Ah. The year had arrived. The long-awaited fated day.

The day when revenge would finally be exacted upon the Saiyans and their imperial line.

~!*!~

Finally, Bulma thought to herself with satisfaction, a chance for some relaxation. It had been so long since she had roused the gang to come over to Capsule Corp for a casual get-together, over a year now. Nothing fancy, just a fun barbecue, as was eagerly voted by Trunks when she suggested it. She had to agree. Now, as what little bit of food there was left was cleaned away, Bulma reclined on a patio chair with a sigh.

The day had been so nice. Reluctantly finished stuffing themselves, the little boys, Trunks and Goten, darted into the house to play video games, while the adults sat back to enjoy the outdoor breeze. The weather had been great too, thin strips of clouds stretching across the orange evening sky, a cool light breeze, birds concluding their daytime songs. It was pretty much paradise at the moment.

"This is wonderful, thank you, Bulma." Sitting on the lawn chair beside her, Bulma's (Earthly) friend, Arissa, smiled cheerily at her. Even for the relatively short time she had known the woman from work, Bulma had recognized her as the bubbly blonde type. She was always smiling and happy, her pretty face keeping up with her bright attitude. She was a good friend.

"It's my pleasure!" Bulma replied sincerely. "I'm glad I could finally have you over."

"Me too."

Both looked over when Son ChiChi pulled a chair up, smiling curiously. "Hello," she nodded to Arissa. "I never got a chance to talk to you earlier. I'm ChiChi."

"Arissa," she beamed.

"Nice to meet you!"

"You too!"

A conversation was somehow immediately struck, and after a while Bulma found herself being unconsciously pushed against the wall, metaphorically speaking. She sat there glancing between the two as they talked excitedly about homeschooling and organic diets. Not that she wasn't interested, she just seemed to have been pushed out of the picture for a moment. She didn't mind; occasionally she enjoyed simply pausing and taking in her surroundings.

Cutely unaware of her pleased staring, Gohan and Videl sat together, hands clasped together beneath the table. They were such a cute couple... Meanwhile, Yamcha, Krillin, and Goku sat at another table, intently focused on a game of cards, and judging by the cheers and gloating, Krillin was winning. Tien Shinhan and Chiaotsu hadn't come, not to anyone's real surprise, so there was only one hanging back and breathing in the sights and sounds of nature, that being Piccolo. She had invited Hercule and Buu but they had declined.

Something seemed off, though... Was she missing someone?

Oh wait. No, she wasn't miscounting, he just wasn't present. Figures.

Come to think of it, Bulma couldn't remember if she had seen Vegeta at all the entire party. It wasn't the most surprising thing in the world, but he typically showed up if she told/forced him to, which she had in this case. Even if he sulked in a corner as he usually did she could pick him out of the crowd, but she hadn't today. Where on earth was that Saiyan?

She blinked out of her thoughts when Goku approached, sighing with a grin. In the background, Krillin was boasting his victory blatantly to Yamcha, who was rolling his eyes with a small smirk.

"Both of 'em beat me by a landslide," Goku chuckled, not sounding the least bit disappointed. "I've never been very good at those kinds of games..."

"Really?" Bulma tilted her head bemusedly. "And I always thought you lost on purpose."

"Well...sometimes, if I'm playing with Goten."

Bulma chuckled. He could be so cute.

"Hey, by the way," Goku put his hands behind his head casually, looking around. "I haven't seen Vegeta around. Wher-"

"I don't know." Now she was frowning, arms crossed. "He never showed up. Probably inside training or something."

"But I thought he didn't mind parties like this." Goku tossed a glance at the house behind him.

"That's what I thought. I don't know why he would pass this up. His moods are about as predictable as summer storms...Hey, where are you going?"

Goku shrugged with a short wave as he headed toward the house. "Just seeing if he's inside. I'll check up on the two boys while I'm at it."

Bulma watched him go blankly, then a tiny smile grew on her lips. That Son. Always thinking about others.

"You in here?" Goku poked his head inside the Gravity Room, cringing at the sharp smell of cleaner and machinery. Bulma had mentioned something about it breaking and still being under repair, so he thought it was unlikely the Saiyan prince would be in there. Still, always good to check.

He wasn't. The wide-open space was empty, filled instead with the low hum of something mechanical. Next stop, then...maybe the kitchen?

As soon as he entered, upbeat music and screeches reached his ears and emanated from the living room. Trunks and Goten were oblivious to his arrival until he unwittingly passed the television on his way to the other side.

"Hi, Dad," Goten said without looking away from the screen. He furrowed his brow and handled the controller skillfully, tongue sticking out from concentration.

"Uh, hey." Goku paused, transfixed on the brightly flashing screen. They were playing some kind of car game, racing two super fancy vehicles through a city. Much of the time was spent ungracefully crashing into the lining buildings or other cars. "That's something alright."

"It's really cool," Trunks chimed in, taking his eyes off of the screen for a second to grin at Goku. "Once we finish this lap, you can try if you want."

"Er, no thanks." He had tried video games before, and they never really suited him. Not only because he could never figure out the controller, but he preferred hands-on games. Besides, he and cars had bad histories together.

"Suit yourself." Trunks shrugged, then cried out when his dark blue car was sent flying backwards. "Aw, darn it! I was so close!"

Yeah, Goku had seen that happen plenty of times in real life. Why see it again in a pretend game? He nonchalantly scooted out of the room.

Now, back to why he was there in the first place, other than checking on those two. He passed several open doors as he made his way down the darkening hallway and quickly scanned them with his eyes. No signs of life anywhere. He was nearing the end of the hall with no traces still.

Then he paused at the final door. It was closed. If he remembered right, it was the master bedroom. He wasn't necessarily about to assume both Bulma and Vegeta shared it, but there was no harm looking anyway.

First, he checked for a ki reading. He couldn't sense anything...no, wait. A vague reading and it seemed to be coming from the bedroom. Aha! Target in sight-er, so to speak.

He oh-so-gently turned the knob and oh-so-quietly pushed the door open an inch. No sounds from inside, so he eased it back a bit further and peeked through the crack. It was dark enough that his eyes took a few moments to adjust and he could hear the ceiling fan whirring. He opened the door a little bit more, enough so that he could see the large bed.

His eyebrows raised while his mouth formed a small 'o'. He had found his quarry, but it was slightly surprising all the same. Lying atop the smoothed covers and clearly passed out, Vegeta snored lightly with one hand limp on his chest and one leg dangling off the side of the bed. His Saiyan eyes mostly adjusted, Goku couldn't help but smile amusedly. He looked so starkly different lying there, all peaceful and helpless-looking, even though Goku knew the slightest noise would snap him to attention. It was almost kind of funny.

Bulma had made it clear she wanted him outside right away, but...Goku just couldn't. Not only because of how content and unusually non-threatening he looked, but because he knew if he were to wake him...it wouldn't end well for Goku or probably anyone else for that matter.

Instead, he silently closed the door and backed away. Nothing to do there. He would just have to apologize to Bulma for not completing his mission.

"He's sleeping?" Bulma blinked with disbelief.

Goku nodded, not seeing what the big deal was. Bulma just shook her head. Would that man never cease to surprise her? She had never seen him fall asleep so spontaneously.

And of course it so coincidentally had to be when she had told him he had to do something. No, no coincidence.

"Well, then, go wake him!" Bulma waved a hand dismissively at Goku. "Otherwise he'll be up at one in the morning."

Goku stared at her like she had sprouted two heads. "Are-are you crazy?" he stammered.

"Hm?"

"I'm not gonna wake him up-he'll kill me!"

"Please, you're Goku. You're invincible. Besides he can't be that dangerous half-asleep."

"No thanks!"

Meanwhile Arissa looked between the two like she was watching a tennis match. Finally, "Who are you talking about?"

"My husband." Bulma put her hands on her hips crossly.

"Uh..." Arissa lifted a hand to her mouth daintily, looking bewildered. "You're husband...? Is he so bad?"

"Worse."

"Oh..."

Then Bulma gave her head a slight shake and traded her annoyed expression for a strained smile. "I mean...we do tend to exaggerate. He's not a monster or...or anything. Just, er, grumpy."

"Oh..."

Bulma bit the corner of her lip. She was certainly giving her a bad first impression, but it was true. No denying that.

All of a sudden Goku went stiff as a board when his name was called out harshly. He turned slowly with a nervous grin to find Vegeta marching toward them with barely-controlled anger on his face. Bulma raised her brows and looked away. This couldn't end well...

"Kakarot," he snarled, causing said Saiyan to turn away with a light, innocent whistle. "Don't-"

"Oh!" Both Saiyans stopped when Arissa stood with her usual bright smile. She clasped her hands, suddenly looking eerily similar to Bulma's mom. "You must be Vegeta, Bulma's husband. It's nice to meet you! I'm Arissa."

"Sorry, I just...Bulma wanted to know where you were an-"

"Mind your own business!"

Arissa trailed off when she realized she was being fully ignored. Bulma stood as well and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it," she told her quietly. "He's always like that."

"I-I thought you were asleep!" Goku raised his hands up defensively. "All I did was crack open the door-"

"Just shut up, Kakarot." Obviously all of his anger hadn't depleted, but had calmed slightly. Thank goodness for that. Bulma really didn't want her human friend to witness a full-on Saiyan battle.

Then she whirled on her husband.

"You! What were doing in there when I asked you to come out with us?" she demanded, poking his chest with a finger accusingly. "I don't care if you suddenly want to take naps, but I specifically told you I wanted you out here. You haven't been outside in weeks."

He glared her down, looking like he wanted to verbally strangle her. But he said nothing. And the longer the glare-down lasted, the more she saw how strangely tired he looked. Nothing else seemed particularly out of the ordinary but his eyes seemed to lack a certain energy. Weird...

After several long seconds, he broke away and instead scowled into thin air, not focusing on anything or one. Wow, he actually gave in first? That almost never happened.

"Well..." She crossed her arms. "Are you hungry? We just put the food away, but if his highness desires food..."

"No." He turned on his heel and headed back to the house, leaving her behind with a raised brow. Fine then.

"Sorry if I...caused that." Goku stared at the ground like a shameful puppy, to which Bulma just smiled.

"No, no." She lifted her hands up to say, 'whatever.' "You're not to blame. He's just grumpy 'cause he's tired."

Well, no, he was like that all the time. But she was pretty sure Goku knew that.

Then a soft, "Um...he seems...interesting."

Bulma chuckled, nodding, while Arissa glanced at her with confusion. She sighed. "Yeah."

Interesting was to put it lightly. After this newest fiasco, she wondered if she would ever truly figure that man out. She doubted it.

Please feel free to tell me what you think! It would be extremely appreciated! :3 Thanks!

(By the way, thought I should let you know-Arissa is a made up character by moi. Just someone I came up with on the spot, so probably don't expect her to make a comeback. ;) To...to be honest, I don't really know why's she there... She just is. Whether we like it or not. [Arissa: HIII! - Me: *I'm so sorry...*] )