They dropped down onto the snow when they saw the first hint of blood. A lot of it had since been covered by snow, but there was still an area of pink below them. It covered several feet, snaking into some sort of a trail, disappearing and reappearing through the wall of the snow around them. Unlike the area that they had been walking in before, it was a blizzard here, and snow was whipping around harshly, stinging their cheeks as it flew by them. The visibility was very poor, and Trunks could barely see five feet away from them. Walls of cold white snow surrounded them on all sides, seemingly endless and opaque.

Over the howling wind, he cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled to Tayhei. “Do you see anything?”

She squinted through the snow and shook her head ‘no’, bending down to touch the pink snow under her feet. She gestured at the trail leading off into the distance and Trunks followed it, noticing that the pink was slowly turning into a deep red as they went along. Then a figure appeared in the distance, though he couldn’t exactly make out who or what it was. He broke into a run, his legs churning through the deep snow, cheeks stinging with the cold. He could only imagine his mother; how beautiful and strong she had been. How many times he had ignored her or disobeyed her or dishonored her. Tears shone in his eyes as he approached the figure there, Tayhei following closely behind in his trail.

When he reached the figure, his heart stopped and he stared, blinking rapidly. A gleaming sword was sticking out of the ground, it’s handle presumably buried within the snow, blood running down the cool metal, mixing with the ice. And stuck on the sword, facing up to the snowy white sky, was Pi. Her eyes were large and dark, unseeing and dead. A trickle of blood, frozen by the cold, ran from the corner of her mouth down to her chin. Her face was the only part of her that remained unscathed. The rest of her body was soaked with red, and evidence of thousands of angry slashes with a finely sharpened sword. Her clothes were torn and tattered, soaked in deep red, and her flesh was so soaked in blood that the only evidence of the slashes were slightly deeper indents of red, running along in crisscross lines all over her body. Snow had already begun to gather on the body, caking on her eyebrows and falling innocently in the wounds.

Trunks put a hand to his mouth and tried to keep from throwing up. He had seen his father fight before, and he was fully aware of how ruthless he could be, but this type of carnage was absolutely sickening. If this had been the murderer of his mother, and Trunks was positive that it was, then Vejiita must have been more furious than he had ever been in his entire life. Tayhei had her face buried in the back of his coat, her hands clinging tightly to the material. She was mumbling some sort of a prayer, he guessed, but he couldn’t make out what it was, the wind was so loud. He stared at Pi’s body emotionless, wanting to hate her, wanting to be glad it happened, but knowing that it was no use. The damage had already been done. Bulma was dead. Vejiita had already extracted his revenge, and now there was nothing left to do but simply stare at the carnage.

“What are we going to do?” Tayhei yelled into his ear, and the combination of warm air into his ear and the freezing wind made him shiver. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the body.

“Let’s get off this damn planet. I don’t want to be here anymore.” Trunks said calmly and quietly, knowing that she probably wouldn’t even hear him over the wind. She appeared to not have heard, but she could read it on his face. She squeezed his hand once in comfort, then started to walk off in the direction of the ship, holding her arms around herself for warmth. He started to follow, then turned back to stare at Pi’s body once more.

The sword gleamed, and blood ran in rivulets down the side, freezing halfway down into red icicles. His mother’s blood, the blood of his mother’s killer. The blood of a thousand angry Saiya-jin warriors before him, who only sought to hurt and destroy and conquer. That very sword had probably seen more dying faces and more blood than Trunks even cared to think of. And after Pi’s body had frozen and been chipped away like ice, that sword would still remain, standing tall and gleaming in the winter wind. The very symbol of death and anguish. How many more warriors would kill with this sword? How much death would it see before the steel rusted away to nothing, and the handle became so brittle that it would crumble in a soldier’s hands? How many more mothers would die, their families left alone and grieving?

“No more.” He said softly to himself. “No more.”

He took a step forward, and reached down to grab Pi’s body. With shaking arms, he lifted the bloody mess off of the sword, dying his own hands red with the blood. He placed her gently in the snow beside him, then forgot she had ever existed, and her memory flew away like the flakes of snow that whirled around him. His mother though, he would never forget. She would live on in this: in his heart and in his memory. He pulled the sword out of the snow and flipped it around, shaking off the blood and the ice. It gleamed in his hands, the handle fitting just perfectly into his palms, power surging into his arms, mixing with anger and grief. There in that cool metal, he caught sight of his reflection, looking older and more determined than he ever had before in his life.

He would keep it, lock it away, and the sword would never see death again.

“There were many deaths back then.” Koronu explained. She sat in the pilot’s seat, facing Gohan and Goten, the grandsons she never knew she had. Piccolo was standing in the doorway threateningly, watching her as if he didn’t trust her at all. “The Saiya-jin race was large, the largest group of warriors in the universe. The most powerful warriors in the universe. But we weren’t warriors, really. We were killers. Murderers. We went from planet to planet and slaughtered innocent lives, gaining land and stealing hopes. We were all like this: emotionless, cold, and blood-thirsty. There was always a hunger for more power, more strength. And no matter how strong a Saiya-jin was, it was never enough. That hunger was never quenched. They just went on and on until they destroyed themselves; battle after battle, death after death. Then there was a proposal, a sudden need for a ruler, and the Vejiita family line stepped into place. They were the strongest, and many of them had reached power levels that weren’t even considered attainable for most Saiya-jins. Some order was brought to the planet, and the building of the Saiya-jin Empire became an organized effort. Things were more organized and there was some sort of education put into place, so our race wouldn’t be completely unintelligent. Intelligence of course, always took second place to gaining power.”

“The empire grew and grew, and although many sought out alliances and peace with us, we simply slaughtered them all. And within our own cities, there began to be battles, and Saiya-jin classes developed. The females were at the bottom of the chain, the lowest on the planet. We would have all been killed off, as useless as they viewed us, if it had not been for reproduction. There had to be breeding, and the population had to be maintained. Most of the female Saiya-jins were used for breeding purposes only, although they were also expected to fight in major battles that needed more soldiers. They were kept in confinement, a prison of some sorts, and their mates would come and go as they saw fit, to keep their family blood alive. My mate however,” She paused, looking at Goten and Gohan. “That would be Bardoku, your grandfather; had me living with him. Unlike most of the Saiya-jin males, he treated me with respect. I wasn’t just his reproduction slave, I was his partner. There was a strong bond between us, one that really couldn’t be broken by anyone. We were quite comfortable with each other and with our lives. Even after my power surpassed his own, he still didn’t harbor any harsh feelings for me. I was encouraged by him to improve my skill and become a true fighter.”

“Very few Saiya-jin females were actually warriors, and I was one of them. Although very unlikely for a female, I ascended in the ranks very quickly, and became one of the most notable fighters on the planet. My skill was used frequently in battles, and eventually, King Vejiita began to notice how valuable of an asset I was to him. On several occasions, I was sent on direct missions by King Vejiita in order to secure a city, or an entire planet. It was on these missions that I met Sukuashi. He was higher up in the ranks than I was and unfortunately, he found me attractive. I already had a mate though, and according to Saiya-jin tradition, there could only be one mate in your life. I informed him of this several times, but he would not accept no as an answer. His advances began to get very tiring, especially when he and Bardoku began to have fights about it. Bardoku was doing his best to defend the honor of his mate, but Sukuashi was more powerful. Many times he came home beat nearly to death….I knew if it kept going on like this, Bardoku would eventually be killed. Sukuashi was a part of the Saiya-jin rebels, a group that wanted to break away from the Vejiita monarchy to become their own separate planet. He told me several times that they were going to leave Vejiita and become a separate empire, more organized and powerful than the first. Their ultimate plan was to come here, to this freezing planet, where they knew the King would never come searching for them.”

Koronu took a deep breath, then continued. “When he demanded that I come with them, I had no choice but to go. If I stayed, he would have killed Bardoku and taken me anyway. Shortly after Kakarroto was born, we left for the snowy planet.”

“I never even had a chance to say goodbye to him.” She frowned at Gohan and Goten. “Or your father.”

“At first, Sukuashi was happy with me, but as time went on, I grew increasingly bitter. I wanted my real mate, and I wanted to train my real offspring. I had the two children with Sukuashi, Potuto and Pi, but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t my real family. Sukuashi was still jealous of Bardoku. After awhile, no one was allowed to speak his name here, and he grew more and more angry with me every day. I think that is why he found your father, and stole his own mate. As payback, because I never returned any of the loyalty that he gave to me. He wanted revenge, against Bardoku, against me, everyone. In away, you see, he was stealing Bardoku’s mate again.”

“So that’s why he took ChiChi….” Piccolo said out loud, grumbling to himself.

“Hai. And besides, he was tired of me. ChiChi was a fresh, young face and I think he was attracted to that. There is something special about her, too. Especially now, from the first time I saw her. She has some sort of inner strength, a purity in her heart. She’s very much like Kakarroto, I noticed.” She lowered her eyes to the floor. “I was very much like my mate, as well.”

“Koronu-san, are you really going to come back with us?” Gohan asked. A compassionate look was on his handsome face, and she was struck by how much he looked like Potuto. “I think I’d like that a lot. It’s always interesting to learn about family history. I would love to hear more about the Saiya-jin race, and I’m sure Trunks and probably even Vejiita, would be very interested in hearing about the monarchy. We could even record it all, make a family history record or something.”

Koronu looked out of the large panel window, at the dizzying whiteness and the emptiness of it all. The snow washed furiously over the glass, and if she used her imagination, she could see the compound in the distance; Sukuashi sitting on the throne, swilling wine and shouting orders. Pi, brandishing her sword, an evil in her dark, dark eyes. Potuto, lying dead in the snow. The snow itself, white and consuming, never ending and cold, always there, and always reminding her of what she had lost. There is nothing left for me here.

And then in the distance, a royal Saiya-jin figure appeared, looking weary and tired, trailing deep red blood behind him, a body flung over his strong shoulders.

They all rushed out of the ship when they saw him, worried expressions on their faces. Vejiita halted in his footsteps, and gingerly took Bulma off of his shoulders and held her in his outstretched arms, saying nothing. Both of them were covered in blood, though the blood that was on Vejiita wasn’t any of his own. There wasn’t a scratch on him, in fact, he had never felt stronger in his entire life. Strong on the outside maybe, but not on the inside. On the inside, he was completely hollow, as if someone had taken absolutely everything inside of him and scooped it away, hidden it in some unreachable place. There was nothing to feel. There was no sorrow any more, no anger, no pain. There was just nothing. Nothing without her.

Gokuu was the first to reach them, and he looked at Bulma’s bloody body in horror. “Kuso! Bulma-san! What happened?”

Vejiita said nothing, just looked down at Bulma’s beautiful face. It looked lifeless and pale, almost tinted blue from the cold, probably, but it was still as lovely as ever. She had always been so amazingly beautiful. Even in her older years, even though she thought she had lost her beauty, Vejiita could still see it there, as visible as ever. He thought about all of the times he had called her ugly, when he really meant exquisite. And all of the times he called her an idiot, when he thought of her as the smartest woman in the world. All of the times that he wished she’d stop bothering him, when he knew he couldn’t live a day without her.

“’Vejiita-san, are you okay?” Gohan asked, peering uncertainly into his face. Goten’s head appeared behind him, looking just as concerned and uncertain.

Vejiita still said nothing, but held Bulma out to them, as if asking them to take her. Gokuu gently took her body from him, his face drawn in complete sorrow. ChiChi, who was standing at Gokuu’s side, began to cry, and she reached out to touch Vejiita, as if to comfort him. He stared down at her small, pale hand, and thought of Bulma’s hands. How they used to run through his hair or touch him gently on the shoulder when she was feeling affectionate. How her nails were always painted a different color, always long and shiny and beautiful. She used to spend a fortune on manicures, always trying to look her best, and he had never even said anything to her about it. He never told her how beautiful she was, he never thanked her, never gave her anything.

ChiChi sniffled slightly. “We’ll take care of everything, Vejiita-san.”

Take care of what? Take care of her? Of Trunks? Of Bra? What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to go? What the fuck am I supposed to do with my life now? Is there life without her? Is there anything without her?

Vejiita stood in silence, his eyes reflecting absolutely nothing.

“Vejiita-san, maybe you should go lay down.” Kuririn suggested timidly, and everyone nodded eagerly. Gokuu’s arms began to shake, holding Bulma. There was blood on him now, staining the front of his coat. Gohan was examining the wound through her middle, grimacing, his face pale. He murmured something to Gokuu, and he nodded sadly, his arms still shaking.

“We’ll take care of everything, just go inside the ship and lay down, eh?” ChiChi insisted. She put a light hand on his arm to guide him back to the ship, but he remained firmly in one place. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Bulma. God, she was beautiful.

Am I just supposed to go home without my mate and pretend that everything is okay? Just go back to our home, open our door, eat in our kitchen, sleep in our bed…?

Their eyes diverted from him suddenly, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Tayhei and Trunks making their way to the ship, looking tired and cold. Trunks was carrying Pi’s sword loosely at his side, trailing blood in the snow behind him.

What about Trunks? What about Bra? I’ve let them down. I didn’t protect her. I just stood there and watched her die. I didn’t do a single thing to protect her. How am I supposed to tell them that? How are they supposed to look at me the same way? I am nothing. I am less than nothing. Why didn’t I protect her?! A picture of Bra flashed through his mind. Turquoise hair, deep blue eyes. How am I supposed to look at her and not see her mother. How am I supposed to do it?!

“Otousan!” Trunks called, and ran to him, halting when he saw Bulma’s body in Gokuu’s arms. The blood must have startled him, because his voice cracked slightly, staring at her body. “Otousan, what happened out there?”

I let your mother die.

Vejiita turned away from them all, and walked back to the ship.

Chapter 74
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