Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sole Survivors ❯ Chapter Ten: A Deadly Betrayal ( Chapter 10 )

Sole Survivors

By QueenSaiyajin

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or its characters, and am merely borrowing them for this Alternate Universe story which begins during episode 71, "The End of Vegeta". This is a Bulma/Vegeta story. The rating is NC-17 for some nice, romantic love-making. There are also, however, some references to torture and abuse in Vegeta's childhood, but they are extremely vague. If you are under 17 or would prefer not to read anything with sexual situations, please do not go any further. Please send comments/criticisms to queensaiyajin@aol.com. I love feedback of any kind!

Chapter Ten: A Deadly Betrayal

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Vegeta's power surged forth with unimaginable intensity, shaking the gravity chamber so, that it felt as if the entire planet must be moving. Trunks was watching with a mixture of awe and admiration as his father ascended almost effortlessly to what they had dubbed 'Super Saiyan 3'. The transformation that he'd first attained only through intolerable rage and pain was now like second nature to him. Uninjured he could maintain this power level for at least half an hour.

Sufficient time to destroy King Kold.

"Your power is incredible, Father! I've never felt anything like it!" Trunks himself had already reached beyond Super Saiyan, and he frowned now in concentration as he tried to imitate his father's ascension. He was straining just below the threshold, Vegeta knew, and had been stuck on this same plateau for the past month. The boy was determined, that was for sure. And his frustration was one that Vegeta knew all too well.

"Damn!" he swore, falling to his knees and taking in deep breaths as his hair turned back to its natural lavender.

Vegeta powered down, going over to lay a hand on his son's shoulder. "You're doing fine, Trunks. You can't expect to match me so quickly. You've had less experience and training. I told you, in time it will come."

Trunks nodded in appreciation of Vegeta's words. "I just…I don't want to disappoint you, Father," he said without looking into his sensei's eyes.

It was a ridiculous notion, and yet Vegeta could not help but be touched that his approval meant so much to the boy. He wasn't quite sure how to answer; after all, he had often feared the same when training with his own father, yet would never have dared to express it openly. Just as King Vegeta would probably never have known how to reassure him. But he was determined not to be his father, wasn't he? "You've made me proud," he told Trunks simply. "And I have no doubt you will continue to do so."

Trunks looked at him then with a mixture of surprise and relief. "Thanks, Dad."

"Now, let's go eat. Your mother must be home by now-"

He cut off his own words even as it gripped him. The sense of enormous power, pure evil that shook him to his bones-and was gone in an instant as if it had never been. Trunks was looking at him questioningly, the only affirmation that it had not been his imagination. "You felt it too?"

Trunks nodded. "But just for an instant. It's gone, like-"

"-like someone masking their ki," he finished, his heart beginning to pound with the realization.

"But it can't be King Kold! It's too early-"

Vegeta didn't answer him. He had already shot through the roof of the gravity chamber, in a frantic dash to get back to his woman and child.

Bulma frowned as she worked at her laptop, examining the report she had gotten from the mainframe of her security system. It didn't make sense. Everything was working perfectly. Yet the technicians had reported a glitch that had shut everything down for half an hour. She'd just about concluded that human-or rather, Korwal-sei-jin-error was to blame. But she hesitated to tell them that. They were a proud people who felt threatened by superior force or technology. It had been hard to teach the planet's top techs the basics of her work without bruising a few egos. To outright blame them for the malfunctioning equipment would be tantamount to calling them incompetent. She wouldn't do that. These people had been too good to her and her family.

Baby Trunks sat at her feet, playing with the handheld device her father had brought her. The kid had her brains, that was for sure. But he also had Vegeta's strength. She winced at the sound of cracking plastic, then looked down to see that her suspicion had been correct. Trunks had snapped the handheld's cover and broken it simply by grasping it too hard. "Be careful, baby. That's Momma's," she said gently, taking it away from him. Trunks protested by crying, a ploy she usually gave in to. But she was getting tired of having to repair the little equipment she had at her disposal. Note to self: Send Poppa a wish list for next time he comes to visit.

"Come on," she told her son, closing the lid of her computer and slipping it into its case. "Let's give up for today." Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she scooped the baby into her arms. Vegeta and Trunks would be coming home for dinner soon. Trunks. She wouldn't be able to go on calling both boys by the same name for long. How would she explain it all to this little guy when he was old enough to understand? Would he think of Trunks as his older brother? Would it be better if they never told him the truth at all?

"You're finally done, Princess Bulma?" Rossdark asked, stirring her from her musings. He'd been waiting patiently for her to finish her calculations for over an hour, so patiently in fact that she'd almost forgotten about him. The poor man. He had better things to do than be her personal bodyguard. Vegeta was a little too overprotective, and his anxiety was making her a nervous wreck.

She smiled tiredly at Rossdark. "Yes, and how many times do I have to tell you to just call me Bulma?"

"It won't matter. It's become habit, Princess," he replied with a wry grin. "But when Prince Vegeta has ascended to the throne, I shall be more than happy to call you 'Queen' Bulma."

Bulma breathed deeply, her smile fading. That day seemed both a lifetime away and too soon at once. "I think Bulma will still be just fine," she replied, not wanting to even consider all that could happen once they left this world.

A beep on Rossdark's communication device brought their conversation to a halt. "Rossdark here," he said perfunctorily as he brought the mechanism to his ear.

Suddenly, his face was drained of all its blood. Bulma's heart began to beat wildly as she saw fear seem to invade his being. "What…is the meaning of this…?" he choked hoarsely.

He seemed to hold his breath as the voice at the other end gave an answer that seemed to terrify him. Rossdark closed his eyes briefly as if trying to gain control of his emotions, then said, "Yes. I…will."

"What's going on?!" she insisted as he hung up the phone. She'd never seen Rossdark like this before, not even when Frieza had been alive.

"I must…we must go back to my home, immediately," he said, averting her eyes as he headed for the door.

"What is it?!" she cried in frustration, chasing after him as he left the lab.

For the first time he looked into her eyes, his own haunted by something too horrible for words. "It is my daughter. Her life…depends on it."

Bulma looked at him in shock. "Pota? But what's wrong? Is she hurt?"

"Please, Princess," he said in a hushed whisper, holding his arms out to her, begging her with his eyes. "We must fly there. Now. Before it is too late."

Bulma nodded, though something in her stomach clenched in fear. Rossdark was silent as he flew, carrying her and the baby the short distance from her lab to his home. Bulma pushed open the door of her friend's house, her mind racing with the possibilities of what could have befallen the precious little girl who had worked her way even into Vegeta's heart.

The sight that met her was worse than what she had conjured in her wildest fears. The terrified little girl was struggling in vain to break free of the enormous Tsiru-jin who held her tightly in his grasp. The pink eyes lit up as he saw her, a sadistic smile playing on his lips as the image of her nightmares, of the vision she had shared with Bardock, came crashing down on her once more.

It was King Kold himself.

"I'm sorry, Princess," Rossdark whispered, nearly a sob. And as the full implications of the betrayal she would never in a million years have expected hit her with full force, she grasped her baby tightly as her mind screamed out to the only one who could save them from their fate.

Vegeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Vegeta tore his way past the door of their capsule house, Trunks at his heels. "Bulma! Woman, where are you?!"

But the silence that answered him chilled him as much as the absence of her ki. "Where the fuck is she?" he cried, not even caring how pathetically panicked he sounded.

"She was going to the lab," he heard Trunks suggest, even as her ear-splitting cry silently deafened him.

He gasped as her terror washed over him, his own fear rising to a fever pitch. Where are you, woman?!?!?!?!? he sent back to her, desperately reaching out for some sense of her.

It came to him even as he broke into a cold sweat of dread. Then he shot through the roof and into the sky, his ki a golden glow about his Super Saiyan body.

"So, this is the Saiyan no Ouji's alien whore and her half-monkey brat," the Tsiru-jin said with cold disdain as he eyed them. "For this…he killed my son."

"Release my daughter," Rossdark half-commanded, half-pled. "I have done what you asked…now let her go…please…" The pain and self-recrimination in his voice almost made Bulma feel sorry for him. Almost, but not quite.

"How could you do this to us, Rossdark?" she cried. But she knew. Gods, she knew. Kold had held a gun to his daughter's head and made him choose between his vow to Vegeta, and his love for his daughter. Could she blame him for choosing the latter? Yes, she could! This was her baby in danger now!!

"I'm sorry," he whispered again, his voice filled with emotion.

She wanted to tell him she understood, but there was no forgiveness in her heart; all she knew right now was the terror of having that monster glaring at her and her child, as if appraising their worth to him.

"Take her!" Kold spat as he tossed the whimpering young girl to her father.

Pota clung to him petrified, but even in her own terror managed to cry, "No! Poppa! Don't let him take the Princess and the little Prince! You can't!"

"Don't fret, my dear," King Kold told her with mock sweetness. "I shall take very good care of my prizes. And that weak old fool King Vegeta will be delighted." Only when he motioned to the two guards who stood at his side did she even realize they were there. "Let me see the little monkey first."

Bulma had kicked the Tsiru-jin guard in the crotch even before he reached to take the baby from her arms. "Noooo! You can't have my baby!" she screamed as the other guard grabbed her from behind. Her arms were like a vice around Trunks, who had begun to wail loudly, and she kicked and struggled like a cornered lioness as the first guard, understandably irritated, ripped the child from her iron-tight grasp, snapping her arm as if it were a twig. The pain was blinding, but all she knew was that that creature had taken her little boy. With a strength borne out of maternal rage, she kicked and bit at her captor until she had slipped out of his grip…

…only to be dragged across the floor by the tail of the king lizard himself.

His tail was like a boa constrictor, holding her in a vice-like grip around her waist as he looked her over with a sadistic grin. The pressure and the pain of her broken arm made her feel as if she would vomit, but she strained nevertheless against Kold's hold on her, refusing to let him think that she would ever submit to his will. Had Future Bulma done this too, she thought wildly?

Kold laughed, his unctuous effeminate voice sickeningly reminiscent of Frieza's. "Oh, she is a feisty one," he said looking her over. "You can break her bones and she still fights. And I thought Earthlings were weak! No, you should prove very entertaining indeed."

The horror of a nightmare about to come true nearly paralyzed her with fear as the slimy creature touched her face. She tried to pull away in revulsion but his tail tightened around her. "Don't be shy, my dear," he said with a lewd smirk, his hand slithering down her neck with the feel of snake skin. "I won't bite-unless you want me to."

"Let go of me, you fucking bastard!" she shrieked as he slammed her against his body, her back to him. His tail slithered from around her as his arm imprisoned her, squeezing her so tightly against his huge form that she feared her ribs would break. The foul stench of him filled her nostrils as his hand roughly grabbed at her breast, his talon-like nails ripping through the fabric of her dress and into her skin.

"Now, you should be nice to me, Princess," he lisped in her ear, his rank breath hot against her neck. "That is, if you want to keep your little monkey alive."

The Tsiru-jin guard who had snatched Trunks from her was dangling the crying baby from his tail before her, enjoying this emotional and physical torture to the utmost. "Give me my baby!" she cried, struggling once more despite the searing pain in her ribs and the claws that dug into her flesh.

"Toss him to me, will you Lillio?" the Tsiru-jin king said to his minion, extending his hand. Bulma gasped as Trunks was thrown to Kold, who caught him by the tail and hung him suspended just beyond her reach. "Is this the Saiyan warrior the King promised me? He doesn't seem like much to me-"

"Please! Just give him to me!" she wept, the dizzying pain and hopelessness throwing her into despair. Where was Vegeta?! With sudden fear and the déjà vu of her nightmarish vision, she wondered if somehow this monster had gotten to him first. If so, then nothing, no one, could help them…

Suddenly, the ceiling above them came crashing down, and tears of relief came bursting forth as she saw her husband and son, the awesome energy of their Super Saiyan forms throwing everyone in the room like shockwaves from a blast. Only Kold stood firm, though she could feel him nearly lose his balance. "Vegeta!!" she cried.

Bulma!! his mind cried out to hers with a fear he would never betray. His face was a mask of cold fury as he roared, "Release them at once!"

The two Tsiru-jin guards rushed at him, and Vegeta blasted their heads from their bodies without taking his gaze off his captive family. "I will seek out and destroy in like fashion every fucking lizard in this galaxy if you do not release my woman and child unharmed!"

"So your father was right about you," Kold said, obviously impressed by Vegeta's show of power. "You've surpassed him by far. It's no wonder he cowered before Frieza all those years ago. Poor Frieza. He found you quite entertaining."

Bulma could feel Vegeta seething within, for Tsiru-jin sins both past and present. "Frieza is dead," Vegeta responded blandly. "But you and he will have an eternity in Hell together to rue the day you ever stepped foot on Vegeta-sei."

"I don't think so," King Kold replied. "I am not Frieza."

"And I," Vegeta said with more meanings than even Kold could know, "am not my Father."

With that he concentrated his rage into the transformation that had become almost natural to him. Even Bulma, who had seen him like this before, took in a breath as the brilliant energy of his ki soared, his golden hair flowing like a lion's mane to his waist, his face morphing into that beautiful but deadly warrior that was Super Saiyan 3.

The house was falling apart, Pota screaming as she clutched at her father, even King Kold stepping back as the force of Vegeta's energy hit him. Bulma took the opportunity to try to wriggle free, but to no avail. Kold had not loosened his hold on her, just as he had made no move to release the baby that still dangled from his other hand.

"So, are you going to fight me?" Vegeta asked in a voice lower than his own. "Or continue to hide behind my wife and child? Because it looks to me like you're an even bigger coward than your son."

In anger Kold threw Bulma to the ground, and she cried out as she landed on her broken arm.

"Mother!"

Trunks ran to her side, lifting her effortlessly into his arms. Her broken arm had already begun to swell, and his eyes blazed with anger as he saw the blood smeared on her dress. "You son of a bitch!" he snarled at Kold, with a fury that ran deeper than what had happened here today.

"Mother?" Kold asked in puzzlement. He held up the lavender-haired baby and looked from one Trunks to the other. "King Vegeta said there was only one son-"

"And that's me!" Trunks yelled, setting Bulma on the floor and rising to face the monster of his childhood. "And I won't let you hurt my mother again!"

"Trunks!" Vegeta commanded calmly but firmly.

"You know what he'll do, Father!" Trunks replied, obeying despite his need for revenge.

"He'll do nothing this time except die," Vegeta replied, his eyes fixed on his infant son. "Now hand over that child, Kold, and face me like a warrior!"

The Tsiru-jin snickered as the realization hit him. "This Saiyan youth and this baby are one and the same, aren't they?" He laughed. "From the future. I killed you, didn't I, Vegeta? Then took them both as prizes, just as your father promised me. I guess a Super Saiyan is not as powerful as you thought."

"You never even had the balls to fight me, you fucking loser," Vegeta spat at him. "So why don't you just stop hiding behind a defenseless infant and face me!?"

"You're right," the Tsiru-jin replied pensively. "I always thought that Frieza had made a mistake in trying to break in a nine-year old Saiyan brat. It was inevitable that you would turn on him. I had hoped that it would be easier to train one from infancy." He glanced at the baby and then at his older form. "It would appear that raising and training the boy did nothing to guarantee his loyalty."

"You did not raise me, you sick fuck, you tortured me and my mother for twenty years!" Trunks told him with contempt and hatred that two decades of abuse had engendered. "I never forgot who my father was, and what he would have expected me to do!"

"Saiyan blood courses through my son's veins," Vegeta told the Tsiru-jin with pride. "And no Prince of Vegeta-sei will ever give loyalty to your despicable kind! So hand over my child and face me in battle, and see what happens when you try to fuck with a Super Saiyan!"

Just take Trunks away from him, Vegeta! she pleaded through their bond.

I can't! he sent back to her in frustration. I won't attack him until the baby is safe!

The infant's voice was hoarse from crying, and he'd begun to cough. Bulma could barely breath, her eyes fixed on her child and the monster who still held him by the tail. She could feel Vegeta's internal struggle, the rage for what Kold had done to her, what he was doing to their tiny son, and the almost utter helplessness of being unable to strike without endangering the child. He wanted to blast him into Hell, but how to do so while Trunks lay dangling in his hand?

"Release him!" Vegeta screamed, taking a step closer and beginning to form a ball of ki in his hand.

"You're right, Vegeta. He's of no use to me." The red lips formed a sadistic smirk as he said, "Except to pay a blood debt I owe you."

Vegeta flew at him in blind fury, and the meaning of Kold's words, of Vegeta's sudden terror, came to her only as the Tsiru-jin lifted the baby as if to throw him to his father…

…but first snapped his neck.

In the blink of an eye, the child's helpless cries were replaced by Bulma's screams. And as Vegeta caught his son's lifeless body and cradled him in his arms, he fell to his knees, momentarily crippled by a horror worse than either of them had ever imagined.

Vegeta stared in wordless shock and horror at the lifeless body of his precious son, too paralyzed by grief to move. How had he allowed this to happen?! How had he not seen what Kold would do?! Bulma had begged him through their bond to take the child only moments before, but he had hesitated, afraid to endanger the baby in his attack.

The result of his hesitation was lying motionless in his arms.

Bulma's anguished screams had filled the void of the crying that had been silenced by King Kold. Now she ran to him, wailing with grief as she beheld the horrific reality that was far worse than the one they had averted. "No! Noooooooooooo!" she wept, tears enough for both of them, as she took Trunks' unmoving body and held it protectively against her breast. Vegeta simply stared at the broken image of his family, too numb to move. A part of him wanted to wrap them both in his arms, but the part of him that had died with his son had left him unable to move, to speak. He thanked the gods for the elder Trunks, who had rushed to his mother's side to comfort her.

"So, this is an interesting experiment in time travel," Kold said, mocking their grief. "I would have thought the older version of the boy would cease to exist. No harm done then-just one dead little monkey."

The fury that had been drowned in Vegeta's sorrow now rose to the surface like boiling magma seeking escape. "Trunks," he managed hoarsely as he stood. "Take your mother far from this place."

Trunks nodded his understanding, lifting her in his arms. She was in shock, Vegeta could see, and was clutching at her dead baby, her eyes as lifeless as her son. The anguish that Kold had visited upon her, both in this lifetime and the other, only fueled Vegeta's blinding rage. He turned to the despicable creature who had done this to her, to them all, and his ki began to flare with his fury. "AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

"What are you going to do, Saiyan? Grow your hair longer? Do you think that will be enough to defeat me?"

"I will do more than defeat you, you fucking lizard!!!!" he roared. "I will rip you to shreds and send you to Hell piece by piece, and then hunt down and destroy every last survivor of your fucking race until they are nothing more than a bad memory!"

The roof of the house had been blown away, and as Vegeta glanced up to make sure that Trunks and Bulma had sufficiently distanced themselves, his eyes caught sight of a gift from the gods, the divine intervention that would help him avenge his son.

The moon. Korwal-sei's moon, that had grown back his tail, that had pulled at his emotions these past few days. Vegeta stared into the brilliant orb, allowing its rays to wash over him, the heat from his body growing exponentially as the exhilarating transformation he had not felt since that battle on Earth, with Kakarot and his son, began to take place.

King Kold's eyes opened wide with the realization of what was happening. And then, he grew smaller, or seemed to, as Vegeta's body burst into the giant oozaru form that had always been the strength of the Saiyan race.

Vegeta stood above the house, above the town now, and laughed maniacally as he reached down to pick up a now terrified King Kold in his furry ape-like hand. The Tsiru-jin was struggling, shooting continuous ki blasts at Vegeta that felt like nothing more than a mosquito's sting. It would be so easy to rip him like paper, and yet Vegeta was seething with an insanely primitive desire to torture him slowly, to make him pay for what he had done to his son. Kold had himself begun to transform, to the same form that Frieza had taken when he had nearly killed Vegeta on Namek. And the pent-up loathing and rage for all that the Tsiru-jin father and son had done to him, to his race, and now, in the ultimate offense, to his helpless child, began to drive Vegeta to the brink of something more. The Super Saiyan 3 had made his Oozaru form sufficiently strong to exact his revenge. But the lifetime of anguish that had culminated in this final atrocity demanded a release of the power that his pain had engendered. Even as he held the slimy figure in his grasp, he began to change yet again, his body shrinking and his energy growing exponentially, the brown fur on his ape-like body turning as red as his blinding fury, his hands and chest hairless as in his human form, his face his own, except for the reddened lids that matched the coat of fur that covered the rest of his body. He saw himself as Bulma saw him, and knew that she was watching, that she was with him, that she had not lost her mind, and he had not lost her. And her voice, soft and filled with tears, filled his mind. Vegeta…I love you. Please, finish him off and come back to me…

Her presence filled him with the only peace he had ever known, and would ever know again. And it filled him with purpose, with hope, that they would survive this together. But one last task remained.

Kold snickered as he mistakenly took Vegeta's transformation as a sign that he was weakened. The Tsiru-jin, after all, could not sense ki. He had no way of knowing that Vegeta had reached the unattainable, that he had become what they would later refer to as Super Saiyan 4. Vegeta lifted his hands, gathering all the power within him, taking aim at the beast who had started this all. "This is for my son," he said in a low voice, then shouted with his release of energy, "FINAL… FLASH!"

The immense power of his attack blinded all those who had gathered to watch. And the body of King Kold disintegrated slowly, the atoms that had formed him thrown out into the blackness of space.

Vegeta heaved a sigh of relief, though he knew damn well that this closure could not erase the pain of what had been done. Floating down to stand on the remains of what had been Rossdark's home, he searched the crowd of onlookers until he saw them suspended in the air. Trunks landed in front of him, his eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and awe. Bulma still held their baby to her breast, but her tear-filled eyes were no longer lifeless. Vegeta fought his guilt and his pride to follow his heart, and wrapped his arms around her tightly, letting her cry against his chest. "We'll wish him back," he said in a hushed whisper, struggling to suppress the tears in his voice.

"Go home now, all of you!" he heard Rossdark tell the others. "King Kold is dead, and Prince Vegeta has saved us once more."

But at what price?, Vegeta thought grimly as he kissed Bulma's forehead, and looked down with her to the baby that seemed only to be asleep. Vegeta's fingers caressed the child's skin, so cold now, and he finally lost the battle with tears. He buried his face in Bulma's hair, holding her close. I'm sorry…I'm sorry… he thought to her over and over.

It's not your fault.

I should have been there…Kold should never have been able to get his hands on you or the baby…

Steps behind him drew Vegeta from the safety of their private connection, and Rossdark's voice was filled with emotion as he said, "I'm sorry, Ouji-sama."

Vegeta looked up at him, his face hardened into stone, his face dry of the tears that he'd left on his wife's shoulder. "Where were you, Rossdark? How was Kold able to get to my wife and son?!"

Rossdark's face turned white, and something churned in Vegeta's already sickened stomach. Even before Bulma broke her silence, he knew. Somehow he knew.

"It was him, Vegeta!" she cried. "He handed us over to King Kold in exchange for Pota's life!"

Vegeta could feel no more rage than he had already experienced this day. But as he looked upon the countenance of the only man he had ever called friend, the twisted advice of his father, that a King could have no friends, came crashing back to him with stark reality. Could the old son of a bitch who had himself betrayed Vegeta now more times than he cared to count have been right in that cold hard fact? In anger he grabbed Rossdark by the throat, holding him suspended in the air. "I trusted you with their lives!" he snarled. "We brought you back to this place, helped you restore life to your woman, and saved your worthless race from Frieza, and this is how you repay me?!?"

"He had my little girl, Ouji-sama!" Rossdark managed through Vegeta's chokehold. "He said he would make her a pleasure slave! You know what that means! She would have ended up dead-

or worse-!"

"So you traded your child for mine?!?" Vegeta countered furiously. He threw him down in disgust. He knew in his heart that he would have done no differently, and yet… "I can't allow this, Rossdark. I can't allow this betrayal!" He raised his hand, palm open to the man he had foolishly trusted with his most precious gifts.

Suddenly, Pota was in front of him. "Ouji-sama, no! Please!"

"Stand out of the way, Pota," he commanded her, though shaken by the tears on her face. A dozen images flashed in his mind, of the little girl that had taken such a liking to him, and spent hours playing with his son as if he had been her own brother.

"Please, Ouji-sama! Don't kill my Poppa! He only wanted to save me! He didn't want anything to happen to the Princess and the little Prince!"

Her pleas were pulling at his heartstrings in a way he didn't like. How could he show mercy to the man who had betrayed them? "Pota, I'm sorry," he said softly, raising his hand to shoot above her.

"Nooo!" she cried, falling to her knees and clinging to his legs. "I'm begging you, Ouji-sama! Don't take my Poppa away from me! It isn't his fault! That mean bald man was the one who told King Kold you were here!"

Even as the little girl's supplications were weakening his resolve, her words made everything fall into place. He bent down to her level, lifting up her chin to make her look at him. "What did you say, child? The bald man? Jorlegan?"

The impudent fool whom he should have destroyed months ago stepped forward from the rubble. "Yes, Saiyan, it was me. I contacted King Kold as soon as I realized what it was he really wanted. And you destroyed him, just as I knew you would. So history has been changed, and our planet is safe."

"You're the one that tampered with the defense shields!" Bulma cried. "That's why we never detected him entering the system!"

"And you led him right to my daughter, knowing it was the only way I would break my vow to protect the Princess and her son," Rossdark said in disgust coming towards them. "You piece of filth, you are a disgrace to our people."

"I saved our people!" he insisted. "And what does it matter that the boy was killed? You can wish him back, can you not?"

"Do you actually think that absolves you of your actions, Jorlegan?" Rossdark replied angrily.

Vegeta had been silent during this exchange as his hatred for this piece of trash soared. He looked down at the little girl who still held a place in his broken heart. "Pota," he said softly, "take your father far away…and don't look back."

The girl smiled brightly through her tears and threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Ouji-sama!"

Vegeta ran his fingers through her hair, then looked up at Rossdark. He would not forget this betrayal. But he knew now that no malice had brought it about. And the gods help him, he understood why this father had been driven to break his vow. "Go," he said simply.

Rossdark nodded, taking his daughter away from the scene neither of them would want her to witness.

Jorlegan looked at Vegeta with feigned fearlessness. "So what will you do now, Saiyan? Kill me? When you wish back all those who have died on this planet, I will live again."

"We'll wish back those who were murdered by the Tsiru-jins," Vegeta told him with an evil glint in his eye. "You're going to be destroyed by the Prince of all Saiyans. Technically, that doesn't count."

Vegeta had the satisfaction of seeing the look of terror on the bald bastard's face before blasting him into the next dimension.

He turned back to Bulma, lifting her into his arms, only now seeing just how hurt she was. "Let's go home," he said quietly.

A home that would be as silent as a tomb for their dead son.

Only the task at hand was keeping her from losing her mind.

Despite Vegeta's insistence that she rest and have her wounds tended, Bulma had known that only one thing would allow her to close her eyes. With Trunks' help to make up for the arm she could not use, she rebuilt from memory the same refrigeration capsule she had made so long ago to place the body of Krillin, when he had been killed in the fight against King Piccolo's minions. It had been difficult enough to place her friend's body in this storage unit while they had awaited the chance to summon the dragon. The thought of encapsulating the body of her son…

"Mom, are you okay?" Trunks asked, breaking the silence he had kept throughout their work.

Bulma wiped the tears from her face. "How can I be all right, Trunks, when-" Even saying the boy's name brought tears to her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Momma," he whispered. "I failed. I couldn't protect you and-"

Bulma turned to her son, smiling through her tears as she lifted her good hand to her cheek. "You did, Trunks. King Kold is dead, and your father isn't. And the baby will be with us again in a month, when the dragon returns."

A month of Hell it would be. And yet having this son, to both comfort and comfort her, would make it bearable. It was all that was keeping her from falling apart right now. Trunks nodded and hugged her tightly, and only then did it strike her that he must truly understand the nature of her pain. His mother was dead, just as her baby. "Having you here helps me so much," she whispered to him. And she knew now what her presence these last few months had done for him.

The refrigeration unit done, she encapsulated it now, taking the small capsule into her hand.

"Do you want me to do this, Mom?" Trunks asked her.

She shook her head. "No. I have to do this alone." Vegeta was holding a private vigil at the body of their dead child, and she knew that he would want no one to see him in his current state.

When she reached the door of the bedroom, she found him bent over crib where she had laid Baby Trunks. His heart-wrenching sobs reached her, and as relieved as she was that he had been able to express his grief, she knew that this was the most difficult thing he had ever done. Vegeta… she whispered softly in his mind so that he would know she was there.

He made no response but an attempt to silence his cries. She went over to him, putting a hand on his arm as she looked down at the baby, her own tears starting anew. Vegeta turned to her and they fell into each other's embrace, mourning together for the little miracle that had been their creation. Even after Vegeta had regained emotional control, he held her tightly against him, and she knew that it was because he felt so relieved that she too had not left him. You are all that keeps me from losing my sanity, woman… he thought to her. You and that boy, he added, referring to the older Trunks.

It's because of him that I still have you, she replied, kissing him lightly. For a long while she stayed in his arms, putting off the task at hand. When she finally separated from him, she pulled out the capsule, and he watched as the tiny refrigeration system appeared out of thin air.

"Are you sure…he will be all right in there…?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "We used one of these on Krillin once…he was fine. It will preserve his body until we…until we revive him."

She watched as he carefully lifted Baby Trunks from the crib, and placed him in the chamber, bending down to kiss his forehead. She wondered if the Vegeta she had first met would have ever imagined himself capable of such an emotional display.

"Never…" he whispered, hearing her thoughts. His voice was barely audible.

Bulma bent down to kiss her child. "I'll see you soon, sweetie…" she said softly, her voice breaking. She closed the seal, checked the controls one last time, then encapsulated the

unit with its precious cargo, placing the capsule on the crib where it would stay for safekeeping.

"I need to sleep," she murmured, the day's events finally taking their toll.

"You will," he told her in no uncertain terms. "But in the Regen tank."

"Please, Vegeta, let me wait until tomorrow," she begged. "I just need to you to hold me."

"And I will," he promised, looking into her eyes. "But after you've been healed. Woman, I can not stand to see you suffering from these wounds for another moment." Only after they had gotten home had he examined her arm, and seen the gouges where King Kold had clawed at her skin. It had nearly thrown him into another rage, and she knew that it was probably hurting him more than it hurt her.

"Okay," she relented finally. She was too emotionally spent to argue.

In moments he had carried her to her lab, and placed her into the soothing blue waters. She began to sleep then, to dream, to see her baby alive again, to forget the agony of their last few hours…But as the healing liquid began to drain, reality assaulted her once more. And in the absence of the physical wounds that had kept her attention, the emotional pain filled her being. She could feel Vegeta wrapping her in a warm blanket and taking her home in the cool night air. The moon blazed above them, and she wondered idly why he did not transform again.

I haven't looked at it, he told her.

Too bad.That red fur would have kept me warmer, she thought absently, shivering against him.

Vegeta raised his ki to warm her, and she snuggled against him. Thanks… she thought as she began to doze again.

She awoke again as he placed her on their bed, undressing and slipping in beside her. He kept his promise then, taking her in his arms and holding her close for the rest of the night. And though their dreams intermingled, forcing them to relive over and over the horror that they had faced, there was a comfort for each of them in always waking up to find the other there. They still had each other. And in time, their baby would be with them again.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!"

The mountains shook with the force of his ki, boulders tumbled to the valley below. He knew even before he looked down at the red fur on his arms that he had made the transformation almost effortlessly to Super Saiyan 4. What had once been beyond his wildest dreams was now an undeniable fact. He was the most powerful being in the Universe.

Then why did he feel as if none of this mattered any more?

King Kold was dead. The most dangerous threat to his people had been destroyed, and he had proven without a doubt his superior strength, and his right to rule. If any being were to challenge him, he would still reign supreme. Of that he had no doubt. It was all he had ever dreamed of. And yet, he would give it all up if it would bring back his son.

Intellectually, he knew that the dragon would return to grant one last wish in two weeks time. There was no question what that wish would be. Yet this knowledge did little to ease the anguish that had been ever-present since the day his child had been ruthlessly murdered. Nightly the scene would replay in his dreams-or Bulma's, which were one and the same. Many nights she had woken up screaming and crying for her baby. He would do his best to comfort her, but depression had still set in. Some days she would work endlessly in her lab on some project; others, she would opt to stay in bed, motionless, wordless, as if still in shock.

Vegeta had tried dealing in his own way. After two days of staying by her side in that blasted empty house, he had resorted to his own therapy-intensive training. He would go into the mountains, far from any civilization, and take out his frustrations on the landscape. He would return late at night, to find her asleep. But her dreams would become his, and inevitably they returned to that day when their world had been torn apart.

He knew she needed him, that she hated it when he went off by himself. Yet she said nothing. Perhaps that was what frightened him worst of all. Her explosive temper, her constant nagging, the very things that drove him crazy on a daily basis-were missing. She was not herself. And he could not help but feel that he was to blame. He had dragged her into this all, endangered her and their child by making them the center of his life. And when the time had come to protect them, he had failed. Sometimes, the guilt was so unbearable that he could barely look her in the eyes.

Just as he could not bear to face his other son, Trunks, from the future that had been averted, but could never be changed. He had failed him too, in a very different way. He'd found himself contemplating which son he had injured more-the one who had suffered unspeakable atrocities, or the one who had never even reached his first year. It was a no-win situation. For even when-he refused to think if-Baby Trunks were revived, there was absolutely nothing Vegeta could do to make up for what his other son had been forced to endure. The guilt of knowing this made it almost impossible to look Trunks in the eyes. Ignoring the boy like this was hurting him, he knew. But Vegeta could find no other way to deal with his feelings. Solitude. Training. It was all he knew.

The sun had been down for hours when he reached the house. He could sense Bulma sleeping upstairs, and once more felt guilty for having spent the entire day away from her. The fact that she was too deeply depressed to even berate him made him feel even worse. He'd eaten nothing all day, and decided to stop in the kitchen before going up to bed. It was while he was drowning his miseries in food that he heard the door swish open and looked up to see Trunks.

The boy seemed equally surprised to see him there, and muttered that he was going up to bed. Something told Vegeta that this was his opportunity, if not to erase the damage done to his son, to begin the long process of mending it. "Trunks. Wait."

The young man turned to him in surprise, and Vegeta noticed for the first time that he seemed to have grown older. Bulma had mentioned that Trunks was spending hours in the Gravity Chamber, and though Vegeta valued hard work, the boy just might be overdoing it a bit.

"Yes, Father?" he asked hesitantly.

Vegeta searched for something to say, and settled on, "You must be hungry. I suppose there's enough here if you would like some."

Trunks nodded, sitting opposite his father and taking a healthy serving of meat. For a few awkward moments they ate silently, until finally Vegeta said, "I hear you've been spending a lot of time in training. That's admirable, but we've won our battles for now. There's nothing wrong with…taking a break." He knew he sounded more like Bulma than himself in suggesting such a thing, but it was true. Trunks had far surpassed any warrior on Vegeta-sei, and might as well relax while he still could. Besides, if the boy spent more time around his mother, it would do both of them good.

Trunks did not look up at him as he replied, "You've won your battle. But I haven't even fought mine yet."

Vegeta's stomach churned as his son's meaning became clear. "You have no battles to fight," he said in a tone that left no room for argument.

"Yes I do, Father," he responded, looking up with angry determination in his eyes. "You defeated Kold as if he were nothing. If I could raise my power to even half of yours, I could do the same."

"Kold is dead."

"Only in this time."

His promise to Bulma to give the boy encouragement gave way to his natural instinct to simply command, "You will not go back there under any circumstances."

"Father-"

"That's an order, Trunks!" he snapped, sensing that he was about to lose this son too.

"I can't let him live after what he did to us! You of all people should understand!"

Vegeta froze with the shame that he and his son both shared. "I do understand," he said evenly. "But you will do no honor to the memory of your mother by walking back into that hellhole that should never have existed. Nothing can bring her back, and if in avenging her you were to lose your own life-"

"Do you have so little confidence in my ability to defeat him?" he asked angrily.

"Trunks, nothing would give me greater pleasure to see you go back and condemn that fucking piece of slime to Hell," he said passionately. "I have no doubt you could do it now. But that wasn't what your mother wanted. If I let you go back-" Bulma would never forgive him. Neither Bulma would.

"Dad-"

"How could you even think of leaving after what's happened? Your mother needs you. Do you know what it would do to her to lose you too?" He couldn't even express what it would do to him. But gods, how he wished he could.

Trunks sighed deeply. "I won't leave until after…until after Chibi is brought back to life."

"You're not a replacement for him, Trunks," Vegeta said without missing a beat, "any more than having him back would make you any less important to her." He looked into his son's eyes as he amended, "to us."

Trunks' eyes opened wide at his father's words, and Vegeta added, "Besides, you must be at my side when we return to Vegeta-sei. You are the heir to my throne, and our people should know that from the start."

"Father, I'm not the heir to your throne. Chibi is. I can't take away from him. He's your firstborn son-"

"And so are you," Vegeta said sternly, not even letting him finish. His face softened, as he spoke the words that were so difficult. "You are my son, and I am proud of you. And I want you to stay with us." No command. No order. Just those blasted honest emotions that his woman and son had awoken in him and that he would probably never be able to suppress again. The gods help him.

But the expression on Trunks face made Vegeta wonder if maybe those emotional expressions didn't serve a purpose after all. "Dad," he said finally, "I…appreciate what you're saying. I really do. And I want to stay here with you and Mom. There's…nothing for me in that other place. But there's a part of me that won't rest until I've made Kold pay for what he's done."

Vegeta nodded his understanding, taking a deep breath before he said the words he had secretly considered for the past two weeks. "Then I will go with you."

Trunks' looked at him in shock. "You-?"

"Once things are settled here-the baby is brought back, and we can finally leave-

my first order of business is to take my rightful place as King of Vegeta-sei."

"But your father-?"

"My father has betrayed me for the last time," Vegeta said gravely. "And he will pay. When I have ascended to the throne and brought stability to my people, then you and I can go back in that device of your mother's and take care of Kold." At Trunks' look of hesitation he said, "Don't worry, he's yours to kill. I'll only be there to make sure you get back in one piece."

It was clear that Trunks relished the thought, but he said, "What about Mom? I'm not sure she'd like the idea of both of us going…"

"She won't," Vegeta said grimly. "So don't mention it to her just yet. She has enough on her mind right now." And I am not quite sure how to tell her, either.

Trunks nodded his agreement, rising from the table. "Thank you, Father."

Only after he turned to leave did Vegeta respond quietly, "It is the least I can do to make up for…what I could not prevent before."

Trunks turned back to him, his eyes filled with more peace than Vegeta had seen since the boy had come to them. "You don't have to make up for anything, Dad. But…thanks."

Vegeta merely nodded, and looked down as his son went upstairs. He couldn't let the boy see all the anguish he felt for him. He couldn't dishonor him by…feeling sorry for him. All he could do was be a father to him now…and maybe, somehow, he would help him find peace. If going back through time to kill Kold would accomplish that, then Vegeta would do it. He would do whatever it might take to make his son whole again.

{{Coming soon in Chapter 11: Those wishes are never as simple as you'd like…and what are Goku and Bardock doing back on Korwal-sei?}}