all, I made such a big deal about the birth of the prince, and the planned rebellion, that there ought to be a happy ending. Believe me, if I could have written a happy ending, I would have. Just thinking of those five years between the birth of the prince and the death of the king makes me want to vomit. We had hope-foolish hope. There's one thing about hope: it's infectious. The incredibly strong prince Vegeta had brought us hope, and it was beginning to affect me.

There's also something about planning. Doing something. Military uprising is the best. Warriors training. Sending out children. Grabbing key resources from planets whenever we could. Discreetly, of course. The most important thing I learned during that time was discretion. Before Frieza, it was considered shameful to use trickery and deceit. We were all about honor and fair fights. Well, that changed. I had to forget about honor. We all did. Win by any means necessary, even if it means giving up everything-all honor, all self, all scruples, all ethics, all attachments, all civility… We were a new breed of Saiyans transformed completely within the ten years of Frieza's rule. I don't mourn the change. We had to adapt to survive. Survival and retribution at all costs.

Frieza was scared. I didn't realize it at the time, but I realize it now. Saiyans were uncontrollable, and had no limit to our power. And he was the one providing us with the means to our power. As long as we were alive, and doing missions for him, we would get stronger and stronger and have stronger and stronger progeny. There is no other race that has our potential, and it was really scaring Frieza. He knew that in a few decades, at least one of us would surpass him in power. So, our attempts at rebellion usually had to be aborted immediately because of Frieza's close watch. Fewer Saiyan children were sent out, and the one's who were tended to meet with "unfortunate accidents." Frieza knew what we were up to and I had to battle against panic every day. I don't know who was more afraid: Frieza or me.

But I knew there was hope. I knew it every time I looked at the prince. My prince. He was developing in strength, intelligence, and maturity even faster than my son Baen, who was still considered a prodigy. I guess my admiration for the prince showed, because before I knew it the king had me training the prince. So I did. In fact, up to the point where I ignored my own son.

I'm not proud of that. I didn't know I only had a few years left with Baen. I didn't realize that now he didn't have any parents. I didn't even understand the significance of parents. I mean, come on, it's not like I had any parents. I don't even remember their names now. I never had them, and never needed them. I would think that Baen would be happy to be rid of me, so that he could train and grow unimpeded. That's certainly how I felt about my parents. In fact, I couldn't keep Baen around me any longer.

It wasn't just that I was too busy, I suppose. I was just… he reminded me too much of her. No, that's not it, because Prince Vegeta reminded me so much of her that it was painful to look at the child sometimes. Still is. But Baen reminded me of what I'd lost-what we'd had together-what I'd given up, and could never recapture. I'd loved her, and I'd been too stupid and too caught up with other matters to see it. And it was killing me. So, I pushed Baen back. I gave him to Bardock to train. Bardock already had a boy, so maybe Baen could have a comrade in his own generation. It got Baen out of my hair and gave him opportunities. It was the perfect arrangement.

Except Baen didn't think so. The little bugger actually got angry at me. Me! His father. The man who'd raised him and given him every opportunity. I'd trained him-taken him as my own assistant before his age was even in the double-digits. He was an ungrateful brat, and I told him just that. Then I told him to get out. Of course, I was already sending him to Bardock to live with him, but I hadn't planned on throwing the boy out. I had actually planned on walking him over. Instead, he took his stuff and stormed out.

I never saw him again. He was only seven when he left home, and he was ten when he died in Planet Vegeta's explosion. And I wasn't there. I was with Prince Vegeta.

As we began to be watched more closely by Frieza, my usefulness as a strategist began to dwindle. There wasn't much we could do. The only thing I could do was devote myself to the prince's training.

He would be horrified if I said it now, and would probably kill me (too bad, Vegeta. I'm already dead.), but the prince was a delightful child. At first I tried to keep his strength and potential a secret from him, but that didn't work. He was too much under the spotlight. But he was far removed from Frieza, so he had a relatively sheltered five years. The boy was strong, but wickedly devious. I did train him and teach him the new Saiyan way of life I described earlier, but he learned it frighteningly well. Some of the things he pulled I didn't even teach him. It was like second nature to him. When he was three, he started beating me up. We were a match in power at the time, but the prince was too slippery to hold down. He could just outthink me. This, of course, gave him a low opinion of my intelligence early on. Never mind that I actually taught him most of the things he used against me, and he had simply modified them to their advantage.

But the tricks weren't only in fighting. He learned the art of the practical joke at an early age, and after a day or so of when the joke was pulled off, after he had alluded all investigations, the prince would proudly announce that he was the culprit, and if anyone had a problem with that, then they could take it up with him. His jokes ranged from stealing the uniforms from a military locker room to putting a cat in the king's throne. After a while his pranks got a bit more imaginative. One of my favorites, and the most thought out, was when he added a certain chemical, which I still can't find now, in the shower water. This chemical caused anyone who showered there to lose all stiffness in his hair. The hair returned to normal after a few days, but for a while he had half the palace looking extremely ridiculous. Lucky for him the king wasn't affected.

You'd think King Vegeta would be furious with his son's behavior. I certainly wouldn't have let Baen get away with anything that Prince Vegeta pulled. But being the hope of the Saiyan people had its advantages. The king humored the child, almost encouraging him in his imaginative pastime. Of course, if the king humored the boy, then everyone else did too. Prince Vegeta got a reprimand and extra hours of endurance training as punishments, if he was even punished at all. Especially since I was the only one who would punish him. Especially since I was one of two the prince would actually take instruction and reprimand from.

I remember Prince Vegeta asking me what a Super Saiyan was. I really didn't know, but at least I didn't buy into some of the more colorful interpretations of the legend. Blonde hair? How was that able to increase power? A change in hair and eye color was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard of. Why exactly would you be blonde? What purpose would it serve, besides making you stand out more in a fight? Your head would become an eye-catching target, since attention is invariably drawn to lighter colors. It just wouldn't be practical, no matter how strong you were. Not only that, I didn't truly believe in the Super Saiyan legend. How strong WERE you supposed to get. If no one had reached it yet, then the power level must have to be ridiculously high. Even now, Vegeta is insanely powerful, and he shows no signs of any transformation.

But Vegeta needed hope, just like everybody else. He needed something to shoot for. You must remember, the threat of Frieza was so far removed from the prince, that Prince Vegeta didn't bear the same hate and fear of Frieza that I did. Maybe that was a good thing, but I still needed to provide motivation. So I told Vegeta that if he reached the level of Super Saiyan, he would be the strongest being in the universe and none could oppose him. That got him obsessed with Super Saiyan, an obsession that hasn't left him to this day.

I guess now I've gotten to the day that I really don't want to write about. I must write about it though. It needs to be said. And I can remember it in every detail.

It was one month before the explosion of Planet Vegeta. I woke up after a three hour sleep to find the palace in disarray. One look out the window showed me the reason. What I initially took for a sun spot was actually something far worse. Something that made my hair feel electrified.

Frieza's ship.

I ran to the throne room as fast as I could, thankfully before Frieza showed up. King Vegeta looked like he'd had the same wake-up call as I did, though he schooled his expression so that only the lines of worry around his eyes gave any emotion away. I remember sending a servant to make sure the prince stayed in the training room, since I'd been suspicious that he was going to pull a prank that very morning. It just wasn't a good time-not with Frieza there.

I walk to my customary place next to King Vegeta's throne. I remember quietly asking him if he knew what Frieza could possibly want. But before he could answer, the tyrant had arrived, along with an entourage that rivaled a normal Saiyan battalion. I think I even recognized some of the soldiers from my time in captivity, but of course in some races everyone looks pretty much the same. I remember the exact words, and will record them:

King Vegeta rose from his throne and bowed deeply to Frieza, while all the other Saiyans followed suit. "Lord Frieza. It is an honor to serve you."

Frieza looked on with a cold smirk, and answered with a voice that wouldn't have been out of place from a kindly old grandmother, except for the disdain and superiority practically dripping from each word. "My dear King Vegeta. A pleasure to see you. You may rise." As we rose, the lizard regarded me. "And, of course, General Nappa. I'm glad to see you're doing well. A far cry from the last time I saw you ten years ago."

I nearly burned in shame. He was putting us in our place. I couldn't speak. I merely bowed my head, trying to hide the anger in my eyes. I would have just been asking for anything from more humiliation to a prompt execution. Stay alive at all costs.

King Vegeta then went into a summarized progress report of the Saiyan conquests, but it soon became clear that wasn't what Frieza wanted. He'd come here on an entirely different matter. "Tell me, King Vegeta, how is your son doing?"

That's when I began to panic. This was all painfully familiar. It was too much like King Vegeta's interest in Okakra. I knew Frieza couldn't want Okakra, since he wouldn't want to breed with a Saiyan, but the prince…

The king had never been on the receiving end of this. He didn't see what was coming, but I did. I didn't even hear the ensuing conversation, but I knew what the king was going through. God, how I knew. And, of course, I was right. Frieza wanted Prince Vegeta. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. The king did the only thing he could do. He agreed.

After Frieza left in triumph, saying that he expected the prince in a day's time, King Vegeta was silent. For once, his mask was off, and I saw a reflection of myself. This was the ultimate sacrifice for survival. He cared so deeply for the prince, his only son, that he had worked so hard for. The hope of the Saiyan race, delivered into the cold hands of that lizard tyrant-that psychopath. And he couldn't take care of him.

But I could.

It was then I decided that I would follow the prince. King Vegeta went on about how the boy's captivity would be only temporary, since he and all the elite Saiyans would attack Frieza and kill him, getting his son back. But this was just the ravings of a grief-sick man. However, he could not persuade me to stay, especially when Queen Okakra got involved. She'd been listening to the entire exchange, and practically ordered me to care for their son. I saw it in her eyes. I was the only one she still trusted, even after all we'd gone through. Afterwards, in private, she entreated me to care for Prince Vegeta. Not only that, she told me to take care of myself. She smiled at me, and left for her palace apartment. That was the last I saw of my dear Okakra, my wife and my queen.

Prince Vegeta was none too keep about leaving. In fact, he pitched a fit. That was the first time I'd ever seen him lose his temper, but it wouldn't be the last. He destroyed the training room, and almost killed one of Frieza's minions when he came to finally escort us to the ship. Neither the king nor the queen saw Prince Vegeta off. I'm not sure whether they were making it easier of him or easier on themselves. Maybe both. So we took one last look at our home, and boarded the shuttle that took us to Frieza's ship.

Frieza was at first a bit wary of a general serving as Vegeta's bodyguard, but it was soon apparent that there was little I could do in the way of protection. As soon as we were sufficiently far away from Planet Vegeta, the prince threw another tantrum. But this time, he learned that no one was going to be humoring him now. Both of us were beaten within an inch of our lives, and, since I'd insisted on staying with the prince, and Prince Vegeta insisted on having my company, we were promised the same punishment all the time, no matter who disobeyed. A month went like this. We lost all track of time and all track of where we were. Despite the fact that I was supposed to take care of Prince Vegeta and keep him company, we were often put in pitch-black cells by ourselves, with only occasional beating to break up the monotony.

At least, until it happened.

I felt-something. I couldn't tell what. But it made me feel more pain than a thousand of Frieza's beatings. But Vegeta got the worse of it. The boy was telepathically linked to every Saiyan, which kept him from going completely insane in the isolation cells. He always knew his people were there.

At least, until they weren't. Until they all died, and the entire planet blew.

Did you know I was bald? I wasn't born bald. I was actually rather proud of my hair. It was the hair of an elite. I don't have it anymore. That day I shaved it. That day, I'd lost my son. That day, I'd lost my king. That day, I'd lost my people. That day, I was no longer a general. That day, I was no longer a Saiyan. I was simply Nappa, now a minor elite soldier in Frieza's army, along with the prince of a dead people. A prince I'd sworn to protect, yet I didn't know how.

Prince Vegeta was five. I was thirty.

Our lives were over.

Reviewer thanks:

cha: I was just about to read your fic, but 51 chapters is a little intimidating. I may get around to it.

Bardockgurl: By the end of this fic, I hope to have changed everyone's view on Nappa. Writing it certainly changed my own views. Sometimes I think the only reason we hate Nappa is because he's so horribly unattractive. I'm trying to get beyond that. Oh, and you are refreshingly honest in describing your fics. None of this "breath-taking tender romance hidden somewhere in gratuitous sex." You just state the obvious clear-cut theme. Bardock has sex. `Nuff said. I don't really get into lemons, but I have to admire that, as well as the non-self-insertion OCs. I KNOW I've read your non-lemon fic on another website, but I can't remember where. Good, especially for a first fic. A lot of my first fics are a bit embarrassing to me now. And I'm getting long-winded.

Everyone else: If you leave a review, instead of just causing the mysterious number of visits to go up, I'll have a long-winded one-sided conversation with you as well. ; )