Surviving Together: Retribution

Chapter 10 - Retribution

"Kyousou Netoru, Vegeta, Imaima!"

"It can not be," Garock was the first to voice a response as the sight of one infuriated Super Saiya-jin came into his line of vision.

"Now I know there has to be some sort of mystical dragon, there is no way in hell this second class reject could be the legendary." Vegeta's fists were clenched, his anger slowly boiling as unstable as Radditz's.

"Kyousou Netoru, Imaima!" The reiteration of his original demand was followed by a ki blast that came so quickly, Vegeta barely had enough time to throw Garock out of the way. Radditz was fast, too fast, this was not going to be an easy battle, but then again, what self respecting Saiya-jin wanted an easy battle? Certainly not the Saiya-jin no Ouji.

"All right Radditz," Vegeta rose to his feet, brushing off the dust he had been coated with after the explosion, "You want this Kyousou Netoru? You will have it," he removed his cape, and then took a few moments to stretch. "And when it's over, I will not only take your life, but your mate and cub as well."

It was the kindling that finally set the battle aflame as Radditz, with an ear piercing battle cry, charged at Vegeta, chanting his intention, "mononisuru Atae!"

Watching from the sidelines, Garock immediately felt the inevitable eerie quake of doom as he watched the two men disappear from the dilapidated passageway. No doubt Vegeta was going to try and guide the man as far away from the castle as possible. It had already been rebuilt once last year, he did not want to see it become a tradition.

"What the fuck is going on?!" a series of cursing and screaming began to echo down the hall as soldiers crawled from the wreckage, demanding an explanation for being shot at.

"Get a crew down here to start working on cleaning up this mess," Garock began belting out orders in Vegeta's stead, "I want guards tripled at all locations where there are civilians. But no one, not a single person is to follow the battle at hand. With the levels of energies combating, anyone who crosses their path could lose their life!"

"Who's he fighting?!"

"Yeah, who is strong enough to take on the Emperor?"

"Is it that guy who landed a few days ago? I heard his woman looks just like the Emperor's dead mate."

"Figures; a damn woman is to blame for my room being blown up!"

"Enough, all of you!" Another series of questions were volleyed back and forth between the uninformed soldiers, but Garock had no time to answer any of them. "You have your orders; now do as I told you!" Not waiting to make certain his instructions were followed, Garock raced towards an unblemished wing of the castle, a wing that housed the one person who may be able to stop this battle before anyone had to lose their life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You touched what was mine, Vegeta. You had no right to lay with another man's mate! You have dishonored the most precious of codes we Saiya-jins have to follow!!" The blatant hypocrisy in his words was completely lost on the possession driven warrior as he fought a man he once believed to be his better. "You will never have Atae!!"

"Atae!?" Vegeta mocked, blocking his elder's every assault. "You mean that figment of your imagination? No, Radditz, you seem to have this all backwards. I am the one defending his mate against an opposing force trying to steal what was never his to claim. So if either of us was dishonoring the codes of our people, it was you when you did whatever the hell it was that stole my mate from her grave."

"A grave you put her in!" A fist came barreling down across Vegeta's face, a physical blow to match the verbal sting of his words. "Your mate died because you were too weak to protect her! Atae will never have such a fear with me, she is my whole world, my first and only priority; she will always be safe!"

"She is not yours to keep safe!" Vegeta regained his bearings and in retaliation wedged his knee into his opponent's chest. "You can not even admit that she's not yours! But I know, Radditz, I have seen my mark! You somehow stole my mate, my mate! I do not know how the fuck you did it, but if you think I am going to allow you to keep her from me, while there is still breath in my body, then you have seriously underestimated her importance to me!" Grabbing a fist full of Radditz's golden locks, Vegeta retracted his knee from the man's stomach, and pulled it up to smash into his enemy's face. Releasing his hold, he sent Radditz spinning to the ground. "So how did you do it?" Vegeta demanded as he slowly lowered himself to the surface. Once his feet were planted soundly, he crossed his arms defensively; careful not to be unprepared for whatever his challenger may throw at him.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'finders, keepers,' Vegeta?" Radditz chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet, shaking the dirt from his hair before striking a pose reflective to that of his adversary. "The day you allowed Cooler to kill your mate was the day you no longer held any claim over her." Radditz paused to spit some blood that had gathered in his mouth, he wanted to be completely articulate as he advised his former prince of just how seriously he had underestimated him. "I know your son hacked into my computer system, so I will merely expand on what you surely already know. The planet I landed on, the peoples who helped me recover after you and Nappa left me for dead, were the Namek's. I mean just imagine my luck, to land on a planet where its inhabitants not only know how to heal the unnaturally wounded, but they protect a treasure that only in myth one would dare imagine."

With an irate growl, Vegeta snapped impatiently, "Cut the dramatics and get to the part where you stole my mate!"

"The Nameks are actually a quite gullible people, always willing to look for the best in even the most evil of creatures," Radditz continued without pause, he was not going to be interrupted from telling his proud tale of victory over his rival's oppressions. "A mentality I easily took advantage of. After slowly gaining their trust, I laid out a damning case against Freeza, offering them the chance to help me bring him down. And what better way to see to Freeza's end, of course, than by becoming the legendary myself?"

"You had to use this 'mystical dragon' to make you a Super Saiya-jin?" Vegeta could not help but snicker at the obviousness. "Of course, that explains it. A low class like you could not possibly do so without some sort of divine intervention."

Clenching his fists to the point where they turned a purplish shade of blue, Radditz forced himself to continue, ignoring his rival's insult. "However, by the time I had achieved the feat and set off to seek my revenge, you had already ascended. Embittering as my timing was, I had been far from discouraged. I began biding my time, gathering a crew of my own, as well somewhat of an impressive reputation while I waited for the opportune time to face you, when I was certain you had no hope of besting me in battle. Just my luck, the opportunity practically slapped me in the face when I learned of your mate's death. How interesting it was to learn that the little slave girl you had fallen so pathetically for had actually survived and bore a son for you. Her death was simply too perfect."

"So Trunks was right, you used the dragon that made you a Super Saiya-jin to bring Bulma back to life and erase her memory so you could fabricate some ridiculous tale about her being your mate, all for the purpose of flaunting in my face what you had and I did not?" As infuriating as the scenario was, Vegeta could not help but tip his hat to the man's ingenuity, "Brilliant plan, except for the fact that Bulma still recognized me, perhaps not from her memories, but through our bond we are eternally connected, making it impossible for you to ever have her."

"As long as you are alive, perhaps," Radditz reminded all too cleverly. "You never completed your bond to her, which means if you die, she will be free to properly mate me, the man she truly wants."

Unable to control a burst of laughter, Vegeta threw his head back in mirth. "Want you? Oh that is rich! If she wanted you so badly, then why was she writhing beneath me as I brought her to the pinnacle of ecstasy last n-" The ruler's chuckle was cut short as his larger opponent came rushing into him at a ferocious speed, jealousy fueling his every vicious attack.

"Haizan! Atae Haizan!" the infuriated Saiya-jin insisted as he landed punch after punch on his adversary before interlocking his fingers, and raising his fists up to come violently down upon Vegeta, sending the smaller man spiraling to the ground. "No more talk, we end this now!" Radditz declared as he began gathering the bulk of his ki to focus into a massive blast that would ensure his challenger's death before he had a chance to make it to his feet. "You die now, Vegeta!" He released the blast at the very moment he saw a woman run in front of his line of fire.

"Radditz, stop this!" Her vision was too weak to see that he had already released his attack. She had turned her back to him, kneeling down to his enemy, trying to revive the bastard. Damn it!

It was purely instinct and determination that had allowed his body to move fast enough to block off the attack before it had a chance to hit ground, and hold it at bay long enough for him to bark out to the much too slowly recovering Vegeta, "Get her away from here!" Before Bulma knew what was happening, Vegeta had pushed himself out of the crater his body created and with his arm snaked around her waist, they were airborne.

"Radditz!" she had cried minutes after the massive energy blast had dissipated and Vegeta finally felt it was safe enough for them to touch ground. Fighting from her possessor's grasp, she ran to the charred body of a man she had called her mate for the last year. "Radditz," she collapsed beside him, lifting his head, with once again blackened hair, to rest in her lap. "Please say something." She wiped the blood from his battered face, giving him a slight shake; she tried desperately to revive him.

"Atae," she heard the blissful sound of her name after several long coughs. "Are you… all-alright?"

"Yes, yes, of course, I am fine, oh gods, Radditz, I thought I had lost you," She clenched his head to her chest, angered she had not arrived at the battle to stop this sooner. "This is all my fault," her tears started flowing endlessly. "I should have never betrayed you, gods, if I hadn't you would have never felt the need to prove yourself-"

"I… I would have… anyway." He just barely managed to reach up to cover her lips with his bloodstained fingers. "I've be-betrayed you… I have been lying to you, Atae." He coughed, blood splattering onto her shirt as he as tried to complete his confession before it was too late. "I suppose this… This is fate's retribution for choosing my vendetta over… over you… But I…" his words were too choked; he could barely finish them as he wrapped his fingers around her soft cheek one last time, "I am… I am so sorry… I… I loved you… Bulma." His eyes had fallen shut, as if to finally admit to himself that she was not truly his, had been the final destruction of his body.

"Radditz-Radditz, no!" she dropped her face against his lifeless body, sobbing uncontrollably, for the loss of his life, and the horrid truth that had come with it, Bulma. He had called her Bulma, proving in his final words that Vegeta had been right this morning. She was another man's rightful mate.

"It is alright, woman," a masculine voice echoed in her ears as she felt two comforting arms pull her away from Radditz's corpse to securely hold her against a familiar warmth.

"This is all my fault," she sobbed as she buried her face against Vegeta's neck. "He did this because he loved me, but I… I could not love him back, because-"

"Because you love me," the dark man completed the impossible thought she barely could, "Because he lied to you, deceived you; he kept you from me, from your son. By the gods, woman, do not mourn him, you should be glad he is gone."

"Glad!" She pushed her body away violently, wiping her eyes as she forced herself to her feet. Shaking her head, she unwaveringly disagreed, "I do not care what lies he told, he is still the man who took care of me this last year, who held my hand as I nearly died in birthing, he gave me every luxury a woman and her daughter could ever want, who-my god, he gave his life to save me just now, and you want me to be glad he is dead!?" She was furious, her emotions impossible to suppress as she admitted, "He was my mate, we-my god, we have a child together! Oh, what will I ever tell Bra?"

"I do not think you have to tell her anything, I think she already knew," a young voice in the distance slowly echoed over to Bulma and Vegeta. Looking over to see her daughter in the arms of Vegeta's son, Bulma rushed half way to meet the pair, snatching her daughter from the young man as soon as their paths collided.

"Oh, my sweet baby girl," Bulma held the girl as tightly to her as she could without causing any injury. "Mommy's so sorry," she was not certain exactly what she was sorry about, but her mood was so apologetic, she could barely control the sorrow weeping from her lips.

"Are you OK, Dad?" Trunks looked the dirtied and bruised man up and down a few times to make certain he had no serious injuries. After receiving a stiff nod in reply, the boy ventured to ask. "Don't you two want to know what I found out?" He directed his question to both, yes now he was certain, of his parents.

"I am sure it is nothing new, Radditz just made a full confession to me," Vegeta chimed in before his son needed to waste his breath, "And then confirmed it before his death, to Bulma. We know for sure she is your mother." Vegeta's eyes gravitated to the woman in question. It irked him to no end that she was not in the least excited to have her rightful life back. She should be doing back flips, not lamenting actions she took while only half informed. Damn Radditz!

"I was not talking about Mom, I told you I knew all along who she was," he crossed his arms in a clearly 'I told you so' type manner. "I was talking about what I learned about Bra."

"My daughter?" the boy's news finally caught Bulma's attention, "What-What about her? She is alright, isn't she?"

"Much better by my estimation," he smiled cheek to cheek as he walked over to his mother, restraining the urge to tackle her with a hug for fear of hurting his sister. "I hope you do not mind, but I asked one of my friends in the science lab to run a paternity test on Bra."

"What?!" a simultaneous roar of outrage cried from both Vegeta and Bulma.

"Hey, do not flip out on me, until you hear the results." Trunks threw his hands up in defense, he tries to do a good deed and this is the thanks he gets! "I knew something was not right about the way Bra's been drawn to Dad, and not Radditz. So I had the test run to prove my gut instinct was right. Bra's not Radditz's daughter, she's Dad's." Bulma and Trunks both glanced over to Vegeta, mother with a wide-eyed expression, and son with a satisfied smirk. The young girl in question seemed to only reinforce her brother's discoveries as she swung her arms up and down with an openmouthed cheer.

"B-But how can that be?" Bulma whispered, at a loss for words as she looked down at her lively daughter.

"Boy, if you are lying-" Vegeta began to threaten, but Trunks stopped him quickly, insult showing all too clearly upon his face.

"Why would I lie, Dad?" Rational, he just had to give a rational explanation for his father to believe him. "I mean think about it, if Mom was pregnant when she died, then if she was brought back to life it only makes sense that the child she was carrying would be brought back too."

It was possible, of course. In the short week he had been with her after those long ten years apart, they had spent most of their time in his bedchambers, re-consummating their relationship. And, lord knows, they had been too wrapped up in one another to even consider taking any methods of birth prevention. But could it really be true? "Is it possible, Bulma?" Vegeta chose to direct the question towards the one woman who would know best. As much as he did not want to hear about whatever sex life she had shared with Radditz, he needed to know if this child was truly his.

For some time she did not answer, her head stayed plastered to her daughter, before she gathered the courage to glance over at her inquirer. Slowly pacing over to the Emperor, Bulma locked eyes with the second time father before wearily nodding her head. "A month after my 'accident,' or at least what I thought was my accident, I learned I was pregnant. I had not slept with Radditz before then, so I assumed I conceived before my amnesia, but if I was actually dead then-" She said no more, her eyes watering again, the intensity of her words hitting a hard note. After placing a protracted kiss upon her daughter's forehead, Bulma lifted Bra into Vegeta's hold. "I-I need some time alone, can you… watch her for me."

She did not wait a second after his agreement before heading back towards the castle at a hurried pace, leaving Vegeta to order his son not to follow the distressed woman. "Give her some time to digest all this. I think we all need a little bit of that." The Saiya-jin's eyes lowered to the girl in his arms. "My daughter," the concept was so foreign to him, but the feel was natural. He could kick himself for not recognizing it sooner. He felt the connection, the same one he had with Trunks when they first met, he should have known sooner, he could have saved them all much heartache. "Come, boy," Vegeta ordered as he began heading back to the castle himself. He would have to find Garock, and have him clean up the external mess that Radditz had created, while he worked on the internal damage, the damage to his family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bulma," Vegeta had been stunned to find his beautiful mate sitting nervously upon his bed, no doubt having waited anxiously for his arrival. "Is everything alright?" She had purposefully avoided him for the rest of the day following Radditz's death. As disheartening as it was that she had chosen to handle her emotions on her own, without his support, he had accepted it, not pushing for a dialogue the one time she had emerged from her room to reclaim their daughter for a bath and meal. But now it seemed she was ready to talk, he could only hope what she had to say would be less unsympathetic as their last exchange had been.

"Bra and I are both physically fine, if that is what you meant by 'alright.' Your son-Our son," she corrected herself with some awkwardness, "along with Garock, agreed to watch her tonight while we-we talk." She fumbled with her hands, unsure of what to do with them before finally resting them on her lap. Closing her eyes, her shoulders slouched as she tried desperately to calm herself.

"You want to know about your past," Vegeta made the obvious assumption as he disarmingly took a seat next to her on his bed. "Where should I begin?" He did not know how well she would handle hearing the trying tale of their past together; all the pain, anguish, the heartbreaks and defeats. It still boggled his mind to no end that by some miracle they had managed to survive so much and still find their way back to each other. "I suppose I should start with how we met, you see, your planet h-"

"I do not care to hear about my past," her disinterest was cold and precise, proving to him in a split second that it was not the ignorance of her past that had brought her here. "I came to ask that you grant clearance for Radditz's ship to depart immediately. We want to travel to Namek to-"

"Of course, Bulma, I will take you to Namek myself to see that your memories are properly restored." No wonder she did not feel the need to have her past retold in gory detail, she intended to simply restore what she had lost. "I know those people are whom you have become familiar with as of recent, but I am your true mate, I will take care of you."

"You do not understand," she shook her head, as she pressed her feet to the ground so that she could thrust herself from the bed. "I do not want to go to Namek to restore my memories; I want to go there to bring Radditz back to life."

Vegeta sat staring at her for what could have been seconds, minutes, or hours. He had no sense of time as his mind fought to comprehend her intentions. "You want to bring back to life the man who stole yours?" He too was on his feet with that note of indignation. Clasping his forearm behind his back he began pacing the room, trying to find her rationale. "He kept you from me-from your son for a fucking year, and you want to thank him by restoring his worthless life?" It made no sense; any debt she had imagined to the bastard for restoring her life should have been voided after learning of his deceit unless… Vegeta froze mid-step, his back stiffening as he twisted his head only slightly over his shoulder as he suggested, "You're in love with him."

The long break before her response answered his absurd statement louder than words ever could. "I do not know what I feel." He could practically hear her heart beating right out of her chest, the circumstances clearly no easier on her than they had been on him. "I know I am drawn to you as instinctively as our daughter is, and that I am attracted to you as though we are intimate lovers, but… But I do not remember you. I see you as a man I met just days ago, whom I had a affair with that resulted in the death of my ma-"

"Do not say it!" he spun around to stop her before he had to hear his title bestowed on another man. "He is not your mate, I am!" Grasping her arms in a firm, but painless, grip he insisted, "We did not have an affair, a properly mated man and woman can not have an 'affair' with each other! It is simply absurd!" She was not going to accept what they were to one another until she released the lies she had become accustomed to.

"I know, and I am sorry," she lowered her head as she confessed. "I am sure this last year has been hell for you and Trunks, thinking I was dead, not knowing you had a-a daughter, but it was not that way for me. Radditz took care of Bra and I. He was an amazing support through my pregnancy, and yes, I believe part of me fell in love with him, regardless of what lies he had told me, his actions spoke louder. He did not hurt me or threaten me, he was a perfect gentleman; I mean, my gods, even in a blind fury fighting you, he gave his life to save me, and though that may mean little to you, it means a great deal to me. It proved he is not all bad, and at the very least, I think deserving of a second chance."

"A second chance at life, or a second chance with you?" Vegeta barely contained his jealousy as he released her arms, his temper becoming almost too volatile to keep in check.

"Do not be absurd," his optimism that she would prove him wrong, finally denouncing the man, fleeted the minute she followed her indignant tone with the most evasive of answers, "We share two children, I would never be kept from them, or keep them from their natural father."

Vegeta laughed, a long, hard, gut wrenchingly painful laugh, "What a martyr you make yourself sound like."

"I am just trying to be honest," she was not certain why she felt the need to justify herself to this or any other man. She had been the one wronged in this situation. Why should she feel guilty for her frankness?

"You know what? I think it is an excellent idea." Vegeta nodded his head, his disposition changing from one of mockery to dead seriousness. Turning on his heel, he walked over to his private comlink and contacted Garock who shortly after appeared on the screen. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"I want you to send word to the fleet I have on Namek that I want this 'mystical dragon' to grant two wishes. I want Bulma's memories restored as well as Radditz's life. Is that clear, Garock?"

After a long series of stuttering, the elder man barely nodded, promising the orders would be made immediately. Once the screen went blank, Vegeta turned back to his mate with a weary look upon his face. "Radditz's corpse was taken to the medical wing of the castle; I will send word that you are to be granted private access to him." He then walked past her and opened the door of his room.

"You are kicking me out?" She raised a confused brow as she followed him to the door.

"No, Bulma, I am giving you the chance to decide what you really want." He clenched his fingers tightly around the doorframe as he held it steady. "Within the hour you will have more than just transitory feelings for me; you will remember everything we shared. But I do not want you because of what our past held; I want you because of what you will know our future will bring. I want you to be of unbiased mind when you decide what-or whom it is that you want. And once you do that, I want you to tell me what you have chosen. Not because of your children or any obligations you feel you have acquired this year, I want you to come back, look me in the eye, and tell me what you want. If you can do that, without hesitation, I can abide by whatever choice you make."

With a half smile, Bulma nodded her head as she circled in front of him to exit the room. She stopped just outside of his door in amused recognition of what she believed his motives for doing this were, "So you are that confident. You will allow a man you perceive as your rival to be brought back to life just to prove to me you are the man I really want."

With a forced smile, Vegeta shook his head. "Quite the contrary," he lifted his eyes to glance one final time at his mate without any recollection of him. "I need you to prove to me that the last twelve years of my life have not been an illusion."

The door closed, not to open again until he had the answer that would guide the remainder of his life into either its first true peace, or prove what he had always feared most about their relationship, that the trappings of life, first Freeza's enslavement, then her impromptu motherhood, and finally her early death by Cooler, had cornered her lonesome emotions to rest without choice upon him.

May the gods help him if she returned only to prove his most private fear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Translations: Kyousou Netoru - Contest to Steal Another's Mate

Imaima - Right Now

Mononisuru - To Take Possession of

Haizan - Mine

Author's Note: Ah, so the truth is all out in the open! But will Vegeta's determination to have Bulma without out any indecision cost them everything? Can their love endure this final test? Well, you will all just have to wait until the conclusion of Surviving Together: Retribution to find out…