Unexpected Love

Struggles

~~A few weeks later~~

A few weeks after Vegeta had gotten Kakarot back home, he realized that this road to recovery was going to be a long and hard one. Ever since they had gotten back, Kakarot had been having nightmare after nightmare, always waking up screaming bloody murder and nearly giving Vegeta a heart attack. It definitely wasn't going to be easy, but Vegeta was very determined. Every day Vegeta worried about his mate. Kakarot's strength had dropped massively and his appetite was just barely there anymore. He had turned really pale and had dark circles under his eyes. Every single night Vegeta knew that the man who had hurt Kakarot haunted his dreams and there was nothing he could do about it...or was there? No...I can't ask him to do such a thing so soon...It'd probably break him...Vegeta thought to himself. He quickly shook the image from his head. Maybe once Kakarot was doing a bit better than he was right now, then he could try this thought of his.

Vegeta awaited in the kitchen for Kakarot to get up from the bed. He sighed to himself. He was completely exhausted from all these sleepless nights that he had gotten, but he never complained. It was for Kakarot. His Kakarot. Vegeta couldn't help but think about how much his warrior was going through. He never should have left Kakarot alone that day, but it was already done. No matter how much Vegeta wanted to change the past, he just couldn't. Now he's been beating himself up on the inside every single day. Suddenly, Vegeta was pulled from his thoughts by loud screaming. He quickly bolted up the stairs, knowing Kakarot was having another one of those dreams again. He heard yelling and pleading right before he bolted into the room. Kakarot was laying there in the bed; his eyes shut tightly, his body shaking and completely sweaty.

"VEGETA! HELP ME! DON'T LET HIM DO IT! PLEASE!" Kakarot's screams were just horrifying. Without even thinking, Vegeta quickly leaped onto the bed and grabbed Kakarot's face, trying carefully to wake him up.

"Kaka! Wake up! It's me, Vegeta! Please, please wake up!" Vegeta tried to keep his voice calm so that he wouldn't scare Kakarot even more than he already was. He felt his mate shake even harder underneath him. "Come on, Kaka! You can wake up from this! I just know it!" Without even thinking, Vegeta quickly pressed his lips down onto his mate's and kissed him roughly. Almost instantly, Kakarot had quit shaking and slowly wrapped his arms around Vegeta. Pulling back, Vegeta glanced down at Kakarot and waited. He breathed a sigh of relief as Kakarot opened his eyes.

~~

Goku was shaking like a mad man as he stared up at the person who was on top of him. Only to start bawling when he saw Vegeta's face staring back at him, full of concerned. Goku quickly sat up and wrapped his arms around his prince's slender body. He felt a hand run through his hair carefully. He heard a low rumble in Vegeta's chest, almost like a growl. Scared, he snapped his head up and stared at the smaller Saiyan, fear filling his eyes.

"Geta...?" Goku whispered softly, still shaking.

"I'm sorry, Kaka...I didn't mean to scare you... I'm just angry with myself because I couldn't protect you from all of those bad things..." Vegeta couldn't help but let some tears fall down his cheeks. "I-I know you're struggling to get through this...and I don't know what to do! I can't get into your dreams and fight him off for you and I would if I could! I want to protect you!"

"Geta...I know you do...but there's nothing you can do to change what's happened...I should have been stronger...I should have been able to take him down..." Goku just felt so weak about not being able to take Zylen down and now he was causing Vegeta to beat himself up over all of this. "Hey...let's get dressed and get some breakfast..." Goku wasn't exactly hungry but he knew that he had to eat, to show Vegeta that he was at least trying.

"Alright Kaka...let's go..." Vegeta let a small smile escape from his lips. Goku watched as the smaller Saiyan made his way over to one of the dressers and pulled out some clothes. They had recently moved all of their stuff into the same room, which only made sense to them since they were mates. Goku watched as Vegeta got dressed, simply admiring his mate's body. "Come on, dear. You get dressed too." Goku suddenly hopped out of bed with more energy than he expected to have. He rushed over to the other dresser and got dressed as well before going into the bathroom. He paused and looked into the mirror. He almost didn't recognize himself because he had thinned out so much and lost most of his color. Sighing, he looked down at his left wrist, staring at the burn mark that was left on him. A circle with a capital Z in the middle and two filled in triangle on each side of the Z, facing opposite directions. He shuddered and proceeded to wrap his wrist up, stopping once he felt a presence behind him.

"Geta...I know it's you..." He whispered softly.

"Honey...at least let me help you cover it...You'll wrap it too tightly and cut off circulation..." Vegeta replied as he rushed over and took the bandage from him. Goku sighed and nodded as he sat down on the sink, watching Vegeta as he carefully wrapped up the burn mark. Goku didn't want anyone to see it, not even he wanted to see it. Once his mate was done, Goku glanced up at him.

"I'm sorry, Geta...I know I'm not improving at all...but I do hope this day out really helps..." Goku felt so pathetic, he didn't understand why he was fighting with this so much.

"I'd be surprised if you improved in just a few weeks. Things like this can scar you for life. You were already weak from which that earth woman divorced you, and now this has happened. To be honest, I'm not sure how much pain you can take, but I know that so long as I am here, I will not let you get hurt anymore. Do you understand?" Vegeta asked. All Goku could do was nod his head. "Good, now come on. Let's get going." The smaller Saiyan grabbed Goku's hand and ran outside, making sure to lock the door behind them.

The two of them flew toward town, keeping a tight hold of each other. They even had their tails wrapped together as they flew. Goku felt a lot safer with Vegeta's tail wrapped around his. It was comforting and for the first few hours, everything seemed like it was going very smooth. The two of them were laughing; Vegeta had taken Goku to the pet shop where he could play with the puppies. Goku absolutely adored puppies and had a huge childish smile on his face while he was playing with them. He hopped that one day he could get a puppy, if Vegeta would allow it. He had grown very fond of a little white husky pup with bright blue eyes. He wanted to take her home so badly, but was too afraid to ask. He only hoped that she'd still be there when he could get Vegeta to agree. He caught a glimpse of Vegeta talking to the store manager, but quickly got distracted as the small dog licked his face. He was sad to say goodbye to her when Vegeta came to get him, but he went with Vegeta without an argument.

Once they left the pet shop and continued there walk, Goku suddenly fell to the ground, gripping his hair tightly. He screamed bloody murder as images filled his head again. The memories all came back, and he wasn't even asleep. He kicked and screamed, he could hear that cold laughter in his head. He could only imagine what Vegeta was thinking right now, unfortunately he was too trapped in these memories.

~~

"KAKA!" Vegeta screamed as he knelt down beside his mate. Why now did this have to happen? There were too many people around, and a lot of them had stopped and began to stare. Vegeta growled loudly and quickly scooped Kakarot up into his arms before taking off into the air. Vegeta flew home as fast as he could, breaking through the door and rushing his Kaka up to the room and laying him on the bed. He tried to wake Kakarot up carefully but when that didn't work, he sighed to himself and slammed his lips onto his mate's, causing Kakarot to bolt up again, nearly knocking Vegeta off the bed. He stared at Kakarot, who was breathing hard and fast. He saw Kakarot's gaze fall on him and saw the tears start to fall from his face. Vegeta quickly wrapped his arms around the taller Saiyan and held him close. Vegeta knew that he was down to his last option. He closed his eyes tightly and thought to himself, tonight will be the night...I know it's way too soon, but it's the only way to help Kaka...Tonight, after dinner, I will do it...I will bond with Kaka...then maybe...just maybe...I can save him from these nightmares.

((I might not update for a few days after this! I will try too though!!! I hope you guys enjoy it and thank you sooooooooooo much for all the reads and comments! Let me know what you think! :D))