Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The King and Queen Diaries ❯ Shinjun ( Chapter 20 )

Author's Note: Yay another chapter! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I figured I'd be nice and post the next chapter pretty quick for all you nice people who reviewed hehe.

Chapter Twenty: Shinjun (Infiltration)

Neither Brolli nor the Queen of the Saiya-jins awoke early that morning as they had planned. Bardock and Turles stood guard outside of their monarch's tent, mutually knowing that Brolli was in there. Both men kept silent as they guarded the sleeping pair, making sure that they were not disturbed.

They knew, without even talking, that there was something going on between the two. Whether it was proper or not they did not care...they both only wanted the Queen's happiness, but they were smart enough to know that rumors did not need spread around.

When it was nearing early afternoon, Brolli magically appeared beside them, dressed in his armor and his arm in a sling. He had not stepped out from the front of the tent, so they could only guess that he had crawled from underneath the back to escape unnoticed.

They both shook their heads, looking like twins their features were so similar. “Is the Queen awake?” Bardock asked, quirking his eyebrow at his young friend. Brolli smiled, perhaps too brightly.

“Yes. She is readying herself now. She asked me to let you know that the camp can start being broken down. We have time to make up for.”

That meant that the Queen would be setting a grueling pace.

The rest of the day was a blur until that night, when they were finally traveling through the deep woods. The men had retrieved the items left in the forest from the night before, and both Brolli and Bulma were happy to have their swords strapped to their sides once more.

Bulma did not talk about what had happened. She kept silent, but near Brolli, which comforted them both. Brolli wondered if her mind refused to acknowledge whatever had happened, but did not think long on it.

The next few days were pretty much the same. Brolli stayed with her at night, relieved her of her pain, and to keep her company. They developed a routine quickly. Brolli found himself longing for the night to come almost as soon as they awoke, for as soon as they were awake and going on about their day, she was the Queen of the Saiya-jins. At night, she was Bulma, his everything.

They did not kiss again, but they held each other at night. They talked a lot, especially about their past lives. Bulma spoke mostly of Vegeta, and he spoke mostly of his daughters. They learned much about each other that they had not known, and they found themselves smiling more often throughout the day as they unconsciously thought of one another.

Bulma's health began improving noticeably within the first few days they were traveling. Brolli made sure that she had nourishing food for herself and the babes, and kept her well hydrated. He massaged her back every night before they went to bed, and let her rest against him to absorb his heat and for the pure relaxation of it. Her skin began to glow and she walked straighter and taller, and her energy went back to normal. She was quick to laugh and help her men once more, and everyone was all the better for it. The entire atmosphere of the army changed, just because their Queen was back to herself.

Bulma herself noticed the change. She began reflecting upon why, and the only answer she could come up with was Brolli. He had truly done so much for her, and his smile made everything seem alright. She caught herself thinking of him often, more often than she should have thought of him if was only just her advisor or friend. Every day she found herself near him, wanting to be close to him in ways that she could not. The most she could do was stand near him and talk to him. Only at night was she able to be close to him the way she longed for.

However much she found herself yearning for his closeness, she could not find it in herself to breach the next step. Every time she thought of kissing him again, thoughts of Vegeta would enter her mind and she felt horrid about herself. She had tried talking to Brolli about it, but had failed miserably. The words had seemed to stick to her tongue, and the only thing he had been able to do was brush her hair away from her face, smile gently, and say, “It takes time.”

The words meant a lot to her. To her, it had seemed like he had been saying, “It takes time...but I will wait for you.”

Her feelings for Brolli were no longer on the friendship level, she knew that. But she was not willing or ready to take the next step. The death of her mate was too close to her heart, and beneath her heart nestled his children. She knew that above all, she had to bring their children forth into a world that was war-free. However much she wanted to try to go on with her life, she had to stay where she was to protect herself and her planet.

The unknown stretched before her as they neared Versai. The scout reports were not as detailed as she wished, and she felt frustration assail her. She wanted to rush into the capital city and declare to all before her that she would not be defeated. Her army had swollen to enormous numbers, and she felt the confidence and strength that she had longed for during this war. However much she worried about what Vegeta would think of her right now, she knew that he would be so proud of her for what she had done to try to save their world.

They encountered two skirmishes on their way to Versai, both of them in two larger towns that the invaders had taken over. The Saiya-jins living in the towns had fought literally to the death, and very few were left over by the time her army arrived to save them. Without hesitation, Bulma had ordered the immediate death of all enemies. She had watched as their heads had been severed from their bodies with calm acceptance. Every time she observed the deaths of their foes, she had felt one step closer to victory. She held it close to her heart, knowing that when the end came, she would be able to find the penance she was longing for.

She knew that she would be able to kneel down and proclaim to her dead mate, her king, her lover...that she had won. That she had saved their planet, and that their children would be safe.

And only then would she be able to rest.

The two towns that had been nearly destroyed by the white creatures were so utterly devastated that the small population left over was unable to stay. Bulma found herself having to take on refugees in order to feed and protect them. There were women and old men even willing to join their ranks, and Bulma ordered swords and armor for them. All of the children had been killed, and it weighed heavily on her soul as she watched the women mourn the deaths of their families. The only thing she was able to do was give them something to do and live for...just like she had with Brolli.

When they reached the forest that surrounded Versai, Bulma figured she was eight months along in her pregnancy. Anausians women only carried their children for ten months, and Saiya-jin women carried theirs for a year and a half, so her guess of carrying her children for a little over a year was coming closer. Everything was up in the air and unknown though, so she was afraid that during a crucial moment in the war, she would go into labor.

Right now was a crucial moment, and she rubbed her belly and spoke to her children nestled inside her, crooning to them to be patient. If she gave birth now, her babes would be extremely early and she knew that the chance of them surviving would be low. If her children did not survive, then the Vegeta line would die out. She promised herself that would never happen.

It was early in the morning when they finally halted on the edge of the forest that surrounded Versai. Smoke was billowing from all over the city, but it seemed like it was coming from the homes and businesses. Some of the buildings looked like they had been destroyed, and part of the palace looked to have been bombed. Very little damage seemed to be done to the ancient stone walls that surrounded the palace and city however, and Bulma found herself itching to enter the city to see what was wrong and why something seemed off. Every other city, town, and village they had encountered besides Tibernoa had been almost wiped off the face of Vegeta-sei.

Bardock, Turles, Brolli, and Yamcha stood next to her as she stared at the city. They discussed an all-out assault or subtle infiltration. The scouts that she had been sending ahead had been able to discover little more than what they knew now.

Bulma ordered her army to set up camp deep into the forest and not to start any fires unless it was at night and only if the wind wasn't blowing in a northerly direction. The men knew without the words being said that they were to be silent and stealthy. As far as the Queen knew, they were undetected as of the current moment, and she wanted to keep it that way.

As the suns began to rise, Bulma noticed the white aliens patrolling outside of the gates and along the tops of the walls. They carried their strange weapons, but they no longer scared Bulma or her army. They knew how they worked now, for they had recovered the enemy's weapons themselves and knew how to use them. They would be using their weapons against them just like they had at Tibernoa.

Yamcha excused himself when the suns reached late morning. Bulma felt it odd that he was leaving at such a crucial point in their discussion, but shrugged. The three men with her had carried on without him before, and they would do so now.

“We know too little to be able to storm the city. We must have spies infiltrate to find out more information. I need to know everything. Under the cover of darkness, a select few men will go into the city and find out what we need to know. Numbers, places, strongholds. We need to know if there are any Saiya-jins still alive or if they are hostages. We need to find out if there is anything that we can work to our advantage.”

The men nodded around her, and they began discussing who would enter the city that night. Bulma felt her thoughts drifting as she considered the palace and the people she had left behind that she cared about, like Nana and all her ladies in waiting. Were they still alive? What about Chichi and Kakarott? She knew that they had a child now, was he alive as well? What about Ucukusii and Warui, her and Vegeta's horses? She drew in a deep breath, feeling something shrivel in her chest at the thought of those two beautiful creatures being dead. When Ucukusii had nearly been put down, she had felt like she was going to die inside. Even now Bulma felt the same love for her horse that she had then. She prayed that her stallion was still alive. She wanted everyone to be safe, and she felt like she was the only one that could make sure of that.

“I want to infiltrate the palace.”

The men stopped their discussion as if they hadn't even been talking and she hadn't interrupted them. They stared at her, and then all three at the same time said fiercely, “No.”

She glared and placed her hands on her hips. “Yes! I am the only one who knows the secret passageways and the hiding spots. I am the only one who will know what to look for in the palace. I can‒”

Brolli stepped forward, fear showing clearly on his features. His arm was no longer in a makeshift sling, but it still ached. Much of the movement was back, but he tried to let the appendage rest as much as possible. Now, he placed both hands on her shoulders, uncaring about the pain.

“You are too far along in your pregnancy to...to be as stealthy as you could be. You would‒”

She jerked away, anger filtering across her pale face. She ignored the hurt that flashed in his dark eyes. “How dare you. All three of you dare to presume that you can order me, the Queen of the Saiya-jins, not to go into her palace? You dare, Lord Brolli, to say that I am basically too fat to move fast enough? I bet that under the cover of darkness, that all three of you would not be able to find me. I have had the best training of all three of you combined. I know secrets and ancient skills that have nearly been forgotten. Queen Hokora herself made sure that I was better trained than her son.”

All of them were silent. She drew in a deep breath and composed herself, her queenly aura returning as if she had not divested it moments before. “I shall go and that is it, my lords. I will not put myself in harm's way if that is what you are concerned about.”

She saw the devastated look on Brolli's face and tried to ignore it. Besides the trio before her, the only other person who would have told her no was Vegeta. She wondered if she would have listened to him.

Probably not.

**********

When nighttime fell, Bulma was ready. She had divested herself of her armor and was clothed in her dark blue suit and black riding boots. Her hands were covered in black, soft leather gloves, and a black cloth was wrapped around her face. Only her bright blue eyes were visible.

Brolli was silent when she strapped her weapons on and several other items. Bardock and Turles spoke softly to her, giving her tips and ideas. She nodded every so often to acknowledge them as they too prepared.

Bardock and Turles were going to be two of the five men that were going to be entering the town under the cover of darkness. Brolli had wanted to go, she had seen it in his black eyes, but his arm was still not strong enough. She had fought the urge to comfort him. She knew that he felt insufficient, much like she often did when she was told she could not do something because of her pregnancy.

She could tell that he wanted to talk to her before she left. She wondered if it was a good idea. He could very well try to sway her decision to go if he said the right words. Undoubtedly he would say something about her unborn children.

The group of six gathered the last of their weapons before they left. She saw the panicked look on Brolli's face as she began walking away, and she had to close her eyes against the feeling of her heart and gut clenching. It almost made her feel physically ill to see that look on his face.

She forced herself to look away and fight the tears in her eyes.

She would return to him. She just had to.

**********

They separated as soon as they reached the edge of the tree line. All six of them felt exposed as the cover of trees disappeared. The land was entirely open because most of it was for farming or holding fairs or gatherings of all kinds. Only a tree here and there could be offered for cover, but Bulma did not feel the need to use them.

Out of the six of them, she knew that she was the most trained. She had never put into practice this type of skill, but she felt her teachings rear to the forefront of her mind as she crouched low to the ground and ran as fast as she could, blending into the shadows. Most of the men behind her crawled on their bellies through the brush, but were soon following after her. She noticed that Bardock and Turles stayed within fifty feet of her, but she ignored them. She would show them all, the bastards.

She was the first to reach the wall. Pulling out the long rope and the pronged catcher at the end, she swirled it quickly in a circle to gain momentum and then tossed it up and over as high as she could. Looking around quickly enough to make sure she was undetected, she began climbing the rope, straining muscles that had not been used in a long time.

Once she was up and over the wall, she ducked down low and began running the length of the stone structure. It was almost eerily quiet, but they quickly came upon a group of three of the white aliens. They had decided beforehand that it would be better to not kill anyone to ensure that they were left entirely undetected, so they skirted around them unnoticed.

They separated once more as they reached a fork in the road. Each of them had their own objectives and orders they had to carry out, so there was no hesitation when it came time to split.

Bulma had the longest and most deadly distance to cross. She knew the palace like the back of her hand, and she did not falter in her step as she found secret passageways and entrances that only royalty knew about for when the time came to escape. She remembered when Vegeta had shown her...it seemed like so long ago....

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. Keep your mind clear, Bulma.

The hidden doorway underneath the ancient vines was difficult to open, but she finally managed after hacking away some of the vines with Vegeta's deadly, long knife. Once she was through the stone walls surrounding the palace, it was easy to enter the palace. The closest secret doorway was in the stables, and it was almost convenient that she wanted to go there in the first place. Never mind that she was deviating from the original plan. No one had to know.

Once she was inside, she noticed immediately that almost every stall was filled. Apparently the invaders either didn't ride horses or didn't see the need to release them.

For being absent nearly a year, Bulma had to give credit to Ucukusii. The horse let out a soft snort before he even saw his mistress. She squeezed through the stall door without it creaking, and the well trained horse somehow managed not to dance around in his excitement upon seeing his long absent rider.

Bulma hugged him and petted him for as long as she dared. She felt tears spring to her eyes as she felt the warmth and softness of his skin and fur. He looked like he was malnourished, for his ribs were starting to show. All of the hay in his stall was missing, and Bulma felt anger grow inside her that these aliens were starving her horse.

“I will get you out of here, Ucukusii. I will be back, I promise.” The horse whinnied quietly as she left his side and closed the door.

When Bulma approached Warui, Vegeta's magnificent warhorse, she felt her throat nearly close with emotion. His pitch black ears perked up instantly at the sight of her, and she opened his door to get a closer look at him.

Warui was much more hyper at seeing her than Ucukusii. He began snorting and stomping his enormous hooves all over the place, and Bulma had to fight the urge to laugh as she quickly calmed him by placing her hand over his nose. He blew loudly onto her hand, and she stroked him soothingly to let him know how much she had missed him.

She promised him as well that she would be back. When she tried to leave, he nearly followed her out of the stall. She had to bite her lip to prevent herself from laughing again. She wanted to scold him, but she could understand why he was so excited.

Once she left the stables, she quickly made her way to the royal suites via hidden passageways. Only a few servants and royalty knew about them, and she was unseen the entire time. Some of the passages were partially crumbled, almost as if the palace had been attacked. Now that she thought of it, everything did seem to be coated in a thin layer of white plaster from the ceilings. It must have been from when the one wing of the palace had been bombed.

When she emerged from behind a curtain, she found the hallway empty. She immediately snuck through the first doorway, which was Vegeta's.

Upon entering his room, she felt emotions she hadn't felt in a long time assault her. Looking at his empty bed, she felt tears gather in her eyes and fall without hesitation. The cloth covering her face absorbed the salty liquid, so she felt free to cry as much as she wanted.

She walked to the bed and kneeled close enough to it so that she could clutch the blankets covering it. She remembered when Vegeta had completely refurnished his dark and somber room to please her. It hurt her so much...knowing that Vegeta would never see this room again, that he would never lie in this bed with her again.

She had to leave before she was unable to. Every ounce of her being fought with her as she tearfully left his room and entered her own through the side door. The room, unlike Vegeta's, was utterly trashed. She almost gasped aloud at the sight, for everything was broken and torn down. All the time that she had spent making this room her own, and it was all destroyed.

And sitting dejectedly in all the destruction, was her old nanny.

Bulma gasped in disbelief as she dove against the old woman. At first she fought against her, landing several good blows, before Bulma tore the cover from her face and attempted to quiet her.

“Nana, it is me.”

The aging woman instantly sobbed and clutched her to her bosom like she was a little girl again. Bulma felt the tears return as they hugged fiercely. They both had so much to say, but they were unable to say the words they needed to.

They held each other for a long time before they separated. Once they did, they were both nearly startled out of their skin.

“Your Highness.”

A dagger nearly found its way into Bardock's throat. The man had to grab Bulma's arms to keep her from embedding the blade into his body. Once she realized who it was, she nearly beat him to death anyhow.

“Bardock! What are you doing here!” she said as loudly as she dared, and punctuating the end with a punch to his chest. He barely noticed it. She snorted as she resheathed the dagger on her thigh.

“Once I searched the perimeter as ordered, I felt the need to come after you. I couldn't stand that you were left unprotected, your Majesty.”

Bulma wanted to be mad, she truly did. But she found herself softening, and she only hit him one more time for good measure.

“I will kill you later,” she murmured, a smile on her face. He nodded as if he accepted his death sentence.

They did not get a chance to talk very long before Bardock told her to finish her mission and that he would watch her old nanny. Bulma told him without hesitation that she would be coming back with them, along with two of the horses in the stable. Some horses and an old woman would not be missed. Hopefully.

Bulma left shortly afterward, wanting to continue her search.

Soon after she left, Bardock followed the old woman through several more rooms and into a smaller and less luxurious room. He figured that with her familiarity with the room, that it was hers.

“She is in trouble.”

Bardock looked at the aging Anausian woman and stared at her hard with narrowed eyes. The situation was precarious, but this had caught his attention. “What do you mean, `she is in trouble'? Is something going to happen to her?”

She was shoving as many medicinal supplies as she could fit into her large valise as quickly as possible. He could tell that she was just trying to be prepared for anything that may happen to the Queen.

“When Anausian women become pregnant, my lord, they are different than most races. The Queen's pregnancy is already going to be unpredictable because the father is Saiya-jin.”

Bardock handed her a large bottle of white cream that was labeled “pain relief”. She shoved it into the bag. “What does that mean? What are you trying to say?”

She bit her aging, colorless lips, and sighed as she placed her hand on her wrinkled forehead. Her whole body looked ten times older than what it really was. “When Anausian women go into labor, my lord, they go into labor for several days. It is a slow, very painful, very agonizing process. Even with the technology that they have, the women still sometimes die. And with the situation we are in, her highness is going to be having a labor with little to no help at all. She is going to have to do it as natural as her foremothers did hundreds of years ago.”

Bardock felt the blood drain from his face. Their situation was indeed very bad. They had no idea where they were going to be the moment she went into labor, and they had no way of telling of when she would, considering that the children were going to be half Anausian and half Saiya-jin. Saiya-jins carried longer than Anausians...it could be at any time.

“Is she going to be able to handle giving birth to twins?”

The older woman jerked around from her task. “She is with twins?” she whispered, so quietly that Bardock strained to hear her.

“Yes,” he said simply, not understanding why she suddenly looked ill. He hurried over to her side when her knees buckled and she started to fall. He caught her and helped her sit on the bed next to the valise, clothing and supplies strewn about her.

“She is going to die.”

Bardock jerked his hands away from her when she uttered those words.

“What do you mean?” he said harshly, perhaps too harshly, but he did not care. “Why is she going to die?”

She looked faint. He understood why. She had been raising the Queen since she had been born. He knew they had an attachment, one that was almost like a mother and daughter bond.

“My lord, how do you expect her to survive twins, when she is going to have no help at all? I told you that Anausian women need the aid of technology and medicine in order to survive a single child! Our race had dwindled down to mere thousands before they acquired the technology to aid a woman in the birthing process. Why do you think we have no army? We cannot afford to lose our men for another hundred years! That is why we rely solely on technology!”

Bardock started pacing back and forth across the plaster-dusted carpet. The bombs had shaken the palace's very foundation, and had caused plaster to fall from the ceiling in the part of the palace that was still accessible.

“She will be fine,” he said determinedly, sure of himself. “She is very strong, stronger than even a Saiya-jin woman, in both body and soul. She would not let herself die from something as trivial as giving life.”

The old woman gazed at him with sorrow-filled eyes. “We will see.”

**********

Author's Note: Mwahahaha, review!