Surviving Together: A New Legacy

Chapter 12 - Not Mine

Ten hours later and Bulma was still in the process of healing. Trunks rested his head on Vegeta's chest, having cried himself to sleep hours ago. The boy had taken no notice of propriety, as he used the Emperor as a pillow. He didn't care. Trunks needed be around someone who could sympathize with him. Strangely enough, the Emperor seemed to feel his pain.

Vegeta had allowed the child to sleep next to him. How could he say no? The boy was her son. Her son. What did that mean? The boy looked no more than eight, which would mean she waited less then a year before jumping into bed with another man. Vegeta cringed at the thought. Another man holding her the way he had, making… love to her as he had. The thought of her with another man tied his stomach into knots. But how could he blame her?

'So she moved on without me.' He sighed with defeat. He was not particularly surprised; he knew that was a possibility from the moment he freed her from Freeza's enslavement. He knew helping her escape meant freedom not only from Freeza, but from himself. In order for her to be truly free, she had to move on. He could never ask her to wait for him. Even if she was grateful to him, he made peace long ago with the fact that her feelings for him were the result of circumstance, though in truth he did nothing to deserve even that.

What had he done for her? Yes, he saved her from certain death, but that too was his fault. She was to face Zarbon's wrath, because he had failed a mission, because he couldn't be strong enough to protect her, because he was foolish enough to allow the woman to break though that rough shell that kept him and those around him from danger. And now this. She was in a tank with little hope of survival because of him, because he let Nappa live, because he couldn't be there to protect her. How could he blame her for turning to another? He sure as hell couldn't protect her. Even as a man of great power he couldn't protect her anymore now than he did as a weakling eighteen-year-old boy. She was right to move on without him. He never could have given her all the protection and love that she needed. The mighty Super Saiya-jin, utterly useless.

Vegeta laughed bitterly, "The Legendary Super Saiya-jin. How pathetic."

She was the reason he was able to claim his birthright. Because of her pain. He thought her dead. But now… What had caused him to feel her pain all those years ago? An illusion? Some false memory? And what of the pain he suffered recently, right before finding her? Was that some sort of coincidence? Vegeta sighed, a million questions passed through his mind, though none were as tortuous as that which was sitting next to him.

Vegeta looked down at the boy who suddenly began to stir. Now that he knew Bulma was the child's mother, he was even more curious to know about the boys' father. 'How could the child be so powerful?' He had to know. In truth, Vegeta wanted…no, needed to believe the boy was his, but he knew better. Aside from the young look the boy held, and the fact he had no tail, the child still couldn't have been his son. She wasn't fertile either time he had laid with her. He remembered taking in her scent just to make certain he would prevent that very occurrence. 'The boy could not be mine.'

"AAAhhhhaaaaa." Trunks suddenly yawned, interrupting Vegeta's thoughts. He looked at the man curiously. "Is my mom alright?" He asked immediately.

Turning his attention to the tank, Vegeta slowly walked over to it. Trunks followed close behind as the Emperor monitored her progress. Vegeta looked down at the worried boy. "She is in stage yellow." Vegeta stated emotionlessly.

"Yellow?" Trunks asked confused. "What does that mean?"

Vegeta explained. "The system is color coded so even the dumbest of men can monitor the basic progress. Red is the most dangerous stage. She was in code red when I first placed her in the tank. Blue is the next, and then yellow."

"So… What does that mean exactly?" Trunks wanted the whole truth.

"There are two more colors before she is fully healed. Green and white. Once in the green stage, the person is generally guaranteed survival. When this panel turns white she can be removed.

"Then… Then my Mom is going to be alright!?" Trunks asked hopefully.

"Chance of dying in stage yellow is twenty percent."

"Then I'll take that as she'll be fine." Trunks smiled as he looked into the tank. "My Mom is a fighter; she wouldn't let herself die like this. She's stronger willed than that!"

"Yes, she is." Vegeta stated absently as he walked over to his closet. He pulled out a robe. "Give her this when she gets out. I'll have the rest of her clothing retrieved from her room and sent here. I'll send yours as well."

Trunks didn't fully comprehend what he meant. "Um… Isn't this your room?"

"It's yours now. Press this button to let her out after the light turns white. Understood?"

Trunks nodded as Vegeta then turned to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Trunks couldn't figure out this weird man. First he saved his mom, now he is being generous enough to let them have his room. What an odd Emperor.

"I have a planet to run." Before taking his leave, his whispered quietly, "Take care of her when she gets out."

"You don't need to tell me." Trunks called back as the man walked away. He was temped to run after him, to thank him properly for what he had done, but knowing how tough an exterior the man preferred to keep, he decided just to offer a quick thank you. "Hey… Thanks by the way!"

Vegeta heard his words but did not acknowledge them. He knew staying would drag out emotions he was not yet ready to deal with. Waiting for her to awaken, and then seeing that look in her eyes… He took a long breath as he remembered the intensity those eyes held. She could speak so much in a mere look. He thought it would be too much to bear. Besides he was still the Emperor. He couldn't spend his time waiting around for some woman to recover while his planet was in such confusion after his earlier fury.

Vegeta knew he'd have to deal with Garock first. He could already imagine the man pacing around his throne room awaiting some explanation. Vegeta sighed, as he wasn't entirely sure what logical explanation he could give. Hell, he wasn't even sure what he had done. None of this made any sense to him. How could it make sense to another? Vegeta knew he would have to deal with the fall out of his earlier actions, but Garock and the others would have to wait. There was someone in greater need of his presence. Vegeta smirked as he sped up. He had a debt to repay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ < p class="MsoNormal c5">"Are you all right?" Aphara asked with concern as Durka walked out of the med ward.

"Fine." Durka said slowly. He asked some of the medical personnel if they knew the status of the science woman, but none had a clue as to what he was talking about.

"Hey!" Aphara demanded his attention. "Tell me what happened! I want to know why the Emperor tried to kill you. What orders did you fail to obey?"

"It's none of your damn business." He felt unbelievable guilt as it was, he wasn't going to make things worse by revealing the truth. Especially since the Emperor made very clear he didn't want it to be common knowledge.

"Don't give me that shit!" She argued. "He was ready to kill you and then…nothing. I want to know why? I mean, who's to say he won't come back!"

Durka growled as his fists tightened. "Look, I don't have to explain anything to you. I screwed up! It's my damn mistake so just stay the hell out of--" Durka's protest was cut short as his eyesight went black. Aphara knew from experience that he was "seeing" another image. Durka rubbed his temples as if trying to make the vision go away. After a few seconds, he clenched his forehead, regaining his senses.

Aphara grabbed him by the shoulders to help steady him. "What did you see?" She asked foregoing her previous investigation for the moment.

"Nothing." He shook his head, not believing what he had visualized.

"Damn it, just tell me Durka!" Aphara ordered as she refused to release him without an answer.

"No!" He shook free of her. "Telling you was a mistake the first time, I won't do it again!" He shouted as he stormed past her. He didn't get very far before she cut him off. She held a smug look on her face as she crossed her arms defiantly. "If you don't tell me Durka, I'll tell the Emperor about your little gift, and then we'll see how happy he'll be when he finds out you've been keeping things from him!"

"You wouldn't." He challenged her threat. However, his counter didn't last long, as it appeared she wasn't backing down. "Please don't." He hated to beg but he couldn't let the Emperor know about his visions. Damn it! Why did he even trust her to begin with? He should have known better!

She shrugged. "You know I'd sell you down the river in a second to better my own situation."

"Bitch." He snarled.

"Like I haven't heard that before." She rolled her eyes. "Now tell me!"

Durka didn't know how to explain the image, as he didn't understand it himself. "It didn't make any sense. I'm sure it was nothing."

Aphara glared at the captain as she wasn't going to let him get out of this. "Explain."

"Fine." He grunted. "I saw a giant ape wreaking havoc on the planet. Satisfied?"

Ahpara's eyes widened. "You saw what?"

"You heard me! Now are you satisfied?" He shot back before he walked away. Aphara was left standing alone with a dumbfounded expression as she tried to process the information.

Durka thought the vision ridiculous, but he had hoped it was true nonetheless. Though the vision was short he had seen one reassuring image. Bulma was alive. In the image, he had been trying to hold her back from intervening as she watched the primate break building after building. What interest she had in the event was beyond his understanding, but her presence was real. Along with her concern for the enormous ape that was breaking everything in sight.

He shook his head as he pushed the image away. It was bizarre to say the least, but he wasn't going to focus on it now. He needed to see if Bulma was, in fact, all right. He knew he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she wasn't.

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Vegeta couldn't help feeling immense joy as he continued to pound away at the sniveling man before him. Actually, he was rather surprised to find the man still alive when he returned to the scene of the crime. Much to his pleasure, the beast had another half hour of pain to suffer before his ultimate demise, which would inevitably be very soon. The fiend was fully covered in his own blood and excrement. For an elite, he was as frightened as a mere child. What a disgrace!

Vegeta could tell life was beginning to leave the coward so he roughly lifted the bastard up by his neck "Was it worth it?" Vegeta asked with an all-consuming fury. "Was attacking that which you knew damn well to be mine, worth all this suffering? Nappa, I thought over the years you would have gained enough sense to have more respect for the power I yield. I suppose I was wrong."

Nappa coughed up some more of his blood as he began to speak. "I… am loyal… sir… her death… was for… your… protection. She… is a… weakness." He whispered as those words took the last of his energy.

Vegeta tightened his fingers around the man's neck. "You don't have a clue about my so-called weakness. I don't have any weaknesses you fool! You fucking knew she was mine Nappa! You should have told me of her existence from the moment you found out. You will pay for this disloyalty."

"Fool." Nappa snarled. "I… am all… that is… left of… your people! How can… you chose a… whore… over me!"

Vegeta smirked at the man's stupidity. "You speak of her as a weakness Nappa? She is the reason I have this strength. I wield the greatest power in the universe because of her! You, my friend, are the weakness. And as you have so clearly pointed out, weaknesses have to be destroyed." And with that last thought Vegeta reached behind the man's bloodied back and grasped the giant's last representation of pride. In an agonizingly slow pull Vegeta ripped the man's tail off of his body. Nappa howled an excruciating cry, he didn't think further pain and humiliation could have been suffered after his dismemberment. Clearly he was wrong.

Vegeta dropped the man's body limply on the floor as he fired the man's tail with his ki. He looked at the broken man thoroughly enjoying his misery. "If it makes you feel any better Nappa I'm not going to kill you. No, you see that just wouldn't be fair to the woman. I am going to allow your beaten carcass to bleed all over the floor until she has recovered enough to finish the deed, which probably won't be for a few more hours so expect a long, slow, agonizing death." He smirked before he turned his back to the man. "Have fun in the next dimension Nappa. I'll be having fun in this one." Vegeta chuckled before leaving the man to pray death overtake him sooner rather than later.

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"WHITE!" Trunks cried overly excited as he hit the button to release his mother.

The blue liquid began to empty out of the tank as Bulma's eyes shot opened. She was shocked to see the smile of her son as he opened the lid of the tank. As Bulma rose to get out, Trunks handed her the robe.

Trunks couldn't wait until she was completely out of the tank before throwing himself in her arms. "I was so worried Mom! If you keep doing this to me I'm going to have a heart attack before twelve." He scolded lightly as he tightly hugged her.

Bulma couldn't help smiling at her son. His hug might have hurt a weaker person but to her, it was the best hug she could imagine. Still somewhat confused, she shook her head trying to remember the events. She came to her room looking for Trunks, and then someone grabbed her, Nappa! He had attacked her. He had beaten and attempted to rape her then… nothing…no wait… then… "Durka!" Bulma's eyes widened. "He brought me here, right? I remember him holding me in his arms, and hearing him speak to me."

Trunks managed to pull away from his mother. "Durka?" He asked confused. "I haven't see Durka since earlier. The man you heard was the Emperor. He brought you here and put you into the tank.Not Durka." Trunks clarified.

"What?" Bulma gaped at her son. "But… But that can't be right. The man who held me spoke as though he knew me. He… He sounded genuinely concerned."

"He was." Trunks verified. "You're safety seemed really important to him. He brought you here right after we found you. He put you in the tank to heal and then sat with me while you recovered. For someone as arrogant as he is, he was surprisingly considerate."

Bulma was stunned to say the least, but her dismay at her son's knowledge was more frightening. "You… You found me?" She choked out. 'No, please don't let it be true. He couldn't have seen me like that, no!' She kept hoping that her son was somehow spared the trauma of seeing her badly beaten body.

Trunks lowered his head in shame. "I'm sorry, Mom. But the Emperor knocked me out before I could go in. He said I shouldn't see you. I only saw the room after."

Relief flooded her body as Bulma realized that her son wouldn't be scared emotionally. "Don't be upset Trunks. A child should never have to see his mother… roughed up a little bit." Bulma tried to phrase her words carefully.

"Roughed up?" Just the image of his mother being "roughed up" brought unexpected tears yet again. "I saw your ripped clothes Mom! I saw all the blood. It was all over the bed and the floor. I want to know Mom. I… I want to know how bad he hurt you." Trunks asked the question that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

Bulma frowned as she cupped the boy's chin. "It wasn't that bad." She lied. "He got a few good punches on me, and that was it."

Trunks eyes began to water as he looked into his mother's deep blue eyes. "I'm so sorry Mom. This was all my fault." The child hated admitting fault but he knew that is was, indeed, his fault. "I didn't listen to you and you got hurt because of it. I'm so sorry."

"Your fault?" Bulma frowned as she knelt in front of the boy. "Trunks this was not your fault!" Bulma protested adamantly.

"Yes it was, Mom. He attacked you because I beat him up yesterday. I humiliated him in front of the Emperor. He went after you to get back at me! Why else would he attack a complete stranger?!"

"Oh Trunks." Bulma sighed as she pulled the boy into her embrace. "He did not attack me because of you. It had nothing to do with you."

"Then why would he come after you?!" Trunks demanded angrily.

Bulma sighed, this was hardly the time to explain how she knew the bastard. "He is just a monster Trunks. He wanted to have some fun so he beat me up. He didn't do this because of you. I'm sure he didn't even know I was your mother." Bulma despised lies but she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. Not just yet. Maybe someday.

"I wish I could have protected you." A few tears of his fell on his mother's shoulder.

"Hey." Bulma forced her son to look him in the eyes. "I'm a grown woman. I can take care of myself without my little boy looking after my every move. So don't you dare tell talk to me about protection."

"But--"

"No." Bulma shook her head. "I'm the mother; I'm supposed to protect you from the bad guys, not the other way around. So I don't want you thinking you have to take care of me."

"But-"

"No." Bulma continued. "I don't want to hear another word of regret from you. This will never happen again. I am fully healed and will move on as though nothing happened. I've been hurt worse in sparring matches. This was nothing. Really."

Trunks sighed deeply. He knew there was no reasoning with her when she was this determined. No matter how many times she downplayed the attack, he knew that she had suffered terribly. However, he decided not to push any further as he could tell she was on the verge of tears herself. "Alright Mom. I promise not to dwell on this." He said bravely.

"Good." Bulma forced a smile. "They why don-"

Bulma was interrupted by a knock on the door. Trunks went to answer it. They were greeted by three timid men who held boxes in their hands.

"These… Are your things." One man managed to stutter. It seemed as though they were extremely terrified of doing something wrong.

"Oh thanks." Trunks smiled as he took the boxes. The men rushed out of the room as fast as possible after handing over the boxes.

"That was weird." Both Trunks and Bulma found it odd for three men to be so scared of such a simple task. "By the way, what's all that stuff?"

"Our things." Trunks said happily as he handed her the box which contained her clothes. "The Emperor said he'd have our stuff sent to us so we could settle in here. It's pretty nice if you ask me. I mean giving us his room and all."

Bulma gaped at her son. "His room?"

Trunks nodded. "Yeah, his room was closer than the med ward so he brought you to his private tank."

"Why the hell would he do that?" Bulma asked completely stunned by the act of generosity.

Trunks shrugged. "I don't know. I think he felt guilty that you were attacked. I mean that bald jerk did work for him."

"Oh." Bulma nodded, still finding this all too unbelievable. Although she was still somewhat suspicious, she needed to refresh and a shower sounded like a great idea. "I need to relax and clear my mind. A shower might just do the trick, okay kid?"

"Ok." Trunks handed her the box with her things. "I'll get this placed cleaned up in the mean time. We can get something to eat later."

Bulma smiled, knowing her son was trying to act normal for her sake. "That sounds good." She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before turning towards the bathroom.

Alone once again, Trunks let his tears flow freely as he sunk to his knees. Sometimes his mother was too strong for her own good. She should be worrying about herself not trying to comfort him. He didn't do anything and she worried more about him that herself! His mother deserved better. She sure as hell didn't deserve to walk around afraid of being attacked, or worse. And now she won't even let him protect her!? Trunks dried his tears as a determined scowl covered his face. 'Well if she won't let me take care of her, then I'll see to it that someone else will.' Trunks thought assuredly, he knew exactly who could handle the challenge.

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Author's Note: Hmmm???? Who does Trunks have in mind? What about Durka's vision? And Bulma killing Nappa?! I now the answers to all of these questions, but you all don't so you will have to wait until the next chapter to find out.