A/N: Here's the *cough*stunning*cough* conclusion. I hope it gives enough closure. ^^; Thank you Skip for all your help, and abuse. :D
My December
This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear
This is my December
This is my snow covered home
This is my December
This is me alone
It was a quiet afternoon, and he had managed escaping his ever-watchful family to slip off down the hall. He understood their concern, but now things were different, and he had more control. It was December now. He liked December. He liked playing in the snow; there was never snow on Planet Vegeta. He hadn't ever really noticed the seasons of Earth, doing most of his things indoors like he had his entire life. If anything though, he was sick to death of that. Nearly literally as well, as he recalled his countless desires for suicide in the past, most of which swarmed around his life of servitude under Freiza. But now Freiza was dead, and he had a whole planet to himself. Well, nearly himself...
He didn't bother thinking upon it negatively, as he knew that he didn't really care about that type of thing anymore. He reached the closet and opened it in silence, feeling much like a teenager who was sneaking out of the house without his parents permission or knowledge. He quickly found his coat, a long charcoal grey item that resembled a trench coat. One of the first items of clothing he had bought, even if it was truly Bulma who had paid for it. He picked up a brown fleece scarf that was on a hanger and put it around his neck. Nearly tip-toeing, he made his way to the door, then outside.
Once the door was shut, however, he relaxed, both physically and mentally. With a grin he took off into the air, flying a considerable distance away so he wouldn't get caught. The cold air against his face felt nice, it was a brisk feeling that made his cheeks flush from the temperature change. He landed in a city park nearby, noting the lack of people.
He shrugged to himself and began walking down a trail to just relax and have some "me" time, only this time could he honestly call it that. He put his hands in his pockets, not bothering to deal with gloves at the moment, though they would have been nice. He looked up at the grey sky through the leafless branches. People often found winter gloomy, but not him. He closed his eyes as he walked, hoping he wouldn't run into a tree, but wanting to enjoy being immersed in nature while walking at the same time. His eyes opened as something cold and wet touched his nose. He blinked and wiped away the liquid before noticing the fact that it was gently snowing. He smiled.
Earth looked rather pretty - it would have been a shame to blow it up. He was glad Kakkarot stopped him, was even glad the third class was more powerful than him. He knew he shouldn't be, that he should be angry that he was the prince and the weaker of the two..but now that he thought about it, even that was questionable. He had his tail back, which currently was wrapped around his waist, and it had returned a large amount of power to him.
He was certain that, without a doubt, it was possible to finally best Kakkarot. And what would he do if he won the fight? His original intentions were to kill, or to force the younger to see things his way. He shook his head, chuckling at his own foolish decisions. Now, he'd congratulate Kakkarot for a good fight, and offer him a hand up. Killing him was pointless when the man obviously was of more submission nature, and forcing him to do things his way wouldn't really change him any. Not that he wanted Kakkarot to change. He couldn't believe it had taken him years to realize that. Waste of time, really, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now.
He wouldn't intentionally hurt Kakkarot outside of a fight anyway, not when he'd helped him so much. He smiled fondly at the memories the black-haired man had created, revised, and brought into light. The other Saijin had done so much for him, sacrificing part of his home life to visit him.
The first few weeks were the hardest, on everyone. With the ability to physically see what his problem was, apparently "hear" went along with. There was so many fights that he couldn't even count them all. He paused, smirked, and shook his head. Okay, so there had been twenty-seven different accounts of attacks, most of which had been witnessed by one of the Z warriors or another, and all of which freaked them all out exceedingly.
He didn't understand why, and he doubted he ever would, because to him, it was normal, except now the fights were taking place, with a lack of a better word, outside. He recalled some of the more..interesting..ones and shuddered. Bulma hadn't been able to look him in the eye for nine days when she saw "Number Two" wrestle "Number One" to the ground and proceed to punch the living hell out of him, finishing with a ki blast that decimated half of his face, leaving blackened skin and bone in its wake. He was lucky "Number Two" had been possession of his body, otherwise he would've been a world of hurt.
It had taken them quite awhile to get accustomed to him, and that's where the terms "Number One" and "Number Two" came about. Bulma had been so perplexed by his problem, she went as far as off-planet to look for a reason why things were happening the way they did. In the end, she had come up with nothing, but Goku had gotten a good idea, and asked King Kai if he could scrounge up some info. This made Vegeta feel better, to know the reason why he was the way he was.
His "abnormality" wasn't more "abnormal", but rather "rare". Just like his atypical form of motion sickness, it appeared he was, as they said, "sick in the head". Somehow, this did not surprise him. King Kai, with the help of a few underground record keepers, was able to determine the exact problem. Duel personality. Except with him, there were some major twists, most of them due to the fact he was a Saijin. Unlike normal humans with duel personality disorder, Vegeta's second self was not created due to a traumatic experience, as "Number Two" had explained to them. He remembered the shock on Bulma's, Kakkarot's, King Kai's, and his own face as he said:
"Vegeta thinks I came around in his childhood because he can only remember that far back. I was born at the same time as him, down to the exact second."
The other distinction between the human and Saijin versions of the illness, was the ability to have two personalities function at the same time, within and without a physical host. For a normal human, a second personality often times wasn't very active, and was more than likely unable to communicate properly due simply to its nature. It had been unnerving to see two of the same person within the same room, but even more disturbing to see them separate from each other, although it was very clear which was which. "Number One" was the Vegeta the Earth's Special Forces had been interacting with for years, and "Number Two" was the more laid-back, yet pensive of the pair.
Days passed, and eventually the others began to slowly get accustomed to the "two" princes. Bulma and Goku spent most of their time conversing with either of the Vegetas, trying to figure out a possible solution to their strange predicament. Instead, they found that each personality had their own set of certain points of view, reactions to situations, and memories. After a little bit of experimentation, they were amazed to find that "Number Two" had miraculously remembered everything that had ever occurred, not only in his lifetime, but in "Number One"'s as well. But where their differences were many, there likenesses weren't few. Both often spoke of feelings of isolation, failure, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-respect, worthlessness, and rage.
After a month, Bulma tried to get them to talk out their differences. They decided, naturally, to settle their disagreements with their fists, which later gave him a bought of nasty bruises. The fight seemed to do some good, as "Number One"'s jealousy declined, and "Number Two"'s understanding increased. An amazing breakthrough took place only a week or so after that. "Number Two" had been lounging outside on a lawn chair when Goku had managed to bring "Number One" outside. He somehow got them to sit next to each other. Casual, but bitter, conversation passed between the two, and eventually they lapsed into silence. Then, they both tilted their heads to the side, pointed up and said, "That cloud looks like a rabbit." It was the instant he was born. The Vegeta he was now was merely the combination of the two Vegetas he was before. It was a slow process, considering his own stubbornness, a trait both personalities had, but in the end they both decided that unity sounded like the best thing for both of them.
It had taken place in September, when, at last, only one Vegeta was visible. It was a proud day for him. He'd woken up - just right - and went downstairs to find Bulma cooking breakfast. Where one came to eat, the other usually followed, seeing that with the ability to be seen and heard, they both appreciated it. Only on rare occasions would one slip back into the mind and disappear from sight. "Where's the other one?" Bulma had asked as she flipped an omelet over.
"He is present and accounted for," the prince had replied.
The blue-haired lady raised an eyebrow, "Is he having such a bad day that he doesn't want to come out?"
He shook his head and took a seat, "No. He is sitting before you. The ones you know as 'Number One' and 'Number Two' no longer exist. There is only me, Vegeta, the Prince of Saijins."
Since that day things had been taking a smoother ride, except for a few occasional, and very rough, bumps. Integration had its adverse effects as well, one of them being a combined depression that almost cost him his life. Kakkarot had come to his rescue, but what really saved him was his own indecision. He couldn't decide if he wanted to drown himself, or slit his wrists. In the end, that had bought enough time for Goku to find him. He ended up crying in front of the warrior, again. Funny, now that he thought of it, the two times he'd cried it had been in front of the only other full-blooded Saijin alive, and only when he was moments away from death. He'd hoped he hadn't started a trend.
Thanks to his memory, however, the words spoken that day were prominently etched in his mind. Goku had held him and he had accepted the embrace. He had never had a shoulder to cry on before, but it did make him feel better to have one. It had felt even better to use it.
The only other obstacle they truly encountered was his rage. During that particular desegregation session Goku had to be by his side twenty-four hours a day, as it seemed he had lost control over his more abusive side. He had almost hit Bulma for a simple remark about him not looking well. No one was allowed to come into the same room as him except Goku, being as he was the only one able to physically keep him under control. Odd enough, the prince hadn't turned Super Saijin once, no matter how angry he got, or how many death threats he gave. Goku kept him under good tabs with all things considered. From that point on, he'd been merging continuously without a problem, and everyone who came in contact with the prince found that he was becoming a well-balanced medium between the two personalities.
The more interesting of aspects was that he had retained the memories of both personalities and could explicitly recall and explain his actions down to the last detail. He found this beneficial, as he could study past mistakes and easily learn from them. He also seemed to be embarrassed in general, seeing that it was improper for a prince to not accept who he was. Long ago he had accepted the situation, but without cooperation between the duo, the merging was impossible to even begin.
Regardless, he now felt completely at ease with his position as the process was nearly complete. Every once in a great while he would take on an entire standpoint in one specific direction, the remnants of one personality over the other. He'd had much more attention in the past few months than in the past so many years.
'Better late than never,' Vegeta thought to himself as he reached into his pocket for his gloves. He grasped them and pulled them out to find that his gloves had been replaced with maroon colored mittens. He chuckled lightly and slipped them on, not really caring if he looked absurd. It wouldn't be the first time he had, and he was certain it wouldn't be the last. The wind picked up slightly so he upturned his collar to help protect his bare neck.
The sound of laughter interrupted his reverie, and he decided to head in the direction of the noise to see what the commotion was about. He walked through approximately fifty yards of forest, making his own path with his foot prints in the snow, and was quite surprised to see the Son family playing in the park. Chichi was sitting on a bench watching the boys run about the playground equipment, all of the Son males apparently very distracted.
Vegeta smirked as he knelt down, gathering some snow and compacting it into a ball. He flung it like an expert pitcher and it hit its target precisely. Goku was actually knocked off of his feet from the unexpected attack which landed a blow on the back of his head. He landed face first in the freshly fallen snow. He groaned and began to get up when another object smacked him in the back. He got up and wiped his face clean, then turned to see what had happened.
Vegeta stood a few feet away, tossing up and catching a snowball lazily, while the other hand was on his hip. Goku grinned at the challenge and grabbed a fistful of snow, molding it into a sphere and chucking it. Gohan began to join in when Chi-chi flagged him over. "Yea mom?" he asked, taking a seat next to her, waving Goten over as well.
"Let those two have their fun," she said very solemnly.
"I thought you didn't like Vegeta.." Gohan trailed off, not quite sure what to make of his mother's attitude.
"I didn't," she corrected, lifting Goten up to fix his clothing, bundling him up tighter, "I had a talk with Bulma about Goku hanging around him so much."
Gohan smiled, wondering what the deal had been with that as well, "And?"
Chi-chi ignored Goten's mumbled complaints as she finished fixing him up, "Apparently Vegeta..has..had a..mental disorder."
The demi-Saijin gaped for a moment before slowly replying, "What type of mental disorder?"
Chi-chi sighed before smiling at her youngest son who waddled off to go play on the swings, to her left she could hear her husband and Vegeta fighting like school kids, "A type of Saijin duel personality disorder. I talked to Vegeta about it."
The teen was taken aback - he couldn't imagine Vegeta and his mother having a nice chat over his own disabilities, "You did?"
Chi-chi nodded and spoke matter-of-factly, "He explained to me the problem; that there was, quite literally, two of him that both wanted dominance over his body. Each personality did not like to help the other, and since they didn't like each other, each liked to do what the opposite told him to do. So, basically, he said that he did a lot of things out of confusion among, well..he said pain. I didn't understand what me meant and he told me that it was the pain of being incomplete. Seeing normal people made him angry because he wanted to be normal too."
Gohan nodded, piecing together the puzzle, "I remember dad telling me that Vegeta wanted him to feel as humiliated as he had. He must of been very frustrated." Goku ran by, a blur of black, blue, and white with some skin tones mixed in. Vegeta followed after, holding a snowball big enough to crush a tree house.
"Indeed," the lady replied, folding her arms.
'Amazing,' Gohan thought to himself, still in shock.
"Bulma said that your father was one of the few people both personalities would listen to. Apparently, Vegeta was remorseful over what he had done," Chi-chi continued, her voice finally taking on its natural lilt once more, "She also said that he apologized for killing him."
Gohan nearly fell off of his seat, "But Vegeta never killed dad!"
Chi-chi shrugged, speaking more casually, "Well, that's not the way Vegeta saw it. He said it was his fault, because he had let Cell absorb Android Eighteen. He apologized to me too, and I accepted." Gohan looked over at his father and Vegeta, who were wrestling on the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Finally the prince rolled away from the battle and spread himself out on the snow. "Look, I'll make a snow Saijin," he said, unwinding his tail to give it the perfect imprint as a finishing touch. He leapt into the air and examined his work of art, beaming with pride.
Goku dusted off his blue coat and stood up, "Feeling better today, Vegeta?"
The brunette looked down at him and grinned, "Perhaps. Will you and your family be joining me and my family for dinner at the fine Capsule Corp establishment?"
Goku nearly drooled at the thought of free food and ran over to Chi-chi, "Hey hon! We're invited over to Capsule Corp tonight! Let's go, ok?" Chi-chi paused to think about it when all three of the Son men leaned in, giving her the puppy dog look.
"Pleeeeease?" they all begged.
"Oh, alright," she gave in, cracking a small smile, "but you'll have to be on your best behavior! That goes for all three of you!"
Gohan held a hand against his chest, "Even me? When have I ever done anything wrong?"
His mother waggled a finger at him, "You always run off and save the world. None of that tonight, you hear?"
Gohan laughed as he got up off of the bench, "Believe me, I'll try."
Goku gave a hoot of excitement, "Yeah! Let's go Vegeta! I wanna try out the Capsule! You said you improved it, right?"
Vegeta nodded as the other Saijin approached him, "That is correct."
Goku beamed with joy and he waved to the others, "I'm gonna go early! Don't be afraid to catch up!" He put his hand on Vegeta's shoulder, and then, they were gone.
"Always running off..." Chi-chi muttered to herself.
They reappeared at Capsule Corp, in the back yard to be precise. Both of them landed quietly and Vegeta approached the main console, "So what do you want to start out at? 1000? 1500?" Something round suddenly hit him in the back of the head. "Oh, that's it.." Vegeta turned Super Saijin and leapt onto the younger man, "You're going down, pretty boy!"
Goku laughed and powered up too, putting on his best mock hero voice, "Not before I stop you! Ha, HA!" Of course, being the Saijins that they were, a little fight soon turned into a big one and soon enough they had to discard of their torn winter coats.
"Wow, you're a lot weaker than you used to be," Vegeta finally stated with a bullshit smirk.
Goku laughed at him, knowing he was just playing around, "That's not true and you know it. You just got stronger, Vegeta. Now, let's see how you handle my Kamehameha wave!"
The prince rolled his eyes and yawned, "Oh, that attack? Geez, Kakkarot, you should think of something original. It's such an easy attack. How hard could it be to master?"
Goku raised an eyebrow, smirking himself, "You'd be surprised."
"What? You just cup your hands like this," Vegeta demonstrated while talking, "And say 'ka-me-ha-me-ha'!" He was about to continue his train of thought when a sudden burst of blue-white hot energy built in front of his hands and launched itself in the direction of which his hands were pointed, which also happened to be at Goku. The discharge took even the prince aback as he tore his hands away from each other, gasping loudly at the effort it took him to unlock the hold the attack seemed to have on him.
Goku's first reaction was to dodge the large blast, but he then realized that the amount of ki that was being launched at him would most likely wipe out not only Capsule Corp, but the entire city, at least. He outstretched his hands, powered up to his maximum, and luckily, caught the blast before it caused any damage. Exerting some of his power, he dispersed the Kamehameha wave after a few moments, thereafter he turned to Vegeta, his eyes wide, looking for an answer. He found that Vegeta looked just as bewildered as him. "What?? I just put my hands together and said-" Vegeta started to repeat his actions when Goku instant transmissioned in front of him and grabbed his wrists.
"I know what you did! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get an attack that powerful out of the Kamehameha? Cripes, Vegeta, don't do that again unless we're trying to kill Cell or someone, ok?" Goku replied, stunned.
Vegeta put his hands down, stuttering and lightly blushing, partially because of the cold, partially because of the embarrassment, "O...Okay, Kakkarot."
Goku floated down to the ground and released his Super Saijin form, noticing Vegeta right behind him, "Hey.." Vegeta glanced up at him as he picked up the shredded remains of his coat. "That was truly amazing, Vegeta," Goku said, giving the prince a lop-sided grin, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not worth the effort." The brunette's eyebrows knit together as he wasn't too sure of the meaning behind Goku's words.
"Good to know," he replied, taking off his mittens to let his sweaty hands dry. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at Goku quizzically.
"It's not your fault that I died," the black-haired man stated, "in the fight with Cell. I could have saved myself, you know."
Vegeta's entire expression fell, his skin paling as his mind began putting two and two together, "You could have transmitted yourself back in enough time..?"
Goku gave a small nod, a smile curving his lips, "My decision to stay in the afterlife had been made before I died. It's not your fault, Vegeta. I think it's about time you realized something very important."
"What's that, Kakkarot?"
"Bad things happen to good people."
Goku smiled, and Vegeta returned it.
"I think it's time to eat. Last one in is a rotten egg!" Vegeta said as he bolted towards the door.
"Not fair! You got a head start!" Goku shouted, taking off after him.
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HAPPY END! Ok, here's some select reviews that may or may not answer any questions/comments you may or may not have!
Daniel of Lorien (userid=92324)
interesting,but hard as hell to follow
FELIX SAYS: Try reading Nowhere!
Moustachegirl (userid=96429)
BTW, what does "kutaji-aramone, akida" mean?
FELIX SAYS: This line was taken out of the second, edited, version because, admit it, it sounds retarded. The new line is "The other swore loudly in Vegeta's native tongue." Putting it in context with the next sentence, No. 2 is telling Vegeta to be quiet in a not nice way.
Beji (userid=152034)
BTW; Did you know that a human that goes without REM sleep for four days becomes psychotic? At least until they get sleep. I rememebered that when you mentioned Vege-chan going 168 hours without sleep.
FELIX SAYS: This is very true. I think this goes partly into the "I was asleep but I don't think I slept" feeling that Vegeta tends to get or his natural inclination to just forget to sleep/forget that he has slept. Also note that it's actually No. 2 who's telling him he hasn't slept in a week. A lot of the time he calls Vegeta "Prince Vegeta" or "little prince", etc. It wasn't Nappa.
rampage (userid=166440)
just a question, are you gonna do the same with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory EP??
FELIX SAYS: I don't have EP, but I'll look into getting it (or at least the songs, as it appears to be a little rare). If I like it enough, yes. And do expect Reanimation and Meteora to be coming soon.
My December
This is my December
This is my time of the year
This is my December
This is all so clear
This is my December
This is my snow covered home
This is my December
This is me alone
It was a quiet afternoon, and he had managed escaping his ever-watchful family to slip off down the hall. He understood their concern, but now things were different, and he had more control. It was December now. He liked December. He liked playing in the snow; there was never snow on Planet Vegeta. He hadn't ever really noticed the seasons of Earth, doing most of his things indoors like he had his entire life. If anything though, he was sick to death of that. Nearly literally as well, as he recalled his countless desires for suicide in the past, most of which swarmed around his life of servitude under Freiza. But now Freiza was dead, and he had a whole planet to himself. Well, nearly himself...
He didn't bother thinking upon it negatively, as he knew that he didn't really care about that type of thing anymore. He reached the closet and opened it in silence, feeling much like a teenager who was sneaking out of the house without his parents permission or knowledge. He quickly found his coat, a long charcoal grey item that resembled a trench coat. One of the first items of clothing he had bought, even if it was truly Bulma who had paid for it. He picked up a brown fleece scarf that was on a hanger and put it around his neck. Nearly tip-toeing, he made his way to the door, then outside.
Once the door was shut, however, he relaxed, both physically and mentally. With a grin he took off into the air, flying a considerable distance away so he wouldn't get caught. The cold air against his face felt nice, it was a brisk feeling that made his cheeks flush from the temperature change. He landed in a city park nearby, noting the lack of people.
He shrugged to himself and began walking down a trail to just relax and have some "me" time, only this time could he honestly call it that. He put his hands in his pockets, not bothering to deal with gloves at the moment, though they would have been nice. He looked up at the grey sky through the leafless branches. People often found winter gloomy, but not him. He closed his eyes as he walked, hoping he wouldn't run into a tree, but wanting to enjoy being immersed in nature while walking at the same time. His eyes opened as something cold and wet touched his nose. He blinked and wiped away the liquid before noticing the fact that it was gently snowing. He smiled.
Earth looked rather pretty - it would have been a shame to blow it up. He was glad Kakkarot stopped him, was even glad the third class was more powerful than him. He knew he shouldn't be, that he should be angry that he was the prince and the weaker of the two..but now that he thought about it, even that was questionable. He had his tail back, which currently was wrapped around his waist, and it had returned a large amount of power to him.
He was certain that, without a doubt, it was possible to finally best Kakkarot. And what would he do if he won the fight? His original intentions were to kill, or to force the younger to see things his way. He shook his head, chuckling at his own foolish decisions. Now, he'd congratulate Kakkarot for a good fight, and offer him a hand up. Killing him was pointless when the man obviously was of more submission nature, and forcing him to do things his way wouldn't really change him any. Not that he wanted Kakkarot to change. He couldn't believe it had taken him years to realize that. Waste of time, really, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now.
He wouldn't intentionally hurt Kakkarot outside of a fight anyway, not when he'd helped him so much. He smiled fondly at the memories the black-haired man had created, revised, and brought into light. The other Saijin had done so much for him, sacrificing part of his home life to visit him.
The first few weeks were the hardest, on everyone. With the ability to physically see what his problem was, apparently "hear" went along with. There was so many fights that he couldn't even count them all. He paused, smirked, and shook his head. Okay, so there had been twenty-seven different accounts of attacks, most of which had been witnessed by one of the Z warriors or another, and all of which freaked them all out exceedingly.
He didn't understand why, and he doubted he ever would, because to him, it was normal, except now the fights were taking place, with a lack of a better word, outside. He recalled some of the more..interesting..ones and shuddered. Bulma hadn't been able to look him in the eye for nine days when she saw "Number Two" wrestle "Number One" to the ground and proceed to punch the living hell out of him, finishing with a ki blast that decimated half of his face, leaving blackened skin and bone in its wake. He was lucky "Number Two" had been possession of his body, otherwise he would've been a world of hurt.
It had taken them quite awhile to get accustomed to him, and that's where the terms "Number One" and "Number Two" came about. Bulma had been so perplexed by his problem, she went as far as off-planet to look for a reason why things were happening the way they did. In the end, she had come up with nothing, but Goku had gotten a good idea, and asked King Kai if he could scrounge up some info. This made Vegeta feel better, to know the reason why he was the way he was.
His "abnormality" wasn't more "abnormal", but rather "rare". Just like his atypical form of motion sickness, it appeared he was, as they said, "sick in the head". Somehow, this did not surprise him. King Kai, with the help of a few underground record keepers, was able to determine the exact problem. Duel personality. Except with him, there were some major twists, most of them due to the fact he was a Saijin. Unlike normal humans with duel personality disorder, Vegeta's second self was not created due to a traumatic experience, as "Number Two" had explained to them. He remembered the shock on Bulma's, Kakkarot's, King Kai's, and his own face as he said:
"Vegeta thinks I came around in his childhood because he can only remember that far back. I was born at the same time as him, down to the exact second."
The other distinction between the human and Saijin versions of the illness, was the ability to have two personalities function at the same time, within and without a physical host. For a normal human, a second personality often times wasn't very active, and was more than likely unable to communicate properly due simply to its nature. It had been unnerving to see two of the same person within the same room, but even more disturbing to see them separate from each other, although it was very clear which was which. "Number One" was the Vegeta the Earth's Special Forces had been interacting with for years, and "Number Two" was the more laid-back, yet pensive of the pair.
Days passed, and eventually the others began to slowly get accustomed to the "two" princes. Bulma and Goku spent most of their time conversing with either of the Vegetas, trying to figure out a possible solution to their strange predicament. Instead, they found that each personality had their own set of certain points of view, reactions to situations, and memories. After a little bit of experimentation, they were amazed to find that "Number Two" had miraculously remembered everything that had ever occurred, not only in his lifetime, but in "Number One"'s as well. But where their differences were many, there likenesses weren't few. Both often spoke of feelings of isolation, failure, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-respect, worthlessness, and rage.
After a month, Bulma tried to get them to talk out their differences. They decided, naturally, to settle their disagreements with their fists, which later gave him a bought of nasty bruises. The fight seemed to do some good, as "Number One"'s jealousy declined, and "Number Two"'s understanding increased. An amazing breakthrough took place only a week or so after that. "Number Two" had been lounging outside on a lawn chair when Goku had managed to bring "Number One" outside. He somehow got them to sit next to each other. Casual, but bitter, conversation passed between the two, and eventually they lapsed into silence. Then, they both tilted their heads to the side, pointed up and said, "That cloud looks like a rabbit." It was the instant he was born. The Vegeta he was now was merely the combination of the two Vegetas he was before. It was a slow process, considering his own stubbornness, a trait both personalities had, but in the end they both decided that unity sounded like the best thing for both of them.
It had taken place in September, when, at last, only one Vegeta was visible. It was a proud day for him. He'd woken up - just right - and went downstairs to find Bulma cooking breakfast. Where one came to eat, the other usually followed, seeing that with the ability to be seen and heard, they both appreciated it. Only on rare occasions would one slip back into the mind and disappear from sight. "Where's the other one?" Bulma had asked as she flipped an omelet over.
"He is present and accounted for," the prince had replied.
The blue-haired lady raised an eyebrow, "Is he having such a bad day that he doesn't want to come out?"
He shook his head and took a seat, "No. He is sitting before you. The ones you know as 'Number One' and 'Number Two' no longer exist. There is only me, Vegeta, the Prince of Saijins."
Since that day things had been taking a smoother ride, except for a few occasional, and very rough, bumps. Integration had its adverse effects as well, one of them being a combined depression that almost cost him his life. Kakkarot had come to his rescue, but what really saved him was his own indecision. He couldn't decide if he wanted to drown himself, or slit his wrists. In the end, that had bought enough time for Goku to find him. He ended up crying in front of the warrior, again. Funny, now that he thought of it, the two times he'd cried it had been in front of the only other full-blooded Saijin alive, and only when he was moments away from death. He'd hoped he hadn't started a trend.
Thanks to his memory, however, the words spoken that day were prominently etched in his mind. Goku had held him and he had accepted the embrace. He had never had a shoulder to cry on before, but it did make him feel better to have one. It had felt even better to use it.
The only other obstacle they truly encountered was his rage. During that particular desegregation session Goku had to be by his side twenty-four hours a day, as it seemed he had lost control over his more abusive side. He had almost hit Bulma for a simple remark about him not looking well. No one was allowed to come into the same room as him except Goku, being as he was the only one able to physically keep him under control. Odd enough, the prince hadn't turned Super Saijin once, no matter how angry he got, or how many death threats he gave. Goku kept him under good tabs with all things considered. From that point on, he'd been merging continuously without a problem, and everyone who came in contact with the prince found that he was becoming a well-balanced medium between the two personalities.
The more interesting of aspects was that he had retained the memories of both personalities and could explicitly recall and explain his actions down to the last detail. He found this beneficial, as he could study past mistakes and easily learn from them. He also seemed to be embarrassed in general, seeing that it was improper for a prince to not accept who he was. Long ago he had accepted the situation, but without cooperation between the duo, the merging was impossible to even begin.
Regardless, he now felt completely at ease with his position as the process was nearly complete. Every once in a great while he would take on an entire standpoint in one specific direction, the remnants of one personality over the other. He'd had much more attention in the past few months than in the past so many years.
'Better late than never,' Vegeta thought to himself as he reached into his pocket for his gloves. He grasped them and pulled them out to find that his gloves had been replaced with maroon colored mittens. He chuckled lightly and slipped them on, not really caring if he looked absurd. It wouldn't be the first time he had, and he was certain it wouldn't be the last. The wind picked up slightly so he upturned his collar to help protect his bare neck.
The sound of laughter interrupted his reverie, and he decided to head in the direction of the noise to see what the commotion was about. He walked through approximately fifty yards of forest, making his own path with his foot prints in the snow, and was quite surprised to see the Son family playing in the park. Chichi was sitting on a bench watching the boys run about the playground equipment, all of the Son males apparently very distracted.
Vegeta smirked as he knelt down, gathering some snow and compacting it into a ball. He flung it like an expert pitcher and it hit its target precisely. Goku was actually knocked off of his feet from the unexpected attack which landed a blow on the back of his head. He landed face first in the freshly fallen snow. He groaned and began to get up when another object smacked him in the back. He got up and wiped his face clean, then turned to see what had happened.
Vegeta stood a few feet away, tossing up and catching a snowball lazily, while the other hand was on his hip. Goku grinned at the challenge and grabbed a fistful of snow, molding it into a sphere and chucking it. Gohan began to join in when Chi-chi flagged him over. "Yea mom?" he asked, taking a seat next to her, waving Goten over as well.
"Let those two have their fun," she said very solemnly.
"I thought you didn't like Vegeta.." Gohan trailed off, not quite sure what to make of his mother's attitude.
"I didn't," she corrected, lifting Goten up to fix his clothing, bundling him up tighter, "I had a talk with Bulma about Goku hanging around him so much."
Gohan smiled, wondering what the deal had been with that as well, "And?"
Chi-chi ignored Goten's mumbled complaints as she finished fixing him up, "Apparently Vegeta..has..had a..mental disorder."
The demi-Saijin gaped for a moment before slowly replying, "What type of mental disorder?"
Chi-chi sighed before smiling at her youngest son who waddled off to go play on the swings, to her left she could hear her husband and Vegeta fighting like school kids, "A type of Saijin duel personality disorder. I talked to Vegeta about it."
The teen was taken aback - he couldn't imagine Vegeta and his mother having a nice chat over his own disabilities, "You did?"
Chi-chi nodded and spoke matter-of-factly, "He explained to me the problem; that there was, quite literally, two of him that both wanted dominance over his body. Each personality did not like to help the other, and since they didn't like each other, each liked to do what the opposite told him to do. So, basically, he said that he did a lot of things out of confusion among, well..he said pain. I didn't understand what me meant and he told me that it was the pain of being incomplete. Seeing normal people made him angry because he wanted to be normal too."
Gohan nodded, piecing together the puzzle, "I remember dad telling me that Vegeta wanted him to feel as humiliated as he had. He must of been very frustrated." Goku ran by, a blur of black, blue, and white with some skin tones mixed in. Vegeta followed after, holding a snowball big enough to crush a tree house.
"Indeed," the lady replied, folding her arms.
'Amazing,' Gohan thought to himself, still in shock.
"Bulma said that your father was one of the few people both personalities would listen to. Apparently, Vegeta was remorseful over what he had done," Chi-chi continued, her voice finally taking on its natural lilt once more, "She also said that he apologized for killing him."
Gohan nearly fell off of his seat, "But Vegeta never killed dad!"
Chi-chi shrugged, speaking more casually, "Well, that's not the way Vegeta saw it. He said it was his fault, because he had let Cell absorb Android Eighteen. He apologized to me too, and I accepted." Gohan looked over at his father and Vegeta, who were wrestling on the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Finally the prince rolled away from the battle and spread himself out on the snow. "Look, I'll make a snow Saijin," he said, unwinding his tail to give it the perfect imprint as a finishing touch. He leapt into the air and examined his work of art, beaming with pride.
Goku dusted off his blue coat and stood up, "Feeling better today, Vegeta?"
The brunette looked down at him and grinned, "Perhaps. Will you and your family be joining me and my family for dinner at the fine Capsule Corp establishment?"
Goku nearly drooled at the thought of free food and ran over to Chi-chi, "Hey hon! We're invited over to Capsule Corp tonight! Let's go, ok?" Chi-chi paused to think about it when all three of the Son men leaned in, giving her the puppy dog look.
"Pleeeeease?" they all begged.
"Oh, alright," she gave in, cracking a small smile, "but you'll have to be on your best behavior! That goes for all three of you!"
Gohan held a hand against his chest, "Even me? When have I ever done anything wrong?"
His mother waggled a finger at him, "You always run off and save the world. None of that tonight, you hear?"
Gohan laughed as he got up off of the bench, "Believe me, I'll try."
Goku gave a hoot of excitement, "Yeah! Let's go Vegeta! I wanna try out the Capsule! You said you improved it, right?"
Vegeta nodded as the other Saijin approached him, "That is correct."
Goku beamed with joy and he waved to the others, "I'm gonna go early! Don't be afraid to catch up!" He put his hand on Vegeta's shoulder, and then, they were gone.
"Always running off..." Chi-chi muttered to herself.
They reappeared at Capsule Corp, in the back yard to be precise. Both of them landed quietly and Vegeta approached the main console, "So what do you want to start out at? 1000? 1500?" Something round suddenly hit him in the back of the head. "Oh, that's it.." Vegeta turned Super Saijin and leapt onto the younger man, "You're going down, pretty boy!"
Goku laughed and powered up too, putting on his best mock hero voice, "Not before I stop you! Ha, HA!" Of course, being the Saijins that they were, a little fight soon turned into a big one and soon enough they had to discard of their torn winter coats.
"Wow, you're a lot weaker than you used to be," Vegeta finally stated with a bullshit smirk.
Goku laughed at him, knowing he was just playing around, "That's not true and you know it. You just got stronger, Vegeta. Now, let's see how you handle my Kamehameha wave!"
The prince rolled his eyes and yawned, "Oh, that attack? Geez, Kakkarot, you should think of something original. It's such an easy attack. How hard could it be to master?"
Goku raised an eyebrow, smirking himself, "You'd be surprised."
"What? You just cup your hands like this," Vegeta demonstrated while talking, "And say 'ka-me-ha-me-ha'!" He was about to continue his train of thought when a sudden burst of blue-white hot energy built in front of his hands and launched itself in the direction of which his hands were pointed, which also happened to be at Goku. The discharge took even the prince aback as he tore his hands away from each other, gasping loudly at the effort it took him to unlock the hold the attack seemed to have on him.
Goku's first reaction was to dodge the large blast, but he then realized that the amount of ki that was being launched at him would most likely wipe out not only Capsule Corp, but the entire city, at least. He outstretched his hands, powered up to his maximum, and luckily, caught the blast before it caused any damage. Exerting some of his power, he dispersed the Kamehameha wave after a few moments, thereafter he turned to Vegeta, his eyes wide, looking for an answer. He found that Vegeta looked just as bewildered as him. "What?? I just put my hands together and said-" Vegeta started to repeat his actions when Goku instant transmissioned in front of him and grabbed his wrists.
"I know what you did! Do you have any idea how long it took me to get an attack that powerful out of the Kamehameha? Cripes, Vegeta, don't do that again unless we're trying to kill Cell or someone, ok?" Goku replied, stunned.
Vegeta put his hands down, stuttering and lightly blushing, partially because of the cold, partially because of the embarrassment, "O...Okay, Kakkarot."
Goku floated down to the ground and released his Super Saijin form, noticing Vegeta right behind him, "Hey.." Vegeta glanced up at him as he picked up the shredded remains of his coat. "That was truly amazing, Vegeta," Goku said, giving the prince a lop-sided grin, "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're not worth the effort." The brunette's eyebrows knit together as he wasn't too sure of the meaning behind Goku's words.
"Good to know," he replied, taking off his mittens to let his sweaty hands dry. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to look at Goku quizzically.
"It's not your fault that I died," the black-haired man stated, "in the fight with Cell. I could have saved myself, you know."
Vegeta's entire expression fell, his skin paling as his mind began putting two and two together, "You could have transmitted yourself back in enough time..?"
Goku gave a small nod, a smile curving his lips, "My decision to stay in the afterlife had been made before I died. It's not your fault, Vegeta. I think it's about time you realized something very important."
"What's that, Kakkarot?"
"Bad things happen to good people."
Goku smiled, and Vegeta returned it.
"I think it's time to eat. Last one in is a rotten egg!" Vegeta said as he bolted towards the door.
"Not fair! You got a head start!" Goku shouted, taking off after him.
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HAPPY END! Ok, here's some select reviews that may or may not answer any questions/comments you may or may not have!
Daniel of Lorien (userid=92324)
interesting,but hard as hell to follow
FELIX SAYS: Try reading Nowhere!
Moustachegirl (userid=96429)
BTW, what does "kutaji-aramone, akida" mean?
FELIX SAYS: This line was taken out of the second, edited, version because, admit it, it sounds retarded. The new line is "The other swore loudly in Vegeta's native tongue." Putting it in context with the next sentence, No. 2 is telling Vegeta to be quiet in a not nice way.
Beji (userid=152034)
BTW; Did you know that a human that goes without REM sleep for four days becomes psychotic? At least until they get sleep. I rememebered that when you mentioned Vege-chan going 168 hours without sleep.
FELIX SAYS: This is very true. I think this goes partly into the "I was asleep but I don't think I slept" feeling that Vegeta tends to get or his natural inclination to just forget to sleep/forget that he has slept. Also note that it's actually No. 2 who's telling him he hasn't slept in a week. A lot of the time he calls Vegeta "Prince Vegeta" or "little prince", etc. It wasn't Nappa.
rampage (userid=166440)
just a question, are you gonna do the same with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory EP??
FELIX SAYS: I don't have EP, but I'll look into getting it (or at least the songs, as it appears to be a little rare). If I like it enough, yes. And do expect Reanimation and Meteora to be coming soon.