I just want to start off by saying that I'm not entirely happy with the way that this chapter turned out and after staring cussing threatening and outright begging the story to tell me why it remained stubbornly quiet. So now I turn to you my readers to please tell me where I'm going wrong and I will try in future chapters to correct the problem. For example my friend Cara2012, believes that Prince Vegeta is too bratty and that I need to stop driving them apart and start bringing them together (all planned for the chapters to come) She also kinda says that our adorable Prince needs more pride and less snob. So let me know guys.

Chapter 7.

The King stood alone in his son's room. It had been two and a half days and it had occurred to him to see if the child was still even alive. He frowned down at the sight that greeted him upon entering the room.

The Prince lay on his side, his bangs in a tousled and even cute mess across his forehead. His face was for once free of all sneers, scowls and arrogant smirks. He was still in his armour and the King thought slightly gleefully that he was going to be feeling that when he woke up.

However this wasn't what displeased him. It was the arm that was curled protectively around the Sayian low class runt that had him frowning. Said runt was lying curled into the Prince's chest with his tail disgracefully twinned with the Prince's. That was too much for King Vegeta as he wondered briefly whether to stare until his son woke up because of it and slowly realise the position he was in or whether to shock him out of his little nap.

While both were appealing the first one was more amusing. So the King shifted till he was comfortable enough to stand for a very long period and waited. He wasn't oblivious to the fact that his son was far too spoilt than he should ever have been. Sometimes humility was good for a Sayian but it was far too late now as the Prince would simply kill anyone who opposed him. Yet he allowed the low class child to live?

Prince Vegeta huffed in his sleep and drew his arm more tightly around the child. The King's eye started to twitch when the child started to purr. He wasn't opposed to a male and male union, he was opposed to a royalty and low class union. Besides, his son, as the first born Prince was to produce a heir and therefore had to take a female mate, even if he did so just for appearances and male children.

When Prince Vegeta turned onto his back with his tight hold on the child bringing him with so that he now rested on the Prince's chest, the King's patience snapped.

"Vegeta!" he barked.

While the child just mumbled and paused in his purring for a few seconds, Prince Vegeta's eyes flew open. The King watched in satisfaction as he processed the position he was in. He watched the shock melt away to confusion, then realisation, then surprise and finally anger.

"Get off me!" he yelled at the now startled Kakarot.

Kakarot jumped up and looked around in utter confusion. While he floated in the air Prince Vegeta threw off the covers and stormed passed his father to go to the bathroom. The King raised an eyebrow at his son's unusually placid response. He had been expecting a lot more fuss. Perhaps he wasn't awake enough yet. He knew his son enough to know that tempers were going to be flaring and high.

The King's attention was drawn back to the low class child as he lowered to the floor and started hopping. When the shower started in the bathroom his expression turned pained.

"Uhm, where's the bathroom?" Kakarot asked hopping over to the King and giving a short and hurried bow.

The King thought about sending him to where the Prince was currently showering but decided the construction wasn't worth it and directed him to the one in the room next door.

Prince Vegeta took a long and hot shower, simply standing under the water and enjoying the sensation of it running down his body, soothing his aching muscles. Aching muscles was nothing new to him, it was welcomed in fact. It was the fact that he had been holding the child like a lover that bugged him. Kakarot was never going to be an option. He was thirteen for one thing and he was a low class runt for another. He was also not homosexual.

So then their position that morning could be more like he was protecting the child. Protecting him from what? He distinctly remembered thinking that the child was too innocent and trusting for his own good. So maybe as the Sayian Prince he felt it was his duty to enlighten the child, but protect him? That would imply that he was condoning the innocent friendliness, which he was NOT.

He remembered Kakarot's purring and his age, indicators of puberty and groaned. Just his fricken luck. What if Kakarot was homosexual? What if he just thought he was because of his stupid out of control hormones? This was going to get even more irritating. He needed to kill something and soon.

When the Prince entered the dining area it was empty except for Kakarot, who was sitting at the table in the corner. He glanced at the Prince and away from the food long enough to smile. Prince Vegeta did not return the gesture and proceeded to ignore Kakarot as he ate his own food, making up for the missed days. He felt stronger in a weird way. Perhaps being bitten hadn't been entirely bad after all.

Kakarot finished before he did and he as the Sayian walked passed him he swallowed the food in his mouth to bark, "Meet me in the throne room in one hour and bring that fuzz ball with you."

Kakarot just nodded and said "Ohkay." in an annoyingly cheerful voice before continuing to leave. Prince Vegeta chewed his food carefully as he thought over his plans for the day. He had to do something about that runt and fast. Whatever had been forming between them - and there was nothing - had to be stopped. It had to be snipped in the bud, prevented from getting any further than the nothing that it was. Besides he was now behind in his training and it was all Kakarot's fault. The brat was supposed to be there to help him with his training, not hinder it!

Prince Vegeta stormed out of the dining room with a huff of frustration. He barely even noticed the guards wincing away from him in fear. He had a reputation after all. Explosive unpredictable bouts of rage. Nothing and no one was safe when that happened.

His red cape snapped with the force of his turn as he entered the corridor that took him straight to the throne room. He was too impatient to wait for the doors to open and simply blasted them to smoking piles of almost nonexistent ash.

The previous buzz of political arguments immediately ceased as a very clearly moody Prince walked through the doorway.

"Ahh, it's good to see you well and rested my Prince." A slithery slimy oily repulsive snake of a Sayian hissed out with a bow.

"Shut it!" Prince Vegeta snapped wanting to just blast the moron instead but he had other ideas and he didn't want to ruin the impending satisfaction he was going to experience because of it.

Prince Vegeta spun in his heel so fast his cape all but whipped out the sound of his anger. He crossed his arms and stared daggers at the door . . . waiting.

Oh yes this was going to be glorious. He couldn't kill the twerp. Not yet. Should Kakarot surpass him then the day that happened would be his last.

Prince Vegeta's glare turned to a slow cruel smirk as Kakarot poked his head around the door looking more than a little lost and most certainly uncomfortable.

"Hurry up!" The Prince barked when it became apparent that Kakarot was quickly becoming overwhelmed.

He jumped and looked at the Prince. He then walked further into the room, glancing around much like he had the first day he was in the palace. The Prince watched him and realised two things. He wasn't scared of all the Sayians staring at him. In fact he was openly ignoring them. It seemed that his nervousness stemmed from the sheer size of the room he was in and its opulence. He wasn't used to the utter uselessness of half the krap in the room, most of which was there only for appearance.

"Still today runt!" The Prince snapped.

Kakarot walked faster before stopping just in front of Prince Vegeta and bowing. He turned slightly and bowed to the King as well. The King was watching with silent amusement, knowing his son well enough to know that something was about to happen and whatever it was it couldn't be good.

"I see you brought that disgusting dust mite." Prince Vegeta commented noting the fluffy creature perched on Kakarot's shoulder.

"Well you did tell me to and he kinda wouldn't have stayed put if I told him to anyways." Kakarot answered with a casual shrug that made a vein in the Prince's forehead throb at the lack of respect due to his title but he said nothing.

"Make it come here." Prince Vegeta ordered instead.

Kakarot eyebrows pulled together in confusion but he lifted a hand to the fluffy creature anyways. Kree happily flopped onto his hand with a squeak and Kakarot brought the thing closer to his face and stared into its large eyes with a solemn expression.

"Now remember Kree. NO BITING THE PRINCE." Kakarot said seriously, even nodding his head a little with each word spoken.

He then walked closer to the Prince and held out his hand. Prince Vegeta raised his own gloved hand and the creature hopped onto it with seemingly no distrust what's so ever. The Prince raised his now occupied hand to eye level so that he could study the creature that had rendered him nothing more than a warm statue for two days. He was surprised that he could feel a tiny thrum of a heart beat faster than his own by nature and the warmth that radiated off the thing. All indicators that this thing was alive, it was breathing. It had life and yet it was so small. How could something so small be alive? It was also extremely weak. Prince Vegeta would have to make a conscious effort when handling it not to kill the thing accidently. Yet . . . this tiny weak insignificant glorified dust buster had stripped him of his power and made a fool out of him.

Prince Vegeta simply closed his fingers. A simple action amplified by the use of his Ki. There was a screech of pain, a crunch and squelch, then nothing but silence. A silence which was punctured by heavy laboured breathing that increased as the seconds passed.

Prince Vegeta sent a concentrated amount of Ki to his hand to dispel of the mess and the body. He watched Kakarot in his peripheral vision, drinking in the wide shocked and betrayed eyes, the open mouth and the heavily heaving chest. Those wide innocent eyes glistened with tears that did not fall.

"What's the matter runt? You look like you lost something." The Prince sneered turning his attention to the Sayian more fully, more noticeably.

Kakarot gulped and composed his features before quickly shaking his head and straightening his posture. He asked no questions as his gaze slid to the floor. No tears fell either and Prince Vegeta was surprised by that, but he wasn't done yet. Since Kakarot was looking down he didn't see the shift in the Prince's posture. Most didn't see it either because it was too fast for them to follow.

The Prince crouched down and thrust his fist forwards. All Kakarot could do was choke on the blood that filled his mouth as the Prince buried his fist in his stomach.

"You will remember your place low class runt and remember it well. The only thing keeping you alive is the fact that you might be useful to me but the moment that ceases to be true, you die." The Prince whispered in his ear before straightening.

Kakarot fell to his knees without the support of the Prince and he struggled not to cry out. Even if he could manage to get a sound out around the fact that he couldn't breathe he didn't want to. He had been suppressing his Ki so the blow hurt a lot more than what it should have.

"You're not here for a holiday runt. You're here to work so I suggest you move your ass on over to the training rooms." Prince Vegeta said coldly as he walked past the still kneeling boy and towards the throne room doors that no longer existed.

The King frowned slightly at his son's behaviour. It was still not as violent as he had come to expect from his son. Perhaps he was only in that opinion because he hadn't killed anyone yet. There was almost always someone dying. This time it was only a creature. In fact the whole thing appeared to be geared towards the destruction of Kakarot's emotions, his trust. Now why would that arrogant foolhardy hot-headed son of his pay so much attention to a low class runt?

The King decided to play closer attention to the two. Only when the Prince couldn't see did Kakarot let a single tear fall down his cheek. I trusted you . . . but more importantly why do I still want to make you smile?

Kakarot was grateful that the Prince had left first. It meant that he could just simply follow his Ki to find the training rooms that he didn't know about. He didn't even know his way around the place. So far he had been managing to make it by luck and a little bit of skill.

He couldn't get the image of Kree being crushed to death and then disintegrated into nothing from his mind. It was burned into his memory and he had to force down the tears once again. Prince Vegeta had known nothing more than the constant battle to survive. When he no longer needed to worry about assassinations he had to worry about the weight of being chosen to defeat Frieza one day. A weight that had been unfairly placed on his young shoulders. These were the excuses Kakarot tried to use to reason with himself over the Prince's behaviour. Still a small part of him was hurt beyond repair but then again it was just a part of him that joined many others.

Radditz held a large portion of those damaged, hurt pieces. However Kakarot had the feeling that Prince Vegeta would quickly take over that title. Now was not the time for self pity. He needed to be in the training room and obey his Prince, keep his promise. He had after all agreed to do as the Prince told him to in exchange for his family's health. So he had no choice but to walk into the training room where the Prince was already fighting with invisible foes.

"You will stay over there until I need you." Prince Vegeta barked from his spot in the air.

Kakarot was too depressed to even look up at the Prince. He just sat down in a corner and slumped against the wall. The soles of his boots were pressed together and he was staring at those boots as he tried to process the actions of his Prince and the situation he now found himself in.

He sat like that for hours as the Prince went through training assessment after training assessment. A tiny voice told Kakarot that he should be watching this, should be learning but he didn't. He was still trying to find it in himself to move passed Kree's murder at the hands of his Prince. Really, what was he thinking? Prince Vegeta had been the one that had beaten his father to near death. Why had he trusted him again? Why . . . why . . . why . . . why . . . . . There were endless why questions and he really just did not have the answers for them.

A particularly large explosion finally caught Kakarot's attention since it landed directly above him. He turned his wide eyed gaze once more to the Prince but the Prince was frowning in another direction. Kakarot looked at the scorched metal above him and tried to imagine what had transpired but he couldn't and he was disappointed in himself for not watching.

"Nappa! It's still not right. You're supposed to be the army's fighting expert. Tell me what's wrong!" Prince Vegeta yelled and Kakarot looked everywhere for Nappa, the Prince's reputed and unnecessary bodyguard.

Yet he was not there. Kakarot then spotted the neon blue strips of cameras lining the walls, recording the Prince's every move. A dangerous action but they wanted to correct any and all mistakes in the Prince's fighting techniques.

"You move too fast for us to actually see you Prince, we have to go over the tapes. Why don't you train with the runt for now? See what all the hype is about." Nappa's sugary sweet voice replied via intercom. The Prince hated the way he kissed up all the time.

Prince Vegeta turned slowly to stare down at Kakarot who was currently hugging his knees. All that could be seen of him were his large eyes.

"On your feet, front and centre." Prince Vegeta barked using army terms to address the thirteen year old.

Kakarot got to his feet and stretched before walking over to the Prince. He was shorter than the Prince for now but he was still growing.

"First things first. I want to know what your power level is." Prince Vegeta said starting to circle Kakarot.

"I don't know." Kakarot replied with a shrug.

This made Prince Vegeta falter in his pacing. Power levels were everything yet this child didn't seem to care where his fell. Nappa's power was just under the King's at nine thousand or so. The King was about twelve thousand and the Prince was at about seventeen thousand.

"How do you measure your power?" Prince Vegeta asked resuming his pacing.

"I suppose the regular way. The difference is only in the fact that I hide my power." Kakarot replied.

To hide one's power? So simple yet so farfetched. Could such a thing even be achieved?

"Show me!"

Kakarot was reluctant to reveal his true strength to the Prince and so he wouldn't. Not yet any ways. He'd only go so far as ten thousand or so. He got into a slightly crouched position and tensed his muscles. His aura exploded around him in a blaze of silvery white as the number's on Prince Vegeta's scouter rose rapidly. His hair shot up and waved in the wind his own Ki was creating. His armour didn't give way to the wind since it was skin tight for the most part. Since he wasn't trying to power up as fast as possible he didn't need to yell out the pain that that caused. It did cause pain weirdly enough. As one's Ki rocketed back to the level it was supposed to be at it sent waves of power through your body at such intense speeds and amounts that it was physically painful as well as exhilarating. A rush that made you feel invincible if you weren't used to it.

"It's over 9000!" Prince Vegeta exclaimed watching the numbers with wide eyed shock. (Sorry. I just couldn't resist.)

Kakarot took that as his cue to stop powering up. Not his maximum but a lot more than he'd ever allowed himself to handle before. It was quite the experience. He smiled and flexed his fingers, enjoying the feeling. He then flipped backwards onto his hands and started to do push ups. He laughed at the free feeling in his chest that was bubbling to the surface.

"Wow. I never knew being this high up would feel so cool." Kakarot yelled happily with a carefree laugh.

Prince Vegeta watched him and was confused by his sheer joy in the simple actions he was doing. He was moving faster than before but that was the only difference the Prince could pick up on.

"Stop fooling around! You're here to aid in my training not to have fun!" Prince Vegeta barked when his confusion became to frustrating for him.

Kakarot froze mid loop-de-loop and looked at the Prince in his own innocent confusion. He then lowered to the floor near the Prince and smiled.

"Sorry. I've just never allowed myself to show that much power before." he explained sheepishly.

"Get into a fighting stance." Prince Vegeta replied lowering into one of his own.

He was anxious to see what this kid could do. He was also anxious to work on some of his frustrations. He knew that Kakarot was still currently lower than him but he was far stranger than the other Sayians around them and that had to at least count for something, right? Kakarot did lower into a crouched position and the Prince sprang into the attack.

Kakarot took his first punch on the jaw, a kick to the ribs and knee to the stomach before he could even begin to fight back. He rolled out of the way, retreating away from the Prince's onslaught, his ruthless attack. Kakarot frowned when he realised that he was back to defence and that the Prince really didn't spar so much as tried his best to hit you as hard as possible.

Prince Vegeta didn't understand the difference between Saibamen and training bots compared to Kakarot, a living breathing Sayian. While the child could take more than the other Sayians he wasn't used to the brutality that the Prince was accustomed to dishing out towards the various training equipment he had destroyed, seeing Frieza's face in every one.

Kakarot had also semi reverted back to the Sayian fighting style rather than the one he himself had devised. He wasn't as fluid in his movement and so he made more than a few mistakes, lowering the already less than mighty opinion that the Prince had of him. Kakarot didn't care what that Prince thought about him but he did care that it would cause a further rift between them, but could they move passed Kree? Kakarot was still sad about it but he wasn't angry at the Prince, never had been to begin with.

One particularly harsh kick sent Kakarot sliding across the room. He was panting, battered and bruised but he was still standing and still ready to go, just slower than before. He noticed that the Prince had an audience and that the Prince was in fact hurt more than he was letting on. His audience was part of his distraction. If he ignored those around him, he'd probably learn more but he cared too much about what his father saw in him.

"Prince we have the reviews of the tapes ready." Nappa's voice blared interrupting the Prince's near punch.

"Lucky for you." Prince Vegeta huffed before yanking his armour over his head, grabbing a towel and walking casually from the room.

Kakarot had been holding back and because of this Prince Vegeta was fuming. Yet he hadn't had fight such as that one in a long time even if it was pathetic. Kakarot had certainly lasted longer than Nappa usually did and that was an accomplishment in itself.

Kakarot did not follow the Prince already knowing what he would see. They would tell him that strategically and technically his fighting style was flawless but Kakarot knew better. Prince Vegeta for one thing still fought like a Sayian. Kakarot's tail tightened around his waist as he thought it over. Yes, his fighting as a Sayian was flawless but the style itself had many, many flaws.

Kakarot was so deep in thought that he didn't notice the King enter. He jumped however when the deep quiet voice rumbled behind him. "I fear that my son is not the one to free us from the control of the Lizard Lord."

"I didn't think you were afraid of anything." Kakarot replied turning around and looking up.

A tiny smile tugged on the corners of the King's mouth but those corners did not lift. He stared at Kakarot as though he were a puzzle that needed solving.

"Why do you fight with a style you have not perfected?" The King eventually asked.

"What do you mean?" Kakarot asked in genuine confusion.

"I am no fool, Sayian. I lived my life in war. I know about fighting in a way my son never will. He's never had to be responsible for the death of many, his own kind or that of another." King Vegeta rumbled impatiently.

"I don't want to actually fight with the Prince." Kakarot replied quietly as well as looking down.

"That's too bad. You have to fight with him. He'll never let you continue with your life as it was. You see he's never really had an equal. He's enjoying himself too much now. With you here and being able to keep up with him, only slightly slower and weaker he's experiencing sparring like he's never done so before. Still he's arrogant and fool-hardy. He likes to blind himself from the truth because I allowed his pride to develop far higher than I should've." The King replied in a wary tone.

"I think he just needs a different situation." Kakarot mused looking to the side.

"I think he needs a good lesson in humility. He doesn't even notice that you're toying with him." The King replied impatiently.

"I was not." Kakarot protested.

"Maybe not in the sense that you have more power than him because you don't, that much I can tell. It's more in the sense that you're deliberately lowering your abilities. It's disrespectful you know." King Vegeta replied waving a hand dismissively.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kakarot asked.

"I told you earlier, I fear that my son is not the one to free us from the Lizard Lord. Therefore . . . Prince Vegeta might not be the next King." King Vegeta replied before leaving the room and leaving poor Kakarot very confused.