Chapter Text
Bardock couldn't stop staring at his son, his baby boy. The disappointment, the one that was about to be sent away, innocent and sleeping in his pod, ignorant of the silent war going off around him, of the fate of his race.
Gine had cried, had held Raditz in her arms as her husband informed her of their son’s destiny.
They were going to die.
But Kakarotto would live.
Kakarotto would avenge them all.
She had wanted to accompany him, to stare at her child in the eyes one last time and profess her love to him. Have him remember her voice, her words, her scent. But Bardock knew, deep down inside of him, that it would only hurt them all.
And he did it alone.
He hacked the pod and redirected its course to a fertile planet with a weak and complacent population far away from them, so far it would lose itself from Freezer’s radars and sensors, never to be seen or heard from again.
Whatever, happened, Kakarotto would be safe until they could come for him, or until he was the only one left.
He was about to press the button to launch the pod into space when his nose caught the faintest wisp of a scent not too far away from him. A fresh scent of grass after a storm and the molten winds of the desert lands, calm and deceptively dangerous, yet fresh and sweet with the honeyed tinge of youth.
Bardock's eyes widened when he realized who it was.
Only two saiyans in the whole planet smelt like that. Like power and control and calm at the same time. The scent that marked the royal family with the blessings of the goddess herself, gifting them with quick minds ready for strategy and wills so strong not even a supernova could bend their resolve.
Generals amongst soldiers.
He approached the scent slowly, making sure to move upwind as to not alert the other saiyan of his presence and sure enough there the child was, Prince Vegeta in all his glory, sitting alone on a rock, dark eyes set on the stars, a frown marking his young face with appeared to be worry.
Bardock had heard the rumors, had listened in to whispers of the tyrannical Freezer and his apparent interest in their young prince. An honor and opportunity for grandeur, some lower class soldiers had said in awe, a political hostage and means to subjugate their proud warrior race, the elites hissed to themselves.
One thing was clear.
Freezer wanted to hold the future of their planet, the one who held the key to the saiyans for generations to come in his grasp.
Bardock shuddered at the mere thought.
He was moving before his own mind registered such fact.
He tried to tell himself it was a calculated move. If Freezer could use their young prince for his twisted needs, so could Bardock. If the Prince himself went missing, the King would stop at nothing to bring him back, to protect his only son and heir. If he kidnapped the Prince and sent him on the pod with Kakarotto, His son's chances of a safe retrieval were tenfold.
He bit his lips, willing himself to believe it, to believe he was doing this, commiting the gravest sin, because of his child, his weak Kakarotto.
Deep down he knew he wasn't.
Deep down his blood sang with the instinctual drive of the Saiyajin. The bred loyalty and pride all warriors had for their royal family. The knowledge passed by flesh generation over generation that the monarchs of Vegitasei were unique, important, so absolutely vital for the survival of their race, for they were the ones who held the bloodlust of their race at bay, they were the only ones who could direct it, control it, command it.
Bardock tried, he tried so hard, to convince himself he was as cold as the King himself, as calculating in his strategy.
In reality he could only think of this child who inspired such loyalty, such hope for a glorious future in all of them, held by Freezer's cold hands, submitted to that disgusting lizard's will.
The prince, only five years old - younger than Raditz, so absurdly young - didn't even have time to react before Bardock's hand connected with his neck and a soft exhalation left his lips as he fell unconscious in the older saiyan's arms.
Kakarotto whined a little as his father moved him from the seat, but instantly calmed as he was placed on the unconscious young Prince's chest, his little tail wrapping around the child's wrist with a contented sigh.
Bardock stared at them both, the future of their race, doing his best to ignore every instinct that screamed at him he was making a mistake…
...and pressed the button to send them off.
The pod slowly rose into space, gaining speed as it disappeared from sight, lost to the planet that was the children's home.
“Protect his Highness, kakarotto,” he whispered to the night air. “Our future rests with you both.”