Heart of Fire

SonSofia here, sorry it took so long to update the next chapter, but I was busy. College life sure is time consuming! Anyhow, here’s Ch.4. I thought that I should put Vegeta’s POV in here too to even up the plot. I typed this in about three hours. But it’s because I have no real idea for this story. In know what I want it to be but, I’m making it up as I go along so I needed time to think about it. It takes a while because I have to come up with new idea while I’m writing. And I have so many other story ideas in my head; it’s hard to concentrate on just one. I have to go to class now. See ya. Review and tell me what you think.

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Months passed since the taller Saiyan left the planet for some unknown reason. Vegeta sat idly, staring off into space, a small grimace set into his handsome face. Of course, he was thinking about Goku. All kinds of questions plagued his mind. Not that he cared about where he went all that much. Still, it made him wonder.

"Now I have nobody to spar with" He muttered into his spoon.

Breakfast was good as usual, but melancholy because he was lonely. He normally ate with Goku, the taller Saiyan scarfing down his meal before Vegeta had a chance to touch his own. It was not the most pleasant experience seeing him eat, but it was the company that kept Vegeta from saying so. He didn't want to upset Goku and make him leave. So he kept quiet. Goku had left anyway.

Subconsciously, Vegeta was aware that whatever was bothering the other Saiyan, it had something to do with him. Was it something he said? Nothing out of the usual, just the normal insults. They never bothered Goku before. Their routine had been the same for years after their wives had passed.

'Maybe I should go look for him' Vegeta thought.

It didn't make sense that Goku would leave like this. He seemed so...sad. It wasn't his normal, "I'm leaving see you guys later" attitude. This was forced. Like he didn't want to say goodbye but had to. 'I should have listened to what he had to say' then he would know why Goku left. But something in the back of his mind to him that even if he asked, Goku would not have wanted him to know.

**"Fine then go, I don't need you here anyway, third class"**

'What if I told him not to go? Would he have gone anyway?'

Vegeta tapped his spoon against the bowl. He had been so absorbed in his thoughts, that he didn't notice that the tapping sound had stopped. In his curiosity, he looked down. The bowl was shattered. Apparently, he had been tapping a little too hard. He stood, and swept the mess off of the table and into his hands. After washing the dishes himself, which was not something he normally did, he went and sat back at the table. He didn't feel very much like training.

'I asked him why, but what I should have asked him was if he would ever come back'

Vegeta sighed and put his head down on the table. Even the last of the Saiyans got lonely. Goku was the only companionship he had left on this planet. Now he was gone. Vegeta had let months pass without thinking too much about the other Saiyan, and now his feelings were getting the better of him. He had to know where Goku had gone.

'I'm entitled to know, I'm his Prince"

Against his better judgment, he found himself thinking about going out to find Goku. He was too old to lie to himself and say he didn't care anymore. He cared. But he wouldn't admit that it was not just because the taller Saiyan was no longer there to fight. It was something else, but Vegeta decided he would leave it alone. He had enough thinking for one day.

It was not very often he lost the urge to train, but he couldn't seem to find the inspiration today. So he decided he would just go to his room and sleep until he got the desire to train. One day wouldn't hurt. There hadn't been a foe on earth for twenty years, but Vegeta would have rather not been caught dead playing house while he could be training. Turning over, he inhaled sharply through his nose, and let out a wistful sigh.

Suddenly he had to need to be in his rival’s old room. He didn't remember getting up, but before he knew it, he was there, inhaling the sheets. His face was buried in Goku's pillow. The older Saiyan always smelled good. He smelled good even after they finished sparring. Vegeta couldn't help himself and slowly crawled under the covers and drifted off to sleep.

It had been years since Vegeta last dreamed, so he woke up without much feeling. He forgot momentarily that he was not in his own bed. Goku's scent was everywhere. "What the hell?" Vegeta shot up and looked around. The room was simple, with white drapes, a simply one piece dresser, and a small television set. A small single bathroom was located at the left corner of the room. But the room was empty. The bed he was on still had the sheets and pillows.

And the scent still covered it. Almost as if he was there.

"Kakarot" Vegeta whispered quietly. Then he remembered that he was gone. And this was his room. Vegeta yanked his hand away from the pillow as if it had burned him. He leapt off the bed and backed away. What the hell had he been doing in Goku's bed? It took a few seconds before the memory hit him. He almost wanted to crawl back into the bed. For whatever reason, the scent of the other Saiyan made him calm. He didn't want to leave so he went over to a spot in the corner and sat down. Goku didn't have a chair in his room like Vegeta did. Vegeta eyed the bed thoughtfully.

'Kakarot slept there' He thought stupidly.

Of course he did. Goku had come to live at Capsule Corp. after Bulma died. His intentions didn't seem misplaced, so Vegeta didn't see anything wrong with letting him stay. So Goku chose a simple bedroom in the left wing of the building, around the corner from Vegeta's own room. Vegeta had passed Goku's room on many an occasion. Goku was a quiet, heavy sleeper. Looking at the tall man, one would think he snored, but he didn't. Some of the time, Vegeta would stand outside of his room and listen to him breathe softly. He never knew how he ended up in front of Goku's door, but some evenings he found himself there.


Sometimes he would be so bold as to open the door and take a few steps inside to get a closer look at the sleeping Saiyan. He never went further than the door, so that he could respond quickly should Goku wake. He would just stare at him for minutes on end.

He had to admit, Goku was very beautiful, whether he was asleep or awake. This did not bother him like it would have a human. It was not uncommon for Saiyan males to be highly attractive. Goku was no exception. He was single handedly the most stunning man Vegeta had ever laid eyes on. But he was just a third class, nothing to get excited over. Vegeta would tell himself that his rival was just another pretty face.


Bulma was beautiful, the most beautiful human woman Vegeta knew. He loved her, sure, but most of the time it was just her appearance that made her beautiful. She was feisty, Vegeta liked that, and she was strong. Vegeta loved her for that. Goku was different, not only was he an idiot, but Vegeta was sure that he knew nothing outside of being naive.

The only times Goku's narrow mind was actually put to good use, was when he fought. Goku could be cunning and calculating when he needed to be. But when Goku was living peacefully, Vegeta would wonder how the man could appear so stupid when he was clearly not? But he really would rather have it that way. It sure made Goku easier to boss around. Goku was obedient, like a puppy, and listened to all Vegeta said.

Then he started acting strange. He was obviously suppressing some emotion. He would always be some other place at odd times in the night. He almost never wanted to spar lately anymore, and he would find less and less time to eat with the Prince. Sometimes Vegeta found him in the house sulking quietly. He never stayed too long after he woke up, he would always have somewhere to go. Soon, it was like he wasn't there at all. Vegeta could instantly tell that the younger man was avoiding him. It was obvious. Whenever Vegeta would be in the kitchen, he would come in, obviously hungry. One look at Vegeta and he lost his appetite, muttering something about eating later. Vegeta found this amusing, but disturbing. He was tempted to ask him what was wrong, but he didn't want to seem like he was desperate to know.

Even if he was a little curious.

Goku spent less time around the house, and if he were there at all, he would be in his room, doing whatever it was he did. When he was around him, Vegeta would carefully watch him closely, just to see how he would react. This made Goku visibly uncomfortable and Vegeta decided he liked it. Sometimes he would stand close to him to see what he would do. Goku would laugh and slowly try to move away. It was then that Vegeta knew that whatever was bothering his companion, it had something to do with him. And if he was right, he was the reason the younger Saiyan left the planet. Vegeta pulled himself back into reality and stood up. He had made up his mind. He was going to look for Goku.

In a few hours Vegeta had prepared himself for the journey. He carried ample amounts of food and liquids in a capsule. And he brought warm thermal blankets and heaters. He had enough experience in space to know that there were some galaxies that had extreme temperatures. Did Goku know that? Probably not. Vegeta found one of Bulma's last and latest model space ship in a new hangar, never having been touched. It was big, much too big for one person, but Vegeta knew by taking one look at it what it was for and what it could do. Bulma, the smartest person on the planet next to her father, was his late wife after all. There was more to the ship than met the eye. Vegeta stepped into the ship and looked around closely. The ship was modeled after a spacecraft found on another planet after one of Capsule Corporation’s space researches. It had nearly every piece of technology to live on known to man. But Vegeta looked closely, and upon glancing at the center of the ship he found a wide, rectangle shaped slot in the middle of the floor. Walking over to it, he searched for a button of a switch. Finding it, he pressed it. There was a loud hissing sound as the slot widened and opened into a circle. Inside, there was a smaller ship, made for a lot less people.

Vegeta smirked triumphantly.

Bulma would have something like this. Now how to get it out?

He turned and took a few steps back to inspect the ship. Not finding any more buttons, he looked for the control panel. He had to be careful about what he pressed. There were a few times he mistook some buttons for others. So he considered what buttons looked like the 'on' button. A big red button on the right caught his eye. But from experience, he knew that not all big red buttons did the obvious. So he pressed the green button and the ship lit up. He waited for any other movement and when there was none, he continued. There was a smaller green button near the one he pressed.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that all of the buttons and the panel had a distinct color and had a smaller version of it. There was two of each button, so he guessed the smaller set was for the smaller ship. So he pressed the smaller green button and the other ship activated. He only wanted to use the smaller ship so he focused on the smaller buttons. Finding an orange button he pushed it hoping it was the right one. The small ship did not respond. Then a light bulb went off in his head. He ran outside and looked over the ships exterior until he found a button. It was the only button on the outside of the ship. He was sure it was the button to encapsulate the ship.


It was what Capsule Corp was popular for. Condensing materials into small pocket sized capsules for easy transportation. Even ships as large as buildings could be compacted to fit into a pocket. So Vegeta entered the ship once again and went to the smaller one. He instantly found the button and pressed it. A second and a big puff later, the ship was in the palm of his hand. He walked back out of the ship and proceeded to do the same with the larger one. Then he threw the capsule containing the smaller ship to the ground and it popped back out, now on the lawn. He pocked the larger ship and entered the smaller.

Finally, it was time to go. The smaller ship was not the same in design as the larger one. It did not have as much uses other than flying, and it served as a gravity machine, like most of Bulma's ships. It did contain the bare essentials, Food for a year, a bath, a small bedroom and a shelter below the ship for cargo. Like the earlier models. But this one was more heavy duty and was made to withstand more pressure than the other ships. Vegeta started up the ship and went to set the coordinates before he realized something. He had no idea where Goku was. Since he left, Vegeta lost track of his life force. Realizing what this could mean, Vegeta was worried for a brief moment. But he knew he could not doubt Goku strength. Still.... There were some beings in the universe that could just as easily be ruthless enough to catch Goku by surprise and---

No! He was certain that Goku was alive and even though he couldn't feel him, something inside was telling him that he was making too much out of nothing.

Maybe he was alone on a barren planet wasting away? Or maybe he had found a new life and blended into some planet's culture?

Where ever he was and whatever he was doing Vegeta was certain that as long as it took, he would find him. But when he found him he wasn't sure what he would do. He wasn't going through galaxies and across light years of space just to ask Goku why he had left. Then why was he going? Vegeta paused in mid-action. He was about to press the take- off button. Where was he going and why? If he found Goku, would he be able to bring him back? Would he have already found happiness on another planet and want nothing to do with him anymore?

All things considered, Goku left with the intention of never coming back, even though he left with nothing more than the clothing that covered him. He was planning to start off new. Did that mean that he forgot about the Earth, about Vegeta? His hand wavered over the button, unsure of why he was going to press it. But he had to know why Goku had left. It would provide at least enough closure to get him to stop thinking about him. Besides, the duration of the trip didn't bother him. It wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time.

With that in mind his finger descended on the button and the ship took off.


Vegeta decided he would not settle into his normal training routine until he could gather his thoughts. For one thing, he didn’t know where to begin to look for his younger companion, and for another, he had no idea what to if and when he found him. He also didn’t know how longs it would take. Depending on where Goku was, he could be anywhere from Earth’s galaxy to any other reaches of outer space. He could be anywhere.

“Well”, he said aloud “I’d better get started on training, it’s not like I’ll find him sitting around.”

For the next 72 hours he trained nonstop until he collapsed in an exhausted heap, panting harshly. Sweat dripped down every muscle on his lean body. Vegeta rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. Considering his options, he crawled over to the wall and folded his legs. Perhaps he would meditate. He corrected himself; he would have to try to find Goku the old fashioned way. He could feel no hint of Ki, but maybe he was suppressing it. Maybe the closer he got to the edge of the galaxy, the more the other Saiyans Ki would be visible. If Goku was keeping his Ki low on purpose, he didn’t want to be found. He was toying with the idea of staying with him. Earth had become boring over the decades; maybe a change of scenery would lift his spirits. Goku probably wanted that.


Wherever the other Saiyan was, it would be no easy task finding him. But that wouldn’t stop Vegeta from looking. But it did still bother him that he couldn’t feel Goku’s life force. Even if he didn’t want to be found, at least Vegeta should have been able to feel something. Come to think of it, his power level disappeared months after he left the planet. It could have meant anything. He could be dead… Vegeta shook his head violently. He was not dead. But that was only a possibility. How could he find out though? Suddenly an idea popped into his head. That Kai guy! He would surely know where Goku was.

He closed his eyes and concentrated. Searching until he got King Kai’s attention. “Kai!” The bug looking king was surprised to hear him.

“Yes Vegeta”

“Where is Kakarot?” The link was silent for a moment before King Kai spoke again.

“Vegeta, why do you need to know?”

Vegeta grit his teeth in annoyance. Who was this fool to question him? “I just want to know, I’m looking for him, tell me where he is, now!”

King Kai sighed heavily on the other side. There was no easy way to say this. It seemed like Vegeta really wanted to find him. “Vegeta, Goku is not on earth, but I assume you know that. But I can’t tell you where he is.”

Vegeta’s eyes widened. “What? Why not?!”

King Kai didn’t answer for a long while. “Why not?!” Vegeta screamed.

“Goku does not wish to be found. Otherwise I would be able to tell you where he is. But I haven’t been able to sense his life force for almost a year now. I felt it a couple of months ago, but then it slowly faded away. But one thing is for certain, he is alive, but I don’t know where.”

“What do you mean by that? Kakarot told me he would leave, he did not say where, but you’re like his tail, you always have contact with him. Stop your ridiculous lying and tell me where he is now!”

Why was the old fart lying? He knew where Goku was, he was just too wary of the prince to tell him. He would make the old bug talk.

“Vegeta I’m not sure how you plan on making me tell you, but even if you could, I can’t because I don’t know myself. When his Ki disappeared a while back, I felt something strange. I can’t describe the feeling, but it was wrong. For about three weeks, I could feel his energy shifting negatively. But wait, before you jump to conclusions, I tried to call him, but I could not get through. When I did try, the wall around his mind was so strong it felt like he didn’t even possess any feelings. When I felt this I tried to pinpoint his location. I found him on a planet called Lais.”

King Kai paused, giving Vegeta a moment to absorb all he had said. He could hear the Princes breathing through their link. He sounded upset.

“Where is that?” He finally responded.

“Lais is a planet in the far reaches of the universe. It is about three galaxies away. West. In your ship, I would say it would take about 8 months to get there. But Vegeta, his Ki has disappeared from that planet weeks ago. I don’t know how to find him anymore. I’m sorry you’re on your own.”

“I’ll find him myself. No thanks to you!” Vegeta spat and closed the link. Well so much for that. But King Kai was more help than he knew. Though Goku was no longer on Lais, Vegeta still felt that he should go and find out what he could about his current whereabouts. Vegeta set the coordinates of Lias. The only problem was what King Kai had said. Was Goku’s really trying that hard not to be found? And what of this negative energy? Did that mean that Goku was possessed by something?

Unfortunately as good as the old guy’s information was, it only left more questions unanswered.

It was going to be hard traveling for 8 months with all the questions filling his head. He had to take his mind off of it somehow. He would train until he got there in the mean time. Not a moment after he began his difficult kata, a very loud voice shouted in his head.

“VEGETA!”

“Gahhh!” Vegeta’s body slammed into the ceiling. What the fuck?!

“What the hell?!!!”

“Vegeta” the voice said again.

It was King Kai again.

“What the hell do you want you made me lose concentration?”

“I wanted to let you know that Lais is a planet made completely of ice. I hope your ship can handle it because Lais has the coldest atmospheric temperature in the universe. You have to be well prepared. A blanket won’t help, nor will a coat. I really don’t think anything you have will help, not even your Ki. You won’t make it passed the atmosphere conscious. Perhaps you won’t make it at all. Listen to me closely, Vegeta! You are better off not going to Lais at all. You should just find Goku elsewhere. If you go you will be risking your life for nothing!”

“Then how the hell am I supposed to find Kakarot?”

“Goku only left that planet a few weeks ago, he couldn’t have made it far. The Lais-jins are evil, ruthless beings and they are very much like the Saiyans were”

Vegeta shot off the ceiling. “What? What did you say?”

“I mean, they purge planets in exchange for technology and other supplies. They share the planet with another, more docile race. But they are not weak, either. Goku’s Ki disappeared after he landed on Lais. Then the negative energy started to form around him. I have a bad feeling about this. Just be careful.”

The link closed and Vegeta sat on the floor. Now everything was more unclear than before. He agreed with King Kai. Something was not right. And if the Lais-jin were anything like the Saiyans, then Goku was in trouble, especially if he didn’t make it into the atmosphere conscious. They could have done anything to him. But he couldn’t go to Lais. He had to make sure that Goku didn’t get too far. Someway somehow, He was going to find him.