(A/N: Well this is a lot sooner than I actually expected to update, but here it is. Same disclaimers apply so don't get on my case and make note of a small mention of some Goku/Vegeta and character death. Also, this one is going to be shorter than the last chapter, I felt that it ought to be, it only takes up about ¾ of the page in my notebook. Anyway, on with the show!)
Chapter 10—Nostalgic
"Namek. Tell me something. When did it happen?" Vegeta's voice was harsh, likely because the party's close quarters had made him uncomfortable. Both men stood outside of the Son's house where Chi-Chi had made a point of hosting the second part of the party. All in all it was too much to handle so they had left the others behind, not at the same time, but likely for the same reasons. Pan had fallen asleep hours before, not long after they'd moved to Goku and Chi-Chi's home and the rest of the adults had taken the opportunity to indulge in a reunion. And though Piccolo was taller than Vegeta he couldn't help but feel small when the Saiyan Prince leveled a calm but piercing gaze in his direction.
"When did what happen?" Piccolo asked, his voice revealed some anxiety though he feigned ignorance as he reclined against the wall next to the small Saiyan. They never really had spoken much, and at least for Piccolo, there had always been a sort of tension between them. He knew that it wasn't Vegeta that had killed him so long ago, but it might as well have been, and he always kept something of that in mind. Recent years had softened him to the older man, but it was only truly Pan and Gohan that he cared for. A long, fairly calm silence passed as Vegeta seemed to think, dwelling on the point he was trying to make.
"When did we become so…domesticated? You and I…more recently me, but we used to be a cause for disturbance, fear. They couldn't, wouldn't trust us but for the word of Goku and Gohan and a few actions on the side of good. But now…look at us. I'm a father of two, you've helped to raise two of Kakarot's spawn and we are attending children's parties! No one even thinks twice about the monsters that we used to be, they don't even mention my…relapse into evil, it was barely a decade ago," Vegeta said quietly, fists clenching and unclenching. The green man let a quiet sigh pass his lips and the stress flooded out of his body, perhaps Vegeta was not going to corner him about what Gohan had revealed. The prideful Saiyan simply wanted to wax nostalgic about their days as the so called 'villains'. Though they both now fought for the side of good, it was for vastly different reasons.
"I think it took Gohan's trust…and you and Nappa threatening Earth to change me. Even then it was hesitant. I'm not really sure when they started to trust me, to rely on me as an ally. You, maybe it was Frieza killing you or Bulma loving you, maybe it was the Trunks from the future challenging you to be a father, or your own Trunks, and Bulla I think was the final straw. Really though, it's just time that changes us. Trust me, I never expected to be civil with Goku, and I'm willing to bet that you never expected to…" Piccolo let a chuckle pass his lips but chose not to say anything of what he was thinking. But there was no way that wrapped around each other the way they had been that the two Sayians still resented one another. Vegeta still carried himself with poise and regality to be sure, but he had changed no less.
"Neither did I, Kakarot offered me a safe place to retreat to when I lost her. Bulma…she told me that I'd be able to go to him when she was gone, that she had asked him to take care of me. I'm glad of that, without him I would have followed her, and I know without a doubt that it was her that changed me. She made me into something that my own father would have deemed a respectable man. I know that she is happier in Otherworld, that there she can finally rest, and I'm happy for her in that sense. But the kids don't need me; it was always only ever her. A partner in life changes everyone I think, though I'd hazard a guess that kids do too," Vegeta paused and grasped Piccolo's arm tightly. "Pan will change you even more yet, just watch. She's more Saiyan than the rest of them. Take care of her Namek, be good to her," Vegeta's voice was lower, his grip firm as he made Piccolo meet his eyes. He didn't mind that the Prince knew. Hell, he probably would have smelt it anyway.
"Vegeta, I would die for her. I swear to you, she will be safe," he swore it anyway, knowing that it somehow it meant just as much to Vegeta as it had to Gohan.
(A/N: Well there you go, that's it for now. Next chapter is set four years after this one and is called 'Stargazing'. Reviews are love people!)