Strange New World
by KC
Gk/V, Gt/Tr, Pi/Gh

Part 4

A bundle of ki burst from of the castle, skimming over the desert and
sending up plumes of sand. Raditz woke up and turned his head to look
out his window. He couldn't see who it was but Vegeta had taught him
how to feel ki, and it felt like his prince. He sat up and felt again
to be sure. His charge should have been in the room across from his
own. But that room was empty, and Vegeta's ki fading into the
distance. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood.
Though he didn't want to take off in his sleep wear, a loose shirt
and a baggy pair of pants, there was no time to dress properly. He
stumbled to the window and flew after him. Vegeta was too close,
flying like this too dangerous. He shook his hair back over his
shoulders. Perhaps closer than he'd thought. He flew faster.

After a few miles, Vegeta's flight slowed and he dipped closer to the
ground. He finally landed and began to walk, his arms wrapped around
his stomach. The Jakek caves stood before him, but with the first sun
still beneath the horizon, they were more shadows and hints of light.
He stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"Raditz," he said.

The bodyguard touched ground behind him, eyes wide. "My prince."

"You said you knew these caves."

"Yes, I do." He glanced at Vegeta's stomach. The prince was farther
than any of them had thought. "The top caves are the safest."

Vegeta nodded once. He closed his eyes and breathed deep. Raditz's
hands moved around him, picking him up and cradling him. Warm wind
enveloped him, and when he looked up again, he found shadows and damp
stone lit only by the small entrance several yards away.

"The castle would be easier for you," Raditz said, putting Vegeta
down. His voice echoed through the rest of the cave.

"It's warm here," Vegeta said. He sat on a sandy patch and leaned
against the smooth rock. "Better than usual."

Raditz sighed and cracked his knuckles, looking as if they'd
practiced this maneuver over and over. "Are you ready?"

Vegeta nodded. He pulled his top off and tossed it nearby, then lay
his claws over his stomach and breathed deep. He made the cut slowly,
slashing the skin with careful precision as the scent of his blood
filled the air around him. Raditz put one hand on Vegeta's, steadying
the cut. Halfway through, the prince closed his eyes and let his
brother guide his hand.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" Raditz whispered.

"Yes." Vegeta focused on his voice so that when he spoke, his own
voice wasn't so strained. "Jalen."

"I recognize that," Raditz said. "From our old language...change to
positive, something like that."

"Yes. Something like that."

*

The king's eyes opened. At first he thought the cold air had roused
him like every other morning, or that Bardock had rolled out of the
bed again. But his mate slept nearly on top of him, squashing him,
and with a grunt he pushed him off. Bardock rolled onto his other
side and kept snoring. There were no explosions or screams outside,
no black shadow coming closer, but still, something was wrong. He
stood up and dressed, fixing the clasps on his cape as he walked out
of his chambers.

He stopped.

Vegeta was gone. So was Raditz. He didn't have to check their rooms
but he did anyway. Both were empty. The lack of blood was only a
passing comfort, and he flew out of Vegeta's window down to the
nursery, sitting on the windowsill and peering inside. The oversized
bed, the crib, the low tables and cushions and the hot spring with
steps built into the sides, all ready for the prince and his child.
But empty.

"Where are you?" he whispered. He flew back to the top of the palace
and scanned the city. The first sun glimmered on the horizon, its
edge a golden sparkle on the white city.

"What's wrong?"

The king whirled and found his son's mate behind him, standing on the
roof as if he'd been there the whole night. He narrowed his eyes as
him and flipped his cape back over one shoulder. "'Geta's gone. So's
Raditz."

"I know. They're over that way somewhere," he said, waving out over
the grasslands. "They left a little while ago."

"What? Where'd they go?"

"I dunno. I didn't see them go and..." Goku scratched the back of his
head and sighed. His shoulders drooped. "And Vegeta said he didn't
want me near him."

"Wait...you didn't see them leave but you know where they are?" He
shook his head and wondered if Raditz had been right about brain
damage.

"Yeah, I just feel their ki. Vegeta's feels pretty bad..." He sat
down crosslegged and slumped slightly. "And I don't even know why he
doesn't want me there. It's like he thinks I'll hurt him. I don't
know...it's like everything's upside down."

"'Geta always has a reason for his actions." Just not always good
ones, he added but not out loud. He rose into the air. "You can sense
exactly where he is? Then lead me there."

"Wait," Goku said. "He left so he'd be alone with Raditz."

Though he thought his son foolish for leaving on the cusp of the
birth, the king would not allow himself to say so, not even to the
boy's mate. He merely bent and grabbed a fistful of Goku's hair,
dragging him off the roof.

"Ow!" Goku wrenched free and flew out of arm's reach, his eyes
watering.

"Even a prince must obey the king. Lead on." He didn't wait but
started flying in the direction Goku had pointed. Swallowing his
argument, Goku flew after him.

The first rays of sunlight over the yellow grasses were his first
view of the world, a field so thick it looked like a shimmering sea.
Were there animals under the surface, he wondered, creatures that
might look like field mice from back on earth? A few minutes into
their flight the grass thinned and the landscape turned arid. The
wind picked up and blew dust trails that seemed to stretch from one
horizon to the other. If he squinted he could make out the purple
silhouettes of mountains in the distance, wisps of clouds covering
their peaks.

"There," the king said, pointing to their right. "They must be in the
caves."

Goku followed his look and blinked. How had he missed that? A huge
tower of gray and white rock, it sparkled in the sun, dwarfing all
other cliffs and plateaus in sight. Thick at the bottom, it tapered
up at the top, and numerous holes lined the surface. Only as they
went closer did Goku realize how large it was. They floated down and
landed on the sand, and even when Goku leaned back, he still couldn't
see the top.

"Can you tell what cave they're in?" the king asked.

"I can tell they're near the top," Goku said. "But there are so many
caves--"

A scream erupted from inside the tower, clearly Vegeta's. Before he
knew where he was going, Goku rose into the air, but the king grabbed
his arm and forced him back to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked. "My mate's in there, he needs me--"

"If he needed you, he wouldn't have chosen Raditz. Stay put." The
king crossed his arms and looked up. "It's already started. We'll
have to wait."

"Wait? For what?"

No answer. A minute passed by. Another scream came from the tower, a
pause, and then...

A child's cry.

"For that." The king smiled and slowly flew towards the cave, Goku
right behind him. "Kakarrot, I know something's passed between you
and your mate, and your brother too I think, but you must not upset
either of them right now. If you can't do that, you'd be better off
waiting back at the palace."

"No," Goku said, never taking his eyes from the top coming into
view. "I have to see him. I...I have to make sure he's okay. That
they're okay."

The king had to turn his head to hide his satisfied grin.

*

Blood puddled beneath Vegeta, soaking the sand around him, but he
didn't notice. He didn't feel any pain anymore, only exhaustion, and
that faded into the background as he focused entirely on the child he
held. Its hair looked just like his, complete with long bangs over
his eyes. Or maybe they just looked long, he thought, still damp as
they were. He smoothed them back with his thumb. Warm and snuggled in
his father's discarded shirt, Jalen stopped crying and half-closed
his eyes, drowsing in the rising desert heat. His tail curled around
his father's wrist.

"Wish we had a stream or a cavern pool nearby," Raditz said, wringing
blood from his own shirt. He went back to cleaning both father and
child with it. "At least the bleeding's stopped."

"Was it always so much?" Vegeta whispered, allowing Raditz to wipe
off the excess blood from the boy's face and body. "It never seemed
like it before."

"We...usually had our minds elsewhere. I'll carry you back to the
palace when you're ready. You'll feel much more comfortable in the
nursery." He fished a white bundle from a pocket hidden somewhere in
his pants. He stretched out a strip of gauze and began wrapping it
around Vegeta's waist, staunching what little bleeding was left.

"You always carry that?"

The gauze went several times around the gash until the blood didn't
seep through, and Raditz tucked the end in. "With you so close,
seemed like a good idea. Ready to go home?"

"In a moment," Vegeta said. "He looks like them, doesn't he?"

Raditz took another look at the child now that he was cleaned up
somewhat. "He does. Like you and your father. There doesn't seem to
be a trace of my brother in him."

"There is, around his eyes." He sighed and shifted Jalen to one arm,
slowly sitting up. "Hopefully no one else noticed our absence--" He
winced, squeezing his eyes shut, and fell back against the cave wall.

"Don't move," Raditz said, putting one hand on his prince's chest to
hold him still. "You need to rest."

"Maybe..." Vegeta relaxed and lay his hand over Raditz's. "Maybe we
could just stay here awhile."

Soft footsteps came from the mouth of the cave. "That would be a bad
idea."

The king fought down an urge to laugh as the pair looked at him with
wide eyes, as if he'd caught them breaking a mate bond. Half dressed
as they were, they seemed to mesh together. His son, pale and
breathing hard, clutched the child closer and pressed against his
bodyguard, trying to disappear in the larger man's arms.

"Are they all right?" he asked.

Raditz nodded once. "Both are well, but the prince should be in the
nursery."

"Agreed. Was it a hard birth?" the king asked.

"As always," Vegeta said. He closed his eyes. "Why did you bring him
here?"

The king glanced at Goku standing at his side. "He knew where to find
you, though I had to drag him along at first."

"Vegeta? Please, I..." Hesitant, Goku took a step towards Vegeta.
Raditz raised one hand and shook his head, about to speak, but the
prince opened his eyes and glared at his mate, hissing and showing
his fangs. Goku froze, blinking away tears.

Obviously a reconciliation would have to wait. "Raditz," the king
said, "take your prince to the palace and don't leave his side."

"Yes, your majesty." Raditz bent and scooped Vegeta into his arms.
Once he saw that Vegeta had a firm grip on the child, he rushed by
his brother and ignored the growl Vegeta gave for good measure. He
jumped from the cave's entrance and floated down, pulling up gently
and flying a few feet from the ground.

Dust turned to grass as he skimmed over the fields towards the
palace, telling himself that he wasn't running from the king and
Goku. A birth always made his heart race and he hurried to bring his
prince to a secluded spot. A few Saiyans were waking up and getting
an early morning surprise over on their drowsier partners, but the
palace was relatively quiet as he flew his charges in through the
nursery first floor window. He carried Vegeta to the oversized bed,
but as he bent to set him down, the prince touched his arm.

"I don't think I can lay flat," he whispered, his face tinged red.

"You don't have to." Raditz lay him on the bed and smiled at Vegeta's
startled gasp as he found the bed angled to allow him to sit up
halfway. "You're tilted sideways a little, too, so you can lay him on
your arm without holding him all the time."

"Oh..." Vegeta propped his son against his chest and watched him
sleep. "Are there any--"

A blanket unfurled above him and settled on his legs, and Raditz drew
the edge up to his shoulders. "Blankets? Plenty. And a hot spring
when you've healed some."

"I didn't think it would take so much out of me," he said. "It never
did before."

"...it did," Raditz said. He sat down on the edge of the bed and
brushed Vegeta's bangs from his face. "You may not remember clearly,
but each time it seemed you were running on anger alone."

"Maybe I was."

"You want me to tell your purple-haired kid?"

"No, he won't wake up for awhile yet. And...maybe I do need some
rest."

"Ah, you finally admit it." Raditz grinned and stood up. "I'll watch
over you while you sleep."

"No..." Vegeta tilted his head to see the window. "My father's
already coming. Kakarrot's with him. I think I've pushed them as far
as I can. They'll want answers."

"You're too tired for that," Raditz said. "I'll--"

"No." He sounded tired even to his own ears, and he lay his head
back, feeling as if he'd forfeited a battle he knew he couldn't
win. "Better now, so I can sleep after. But...don't let Kakarrot come
close."

"I don't think he means the boy any harm," he said.

Vegeta just shook his head and hugged Jalen a little closer. They
waited, the only sound Jalen's soft breathing and the drip of water
along the hot spring.

A light tap at the window told Vegeta that his father was there, and
no matter how Goku tried to dampen his ki, it still hummed in the
back of his mind, the constant presence of his mate. The only reason
he didn't hiss was that Goku didn't come towards him. The king
stepped forward and sat on the low table in front of the bed.

"Vegeta."

"Father."

A good look at his grandson, out of the dim cave and in the warm
morning light, made him sigh in relief. Despite his reckless son and
his idiot bodyguard, they'd managed to bring the boy into the world,
perhaps faster and safer than they might have in the palace. "He's
healthy?"

Vegeta nodded. The king noticed how pale he really was now, almost
ashen. His eyes drooped as he struggled to stay awake, but his grip
never left the child.

"What's his name?" Goku whispered. He hadn't moved from the window
but he stared at his son as if transfixed.

As Goku kept his distance, Vegeta kept his temper and answered
softly. "Jalen. Vegeta Jalen."

"Ah...redemption." The king stared into his son's eyes. "Why did you
run?"

Goku expected his mate to say he wasn't running, to argue, to snap
even. Vegeta didn't even raise his voice.

"I needed a safe place."

"The palace isn't safe?"

Vegeta's eyes flickered towards his mate.

"He won't hurt him," the king said. "You know that. Even I can feel
it. His two children seem fine enough."

"Fine for being abandoned," he said. "Ignored."

"What?" Both Raditz and the king stared at Goku. He stepped back and
held his hands up, his surprised look on his face.

"Hey, I was dead," he said. "I was only allowed out for tournaments."

"Dead?" the king asked.

Goku briefly glanced at the king. "First time I died fighting Raditz.
Later I died killing Cell after Gohan fought him. I was only allowed
out for the tournament before then."

"And you never thought to ask to see your second son?" Vegeta said.

"I didn't even know about him then."

"But you knew when the tournament was? Convenient."

Whatever Goku was about to say, the king cut him off with a wave of
his hand. "This is beside the point. You're not afraid of him
abandoning you," he said to his son. "If anything, you don't want him
too close. Answer my question, why did you run?"

"Father, I don't--"

"Tell me."

Vegeta wished he could transmit somewhere else like his mate, fly,
sit up even. He had to settle for turning his face away. "Because I
can't bear to lose another one."

His voice echoed a few seconds in the nursery, but even as it faded
it seemed to linger with them. The silence made him look back up.
He'd expected shouts, screaming, maybe even a flare up in one of
their ki. Instead none of them moved. The king was glad he was
sitting. His legs felt so weak he might have fallen otherwise. A
quick glance at Raditz told him the same. The bodyguard looked
nauseous, his eyes squeezed shut. There was a seat next to Goku, and
he slid into it. His familiar smile was long gone, replaced by a look
Vegeta had never seen there before.

"Another?" he whispered.

The king winced as he figured it out. "Frieza."

Vegeta nodded.

"Yes, he wouldn't have allowed anything potentially stronger than him
to live," the king said. "How many? You were so young it couldn't be
more than handful."

"Thirty."

A strangled noise came from the monarch as his voice failed. He found
he didn't have to ask further, Vegeta began speaking in a flat voice
that made him wonder if his son was emotionally unbalanced.

"Yes, I was young, but his attacks forced my cycle to come early. I
was always pregnant. I had eleven miscarriages. Seven stillborns. Of
the rest, only twelve survived the first few minutes."

"And those twelve?" the king asked, finding his voice. "Smuggled to
other worlds, hidden away--?"

"I killed them."

For a moment, the king stopped breathing. Goku's jaw dropped. He
stared at his mate, trying to remember what he'd looked like when he
first arrived on earth, trying to imagine how that small warrior had
borne so many children.

"...what?"

Before Vegeta could start again, Raditz cut in. "Your majesty, you
have to understand what Frieza's ship was like. Vegeta wasn't the
only one he...there were other children, other warriors who bore that
monster children. We saw what he did to them."

"But..." The king ran one hand through his hair, trying to catch his
breath. His skin felt like ice. "There must have been a way...you
weren't always on his ship..."

"True," Vegeta said. His voice came as little more than a whisper,
and his eyes lost his focus as he drifted backwards in time. "I tried
to hold back each birth until I was on a planet. If I'd let him get
his claws on one of them..."

"But they were his children as well," Goku said. "How could he hurt
them?"

"Ice-jins...don't regard interbreeding as we do," Raditz said. "To
have a half-breed child was a mockery to them. Frieza was so damn
rampant there were soldiers giving birth nearly every day. And each
night we had to listen to the dying screams of children as he
tortured them to death."

"He nearly got his hands on my first," Vegeta said. "I had to have it
onboard, I couldn't get away. And he was perfect...pure Saiyan, a
fine tail, but his skin was completely white."

"He was only eleven," Raditz said. "The child was nearly as big as he
was."

"I had him for about an hour before Frieza came. When I heard him
coming down the hall...those metal hallways made everything sound
louder...I pressed against the artery in his throat here--" He ran
one finger down Jalen's throat and the light blue vein. The three of
them shuddered, and the king wanted to grab his son's hand, but
Vegeta's distant stare told him his son was too enrapt by old
memories to touch. "--and just as Lord Frieza came in, he died."

A low laugh came out of him, making the rest of them fidget in their
seats. "Oh, he was enraged. I'd cheated him of something he loved. I
don't remember much beyond the pain of the rest of that night, but I
remember I laughed. I couldn't stop laughing."

No one said anything. The king had to force himself to watch his son
hold Jalen and keep him warm to convince himself that the boy
wouldn't hurt the baby. Suddenly his own words seemed so cheap and
empty. He'd known he was sending Vegeta into hell, but he hadn't
known what a hell that ship would be. Then when he said he looked
different, he thought, he must've been stunted. God, I've known
Saiyans to go insane with the loss of one brat. To lose so many...to
kill them out of mercy...

In the silent room, Jalen's sudden whimper startled all of them.
Before any of them could stop him, Vegeta brought his hand to his
teeth and made a small gash in the flat of his palm. As blood began
to flow, he held it to Jalen's mouth and let the boy drink freely.

Reminded of his son's pale skin, the king leaned forward. "Vegeta,
you've lost too much already. Let your mate--"

Before he could finish, Vegeta hissed at him, glaring at Goku and
warning him off in case he thought of acting on that. Raditz waved
the two out of the room, squeezing his prince's shoulder once before
following them out. Relieved to be alone at last, Vegeta settled his
head back and let the sound of his child eating lull him into a half-
drowsing state.

Outside the nursery, the king and Goku both started firing questions
at Raditz, who backed up a step and waved his hands. "Lower your
voices. He's not going to hurt the child. You have my word."

"Was all that true?" the king asked. "Everything? All those
children..."

Raditz nodded once. "The rest he had on different planets. He'd have
them, usually with my help, and then he'd incinerate the bodies. I
was always relieved when the child was already dead. He was so happy
each time, for an hour..."

"But why's he acting like this now?" Goku asked. "He's acting so
strange."

"Of course he's acting strange," Raditz snapped. "Every instinct of
his is screaming to be with his mate, for warmth, for protection. And
instead he's learned to run from the father of his children." He
softened his voice when he saw his brother's look. Kakarrot had never
seemed all that bright, and now he looked as if he might drown in all
the information. "He needs you, yes. He loves you. But he's scared
for his child, and if you go in there demanding answers or to touch
the brat...I don't want to think about what he might do."

"You mean he might kill Jalen?"

"More likely you." He stared his brother square in the eye. "He meant
what he said. He's not going to lose another one. He'll move heaven
and hell before he lets that happen."

"My poor child," the king whispered. "All those years with that
monster. What he must think of himself..."

"Why didn't he just kill himself," Goku said. "Then he wouldn't have
had to kill anymore."

The room fell silent, and the Saiyans stared at the floor and each
took a breath, clenching and unclenching their fists. Finally the
king looked up. "Suicide is forbidden. It is our greatest taboo."

"Only self-sacrifice is allowed," Raditz said. "Otherwise...you must
live your life, no matter how painful."

The palace halls began to echo more and more with the footsteps and
voices of other Saiyans, slowly increasing as the sunlight streamed
in through the eastern windows. The king sighed and glanced down the
hall to make sure they were alone.

"Not a word of this to anyone," he said. "Royal births must be
announced, but this one'll have to be delayed a bit. If Vegeta's
going to feed the brat himself, he'll need to regain all the blood
he's lost. You have permission to hunt down a tezra and bring it
back."

"What's a tezra?" Goku asked.

"So soon?" Raditz asked, ignoring his sibling. "They may not have
bred yet."

"Have faith in Kigeta. He must've known this would happen and
provided." He turned and walked away, leaving the two brothers to
themselves.

"Um...what's a tezra?"

Raditz looked at Goku, sighed and shook his head. "Come on, let's go
before it's midday."

*

Up in his room, tucked in under Piccolo's arm, Gohan woke up with the
same nausea he'd felt on the Raider Six. He groaned and pushed his
face into the pillow, hoping his stomach would settle, but after a
few minutes the pain wouldn't go away. He slid out from under
Piccolo's arm and stood up, stumbling towards the bathroom. The night
before he'd found what passed for a Saiyan toilet and now he fell to
his knees before it, bracing his hands on either side of the wall as
he threw up. Nothing more than stomach acid came up, and he was glad
he hadn't eaten yet. As his stomach relaxed again, he pressed his
forehead on the cool stone wall and sighed.

"Damn asteroids," he whispered. Maybe it would take longer to get
over the trip than he'd thought. His stomach clenched and he threw up
again. After the second heave it stopped and he panted for breath. So
far the only good thing about the trip was the design of Saiyan
toilets, almost the same as at home but with a constant stream of
water flowing through them. Perhaps when he wasn't sick he'd wonder
how they managed to pipe water so high up, but for now he settled for
spitting and standing up. The feeling had passed. Now he rinsed his
mouth out at the sink and took several breaths. There was no mirror
to reflect how disheveled he knew he must look.

"You okay, kid?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Gohan spotted Piccolo standing by the
door. "Yeah, I'm okay. The trip just caught up to me, is all."

"It caught up to you the first day," Piccolo said. "Feel up to
breakfast?"

"As long as it's not too much."

"There's something I never thought I'd hear a Son say," Piccolo said.
He stepped behind Gohan and put his hands on his shoulders. "You sure
you're okay?"

"I will be."

"Come back to bed, then. It's still pretty early." He let one hand
trail down Gohan's chest to the hem of his pants. "You'll feel better
afterwards."

"Y'know, for an asexual plant man who says he doesn't need to sleep,"
he tilted his head back on Piccolo's chest. "You sure do like
sleeping with me."

"Pervert," Piccolo said. "I want you to rest. Besides, if we did
anything right now, you'd probably throw up on me."

"Eww, mood-killer!" He pressed gently on his sore stomach. "Probably
not too far off, though."

"Come on." The Namek guided him out of the bathroom and back to
bed. "I won't even complain about how you hog the covers."

Not dignifying that with a response, Gohan slid back onto the soft
stone bed and lay on his side facing the window. Two streaks flew
into view, hovered a moment, then took off towards the east. Gohan
sat up and looked after them.

"Hey, that was dad and Raditz." He narrowed his eyes, feeling for
lingering traces of ki to make sure. "What are they doing together?"

"Don't worry, kid, Goku can take anything he throws at him. Maybe
they're gonna go hash things out between 'em." Piccolo yanked him
backwards and lay down behind him.

"Dad shouldn't be out alone," Gohan said, trying to wriggle away. "He
might get confused. I'll bet Raditz is up to something--"

"You can kick your uncle's ass later," Piccolo said. He clamped one
arm down on Gohan's chest and held him still. "If you go now, you'll
only hurl on him."

"..."

"What?"

"You've been listening to the terrible two too much."

*

And inside the terrible two's chambers, Goten woke up wondering why
he was asleep up to his neck in water. He blinked hard and looked
around. He was wrapped in Trunks' arms, seated firmly in his lap, and
Trunks seemed to be nestled in the corner of the bathtub, half
beneath the steady pour of hot water. His head lay tilted back as he
slept, his hair soaked and stuck to his shoulders, the tips trailing
under the surface.

Wondering why they hadn't drowned, Goten was about to wake Trunks up
when there was a loud knock at the door. Trunks sat bolt upright,
screaming "I'm up, I'm up" while dumping Goten in the pool with a
splash. "What...what happened?"

A low chuckle came from behind the door, and Trunks heard two voices
behind the door as whoever had been sent to wake them left.

"Leave them be," one said. "They're obviously busy."

"But all night? Don't they ever sleep?"

"At that age, they can probably put the rest of us to shame."

"Must've gotten tired of the bed and decided to break the tub in."

Certain he was blushing from his head to his chest, Trunks ducked
under the surface to cool himself off only to be caught by Goten, who
decided to take care of an early morning problem right then. After a
moment, Trunks shrugged. What was so wrong about proving them right?