"I think I am going to be sick," Kakarrot covered his mouth to prevent the putrid smell of Nappa’s decaying body from forcing him to regurgitate his most recent meal. "Nappa is not an easy man to take down; it would have had to take one hell of a well trained warrior to beat him like this."

Radditz nodded silently as he too averted his eyes from the graphic sight to contemplate the situation. "Well, if I were a betting man, I would wager a large sum that the man who killed Nappa was the same one whom attacked Bulma a few nights prior."

Raising an eyebrow, Kakarrot questioned, "how could you possibly make such a deduction!?"

"Several factors actually," he scanned the area before walking in a set path towards some undecipherable destination. "Firstly, Bulma described the man who attacked her as being of similar in build as Nappa, so physically he would most likely be a worthy challenge. Secondly, Vegeta assured me that whoever attacked Bulma, had done it on Juunanagou’s order, so a perfect scene would be played out for him to be the ‘rescuer,’ which means that Nappa’s killer had to be ordered under some motivation of Juunanagou. And I am willing to bet that Juunanagou would have very good reason to want to see Nappa dead; that is if he mistook him for me."

"You?" Kakarrot questioned as he followed his brother to the location he had sought. "But why would he wish you dead?"

"To ensure my silence," the elder man glanced at his brother suggestively, before the younger man quickly caught on. During their ride through the woodlands to return to the location Chi-Chi had been found, Radditz had confessed to the events surrounding Bulma and Juunanagou, along with confessing his night with Kakarrot’s former lover. The younger man’s reaction had been somewhat mixed in hearing the news, but he was mostly concerned that he brother’s life could be placed in a grave danger should word get out. It seemed exactly that had happened.

"Nappa picked the wrong night to bask in an early morning indiscretion." Kakarrot frowned as he observed the disorder of a soft-patched area of grassland that had appeared to have been recently occupied. There was little doubt in what had happened previously, thus the reasoning for misinterpretation.

Turning back to his brother, Radditz quietly advised, "If Chi-Chi’s breakdown was the result of witnessing Nappa’s death, then she must have seen his assailant. So let us get Nappa’s body back to the castle; perhaps seeing him may snap your mate back to reality."

"Or it could make her worse!" Kakarrot warned as he followed his brother back to Nappa, and helped him wrap the body with a blanket he kept in his knapsack.

"I doubt she could get much worse," Radditz sighed as he and his brother heaved the dead man’s body onto Karyudo. Then hoisting themselves back onto their mounts, Radditz and Kakarrot silently road back to the palace, hoping their discovery would bring them closer to the associate Juunanagou seemed to have been using to carry out his calculating deeds.

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Feeling his chest tighten, Vegeta began flipping pages again as he tried to forget the words he had just processed. The early entries had been touching to read. Most of her previous scribing had been devoted to praising him, mainly out of gratitude for small luxuries he had awarded her, but also vivid descriptions of her delight in his emotional support.

He was surprised to learn she had documented every night he had slept by her side for console. He could not help but wonder how he had been so oblivious to how much the comfort had meant to her. Yes, she had frequently thanked him, but never as passionately as she writes in her entries. It was as if he was learning of a side that she has kept hidden from him for so many years.

But the blissful reading quickly turned painful as he came upon the first entry where she begins speaking of her love for Kakarrot. It seemed peculiar to him that his onna would vow, just the night prior, that her feelings for Kakarrot were merely an ‘infatuation,’ when she described them as so much more in her entries. ‘It seems she lied to me again,’ Vegeta realized glumly as his thumbing through pages slowed until he reached some of the most recent entries. Thinking the answers he sought would most likely be there, he opted not to pain himself with any other early passages.

Finding one that was within the last fifteen or so pages, he began to read once more.

Vegeta paused to laugh as he read the selection, that he realized was written just before the conferences he had returned for. ‘You have no idea how wrong your assumption is, onna.’ Allowing the thought to drift, he continued again, pleased that the writing was more focused on he than Kakarrot.

Raising an eyebrow, Vegeta curiously wondered if it was her feelings for Kakarrot that she was referring so ominously to. ‘Or could I be missing something else?’ Deciding to continue his investigation, he returned to his reading.

Vegeta paused his reading as he went back to scan over a few choice sentences. ‘I remember feeling so weak as his breath tickled my sensitive flesh… I am not sure how long we stayed like that, swaying in the calm of the night. But when we stopped I remember feeling dazed... By then I was certain our night was long forgotten. At least by him...’ It stunned him to realize his advances had invoked such passionate responses from her. ‘I had for so long thought she was repulsed by my touch, how could I have misinterpreted her so?’ he wondered while skimming the last few lines of the entry before moving on to the next. The opening sentences immediately sparked his intrigue.

The evening was more interesting that I would have imagined. I met a man tonight. I have to admit he took my breath away. Dare I say he was almost as handsome as Vegeta, which knowing how greatly I admire Vegeta’s appearance I must say that is a compliment of the highest form. Of course, I must clarify that looks can be deceiving judging by Vegeta and Kakarrot’s reaction to this man. Both spat fury when they laid eyes upon King Juunanagou. I am currently waiting for Vegeta to come to me, and offer his explanation for his actions. I am of course already inclined to believe that if Vegeta hates this man, he must truly be some kind of evil. Yet, in the same breath, I must admit that when I met Juunanagou, away from Vegeta’s guidance, I found him quite charming.

After nearly gagging at the thought, Vegeta tried to comfort himself with the fact that she cited him as being more handsome than the fiend Juunanagou. ‘At least her taste is not completely in disarray,’ the proud Saiya-jin thought with a half smile before forcing himself to read on.

Yes, he was very charming indeed. I feel a flush coming on as I remember how his crystal blue eyes bore into mine. I had never felt a man, besides Vegeta, gaze upon me with such intensity. His manner was incredibly cordial, and his affections seemed entirely appropriate. I must admit that I secretly hope Vegeta is overreacting in his accusations about this King. After all, he is the first man to have captured my eye where I actually felt his affections returned. It was a nice feeling. I must admit that I wish to feel that again… of course the Adajinzoun king might not be my first choice for evoking such feelings… But I suppose a lady must be realistic when it comes to her desires.

Pausing once more, Vegeta reread the passage curiously. It was bizarre how in one breath she would seemingly be projecting her affections upon him, and the next be reminded of her desire for Kakarrot. It is not like Bulma to be so scatter brained in thought. Needing further examining to clarify this disparity, the king continued.

A second, a third, a fourth, and a fifth time Vegeta reread her words, but not once did he believe his eyes. ‘Gods, if he only knew how weak he can make me with the slightest touch… I sometimes wish, if only for once, I could put him through the same sweet torture he inflicts upon me. Make his skin burn under my touch in the same way he ignites my own flesh.’ Was he misinterpreting this? Was he reading her words wrong? How could she possibly feel such desire for him while she craves another? It simply made no sense! Skimming once again, Vegeta searched for a passage, sentence, anything that would clarify what he was reading. And he finally found it, merely a few pages later.

‘A more incriminating passage? Some ridiculous scenario about Kakarrot? Brotherly of relations? Misconceptions? Humoring my lie!?’ Vegeta’s breathing became rapid as he studied this new development. ‘But it cannot be! Yes, she did not say the name of her lover, but it was implied by her earlier writing! Where could my interpretation have gone wrong?’ he wondered as he reflected back on the passage he had read just a few days prior. Her description of the man she was in love with had been clear.

She had described him as being of a difference race, having somewhat of a substantial age gap between them, and that his sole duty since her arrival has been to protect her – Vegeta froze as if a bolt of lightening had suddenly struck him with the all too shocking truth. "It can not be," he whispered in disbelief as his eyes returned to the pages and began skimming through earlier passages. He was stunned to realize that all of her previous descriptions of affections upon her ‘mystery man’ had made more sense in regards to him than her former guard. ‘How could I have been in such ignorance of her feelings?! How could this secret be kept from me for so long!?’ He sprang from his chair as he began pacing back and forth across her room for a repetitious number of times.

Everything suddenly all began to make sense to him. Her anger towards his constant departures, his standing her up, and his admission of being married; gods, it was from his obliviousness that he had caused her so much pain! The way she seemed so disillusioned when he had rejected her, and then even last night, gods, she had fucking told him point blank that she loved him and he had not realized it! Had he truly been so fearful of his own emotions that he blinded himself to hers?

‘Gods, what have I done?’ he demanded of himself as he collapsed once more back in his chair. ‘No wonder she feared telling me the truth of her liaison with Juunanagou,’ he released a cold chuckle as he turned back to the journal. Flipping to her last entry, he hoped to find another set of clues to her most recent state of mind. Continuing his streak of luck, he found more than he had bargained for.

Dropping the book where he held it, Vegeta sprang to his feet and bolted out of her room, racing towards Juunanagou’s. He could not let her make such a sacrifice for him. Not now, knowing all that he had so desperately wished he had been sooner alerted of. She was in love with him! For years no less! He could not allow his ignorance to force her into such horrid circumstances. He had to stop her, stop Juunanagou. His life was not worth a moment of her misery. However ironic it was, that very belief was leading her to willingly give herself to a man she despised merely to protect the one she loved.

Praying that he was not too late, Vegeta finally reached the door that housed Juunanagou’s room. As was a developing tradition in the castle, he grabbed the doorknob and intended to storm inside, when the tip of something sharp pierced his neck, breaking his stride and bringing him slowly to the ground as darkness rapidly conquered his body.

* * * * *