| Chains Chapter 7: Honors |
| Author: Selenity Jade Rating: PG-13 Disclaimer: I'm high on Benadryl... I'm insane, a bit loopy, and completely lifeless... Doesn't make me a genius and it doesn't make me Akira Toriyama. Go away. |
| Buruma woke slowly to find herself alone. She blinked a bit in confusion before she closed her eyes against the memories from the day before. She curled herself into a ball, and started to weep once again. She lay wrapped in the blankets, crying for her lost friend, for herself, and for the memories they shared. Vejiita entered the room a few hours later, finding her in much the same condition. His scowled deepened and a pained look flashed over his face briefly before he padded softly over to her. "Onna," he said softly, bending down beside the large bed. "What?" she answered, her voice thick with pain, from under the blankets. "Come, Onna. Kakarotto's mate wishes for you to see the brat." He heard a faint sniffle before the blankets began to move and she crawled out of her hiding place. He actually felt his heart twist painfully at the red, puffy eyes, the dull look on her face, and the tearstains on her beautiful skin. "I'll be ready in ten minutes," she told him softly, and walked into the bathroom. Vejiita stared at the door for a few minutes, an almost gentle frown on his face. ~~~ Vejiita was pacing in their shared sitting room like a caged animal when she appeared. He glanced at her worriedly. He cursed himself silently for being concerned for the weak female, but the concern refused to leave him. She forced a smile on her face in greeting before it fell away. Her eyes were normal now, except the slight glossy look in them from unshed tears. Those deep blue-eyes watched him, almost lifelessly. And that made him feel very... scared. 'No! Not scared, just... annoyed!' Her hair was left loose and cascaded down her back, and even he had to admit it looked... angelic like that. Her slender body was covered in a black gown, most likely for her friend's death. She didn't wear any jewelry except for a small chain around her neck, which Vejiita could just barely make out with his Saiyajin sight. It was a silver chain with a small pendant that resembled some kind of bird on it. He looked back towards her face, catching the slight slip of her mask, showing him that despite the calm, lifeless look, she was feeling. And what she was feeling was painful. But before he could comment, it was gone, and the robotic mask returned. He winced inwardly, but quickly decided that he'd rather have her like this than wailing into his chest again. 'Liar,' his mind sneered at him. "Come, Onna," he ordered, gently. She nodded slightly and walked towards the door. He watched her almost warily before moving to follow her. He caught up to her easily, slowing down to walk beside her. He would sneak a glance at her every few moments, but her mask was now firmly in place. She looked sad, but Vejiita was beginning to suspect she was hurting more then she wanted to let on. Not being comfortable around emotions, Vejiita understood that. He often hid behind his mask of anger and indifference rather than show any weakness. He nearly chuckled at the irony of it. He didn't particularly feel comfortable expressing or seeing others expression emotions, but this time, he wanted to *know* how she was feeling. He wanted to pry the mask off her and see her. Actually see the hurting woman beneath the mask. And he wondered if people had felt the same way when he closed himself off. It was damn peculiar. He didn't like emotions. He despised the very emotions that she had been displaying. The tears, sadness, loneliness, and grief. He despised each of them fiercely. He had often wished his sparring partner wasn't so... obvious about his emotions on numerous occasions. And now he wanted to know hers. 'Why the hell do I care? She's only a female!' He strolled through the automatic doors that lead to the medial bay, the blue-haired female slightly behind him. He moved towards the room that held that third-class Saiyajin and his worthless mate. The door opened when he reached them, and both of them entered the room. Vejiita scowled fiercely as soon as the doors closed behind him. The pale-looking female lay on the bed, clearly exhausted and in pain. Beside her, sitting on the bed, was his sparring partner, holding his mate's hand with one hand, and cradling his newborn son in the other arm. 'Weaklings...' The mated pair looked up and smiled welcoming at the Onna. She smiled back, hers forced, and looking more like she had indigestion instead of the usual friendly smile she gave them. A pang of jealousy hit him again. He growled almost inaudibly. She never gave him that look. She glared at him, attacked him, kicked him, and a few times, she was polite. But she never gave him the warm smile that said, "I'm glad to see you!" And here he was getting jealous about it! She wasn't his mate, thank Kami! 'Why do I feel jealous?' He didn't want a mate, damn it! He didn't want these emotions she caused. He didn't want any of it! He wanted to go back to normal. Normal meaning cold and indifferent. He didn't want to feel the annoying jealousy, possessiveness, and the fucking concern! He wanted nothing to do with it! And for the first time, he regretted ordering her father to give her to him. And he most definitely regretted the kiss last night. That most of all. He had a taste of her now... and he yearned for more. Yearned so much that he hurt. He hated her. "He's beautiful," she breathed walking up to the small Saiyajin child. The little furry tail was wrapped lovingly around the new father's wrist. When Buruma leaned in to look at the infant, the dark eyes seemed to focus on her. The baby made a small gurgle and reached for a strand of her aqua-colored hair. He yanked on it, much to the amusement of his parents. Vejiita just continued to scowl, remembering just how soft her hair was from the brief contact last night. And how much he'd love to bury his face and his fingers into the long tresses. Chichi smiled at her human friend. "Buruma, I know you probably didn't feel like coming here right now, but Kakarotto and I wanted to tell you something." Her mate also smiled up at the blue-eyed female. "Radditzu asked me to do something... unusual, a day or two ago," Kakarotto began softly, his voice betraying a little of the grief he felt for the brother he barely had a chance to know. "He was the student of an old man on Earth, was he not?" Buruma nodded, blinking back tears. "Yes. The old man died a while ago. Heart disease, I think. He was a very old man when he died." Kakarotto nodded. "Radditzu said he thought of his teacher as his father, and loved him as such. He never knew his birth family and the old warrior taught, cared, and loved my brother as his son. Radditzu asked me if I wouldn't mind naming my son, his nephew, after the old master. He said he would have done it with his own offspring, but he kept insisting he would not live to sire any." The tall Saiyajin paused and his furry tail moved to intertwine with his mates, seeking comfort. "Kakarotto came to talk to me about it," Chichi put in. "I agreed that naming our son after a warrior, even if he was a human warrior, would be a good thing. But then Radditzu died," she whispered, staring up into Buruma's teary eyes. A few fell unnoticed down the blue-haired female's cheeks. "I remembered my promise to Radditzu, but then I wanted to name our son after my brother. He saved my life during the... accident last night. So, Chichi and I had a bit of a dilemma." He looked at his newborn son, a tender smile on his face. "Buruma, meet Gohan Radditzu." Buruma made a soft sobbing sound. Kakarotto looked up at her with compassionate eyes. "The name is not traditional for a Saiyajin, generally we only have one name, and I cannot remember a Saiyajin carrying an alien name, but Chichi and I agreed this was best. He will be called Gohan, to honor Radditzu's wish, but he will carry my brother's name, to honor him and to see his name passed on." A few more tears fell from her glistening eyes as she listened to the brother of her best friend. "We wish to also name you his... godmother, I believe is what Radditzu called it. If something should happen to either Chichi or I, we'd like our son to be in your care. Radditzu trusted you with his life, and loved you fiercely. He thought of you as his sister, his beloved little sister, and I would be honored if you'd consider me as a brother as well." The tall Saiyajin's black eyes began to look suspiciously bright as he gazed up at the quietly sobbing female. "I cannot replace my brother in your heart, but you need not be alone, either. He asked me to take care of you for him if something should happen. He asked that I love and care for you, just as he did. He loved you, so much." Buruma had long ago abandoned her restraint, silently crying as she listened to the strangely gentle Saiyajin warrior speak to her. She nodded slightly, afraid to speak. Kakarotto smiled up at her. "Would you like to hold Gohan?" he asked softly. She gave him a smile, a weak smile, but it was no longer forced. "Yes," she answered in a whisper, leaning down to take the child from Kakarotto. No one noticed that Vejiita had left silently, unable to stand the silent tears that fell from the frail woman's clear blue eyes. ~~~ Vejiita was leaning against the wall just beside a large door, his body immobile outside of the slight irritated twitch of the end of his tail. He leaned there, an angry scowl on his face, as he waited for the group inside. He glanced over when the door opened to reveal the woman that plagued his thoughts. Her eyes were still shiny and bright with moisture, her face slightly flushed from her tears, but she looked a little less... empty. Not enough, but... some. "Onna." She glanced at him. "Yes?" He motioned for her to come with him, which she did, her confusion obvious. She stayed silent, however, as the Saiyajin no Ouji led her through the vast halls of the ship. It felt strangely empty to both of them. The ship was too large for just twenty-two Saiyajin warriors, now that one is gone, and one little female. It could easily fit a hundred warriors, but... the Saiyajin were a near extinct race now. After a few turns that Buruma couldn't follow, he stopped outside of a large door. He ordered it open with his gruff voice. The doors slid open with a slight hiss and Vejiita turned to the female beside him. "Close your eyes," he ordered softly. She stared at him, clearly confused and a bit reluctant to trust him. Vejiita pushed back the growl that was surfacing and looked at her, his face carefully expressionless. "Close your eyes," he repeated, just as softly as before. She did as he asked, if a bit reluctantly. He reached out and grasped her tiny hand in his large, gloved one. She stiffened and her eyes flew open in surprise. Vejiita suppressed the urge to snap at her angrily. "Onna, close your eyes," he ordered once again. He leaned closer to her face a bit before speaking again. "Trust me. You can't walk with your eyes closed. Trust me." She nodded slowly as she stared into his fierce onyx eyes, but did as he asked. He led her gently through the room quickly and safely. He stopped suddenly, and only then did he speak again. "Keep your eyes closed," he ordered again, moving his hand from hers to place both on her shoulders and placing the tiny female in front of him, her back to his stomach, and he made damn sure his tail was tightly wrapped around his waist. "Open them." She blinked her eyes open, and gazed in front of her, slightly in confusion. It was a giant wall of stone... Black stone. It filled the entire room, she noticed as she looked around. It was in different pieces, but the room was cluttered in black stone walls. "Look here," he said, pointing at a mark on the stone. She blinked as she saw what appeared to be writing of some kind. He pushed her closer to the stone wall, grabbing her hand with his, and moved it to touch the engraved letters. "This room houses a very important artifact from my home planet. These stone walls are called, roughly translated, "Wall of... Heroes", I guess. Not really the correct word, but it is close enough." He paused as she traced the foreign characters of her friend's name. "It's more a place where the royal family of Vejiita-sei would honor those elite warriors who served the throne exceptionally well, died to protect a member of the royal family, defeated an ancient enemy, or achieved the legendary power of my ancestors, those that were known as Supersaiyajin. Those who were warriors beyond the meaning of that term. Either through their strength or loyalty. Only those that the royal family deemed honorable and worthy had their names placed on this wall at the time of their death. And this wall is made of Saiyajin elites." He gestured to the pieces. "When I left my planet a few years ago, after returning from Furiza's service, my father ordered the wall dismantled and placed on my ship. The ship he had built for me." He pressed her fingers to the engraved letters firmly. "This is Radditzu, son of Bardock," he told her softly. "He was not elite in his life, but in his death, I granted him that honor. He was strong, but it was not his strength I have honored by placing his name on the Wall. It is his honor and loyalty to the royal family. Not only my family, but to yours. For his loyalty to you. He was not raised on Vejiita-sei, nor raised as a Saiyajin would have been, but his honor and loyalty to you placed him above the rest. As long as this wall survives, Radditzu will be remembered and honored, even in the afterlife." He felt the small woman tremble slightly, but was unable to see her face from behind her. Her back was still pressed against his front, still but neither moved to break the contact. A strangely comfortable silence filled the room as they both stared at the name engraved in the black stone. Buruma was the first to break the silence. "He would be... honored," she whispered almost inaudibly. "He has always been loyal and honorable, and I think he would be deeply... honored and pleased with this. I thank you, Vejiita no Ouji." He grunted softly in acknowledgment, and again silence descended on the pair. Vejiita felt reluctant to disturb her, but he wanted to get out of there. He was being too... kind and gentle for his peace of mind. A good training session would do well to beat the... softness out of him. Again, the blue-haired female spoke first. "Thank you," she whispered again. "For bringing me here." "Hn." He paused a moment before speaking. "I can leave you alone here," he told her. "Just call me when you're ready to leave and I'll lead you back to your rooms." To his surprise, she leaned back into his chest and shook her head. "No, don't leave. Please." And to his annoyance, Vejiita found himself saying, "Fine." He didn't know how long they stood there silent, a few minutes, maybe longer, but before he realized it, the blue-haired onna turned around and buried her face into his chest. Her slender shoulders shook minutely with her sudden sobs, and her tiny hands clutched his black spandex suit. He didn't move, outside of placing a hand on her lower back, and allowed the female to soak his shirt with her tears. He felt a need to push her away, and run, but... her almost silent sobbing sounded more painful to him than if she started to wail loudly. He was insanely jealous of the dead warrior right then, believing with all his heart that she would never cry for him this way. She pulled herself closer to his chest, her weeping becoming more painful for him to hear, and her violent tremors against his chest were sheer torture. And when her legs gave out, he supported her weight as they moved to the ground. Placing his weight on one knee, Vejiita bent the other with his foot still connected to the ground. The sobbing female was nestled between his legs, one of his arms around her, her face and hands still buried in his shirt. He moved his other hand to her head, cradling it against his chest. He let her cry for the friend she had lost. She sobbed into the proud Vejiita no Ouji's chest until exhaustion overcame her and she finally slept. |