Disclaimer: I only knew the dub version when I saw this ^^ Hence
Zarbon still managing to hold onto his guts….



Chapter 2
     
"I'm a survivor, I'm not gonna give up
I'm not gonna stop, I'm gonna work harder
I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it
I will survive, keep on surviving."    Destiny's Child - `Survivor'

Twenty-eight years later…

      Night had begun to fall on Planet Konack; children had been
taken indoors, animals were tucked away and most people had settled
themselves down. All except one. At the edge of the forest outside
town, a pale skinned youth sat in a tree, legs stretching along his
branch of choice.

      Indira gave a long, melodramatic sigh. He was twenty-four
years old and the strongest person on this planet yet he let his
mother boss him about like… like her kid. Not only that, she wasn't
even his real mother…

      He snorted to himself. She had raised him and loved him
exactly like his two brothers, which made her as much his mother as
the woman who had birthed him.

      He gave another sigh, and flicked his tail, causing a few
small branches to snap off.

      "HEY!"

      Indira started slightly and looked down to where his elder
brother Tapion was looking up at him, seemingly peeved. Seeing this,
Indira posted a look of shock on his pale face and looked up.

      "Damn birds! No bloody manners!"

      After this practiced outburst, he chanced a look down to see
Tapion had folded his arms across his chest and was still pretty
annoyed. However, on closer examination of the pale features he could
see the humour beneath.

      "What are you doing out here?"

      "Mother sent me, you're behind in your studies," Tapion
shouted up with a grin. Being a fighter meant that he didn't have to
bother with any of that.

      "Yeah, I know, but I don't wanna go back just yet!"

      Tapion regarded his younger brother for a moment, and then
floated up to sit on a branch next to him.

      "What's wrong?"

      "Nothing," Indira grumbled. "Why do you think anything's
wrong?"

      "Because, these ears are this big for a reason you know. I
could hear you sighing like an old lady with grandchildren staying
over as I walked over here! So tell me!"

      "Well, I just keep wondering about my real parents, I love it
here and all, don't get me wrong, but I can't help wondering."

      Tapion said nothing and waited for the question he knew was
going to come soon.
"Can you tell me about how you found me again?"

      This time it was Tapion's turn to give the long, drawn out
sigh. As Indira turned to face him, the Konackjin hesitated for a
moment. He let the thoughts roll around in his head for a little
while, ignoring the questioning look from his younger brother.

      "OK, I was coming home from working out, when I saw a space
shuttle pass overhead and land nearby. I thought it might have been a
threat or something so I went to investigate. When I arrived, I hid
behind a tree to watch what happened and the shuttle opened up,
revealing a man holding a child – you.

      Then, when I was about to walk out and ask him his business,
he aimed an energy gun on his wrist at you. I couldn't let him kill a
child so I just ran out with my sword and attacked; I managed to kill
him before he could respond.

Then I looked down and there you were, staring at me."

      "What did you think when you first saw me?"

      "You want the nice answer or the truth?" Tapion asked with a
grin.

      "Truth." Indira said seriously, letting the joke pass him by
for a moment.

      "Ok, I was thinking how strange you looked. I recognised
straight away that you were part Saiyajin, you've got the very…" He
paused, thinking of the right word. "Distinctive hair, but your eyes
and tail threw me; I've never seen or heard of a Saiyajin with red
eyes, or a furless tail for that matter."

      Indira just nodded at this, he'd heard it all before. He
still continued to harass Tapion for it though, in the hopes that
hearing it over and over again he would be able to pick up some of
his past.

      "And the guy with me definitely wasn't a parent?"

      "No, definitely not, he was a completely different race
altogether."

      "Ah, what about changelings? That's what those scientists
said I was part of right?"

      Tapion nodded. "I don't know much about them really. They're
really strong and agile, that's about it."

      "Right."

      Both the men sat in silence, until a clearly annoyed voice
sounded from below.

      "Tapion! Indira! Mum said to get back home now! Dinner's
ready and mine's going cold thanks to you!" Minoshia shouted as he
looked up the tree to see his brothers staring down at him.

~*~*~*~*~

"You think that I'm strong,
You're wrong, you're wrong."    Robbie Williams - `Strong'

      "We are nearing Planet Konack, wake up, Zarbon."

      Zarbon mumbled something to himself as his forced his eyes
open. He stretched his limbs as best he could in the small pod while
he looked at the planet in front of him. So this was the place his
mother had spoken of.

      When Frieza first began his reign over the galaxies, Zarbon's
race had been one of the first ones targeted. The men had agreed an
alliance with the tyrant; their race had been a strong one, even if
they hadn't been fight inclined like the Saiyajin.

Many of the women on his planet had objected, they, quite rightly,
didn't trust Frieza, and many had left soon after the pact had been
formed, leaving for another world, safe from the changeling's grasp.
The majority of women in his race had been able to claim varying
levels of ESP; however, none were ever trusted in important matters,
their abilities in anything being put as second to those of the men.

Soon after, Frieza had found a new use in the Saiyajin, his own race
having become second best. Something the changeling didn't like
keeping around.

His planet had been destroyed soon after, only a few of his race
making it out alive.

His mother had told him the name of the planet before she left and
its approximate coordinates, telling him to escape Frieza as soon as
he could. He had listened and mentally stored away the information,
repeating it to himself each night before sleep took him.

      He leant his head back against the headrest and wondered what
it would be like. He'd been searching for this planet for years and
was glad Frieza hadn't had the chance to destroy it.

      Zarbon shook his head; it was twenty three years since a
Saiyajin had killed Frieza, and he still couldn't believe it. Of
course everyone thought he had died after Vegeta threw him into the
water, when in truth he had waited until everyone had left then
sneaked out and took Kui's space pod away from the planet.

      While he mused over these thoughts, his ship entered the
atmosphere and hurled towards the ground. Zarbon braced himself for
the impact, not expecting it when his pod struck the edge of a cliff,
the crash through the rock causing him to hit his head on the rim of
the window.

      As it fell towards the ground, darkness claimed him.

*~*~*~*~*


      The first thing to spring to mind as he awoke was the pain
jabbing though his skill. He blinked his eyes open as his hand moved
up to rub the sore patch on his forehead. The light prevented him
from opening his eyes fully, but there was a familiar shadow in front
of him…

      "Are you okay?"

      Zarbon pushed himself up, glad of the man's assistance, and
sat still for a moment while the wave of dizziness passed.

      He started blinking, clearing his eyes, and then turned to
the stranger.

      As he opened his mouth, he froze. An almost familiar pair of
red eyes were looking at him. Zarbon almost passed out in shock,
until he saw the difference. These eyes were curious not malicious,
then he looked at the rest of the man he was sat in front of. Dark
spiky hair, pale skin, not particularly tall but muscular, and the
tail, part of which was holding him up was long and thicker than any
Saiyajin tail.

      So this is what had happened to him.


*~*~*~*~*


      Indira was beginning to get nervous, this guy was staring at
him like he was going to grow fangs and attack him. He sat in
silence, trying to look as unthreatening as possible, a nervous bead
of sweat slipping down the man's temple, his breath coming in short,
fast pants.

      Eventually there was a reaction, but not the one he expected.

      "Ahhhhh!" the pale skinned man pointed at him and started
backing away, eyes wide in terror.

      "What?!" Indira quickly spun around to look for danger,
seeing none; he turned back to the frightened man and promptly tried
to make himself look small again. "I'm not going to hurt you, if
that's what you're thinking…" He said quietly.

      "You're… How…" The strange man shook his head, blinking in
confusion as he processed what he had just been told.

      "I'm…How what…?" Indira asked, even more confused than
before.

      "Frieza's son…"

      Indira's eyes widened in shock, his own breathing speeding
up, heart pounding as the man's words ran through his mind.

      "You know my parents?!" He squeaked, voice hitting several
new notes in surprise.

      Zarbon nodded, feeling especially confused. Frieza and Vegeta
were this kids parents yet he wasn't violent at all. Not that he was
complaining about it, far from, it was just…surprising.

      They sat in silence for a while, both mulling over their
thoughts, until something occurred to Indira.

      "You need to have that cut on your head seen to, here, you
can come back to my home. My mum can see to it…" He offered his hand
to Zarbon and helped him up, holding him steady as a spell of
dizziness almost sent the taller man sprawling to his feet.

      "What's your name?" Indira asked, starting off towards his
home, keeping an eye out for any further unsteadiness.

      "Zarbon, you?" Zarbon replied, noting the fact that the other
man was even smaller than either of his parents, or the same size as
Frieza at the most.

      "Indira."

*~*~*~*~*

      The houses on this planet were all made of a golden brown
stone, despite this the insides were still elaborately furnished,
much of the furniture made with wood and draped in various coloured
materials.

      The kitchen was no different, a deep green cloth covering the
table, with pottery of a paler shade decorating the room. The family
and their guest sat around the table eating in silence, Zarbon's
stomach grumbling it's appreciation of the meal every few minutes.

      Zarbon had been cleaned up and invited to eat, being as he
was "too skinny for someone of your race" according to Hera, the
woman who obviously ran the household with an iron clad fist, and the
mother of the three men.

      He chanced a look at Indira as he ate; the smaller man was
eating, but stopped every so often to frown at his food. Every now
and then he would look up and watch Zarbon for about a minute, before
going back to his food and repeating it all over again.

      "Indira! Stop irritating our guest and eat your food!"

      Zarbon's head snapped up as Hera scolded Indira, much to the
amusement of Tapion and Minoshia. He smiled slightly, Indira was in
his late twenties, and the other two looked even older, and they were
still at home with their mother.

      "Sorry mum," Indira mumbled. He was silently trying to will
everyone to eat faster so he could ask about his parents. Questioning
Zarbon while he ate and recuperated had been forbidden.

      Tapion and Minoshia were both eating much slower than normal,
probably to annoy him since he could see them both trying not to
laugh. Seeing this he made a mental note to beat on them in a very
nasty manner at their next training session.

      Everyone was shook out of their musings once again as Hera
scolded her two biological sons for taking too long and letting their
food go cold. This time it was Indira's turn to snigger, much to the
pouty disgust of his two brothers.

      While the pots were being cleared away, Hera had to leave for
an hour or so for chores, leaving the men to themselves. Tapion had
let Indira off with clean up duty and had talked Minoshia into it
instead. So they both stood at the sink washing and drying the dishes
while Zarbon and Indira stayed at the table, sitting in silence for a
while as the younger man attempted to find the right words to voice
his questions.

      After a few minutes this went straight out the window.

      "Tell me about my parents!"

      Zarbon started, expected questioning, but not in the form
that could be likened to a balloon exploding.

      "Alright, your father was Frieza, he was the strongest man in
the universe, and I used to work for him. He worked in the planet
trade, he had his henchmen clear planets of their races so that it
could be sold and was killed about twenty-four years ago by a Super
Saiyajin."

      Indira listened in shock, eyes wide as he heard the blunt
truth about his sire.

      "His race was changeling, able to change forms at will, each
stronger than the last. His least powerful form had strength greater
than most beings could imagine, his strongest I can't even
comprehend," Zarbon's eyes glazed over slightly, mind skimming over a
few of his more unpleasant memories before jolting back to the
present.

      Indira nodded, a heavy feeling in his chest.

      "What about my mother, what was she like?" he asked in a
quiet voice.

      "Frieza made me tell your mother that he had killed you. He
didn't want you to become a threat to him, but since you were so
strong he thought it would be a waste to kill you. As for how you got
here, I think you were stolen to be killed. Frieza had just been
killed too; I think the men were scared you would grow up to be like
him."

      The younger man nodded again, soaking up all this information.

      "So what was she like?"

      "He."

      Indira blinked. "Excuse me?"

      "Your mother was a man, a Saiyajin. Their males are able to
bear children, so he is your mother."

      He blinked again. "Oh. So, what was HE like?"

      "Saiyajin royalty, Prince Vegeta, he was…"

      Zarbon's sentence was interrupted by a crash as a plate hit
the floor.     

Both men turned to look in the direction of the noise near the sink,
where Tapion was staring at them with his eyes as wide as they could
possibly go without popping out of their sockets.

      "Vegeta…is his mother?" Tapion sputtered.

      Zarbon nodded and raised an eyebrow. "You know him?"

      "Yes, he's on a planet called Earth! I fought alongside him
and the other people there when I was in some trouble a while ago,
before Indira arrived."

      "I thought he was dead!" Zarbon near-yelled, his eyes also
widening in shock.

      Indira watched the exchange with wide eyes and a mouth open
in shock, his brain shutting down as it collected all the information
being traded.

      "Well evidently not - he was alive and kicking when I last
saw him!" Tapion countered.

      Indira's mind slowly began ticking again processing the
information he was hearing. Tapion knew his mother? He'd known that
he'd gone away for a while and had ended up fighting alongside some
Saiyajin, that's why he knew what they looked like. But that he
actually knew his mother??

      While the two men continued talking, Indira shook his head to
clear it out a bit. His mother was alive, and on another planet. Safe.

      _`But will he want to see me?'_