Vejita had found it more than hard to sleep. As a prince of the most powerful race known, he'd never really given any thought to political happenings. The distress on Freeza's ship had been an eye opener, however, and now he was faced with more… His father was nearing the end of his prime and the chief royals were running things now more than ever. No king had ever lived into old age and when the day came for revolt, Vejita was going to have to be strong. What was there to worry about though? He was the strongest being ever now. Of course, no one knew what he was capable of except Kakarotto… His dear Kakarotto.
Vejita, prince of all Saiyajin… It was a title he'd voiced more than anyone else. He was proud of his rank, but mostly because of the power it had bestowed on him. No, not political power, but true strength. At birth his ki had been measured and he was a prince down to the core. His strength proved it. Yet, a third class orphan had surpassed him. Vejita sighed. He'd been so sure that he'd dealt with this already, but the truth was that he'd never really known how much more powerful Kakarotto was until he'd been given every last drop of it. The golden ki now flowed through every vein, and it took more than the usual amount of concentration to keep it under control, to keep it from showing up on the scouters.
Prince… He was unworthy of the title, and he certainly wasn't ready for king. He could tell himself not to worry about it… That that day was years away, but he wasn't responsible for only his life now… He was responsible for Kakarotto's as well. Kakarotto, his mate.
****
Large innocent eyes fluttered open, taking in the beauty of the darkness. Kakarotto stretched lightly leaning against his prince, when suddenly, he was unable to sense his own life… Was he dead? What was happening? Was he slipping away?
Vejita had been unaware of his mate's wakefulness until he'd felt the slight shivers and slight gasps.
"Kakarotto… Kakarotto, snap out of it." He said, sitting up and leaning over his love, resting a hand on a cool shoulder and shaking it lightly. It wasn't working. The gasps were growing louder and the shaking worse.
"Kakarotto!" Just as the four-syllable word exploded from the prince's mouth, two worried bodyguards barged in, wearing only quickly pulled on gi pants. Nappa entering from the door that connected his and the prince's room and Raditz entering from the front door. Both of them watched in horror as their prince shook the boy, who seemed to be suffering from some kind of fit.
"Kakarotto!" Vejita yelled, louder this time, tears stinging the backs of his eyes. Unable to get through to his mate, he pulled the boy up in a sitting position and kissed him deeply, pushing all the air he held in his chest deep within the convulsing lungs.
Coughing and jerking back, Kakarotto pulled from the hold, falling out of the bed and onto his knees, tears filling his eyes.
"What the Hell's going on?" Raditz barked in his rough, raspy voice, trying his best to cover the brotherly worry.
Vejita snarled at the fool before slowly moving to the floor to inspect his mate. Lifting the boy's chin with a callused hand, the prince searched the boy's eyes for pain and found it in spades.
"Sire, is everything alright? What happened?" Nappa asked, talking calmly after seeing that his comrade's approach had been unsuccessful.
"I don't know… Kakarotto?" Vejita questioned, wondering if perhaps the boy suffered from an illness.
"That was the worst I've ever felt it…" Kakarotto began, slowly rising from the floor to pull on a pair of black gi pants. Vejita then realized his nudity and did the same.
"I'm hungry." Kakarotto said, trying his best to change the subject. He didn't want to talk about it or even think about it. That had been the worst feeling ever, as if he'd experienced his own death, his separation from reality and from his mate.
Vejita narrowed his eyes, looking from each of the bodyguards, "Go, get dressed, we're going to the mess hall." Nodding, the two men left them alone.
"Kakarotto, please, tell me what happened?"
"It was a bad dream… A really bad dream. I don't wanna talk about it, kay?" the boy said, a sad smile on his face.
Vejita, unsure of what to do, disregarded the incident and continued to dress. They would go to the mess hall and try their best to continue on with life as they had been before leaving for Freeza's ship.
****
Days, weeks, months passed. Vejita found himself finding reasons to avoid the boy, avoid his mate. Life was never going to be the way it was before. Nappa and Raditz kept quiet, doing their duties like officials.
The status of Planet Vejita seemed to worsen with every passing day. Vejita couldn't understand why his father remained so blind to it all. They'd avoid Freeza's tyranny, but there were others, so many others, and they all wanted to be the king, the ruler, the strongest in the universe. If things kept up with the way they were going, the Saiyajin would be a laughing stock. Warriors and slaves left the planet in space pods daily without clearance, escaping while they still could. Many other warriors were sent in large groups to continue purging any and all planets possible. There didn't even seem to be reason for it anymore. It was just their nature, Saiyajin nature. One must be the strongest, the best.
The economy was practically nothing. If you weren't a warrior or a royal, you were either a slave or scum. The slaves owned by royals and high ranked warriors were lucky. The rest wished for death. Anyone else living on the red planet was either homeless and starving or already dead. Things were nothing like they had been in the past. It wouldn't take much for them to be defeated and strewn across the universe now.
Nearly four years had passed since those days before they'd left for Freeza's ship. Vejita was twenty-eight now and without mate, as far as the royals knew, and it was puzzling to all of them.
Stepping into the well-lit training hall near the throne room, Vejita smirked at the sight of his beautiful mate doing a rather intricate kata. Muscles tensed and strained under the black spandex bodysuit, and the prince found it hard to look away.
Kakarotto had reached the peak of his growing, standing at least a foot taller than his prince. He was twenty now, a man. Finally finishing his kata, Kakarotto noticed Vejita at the entrance.
"Hiya, Jita… You okay?" he asked, stepping over to his mate.
Vejita had grown weary of conversing with the boy. He was different now. He still had his child like innocence, but he'd lost his glow, his happiness… Of course, losing your mother, your father, your friends, being raped, watching your mate die, and giving up every last drop of your life force could have that effect on someone.
It had been several months since that day Kakarotto had woke to spasms, and at least once a week it had continued to happen. Vejita would awake to find the boy convulsing, gasping for air, his eyes rolling back in his head and his body going cold on more serious occasions.
"I want to know what's going on. I know there's something you're not telling me about this… This illness you're suffering from."
Sighing, "I don't wanna talk about it, please."
Vejita watched as the once sparkling eyes averted from his face, "Then, at least go to the med. lab. Maybe they can do something."
Kakarotto didn't even answer. He couldn't handle these questions. He could talk about it. He didn't want to. It hurt just to think about it. Without saying a word, he marched out of the room, heading for the quiet of the distant corridors that were no longer in use.
"What was that about?" Raditz questioned as he and Nappa stepped into the training hall.
"Does he still refuse to go to the med. lab?" Nappa asked, knowing full well that the seizures the boy continued to suffer from were only getting worse.
"Hn, he won't even talk about it." Vejita grumbled, stepping out into an open area to begin his own series of exercises.
"Well, for a change of subject, I heard rumors of a revolt." Raditz said, hushing his voice as if it were a secret.
Vejita growled, ignoring the fool as he continued his routine. Of course there was going to be a revolt. There was always a revolt just before a new king was announced.
****
Kakarotto slouched against the cool metal of the wall, sliding down until he was in a sitting position, his knees held against his chest by his strong-looking arms. The room was dark and filled with doors. He could only guess that it had once been filled with rejuvenation tanks. He'd investigated the abandoned room and found that more than half of the doors lead to corridors that lead to rooms still used, like training halls and the slave's mess hall. There was one door, however, that lead outside. He wanted so desperately to be adventurous and take a stroll outside, but in his weakened state, it was more than dangerous.
He'd been training and training, ever since they'd returned, but he still remained powerless. He could feel the king, Nappa, Raditz, and his dear Vejita along with the thousands of other warriors that occupied the red planet, but he couldn't feel himself, and it was scary. He dreaded those mornings he woke feeling the horrible lose and aching in his heart. The feeling of slipping away and becoming utterly weak was nothing compared to the feeling of his entire body being ripped in two as he was separated from his one and only soul mate; it was too much to bear.
