A/N: I know you guys have had a really long wait, and all I can say is that I've been way too busy to even write (as much as I wanted to lol). I'm hoping it slows down enough that that changes. I can assure you though, I am NOT abandoning this story! So now that that's out of the way… thank you so much to a guy 1013, elianni, julyza (yeah, the King would have been definitely thrown, but I didn't want to muddy the waters in that scene, if you know what I mean… and you got it on the whole corpse thing…gross! Lol), maxridelover (I'm glad it was surprising! I didn't want to show my hand too much haha), lmamc (again, glad it shocked! I HATED to do it, trust me, but big pain is big payoff…), rocee (thank you!), Rosy (it broke my heart too, believe me!), RedSmileyFace (Vegeta was being stubborn, and you'll see him slowly see the light…but also run into some issues with being blinded by hatred, something that Trunks will also have to confront, this will shake them both deeply but they express that differently, of course. And I WILL. I love her.), Kitty in the Box (don't panic, this is all under control lol), Flaming Beauty (Vegeta is gonna need a little more of a push haha… he's remedial when it comes to feelings), Guest, cemploon, Kgvision (I'm glad you understand Geta…that is going to be a major thread and things for him are going to go a bit south for him at this point…), Guest, kyowari (sorry it took so long, but hope you enjoy!), Jane (thank you!), and BV4ever (good timing on your review! Haha I hope I answered some of your questions in this chapter and will answer more soon… and thank you and same to you!). And now, please enjoy the chapter!

Trunks clicked through his mother's computer files feverishly, only looking for what he needed. Dragonballs. Dragonballs. Dragonballs. Everywhere it appeared as a keyword, skimming all the details and committing it to memory and making saved copies onto a removable disk of whatever he was afraid he wouldn't remember.

Those strange, magical balls that were a central part of his Mom's teenage years and her adventures were the only way to save her now. They could bring back the dead. And Trunks couldn't think of another thing in the universe that could change it.

But Dragonballs weren't on this planet. Mom would have known if they were—she knew more about them than anybody else alive. And by her calculations, they were nowhere very close either.

He wished he had been more interested in flying when he had the chance, but he was confident he knew enough to get him where he needed to go. He had to.

He had to…

For only a moment, Trunks had the impulse to look behind him, where his mother was sprawled peacefully on a table, but he crushed it stoically and continued to work.

"Namek…" he muttered, feeling the word in his mouth. Namek had Dragonballs and so did Earth…but they weren't in the same direction. And Namek was closer than Earth, by a lot…

If he had a real choice, he would go back to Earth. But he didn't know if there was some time limit on bringing people back to life and he wasn't going to waste any time just in case. He briefly wished he had paid more attention before, but he didn't allow himself to wish for long—it wouldn't do any good. Only doing something about it would. This wasn't about taking some trip—this was about saving Mom.

He hadn't saved her, though. Not when he should have and not the way he had promised…instead, he was training with Vegeta so that Vegeta could get stronger.

And that was how it had always been—his father did everything for himself and his goals. Mom did everything she did to protect him and help his father. And look where that had gotten her…

Feeling like the lump in his throat would choke him, he started running the calculations for fuel and necessities. And as he did, he made new promises to himself. Promises that he would keep this time.

If it was the last thing he did.

He had nearly done everything that he could do in Bulma's lab when he felt his father's presence at the door, silent but suffocating. Trunks stiffened, unable to quell the still-fresh anger, but too tired of screaming to even face Vegeta.

Trunks knew that the Crown Prince was not one to allow indifference to his presence. And Trunks knew well that there was some reason for him being here, but there was no interest or obedience in him to give it.

"You mean to leave, then," Vegeta said. His inflection that gave Trunks nothing to discern what his father was going to do or say, but again, he remembered that it didn't matter anyway. His father was right, he was leaving as far as he needed to go and then when his Mom was alive and warm and whole again—he would never bring her back here.

Only the dimmest curiosity lit within him and he spoke before it flared away. "What did you do with…?"

He had meant to say 'Geta', but the hatred welled up in him so hard and harsh that it stole his calm and he exhaled harshly. He sensed that his half-brother was still alive, though that sense was barely registering. And if he thought about it too much, he would do what his parents had stopped him from doing in the first place.

There's no time to kill.

Vegeta knew what he had meant to say. "The clone is in a regeneration tank until I decide what is to be done with him. I may kill him still, if I can't think of something worse."

Trunks was pitiless at his half-brother's impending fate, but did briefly wonder if he had been in Geta's place right now, if Vegeta would have talked about him the same way, so casually and ruthlessly. Would Vegeta be ready to kill him, if he had done something bad enough? It was a detached, clinical kind of wondering. There was only anger and emptiness, and nothing good to fill it. Not even revenge.

"I'm sure the King won't let you kill him," Trunks finally settled on saying. "The King hated Mom and he—"

"I had the same thought," Vegeta said. "Your grandfather is dead."

"You killed him."

"I am the King now."

Trunks didn't care. He finally looked up at his father, deciding to get to the point. "I need a ship."

"Why? What do you intend to do?"

Trunks did everything in his power to control his temper at the question and clenched his fists. He felt he didn't owe Vegeta any kind of explanation, but all that mattered was getting out of here as fast as possible. If that meant explaining it, then he would do that.

"I'm going to bring her back… There's a way. I know about it because Mom discovered—" the lump in his throat came back full force and he pushed it back down acidly, burning it away. "She discovered something that can even bring dead people back. Like a wish. It's on another planet, and all I need is a ship." He looked at his father coldly, remembering the power that had coursed through him, and quite suddenly he was fully ready to threaten the new King with that power. "It's easier if you just give it to me." But if you don't, I'll take it.

There was a threat in there that Vegeta could definitely read, but he seemed to ignore it in favor of his burgeoning skepticism. "If there is one thing I know in this world, boy, it is death." He glanced behind Trunks to where his son's mother lay, his eyes black. "I've never heard of anything that could undo it."

"She told me!" Trunks yelled. "She's been telling me about them for years and I should've listened more, and I don't know if it's going to work, but I do know that I'm not gonna stop until she's alive again. And nothing you say is going to stop me either." The energy around them was thrumming again with shades of new power and Vegeta's eyes glinted even as they remained black as pitch. Trunks knew what he was thinking—what he was wondering.

What had happened to him when he saw his mother's body? He could barely bring himself to care about it as it happened, and now he had only the mildest interest. The unimaginable force that had filled him to bursting and poured out like an enormous wave… and with it, he just knew that there was no one on the planet who was powerful enough to take him down. Not even his father.

There was an instinct that told him what it was, too… it was the power Vegeta had been seeking for years, the power his mother had promised—the Legendary Warrior. Trunks, the boy the whole planet had mocked because he was a half-breed, had become what nobody with complete Saiyan blood could.

But it had cost him his mom…and it wasn't worth it. And if she didn't come back, he wouldn't use that power to save anyone. No way.

"I'm not going to stop you," his father told him. "If I were not King now, I would go with you. If the Woman believed it would work, then she was likely right…" Vegeta's haunted eyes burned into Trunks' like a perverse mirror. "She was right about most things…"

It was only the merest breath of time, but Trunks saw it—Vegeta's pain. It broke in his face like shattered glass, sharp and heart-stopping. And then it was gone…

But Trunks felt his resistant heart soften slightly, hesitating. His dad had cared about his mom, just not enough to do anything about it. So, just like everything else really, it didn't make a difference. What Vegeta felt couldn't compare to what he…

Don't think about it.

Trunks froze his insides like stone. "I have to go now. I don't know how much time I have or how it all works."

"You barely know how to fly even a small ship, boy…" Vegeta said wearily. "You'll take Nappa with you. He has enough experience—"

"No!" Trunks shouted, exploding. "I'm not taking any of you with me! You're what got Mom killed, you and this whole planet! I'm taking her and once I bring her back to life, we're not coming back!"

The angry outburst seemed to take Vegeta aback for a second, and then the rage came to the surface. "Is that how you think it will be, boy? One little thing and then—"

"'One little thing'?!" Trunks bellowed incredulously. "Mom is DEAD! Don't you get it?! And you all…you all did this to her! She NEVER wanted to come here! You think I don't know that? You think that I thought we were going on vacation?! Even when I was four, I wasn't as stupid as you think! I knew that you forced Mom to bring us here, but I couldn't do anything about it back then." He snarled darkly. "I could now…"

He felt the power in him; he knew that he could bring it back out.

But Vegeta was not to be trifled with as he snarled with equal darkness and grim experience. "Don't threaten me, Trunks."

"On my honor, if we fought, once of us would die. And there's no time for it." He was surprisingly calm as he spoke, making Trunks pause with wariness. He almost sounded…wise. His gaze was penetrating, and Trunks was held by it. "You kill me, you never stop fighting to get off Vegeta-sei. You would in effect, be King. A hated King who lost everything. And you would be just like all those that came before you."

No. His Mom had always sworn that he was different. Trunks blocked out the memories that assailed him… trying to think.

"And you can't bring your mother on the ship with you," Vegeta scowled. "Her body would rot. I can preserve her here with what we have. If it's like a 'wish', why would the distance matter?"

Trunks had no clue whether or not he needed Bulma's body with him to do it, but he was pretty sure he didn't. After all, the real piece of her was already somewhere far away. But if he left her here…he would have to come back. Just like if he brought Nappa.

Even in his angry, distraught brain, his father's words made sense. And that made him angrier.

"You just want me to come back so that you can use me," Trunks tore back. "You need someone to fight that ice-jerk Frieza and you know I probably could now. Well, I don't care if Frieza blows this whole planet up!"

Vegeta had gone white with fury and lurched closer to Trunks, just short of touching him, but Trunks coldly stood his ground. He was glad…he was glad to see that he could wound his father, both with his potential power and with Frieza—the two things now that would gall Vegeta the most.

"I," Vegeta said softly, "will be the one to kill Frieza, boy. Only me. It is not your battle."

Trunks, feeling uncontrolled, almost told his father that he wasn't capable of it. But he reigned himself in, remembering that it would only distract them both with a bloody fight. "If I come back," Trunks finally said, "it won't be like it was before. Things have changed."

He imagined his mother, small and fierce, glaring up at his father with no power and no choice. But his mother had made her power from nothing, and there was secret sadness in his father's eyes. That was her power.

"Yes," Vegeta said, revealing nothing but his words and the downward curl of his lips. "Things have changed forever."

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Vegeta found Nappa where he had commanded Nappa to go. The man jumped to attention, almost trembling. "My prince!"

"Your king," Vegeta said curtly.

"O-of course, my king. I apologize."

Vegeta sneered in disgust at the obeisance. "You have a new job, Nappa. And I swear by everything that exists, if you fail in this, you will die. There are no second chances anymore."

"What must I do?" Nappa asked, ready to do anything, even if it meant life and limb.

"You failed in your responsibility to me regarding the Woman… but there is still our son. He's preparing to leave…to find a way to bring his mother back." He held up a hand, not wanting to be waylaid with scientific garble he hadn't even confronted himself. There would be time for that soon enough. "Don't ask me anything. Even if his mission does not come to success, I need him gone for the moment. Frieza is coming to Vegeta-sei and will be here any time. I never wanted him to know about the boy or the woman, and now…" he gritted his teeth. "The boy has Legendary power. If that is discovered, Frieza will eliminate him or worse."

"But, my king, can't he—"

Vegeta leveled him with a furious glare that had him shutting his mouth. "Whatever power he has, Frieza is not his to kill. The brat has never fought to the death, he's never killed and even I've never seen Frieza's final forms. I don't know if he'd be a match for him even as he is… No, I must be the one. I must attain what my son has, and more."

Vegeta didn't want to think about the possibility that Trunks' half-blood status had anything to do with this. Bulma never thought it was a matter of blood in the strictest sense, and now he needed time to think. Ever since that pathetic clone had killed the Woman, there was a degree of horribly cold calculation in his mind that hadn't been there before… a set of moves, laid out systematically in his mind of what he had to do. The first thing had been to remove his father and take the Kingship. The second had been to send Trunks off with every guarantee that the boy would return here. Vegeta needed him.

Trunks seemed to have become a stranger to him in just one moment, just one horrible event. Vegeta had sensed coldness and hatred that had never emanated off of the boy before. If Bulma could see him now…

Don't think about that.

Vegeta looked behind Nappa to the regeneration tank where the clone, nearly unrecognizably injured, floated in deep sleep. That was the true calculation—what to do with the clone. After what he had done, everything that had tethered him to the mercy in Vegeta was gone. He was nothing more than a tool now.

And a very useful tool he would be.

"I need more time. I need you and the boy gone tonight. There can be no talk or speculation about what happened earlier regarding Trunks, and the sooner you leave, the faster I can control the fallout."

Nappa looked between Vegeta and the tank that Vegeta couldn't take his eyes off of… "I will do whatever you command, my king. But how do you intend to deal with this boy?"

"That is none of your concern, Nappa," Vegeta said. "You've failed me so many times, how should it be that I share my plans with you anymore? You will have to earn my trust back."

Truthfully, he knew that Nappa wouldn't stop him from doing what he was going to do with Geta… but he knew that Nappa wouldn't agree. And he didn't want to see it in the other Saiyan's eyes.

"You're right, King Vegeta. I will earn your trust back, I swear it," Nappa said, and he bowed his absurdly shiny, bald head. "I beg your forgiveness for failing to protect her, I'm truly—"

Vegeta grabbed him by the throat with lightning quickness and squeezed, hard and unfeeling. "Don't speak of her," he hissed. "Not now, not ever."

He ignored the choking of his lieutenant and released his thick neck in one motion. "Go to the landing bay. The boy is getting ready and will be there shortly. Do not tell anyone about this."

"Yes, Your Highness," Nappa exclaimed breathlessly before disappearing from the chamber.

Vegeta wanted to go find Trunks once again, but he needed a moment. In the morning, the entire Saiyan race (other than the guards that had been present tonight) would know that the old king was dead. And now Vegeta would bear the responsibility for every one of them. Frieza would be arriving soon and he would need to play this masterfully in order to win the battle. He would need to plan and maneuver as best as he could until the final battle came.

Vegeta knew that the war couldn't be won until Trunks returned, successful or unsuccessful he may be.

In the meantime…he would preserve her.

He should have picked her up and placed her somewhere safe when he had been with Trunks, but Trunks was volatile and vicious over this latest betrayal and Vegeta felt a odd pang of respect for that. He may not have understood it, but the boy loved his mother.

Was love real? Bulma had sworn it was, before Trunks erupted in golden flame. She spoke of it so knowingly—like her death was already in design…like she could have known.

He couldn't bring himself to touch the Woman. She didn't look dead, really. But he knew, he knew and the thought that someone had taken her life from him…well, it filled him with a sadistic rage unlike anything he had ever experience and left him with nothing but plans to destroy his enemies, and hers.

He looked at the wavering, ruined face, knowing no ownership of it. He would claim this spawn for only one thing.

"You will pay," Vegeta whispered to the sleeping boy. "You will pay dearly…"

A/N: Setting up the next steps here, which is why I had to cut this one a little shorter… we are headed to a dark place before the light comes back. Hopefully that is reflected well in Trunks' and Vegeta's psyches in this chapter a little bit. Just keep trusting me…and let me know what you think! Reviews are the best and they keep me going!