THE ETERNAL POWER OF TRUE LOVE
By: Marlyne

"Greetings stranger, what brings you here? Are you here to visit the King? You are? For business? No? You are here to hear about the legend? The ancient story of Vegeta? Then come further; join me at this fire. For I will tell you, I’ll tell you all about the legend. I have this story from my grandfather, who has heard it from his. And the grandfather of my grandfather was no one less than the shepherd Eumaios, who was the shepherd of King Vegeta, in the time that he did what he could to reclaim the throne and his mate… and succeeded. But that was long ago. Come on, drink a glass of wine with me. I will tell you all…"

***

Bulma sat staring into the fire, letting the tears that stained her face slowly dry by the heat. Trunks walked down, and felt a stab of pain in his heart at seeing his mother in this miserable state. "Mother…" Bulma looked up at her son. He was twenty years old now, which indicated that it had been twenty years since Vegeta had left for Troy. "You should go to bed, mother. It is late." He grabbed her hand to help her get up. She took it and gracefully raised. "Yeah, I should, shouldn’t I?" she smiled sadly. Trunks could do nothing but stare at her retreating back as she walked off. For what could one say to a woman who has spent the last twenty years desperately waiting for her husbands’ return? Once again, Trunks felt so helpless. He could find no words of comfort for her.

He went downstairs, and frowned angrily as he already heard the sound of the men drinking, laughing and eating like pigs. They were all men of Ithaca, who wanted to marry his mother, to become King of the island. The other reason why they wanted to marry her was, of course, her beauty. His mentor oftenly told him that she hadn’t aged at all since Vegeta left, twenty years ago. But Trunks knew that wasn’t true. His mother had cried so much. She had aged herself with all those tears. But she was still beautiful, and men lusted after her. There were precisely one hundred and eight men, who had taken their camp inside the palace about four years ago, when they decided that, since Vegeta hadn’t come back, he was most likely dead. And all hundred-eight of them thought that they were the man to marry the Queen. Trunks looked around the large dining room, and scowled at the men in there. They were behaving like pigs, as they did every evening. Getting drunk, talking dirty about the Queen, and making out with slaves. Trunks almost burst in fury, but knew that he on his own wasn’t strong enough to get up and protest against these men brawling around in his palace. So he did nothing. And that was how the suitors knew him. Silent, easy to walk over, just a boy. Oh, how much would Trunks love to show them that there was no way that they could do this to the royal family of Ithaca, but he couldn’t . If only his father had been there…

His father, King Vegeta, had gone off to fight in Troy twenty years ago, when Trunks had been just a baby. Vegeta had tried not to, but he had made a deal in the past that forced him to. And to think that he had only done it for Bulma. Trunks knew this story well.

His father had gone to Sparta for business, and while he was there, all the men around where fawning over Helena. She was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. Vegeta had gone there for business, and perhaps also because of curiosity. But, as soon as the King entered the gardens, his eyes immediately went to a young girl, who was standing under a lemon-tree. This girl had beautiful blue eyes, and soft, long, blue hair, and as she noticed the King standing there, smiled a small, gentle smile at him. Well, that did it for Vegeta. He had to have this girl. She would be the perfect wife. Then, suddenly, voices rose, a fight seemed ready to start. Vegeta turned his head, and saw that the men were about to battle over Helena. So he thought of a plan. He went over to the father of Helena, the King of Sparta, and told him that he could end the fight, under the condition that he would get to marry the girl in the garden. "Bulma? Of course. Just stop the fight!" Vegeta nodded and went over to the men. He told them that they should all swear an oath, that if the future husband of Helena would get in trouble because of the marriage, they would all jump in and help. And that, now that this oath was sworn, Helena could choose her own husband. The men agreed, and Helena chose Menelaos.

And then, five years later, just after Trunks had been born, Helena had been taken by Paris, and all the men had been called back upon their promise, to go help Menelaos. Vegeta had cursed himself, for right at that time he just wanted to be with his mate and son, but an oath was an oath, and Vegeta had to keep his word. So he left to fight in Troy. That was twenty years ago.

And look what the royal house of Ithaca had been reduced to! A pigsty! But Trunks couldn’t help it. He couldn’t chase these men away, and he could not protect, nor comfort his mother. Not without the help of his father. But Trunks only knew his father from the stories. From all the songs the singers sang about his heroic deeds in Troy. The war of Troy had ended ten years ago. But his father had not returned… Therefor everyone believed him dead. But Trunks refused to give up hope. His father was a living legend, with living underlined. The Prince was sure that his father would come back. It could not be that his father, the man who was said to be the quickest one with his words and mind on this side of the planet, could die so easily. Vegeta was said to be a genius, and Trunks was sure he was, and that he would come back. But, for now, Trunks was alone on Ithaca, with crude behaving suitors for his mother all around him. Yesterday, he had sacrificed two deer and a goat to the goddess Juuhachigou, begging her to try and bring his father back. Nothing had happened. Disgusted with the scene in the dining room, Trunks stood up and went to his room, where he sat down at his desk. He sighed as he put his head in his hands. "Oh father, if only you were here…"

***

Vegeta sat lonesome on the rock at the shore. He stared out over the sea, and growled. Even he, King Vegeta, the one who was famous and infamous about his quick mind and great plans, had no idea how to get off of this island. Sure, he had liked Lunch at first; he’d liked how she pleased him, and cooked for him, and said that she loved him. And of course he was graceful that she had saved him from the raging sea, but he had been stuck on this island for seven long years now. Seven years had passed since he was first saved here by the nymph called Lunch, and Vegeta longed for his home, Ithaca. Sometimes he was so homesick he would throw up. Sometimes he was so mad that he just wanted to blast Lunch into nothingness. But the tricky nymph had cast a spell upon the island, which disabled him into using ki. And Piccolo, god of the seas, had taken his power to fly. But that had partially been Vegeta’s own fault, for only a fool would challenge the gods. He remembered that well, it was ten years ago, when Troy had finally been beaten, by his ingenious plan.

Afterwards, he had been standing on a cliff, gazing over the sea, still under the flush of victory, and had suddenly shouted out: "HAH! Now you can all see that I, Vegeta, am smarter, quicker of mind, than even Piccolo!!! With my great intelligence I am superior to even the god of the seas!!" After this, the sky had darkened and a storm had started on the sea. A voice had thundered: "YOU, VEGETA, HAVE GONE TO FAR!! NO ONE CHALLENGES THE GOD OF THE ETERNAL OCEANS!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! YOU WILL SUFFER! I WILL MAKE SURE THAT, AFTER YOU LEAVE TROY, YOU WILL NEVER SEE THE LAND OF YOUR BELOVED ITHAKA AGAIN!!" Then, the storm had stopped, and Vegeta started to wonder if it had been his imagination, when he suddenly felt a strange twinkle in his ki, and found out, to his horror, that the god of the seas had taken his power to fly. Vegeta was just about to curse the god, when he realized that that would only make it worse. And what about the other threat? The one that said that he would never see Ithaca again? Vegeta had prayed, and had made amends to the god, and sacrificed sheep to him. But now, ten years later, Vegeta knew that it had all been invain. He would never see Ithaca again.

And, as she did so often when she saw that Vegeta was getting homesick, Lunch walked over to him, and began to kiss him all over, and started to undress him. Vegeta snarled and tried to pry her off, but wasn’t strong enough to do so, because of the ki-blocking abilities on the island. That was another thing that Vegeta had been fooled by. At first he had thought Lunch a nice, sweet, submissive nymph, but he soon found out that she had total control over him. And there was nothing he could do about it…

***

High upon the mountain Olympus, at the weekly meeting of the gods…

Goku came walking in, way too late, face flushed. Chi Chi glared up at him angrily. "Where have you been this time? No, don’t say, it was that Callisto, wasn’t it?" Chi Chi screamed. "What kind of supreme god are you, Goku! Picking up mortals like that!" she shouted. "Yes, daddy! I don’t want you to take girls out of my followers like that! They are supposed to be virgins! Now I will have to punish her, and she has always been such a sweet girl." Diana said, looking hurt. Chi Chi yelled again: "You keep on ruining my reputation like this! What kind of a goddess of marriage would I be if my own husband keeps on cheating on me!!" Goku scratched his head. "Oh… hum.. Sorry Chi Chi, Diana, I didn’t mean to. It was nothing. She was just…" Chi Chi lifted up her hand. "Shut up about it." Goku closed his mouth again. Piccolo coughed. "Well, now we have this matrimony-fight straightened out, I’d like to go on with the meeting." Goku turned back to the table, and laughed sheepishly. "Sure." Chi Chi just turned around, crossed her arms over her chest and sent an angry glare to Goku. "Why have we called for this meeting in the first place, brother? I have other things to do!" Piccolo asked Goku. "Well, my daughter has called for this meeting, so let her do the talking." Goku answered, smiling at his favorite daughter, Juuhachigou. Juuhachigou smiled back, and then turned to the room.

"I have a request today, concerning the man called Vegeta. I believe you all know that he has been away from his wife and son for nearly twenty years, and I believe that he should really come home. His son, Trunks has made me sacrifices, and begged me to bring his father back. According to my opinion, Vegeta has been punished long enough, and should be reunited with his family. I ask of Piccolo to finally let go of his stubborn anger, and let the King of Ithaca go home." Piccolo scowled. "He has not only insulted me, but has also burned out the one eye of my son Polyfemos. I will not let him get away with this!!" Goku hushed him. "Come on, brother, you should loosen up about it a little. You were about to punish Polyfemos for his disobedience anyways, so now Vegeta has done it for you. So what? And the silly little insult has been paid for don’t you think?" Piccolo just growled. Goku was the supreme god, so his decision would be final. "I give you my blessing daughter, you are allowed to do what is necessary to get the King of Ithaca home. Juunanagou, you will go to Lunch and tell her to let Vegeta go." Juunanagou nodded. "Yes father." "Everyone is dismissed." All left, except for Chi Chi, who was still mad at her jusband. "Well, Goku, I’m very mad at you. You, of course, understand that I will have to punish her. I will rob her of her beauty." Goku nodded indifferently. "Whatever." "But, as for you," Chi Chi continued seductively, "You will, of course have to be punished too." Goku grinned as he blushed. Chi Chi took his hand and led him away. It is amazing how easily gods make things up.

Juuhachigou stood before the palace, and was surprised at the poor state it was in. She had disguised herself as Mentes of Tafos. When after an hour no slave had come to show her in, she just went in herself. She walked over to the window where Prince Trunks sat. "Greetings, Prince Trunks. I am here to ask for your hospitality as long as I’m in the city for business." Trunks stood up and grabbed her hand. "Of course my friend. I will have a room prepared for you immediately." Trunks called for a servant girl to make a bed for the guest. "I will have to apologize for the crude behavior of the other ‘guests’, they have invaded the palace in the hope that my mother, the Queen will marry one of them. But, since she refuses to do that until she is sure that my father, the King is dead, they have lived here for the past four years, and we cannot get them out."

Juuhachigou acted like she was struck with surprise. "What? And may I ask, Prince Trunks, why you just don’t throw them out yourself? As long as your father is gone, you are the master of the house, and have the right to do so." Trunks bowed his head. "But, I’m only on my own. I cannot get rid of one hundred and eight men all by myself!" Juuhachigou shook her head. "You don’t have to. Just tell them to leave and announce that you will go search for your father. Say that you will take over the house as long as he is gone, and that they have to leave. Even if they don’t, they will still know that you have an opinion now, that you no longer are a little boy." Trunks nodded. "Thank you, Mentes of Tafos, for this encouragement. I will do as you have said." Juuhachi nodded in confirmation, and left the room. Trunks stayed behind, deep in thought. This man has just talked to me as a father would. And I believe he was right. I should stand up for my rights and finally do something to get father back!! And with a determined look on his face, Trunks stood up to call the people of the island together for a meeting.

***