Voiceless

Nightmare

*I'M BAAAACK...*

Gine raised her eyebrow when she opened her door to two sheepish Saiyans. "Let me guess. You want to stay the night?"

"Y- Yeah," Goku laughed nervously. "Something weird's going on at the house and Vegeta freaked out a little."

"Come on in." Gine grinned as Vegeta shot under Goku's arm and vanished into the soft dark. A few seconds later, they heard a shriek, a thump, and Raditz letting out a joyful cry. Gine laughed. "They'll be up all night. Vegeta may not talk much, but he and Raditz can sure communicate. Come look."

The two adults crept further back into the house. Vegeta and Raditz were sitting on Raditz's bed, completely silent, but their tails spoke everything they needed to. Goku watched them with a smile. "They're just like brothers," he whispered to his mother. "Vegeta looks so frail, but his battle power is unbelievable. It's slightly higher than mine, although his ki is pretty low. I'm going to start training him soon."

"He may be strong, but you can still hurt him. Please be careful." Gine looked at him. "I don't know how or why, but this boy is special. If we can get him out of this mess, I think he has greatness right in front of him."

"I think you're right," Goku murmured. "He's really special, and he's really important to me, even though I've only known him a little while. There's just something about him..."

"You know who he is, right?" His mother sounded so amused.

Goku looked at her curiously. "You know who he is? Like who he is?"

"I could trace his lineage back thousands of years," Gine whispered. "This boy is the son of Vegeta Ouj, King of Vegeta-sei."

Goku nearly hit the floor. "What!?" he squeaked. "Mom, that's crazy! Just because his name is Vegeta doesn't mean that he's the Prince!"

"He is the spitting image of the king," said Gine firmly, heading towards the kitchen. Goku followed. "He's had a very formal upbringing. After the king was killed, his surviving son vanished completely, seemingly from the Universe itself." She shrugged as she put some tea on. "But here he is. Our long-lost little Prince."

Goku had to sit down. He'd adopted the Prince. Who seemed perfectly ok with it. "Holy shit," he whispered, rubbing his face. "Mom... I think you're right."

"When am I wrong? I mean, I guessed he wouldn't like peas and I was dead right. This is a much more important matter than whether or not he will eat a vegetable. All the last Saiyans are finally together," she murmured. "Including our Prince. His life is more important than the rest of ours combined."

"What?" Goku had never heard his mother speak that way. "What do you mean by that?"

"Goku, he is the last living son of Begeta," she hissed, looking oddly aggressive. "I know that you were young when the planet was destroyed, but I've told you much about her. Begeta is not some religious fairytale. She walked among us, oftentimes in the form of her descendants. If he dies, we've lost her forever."

Goku looked at the floor dubiously. He never had been quite sure about his mother's stories of their "all-powerful" goddess. "I... It just sounds a little strange," he protested weakly. "Vegeta is the son, or great-whatever-son, of a goddess?"

"The entire royal family is identical to all the others," Gine said. She sat down and handed Goku a cup of tea. "They don't carry other genes. They are literally half Begeta, and half their sire or dame. It skips generations. That means Vegeta is a uke. He's a bearer. We cannot let our race die out."

The younger Saiyan almost choked on his drink. "Uh, Mom? You and me and Raditz and Vegeta are the last Saiyans. And Raditz and I are both semes. And Vegeta, if what you're saying is true, is the only uke left alive. That means..."