It's Monday, so here is the new chapter! Thank you so much for all the reviews, I was quite happy to read them!

While Goku took a few days off and rested after the fight, Vegeta went to train the next day. He was furious with the fact that he almost lost against the Ginyu force and now he wasn't entirely sure that Goku still had a long way to improve to beat him. During the fight he was almost as powerful as him and he had some useful techniques as well, from which Vegeta never heard before. He hit the wall with his fist and he made a big hole in it. It often happened that the training rooms were destroyed, especially when he trained.

"Geez Vegeta, you will kill somebody by accident of you keep destroying the walls!" Bulma called, who hardly had time to jump away from one of the bricks.

"Not very likely. Saiyans are not so fragile" He answered, irritated by the fact that the woman just interrupted his training.

"You see I could build a training room with walls, which can absorb energy and withstand your trainings."

"What?"

This time she got his attention. While he had more than enough slaves to rebuild the rooms, it was annoying to have to wait for them to finish. Bulma was amused by the fact how easily she got him interested if it was something about fight and training. She asked him to come with her in the lab and once they arrived there, she showed him some drafts. Truth was, she already had this idea before and made some plans, but with all the other tasks she never had the time to mention them.

"How long will it take until you finish it?"

"I think within 2-3 weeks I will be done. Then you need to get it built though and I need to run some test, but I think it will work."

Vegeta looked at the plans and while her explanation sounded plausible, he had his doubts. On the other hand she managed to do all sort of other tasks as well, where the other scientists failed and it was the only reason why he was willing to listen to her in the first place.

"Did you build some training device for Kakarott?" He suddenly asked.

Bulma looked at him and she felt how she got goose-skin as she looked into his cold onyx eyes. She considered lying, then decided against it. Truth was something, which always came out eventually, hence at least she would be over this conversation.

"Yes. I built him a gravity belt."

Vegeta looked at her somewhat socked. How came she was willingly confessing to him this? Again he had the feeling she forgot her place. When she continued to speak, Vegeta couldn't help but feel like she was reading his mind:

"Don't look at me like that! You never actually forbid me to build something other than what you or your warriors asked me, hence I never broke any of your rules."

She was right and he knew it. Also they both knew that regardless who was right, he still could punish her as he was the king. Though it was also a fact that she was too damn good to simply discharge her, he needed her knowledge and expertise.

"I want to have one as well" He finally said, grinding his teeth by the fact that he felt his hands bounded.

"I can make one until tomorrow, come by than and you can pick it up."

Bulma quite enjoyed the situation. Vegeta was always acting all mighty, like he ruled the world, yet somehow with her he behaved somewhat normal. True, he indeed owned a world; Planet Vegeta, still it irritated her to see how much the other servants and even some saiyans feared him.

For the following weeks Vegeta was a regular guest in the laboratory as he wanted to have an update every day on the new training room. One day when he entered the lab, he was shocked to see Nappa, Radditz and some other saiyans there, sitting at the big table holding small cards in their hands.

"Hey Vegeta, do you want to join?" Bulma asked.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Vegeta asked, looking at the saiyans.

"Bulma taught us some really cool card games!" Nappa answered with a bright smile.

"A what?"

"I will be back in a few, just continue without me!" Bulma looked at the others, then got up from the table and walked over to the king.

"Remember when I asked you how saiyans have fun?" She asked.

"Maybe…"

"First I thought it was just you, who was so obsessed with fighting and stuff, but as I spoke with others I realised; it was so with your entire race. Hence I decided to teach them to play cards to see if they are capable to enjoy it."

"They have more important things to do!"

"Don't be like that! Everybody needs some rest, you cannot train and fight the whole day. Or even if you physical can, it's still good to have some time off."

Vegeta looked at her, like she was crazy. Then as he looked over his men, playing with cards, they seemed… a bit like Kakarott, with his cheerful attitude. He always assumed it was somehow his stupidity, but now he wasn't that sure any more.

"Saiyans are capable of having fun." Bulma said. "I bet even you can have a good time, we just need to find a way."

"We?"

"Yes! I'm determined to prove to you, that everybody needs to have fun!"

"I don't have time to fool around!"

"Let's make a deal!"

Vegeta looked at the woman again, taken aback how she somehow continued to have her way. Sure, these were not big things, but she was the only one who even dared to bargain with him. When he realised he wasn't pissed off by this fact, he stopped for a second. He couldn't explain why he was even listening to her. He came here to get an update on the walls, but somehow, every time she managed to change the subject, even if just for a short while. He hated himself as he heard his own voice:

"What's the deal?"

Bulma's smile brightened as Vegeta took the bait. Truth was, she enjoyed his company and she was always happy to see him. As the walls will be done shorty, she needed an another excuse to make him visit her every day. When she became conscious of the fact that she was looking forward to see him, it confused her at first. She knew he was handsome, that was almost the first thing what she noticed. He was royal, there was no doubt about that as she looked at his features. It wasn't just the way how he walked or stood or behaved. She reluctantly confessed to herself that she had a crush on him. She was sure she lost her mind as even without knowing anything about the saiyan culture, she knew it was hopeless. She was a slave and he was the king. Even though Vegeta haven't chosen any mate as saiyans called their spouse, he for sure had to "marry" somebody royal. Also even in case he would be a normal fighter, it's not like he would love her, ever. What she had seen from saiyans mating; while they were bounded together until death and they never cheated on each other (as the punishment was death); they were not in love. At best it was a companionship. She has seen some saiyans lose their mates over the years and they never really grieved, just chose a new mate. Somehow she had the feeling that saiyans only mated to produce offspring, to make sure the race won't die out. Regardless how Bulma looked at her situation, it wasn't bright. Even so she decided not to think about it, just enjoy the present.

"While the gravity belt is only capable to increase the gravity by 150 times compared to what we have on Earth, I can install a gravity machine in one of the training rooms and that will be capable of increasing the gravity at least by 350 times, maybe even 500. I haven't finished all my calculations yet."

"How come you cannot do that with the belt?"

"It's complicated. But in short increasing the gravity in a closed room is much easier than increasing it around a person who is in a free, relatively endless space."

"Why would I give you something in return? You are my slave, I can command you to do it!"

"While you can command me to do things which you know I'm capable of, you cannot command me to do things, what you don't know I can accomplish. As an example: you would never asked me to build you a gravity room until now."

Regardless how he tried to find an error in her logic, Vegeta knew she was right. It made him angry to feel cornered by a mere woman, who wasn't even a fighter. He could kill her without breaking a sweat, while somehow she found her own strength and leverage despite being weak. While saiyan women could speak their opinion unless it was their mate, they never quite argued the way this woman did. Despite feeling annoyed, at some level it was refreshing and he found it enjoyable to speak with her. This, just made him annoyed even more, still didn't change his feelings.

"What do you want in return?"

"Spend a day with me and have fun! Or at least try to have fun!"

When Bulma saw Vegeta's stunned face, she added:

"It's not a date, I just want to hang around as friends."

"Friends?"

"You know, somebody with whom you are on good terms, who you like." When Bulma looked at the saiyan and saw he was still not getting it she added: "Somebody towards whom you are not hostile."

"And what's a date?"

"It's not a date!" Bulma blushed slightly.

"I heard that, but what's a date?"

"It's when… you are courting somebody to find out whether you really like him/her or not. Romantically."

"Romantically? What stupid terms are you using?!"

"You date somebody before you have sex damn it!" Bulma shouted, causing the other scientist to look at her. "And if you dare to ask me what sex is…"

"I know that!" Vegeta shouted back, his face fully red.

It had taken him completely off guard how the woman simply mentioned this to him in a room where even others were present. Saiyans never spoke of this matter in public and she was shouting. Was she really insane or she just had no shame? Bulma was amazed by the fact that she made the king blush. He was always so composed, like a statue and he was almost impossible to read, unless the emotion was anger. Why was he acting like a teenager when she mentioned sex? Sure, it wasn't the most comfortable topic to discuss, but she merely mentioned it and his face became so red what she never saw before. She tried to repress a smile when she asked:

"So, will you spend a day with me as a friend, if I build you the gravity room? While you might still consider no as an answer, let me remind you that I might have another brilliant idea what I won't share with you!"

"Damn it, you have yourself a deal. But I only go, when the gravity machine is ready and it's working as designed!"

"Sure!"

With that settled, Vegeta walked out of the room, completely forgotten the original reason why he got there in the first place and also forgetting about the saiyans playing cards.

After a few day rest, Goku continued his training and also trained Gohan. He was quite surprised about the potential what Gohan had, he was already way stronger than he himself was at age 15 when he took part in the great tournament for the second time. He ended up having a second student as well; his father who one day suddenly asked him to teach him the technique of sensing and repressing one's Ki.

"I know Vegeta figured out on his own, but I just cannot get the hang of it" Bardock confessed.

"I'm pretty sure you will master it within days" Goku smiled.

Truth was, until their fishing trip he hasn't spoken much with his father, but since then they began to have some kind of relationship. They took an another trip to the mountains just a few days ago, this time with Chichi as well and the two saiyan talked a bit, getting to know each other. Bardock remembered how disappointed he was when he heard that his second son was born with a really low power level and he even felt ashamed, when he was bought back here, failing to do even a simple mission; destroying Earth. He was nothing more than a low-class warrior. While Karris mentioned to him that Goku got stronger over the years, he never assumed how much he actually improved. By now he was stronger than Radditz and maybe even by Karris.

"Will you spare with me once you learn this technique?" Goku asked, with shining eyes.

"Why not? But I must warn you; I won't go easy on you just because you are my son!"

Bardock was almost as excited about this fight as Goku. He met challenging enemies more often than Vegeta, still this last fight with the Ginyu force was the first, what he lost. He felt angry and frustrated and he was determined to become stronger. That was the only reason why he even considered asking for help. Gohan watched with awe as the two full blooded saiyan fought against each other. At first he could follow their movement, but as they finished "warming-up", and took each other seriously, it took him a great effort, just to follow them with his eyes. After half an hour both of them were panting and bleeding from some injuries, while their uniforms became ripped. Yet, neither of them wanted to finish as they both enjoyed the challenge. As they were at almost the same power level, the fight was mostly decided how precise their techniques were and how much experience they had in real battles. They were entirely lost in the fight, when Vegeta stepped in. He felt some extremely high Ki's and while he recognised them as Kakarott's and Bardock's, they seemed too high to belong to them. When he stepped into the training room, he was amazed seeing their fight. While it wasn't a life and death fight, none of them was holding back. The fight with the Ginyu force made them stronger, as every near-death fight made the saiyans stronger once they were healed. When a couple of seconds later Bardock crashed into the wall, making a "new entrance" to the room, both he and Vegeta looked at Goku astonished. While Bardock was still able to fight, it was clear that he was defeated by his son. It was a mystery how somebody could improve so much during such a short time. Then again, Kakarott mentioned to him that he was learning from other races. Was he right? Could it be that weaker races still had some useful techniques and they could teach saiyans something new, even though they concurred them? It was a strange idea, as teaching wasn't even common among saiyans. Yet, Kakarott also said that he always had some kind of master, who taught him. Was it one of his secrets, that he was willing to ask for help? Even so, he had no pride as a saiyan. Saiyans just don't ask for help, especially not outside their race.

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku smiled at him, when he realised they had visitors. "I'm sorry for the wall!"

"Within a couple of days the new training room will be ready with the new walls and it seems that not just my elite fighters will need it, but also you." Vegeta answered.

"Yeah, Bulma told me about it. She is such a genius for thinking about it!"

Vegeta decided not to comment on that, instead he began to leave.

"Do you want to spar as well? I was shocked when I saw you fighting Jeice!" Goku asked, causing the king to stop and look back at him.

He considered the question and that alone indicated that he acknowledged Kakarott as an elite fighter. He agreed, then left the room.

"Do you want to continue?" Bardock asked, looking at his son.

"I…" he began, but he felt the pangs of hunger and finished: "I'm starving, but I' looking forward to a rematch!"

Half an hour passed and two saiyan stood in the palace, looking out of the windows, watching the small kids play. Gohan, although grew up in Planet Vegeta, heard about many games, what humans played and he was willing to teach the others as well. Right now it was raining and the small garden behind the palace was pure mud, so much that the children were ankle-deep in it. Still, they seemed to enjoy it as they were playing tag. They were laughing as one of them fall in the mud, making every inch of his clothes dirty. Even for saiyans it was hard to run at such a ground, which just made the whole play more interesting.

"I have never seen brats act like that" Bardock confessed, looking at Goku.

"No? It's quite common between human children and I think they also like it."

"Seems like it. Since Gohan started playing with them as you call it, they seem more cheerful and even more motivated to train as they knew, they can go out later to have "fun"."

"I heard Bulma made a gambling-den from the lab, at least in the afternoons. She is quite determined to teach you what fun is." The younger saiyan said.

"I never would have believed it, but the saiyans are beginning to respect her; a mere slave."

"Well, she is really something else." Goku smiled, scratching the back of his head.

"Humans are the most interesting race I have ever met."

"How come you don't have a new wife, or mate, whatever you call it…?

Bardock wasn't anticipating this sudden change of subject, or the question at all. Sure, many of the saiyans asked him the same question and he was tired of trying to find out some reason for it as the real reason was somewhat "not normal" for saiyans. Yet, maybe he could try to explain it to his son. Coming to this conclusion stirred up a memory when Radditz asked the same question and he was trying to explain the truth to him. Radditz just failed to understand it, even though he knew her. He sighed and decided to risk it again:

"I'm not sure how to explain it, as the truth sounds strange in saiyans standards. Maybe you are already aware that a saiyan is not forced to choose a mate. But when you choose a mate, it's for life, which usually ends in a couple of years as one of the "participants" dies. Mating is pre-arranged for royals and higher level fighters, why middle-level and low class warriors are free to choose among their own rank. As a low level fighter I also was free to choose, just like your mother. Yet, our parents agreed that we mate when we were only children. That's nothing special, arranged mating happens also in the low class. We only met one day before the mating and I was not sure what to expect. When I saw her for the first time I was happy that she was pretty, but that was all what I ever expected to feel. We were simply left alone in our new chambers as soon as they introduced us and I was extremely nervous. Somehow she began to talk with me and I only noticed that we still haven't officially mated, when we were talking since hours. Your mother had quite a good sense of humour, which is extremely rare among saiyans, though I have a feeling that it's something common between humans. I felt like she put some kind of spell on me and within a short time I… I grew quite found of her."

"You were in love, right?" Goku asked, finally gasping what his father was trying to say.

"Saiyans don't know this word, we hardly even use the expression "being found of somebody". So, I'm not exactly sure what love means. But whatever we felt, it's something most of the saiyans never experience…"

Bardock couldn't bring himself to reveal the fact, that he was even crying when she died. Crying was something what only little brats did, under the age of two.

"I think I know what you mean. I married Chichi because I promised her, but when I did that I though marriage was some kind of food." Goku smiled sheepishly.