(Author's Note: As per all fanfiction writers here on , I do not own DBZ. Also, Tarble and Gure are not creations of my own, but Akira Toriyama's from a DBZ special. It was awesome. You should watch it. Seriously.)

The two Saiyans, one short and the other much shorter, stared at each other from across their sitting positions. Neither knew what to say or where to even begin. Vegeta, for one, wouldn't have bothered staying there in the first place if it wasn't for Bulma's constant nagging to "bond" and "catch up" with his younger brother. He was sure the only reason Tarble was staying was to annoy him. Vegeta looked at the other spiky-haired Saiyan with a mix of hesitation. Then again, Tarble looked like he would rather be anywhere but near him. Perhaps his wife had something to do with it, too?

Speaking of which…

"I know you're a pathetic excuse for a Saiyan, but even you could have done better." There. He finally got that off his chest.

Tarble blinked, as if startled by the interruption of the long-standing silence. His eyes became somewhat wide with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

Strange, Vegeta thought, The old Tarble would've jumped at me for that, regardless of whether he knew what I was talking about or not. I wonder…

Tarble stood, clenching his fists, "I know I'm nowhere near as strong as you, Vegeta, but…"

Ah. That was the old Tarble.

"There's a lot more important things than fighting!"

Vegeta almost fell over in shock. More important things than fighting? He replaced his shocked face with an angry scowl. He didn't like being seen caught off guard.

"No, you idiot. I meant your wife."

Tarble paused to get his bearings, then narrowed his obsidian-colored eyes.

"What about my wife?"

"Do I need to list it out for you?" Vegeta uncrossed his arms, "She doesn't even look like our species. She's so… small, almost like a child! Hardly child-bearing material. What could possibly be attractive about that… creature?"

Tarble's eyes flashed in anger. His family resemblance to Vegeta showed well. He looked ready to charge, but was clearly holding himself back. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Vegeta watched, almost curious. This was definitely not the Tarble he used to know. Granted, the Tarble he had known was only two years old, but still…

"She's not a child, Vegeta. She's even a year older than I am, and don't call her a creature. She's…"

"Hello, hello!" Gure came skipping in with a plate of cupcakes, "This Earth food is so interesting! Tarble, won't you try this?"

All the tension in the room disappeared the instant she stepped in. Vegeta grabbed most of the cupcakes on the plate while Tarble seemed content with just two.

"Thank you, Gure," Tarble said, smiling.

"Yes. Thank you," Vegeta said, shocking himself and quickly stuffed his mouthful of cupcakes to keep from embarrassing himself further.

Gure smiled up at the both of them, "I hope you two are getting along. I'm sure you have SO much to talk about!"

The Saiyan men nodded. Gure looked at the empty plate, "Oh. All gone. I'll have to get some more for my dear little nephew."

She headed back to the kitchen, which was a long way off from the living room. Vegeta's scowl went back into place. He turned to Tarble, glaring.

"All right, now I know something is wrong."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Tarble licked his icing-coated lips.

"Don't play dumb. What is she doing? Why do I feel so…" Vegeta struggled to find a word.

Realization dawned on Tarble.

"Ohhhhhh. Heh. I guess I forgot to mention that many of Gure's people have the innate ability to pacify anger and hostility. Unfortunately, it doesn't work on every alien race."

"So… What? She has you brainwashed or something?" Vegeta grumbled, his arms back in their crossed position.

"What? No! Listen, I don't care if you don't like it, Vegeta. I love Gure. I will always love Gure. I don't appreciate you insulting my wife," Tarble said, his expression becoming fierce.

Vegeta was not intimidated but felt he had already made his point as to why Gure was undesirable as a mate.

"All I want to know is… why? Out of every alien species there is out there, why her?"

"It's a long story, I guess. Gure and I have been through a lot together," Tarble said, his tone sounding thoughtful.

Vegeta rolled his eyes, but curiosity got the better of him.

"Well, the Gravity Room is broken… again…" he trailed off, not wanting to admit that he was interested in what Tarble had to say.

Tarble folded his hands and looked down at them.

"Do you remember the day I was sent away?" he asked.

"It was before my first mission. I remember you cried like a baby, and Father had one of his guards knock you out to shut you up," Vegeta said, smirking.

Tarble gave Vegeta an ugly look, "It was a diversion."

Vegeta raised an eyebrow, intrigued, "Diversion? For what?"

"I was using my tail on the launch controls to change the coordinates of the ship's destination. I knew I wouldn't be able to do that once I was inside the ship. The ship's computer only responds to adult voice commands to avoid any accidents when it's transporting children."

"You could do that?" Vegeta asked.

"What you, Father, every Saiyan I came into contact with, failed to see, was that I was far smarter than most Saiyans my age, and even Saiyans who were much older than me. That's why I never fought well. I wasn't interested in fighting. I was interested in figuring things out. It's what saved my life."

"Ah, yes. I remember now. Father told me you were supposed to be sent to a useless planet with hostile creatures that would be impossible for someone of your level to fight. He was sending you on a suicide mission because he was hoping to erase his mistake of a son," Vegeta said, as always unnecessarily cruel and blunt.

There was a subtle change in his expression; it was something that almost seemed sympathetic. Tarble picked up on it but didn't say anything.

"Yes," Tarble answered, not seeming to be upset, "He didn't tell me that, of course, but I found it out on my own. So, I took steps to preserve myself. I chose Gure's planet, in particular, because it was a safe haven planet for refugees; survivors of planet-clearings or natural phenomena that left them homeless. It was due to be cleared in five months, so I completely wiped all traces of it from the Planet Trader's Database."

Vegeta tried not to look impressed, but he was. The Planet Trader's Database had been developed on Frieza's home planet and had sophisticated anti-hacking technology. Yet Tarble, only two years old, managed to hack into it?

"That's only the beginning…" Tarble said, reminiscing.

(Author's Note: In the next chapters, Tarble isn't going to be just telling Vegeta what happened. It's going to progress as if it were a normal story without Vegeta commenting on events. There may be intermediate chapters where I'll break from the story to go back to Vegeta and Tarble talking over what happened.)