Haunted Memories and Broken Dreams (slight Vegeta x Saiyan!reader)
Slight AU where Bulma never went to Namek with Krillin and Gohan. Gender Neutral piece so imagine yourself as you please :)
Notes: I wrote this in an hour, it’s late at night so please excuse any grammar or other issues. I just wanted to get it out of my system. It’s what I think someone like Raditz would have to contend with if he’d lived & watched Vegeta destroy Nappa.
It had been a little over a year since the battle against Kakarot. Following Prince Vegeta, you had travelled with him and Nappa to find the Dragon Balls Raditz’s killer had unwittingly informed you of. You’d met the Namekian, Piccolo, who had killed your comrade when a team of Earth fighters had appeared to try and stop you. The Saibamen had made quick work out of one of them and two more had fallen to Nappa. Well the small one Chiaotzu had blown himself up trying to take out Nappa but considering he’d survived the attack it counted as a point to Nappa in your book.
Despite being the weakest of Frieza’s Saiyans now that Raditz was dead, Vegeta had decided it was best to let Nappa blow off some steam. Sidelining you with him had been a mistake and once Kakarot had appeared he’d made short work of Nappa. You’d watched in horror as Nappa, the man who had faithfully served his prince since before Planet Vegeta’s destruction, was destroyed by Vegeta’s dirty fireworks attack. Yet you knew even if you sided with Kakarot now and somehow did defeat Vegeta it was no good. Death was inevitable where Frieza was concerned.
So like always you’d fought alongside Vegeta, barely making out alive in the end. For all your loyalty, the scumbag prince had crawled into his pod and abandoned you to die on this mudball planet. The only reason you weren’t dead was thanks to Kakarot who saw a worthy sparring partner in you. It had taken a month in that godforsaken human hospital before the sensu beans were ready. While Kakarot had been keen to give you a bean, nobody else was. With most of the Z fighters dead and the rest on their way to Namek there was no one to defeat you if you did decide to wreck havoc on the Earth while Goku was gone.
Instead Bulma had compromised, promising Goku that she would have you taken to Capsule Corp where you’d finish the rest of your treatment up. True to her word, you’d been transferred there a few days later. While you were rather grouchy about the backward underdeveloped nature of the technology on this planet, being doted on at Capsule Corp was rather nice. Bulma had taken a shine to you once she’d realised you were mostly bark in your current state and as far as earthlings went you had to admit she wasn’t so bad. Mrs Brief’s had enjoyed having you stay, constantly bringing you baked sweets and fresh beverages. Mr Brief’s even stopped in time to time to chat with you and inquire about Saiyan/Frieza tech. For a low class Saiyan who had spent years under both Frieza and Vegeta’s thumbs it sure was a good life.
But then Vegeta had reappeared, reincarnated and cockier than ever. Walking in with a smug indifference over your survival, he’d relayed to you the situation on Namek and the likelihood that you were the last two (full blooded) Saiyans left. His demeanour screamed that he expected you to once again fall in line behind him and without Kakarot there didn’t seem to be any likelihood of disobeying Vegeta and surviving. With a heavy heart you accepted that no matter what you seemed destined for a life of servitude.
Seeing how Vegeta’s visit had shaken her injured Saiyan guest Bulma had done everything in her power the two of you seperate. The creation of the gravity spaceship(s) for Vegeta and his sudden departure into space had at least kept him off your back. While you were glad to be rid of his mockery and constant demands, a deep bitterness began to fester in his absence.
Vegeta and Nappa had always looked down upon you and Raditz but you had bitten your tongue and followed orders. Even as elite Saiyans, the two of you had not been granted the privilege of being born into high class families. Instead, you and Raditz were lowborn’s who’d gotten lucky. Enslavement under Frieza had heightened these divides and in moments of frustration and anger you both became verbal, and sometimes physical punching bags, for Vegeta. Nappa followed Vegeta’s lead for the most part, though occasionally cut the two of you some slack.
But now all of that suffering felt like it had been for nothing. Frieza was dead, killed by Kakarot or with him in Namek’s explosion and you had not even been present to bear witness. An unfamiliar feeling gnawed at you over Kakarot’s demise. Guilt. The younger Saiyan was the reason you were even alive and yet it seemed your debt would go eternally unpaid. Vegeta had abandoned you to die in an act of self preservation. If you’d even thought of doing the same, running back to Frieza with your tail tucked you would have been killed. But Vegeta was the Prince of all (five) Saiyans, he had lived a life of special privileges that no other Frieza force member was granted.
Raditz, the only other true ally you’d ever had was gone, executed the year prior. All Vegeta had done was mock his death, not a single remorseful word shed over a lifelong ally’s death. Even Nappa was gone, betrayed and destroyed by the very boy he had all but raised after your planets destruction. It all left a bitter taste in your mouth. Behind it all a single being featured.
Resentment and anger bubbled, boiling over to your dreams. Even when Vegeta was absent you were never truly free of him. His acts of vicious contempt raged, pointing out every weakness and flaw. Beaten bloody and on the edge of death you’d awake in a cold sweat, desperately clutching at the sheets as you tried to get your bearings. Earth was full of new experiences and crying was no different. On the days you didn’t wake in a violent start you found tears pooled in your eyes and a wetness on your pillow.You would never know what it meant to be whole, unburdened. You would never know what it meant to be loved by your kin. Most of all, you would never get an apology, even if Vegeta did return. No his overinflated ego was much to big for that and you doubted he’d ever felt anything other than hatred and amusement at others suffering. It seemed you were doomed to a life of haunted memories and broken dreams, Vegeta’s cruelty had tainted your very being.
