Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Lies, Shattering Truths ❯ Tales/Tails ( Chapter 9 )

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z does not belong to me, neither do the cannon characters. I do however claim rights to Suki, Pinaca, Tsuka, Retasu, and Kissaki. Ok, Kissaki really isn't mine, but I really wish he was. Oh, and Suki's name is from Renegade Phoenix and Retasu is from a list SMDSP sent me. Gracias, chicas!

A/N: Just a few short notes: 1. Reviewers: Much thanks! I love hearing from you! 2. Flamers: Get a life, this is just a fanfic. If I want to make Vegeta a ½ breed, I can. 3. Adoring Fans (riiiight…like I have those…): Sorry for taking so long to get this out. Tsuka was being stubborn. He's not exactly easy to write. So I made this chapter extra long to make up for the wait. Well, long for me even if it is mostly dialogue and not very much action at all. Speaking of long…these notes are getting quite lengthy. So, on with the story!

Tsuka stood there watching his mother. She seemed too excited about the purple-haired child to even look at her son. A growl started to emanate from his throat in frustration.

"Calm down, Tsuka," Gohan said in what he hoped was a soothing voice. "It's not the end of the world. Being half alien is not all bad."

"Right, don't tell me," the man said quite sarcastically. "These Saiyan-aliens want me to return to the mothership?"
Bulma snorted in slight amusement. Since she had found out about Saiyans and various other non-humans, she had forgotten about the old theories about aliens that the general public held. "You wouldn't have to go very far to join the rest of your kind."
"They are not my kind. I am human," Tsuka growled sounding uncannily like Vegeta.

"So are all the rest of them," Bulma continued unfazed by the man's anger. She was too busy thinking and she was used to her mate using that tone of voice with her. "All four of them…not including you, are at least half-human. I guess that would make Trunks only a quarter Saiyan."

It was Suki's turn to be surprised. "What do you mean by that?"
"She means that the Saiyan race is almost extinct," Gohan started. "Freiza destroyed their world when Vegeta was a boy. The few that survived are dead now, except Vegeta that is. Now there are just a handful of half-breeds all born on Earth."
"You mean…they're all…dead?" Suki murmured. Sadness already etched on her face.

Gohan bit his lip and nodded. Confirming that all of them were had died and also reaffirming his own father's death. He looked up at the older woman in time to see a single tear slide down her face.

The gray-haired woman quickly swiped at the tears coming from her shimmering blue eyes. "I didn't cry when he left and I won't cry now. That would be a shame to his memory."
"At least Father didn't choose a whinny, sentimental mate," Vegeta said leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. His face wore a mask of indifference while his black eyes were livid with emotion. He snorted slightly at the surprise from the others in the room at his return. "Not that I accept you for what you say, I need more information first."

"Finished with your little temper tantrum, your highness?" Bulma said snickering. Luckily, her mate chose to ignore the remark.

"You need more information to tell that you are human?" Tsuka said sarcastically. "If you…and I…are supposedly alien, then why do we look just like humans?"

"You look just like a Saiyan to me," Gohan ensured.

"Oh and how's that?"
Vegeta chose that moment to leave his post at the doorway. He started circling the other man as he spoke. His voice was almost accusation in its tone. "For humans' standards, a Saiyan's hair is unruly and spiky. A Saiyan also has a higher metabolism than a human so he eats more. One also has more muscle structure than an Earthling."
The Prince continued to circle until he was behind Tsuka. He stopped directly behind the other man. "A Saiyan's bone structure in their spine is very different than a human."

Tsuka turned his head to look over his shoulder at the speaker. "Really? How so?"

Vegeta's voice was as cold as ice as he went on, "It is to allow the movement and extreme sensitivity of their tail."
"Heh, I don't have a tail and neither do you."

"I used to have one and I'm going to find out if you did, too."

With saying that, Vegeta swiftly kneed the other man in the lower back. The unsuspecting man dropped to the floor in blinding pain. His attacker's eyes widened slightly in disbelief but he quickly guarded his expression again. His voice was almost mocking, "I'll take that as proof."
Gohan jumped forward. He knelt down beside the floored man and then looked up at the Prince. "That was not necessary. You could have asked him if he had a scar from having his tail removed instead of hurting him. Tails are sensitive and so are tailspots. He wasn't even prepared for it."

"A Saiyan is trained to always be prepared."
"He wasn't trained like you, Vegeta. We don't even know if he was trained to fight or not."
"I can fight," the newly discovered demi-Saiyan stated. He rose to his knees and rubbed where he had been hit. He started to stand and took the out stretched hand of the teenaged boy.

"Trained by weak humans," Vegeta sneered like the word 'human' was in and of itself a vile thing. "That'll make you a good fighter."

"And what does that have to do with anything?" Tsuka said taking a step closer to Vegeta.

"Saiyans are warriors," Suki explained. "And you weren't trained by a human."

"What?" Both men exclaimed stopped their physical challenge on each other for the moment. Standing chest to chest, but looking at Suki, and talking at the same time was just too much for the aged woman. She started laughing at the whole situation. She stifled her amusement at dual glares from the men.

"You two really are your father's sons."
"Enough woman, explain what you said before your little lapse in sanity," the prince demanded sharply while taking a step back from Tsuka. They mirrored each other again by both crossing their arms over their chests.

"Well, after you were born, Vegeta - your father, finally determined that their ship was unfixable. He got it repaired enough to send a message back. They, in turn, messaged the nearest ship to rendezvous here to retrieve their King and Pinaca.

"It still took weeks to get a ship here and it was a small one. It was only equipped for three adult Saiyans and already carried two. The one man, Retasu, on the ship was considered old for a Saiyan warrior; when he returned Vegeta-sei he would not be sent out on another mission. He would be made to do menial labor or record keeping for the rest of his days - neither of which were too appealing to him.

"The King asked him to remain here with me and Tsuka. Retasu agreed; he was more than pleased, once being debriefed to the situation, to stay and protect us. The other man was never told that Kissaki was not Pinaca's son or that he was a twin. Vegeta and I thought it was best that the fewer that knew, the better.

"Retasu was happy to serve his King, even on a strange mission like that. He trained Tsuka as a child and even taught him some of the Saiyan ways and the language. To reduce suspicion, he willingly had his tail removed and stayed in the tack room of the barn. He also did a lot of the farm work since with my father since I was now busy caring for Tsuka and working at the hospital in Azure city. When anyone asked, he was just explained as an immigrant father hired for cheap help.

"He died when Tsuka was eleven. One of the horses kicked over a lantern in the barn starting a fire. Retasu and Tsuka rushed to evacuate the horses and the other livestock. A beam fell; Retasu pushed my son out of the way and was struck by the falling timber. He died in that fire saving his King's son."

Both men were speechless after listening to the tale. Neither said a word while looking at the storyteller. The others were also held rapt during the whole relation of the story also. Bulma, with her quick mind, was the first to ask a question.

"Why did the King only take one of his sons? I don't think, if I had two children that is, that I could choose to take one child and leave another."

"Believe me dear, it was hard. I regret every day for not being able to keep my boys together but there was really no other way. Pinaca had been injured so badly that she would never be able to bear children. King Vegeta would never have a Saiyan heir with his Queen. He had to take his son with him."

It was Gohans turn to be inquisitive, "But why only one?"

"Twins were something that never happened in Saiyan births. Believe me, King Vegeta was very shocked to know that it happened in humans…I believe he made some joke about human-animals having litters," Suki said laughing reminiscently. "For the people to accept the child as the King's and Pinaca's there could only be one. Kissaki was first born, so he was the heir. That was easily said but it broke are hearts to do it. It had to be done and we both had to accept the responsibility to do it, we also had to accept the consequences of what we did."

Bulma nodded in understanding, "I can see why you had to have the Saiyan people believe that Vegeta was Pinaca's son, Saiyans don't take to kindly to the idea of half-breeds."

Vegeta, returning to somewhat normal, muttered under his breath, "I didn't even think half-breeds could exist until I saw Kakarrot and his brat."

"Kakarrot? I've heard that name before…" Suki exclaimed.

Another A/N: Yes, I know, I'm a brat. :-x