Okay, I feel the need to straighten up some facts as to how old everyone is. Someone asked if Goku should be 13 or 14 thus, since Vegeta is five years older than him, making Vegeta 18 or 19 instead of 17. He is 17. In the canon, he was a year older than Bulma until the hyperbolic time chamber. Bulma was 16 when she searched for the DragonBalls and Goku told everyone his age a year later at the first world tournament he went to. How do I know it was a year later? Because he went off to search for the dragonballs right after the tournament. So, if he said he was 13 then, he had been 12 when Bulma picked him up.

I hope that clears it all. If not, I'm sure that if you put in DragonBall ages in the google search engine, you can find my source. The only place I think it is off on is Puar and Oolong. It said they were around 7... erm... no... Puar is going to be 15 or 16 and I always thought Oolong older since he was... oh I don't know- DRIVING Bulma and Goku everywhere! (7 year olds can't drive) So there is a few errors, but not on everyone else's accounts.

Please excuse the small rant. I hope you all had a wonderful week.

This prompt is Green.

This is all experimental and feedback is wonderful, tell me what you really think.

Read and enjoy.


Now, if anyone would have told her that she would one day be traveling on a motorcycle with an idiotic country bumpkin that didn't even know what a girl was or that he was an alien…

She would have sic one of her parents' dinosaurs on them. Or better yet, she would have sic Vegeta on them. That boy knew how to make even a grown man cry like a little girl.

But here she was, traveling with said bumpkin. And let me tell you, she was already tired of it. First, she had to convince him the dragon ball wasn't his grandfather trying to communicate with him, that it was just reacting to her dragon balls, which she showed him immediately to sway his thoughts (it was harder that it sounded since he could be stubborn). Then, once he understood that it wasn't his grandpa, she had to try to talk the ball out of his hands! To get him to even allow it, she had to take him with her!

Oh well, she had thought at the time, at least now I have someone to protect me. After all, he did get hit by a car and carried a huge fish all by himself afterwards.

What she didn't expect was the giant pterodactyl creature that wanted to eat her! Sure, Goku had saved her, but she had been so frightened when he had saved her from plummeting to the ground that she peed herself.

And all he did was laugh, not understanding anything at all.

She sighed; at least Vegeta hadn't witnessed that event and Goku waited for to chance her clothes before they continued. But now the sun was setting and it was time to set up camp. She pulled over, checking her phone for the umpteenth time that day before turning off the motorbike's engine.

"Okay, hop off," she told Goku as she began to dig for the capsule home.

"What? Are we done for today?" Goku asked, looking around the vast openness of the desert, "Shouldn't we at least find cover?"

Bulma looked at him like he was stupid, "Of course we're getting cover! I'm not about to rough it in the middle of no where!"

She pulled out the capsule she was looking for, pressing the button and throwing it, just as it hit the ground, a poof of smoke appeared as well as a bang sound and there stood the capsule home she had brought. Goku's eyes grew wide again as he ran up to inspect the place.

"Is this another monster?" He asked poking it with his 'power pole' like he had done her trunk.

Bulma rolled her eyes, capsulating her bike before walking up to the house, "No, it's not a monster. Honestly, is everything a monster if you don't know what it is?"

"No," he shook his head, "It could be food."

Slapping her hand to her head for the hundredth time that day, Bulma decided on to press on, reaching out to open the door and inviting the little kid in. He was ecstatic as he observed everything, jumping back when she switched the TV on that he was observing. She turned it off shortly afterwards to watch him explore the rooms.

"You can have this room," She said, opening a door to show a bed and some furniture, "It was suppose to be Vegeta's room, but he couldn't come."

She watched as he entered the room, hopping on the bed with pure delight, asking her questions to what certain things where and what they did. At least he could be taught, she thought with glee.

It was right then that her phone rang.

"What's that?" he asked looking around for the thing making the jingle.

"That would be my phone." She showed him, "Someone is calling me on it. It makes it so I can talk to people who are far, far away like they are right here. This might take a while, it says that it's Vegeta."

She was about to connect the call, but she paused, looking at him for a second, "You might want to cover your ears. He's going to be really loud cause he's no doubt ticked off at me."

"Why is he mad?"

"I'll tell you later, kid," Bulma told him before connecting the call. "Hello?"

"HELLO? YOU TAKE OFF, GALIVANTING TO ONLY KAMI KNOWS WHERE ALONE AND THE BEST YOU CAN THINK OF IS HELLO?" She quickly pulled the earpiece away from her ear as he yelled angrily.

Goku, who had covered his ears like she had suggested, was wide eyed, "Wow, he's loud."

"I know," Bulma agreed, covering the mouthpiece so he couldn't hear that before pulling her hand off to talk. "Look, Vegeta, I am fine. I haven't gotten in over my head either."

She wasn't about to mention almost being eaten and peeing herself to the overly protective Saiyan. Sheesh, he was worse than her father at times.

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT! YOU LEFT ME HERE!"

"You have a fever! Of course I'm not taking you with me!" she yelled back, "Vegeta, calm down."

"NO, I WILL NOT CALM DOWN YOU STUPID-" his rant was cut off by his own coughing and Bulma sat there listening helplessly as he struggled to get a breath.

"See? You can't even yell at me without going into a coughing fit, Vegeta. I had to do this and I promise you I will be alright." She tried to placate him.

"How… can… you be so… sure?" He coughed weakly, still trying to sound angry.

"You are not going to believe this, but there was a little boy that has one of the dragon balls. He's pretty gentle, but he's really strong. And you know what the kicker is?" Bulma asked him, peering down at Goku who was just watching her talk on the telephone with rapt attention.

"Surprise me," Vegeta grumbled, finally able to breath.

"He has a tail, just like you."

"WHAT!"

Bulma laughed, "Yep, his name is Goku. He was living all alone in the forests of Mt. Paoz. Apparently the old man who was taking care of him was squished by a monster, so he's been living on his own. He wouldn't part with the dragon ball, so he's been traveling with me. He's nice, but kinda dumb."

"Hey! That's not very nice," Goku objected, realizing she was talking about him. "My grandpa says you shouldn't say mean things about other people. It might hurt their feelings."

"Goku, what's two plus two?"

"Um… is that a type of food or monster?"

"Point proven," Bulma said, knowing that Vegeta had heard the whole conversation.

There was silence on the other end, but she could tell he was on the other line, still angry and still surprised at the discovery. Finally after what seemed to be an eternity, he finally spoke.

"Bulma. Whatever happens, don't let him look at the full moon." And with that, there was a click, indicating that he had hung up.

"Well that was weird," Bulma commented, looking at the phone.

"What's weird?"

Bulma chewed her lip, musing over what had been told to her before relaying it to Goku, "He told me not to let you look at the full moon."

Goku blinked, his tail waving about behind him as he shrugged and put his hands behind his head, not at all confused like she was, "Oh, that's cause if you look at a full moon, a monster comes out. I know, because I did once and must of fallen asleep. When I woke up, I found my grandpa squished by the monster."

Bulma paused, thinking about what had been said, before brushing it off. They hopefully would not be traveling that long, so the appearance of the full moon should make no difference. She gave him a shrug, and just as she was about to pass him, she caught a good whiff of him.

"Yuck," she paused where she stood, holding her nose to block the stench, "When is the last time you took a bath?"

"What's a bath?"

She should have seen that one coming. She stared at him blankly before pointing to the bathroom, rubbing the bridge between her nose with her other hand. "Go in there, strip, and I will be right in to help give you a bath."

It would have been embarrassing to wash him if she hadn't always forced Vegeta to take baths with her, much to his chagrin. Goku just shrugged before strolling leisurely into the bathroom.

"And put a towel around your waist when you finish taking off all your clothes!" That usually made Vegeta at least sit still, knowing that he was covered as well as she.

She went into her room, quickly taking off her clothes, grumbling about how little boys never seemed to know how to clean themselves before wrapping a towel around herself. When she came into the bathroom, Goku as in the tub, inspecting it with curiosity.

"Hey, Bulma, why are you wearing your towel like that and not the way you told me to?" Goku asked, his tail twitching behind him in wonder.

"Because I am a girl, Goku," she told him, wondering how she was suppose to explain, "Boys and girls are very different. Boys are allowed to walk around without a shirt, but girls have to wear shirts all the time. Also, boys have different privates." Oh, why oh why did she have to explain this?

"Do girls smell different?" Goku asked.

"Perhaps," Bulma shrugged, picking up a stool and sitting it in the tub and sat down on it, "Now hold still. I am going to get you wet before I start scrubbing your hair."

Goku was still curious about this whole idea of girls and boys, so Bulma, albeit embarrassed, answered his questions as she cleaned the boy up. It was like explaining the differences of snow and hail to Vegeta when it snowed the first winter he was there after he had already witnessed a hail storm. Only that had been easier to explain than this.

"So girls wear panties?" Goku clarified, "And their chests get big when they're older and they always wear a top and they don't have balls. Okay, I think I figured it out."

"Good for you," Bulma huffed, pouring the bowl of water of his head as she finished cleaning him up, "Now, do you know how to give yourself a bath?"

"Yes, Bulma," he beamed at her, his tail wagging as he looked up at her, "Do you want me to help you?"

Her patience was wearing thin, but she kept her temper in check, "No, Goku. A girl who is my age has baths that are more private. When you get older, you will only be allowed to bathe with other guys, just like girls would only bathe with other girls."

"Then why did you help give me a bath?"

"Because you are just a little boy who doesn't know what a bath is! Now out! I won't be long." She snapped at him, shooing him towards the door with a growl.

Goku just grinned at her before disappearing through the door to go get his clothes back on, like Bulma had told him to do earlier. Bulma forwent the bubble bath and quickly cleaned herself up, too tired to do much else than rustle up some grub.

"Hey Bulma," there was a knock on the door, "I'm hungry! When are we going to eat?"

"Soon," Bulma said, finishing her bath and quickly donning her PJs, a simple tank top and plaid pants.

After so long of hanging around with Vegeta, she usually wore something she could wrestle in because Vegeta was a stubborn mule when it came to everything including when it came to sitting in her lap for a late night movie. She loved to watch scary movies with him because no matter what, he was never scared. He would laugh at the stupid imagination of the 'pathetic' humans and usually fall asleep before the movie was even over. Bulma usually used him like a teddy bear, hugging him close as she watched the movie.

And afterwards, when she got scared, she would slip into his bed, because he could chase away her nightmares. However, he would push her out if she wasn't wearing pants. She didn't know why, but even in the dark, she could see the pink tint on his face as he scolded her for waking him up. For a little kid, he really was mature. So, she threw out all her nighties and bought tank tops, long sleeves, and pants to sleep in.

She walked out the door, ignoring the little boy's questions as she headed to the refrigerator that was stocked nicely to Vegeta's eating preference since he was the one with the large stomach. Her mother had precooked everything so Vegeta wouldn't have to worry about Bulma's bad cooking skills.

"Here you go," she told him, setting down a couple plates at the dinner table, "All you can eat."

She herself was having some salad, rice with chicken and snow peas, and some fruit for dessert. She watched as Goku sniffed the food that had been meant for Vegeta. He took the chopsticks and poked at it before grabbing some of the beef and finally taking a bite. He paused, his eyes getting bigger before he began to dig in.

"Wow! This is amazing!" He told her.

She smiled, sipping at her coffee that she had poured for herself. Yeah, this boy was a bumpkin, but the way he ate with gusto reminded her of Vegeta when he first tasted a cookie. Yet he seemed more light hearted than her weighed down Saiyan that probably had more baggage than any kid his age should.

"My momma cooked it," Bulma told him, smiling sweetly, "How about you come, after this, and live with my family. My mother loves having little boys to spoil and you'd get along great with 'Geta. He's a little temperamental, but he's a Saiyan just like you."

Goku looked at her for a moment, like he was trying to discern whether or not she was trustworthy. Was it worth leaving everything he knew for a family when he was content on living the way he always did?

"I'll think about it," he finally told her, going back to his meal, "If I don't end up living with you, I'll definitely visit! This food is really good!"

Bulma smiled. Even though this kid had gotten her knee high in trouble today, she didn't think she would be around without him. She sipped her drink, slowly eating her food as she watched the boy scarf down almost 50% more than even Vegeta would. Finally, he was content and was rubbing his stomach, happy.

"I hope I get to eat like this everyday!" He grinned.

"Invitation is still open," she shrugged, picking up plates and beginning to fill the sink.

"Hey Bulma?"

"Yeah Goku?" Bulma asked, beginning to clean the dishes like she did at home.

Her parents made it clear that even though they had robots to do a lot of the work, it was a matter of discipline that she clean the dishes and put them in the dish washer herself so she understood not to take things lightly. She had a few chores around the house and so did Vegeta, though no one ever caught him doing the chores, they all got done in a timely manner and no one could accuse him of cheating. His work was so well done, it was almost irritating at how big of a perfectionist he was.

"Why are you gathering all the dragon balls anyways?"

Bulma bit her lip, glancing out of the side of her eye. It sounded sincere enough. She was just so use to it just being her and her family and Vegeta that she could trust that she had never wavered from that since she turned sixteen. Last time she trusted someone else, they had betrayed her real well and that had been the last time she had tried to make a friend outside of her small family.

She knew though, that he needed to know why. Because it was his dragon ball that was assisting in her wish and that it would no doubt fly off with the others when the time came after the wish. Drying her hands, she went to her bag, pulling out a folded picture before showing it to Goku. It was of her with Vegeta, both sleeping, her mother had taken it after she had caught them outside, snoozing after their stargazing.

"That's Vegeta," she pointed to him with a smile on her face, then pointed to the collar around his neck, "This thing around his neck is killing him and we can't take it off without killing him in the process."

"Why did he put it on in the first place, then?"

"He didn't. He came to us over a year ago. He was hurt really bad and it was around his neck then. He didn't put it on, but someone very mean did. He's never really told us the whole story. However, I want to make a wish on the dragon balls to make the collar go away."

"Oh, I get it! If you wish it away, Vegeta won't die!"

She smiled at him, "Right! He'll get better and he will be around for a long, long, long, long, looooong time."

Goku laughed at her silliness, but nodded happily, "Okay! I'll help you get your wish! I mean, it would be really sad if Vegeta died, right?"

"Yeah," her smile faded at the though and she hugged the picture close to her, her eyes dimmed and she could feel the prickles of tears behind them, "He's my only friend… It would be really lonely without him… I'd miss him greatly."

Goku didn't catch the sad gleam in her eye or her expression, instead, he hopped off the chair and headed to his room, but not without saying, "Okay then, we just gather the rest of the dragon balls and wish that the collar around Vegeta's neck would disappear and no longer hurt him."

She smiled, watching him retreat before picking up her phone to call Vegeta.


He knew it was petty to sulk, but he couldn't believe she had the gall to do this to him! He tried to wiggle his way out, but it was of no use since all his ki was locked away and he had no chance without it. Sure, he was strong for his size, but being strong for the size of a toddler and being strong for the size of a full grown male were different.

"Now hold still sweetie," The blonde crooned at him while to set him back on her lap, taking the thermometer and putting it in his ear, "This usually only takes a moment if you are patient enough."

He hated the way it felt in his ear. He was sensitive about what was stuck in where and who was doing it. Sure, the blonde woman was never a threat, if anything, she was the anti-threat, but he still hated the distinct feel of shivering every time she put that infernal thing in his ear. Why couldn't she at least put it in his mouth like the girl did? At least then he didn't feel helpless like he did now.

"Are you still congested?" She asked, pulling it out and inspecting his temperature. "Because I still have more of that salve."

"I don't like it," Vegeta told her, trying to get out of that wretched stench being smothered onto his chest, "It smells bad."

"It's a little strong, but it does the job, now doesn't it?" Bunny asked touching his nose lightly with a finger as if to make a point, "How about I go get it along with the cold medicine and let's see if you can't sleep tonight? Hmmm, Vegeta-chan?"

"I don't like it," Vegeta repeated, crossing his arms and staring off, no longer wanting to be there.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't like for the betterment of ourselves and others, Vegeta-chan," she told him, picking him up and setting him in his bed and pulling up the covers before placing a kiss on his forehead, "If we always did the things we enjoyed and liked, there would be no internal growth. You'd be the same as you were before or maybe even worse than before. Now you wait right here and I'll go get it. Maybe I'll even come back with a special treat."

Giving him one more kiss on the temple she left. Vegeta immediately began to paw at where she had kissed him with a disgusted look on his face as he managed a 'yuck'. After all this time, he was still not use to Bunny's overbearing affection. He preferred the way Dr. Briefs handled it: A pat on the back or a word of approval.

It was like a godsend, that moment where he heard the phone ring, almost jumping at it from his spot on the bed to get to the other he knew was on the line. He knew he was suppose to be mad at her, but right now he was desperate to be doing something that was not Bunny taking care of him.

"Didn't we just talk not even a four hours ago?" He kept his tone level, but he was relieved she had called.

"Yeah…" He could tell she was chewing on her lip, that nasty habit she had when she was upset, "I just needed to hear your voice."

"Did the little whelp that you have with you do anything?" He growled. By Kami, he swore if that little Saiyan runt hurt her in any way he would-

"No. I was just thinking about you. You mean a lot to me, a whole lot, you know that right?"

He blinked, his eyes wide and he could feel his face heat up even more as he thought of the implications of what those words meant. Feelings. They meant she had grown attached to him, more than he had ever wanted to originally. He knew that they had gotten close, she was one of the few people he ever associated with, of course he held her close, but never had she ever vocalized it. Never.

"I mean," she stumbled over her words, "You are my best friend and you're always there for me and you… If I lost you…" He could feel her tearing up and it sent panic down his stomach, "If I lost you…." A sob. "I would be beside myself in grief. I… I know you don't like talking feeling but… I just wanted to tell you… just in case."

He tried to be snide, but the remark didn't have the poisonous effect he was looking for. If anything it sounded like gentle harshness, "In case I die?"

"No. Just in case…" he heard the unheard 'just in case anything happens to me.' "Just incase I forget." A lie.

"Alright," he relented, trying to ignore the squeezing in his chest, "Hurry back though. It's boring without you to torture. That and your mother has found it amusing to play nurse. Without you around, I have no defense against her."

She let out a breathy laugh before whispering, "Alright Vegeta. Get better, you hear me? I'll have that collar off of you as soon as I can. Sleep well."

"Hmph," he snorted, but relinquished a goodbye, "Take care of yourself, girl."

She hung up and he tried so hard not to feel even sicker than he was. He was getting too close to her. This finally proved it. He had become soft and what was worse was that he could find no fault in letting it happen. He was weakening in his resolve to stay alone like he had been all these years, self-out-casted by his own stubbornness.

Could he even kill anymore? Or had human morals taken over that as well? He though to himself bitterly about it. He tried to envision killing the old man or his wife or even the girl and all he got was a twisting in his gut that made him want to whimper in pain. He couldn't even think of it!

He was almost glad when Bunny came back with that disgusting cream and cold medicine. He let her put in on without a fuss, glad for the distraction and almost welcoming the feeling of her embrace when she picked him up and rocked him, trying to coax him to sleep now after taking his medicine. He believed sleep would be a great reprieve to all this ill thinking.

Because for once, he didn't want to think about what would happen when his ki was finally returned to him. Nor did he want to think of his heritage or their traditions or his duty to the Saiyans who died.

He felt so lost at this moment.

May Evangeline Vegiit give him guidance and counseling.


Dr. Briefs crept into the room after his wife and finally put Vegeta down to sleep. He quickly took the boy's pulse in hand and counted heart beats. Scratch climbed down off of her perch and purred lovingly as she curled up next to Vegeta's face.

Briefs tried not to chuckle at the strange phenomena that occurred to all the cats that got close enough to Vegeta. It was like they were suddenly overcome with this instinct to follow him like love struck beings. His scent was intoxicating to them and Dr. Briefs had had more than a chuckle about the strange occurrence.

One time he had found the boy sitting in the middle of their oldest tree, stuck because he had been trying to flee from the large legion of cats that had been following. It was only when he had become stuck did he realize that cats could climb the trees just as well as he could. He had waited hours for someone to finally find him and save him.

"'m fine," he heard the slurred words come from Vegeta's mouth as he batted at Briefs offending appendage.

"I'm just checking my boy. You were silent after Bulma called. Is she alright?" He asked, sighing mentally at the thought of trying to put Vegeta back down again now that he was up.

"She's fine. Found another Saiyan apparently. Called him Goku." He mumbled, shifting his sleeping position and pulled the covers up higher. "Just getting in too deep."

Dr. Briefs raise a brow, "Who, my boy? You or Bulma?"

"Me."

Dr. Briefs knew more about Vegeta than even Bulma. Vegeta confined in him only because he needed advice on multiple subjects that included Bulma. Like his age, his previous employer, and his former job. Briefs was nonjudgmental and very wise for acting like his wife at times, air-headish and carefree. If anything, it was a persona he put up for newcomers, but not for his family and not for Vegeta. When Vegeta had told him though, it had been more because he needed to feel like a monster or be casted out of such a warm and loving environment, shocked to the bone when he wasn't.

"Perhaps you are, but perhaps it is a good thing. No one can travel through life without a place to call home, a place to belong. Perhaps it is finally time to let go of the past, Vegeta, and accept this as your new life. I'd be more than happy to call you son and the missus thinks the world of you as does Bulma."

Vegeta didn't reply for a while, Briefs almost thought he had fallen asleep before he noticed the head shake, "It's not that simple."

"It can be if you let it," Dr. Briefs encouraged him.

He sighed when he saw the head shake. The boy couldn't let it go just yet. He clung so desperately to things of the past. He wanted so many things and tried to stay true to so many demands that had been made of him that he had yet realized what really was important and what really wasn't. He needed time and freedom to clear his head, both of which were restrained at this time.

"Just think about it, my boy, sometimes the answers come to you when you feel you've hit a dead end. Sometimes there are forks in the road of life. One route leading to one way of life and the other to a totally different lifestyle. However, we must first realize which route is the best for us before we can continue on. I think you are upon a fork in the road right now. All you have to do is choose which route to take. The one that'll lead you back to Frieza… or the one that allows you to remain free here on Earth. It's really up to you."

With that, he turned and headed out the door with a quiet goodnight and left the boy to think about what to do next. Rotten, he knew, but necessary at this point in his life.

He just hoped Vegeta chose the right path.