The
Bonded
Part Three
"What about Trunks?" Goten tried to hide his alarm unsuccessfully.
- - Sitting at his desk and pouring overr a long report, Trunks jerked up,
grimacing, one eye closed. "Goten's talking about me," he whispered to
himself, "and he's nervous. I wonder why." - -
"Not to be nosy, but Vegeta got a call from Bulma today."
/Uh oh. I just knew she would tell someone./
"She says that she walked in on you with Trunks…" Goku sounded as
nervous as his son looked and let the sentence fade, reluctant to clarify.
/Just be honest./ "Having sex in Trunks' office." Goten's face burned
but he mat his father's eyes. "Yeah, it's true."
"Oh…" Goku stared to the ground and there was an uncomfortable
silence. Looking up, Goku began to speak just as Goten launched into his
explanation. They paused again, then Goten spoke.
"Go ahead."
"I don't know what to say to you, Goten. I had no idea."
"I know that humans don't accept it, but Trunks says that it's normal. For
saiya-jin, that is."
"Vegeta spoke to him."
"I think so … how did you know?" When there was no answer, Goten
dropped the subject and moved on. "I'm happy with him…" his voice
began to take on a dreamy quality but he caught himself in time. "Sorry
that I never told you. Please, please don't be angry."
"How long do you plan to be with him?" Goku asked the question out of
sheer curiosity, a bit amazed at himself. Goten look more than a little thrown
off.
"I don't know, Dad … but… Ch', I don't know how to say it."
Goku found himself nearly begging his son for more information, all of his
confusion and emotion expressed in a single plea, "Please."
Nodding once, Goten took a breath to calm himself and then tried again. "I
plan to be with him for my whole life. I know I should have told you, but…
Yeah, anyway. Trunks came to me one night … we'd been together for a while,
and - Kami, this is embarrassing." He laughed for a moment, "Um… We
were out training in the woods and spent the night. He, courted me, I guess. It
was like a ritual - he says that his dad told him about it when he was younger -
and after it, there was this … this…"
"Bond?" Goku had been listening carefully, absorbed in every word.
"Yeah…" Goten's voice fell into a soft moan and Goku knew then that
he could not question any further. It was too personal to his son.
Self-conscious, he fidgeted, and it was Goten who cleared the air. "I'm
really sorry. No one knew, except Vegeta. I just didn't know what to say.
Earthlings consider it wrong… You're not angry, are you, Dad?
"I don't think so… I don't know."
"I know we're both guys, but I love him. I don't think there's anything we
could do even if we wanted to, with that -"
"I just need some time to think." Goku felt guilty, being so short
with his son, but his brain was overwhelmed. He did need time to calm down and
think, before he did anything rash. Like talk to Vegeta.
"Yeah, ok." Goten was reserved as he watched his father leave. /This
is much deeper than just Trunks and me./ At the thought of his lover Goten's
eyes lit up and he smiled. The ever-present feeling in the corner of his mind
increased momentarily. /We need to talk,/ he thought, and the presence flashed
again in agreement.
Vegeta ended a final routine and fell to the ground, exhausted. His power level
dropped and his hair returned to its normal deep black. Standing laboriously, he
made a slow journey back into the house. The saiya-jin grabbed a glass of water,
downing it in one gulp, and then collapsed onto the couch. Goten was living with
Trunks in another town quite far away; Kakarotto would not be back for at least
an hour, so there was no reason to keep cover in his own room.
The training had succeeded in exhausting his body, but Vegeta's mind did not
slow. It observed his quick recuperation, the stink he had brought into the room,
and the erection that had begun to reform between his legs. Vegeta growled at
himself and willed the arousal away; but with no one around to hide it from, it
refused to diminish.
/Damn Kakarotto to hell./ Vegeta laughed aloud, although there was little humor
in the situation. Kakarotto was really testing his patience on this occasion,
forcing the saiya-no-ouji to explain the facts about saiya-jin matings. What the
man should have known from childhood had to be explained in simple terms,
something that would be annoying at the best of times. But it was Kakarotto that
Vegeta was teaching - the strongest warrior in the universe, an abnormality in
his race, and the male that was the focus of Vegeta's ever-present yearnings.
He had been able to hide it when the other saiya-jin was around, but now that
Vegeta was alone, his body's intentions were clear. Without glancing down, he
knew his body desired Kakarotto. /If I wanted to,/ rational thought whispered,
/I could court him. I can always initiate the mating./ As appealing as the
thought was, Vegeta turned his mind from it resolutely. He would not, however,
admit to himself the reason for this conscious decision.
/Coward…/ He stood, leaving a glass and distinct, musky smell in the room. He
stalked into his bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping under the chilling
spray. /Afraid of rejection…/ The cold silenced his body, but his mind sped
along. /More than sex…/ Vegeta surrendered, slumping against the tiled wall,
ignorant of the water that pounded on his back. The time had come to give some
real thought to the situation.
It was easy to admit that he lusted after Kakarotto. Many years ago he had
proven that in no uncertain terms. Moreover, he did not regret it and would
willingly do it again. But Vegeta knew, as he had known for many, many years,
that a saiya-jin mating meant more than sex and lust. It was a life-long bond
that linked both mates in body and mind.
/And I feel more than lust for Kakarotto./ Difficult to admit but true. Vegeta
sighed under the sound of falling water. It was difficult to prove as well.
Vegeta remembered clearly the many times he had endangered, rebuked, betrayed,
fought, and spoken cruelly to Kakarotto and had not known why he acted as he did.
In many of the memories, he had hated himself for it. For the entire time,
decades, too many years, he had seen only Kakarotto, felt only for him. Even
when coupling with Bulma and during the few, brief one-night-stands of his past,
he had though of Kakarotto.
Vegeta laughed at himself, bitter. /The Prince wishes to mate a third-class
saiya-jin. But he is afraid./
On Vegeta-sei, he could have had anyone he wanted, and would be free to mate any
saiya-jin. He would be required to carry on the royal blood at some point, but
he was still free to mate a male. But everything had gone completely wrong.
Vegeta-sei had been erased from the universe and the saiya-jin had been
terminated. The rules no longer applied.
Kakarotto was the strongest saiya-jin to ever exist. He was the one who had
captured the power of the Super Saiya-jin for the first time in three millennia.
With perfection, he could unite body and soul. He was a battle genius. Had
Vegeta-sei continued to exist, Vegeta's bonding with Kakarotto would have been
celebrated - the strongest warrior and the planet's future king. But his
home-planet existed now only as scattered particles in space, and Vegeta was
incapable of initiating what had the possibility of being the perfect bond.
Vegeta was hesitant on the surface. But below, deeper inside, beneath layers of
conditioning, training, hatred, arrogance, and contempt, was a frozen core. A
cold core that was slowly creeping out, attacking his guts, limbs, pride, and
finally his brain. Vegeta was scared. He was terrified, fear ripping at him and
instilling doubt in his mind. The outward anger was a superficial, automatic
protection from his worst enemy: himself.
He could not do anything.
/There is too much at stake. If Kakarotto rejects me…/ If he did, then Vegeta
would loose too much - the daily sight of the other man, his incessant chatter,
his powerful appearance and fighting ability, and the companionship they shared
as the only pure members of their race remaining in the universe.
Never before had Vegeta decided with certainty to do nothing, but he did so now.
Turning off the shower, Vegeta stepped out and stood, naked, dripping water to
the floor. His head has down-turned but his body was coiled tightly, hands in
fists.
Kakarotto was beyond his reach.
In sixty-seven years, Vegeta had cried only a handful of times. On each occasion
the tears had been outside of his control, rolling from his eyes unbidden and
unwanted. Now, as his hands relaxed in defeat, releasing Kakarotto, the tears
came again and he did not know why.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~+