The snow was beginning to fall harder now, so hard that it howled, and snow lashed at Gokuu’s face like whips of freezing ice, snowflakes sticking in his eyelashes. Through the veil of white he could make out nothing but the back of Koronu, her black cloak waving violently behind her in the wind. Together they spun sideways through a wave of snow, dodging the bits of ice that were being flung through the air like torpedoes. He followed her almost blindly, so in tune he was with her, which was unusual, considering that they had just met. She flew ahead fearlessly, moving through the dangerous air as if she already knew the path well, and had flown it a thousand times, speeding ahead to meet her destiny, to conquer her greatest enemy. And she flew with confidence, knowing that no matter what it took, she would overtake Sukuashi and become free.

Gokuu longed to know more, and he was so abnormally curious about this strong Saiya-jin woman that it shocked him. Normally his friends were his friends, he didn’t search through them to try and find the deeper part of them, or what made them act the way they acted. He accepted them as they were, didn’t need to know a background or a history, didn’t even need to know their intentions. He could feel in his heart that they were good and that that was enough for him. This new person in his life though, Koronu, he wanted to know more about. She was hiding something, he didn't know what, and Gokuu was curious to know why she felt she had to hide it. Why was she here on this planet, when she obviously didn’t want to be? Why was she fighting Sukuashi if Sukuashi was her husband? Why would she help ChiChi, and why had she sought his help as well? He wasn’t sure about any of that, but he wanted to know. He suddenly wanted to know everything about her, and why she gave him this strange, familiar feeling. He wanted to hear all of her stories, see all of her strength, and know where it all came from. And more importantly, he wanted to know where he came from.

He sped up to fly beside her, and turned to look at her face. Her side profile was simple and familiar, straight lines and angles, dark brows and darker hair, smooth skin and high cheekbones, a sharp nose. Her eyes moved to the side, and as she caught him staring, he looked away, still perplexed.

“We’re almost there.” She assured him, yelling over the howl of the wind. “Sukuashi is right up ahead, hiding in that damn little tower of his, probably staring right at us.”

As soon as she spoke, a sudden feeling of urgency crept into Gokuu’s heart. He had felt it so many times before, a feeling so familiar to him that he would have recognized it in another life. As familiar as the scent of ChiChi’s hair or the sound of her cooking at the stove. It was hot and compelling, and it always struck him the second before it was necessary. It spoke to him in a voice that only he could recognize, a soundless, plaintive message: there was danger, and it was close. Before he could shout out a warning or even move, a dark figure hurtled out of the sheet of whiteness before them, and drove straight at Koronu.

Gokuu watched in silent horror as the figure knocked the Saiya-jin female aside as if she were made of paper, and she flew through the snow, spinning haphazardly and limply. Her arms and legs pinwheeled and her head dangled for a second, shaking as she tried to regain her balance, still flying through the air. Gokuu watched in anxious fear as she flew, not knowing if she were okay or not, feeling a very strong attachment to her, though he didn’t have time to worry about that fact right now. She finally slowed and gained her balance, looping around to stand a distance away, hovering unsteadily in the air.

The figure that had attacked her paused, his arms still outstretched from the hit his body pulsing with a dark blue energy that flew off of him in rapid flames. Slowly, as if noticing him for the first time, the Saiya-jin turned his head so that Gokuu could only see his profile and one dark black eye glaring at him. The Saiya-jin looked down then and smirked, and evil grin spreading across his pale face, even and slow. As he turned to fully face him, looking tall and proud with glistening ebony armor and a dark red uniform, his hair was uneven and unkempt, and there was a long, dark tail curled around his waist like a belt.

“Kakarroto.” He said, the evil look still in his eyes.

“You must be Sukuashi.” Gokuu guessed, and he pulled his arms and legs into a fighting stance, tightening the appropriate muscles and feeling a surge of adrenaline run through him like fire. So this was the Saiya-jin that had stolen away his wife, just took her from their home and away to his own planet. This was the Saiya-jin that had hurt ChiChi, that had caused her all of the pain that Gokuu had been feeling lately, the white hot flashes of sadness and hurt. This was the Saiya-jin that had dared to mess with his family and hurt his friends in the process. It was enough to make Gokuu see red, to make him have to fight off the urge to turn Super Saiya-jin and rip his head off. It was enough to make him want to torture him until he begged to die. But Gokuu held his ground, standing silent as Sukuashi smirked at him, glared at him with evil eyes.

The two of them stared long and hard, and Gokuu sized up his opponent quickly. Without his fancy weapons and all of his soldiers, Sukuashi was nothing. He could feel his ki, and it was high, higher than most of course, but Gokuu knew in his soul that if he chose to fight him now, he would not lose. Besides the fact that his strength exceeded Sukuashi’s by far, his mental capacity, his drive, was far higher as well. Sukuashi had nothing to fight for, but Gokuu was fighting for someone that he loved.

Loved. The word echoed in his mind sadly, slowly. He did love ChiChi, and not the way that he loved food or fighting or adventure. He loved her in a different way, stronger than even his bond with Gohan or Goten. No loss could ever have effected him as much as losing her, or knowing that that she was hurt. He loved her, really loved her, the way that storybooks and poems described. He had just never known how to show it, other than to do all he could to keep her with him, to keep her safe. And Sukuashi had still taken her away so easily, as if Gokuu had never been protecting her at all, as if the love he felt her for didn’t even matter. He could have asked him why, could have told him that he thought he was scum, and that he was going to be so sorry for everything that he had done, but sometimes there is no need for words. All he wanted to do was fight, end everything, end the danger so that they could go home and lead normal, every day lives again, so that he could apologize to her, to Goten, for everything.

He stared at him in silence, his eyes speaking for themselves, telling Sukuashi very plainly that there was no way he was going to get out of this battle alive.

They lay together on the bed again, scraps of clothing and armor all around them as usual. The lights were off, because they enjoyed the dim darkness, but light from the moon that none of them could ever look at shone in brightly through the open window. It was warm again that night, and they could hear the sounds of laughter in the pub next door, the clinking of glasses and the shouts of fights. Koronu lay on her stomach as she always did, her tail waving slowly through the warm air, her chin propped up on her arms, an expression of concern on her face. Bardoku was next to her again, though this time he was injured, wrapped in bandages all around his middle. His eyes were on Koronu as he took a deep breath, his lungs sounding as if they were filled with liquid, and coughed, cringing with the pain.

“This has to stop.” Bardoku choked out, and his eyes closed. “I’m not sure if I can take this anymore. I suppose Sukuashi was more of a threat we had thought.”

Koronu looked down, her dark eyes troubled. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been so stubborn in wanting to become a real warrior, to make my own stand….I would have never even met him. He would have never hurt you because of me.”

“It’s not your fault, Koronu.” He argued back as best as he could, and sat up slightly, his eyes closing briefly with the pain. “Don’t ever think that. It is his fault for thinking that he can have you, that he can simply take you away from me as if you were merely another one of my useless possessions. The only thing that I’m concerned about is that I won’t be able to keep you from being taken. I fight with him nearly every time we meet, and it’s just like he’s playing with me. He knows I can’t win, I know I can’t win….I’m afraid I’m going to lose you.”

Her tail comfortingly caressed his leg, and she sat up brushing the hair out of her eyes. She stared at him wordlessly, and her eyes, her soul spoke to him softly and gently, saying ‘you could never lose me’.

“One life, Koronu.” He whispered. “If I lose you, I die inside.”

He reached for her, and as he did, the door of their living space was suddenly broke down, the hard Saiya-jin wood breaking and splintering as if it were merely tissue paper, and Sukuashi appeared there, armed soldiers behind him.

What happened next was a blur to her, a rush of sounds and faces, of pain and fear. She could see Bardoku’s face, as clear as ever, staring at her with a desperate expression, as if he were already dying, just seeing her being restrained and hit as Sukuashi drug her out the door, her hands reaching out for him the whole time. He lay in their bed, completely paralyzed, a sheen of tears over his eyes, watching her with helplessness. There was nothing either one of them could do, and they both knew it. She was taken away from him, and that very night, they departed from the planet Vejiita, fleeing the King and his oppression.

Those first few weeks were unbearable. Koronu snapped and became a wretched, evil Saiya-jin, with such a temper and such a power, that none of the guards would stand watch at her door, fearing certain death. Inside she was dying, wanted to be dead, wanted to curl up and leave the rest of the world, go back to a place where she could be with her mate, peaceful and quiet, sharing their moonlit bed. She refused to eat or drink, blasting away anyone who even dared to enter her room and attempt to feed her. She wasted away to nearly nothing, until her muscles shrank and became nothing but skin over bone, disgustingly thin and sickly. When the snow finally hit, and cold struck them all like sharp daggers, Koronu was affected by it more than anyone else was. The cold creeped in through her thin skin, shaking her bones and freezing them into icicles, ready to shatter at any moment, and her lungs froze over until she could barely catch a breath. She nearly died during that first month, wanted to die there, but her will to live was far greater than her will to die.

She survived, she endured, and she lived on until the present time, never forgetting the memory of her past, always feeling the sharp pain at the absence of her mate. And the anger remained there as well, burning hot as fire, always waiting and willing to kill, to get revenge for the pain that Sukuashi had caused the both of them. And now she had waited long enough. It was time to get rid of the anger, to finally let her soul have peace, to pick up the shards of the life she once had and gather them to her heart.

“Wait!” She called, and sped towards Gokuu, stepping in front of him. She wiped the snow and ice from her forehead and stared at Sukuashi with a deadly expression, the kind of fury in her eyes that could only be found in the heart of someone who was striving for revenge. Quietly, she turned and spoke to Gokuu, her face tense and grim. “This is my fight. My revenge. For taking me away from my home and my Bardoku, and the life that we shared together. For never getting to see my sons grow up or have the life that I was destined to have, that I rightfully should have had.”

Gokuu stood long in silence, then whispered softly. “Okaasan?”

She looked down quickly, her head bending to meet his eyes. Slowly, hesitantly, she nodded. She still wasn’t sure what his reaction would be, and she was half frightened that he might just fly away, leave her alone again. He stared back at her stunned, then before she could react, he rushed to her and wrapped her in his arms, holding her tight. As someone who had never been hugged before, had never known what it felt like to be wrapped in a loving embrace, she stood still as stone, her heart melting.

“If you want to fight, I will let you fight.” He said softly to her, still holding her tight. “But not alone. I will fight by your side, and we will conquer your enemy together.”

She smiled faintly, still not sure what to do with her arms or how to react to being held like this. He pulled back with a quick motion and grinned at her from ear to ear, his face full of happiness and excitement. “As a family, we will fight together.”

“This is all very touching.” Sukuashi interrupted, his voice barely heard over the wind. “But if we are going to fight, let’s get it over with. I have important business to take care of. This is the perfect opportunity to remove all the complications in my life, beginning with you, my dear mate, and the Council as well. Time is of the essence, and I really don’t want to wait around here while you two share a touching family moment.”

Koronu watched as Gokuu’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You aren’t going anywhere or getting rid of anyone. I don’t think you know who you’re dealing with.”

Sukuashi snorted. “What damage could the pathetic offspring of Bardoku possibly cause me? Or a weak, fragile, female Saiya-jin for that matter? I’ve fought in more battles than the two of you combined, and I built this empire from the ground up, trained all of those soldiers, given all the measure of discipline. I’ve stood the Council and their demands, I’ve put up with every kind of new law and order, and I’ve managed to single-handedly create more chaos than this planet has ever seen. I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”

Koronu stared at his overly confident face and sneered, knowing, feeling with every part of her heart, that Sukuashi was going to die today. She bent down into a fighting position, moving gracefully into the form that she had always known so well, so comfortable and easy that it was like sleep. Simultaneously, her and Gokuu both burst into identical burning red flames of energy, fierce looks on both of their faces.

She gazed steadily at Sukuashi with murder in her eyes. “I think you do.”

Chapter 62
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