The Saiyan Bond

Thank You

Hey, Author here, no the story isn't over. I just wanted to take time to write something to you, readers. I have been feeling very broken lately, I'm hurting so much and I hate crying. I really do. I wanted to spend this time to tell you, why I fell in love with dragon ball, and where it began. So, please just humor me. When I was little, I was adopted by a family that from outside looked very stable. But on the inside, we were very wrong and askew. My adopted parents were Jehovah's Witnesses. They were newly weds. My dad and mom somehow didn't work out after some while. I grew up as a Jehovah's Witness, never really asked if I wanted to be a part of it. My dad was high up in the congregation, but no one knew that he came home drunk every friday night, sometimes it would be all week. My mom traveled for a living so wasn't always around to see it and didn't find out about the abuse until a year after it started. My father threw me across the floor, made me pee my pants, he tried to drown me, choked me, punched me in the stomach, even dragged me across our driveway with my shirt off, all until I was 9 years old and we found out that he had been cheating on my mom for quite some time. After it was out in the open, He laid in bed one night with his gun in his mouth but couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. He said that he just couldn't stop seeing my face and that it was then that he had to stay alive for me, and to be my dad. So when the elders of the congregation found out about this, they took him for a madman and sent him to an asylum. My mom lied to me and said he was just in the hospital, but he wasn't. we found out a year later that my mom had been cheating on my dad all throughout the years as well, she took sick advantage of her travels and fornicated constantly. I lost trust and respect for both of my parents just after they divorced. It was awful being forced to still go to the meetings and see people in the congregation who looked at me like a helpless pitiful child. I hated being pitied and I hated feeling cast out, so I left, I quit and said I didn't want to be a witness anymore. My dad moved into a small condo and became more abusive when I was given the half custody of both parents. It got to the point that even hearing my fathers truck engine pull up in the driveway was enough to get my knees wobbling. When we had dinner, I had no control over what to eat, or drink, he would turn the television on to baseball and if I asked to change the channel he refused to let me anywhere near the remote. But then, I learned that on Saturdays, my dad would sleep in until 11:00.I found that if I woke up at 8:00 am, I would have a few hours to myself. those were the only hours I had away from my father safely and away from my mother who I couldn't love anymore. So I used that time to watch the TV and to have my own breakfast. We had only 5 channels on our TV, one was a cartoon channel and that was all I had. One morning I pressed the power button and heard the sound of trumpets, and an orange ball fly across the screen and a strong voice, "Don't stop! Don't stop! We're in luck now!" and I couldn't help but smile. It seemed so fun, it was the first time I had been able to watch something that I wanted in 2 years. The scene was a tall man in an orange jumpsuit with a small boy in a yellow shirt in his hands, he had a big smile across his face and I found him adorable. I watched on, weeks went by where I would actually have something to look forward to. I always went to sleep on fridays with a smile on my face and it was a warm feeling. One morning these small white balls with red glass circles flew across the screen and I was very excited. Who were these new characters? One looked so cute and small, how could he possibly be as ruthless as they said he was? When he stepped out onto the dirt of Earth, I instantly knew I liked him, his voice was raspy and confident, but you could easily tell he wasn't completely sure what he was getting himself into. I knew he was all an act of strength, he didn't have true proof of who he was. His battle with Goku was the most intriguing thing I had seen and I couldn't help but fall in love with his persistence. He had lost so much and yet was still strong enough to believe that he could make his way through such a battle. He was an emotional mess on the inside, but on the outside he was calm and composed and only angry to a fault. I fell in love with him, I related to him. His father was an awful man, and he knew it, but he couldn't help but have love for his father because, well his father was his father. I started to see him as a role model. He was someone who didn't let go and kept pushing until he could get his way, even when all hope was lost, he kept going. It was all he could do anyways. That's how I felt everyday. I had to keep pushing my way through my life, I had to. Every Saturday was my motivation. One Saturday morning I woke up a little later than I meant to, and didn't turn the volume down. My dad awoke and found me, took the remote, turned it off and brought the remote into his room, and never let me see it again except for when it was in his hands. I didn't watch the show for the next 5 years.

One day, when I was 15, I had taken my two cousins to the movies, I had long since moved into my moms' house and had only visited my dad on occasion, but I had completely repressed most of my memories. Anyways, we walked into the lobby and- and there he was. Standing, full of pride and strength, Kakarot's back to his with a purely strong look on his own face. And all of my memories hit me in one blow in fact I had chills. I quickly took a picture of the poster and couldn't take my eyes off it. I made every mental note I could of all the features and lines of the bodies even the words I made sure that I had them memorized.

I went to see the movie the day it came out, and realized as I walked in, that there were so many people inside with such great big smiles on their faces. When I left the theater that day, I sat down on a bench and started crying. All the pain had made its way back into me and I could feel every bit of my pride seep into me. Vegeta, even though he was a mere drawing created into animation, had sculpted my strength, he made me who I was and I wouldnt be as strong as I am without him, and as I type this I'm crying because I met Chris Sabbat at the anime expo two weeks ago and I wish I had told him all this when I saw him, that he saved me. His voice was behind me every step of the way and if it wasn't for him, I don't think I would be here. Even after i regained my love for the show, I still had my battles with depression and anxiety which are genetic for me. There is no stopping it, but it was simple things that Vegeta did that helped me. He lived with all the pain and weight and constantly reminded himself that he was going to have to shoulder it all no matter what. He made great sacrifices for the good of others, and without realizing it, he had become an amazing person in the eyes of others. I am so thankful to Akira Toriyama, I am so thankful to Chris Sabbat who told me I looked amazing in my saiyan costume haha that was the most amazing experience, leaving the stage with his signature on vegetas face in my hand, I was so happy that I cried to hear him say to me, in Vegeta's voice, "You are amazing." Because I felt like I had really become like the person I looked up to. It was as though Vegeta himself was praising me for who i was and i know that chris may not have been trying to say it with that meaning, but I was the only one he spoke to on the stage, and I will remember those words for the rest of my life.

So this, this is what made me who I am and what I am. I may still cry, I'm crying right now as I write this. But I just wanted to thank all of you for supporting me and making me smile and feel important. Your comments go a long way and they are something I look forward to.

I love you all,

Van