Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ but I do own a Trunks action figure that I swear is secretly in love with my Seifer action figure who is clearly pining for my Sephiroth action figure who wants nothing more than to kill us all.

Warning: Strong language, mentions of rape/sex, murder etc.

Summary: Earth is purged but Buruma will not break.

Prayers into the Infinity

I'd always considered myself fragile. Fragile like spun glass. I sometimes wonder if that was an original and personal evaluation I made myself or if someone else, my parents, society maybe, labeled me that way and so that's what I believed.

I was the weak one. I wasn't a fighter. I was the one most likely to crumble. Most likely to die.

But I didn't.

Out of all of them, I was the one to survive.

Its amazing what a person can live through. Amazing how your body and mind can be shattered and torn, but you find there's always something underneath. Like smashing through a wall of sheetrock to find a wall of bricks behind it. Sometimes you want to crumble…but you just can't.

I was so astonished at myself.

I think its part of living in a civilized society. We don't realize what we're capable of. We're comfortable and lazy and we forget just who and what we are.

No matter how we'd like to deny it, we're animals.

The world is on fire around me. The sky is a red haze billowing with smoke, explosions rocking the ground beneath my feet.

" Run, Buruma!" Yamcha screams from where he lies crumpled and broken on the ground. He vomits blood, it leaks from his nose and drips from his hairline. One arm stretches out to me even as he screams, "RUN!"

A booted foot comes down on his head, crushing his skull.

The memory still stabs at my heart, makes me feel like a ball of jagged glass is growing in my chest and will soon be large enough to burst out, shredding my insides to bloody bits. But time has callused me just enough that I can step back and examine this memory from a more objective viewpoint.

What the Saiyans did, what they did back then and what they do to me now… Its nothing that human beings haven't done to each other.

Well, we hadn't blown up any planets yet, but given a few hundred years I'm sure that would have eventually worked its way onto the long list of humanity's sins.

As it is, by the time the Saiyans finally destroyed us we were guilty of genocide, wiping out entire nations, using our ingenuity to create devices of torture, methodically killing unwanted babies, cannibalism, some tribes actually believed that eating the flesh of baby girls made them strong warriors. I'm sure in some war on Chikyuu-sei , some when on Chikyuu-sei another warrior lay broken in the dirt, just as Yamcha had that day and screamed for his lover to run while an enemy soldier crushed his head with his foot.

It has all happened before. We're more like the Saiyans than either species would like to admit. The difference is simply power. Though give us a few hundred years of technological advances and it may have happened differently.

I am proof of that.

I'm not making excuses for the Saiyans or for us either. I will not forgive them for what they've done.

I believe in evil. I believe what they did was evil.

" My Lady?"

I blink, slowly coming back to myself.

For a moment I'm confused, I can't remember where I am. Am I on the Saiyan Warship heading back from Chikyuu-sei? Am I in my room in the Elite Harem? Am I in Vegeta's room?

No.

I'm in my room. I'm sitting in front of the beautiful vanity Vegeta bought me from Planet Tovis. Its huge and elaborate, made of some substance I have yet to identify. It shines like abalone shell, mother of pearl with swirls of pastel color. I'm sitting in my room, staring into the vanity mirror with my servant woman, Rikku, standing behind me, looking worried. Her hand hovers over my shoulder, afraid to touch.

" Yes Rikku?" my voice is soft, gentle. A far cry from the waspish, snotty voice I'd once had.

Not my voice at all.

" Are…are you okay, Lady Sora?"

Sora. Not my name either. But I wouldn't give them my real name. By the time they got around to asking, my name was all I had left. Vegeta chose my new name and I've learned to answer to it.

I smile reassuringly at Rikku and she responds, smiling back and fussing with my hair. Rikku's a nice girl. She looks a little bit like a blond raccoon. She's bright but clueless in a way that reminds me of Goku. She'll believe anything you tell her.

" You look lovely, Mistress."

I turn back to my reflection. Yes, lovely I suppose. My hair falls to my waist, a waterfall of tumbling turquoise, a silver diadem crosses my forehead. My dress is shimmering and red. Red like blood. It's full, layered and absolutely gorgeous.

I hate it.

" You…should be pleased, ne?" Rikku says happily, giving my reflection a smile, "You'll be crowned Queen of Vegeta-sei tonight and your handsome man will be King."

Something inside me, something hot and primal rolls in my stomach.

It must show in my eyes for a moment because Rikku goes pale and the hand on my shoulder flinches back.

I quickly smile at her to cover my slipup, "Rikku, my friend, how long until the ceremony?"

" About an hour, my Lady."

" Hn. Would you be a dear and leave me to myself for awhile. I'm a bit nervous."

" Certainly, mistress." Rikku curtsies, "But I shall be back before the ceremony starts with the other ladies to escort you."

" Of course, thank you."

" Oh.." Rikku smiles, and brushes a lock of my hair, "You're always so polite. Such a nice, sweet girl. You don't have a mean-bone in your body, do you."

I swing Yamcha's sword at the Saiyan's chest, " I'll kill you! I'll kill you all!"

I blink, my vision clearing in time to see Rikku's skirt disappearing out the door.

I have to quit doing that.

I've relived that day so often that its like an ongoing movie in my head. It never really stops. Its always there when I close my eyes. A constant reminder. Lately though, the visions, the memories, have been coming more vividly.

But I'm not surprised.

My room is so quiet, so still. I lose myself in that stillness. Emptiness. It's the closest thing I've had to peace in almost a year.

" Its time."

A familiar voice pulls me from my reverie. I turn in my chair to see Son Goku standing behind me, his expression curiously solemn.

" Its time." He says again.

Yes, its time.

I open a drawer on the vanity and fish out a cloth bag that I had wrapped and stuffed deep down at the bottom of the drawer where no one would find it.

I stand and follow him out of my room. The hallways are deserted; everyone is down in the throne room getting ready for the coronation of Vegeta as King of Vegeta-sei.

Part of me wants to be down there. Part of me wants to hide, to forget. But I'll never forget. I can't.

I was never so frightened as the day the Saiyans came to Chikyuu. Oddly, I can't really remember much of the attack. When I try to think about it all I remember is having lunch with mom and Yamcha and then sudden blurred flashes, screaming, running, blood, darkness.

I can remember the deaths though. I can remember the deaths of each of my friends.

…the bolt goes through both of them, right through their hearts. Chi Chi and Goku fall to their knees, still embracing each other…

Or again…

" Mr. Piccolo! Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan is screaming, struggling in my arms, but Yamcha is wrenching me away.

There is a flash behind us, the ground shakes and I tumble to my knees, grasping the child as tightly as I can. Gohan lets out a heartbreaking shriek, a sound I'll never forget and Yamcha cries out, flinching.

" Yamcha!" I cry. I don't want to turn around. I don't want to see.

His face is contorted in fury, "The Dragonballs are gone."

But in between those scenes…nothing. Just feelings. Terror, confusion, the adrenaline drugged mindlessness of a hunted animal.

I remember every moment of my time off-planet though. I wish I didn't. I do not wish to forget my friends or how they died. But I would give just about anything to forget what happened after that.

I remember looking out into space and seeing the rubble, the broken scattered chunks of space-debris. All that was left of my Mother Earth. That memory makes me cry. Every time.

I remember the flight to Vegeta-sei. Cramped, smelly cells. Little food, little water, stale air. I remember watching a mother who had lost her baby rock back and forth, her eyes wide and vacant. I was in shock the entire trip. I just kept thinking that I would wake up.

I remember thinking that things couldn't possibly get worse.

I was so wrong.

The first thing they did after hauling us from the ship was decide there were too many of us. Or rather, Vegeta decided there were too many of us. The Prince of Vegeta-sei presided over what happened next. He decided our fate. Prince Vegeta, our new God, the destroyer of our world. I have never witnessed anything so mind-bendingly horrible as the slaughter that followed. Some part of me could understand killing an enemy in the heat of battle, overcoming an enemy in a fair fight.

But…but this…

My people…they are my people, they will always be my people. They just stood there and the Saiyans slaughtered them in droves until the ground was slick with blood and piled with bodies that were quickly incinerated. Men, women or tiny child, it didn't matter. I saw one walk up to a four-year-old and literally blow the child's head off. I watched the charred body fall back and land with a sickening thump onto the ground.

I screamed.

A man, to this day I'll never know who he was, grabbed me and covered my mouth. I know he saved my life because anyone else who protested was quickly slaughtered. He held me while I struggled violently, scratching his arms, leaving long bloody gouges, wanting nothing more than to attack, to stop what was happening. I was blinded by tears, blinded by rage. My stomach lurched and he quickly let go of me as I dropped to my knees and vomited.

He held me while I cried. He brushed my hair from my eyes soothingly and spoke softly to me in Italian, apparently his native language. I never saw him again. I don't suppose he's still alive.

I'm not sure what happened to the people who weren't put in the Harem with me. The Elite Harem was a nightmare I had yet to imagine. I half envied those who died that first day on Vegeta-sei.

The ultimate insult, the ultimate humiliation.

My virginity was ripped from me by a big hulking Saiyan about as gentle as a Mack Truck. I tried to fight him, but he didn't even seem to notice. The pain was incredible, searing, as he lay over me, thrusting into me, grunting like a pig. I have never felt so sick inside, I have never felt so filthy, disgusting and used as I did that day, huddling in a corner next to a puddle of my own vomit, my thighs stained with blood and cum, my girlhood dreams of knights in shining armor and true love and sweet kisses cold ash in the back of my throat.

It was disgusting. A different Saiyan everyday, using me like some kind of waste receptacle.

After that, I didn't care about surviving anymore. I didn't care about anything anymore.

I raged.

I raged at those who died and left me alone. I hated Goku for dying. I hated him for not being there to rescue me. I hated Yamcha for not being stronger. I scratched, bit and fought anyone who touched me, Saiyan or human. I screamed and threw tantrums, I refused to eat. I was beaten and threatened and knocked unconscious and anyone who chose to bed me had to catch me first, but none of it helped.

I waged a first-class Capsule Corp. Bitch Queen war, not understanding that it would not help me. On Chikyuu-sei, entire nations would have already sent up a white flag. But I wasn't on Chikyuu and my normal methods of dealing with things wouldn't help me. The uselessness of my efforts left me hopelessly confused.

Ultimately they would have killed me, accidentally or purposely, eventually I would have died.

I was so close to madness by then that when I closed my eyes I could see it, a ragged chasm yawning open to swallow me whole. When I wasn't being raped, I sat in my small room, reliving my last horrible moments on earth.

" Miss Buruma! Miss Buruma!" the sobbing chibi Son, running shrieking towards me, "Miss Bur…"

…engulfed by a ki blast. .

I screamed and screamed and screamed.

A few of the other women resigned themselves to their fate. Some of them learned to enjoy their position, fawning on our brutal captors and fighting for their attention. Some of them tried to comfort me, tried to help me adjust. The few who tried went away screaming and bleeding. They left me alone after that but I could hear them whispering.

" Some women just can't take it…"

" She's a wild-heart, that one…"

" Can't they just…put her out of her misery? Its painful to see her!"

" She'll be dead soon."

And then as I lay naked and bruised in my room in utter silence, utter stillness, barely breathing, barely sane, or maybe no longer sane at all, they came to me.

I could hear them.

" Get up!"

I wasn't sure who it was at first but I didn't care, " I can't…" I murmured, staring glassily at the ceiling, "Its not my body anymore. I can't tell it what to do…"

" You have to get to Capsule Corporation!"

" I don't work today…"

" You're not trying."

I sat up in sudden rage, " I'VE TRIED AND TRIED AND TRIED!" I screamed, clawing at my face, slamming my fists against the wall.

" Tantrums. That's all you're good for, spoiled brat."

" I want to die."

Silence. " Then no one will remember us. We'll be gone forever…"

I sat up quickly to stare at Yamcha in horror, "I'll remember you." I promised, "I will always remember you."

I open my eyes and the movie stops for the moment. Goku glances back at me curiously then trots down the steps to the docking bay. The docking bay is a huge, impressive enclosure that houses most of Vegeta-sei's war ships.

There are two guards on duty. Leedo and Vahn.

" Lady Sora."

They are surprised to see me. I smile at them, a sweet smile that has even the hardest Saiyan warrior smiling back even if its just a little smirk. I feel just a tiny tug at my heart, the briefest instant of regret, the last bit of me that is still silly, spoiled baby-Buruma screaming for me to stop.

" Shouldn't you be at the Ceremony?" Leedo chides.

" Oh, I'll be at the Ceremony." I promise.

And then I kill him.

The tiny device in my hand sends out a ki-implosion laser that uses Leedo's own ki to burst his heart. Best of all, the laser blast itself is silent and invisible, not like a ki blast.

Leedo crumples with a choke, blood bubbling from his lips and Vahn turns in surprise.

" What the…"

He never finishes his sentence. He joins Leedo on the floor.

My first hunt. My first kill.

I'm hollow inside, empty. Really I expected to feel something. Horror, or maybe righteous pleasure, rage…something. I don't feel anything.

No, that's not right.

I'm sad. So very sad. Its just that I've been sad for so long that I don't even really notice. I'm sorry that its come to this. I'm sorry that my loved ones are dead and my planet is gone. But I don't regret what I've just done. Not at all.

And maybe that's what disturbs me.

Without a backwards glance I head to the control room. I'm not startled to find that Bardock is inside, I had planned on him being here. But I am a bit dismayed even though this is for the best.

I like Bardock. He is the only Saiyan besides Goku who seems to have any honor.

He looks up from the controls and his brow creases.

" My Lady…"

He respects me because of my scientific ability. Otherwise he would have refused to acknowledge me as nobility. He told me so himself. But he is not the only Saiyan who has a problem with Vegeta making his whore a member of the "respectable" nobility.

" Bardock." I smile at him and I mean it.

" What are you doing here, My Lady? Shouldn't you be at the Ceremony?"

I chuckle, " Don't worry. As I've just assured Leedo, I will be at the Ceremony."

" He looks so much like me." Goku murmurs.

" Yes he does." I answer aloud, my eyes on Bardock.

" What?" Bardock is confused, he shifts uneasily.

He's heard the rumors about me. That I'm crazy. He's known me long enough to know that something hidden and alien lurks behind my eyes.

I walk up to him, "You look so much like your son…" I murmur.

" Radditzu?"

" No…You look like Goku." I raise a hand and touch a lock of that jet-black hair.

He flinches and grabs my wrist, "My Lady…"

" I am so sorry." I whisper and fire my laser.

He jerks, his eyes flying wide in surprise, and then he crumples to my feet.

I have honored him the only way I know how.

Yamcha had been trying to tell me something the night he visited, but I couldn't figure out what. My thoughts and emotions were so scrambled and confused that I was barely rational. But his visit was heartening. That day was just a bit more livable then the one before. Unfortunately, my sliver of peace soon turned to agony as my hopelessness and loneliness redoubled.

I was on my hands and knees under a grunting Saiyan when Piccolo came. I felt a warm wind, a desert wind, blow across my naked body and I looked up to see the green alien standing with his back to my wall, his arms folded over his chest.

I was happy to see him.

Piccolo and I were never really friends but an ally is an ally. In this we were united. Piccolo is strong. For a while he was nearly as strong as Goku. Strength of body and mind is what he represents, iron strength. Blunt, practical and a little cold but I was comforted by his presence.

The Saiyan finished with a howl and slid off me to lie on the floor. I sat up slowly, ignoring him. That moment of male weakness is usually my cue to attack, but I was more interested in talking to Piccolo then getting knocked out. Piccolo and I watched the Saiyan leave. Then Piccolo turned to me angrily.

" I thought you were stronger than that!" he snarled.

Shame and hurt slammed through my heart and I began to sob, grabbing the sheet off my bed to cover myself.

Piccolo didn't let up, "Why aren't you at Capsule Corporation?"

" I…I…"

" You're running out of time! Stop sitting around feeling sorry for yourself!"

" Wha…what do I do? What do you want me to do?"

Piccolo gnashed his teeth, "You're the genius, ningen! Stop acting like a brat and pick yourself up off the floor!"

I was getting pissed now and I lurched to my feet to yell at him, but he was gone.

I still didn't understand what they were trying to tell me but something inside me eased a little with the knowledge that my friends were with me.

Piccolo's visit drove me from my self-imposed confinement in my small room. My friends were trying to tell me something important and I had to find out what. And Piccolo's words bothered me. He had said I was running out of time…

I began to search. I had to find Capsule Corporation.

A mission. I had a mission, a problem to solve, and some of the fog in my head began to clear. I began to remember who I was.

Buruma Briefs. And the first thing Buruma Briefs did when confronted by a problem, after throwing a spectacular tantrum, which I had already done, was gather information.

The Harem women must have been shocked to see me emerge, but I don't even remember sparing them a glance. Though there were places in Vegeta's palace that we were definitely not allowed to go, we were not necessarily confined to the Harem halls. So I began to explore. I was tentative at first, but grew bolder as I was usually ignored.

I saw my friends sometimes.

I'd catch a glimpse of an orange gi'd child scampering down a hallway. I'd see a short, bald monk standing at the edges of a crowd, waving to me shyly. I'd hear Chi Chi call out to me or see Piccolo standing sternly on a ledge, cape billowing around him.

The Harem women began to whisper that I was crazy, that I talked to myself when no one else was around and smiled at the empty air. I sometimes wondered if I was crazy. But I didn't think so.

I think I was saner then than I'd ever been in my entire life.

It was Yamcha who led me to the library.

" Buruma! Over here!"

I caught a glimpse of the warrior way down at the end of the hallway and quickly followed him.

" This way!"

He took me through a maze of hallways deep into the palace. I lost sight of him as I found myself in a place I'd never been before.

" In here." He whispered.

I opened the doors without hesitation and found the Imperial Library, the largest collection of works on Vegeta-sei.

My mouth watered. My brain, dormant for so long without any sort of technological problems to occupy itself screamed for nourishment.

" This will help." Yamcha's breath tickled against my ear, though I could see him nowhere around, "This will help you find Capsule Corporation."

I set to work.

Those that frequented the library seemed to ignore me. I heard enough rude comments calling into question my ability to read to understand that they considered most slaves stupid and uneducated, especially women and more especially palace whores. That I could read, and the sheer volume of what I read and made notes on, seemed to convince them that I had some sort of official business there, so they left me alone.

Gohan, Chi Chi's little scholar, had a knack for bringing me the best books.

" Look at this one Buruma! Look at the pictures of these machines! I bet you could build that!"

" Look Buruma! A book on Saiyans!"

" Buruma! Buruma! I found a book about Mister Piccolo!"

" Piccolo?" I dropped what I was doing to see what he was talking about.

In a dusty volume that looked like it was about to crumble any moment, a book probably forgotten for ages, I found the salvation of Earth.

" Namek…" I whispered, running my fingers over a diagram picture of a creature that could have been Piccolo's twin," Namek-sei…"

I laughed until I cried.

It was like a fire started in my heart, fire in the ashes where I thought nothing would ever burn again. I had not realized I was so close to dying, maybe not physically but mentally. The person who was me had been on the verge of vanishing, leaving me an empty husk. It was an amazing discovery for me to realize that the person I was, was the person I needed.

I had remembered who I was but that made the conditions I lived with just that much more unendurable.

" I can't do this, Goku!" I raged, pacing in my small room as I waited for the next monster to come in and rape me, " I can't. Its worse every time."

He sat on my floor, cross-legged, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy.

" You're doing it again." He said.

" I'm doing what?"

" The harder you fight, the tighter the leash becomes. You're going to strangle yourself."

I whirled on him, "You bastard," I hissed, " Are you telling me to stop fighting?"

" Do you remember back home when that man, Mr. Saruka, said his company was going to put Capsule Corporation out of business? Do you remember what you did?"

I stared at him, turning his words over and over in my mind. Of course I remembered. I'd simpered and flattered and seduced and then I'd nailed his ass to the wall. Something clicked and I sat down heavily.

" You're telling me to take control of the situation." I murmured, " I don't know if I can."

" Buruma, what they do to you…its bad, but its nothing you can't survive. You should be thankful it isn't worse."

" Don't you dare tell me what I should be thankful for!" I shouted at him.

He ignored me, " It isn't anything you can't use to your advantage. They're the Prince's Elite aren't they? I bet they know a lot… a lot about everything…"

My eyes widened and I lurched to my feet, my heart pounding hard.

" I bet they know the way to Capsule Corporation…" he said softly.

Yes…they would know. They were at the heart of Vegeta-sei politics and politics was a game I could play. But I wasn't sure I could play the other game… the willing whore.

Goku was watching my face carefully, "You can do it." he whispered.

I shook my head, " I can't… I can't do it." I was starting to panic, " I hate them. I hate what they do to me. I couldn't ever pretend to enjoy it."

" Sex can feel good."

" Its different Goku. You wouldn't know. You've only ever had sex with Chi Chi and you and Chi Chi love each other."

" Then make them love you." He said softly.

" I can't. I couldn't…you don't understand. When I look at them…"

" Then don't look at them."

The door to my room opened and I looked over with wide eyes to the smirking Saiyan filling my doorway. It was one of my regulars, Norioko.

" Don't look at them…" Goku whispered again and he stepped in front of Norioko.

My vision spun and blurred for a moment and when it cleared, it was Goku reaching for me, Goku pushing me back towards the bed. Norioko was gone.

" Look at me… See me… Make love to me, Buruma. Love us. Remember us, and love us all."

I do love you Goku….

And for the first time I was kissing back when the man on top of me pressed his mouth to mine. I was pushing my body up to meet his instead of lying still or fighting. For the first time it didn't hurt when our bodies joined and for the first time my body clenched and I cried out in ultimate pleasure. For the first time I was unashamed.

And afterwards, as the Saiyan Norioko lay in a complete and utter daze, Goku whispered secrets into my ear.

I watched Norioko practically skip out of my room, probably going to brag to the others that he'd gotten the psycho bitch to give him a decent fuck. He was probably under the delusion that it was through some prowess of his own that I'd given in to him. The fool. I'd used him this time.

He was mine already. My slave.

They came to me and I made love to them. I loved them with all my heart and body and soul and they quivered and melted and cried out at my touch, never realizing that it wasn't them I was loving. I was loving my lost ones. I did it for them.

Goku had been absolutely right.

A little petting, a little ego stroking and my Elite slaves would tell me just about anything. They loved to brag, loved to hear themselves speak, loved to look into the 'adoring' eyes of a woman completely infatuated with them.

Back on Chikyuu-sei I knew men who believed that all women were stupid. Men who, with a few sweet words, a little bit of manipulation, had women falling all over them, blindly willing to do just about anything for a few scraps of affection. I knew women like that, who lost all common sense over a sympathetic smile.

I found myself developing a similar contempt for the males who came to slack their lust in my chambers. While I had yet to be impressed with Saiyan intelligence, these ones were even worse, seemingly not able to think past the bulge in their pants. They told me everything I needed to know.

They made me powerful.

" You've figured it out." Goku said, a smirk crossing his features, "You know how to get to Capsule Corporation."

I smirked back at him, "We're going to give the Prince a little gift."

Prince Vegeta, the prophesized Super Saiyan, was on a mission to fulfill his destiny. Thanks to his Elites, I knew all about it. I knew about Saiyan physiology from my reading. I knew the legends. I had detailed accounts of Saiyan training programs and Saiyan abilities. I knew all about Frieza, the Tsuri-jinn Empire and Prince Vegeta's grudge against them. I knew Vegeta couldn't be crowned king until Frieza was dead.

I knew all I needed to know.

" We're going to give Prince Vegeta everything he's ever wanted."

I step over Bardock's body to the main computer terminal. I'm running late, but I'm not worried. This won't take long. I've been setting it up for months, setting the pieces up like dominos. A flick of my fingers and it will all come crashing down.

It takes me less than five minutes to completely destroy the computer system, disabling all planet-side weapons and warships. I wipe out the mainframe, render almost every ship useless and lock up all the other systems. I've taken most of the planet's defenses offline. By the time I'm finished, their system is such a mess that it would take even Bardock ages to sort it all out. But Bardock's dead.

I've pulled it off without a hitch. I'm relieved. It wasn't like I was able to do a test run before this.

Picking my bag up, my shoes clapping on the stone floor, I head to my favorite ship.

I've named her Deliverance. She's small but incredibly fast.

I have a hidden cache of supplies in her belly and several extra tanks of fuel that I've stolen from other ships. I run a quick diagnostic, making sure all of my adjustments and improvements are online.

Deliverance purrs like a kitten.

Tears that taste like joy slip down my cheeks and I distractedly wipe them away. No time for sentiments.

With a roar, I take Deliverance up. Up through the orangish sky, up through the atmosphere and I burst into the endless blackness of space.

But I'm not finished yet.

I set Deliverance into orbit around Vegeta-sei and prep the communications system.

Its time to join the Ceremony.

Didn't think I was leaving without saying goodbye, did you Vegeta?

I called it the Gravitron.

It took me two weeks to scratch out primitive blueprints on scraps of paper I'd found. I wished with fervent annoyance that I had my computer to do proper blueprints. The design was flawed, I knew that, but I was hoping I could use it to my advantage.

My victim was Radditzu, a semi-Elite with a huge ego and almost no brain. When he bragged to me about his father being head of the Vegeta-sei science department, I about wet my pants. He told me all about Bardock, a genius among Saiyans, and everything he'd done to help Prince Vegeta reach his goals. When other sources confirmed Radditzu's claims, I pounced.

I worked Radditzu over extra good and then as he lay weak and dazed in the aftermath, I casually brought up his training. Every Saiyan Elite I have ever met loved to tell me about their training and Radditzu was no exception. He launched into longwinded complaint about how he was getting so strong that it was hard to find conditions that challenged his body.

I giggled and made some inane comment about how I didn't think his muscles could get any firmer and ran my hand up his stomach.

Elites love it when you talk about their muscles.

Then I asked him if he'd ever trained in higher gravity. He was confused of course, the simpleton, but he knew by now that I was on par with his father as far as brains went, so he listened with rapt attention as I explained the schematics of a gravity room. I knew he didn't understand the more technical details but he got the basic idea and it excited him, as I knew it would.

I dug out my diagrams and showed them to him, going over the design in exaggerated detail. Then I jokingly told him that he should show the diagrams to his father…

" Maybe he'll build you one." I teased.

He stared hungrily down at the papers I'd tucked into his so-willing hands.

Gotcha.

" Could…could I borrow these?"

" Since when do Saiyans have to ask?" I purred into his ear, nibbling there.

I knew the little bastard was probably thinking he could pass the design off as his own idea but being the simpleton that he was, he didn't notice that I'd left things out of the blueprints, important things. I also did most of the calculations with the symbols and units of Chikyuu-sei. I highly doubted even Bardock would be able to understand or convert them.

If Bardock asked technical questions, Radditzu would not be able to answer them and if Bardock inspected the blueprints thoroughly, I knew he'd come looking for the designer. The idea was too brilliant for him not to.

And if Radditzu failed me…well, those were just a copy of my original design anyway.

I made a point to spend the next week in the Harem halls, drawing, designing and brainstorming. My brain relished in this opportunity to stretch. The other women snuck around me nervously, wondering what new madness I was indulging in, some of them trying to look over my shoulders curiously to see what I was doing.

I was working on designs for an advanced Dragon Radar when the main doors at the end of the hall opened and I heard some of the women gasp. I didn't look up, but I smirked down at my drawings.

" Girl!" Radditzu's voice, "Blue-girl!"

Blue girl indeed!

" Radditzu." I greeted, and finally looked up.

I froze in shock that first moment as I confronted my visitors. The man in front, walking towards me was….

Goku… What was he doing with them?

My brain jammed. I was completely thrown. I know I was staring at him, staring at him in confusion or horror or maybe both.

" What's wrong with you, girl?" snapped the Goku-look-alike.

I shook my head slowly, realizing that this couldn't be Goku. Up close there were too many differences. He was much older than Goku, his eyes were different, he had scars that Goku didn't have.

And Goku would never look at me the way this man was, with a mixture of suspicion and contempt.

I blinked and looked over at the rest of the entourage. Radditzu, two Elites and…

My, oh my, this was getting better and better.

Prince Vegeta himself had come to pay me a visit.

Vegeta's face was set in its usual scowl, but his eyes were curious and a little miffed. I realized that everyone else must think I was nuts, staring in awe at this other man and completely disregarding the Prince. Definitely not the sort of thing they were used to.

They came to a halt in front of my table. The Goku-look-alike and the Prince glanced down at the papers I was working on while trying to look as if they weren't.

" Girl, did you leave some papers with my son?" the Goku-look-alike asked.

" Depends. Who is your son?"

He looked taken aback by my snappy attitude and I saw Prince Vegeta's eyes narrow.

The man shifted before choosing to ignore my bad manners, "My name is Bardock and my son is Radditzu. Did you or did you not leave some papers with him?"

" Yes I gave him a few papers."

" What was on those papers?"

It was on my tongue to say 'why don't you ask him' but I quickly decided I'd come too far to end up dead now.

Instead I launched into an explanation of the theory behind the Gravitron. Bardock seemed to be able to follow everything I was saying. Surreptitiously, I noticed that Prince Vegeta could as well. I hadn't really expected him to be intelligent. Might ruled on this planet, but I suppose a good brain helped. When I finished the men were silent. It was stunned silence.

" What was your job…on your planet?" The man Bardock asked at last.

My eyes narrowed at the mention of my home, " I was Vice President of the most advanced scientific research center on my planet."

" Vice President?" the words were unfamiliar to him.

" Second only to my father, but I would have taken over eventually."

The Prince stormed forward suddenly, slamming my Gravitron papers down in front of me.

" Build me one of these." He demanded.

I looked up at him, regarding him silently, my face carefully blank, though I'm sure he could see the contempt in my eyes, or perhaps the unchecked wild glee. His lip curled and I know he expected me to refuse or start demanding conditions. He opened his mouth, probably to tell me to do it or die but I beat him to it.

" Okay."

Silence. Not even Bardock had expected me to agree apparently.

" You will do it?" Bardock asked.

" I'd do anything to get my hands on some power tools again. But understand that the Gravitron is only a theory. I've never actually built one before. The theories have never been put to the test and there are flaws in the basic design. I don't even have the means of preparing proper blueprints."

I think my speech amused Bardock, but Vegeta looked suspicious.

" What are you saying?" Vegeta's eyes narrowed, "That you can't do it?"

I leveled an arrogant glare at him, " Mark my words, with the proper materials there isn't anything I can't create. What I'm saying is that I may need to experiment and test the theories before I can create a fully functioning Gravitron."

Vegeta looked as if he was about to argue but Bardock nodded.

" It is to be expected."

" Fine." Vegeta spat, he turned to Bardock, "You will take her to the lab. I want her to begin immediately."

My lips tilted up in the tiniest smile.

I'd been on Vegeta-sei four months and I was finally going to Capsule Corporation.

If I were going to say that any moment of my life on Vegeta-sei was happy, it would be the moment I stepped into the Vegeta-sei Science Lab. It was huge, divided into several sections including areas for mechanics, chemistry, biology and space research. I actually felt a thrill down my spine. It was everything I dreamed it would be. Everything I needed it to be.

Bardock gave me a tour. It was obvious he took pride in his work and his staff, it was also obvious that he was suspicious of me. Or not exactly suspicious, but definitely having doubts about letting a weak ningen tinker with his tools.

Obedient to Vegeta's commands, we began work on the Gravitron that very day. Bardock was assigned to work with me on the project. I think part of it was mandatory overseeing of my actions by a superior; I was still a slave after all. But the basic differences between Chikyuu-sei and Vegeta-sei technology had to be worked out, calculation and units converted, a list of equipment prepared and a list of experiments to conduct decided upon.

Apparently, Vegeta had pulled Bardock off his current project in the space lab in favor of building the Gravitron. I told Bardock that I'd help him make up for lost time once the Gravitron was complete. He just gave me a long level stare and then replied that if I got the machine up and running, he might just take me up on that offer.

I found a measure of contentment in this work. I could lose myself for hours in building, creating, thinking and experimenting. My days were taken up working and I was given a complete respite from the Harem, going back to my quarters only to sleep. If I accomplished nothing else, that alone was worth it.

Vegeta, in his impatience, kept close watch over the project and was often stopping in to speak with either Bardock or I about our progress. He asked me my name soon after I began work there but I told him I didn't remember. I don't think he believed me, but after that he dubbed me Sora. I'm not sure why. I didn't ask what it meant and if Bardock knew, he didn't say.

That was one thing I learned about Bardock, despite the surprising quirk of actually having a conscience, he was intensely loyal to Vegeta. I couldn't understand it. How could a man who had such a strongly developed sense of right and wrong blindly follow the monster that was Vegeta?

The time I spent around Vegeta was enlightening. I got to see the creature beneath the omniscient hell-beast he was in public. He seemed to drop his guard slightly around Bardock and I found him to be a very serious, very angry individual with a rather skewed sense of humor. At first he ignored me in favor of conversing with Bardock and noticed me only to throw rude, degrading comments my way and complain about how slow I was working or how weak I was.

He was always reluctant to speak to me and when he did it was as if he thought I would have trouble understanding what he was saying. For all the genius I had displayed, his prejudice still monopolized his behavior towards me. It really made me angry. No one, in all of my life had ever had the audacity to treat me like I was stupid.

He very nearly murdered me the day I threw a wrench at his head.

I ended up on my back hissing and spitting, with the Prince straining towards me, a ki ball in his hand, Bardock holding him back desperately.

" Your Majesty, I need her to build the machine!" Bardock's voice was strained.

" You think to attack me, bitch?" Vegeta snarled.

" I think to remind you that the object of your ridicule is within hearing distance."

" I may speak of you however I like!"

" Fine! But stop acting like I'm too stupid to understand you when you do. I hear you, I know exactly what you're implying."

" Sora, shut up!" Bardock shouted.

Vegeta and I glared at each other. Vegeta finally relaxed, apparently getting a hold of his impressive temper, spun on his heel and stalked out. In all reality, he should have at least kicked my ass. I don't know why he let me go unpunished.

" You act like that wrench would have hurt you!" I shouted after him and then squealed as a ki blast hit the floor next to me.

Bardock railed me out after Vegeta left. He was in shock, he couldn't believe that I'd had the gall to speak to his monarch in such a way. What I had done was extremely stupid. Vegeta was a complete psychopath. I knew that. But my temper had gotten the better of me despite self-preservation instincts. Understandably, I had large amounts of suppressed rage where Vegeta was concerned. Perversely, after that encounter, Vegeta seemed more inclined to speak with me for some reason. I could not fathom the way his mind worked. Maybe I had impressed him somehow.

For a while my life was fairly calm. I worked on the Gravitron, gradually becoming familiar with the Labs, the staff and getting involved with other projects. I made myself as useful as possible, hoping I could work in the labs, at least part-time, even after the Gravitron was finished. I came to enjoy Bardock's company and had to smile when I heard him unconsciously humming Chikyuu tunes he'd heard me singing.

Prince Vegeta became a common acquaintance as well.

I shouldn't have been surprised when he decided to take me to his bed. But by this time I'd almost been able to forget that sex was really all they kept me around for. I was annoyed, even angry, but it wasn't like I could refuse him, though I would have liked to see his face if I did. I make a point of being incredibly unenthusiastic about the arrangement and took pleasure in the fact that Vegeta's pride was hurt when I didn't giggle and act honored that he'd decided he wanted to fuck me. I treated it like business, which was all it was to me.

I took him back to his room and laid him down. I called upon my friends to help me, drawing their presence to me, and smiled slightly as Yamcha smiled up at me from where the Prince lay. I knew I pleased him, knew he was enjoying himself as I rode his body but we were nearly finished when he suddenly grabbed my arms.

" Stop!"

I blinked at him. He stared at me for a long moment, searching my glazed eyes.

" You don't even see me, do you."

" I see you." I said softly.

He shook his head, and growled, "Whatever you see, it isn't me."

I blinked again. He was ruining it. Why didn't he just shut up and let me finish him off?

" What does it matter?" I asked impatiently and rocked back on him, making him hiss and buck his hips.

" NO!" he pushed me off of him and sat up.

Yamcha's image wavered. I blinked and rubbed my eyes. Damn him.

" If I'm fucking a woman, I want to know its me making her scream, not some fantasy in her head."

I said nothing.

He slapped me.

Yamcha's image dissolved and I gasped. I was left staring into wickedly tilted eyes set in a handsome face that wasn't my lost love's. Vegeta searched my face again.

" That's better." He hissed and pushed me onto my back.

" No!" panic overwhelmed me. Maybe if I'd had a moment to reorient myself I could have handled it, but I was completely off balance. I wasn't sure I could do this without my friends. I wasn't sure I could do this alone.

I turned my head away, clenching my eyes shut tight and silently screamed for Goku. The Prince grabbed my chin and forced my face back towards him.

" Look at me." He commanded.

" No! I can't!"

" Open your eyes!"

I shook my head, struggling to keep from crying. There was a long stillness, nothing but a hand stroking my cheek. It was a sort of doomed curiosity that made me open my eyes and then I cursed myself because I couldn't look away. I tried. I tried to look away, but the Prince's obsidian gaze held me still.

" Don't look away." He ordered.

I couldn't.

Now that I was forced to face reality, his reality, Vegeta decided to take his time with me. Make sure I got a thorough taste of it. He did to me what no other had done and focused solely on making me scream in pleasure and I hated him for it.

" What do you see?" he asked me afterwards, as I lay curled in my shame, drowning in hate,"What do you see when you do that?"

" My friends." I sniffled pathetically, still trying to pick up the pieces of my composure, "Yamcha, Goku."

He snorted, "Were you a slut on your home planet then too?"

" Bastard!" I slammed my fist into his chest for all the good it did, " I was a virgin before I came here."

" I'm sorry I missed that." He said snidely.

I sneered, "No you aren't. That Saiyan bled more than I did. I'm sure I left a few scars."

" I heard that about you." He said softly after a long moment, " That you were the worst-tempered bitch in the lot and then suddenly you became the sweetest. It was suspicious. I figured I should check it out. But now I see what changed. You just retreated to some fantasy world. No wonder you can't even remember your name. It's pathetic. You're weaker than the ones who've learned to cope."

Furiously, I attacked him.

He just laughed, shoved me down and fucked me again.

He was sadistic. I think he really did enjoy himself more simply because he was torturing me. It became common for him to request my "company" after training. The more reluctant I was, the bigger his grin. It wasn't long before I became angry.

I was stronger than I had been when I first came to this damn planet. If he thought he was going to break me, he had another thing coming. I'd survived the Elites at their worst. I could survive one arrogant Prince. In all reality, no matter if I did have to face sex with the demon who destroyed my world, it was a vastly superior arrangement to sleeping with the Elites.

I acknowledged this, and refused to let the torture continue. Our rendezvous became power struggles, struggles to see who would be on top, who would force who into submission. Competition was something I could handle, something I could live with. I refused to just lay back and let him take me. I even refused to simply gratify him and get it over with. I took my pleasure. I forced him to give it to me whether he wanted to or not. I used his body and made damn sure he knew it.

I don't know when it became more than just random scattered meetings and warped into our own twisted little game, something that was just part of my day, something that was just part of me and Vegeta's relationship. I found he had a high threshold for pain and even enjoyed it, so I took my aggressions out on him without care. He, in turn, was alternately tender and cruel, sometimes holding me gently in his arms, sometimes viciously making me cry. But by then I didn't mind. I didn't mind at all.

And then the Gravitron was completed. After thorough testing, it was pronounced fully usable. Vegeta was ecstatic. I waited in absolute terror for Bardock's verdict on whether or not I could continue working in the labs or if I had to go back to the Harem for good. I expected the worst. It was to my utter shock that Prince Vegeta informed me that I was to begin working full time in the Science Lab and move to private quarters on the third floor. I was so shocked that I couldn't do more than stutter, "Why?"

He smirked, "Consider it a gift."

It was only later I discovered that my new quarters were adjacent to his. Not that I could mind much. I was out of the Harem for good, if not free of Vegeta.

Once up and running, Vegeta very rarely left the machine. The very first month I don't think he came out of it once. And he nearly strangled me when I, after repeated threatening from Bardock and the other Elites who were all convinced that he was dead in there but not so convinced that they wanted to risk their own lives, pulled the emergency shutoff switch.

" You have to come out some time." I choked, trying to keep calm as his fingers squeezed my neck experimentally," Your Elites were beginning to think you'd vanished."

" It is none of their business where I am." He hissed, all lean, corded muscles and dark circles under his eyes.

" Come out," I coaxed, "Get something to eat, get some rest and I'll upgrade the system to handle 300x gravity."

His whole body went stiff with excitement, "You can do that?"

" I worked it out while you were in there killing yourself."

" Fine." He dropped me on my ass, chuckling as I clutched at my throat, gasping, "I was getting bored with 100x gravity."

" You've mastered 100x gravity already?"

My shock only made him puff up more, "You're going to have to work faster to keep up with me." He chided.

While he still spent most of his time in the Gravitron, he didn't go on a binge again after that. Most of my time was spent working on repairs and upgrades, though I did find time for several side projects. Vegeta still took me to his bed quite often. More surprisingly he began lavishing expensive gifts on me. I found myself with expensive dresses and jewels and gorgeous accessories for my room, servants and servants for my servants. I figured he was rewarding me for the Gravitron. The more power he gained, the happier he became, the more gifts he showered upon me. But this treatment seemed to disturb Bardock and I was too clueless to realize why.

I was there the night Vegeta became a Super Saiyan. The night everything changed again.

I was working late in the lab, it wasn't unusual for me to spend all night in the lab anymore than it was for Vegeta to spend all night in the GR.

The explosion shook the building, rocked the ground beneath my feet, sending vials and test tubes crashing to the floor and causing the lights to go out and the computer screen in front of me to go blank. And the scream…an unearthly scream. A scream of rage? Pain? Neither and both. More animal than human.

I knew it was Vegeta. I don't know how I knew, I just did.

I picked myself up off the floor and slammed through the door, running through the compound. I hit the door to the GR room at a dead run. The door was stuck. It took me a moment to realize there was something blocking it from the other side. I pushed as hard as I could, banging until it opened a bit and I could squeeze through.

" Vegeta!"

The room was a wreck; chunks of twisted metal debris were embedded in the wall and more lay scattered across the floor. The GR had exploded but I didn't notice. The room was suffused with strange light.

He was standing in the middle of the room, a pillar of golden flames, standing in amazement, just staring at his own hands, turning them over and over as if he'd never seen them before. His coal black hair was the color of the sun and his eyes, those eyes as they turned on me, were teal, emerald shining with blue, a color I'd never seen staring out from a Saiyan face before.

I was transfixed.

He was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

My feet carried me slowly over to him, my eyes locked on his. The air around him was hot, whirling like a dust devil. I stretched out my hand without thinking.

" The Legendary." I whispered, dazed, realizing he'd done it, he'd achieved his goal, "A thousand years in the making…"

My fingers brushed his cheek and energy buzzed along my nerves. I could feel it! Me, who didn't have enough ki to sense energy even if it came up and head-butted me! The energy burned along my skin and stole the strength from my legs. I dropped to my knees, staring up at him.

The door at the end of the room slammed open and Bardock and his men poured in, probably thinking there had been an attack.

They froze when they saw Vegeta, shock, awe and fear written on their faces. Expression I never imagined I'd see on the faces of arrogant Saiyans. I swear there were tears in Bardock's eyes. What must it have been like for them, who were raised on the story of the Legendary? I was awestruck and I'd only heard of the Legendary a few months ago.

They must have noticed me kneeling at his feet because one by one they dropped, kneeling before their soon-to-be king.

" It is done." Vegeta spoke at last, voice ringing with power and pride and exhilaration, "Your Prince has ascended. The Legendary has returned. Wake everyone. Tomorrow we go after Frieza."

There was a roar of approval from the men as they surged to their feet in excitement, ready to prepare for war.

" When I return, I shall be king." He looked down at me, teal eyes blazing, and drew me to my feet and said, for my ears alone, "And you will be my queen."

That's when I finally realized the fool was in love with me.

I take deep even breaths, preparing myself to finish what I started…no, what he started.

Everything is finally ready.

" Get away from my husband!" Chi Chi charges, only to be swatted away like a fly.

" Chi Chi!" Goku screams as his wife slams into a tree with a sickening crack.

He is at her side instantly, pulling her limp body into his arms.

" Goku-sa?" she whispers.

" I've got you Chi…"

And then the light comes that will take them both.

I flip on the sound first and hear the chatter and gossip from the crowd that must be gathered in the throne room. It has a strained feeling to it and a second later I realize why.

" Where is Lady Sora?"

" I'm right here." I answer and flip on the visual.

The screen buzzes to life and I see that the throne room is packed. Vegeta is decked out in full imperial regalia. He is surrounded by his High Elites and his father's old advisors.

The noise immediately cuts off as if someone turned off the sound. They are staring at me, at my image on the screen.

" What are you doing?" Vegeta hisses, " Get down here."

Instead of answering, I step back from the screen, pick up the large knife lying next to the terminal and proceed to rip, cut and tear the gorgeous red dress from my body. There is stunned silence as I wrench the scraps of the horrid thing off, standing only in my panties, and throw it over my shoulder. Then I pull from my secret cloth bag a treat I made myself. Something I'd been dying to wear.

I slip on a pair of black jeans and pull a royal blue shirt over my head. The words Capsule Corporation blaze across the front of the shirt. I pick up the knife again, grab my long beautiful hair and slice it off until it falls, wispy and ragged, to my chin. The baseball cap is the final touch. I slap it on my head and then turn it backwards.

They are still stunned, they have no idea what I'm doing.

Vegeta has an inkling.

" Sora…" he growls.

" My name is Buruma." I cut him off, "Buruma Briefs."

" Is this your pathetic attempt at defiance? Maybe a petty escape attempt?"

He's pissed, royally pissed, that I'm defying him in front of everyone. But there's still a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. This is still a game to him.

Oh Vegeta.

I have to do this. You don't understand, I have to do this. If I don't then everything I have suffered is in vain. My friends will have lived and died for nothing. And the cycle will continue, purge, rape and destroy. That's all they do. All they know.

And I will not allow it to continue.

" Honestly, I did expect such an attempt from you sooner or later." He continues.

" Then you didn't expect enough." I say quietly, " I've given you everything you wanted, haven't I?"

His eyes narrow, not understanding.

" The crown of Vegeta-sei, the power of the Legendary, Freiza's death and the collapse of his empire. Everything you've worked for your entire life. Its all been building up for this moment…" I shake my head, "You're happy, aren't you? Maybe even for the first time in your life. Your content in this moment." I have to pause, struggling for a moment before I continue, " I want you to know…that is exactly how I felt…before you took everything away from me."

" What are you babbling about?" But I think he knows, and his next sentence confirms is, " What are you going to do?"

" What would you do in my place, Vegeta?"

" Where's Goku?" Kuririn screams, "I can't hold them off!"

" Goku's dead! They killed him! Just run! Run!" I sob.

" No…Goku…can't be dead… No!" Kuririn's eyes convey the depth of his shock.

" Kuririn, run!"

" They…they killed him…" his fists are clenching.

" Kuririn, don't do it!"

" GOKU!" he screams and explodes towards one of the Saiyans.

The Saiyan dodges Kuririn's punch, grabs his arm and rips it off his body.

" KURIRIN!"

There's a horrible crunching snap and Kuririn's neck is broken.

Vegeta's eyes widen. He knows.

But then he sneers at me, " I don't know what you're playing at, ningen, but it will not work. You are a powerless female."

" It has already begun…"

" What?"

" You never ever should have left a scientific genius alone with your most advanced technology. Especially a scientific genius who hates you. That was a really stupid thing you did, Vegeta."

He's breathing hard now, clenching his fists, "What have you done?"

" Two hours ago I filled the palace ventilation system with a special gas I created. It contained a virus. A scientifically created, specially engineered virus. I call it Saiya-plague because it only attacks Saiyans."

There are shouts and cries from the crowd.

Vegeta is choking on shock," What will it do?" he grits out, "Give us all colds?" but his attempt at a sardonic jeer can't hide his fear.

" I spent a lot of time studying you Vegeta. Studying your culture, your history, the base values of your society. I wanted this to be perfect. The ultimate dishonor. And I knew what it had to be. You, Vegeta no Ouji, the Legendary Super Saiyan, will die, not in battle like a proud Saiyan warrior, but destroyed by a disease, eaten from the inside out. Death on a sickbed, like an old man. And your murderer, not a powerful foe, but a female of the weakest species. Not even a Super Saiyan can stop a virus."

He's horrified, absolutely horrified.

" You feel it don't you?" I ask, studying his face, "The pale, gut-wrenching, sick horror. The same feeling I got when a group of alien warriors came from the sky and blew a hole through my mother's face."

" You…you bitch…you…" He's reeling.

" Its not a hundredth of what you deserve, Vegeta. How many lives have you ruined? How many women have you raped? How many planets have you destroyed? How many species have you hunted into extinction? There's a saying on my planet 'what goes around comes around'. That means, now its your turn to suffer what you have so liberally dished out."

Its all about the pain. Make him bleed.

" You think you're going to get away from this? I assume you're off planet." He gave an ugly chuckle, "I'll have the imperial army after you in five seconds."

I shake my head at him sadly, "You never really believed me when I told you I was a genius, did you. None of your ships will work for you again. Your computers have been destroyed. The only one who can restore the damage I have done is Bardock and he's already dead."

" Already dead? Wha… What? No…Not you…you wouldn't. You could never best Bardock!" Vegeta's eyes flare with pain, he respects Bardock as much as I do.

" Bardock is the only man with any honor on this entire planet. I gave him a warrior's death. It's too late Vegeta. You've already been infected. The disease spreads fast. By nightfall it will spread all the way across this planet. The virus will strike down every single Saiyan on this planet. It will have no mercy for male or female, old or young, as you have had no mercy. For a month or two you will rot in a sickbed, you and all your people, in excruciating pain, coughing up your own internal organs. And once you're dead, your slaves will inherit this planet, a free people to do with your corpses what they will. Your culture will vanish. In a few years no one will remember the pride and strength of the Saiyans. Everything your species has fought for, everything they have gained…is for naught."

" NOO!" he howls.

" Brother!" Chiaotzu screams as the Saiyan shoves another iron spike through Tien's chest.

Tien is still alive, his eyes wide and blank, his mouth stretching in a silent scream. He is pinned to the ground with five makeshift spears made of building wreckage.

I try to get to him. I have to help him, even if its just to put him out of his misery! But the Saiyan who has me won't let go. I scream for Tien, scream for Chiaotzu. I scream for the horror of what's about to happen.

The Saiyans find Chiaotzu interesting. They break his arms and legs, laughing at his child-like screams and leave him next to Tien's straining body, leave them both to burn alive as the flaming building crumbles around them.

I can smell their flesh cooking.

" NO! NOOOOOO!"

I smile tremulously at Vegeta though I feel like I'm ready to cry or be sick any moment.

" Now you understand exactly what I felt that day. You and your people will never harm an innocent person ever again. Goodbye, Vegeta."

I flip off the communicator, cutting off his screams of rage.

I slam in the commands for full speed and Deliverance is blasting through darkest space, leaving the planet behind. Leaving Planet Vegeta-sei, what was once Planet Plant, what will be…well, maybe I'll stop by someday to hear the new name.

The tears come then in a pathetic whining keen that I can't stifle back. I collapse to the cold floor and begin to sob my heart out.

I don't regret what I did. I'll never regret what I did. I may have taken the lives of a hundred thousand Saiyans but I have no doubt that I saved the lives of billions of innocents. Somewhere out in the universe, there is a girl a lot like me who would have one day lost her family and been raped and beaten into submission by the Saiyan Empire. Now that will never happen.

I can feel Goku watching me.

" Did you love him?" he asks.

I shake my head slowly, "No…" and then I smile sadly, ironically, "But I could have. Maybe in another life."

" You thought about staying, being Queen of the planet."

" Yeah." I admit, "But choosing Vegeta would have meant giving up all of you. And nothing, not my life or Vegeta's, is worth that."

" Do you think we'll be safe, now that all the Saiyans are gone."

" Not all the Saiyans are gone…" I say quietly, "There's you and Gohan and…"

My hand goes unconsciously to my belly. I do not resent the life that grows there. I cherish it.

Goku smiles, "I'm going to be an uncle."

I laugh, I laugh hard, my tears streaming down my face. Funny how I can be amused and still be crying so hard it hurts. I look up at last to smile at him, my breath sobbing in my throat.

" You're not real…" I tell him, still crying, " I'm going to Namek-sei now to get the real Goku. I don't need you anymore. I can do the rest by myself, okay?"

But he has already faded away.

I get to my feet.

I'll be at Namek-sei in four days. I have two months left. Two months before a year is up, before the anniversary of the attack on Chikyuu-sei. That's plenty of time to do what I must do there.

My name is Bloomer. Buruma Briefs. They tore me apart and found something underneath that was unbreakable. I was never fragile. Not like I believed I was.

Now I'm even stronger. The constant pounding has tempered me. Like steel.

So much of me has changed. I am so much more than I used to be. I wonder if my friends will still like me, if they'll be able to accept the person I've become and the things that I have done.

It doesn't really matter. Because I have.

Love does not conquer all and sometimes there are no happy endings. But those of us who survive have the opportunity to build on the ashes left behind. I will make my own happiness.

I'm free… and my world will live again.

A/N: I'm thinking I'm probably going to get roasted. Heh.

This is not the sort of thing I usually write. My personality is geared towards humor. Writing angst tends to seriously drain me. I love AU Earth-gets-purged-Bulma's-a-slave-to-sexy-Vegeta fics. I really do. They're all pretty cool and fun to read and I seriously wish there were more. (Hint, hint, all you authors out there write more! )

But sometimes when I'm in a bad mood, the whole "helpless female" thing and the "scientific genius can't seem to be able to take revenge" thing and the "Bulma falls in love with a guy who obliterated her world and her family" thing really really irks me. I have a complex that requires mandatory stomping of bad guys (even if it is Vegeta *sob*). So this was just therapeutic to write.