Honesty

Part 3

 

~ Three Months Later ~

 

Goku looked out the window of the spaceship at the planet below. It had pink swirling clouds, blue landmasses and the ocean was a darker shade of purple than the atmosphere. It was here that he would find Vejita. Goku had tracked Vejita’s faint suppressed ki all across the universe. Sometimes arriving somewhere where there were huge amounts of left over ki that could belong to no one else but Vejita. Now he gathered his courage and began to sink into the strange purple atmosphere.

 

It was very beautiful on this planet, Goku noticed, as he got lower. There were rivers, mountains, trees, animals, and far off dots that he knew were people. It was a lot like his beloved Earth in appearance other than the fact that the landmasses were all different, the water and sky were purple, the grass was blue, the clouds were pink, and the creatures walking on the planet all had tails. Every single one of them. The mammals, birds, reptiles and the bipeds.

 

Goku smiled slightly as he saw all the life on the planet that Vejita had decided to land on. This was a planet that he himself wouldn’t mind living on. He checked the spaceship monitor for a moment and then glanced out the view screen. He was about to land in a clearing amidst a lot of trees and where there was not much life around that could be hurt in his landing. Steadying the ship, he brought her down safely and when he was sure that everything was in order, turned the ship off and opened the door, shutting it after he was standing on the dark blue grass.

 

Goku paused for a moment to search out Vejita’s ki, irritated at the way it was always suppressed, making it hard to pinpoint. That was the reason that he hadn’t simply used instant transmission to get here. Vejita’s ki was too small and it was constantly moving, making it very difficult to safely pinpoint it. Now, he was having a hard time locating his ki, just when he was finally close to the proud Saiya-jin prince.

 

With a frown, he turned and walked over to the ship that Bulma had lent to him and pressed a button on the side, placing it back in its capsule. With a patent sigh, he launched himself into the air, following the very faint ki that he knew was Vejita’s.

 

**

 

As Goku flew, he made sure to study the surrounding area that he was flying over, constantly on the lookout for any possible danger that might come at him unexpectedly. It was in this manner that he got his first great shock. There were Saiya-jins on this planet.

 

At first, Goku hadn’t dared believe his eyes and senses. After all the years that he had believed Vejita and himself  be the only two remaining Saiya-jin alive, he was finally seeing evidence of some others. Not just a few of them either, but whole cities. As he flew, he passed over the heads of various Saiya-jin going about their daily lives. Farming, hunting, making things, shopping and of course practicing. Many of the Saiya-jin he passed over were busy in one form or another.

 

Goku finally paused over the sixth city he came across and watched the intense battle that two tailed beings were having down below in the immaculate city square. The two fighters weren’t that strong. Or, not what Goku would consider strong. They were intense and they fought with determination and grace. Goku watched as they blocked each other’s attacks, dodged others and attacked each other with enough force to send the other flying backwards only to go at each other all over again.

 

Several minutes later, the slightly shorter of the two kicked the other in the head and sent a ki ball into his stomach, ending the fight as the taller of the two fell over, grasping his middle. When it was over, the Saiya-jins that had been watching thumped their tails on the ground in applause and went about what they were doing before they became distracted by another battle.

From where Goku was floating up above, it was hard to hear everything that was said down below. As another Saiya-jin came into view, his hair spiky and sweeping down his back, Goku started to descend to hear what he had to say.

 

The tall Saiya-jin with the spiky hair approached the winner that was helping his fallen Saiya-jin comrade off the ground and spoke. “That was a good battle. You are getting better, Kumo.”

 

The Saiya-jin nodded at him before pulling his partner into a hug. “Yeah, but so is Kiken. It was harder to beat him than before.”

 

Kiken growled pulling out of the other's embrace. “You know that you have never beaten me before.”

 

Kumo laughed. “Yeah, but who’s to say that, other than you.”

 

Kiken grunted. “That’s it, no more hugs for you!”

 

Kumo looked shocked, before adopting a sly look. “Fine, see if I let you bond with me as we planned.”

 

Kiken adopted a predatory grin as he pulled his friend into a fierce bear hug. “Really, well, I think we have to fight and decide this in a reasonable way.”

 

Just as they were leaning closer to each other, the spiky haired Saiya-jin pushed the two apart. “Okay, break it up you two. This is a training circle, not a bedroom. Besides, with you two, fighting is never a reasonable way to solve anything.”

 

Kiken looked shocked. “What do you mean? Whoever wins has the final say. That’s how it is. I think it’s perfectly reasonable. Don’t you, koi?”

Kumo grinned. “Sure is. Perfectly so.”

 

The spiky haired man shook his head. “Whatever. I have others to train. You two go. I’ve seen enough of you for one day.”

 

Kumo bowed. “Oh yes, King Vejita! Whatever you want. I am, after all, only alive to follow your orders.”

 

The spiky haired man laughed. “You could be arrested for saying that you know? Calling me the king is high mutiny. Even if King Vejita is a reasonable king, don’t think for a moment that he wouldn’t throw you in the dungeon.”

 

Kiken frowned. “Weird, isn’t it, that we would finally have a form of government after not having one for so long. What has it been? Two hundred and thirty seven years? In all my memory, I can’t recall there being a government of any order and now it’s in the form of a king.”

 

The spiky haired man frowned. “Well, you got to admit that after Vejita no Ou came here two months ago and set up the government, things have been running smoother. We have a standard currency, work force, defense and required ki levels. Which, in my opinion, are so high it’s amazing that anyone can reach them. We also have better production.

 

“Having a government is so good that it’s amazing no one ever thought of it before now. Is it any wonder that no one put up a resistance when he proclaimed himself king? It doesn’t matter that his ki is stronger than any of us have ever felt. It was suppressed and it still blew our minds away. Still, having Vejita in power isn’t too bad. He’s a good king and he’s honest. I can’t wait to see him fight. Now, that is a sight that I would give anything to see. Too bad that he only practices with his defense team.”

 

Kiken nodded. “Yes he is a good king, and even if I didn’t want a king, I’d never fight him. He’d kill me too quickly and I have too much to live for.” He smirked and glanced at Kumo out of the corner of his eye.

 

Kumo laughed. “If you challenged him, it’d be your own fault. Somehow, I don’t think that he would have fought you though. He hardly notices the ones that haven’t reached the ki level requirements.”

Kiken grinned. “I’ll reach them. You’ll see. I’m a fourth of the way there already.”

 

The spiky haired Saiya-jin nodded, “Anyone can reach them. If Vejita can do it, then you can too. I’ll get there soon I hope. I want to impress our new king and join the defense team.”

 

Kumo chuckled. “As far as I know, there are only eight on there.”

“Well, I’ll make nine then. You’ll see. All I need to do is train with one of the ones that have. But then, there’re like Vejita. They refuse to train with us lowly people. Can’t really blame them. They didn’t have help getting to the level that they are at now,” replied Spiky-hair with a laugh.

 

“I heard that there is talk of Vejita no Ou raising the ki level requirements,” Kiken said.

 

“I hear that too,” the spiky haired Saiya-jin replied. “If he does though, he won’t have a defense anymore. It’s hard enough reaching 100,000. Any higher and he’ll have to look off planet for help.”

 

Kumo smiled. “He won’t though. He respects Saiya-jins too much to try to anger them in such a manner.”

 

Spiky-hair nodded. “He’s a Saiya-jin. What did you expect? And now, it really is time for you two to go. I have others to train. Not just you.”

 

“Ah! I see how it is. Throw us out like the trash, will you? Well, see if we ever come back.” Kiken wrapped his arm around his shorter partner and glared at the trainer playfully before turning and walking off.

 

Spiky-hair shook his head and called out after them as they departed. “If I was throwing you out, I’d incinerate you also. How else do you permanently get rid of trash?” All he got in response was laughter, so he turned and headed back to the training area.

 

Goku listened to the whole conversation with interest and when the others were gone, decided to land and talk with the Saiya-jin down below. Once he landed, the spiky haired Saiya-jin turned around, surprised to see him standing there. “Is there something I can help you with?”

 

Goku smiled kindly and the spiky haired Saiya-jin took in a silent tight breath as he noticed just how handsome this new Saiya-jin looked. “I heard you talking about Vejita no Ou and I was wondering where I could find him. It is important that I talk with him.”

 

The spiky haired man looked at him in surprise. “You want to talk to the king and you don’t know where to find him?”

 

Goku scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. “Umm… no.”

 

The spiky haired man shook his head. “Unbelievable. Well if you really need to find him, the imperial capital is just three cites west of here. Hard to miss really. There is a huge castle and Vejita no Ou himself has a large ki level. Just go up to the guards and ask to see him. Vejita will see anyone that has official business. He believes in making the planet better and listens to the advice of his people. One of the reasons he’s loved so much.”

 

“Thank you for your help,” Goku said and prepared to blast off.

 

“Why did you need to ask me anyway? Are you new around here?” asked the Saiya-jin with curiously and in an effort to keep the good looking man there longer.

 

“Yes, I just got here,” said Goku truthfully. “I followed Vejita here.”

 

“Well, I hope that you find him.”

 

“Thank you,” replied Goku with a grin, and then he did leave, leaving a bright ki trail in his wake.

 

The Saiya-jin looked after him in wonder and confusion. ‘That Saiya-jin was simply too handsome,’ he thought. ‘It’s a shame that I already have a mate though. If that weren’t the case, then I would’ve tried to catch the man for myself.’ Shaking his head to clear it, he went back to his training circle and the next three Saiya-jins in line waiting for their lessons.

 

~ Sometime Later ~

 

Goku landed in front of the palace entrance after arriving at the right city and looked up at the imposing fortress before him. It was tall and regal, dark and forbidding in its height and dark stone coloring. The towers were tall with view windows and the wall went all around the castle, bordered by a moat and a drawbridge that went across the clear water. The water was constantly flowing downward around the castle, then out by means of a river. The moat in fact was the river and surprisingly clean for a castle moat.

 

Goku had never seen a castle like this one before and knowing that it had Vejita inside, made it seem more important to him. Wasting no further time, Goku walked up to the two guards guarding the main gate and asked, “Excuse me, but I need to speak with the king. May I come in?”

 

The guard on the right regarded him with cold hard eyes. “State your business.”

 

Goku was silent for a moment and then he said, “I just needed to see the king about some official planet business.”

 

The guard’s eyes flashed. “Very well. You may enter.”

The two guards opened the doors and Goku walked through, the doors closing behind him. As soon as he was in the courtyard, he reached out for Vejita’s suppressed ki and having pinpointed it, raised his figures to his forehead and phased out.

 

When he reappeared a moment later, he found himself in a gym with a lot of other Saiya-jin who were training and trying to impress the new king of the planet, who was currently training on the far side of room. As soon as Goku saw him training near the wall, he immediately scoped out the area and made sure that none of the others in the room were checking out his mate. After a brief moment, he evaluated that there were too many doing just that and that Vejita wouldn’t like it if he started a war with them all in the training room. ‘And besides, I don’t know if he still wants to be with me or not.’

 

Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, while keeping his body language away from, ‘Vejita’s mine!’ Goku walked over to Vejita. Once he was standing before him, he said, “Vejita.”

 

Vejita corrected him automatically as he stopped his training and turned to him. “It’s Vejita no Ou. Not Vejita. Got it?”

Goku was taken aback and decided not to argue the point. “Vejita no Ou, I came to apologize.”

 

Vejita regarded him steadily, “For what?”

Goku was very confused as to why Vejita was acting as if nothing had happened. “For not treating you as I should have. You’re right. It was wrong of me to stay with Chichi after you and I got together, but I did it for Gohan and because I was confused. I’ve left Chichi. She was very upset. Now, I have come to ask for your forgiveness and see if you’d take me back.”

 

Vejita looked at him for the longest moment, making Goku very nervous. Next thing Goku knew, Vejita exploded. “I have no idea what you are talking about!” At the sound of the king yelling, everyone in the room stopped what they were doing. Goku’s blood flooded to his face in embarrassment.

 

Vejita took no notice of him and continued. “Take you back? I don’t even know you. I have no idea who Gohan or Chichi is and I have no idea why you are even talking about them to me. I have never seen you before in my life.”

 

Goku was stunned. He was aware that Vejita was mad, but not this mad. He had expected Vejita to hit and yell at him. He never dreamed that Vejita would go any farther and further renounce him like this. Being told that he wasn’t a Saiya-jin in Vejita’s eyes had hurt, but this was unbearable.

 

Goku had no idea what to say or do. There was a long silence and then Goku whispered sadly, “I’m sorry Vejita that I hurt you enough for you to deny knowing me. I’ll leave you be.”

 

Goku turned and started to walk out of the silent room, among all of the Saiya-jin that were looking at him with curious eyes, wondering what all that was about. Vejita didn’t see him go. He had already gone back to his interrupted training. ‘What was that all about anyway?’ He wondered as he shadowboxed. ‘It feels as if I should know him, but I don’t and frankly would I want to?’

 

~ King Kai’s Planet ~

 

King Kai was watching Bubbles and Gregory run around the planet, chasing each other in a one on one game of tag, when Goku appeared in front of him all of a sudden. “Wh- Goku! What are you doing here?”

 

Goku tried to smile at him, but his face cracked and looked at him sadly instead. “I went to go and find Vejita. When I did, he pretended he didn’t know me and so I came here.”

 

King Kai looked at the expression on Goku’s face and shook his head. Goku looked very depressed and his eyes reflected pools of misery that King Kai couldn’t even begin to imagine. This was very unlike Goku. “Goku, what are you going to do now?” King Kai knew of the problem on Earth because he kept a close watch on that section of the universe. He knew what happened between Vejita and Goku and he knew why Vejita had left, even if Goku did not.

 

Goku looked down at the ground and picked a blade of grass. “I don’t know King Kai. I was expecting Vejita to be mad at me, but not that mad. I never expected him to just forgive me right away. But to block me out entirely? I never expected that. Why, King Kai? What did I do wrong?”

 

King Kai frowned. “Goku, you really have no idea why Vejita left in the first place?”

Goku looked up at him, a small fleck of hope in his eyes at the prospect of learning from King Kai why Vejita was angry with him. “No. I have no idea. He didn’t say.”

King Kai nodded, uncharacteristically serious. “Then let me say this, Goku. Vejita and you became mates that night of the blue moon, four and a half months ago. As Vejita told you, bonded mates didn’t stay with others that they weren’t bonded with. The fact that you did this made him very upset and he tolerated it for as long as he could before he took off. If you had left Chichi in the first place, none of this would’ve happened.”

 

Goku looked miserable. “I just couldn’t leave Chichi. She was four months pregnant at the time. In addition, there was Gohan to consider. It’s terrible that I left Chichi at eight and a half months to follow a stubborn Saiya-jin all the way to the other side of the galaxy for nothing. At least I knew what to expect from Chichi everyday. I should’ve stayed with her.”

 

King Kai shook his head. “No, you did the right thing. Sure, leaving Chichi like that was bad and she is likely never going to forgive you, but you had to follow Vejita. It’s what anyone in your situation would’ve done.”

 

Goku was shocked to hear this serious advice coming from his mentor. In all the time Goku had known him, he hadn’t known King Kai to be serious for so long without making a joke. “It was still wrong,” Goku replied looking at the ground once more.

King Kai didn’t like seeing his friend upset and decided to help. “Let me see if I can find out what is going on with Vejita. Maybe that will help you. What do you think?”

Goku suddenly grinned. “Gee, thanks King Kai. I owe you.”

 

“No kidding. Now be quiet.” King Kai walked a little ways away and closed his eyes, stretching his antenna out and searching for the Saiya-jin far away. What he found, he didn’t like at all and when he opened his eyes again, he immediately went over to Goku who was waiting anxiously for the news.

 

“Well, what did you find out?” asked Goku eagerly.

 

King Kai frowned and his face darkened. “I sensed a deep and sinister power clouding the planet that Vejita was on so I investigated it. It seems that Vejita was telling the truth when he told you that he didn’t remember you. All of the Saiya-jin there can’t remember their pasts, including Vejita.”

 

Goku was shocked to hear this, along with a little relied to find out that Vejita wasn’t deliberately trying to push him out of his mind forever. “What happened to them? Why can’t they remember?”

 

King Kai sighed. “All I was able to gather is that there is a very strong force shadowing all their memories. It came a while ago and it hasn’t left. All the Saiya-jin there, are perfectly content to live out their lives not knowing what happened because they can’t. They figure that it is best if they live with it, rather than driving themselves into pits of despair trying to fight it.”

Goku nodded. “I see. So, I need to go and see what this force is and beat it, correct?”

King Kai laughed when he saw the familiar look of battle lust spark within the other man. “If you want.”

Goku nodded, his expression set. “Very well then. I will see what I can do to help them all. One last thing... I thought that Vejita and I were the only Saiya-jins alive. Where did all the others come from?”

King Kai nodded. “I was just as surprised as you when I saw them there. I was able to pry a little into one of the Saiya-jins minds.It seems that there was once a time when the Saiya-jins were adventurers and they sought to settle on other planets to expand their empire. That was the first planet that they found suitable for them to live on and the king at the time sent a large group of Saiya-jins to settle there. According to the Saiya-jin, half the original population went. Things seemed to be going well for many years and then suddenly there was no more contact from the planet. That is where the Saiya-jin’s memory failed. I am guessing that at that time the force came, making them all forget where they came from and who they were. There was a lot of confusion at that time, before they all accepted it.

 

“The mind I saw this from also states that there were Saiya-jins sent from the home planet to investigate matters. They all lost their memories after about a week of landing on the planet. After the twenty second one, there were no more new arrivals. I am guessing that losing an outpost shocked the king and even if he wanted to start another colony, he would have to wait for the population to rise again. Saiya-jin live for a very long time and so the population never rose high enough again before Frieza came and wiped them all out on the home planet.”

 

King Kai finished and Goku frowned as he processed the information. Looking to King Kai he asked, “You just learned all of that?”

King Kai chuckled. “Yes, Goku, I did.”

 

Goku nodded. “How come this outpost is still there then? Why didn’t Frieza destroy it?”

King Kai shrugged. “Maybe he never found out about it or maybe there is some creature behind all of this mystery and it prevented Frieza from killing them all.”

Goku nodded. “I suppose that I better go now and see what I can find out on my own.”

King Kai nodded and his eyes twinkled. “Before you go, I will tell you a joke. I made it up myself.”

Goku grinned. “Sure King Kai. What is it?”

King Kai smiled and asked. “What do you call two pieces of bread with moldy cheese in the middle?”

Goku shook his head. “I don’t know. What?”

 

“You marriage with Chichi!”

 

Goku frowned as King Kai started to laugh at his own joke. “I don’t get it.”

King Kai had to calm down a bit before he could continue. “Because, there has to be a foundation in a marriage, just like there has to be one in a cheese sandwich. If the foundation crumbles then so does everything else. Remember that Goku.”

Goku nodded, knowing that King Kai was right. “I will. Farewell.”

 

He disappeared as King Kai was still laughing over his own joke. “A moldy marriage. Get it? Foundations crumble. Haha ha. Sometimes I don’t know my own genius.”

 

 

************************************************************************

 

Thanks to Felix for betaing this and loads of thanks to all my readers. Without reviews, I can’t write more. I have to know if the story is good. In addition, without Felix, I couldn’t find all the mistakes in this. :)

 

************************************************************************

 

Thanks to all the people that reviewed the last 2 chapters. Sorry about the long wait. Chapter 4 will be out as soon as possible.
Moreover, yes, I know the joke was corny. So sue me. I don't know King Kai that well.
If there are any mistakes, then tell me and I will fix them.