Bardock Begins [A DBZ Fanfiction]

Chapter 3 - Secrets Revealed

"My boy, do not to worry! That banana story will remain between the three of us!" Arugulo guffawed as he slapped his thigh. "However, I do wish we could have shared it with my late wife. She would have adored the tale and found it completely charming."

Arugulo's smiling face turned serious as he appeared to be lost in a memory of his dead wife.

"I wish I could have met her as well. What is her name? Zukini barely speaks of her, as she finds the topic too painful." Bardock inquired.

"Mushrumi," Arugulo's uttered still lost in his reverie, not realizing that he may have revealed more than he meant to. Bardock froze when he heard the name, since the name held much notoriety.

"Mushrumi? Isn't that the name of the Tuffle princess that was kidnapped 16 years ago?" Bardock asked, turning his wide eyes onto Arugulo.

"What's that my boy?" Argulo responded, breaking out of the spell he was under.

"You just told me that Zukini's mother bears the same name of the kidnapped Tuffle princess," Bardock replied, stating each word slowly just to make sure that Arugulo understood the underlying question in his inquiry. Arugulo's eyes rolled back and he covered his face with his hands.

"That's just a vicious rumour the Tuffle king spread to hide his shame, it's not true!" Arugulo said vehemently, running his large hands through his hair. "She was never kidnapped! She willingly ran off with me!"

"Old man, are you saying what I think you're saying?!" Bardock demanded to know, sitting on the edge of his seat. Arugulo's released a deep breath as he held Bardock's gaze.

"Yes, Zukini's mother was the Tuffle princess from 16 years ago." Arugulo admitted, finally sharing his secret with someone else.

"How can that be? The Tuffle princess' child is still being raised by her grandfather, King Fungi!" Bardock responded with slight shock.

"King Fungi doesn't know it but Mushrumi gave birth to twins. I turned over only one of the children and kept Zukini for myself," Arugulo replied quietly. "No one knows about Zukini's true heritage, accept for me and now you."

"Zukini herself doesn't know?" Bardock asked.

"Not even Zukini. She's already suffered enough with the loss of mother, no need to burden her with the loss of her sibling as well." Arugulo explained. "I already suffer much thinking about my other daughter Courgette being under the supervision of that cunning King Fungi!"

Bardock whistled in amazement when he thought about what Arugulo had just told him. This meant that for the past year he had actually been frisking Tuffle royalty, he thought with a wide grin. He felt a perverse pleasure from the revelation.

"I can trust that you will not tell anyone about this?" Arugulo asked the young saiyan.

"As long as you don't tell anyone about the banana story, I think we have a deal." Bardock replied with an easy smile. Arugulo chuckled, finding that he quite enjoyed his future son-in-law's company. Arugulo also got the impression that Bardock had deep sense of honor and loyalty, which meant that Arugulo could certainly trust him.

"Old man, you've got to tell me. How did a 3rd class saiyan land a Tuffle princess?" Bardock asked, with respect in his eyes. Arugulo laughed heartily at Bardock's question.

"Well, as you know some of us saiyans had to cross over to the Tuffle territory for work during times of peace. We're only prosperous during times of war and strife." Arugulo started.

"The Tuffles may appear to be peaceful and passive but it's only a facade. They are quite a crafty and vicious bunch. They treated us saiyan workers like slaves because of our great strength. Either way, I was tasked with maintaining their gardens and surprisingly I actually pretty good at it." Arugulo continued. Bardock nodded thinking about all the exotic plants inside his home. "I was better than any of their gardening inventions too. After a time, I ended up in the Tuffle palace gardens."