While the Ginyu force was no longer a threat, Freeza continued his attack against the saiyans. Vegeta was well aware, that he had to face the tyrant in the near future as this war was dragging out longer than he ever intended too. Yet, since the Ginyu force, he was also well aware, that with his power, he cannot take Freeza. Thanks to the gravity room, he trained harder than ever. While Goku asked him to spar again, for the time being he refused it. Goku couldn't understand his behaviour, yet now that he proved himself in the last battle, he became one of the elite as well. That wasn't anything exciting for him, as he never really cared what his place was in saiyan society.

"You can move to the royal wing now" Bardock told him one day, after they finished their morning sparring.

"I have no issues with my chambers" Goku answered.

"Maybe it doesn't matter for you, but I believe your mate will be quite happy once she will see your new chambers."

Goku stopped and thought about it for a moment. Yeah, his father might be right; Chichi always complained how terrible it was that they had to share such a small room. It turned out, Bardock was right; Chichi was overjoyed and she alone moved all of their stuff within one hour. While mid- and low-class warriors had just a small room and used shared bathrooms, the royal accommodations were much better. They had a huge living room, with two bedrooms and a connected bathroom. The bathroom had while tiling and a huge bathtub, which was almost good for swimming. Both bedrooms had a huge king-sized bed and they were covered with some fine carpet. Also, while normal rooms had no decoration, this quarter had some paintings on the wall and two horse-shaped sculptures next to the entrance. As an additional reward, Chichi was no longer working in the kitchen as a slave; she could choose which tasks she wanted to do. Normally women fought alongside with men, but as she wasn't a saiyan, she was never sent on missions; hence she needed to have some other chores.

"Are you ready for the new mission?" Karris asked as he came to Goku's chamber to inform him about their new assignment.

"I'm!" he smiled. "I had nothing to do since weeks and I was beginning to miss the action!"

"Maybe you should also bring Gohan. This won't be a bloody mission and it's about time he sees some actions."

Gohan was thrilled, when he heard the news and he was jumping up and down, while they walked towards the spaceships. True, he was only just 3, but most of the saiyans were sent out to missions shortly after they were born and those few higher levels who remained on the planet usually had their assignments at 2. Gohan was somewhat jealous when he heard their stories and he couldn't believe that finally he was also leaving the planet. Goku couldn't help, but feel a little nostalgic as he once again set foot on Orion. It was his first assignment and now he was back with Karris and Gohan to protect it again. This time though the Orions were his friends and now he was stronger than Karris. He also managed to convince him to spar a few times and while he was challenging, it was clear for both of them, who was stronger. Karris also remembered on their first mission and though about how he assumed Goku was just some crazy guy, who will be killed soon. Yet now, within just 3 years he improved so much more, than he thought it was possible and earned not just his respect, but the others' as well. He was no longer the saiyan who failed his mission, to destroy Earth; he was the saiyan who, despite born as a low-class warrior, managed to became one of the elites. Not even Bardock managed to pull it off within such a short time and he was the second best, following Vegeta. Karris wanted to turn on his scouter, than he remembered he didn't need it any more as he also learned how to sense Ki. They soon reached Freeza's troops, who were torturing some of the children, while the parents stood there, unable to do something. As the soldiers saw the saiyans, most of them became pale, while the Orions were happy and welcomed them. They considered Goku as their friends and Karris also never hurt them in the past. As the two grown up saiyans fought the soldiers, they allowed Gohan to also take out his part. Gohan first had no idea what to do and he froze as one of the soldiers targeted him. He was sure he will die, but Goku's energy beam hit the soldier and it flew past to him, crashing into a rock.

"I'm here if you need help" Goku called, encouraging his son.

Gohan relaxed a bit, knowing that his father was keeping an eye on him. While he fought all his life, training was nothing compared to a real fight. Not because the soldiers were powerful; most of them were no match for him, it was rather the feeling, that they wanted to kill him for real. It was not something what he ever felt before. Yet, after deflecting the first couple of attacks, Gohan relaxed a bit and after a while he concentrated so much on the fight that he had no idea what was going on around him otherwise. Karris watched with awe as Gohan fought; he was more skilled that anybody he has seen at his age. Truthfully, he could have taken on a low level grown up saiyan any time. That again pointed his attention to Goku. He trained his son from the beginning and he also knew that Goku asked for help from their slaves as well. Despite all saiyan customs, it proved that he was right, teaching and learning were working wonders.

"Did you seriously took Gohan to a mission without my permission?" Chichi shouted, when Goku got back with Gohan to their chambers.

"It was a sudden idea and you were busy" Goku tried to explain, while scratching the back of his head.

"I wasn't that busy!"

"Chichi you knew that he will be assigned to missions, it's not like…"

"Sure, but I expected that it would be rather later than sooner and anyhow you should have told me!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Are you all right, my little angel?" Chichi asked, crouching down to Gohan.

"Yes, I'm fine" Gohan answered.

Almost a whole year passed and the war went on. Some saiyans were searching for Freeza so they would always know where he was, in order to make any necessary precaution in case needed. Goku convinced Vegeta to train together at least once in a while and while the king was unwilling at the beginning, he saw the huge opportunity in it later. When he was not on missions, he was in the training room and only on rare occasions did he attend to his duty as a king.

"Check-mate!" Bulma called with a satisfied smile on her face.

Vegeta looked at the board, trying to find a way out, but she was right, he lost. After their first attempt to have fun, somehow it became a custom that occasionally they spent time together. Sure, at given projects Vegeta also came to the lab to follow-up, but occasionally they had some non-date dates. While Bulma knew it won't progress beyond friendship, she still enjoyed those short period of times. Yet, recently she asked herself, why was Vegeta willing to spend time with her? Sure it wasn't much; just a couple of hours at every week; they had no full-day trip since they visited the beach, but still. They were sitting in the royal garden, under a willow, playing chess.

"I'm still leading by 4" Vegeta said, standing up.

"Even so, I'm more than a wordy opponent" she smiled also getting up and stretching.

"Maybe"

"Can I touch your hair?" Bulma suddenly asked.

"What?" Vegeta asked, taken aback by this sudden change of topic and also by the question itself.

"Since a while I'm wondering what makes your hand stand up. I mean it contradicts gravity so much."

Vegeta was not sure what to say and he just stood there, when the woman stepped closer and run her fingers through his hair. He almost felt like her touch electrocuted him.

"Wow, it's so soft!"

Before Vegeta could stop himself, he touched her hair. While she wanted to know what makes his hair standing up, he wondered, why her hair was not that way. Every saiyan had a strange hairstyle with human measurements, but her hair was just as strange for saiyans. Bulma smiled as his fingers touched her and their eyes locked. While they were always keeping a safe distance for a while now as both of them craved the other, somehow they ended up really close now. Bulma felt how her heart began to beat like she was running and she was unable to stop herself, she leaned closer and kissed Vegeta. She was expecting him to push her away, yet only after a second, he was kissing her back passionately. Bulma wrapped her arms around his neck, while Vegeta grabbed her waist and pulled her closer so that their bodies were pressed together. He felt like he will explode from all the tension and he had no idea how a kiss could affect him so much. It's not like he haven't kissed before. There were planets with concubines, even if it was something what never existed on Planet Vegeta. As for Bulma, she also couldn't understand the feeling, what this kiss awakened in her. She was half conscious how aroused she suddenly became, yet it was still a shock when she felt Vegeta's erection pressed against her. Vegeta's hand travelled to her ass and as he grabbed it, Bulma moaned with pleasure. Suddenly he became full aware what they were doing and he quickly withdraw, pushing her away slightly. They were both out of breath, their faces slightly red and they looked at each other like they couldn't believe what happened just now.

"I…" Bulma began, but stopped.

What was she planning to say? That she was sorry? Hell, she wasn't sorry at all; it was the best kiss in her life! Then was she planning to confess her love? Also not a good idea. Sure he was kissing her back, but it wasn't like he was feeling the same. For him it just might have been a challenge to get her. Though he never seemed the type and Bulma has never seen him with a woman, at least not that way.

"I should go now" she heard herself saying, then left quickly.

She hated herself for running away, yet she felt weak to face the saiyan right now. She needed time to figure out what the heck was going on between them. She tried to tell herself they were simply friends, while she knew it was a lie. She was friends with Goku, but not with Vegeta. They were close and she was in love, yet… he was still very distant and hardly ever showed his emotions. It was also clear, that he had a low opinion about every race, who were not strong enough to match the saiyans, still… she felt like he respected her expertise and knowledge. Vegeta was at least as confused as Bulma, maybe even more. During the last year he began to enjoy her company and their time together. He admitted that she had an effect on him, like nobody else had, but he couldn't define what he felt for her. And this kiss… how could he let it happen? He was the king, royal, while she was just a human. The most frightening thing was, that it wasn't just physical craving. Or… well he wanted to touch her, feel her and kiss her… but… He mentally punched himself for allowing his thought to run wildly. He had to avoid her, at least for a couple of days, until he can gather his thoughts.

While both Bulma and Vegeta wanted to keep a safe distance, it seemed like fate had other intentions. The next day an alien spaceship landed on Planet Vegeta and a 2 meters high blue humanoid stepped out of it, who had pointy ears and long red claws. The king had no idea what to think, when his guards led this creature to the throne room. He could sense the it's Ki and it wasn't very impressive so he ordered the guards to release him.

"What do you want?" He asked, looking down at him from his throne.

The blue man looked around the room first, before speaking. The room wasn't extravagant but it was huge. There were pillars holding the ceiling and from the door until the throne a red carpet covered the way. It was simple but exactly this simplicity implied strength. The throne was raised slightly higher then the ground and 6-7 carpeted stair risers leaded to it. The carpet had one golden streak on each side along the way. The throne was mainly red and not over designed. Here on the wall there were some pictures from the members of the royal family.

"My name is Al and I'm from Planet Aoi. I came here to ask for your help."

"For my help?" Vegeta ased with a smirk. "Are you sure you are on the right planet?"

"I know that you are saiyans and it was my intention to land here."

"You should also know, that we are not the kind who is helping others. Just by coming here you are risking your life."

"I'm well aware of that, but I just had to take the chance. We heard that you are the only race who is capable to fight and win against Freeza's troops. I know you had some casualities, still it's a fact that you are not just defending this planet but 20 others as well; your colonies. We are a big race, we live on 5 planets what are located next to each other and a couple of months ago Freeza tried to invade one of them. We have an advanced technology, yet even so we are loosing the war. As soon as they take the first planet, they won't stop until they invade all 5 of our worlds. If you are willing to help us, we can supply you with technology. I'm quite sure your scientist will agree that we have something to offer."

Vegeta leaned back to think about it. While saiyans never protected anybody before, the main reason why they killed races was to get money or technology. Gaining that by helping others was something, what never happened before, yet it also made sense.

"How will I know in advance, that your technology is indeed any use for me?" Vegeta finally asked.

"I have a blueprint from one of our engines for spaceships. I'm confident regardless what technology you have, this will be much better."

"Ask the woman to come here!" the king ordered Karris, who was quetly listening the whole time.

When Bulma stepped to the throneroom, she was already aware why she had to go there as Karris told her quickly. It was the first time that she entered the throne room and she looked around curiously. When her eyes met with the king's, she quickly looked away and decided to study Al instead.

"I'm not a scientist, hence I cannot answer your questions, also this plan is not sufficient for you to replicate the technology, yet you have to see the potential." Al explained it to her and handed over a couple of papers.

Bulma looked at the plan with growing interest. At the first minute it became clear that it was more advanced, than what she had ever seen. Vegeta stood up from the throne and slowly walked next to them, also looking at the plans.

"Woman, what do you think?" He asked after a few minutes.

"Wow, it's impressive. With this engine your spaceships would be at least 3 times quicker, only using half the amount of fuel."

"Seems we might have a deal after all." Vegeta looked at Al.

"Oh, that was quick! I was expecting a group of scientists checking the plans for hours until they give you back the confirmation."

"She is the best and if she is saying it's good than that's enough for me." Vegeta shrugged. "Now we just need to discuss what technology you are willing to give, apart from this engine."

"You can come back with me on my planet and we can agree on something. There you and your scientist can also see the machines in question."

A day later 3 spaceships left the planet; one with Al heading for his home planet followed by an another occupied by Bulma and Vegeta, who were checking out the technology and made the deal and a third one with Goku, Karris, Gohan, Radditz and Cumber. Cumber was one of the women currently among the elite fighters. She was slim but muscular and while her long black hair also stood in all direction, she managed to make a ponytail from it, making it less outstanding for human standards. Originally Bardock would have join them as well, but he had an another urgent assignment what he had to take. While Radditz was only in the mid-class and Gohan had no real "ranking" yet, the saiyans were positive that even this force was an overkill for Freeza's troops, but as Al wanted to won the war as soon as possible, Vegeta decided to send all of them. As soon as Vegeta and Bulma left the planet in the spaceship, they both became quiet, more than they usually were. While they normally enjoyed each other's company, they were not glad at all that this journey took 3 whole days. Bulma was prepared that they won't have much interaction, so she packed her computer but she was too nervous to work and she ended up starring at the screen. She risked a look at Vegeta, who was just standing at the windows, looking out, but she doubted he was really seeing what he was looking at as he seemed lost in his own world. Vegeta felt her eyes on him and looked at her. She flinched, but held his gaze, while she wondered why it was that even with all the tension between them, it felt right to be with him? Like they were destined to be together… While she was in love with Yamcha for years, she never felt something like this before, this… her love for Vegeta was completely new, deeper than she ever thought possible. She was a fan of romantic novels, but reading some books, she felt like the writers were aggravating, describing how love felt. Now she thought they had no idea, what love really felt like! Sure, she wasn't a novelist, yet she doubted that even with professional writing skills she could have described her feelings. Vegeta was angry with himself and he had no idea why he couldn't act normal around her. Sometimes it was hard in the last year as well, but now after the kiss… he had no idea what to think.

"Are you hungry?" Bulma asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes" He answered.

"Good, because even though I told my mother there is plenty of food in the ship, she packed a lot; saying that this was for sure more delicious than what we could possibly find here."

Bulma activated a capsule, revealing a huge picnic basket. While she pulled out the meals and put them on the table, Vegeta sit down on a chair, observing the dishes. While he wasn't the type who gave compliments even just by thinking it, he couldn't deny that the blond woman's cooking was the best what he ever tasted. When they began to eat, Bulma decided to act as nothing happened and Vegeta was glad to play along.

"I'm beginning to enjoy even my routine tasks now" she began to break the silence. "After a year of education all the other scientists are more or less capable of doing basic things and they even had some good ideas! You should really think about an education system in general."

"Were you learning everything in school on Earth?" The king asked.

"Mostly yes. We even had schools for material arts. You might not think that it's effective…

"For the first time, I'm not sure what to think. Since Kakarott is training with Karris and Bardock they improved a lot and he…"

"He became an elite fighter from a low-class within 3 years. Even you have to give him credit for that! And I think you do, otherwise you wouldn't train with him. Anyhow, I think you should try out the schooling system."

"How did it look like in practice?"

"It's rather difficult" Bulma began then she talked about it for hours.

Every time Vegeta heard about Earth, he couldn't help to think that humans were more advanced than he gave credit for them. It stirred an another question; how many more races were actually advanced what the saiyans eradicated? And why the hell was he asking these questions from himself? Wasn't it the saiyan way of thinking that the races who are weaker, should die as only the strongest can remain?

"Humans were weak" he stated out of the blue.

"You think so? We were more advanced than you saiyans; the only reason why you still have a higher level of technology is because you bought it. Humans never bought anything from other races, they reached their current level on their own."

While Bulma was arguing, she wasn't angry; not any more. One side of the story was that saiyans never thought about the fact that killing weaker races is wrong and even though she already tried to explain this to Vegeta since a while now, he still didn't see her point. The other side was that she knew about the Dragon Balls and although they haven't made any visible progress going to Namek, she was sure one day they will restore the planet and bring back all the people to life. Hence when she talked about it, it was for the sake of argument, not because of hate or rage. When the king realised it, he had no idea what this was all about. He had no idea about the Dragon Balls, hence first he assumed the woman agreed that only the strongest can survive. Yet, later he realised she was still disagreeing with the saiyan methods, what left him confused.

"What good did all that technology do?" He asked. "You said this Al has the most advanced technology what you have ever seen, yet they need our help."

"How do you define strength?"

"How do I…?"

"You heard it. Do you think that somebody can only be strong if he is physically strong? Is that really all?"

These questions has taken aback Vegeta. The way she was twisting the words made him think about it seriously. As he wasn't answering, Bulma continued:

"Do you think me weak, Vegeta?"

"No" He answered, before he could stop himself.

"Why not? You could kill me without breaking a sweat! Heck, even a third-class warrior could kill me easily."

"I would never hurt you" he whispered.

"Why not? If you just met me at the first time, you would have no idea about my technical knowledge, hence I would be somebody with an extremely low power level. How do you know what somebody might be capable of just by checking his power level?"

Both remained silent for a long time, lost in their own thoughts. Vegeta saw her point and that frightened him as it was questioning all his and his race's concept of looking at the world. It wasn't the first time they talked about this, yet it was the first, that he was giving in. Why? Was it because he was stubborn all that time or was it rather because he was changing? 'Cause he couldn't help to think that he was. Both Kakarott and the woman were affecting him, more than he ever realised before. Bulma smiled, thinking that given enough time she just might win this argument at the end. She never expected Vegeta to say out aloud that he wasn't thinking her weak or that he wouldn't hurt her. Sure it was obvious, still he wasn't the type who stated even these obvious facts.