RoF: Thank you, I called out of work today because I couldn't breathe, so of course that gave me plenty of time to write the next chapter. And thank you for assuring me that the pace is ok. ;)

Ana: You're awesome. And I'm not discouraged, I'll just keep writing. This is my story, and I'll tell it how I want to. If someone doesn't want to read it because of that, that's fine, I have plenty of loyal readers anyway. Like you!

Chibi: You'll see how Goku and Raditz turn out in this chapter, I honestly couldn't see Goku reacting any other way, he's just such a big ol softie.

Guest: You're fucking awesome. And because all of yall are so fucking awesome, I'm going right ahead and posting this chapter tonight. You guys just rock my fucking socks to no end. Usagi will figure things out soonish, in about two chapters, I think it is. And no, Goku and friends won't be travelling to Vegeta-sai in this fic.

Selene088: I feel bad for Raditz. I didn't have the heart to let Usa beat him into next century. He'll get what he deserves soon, though. And as far as the girls, them Saiyans don't use protection. At all. It would stand to reason that they'd ALL be knocked up in like, five minutes. We'll get into that later, lol.

As requested, Sesshy, I didn't PM you, but I was sorely tempted to at least apologize, since you seemed to take offense to my message. Ah me, tone of voice is lost on the internet. So read this in a cheerful voice for full effect. For the record, I'd at least like to state that I have 4 kids and attend nursing school, 9 credit hours this semester, and I work full time… I sleep on Sundays… So trust me, I know all about time constraints, lol.

I'm honestly not miffed, I appreciate constructive criticism, but I wanted to give everyone their due. I frankly feel a little bad for not giving Mina and Broly more time, but ah well. And I can't help but write the Vegeta and Usagi dream sequences because… well, damn. They're hot. Enough said right there, Vegeta's just yummy as hell!

And yes, Saiyans are fierce, hardcore warriors, but they don't fight all the time, right? If we're suspending disbelief long enough to believe in ki-wielding alien warriors, let's suspend it just a little bit more and acknowledge that they'd have some form of personal lives as well. So in closing, this is my story, everyone else seems to like the pacing for the most part (they've all said so), so I'll keep doing it how I do it. I'm sure there's other fanfiction to read if you don't like this one. I won't be offended.

She looked around at the grass and the trees, the bright blue sky overhead. "No wonder Kakarot wanted to stick around this place! It's gorgeous!" She fought a temptation to roll around in the grass, but her tail still found its way from around her waist to stroke the soft green blades.

"You'd better go change, Usa. I'm positive someone saw us crash land, and I'm responsible for your safety. It wouldn't do to have you only wearing a nightgown if there's trouble. We weren't well-received the last time."

"Yeah, yeah," she huffed. "But then… that was your own damned fault for letting your temper get the better of you, Raditz."

"Preaching to the infantry, Usagi," he huffed. "We've been through this. I was a different person back then." He flinched for a moment when she hugged him tightly, before hesitantly returning the embrace.

"I'm sorry, Radu. I didn't mean to upset you." She grinned when he rolled his eyes, as if to tell her that Saiyan men were never upset by the words of a woman, but she knew all too well how much he valued her opinion. Usagi patted his shoulder as she pulled away and dug around in her space pod, yanking out her bodysuit, armor, travelling bag, and scouter. "Alright, turn your back," she ordered, despite the fact that her nightgown was nearly see-through, and he'd seen her nude countless times. After the fight, she'd be damned if he was going to ever see her naked again.

"Just hurry up, already." Raditz turned around and flicked on his scouter, searching in that direction for any high ki levels. Nothing in that direction. He turned a little, still averting his eyes from the woman changing her clothes, and grunted in surprise as the scouter went off, revealing several high kis to their north. Two were moving towards them, and fast. "And I'll bet money that one of them is Vegeta," he sighed. "He's going to be so pissed."

Usagi laughed from behind him, the sound like a balm washing over his worry. "Let me handle Veggie-head," she chuckled. "If he gets all high-and-mighty, I'll take him down a couple notches for you, just like when we were kids. And this time, I can do it with more than just words." She donned her scouter and confirmed that both kis headed towards them were pretty high, but she knew that Vegeta would likely be too amazed to see her to be angry. At least she hoped so. "Alrighty, I'm decent," she chirped.

Raditz glanced over at her, and as always, she still took his breath away. Her golden hair just brushed against the top of the grass, and her form-fitting royal purple armor, affixed with the royal insignia, left very little to the imagination. Her silver tail was wrapped tightly around her waist, and her scouter was in place, giving her readouts on the wildlife around her and the approaching kis in the distance. Only her sword was missing, tucked away in her bag. Not sure how Vegeta would react to seeing it on a female, especially her, she'd wisely decided to keep it hidden for the time being.

Usagi sighed and shook her head, wishing that he could stop looking at her like that. He was her friend, damn it, and nothing more.

She felt a feral grin playing at her lips at the idea of finally getting to spar with Vegeta... and on an even playing field, at that! Maybe she'd finally get to beat the shit out of him for once. "I can't wait to see his face," she said with something close to glee.

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"Maybe it's just a couple Nameks," Goku said, trying his very best to assure Vegeta that the Saiyans hadn't landed. "And if it's not, I'm sure it's nothing we can't handle!" He beamed at his prince, and his smile only grew wider when Vegeta merely scowled at him.

"Shut up, Kakarot, I know without a doubt that they're Saiyans," he growled. He poured on some more speed just to get ahead of the third-class baka, and thankfully the idiot took the hint and lagged behind while Vegeta rocketed through the air to the crash site.

#################

"He may have gotten stronger, but he flies like a fucking grandma," Usagi snorted. "I'm gonna go meet him, fuck all this waiting."

"No, Usagi, that would be a bad id—" Raditz sighed when she launched herself into the air, and rolled his eyes before following her, though he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with her when she was flying at her top speed.

###################

The ki that was as strong as his own was on the move, and headed for him. "Shit, maybe leaving Kakarot behind was a bad idea," Vegeta grumbled to himself. He froze, and his eyes widened for a moment when he felt it flare steadily, twice, indicating that everything was ok. Was this warrior trying to say that he wasn't an enemy to the crown prince? Vegeta flared back in a pattern, knowing that Raditz would understand and translate. Stay put. I'll come to you.

To his surprise, the foreign ki signature pulsed back rapidly. No. You stay. I'll come.

"He speaks Ki?" So that meant that this other warrior was part of the squad that he'd been in. No other squad had quite mastered their made-up language of energy pulses. So who in the hell? No! He flared back. Stay put or I attack. It wasn't Raditz, since his ki was flaring wildly, telling the warrior flying towards him to stay put as well. And it wasn't Nappa, Vegeta would know that ki anywhere.

Could it be…? No, it couldn't be. Usagi's ki had never been much to begin with, and she'd already sworn that she wasn't coming to find him. Vegeta growled at that; the thought of their argument only made him angrier, and this unknown Saiyan warrior was going to pay for it.

The other warrior slowed down, almost as if he was hesitating, but still kept coming. Vegeta could tell by the rapid stutter of flares that he was cussing him out pretty creatively. Jackass. Stand down, he finally said in Ki, increasing his pace. I'm not an enemy, you dumbfuck.

Watch it, boy.

You watch it!

Stop moving. I'll come to you.

No! You stop moving! The other warrior was obviously getting pissed off now, judging by his ki level and the way it was rapidly firing messages, practically yelling at him. Vegeta grinned and shook his head. It was going to be sweet to finally get in a real fight.

That was when he finally saw the other Saiyan's ki, flying right at him, and when the prince slowed down a little, he barely had time to erect a ki shield when it was clear that the other warrior wasn't stopping. He didn't even have time to form an energy blast when it was obvious that he was in trouble.

And just before the other warrior collided with him, he could have sworn he heard a woman's voice.

"GETA!" Usagi cried ecstatically, as she flew right into him, wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, and hugged him tightly. The impact sent them both flying back, knocking the wind out of the prince, and they began to fall immediately.

The princess laughed when he started to fight her, trying to buck her off and beat her down; it was obvious that he hadn't quite figured out who had barreled into him at full speed. She quickly hit the brakes to keep them from running into a mountain, and cackled when he couldn't shake her. "It's me, Gee-Gee!" She laughed, practically squeezing him to death.

Vegeta stopped fighting and went stiff in her arms, one hand rising up to press her tightly against him, despite his disbelief.

No. It couldn't be.

But only one person in the entire universe had ever called him by that stupid, childish name.

Usagi was still on Vegeta-sai, still presumably pissed at him since he hadn't spoken to her through the bond in months… wasn't she? And getting tanked every five minutes, with the way she'd been coming to him almost nightly. Ok, not him; Green Eyes. But he'd take what he could get, damn it. Or… she'd lied about being tanked, and she'd really been in cryosleep for the last three months, which would explain her constant presence in his dreams almost every other night.

The prince pulled back just slightly to look at her, and found himself gazing into a pair of laughing blue eyes, framed by a gorgeous heart-shaped face and windblown golden hair.

He immediately felt the pull in his stomach.

"U—Usa…?" His hand reached up to touch her face, and he watched those bright blue eyes soften in understanding, as they had so many times in the past.

"Hey, Geta," she whispered, pecking him innocently on the lips. When she pulled back to see him still in utter shock, she hugged him tightly, burying her face in his neck. "Gods, I missed you." His scent hit her nose, then, and it brought tears to her eyes. Seeing him, even in the void, wasn't quite the same as smelling him; he looked different now, more like his father than he had as a child. He was all grown up, just as she was. But other than the underlying musk that signaled a full-grown Saiyan warrior, his scent was still the exact same.

Gods, how she'd missed that smell more than anything in the world. It screamed safety and love, and put her utterly at peace, despite the very funny feeling she felt in her stomach.

Usagi sighed in contentment when she felt his arms slowly encircle her, and his face went straight to her hair to take in her scent, just as she was doing with him.

"You—you're here."

Was that a sob she heard in his voice? Vegeta never cried. Usagi pulled back a little to look at him, and was concerned to see that he was having a very hard time keeping it together. "Shh, Geta, it's ok." Her fingertips whispered over his jaw, then up to his eyes, to brush away the tears that were just barely still hanging, not yet spilling down his cheeks. Then she was jerked against his chest once more, and he was holding her like he'd never let her go. "Shh. Shh, Geta. Shh. It's alright." Those words became a mantra, as she ran her fingers through his hair, down his back, and back up again in an effort to soothe him.

Usagi felt Raditz's ki behind Vegeta, and she opened her eyes and signaled with her hand for him to just go away and give them a minute. Geta wouldn't want anyone to see him crying, and she knew that's what he was doing, despite his effort not to. She could feel his tears dripping silently onto her neck as he trembled in her arms, so she just continued to murmur words of comfort in Saiyan as she helped keep them afloat. "I find you well?" She finally asked, after several minutes of simply holding each other.

"You do now," he choked out in Saiyan.

"Don't cry, Geta, it's making me cry too," she whispered, sniffling a little bit. Usagi chuckled when he pulled back to wipe away her tears, just as she'd done for him. "But then, you're used to me blubbering."

Vegeta leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers, only to bury his face in her hair again. "Usa. Kami, girl." He breathed in her scent happily, and would have been content to hold her like that for the rest of his life.

"Hey, Vegeta! Who's the girl!?" A baritone voice asked from behind Usagi.

"Shut up and go away, Kakarot," the prince snapped, but without the usual bite to his words. He was simply too happy to care about that third-class idiot.

Goku simply grinned; he'd noticed Vegeta's lack of annoyance with him, and paired with the fact that he was holding this woman like he'd die if he let her go, the Earth-raised Saiyan knew that she was someone very important to him. And the way the girl was holding him in return… well, it looked like Vegeta had a girlfriend!

His eyes widened when he realized that Vegeta was crying a little. Holy shit. This was big! This was really big! "So… who are you?"

Usagi nuzzled her face into Vegeta's chest and snorted in amusement. "I'm assuming that's still Kakarot," she mumbled in Saiyan. "The man can't take a hint to fuck off for five minutes."

"Still as perceptive as ever," he chuckled, dipping his head to brush his lips against hers again in a chaste kiss. He wished that kiss could be more, but the last thing he wanted to do was run her off when she'd only just arrived. Baby steps, that was the solution to this. They'd address the pull later on, most likely when she looked him in the eye and felt it.

"You kissed her!?" Goku yelled. "Oh my God, she is your girlfriend!"

Usagi looked up at that and blushed. "I'm his sister, you jackass!" She snarled.

"Not my damned sister," Vegeta snorted.

Goku just quirked an eyebrow and stared at the two of them. "Vegeta… you kiss your sister on the lips?" He asked, clearly disgusted. "I'm so glad I grew up on Earth."

Vegeta snorted and smirked at Usagi, before kissing the tip of her nose affectionately. "Not my sister," he grumbled again out of habit. Then he sighed, when the third-class clown just looked confused. "To be specific, Kakarot, she's my step-sister."

"Still gross, Vegeta."

"And it's not what you think." But it will be, if I have anything to say about it.

"Geta and I sort of imprinted on each other during infancy, when our parents pair-bonded. We were inseparable until…" Usagi gave him a mournful smile and shrugged.

Just before Vegeta had died, he'd told Goku about what had happened to him, so he knew what she meant. "Until Frieza took him. How old were you two?"

"We were twelve," they answered in unison, just as they'd done countless times as brats. They both shot each other identical grins as well, when the sound of their voices as one brought up lots of old memories.

"And imprinting… what is that, exactly?" Goku asked curiously.

"We…" Usagi blushed a little, at a loss as to how she could possibly explain such a rare phenomenon between Saiyan children. Since Vegeta hadn't pulled away from her, she simply buried her face in his neck and breathed in his scent. "It's a tie closer than family, Kakarot. It's something that can't be explained. We went everywhere together, did everything together, even shared the same bed. And when we didn't, I never slept well. I still don't."

"Huh. Sounds like me and Chi-Chi," he said simply. "You think about each other all the time, even when you were separated for so long?"

Both of them gave him a brief nod, practically snuggling each other in mid-air, right in front of him. And Vegeta couldn't be bothered to give a shit that his greatest rival was witnessing it. "You should take a nap," he grumbled in Saiyan.

"I'm fine," Usagi sighed happily, closing her eyes. "I think I could stay like this forever, Geta."

"Mm, sounds good," he grumbled. "Raditz is with you? I sensed him, too."

"Yeah, Radu came with me. I'd better go and set up camp." She reluctantly pried herself out of his arms and located Raditz, who was waiting back at the ship.

Before Vegeta could protest, she was off like a bolt of lightning, moving faster than he could have ever imagined. "At least she doesn't bobble in the air anymore," he muttered.

"Wow, she's fast!" Goku exclaimed excitedly. He didn't miss Vegeta's slight look of shock, and grinned. "She wasn't always that fast, I take it?"

"No," he answered flatly, "she's a lot stronger than the last time I'd seen her. That little bald-headed weakling could have beaten her easily back then. I think she's also faster than me," he admitted with some reluctance.

Goku waggled his eyebrows at the Saiyan prince. "You like her more than a sister, I take it?"

"She's mine," Vegeta stated simply, returning to his emotionless wooden mask. "She always has been, she just doesn't know it." He rolled his eyes a little when Goku's hand went to the back of his head in his usual, familiar gesture. "Come on, Kakarot."

They were there in no time, and found Usagi checking out some of the indigineous plants, while Raditz stood guard nearby, a little smirk on his face at the sight of his brother. "Kakarot," he said simply, inclining his head. He wasn't surprised to see his brother frown and immediately take a defensive stance, preparing for what had to be an inevitable attack from the older Saiyan.

"Apparently the wish on the dragon balls brought everyone back," Goku ground through his teeth, "but they won't bring you back again from where I'm about to send you, Raditz."

"Shut up, Kakarot," Usagi said pleasantly, not even turning around to address him. "Gods, Father was right to convince me to come, I see. Bloodthirsty monkeys, all of you boys. I swear."

Even Usagi's levity didn't make Goku relax for a moment. "Then why are you here, Raditz?"

The long-haired Saiyan grinned and shook his head, holding up a finger to signal for him to wait a minute, while he focused his attention on the prince, who was moving in behind the princess with deadly silence.

Alarm bells went off in her head at the sudden quiet, but it was too late. Strong fingers grasped the base of her tail, just short of being painful, and gave it a gentle tug, making her shriek and jump a mile in the air.

"LET GO OF MY TAIL!" She screamed, flaring her ki in alarm.

"I always told you that you did a shitty job of watching your back, girl," Vegeta snarled from behind her.

"Geta, if you don't let go of my tail…"

"You'll do what?" Usagi nearly rolled her eyes when she heard the arrogant smirk in his voice.

Her fingers flexed at her side, itching for the feel of her sword in her hand. But no, she'd just had to have left it in her pack. Great. "For starters, I'll rip off that pathetic excuse for a manhood that you call a cock, and shove it straight up your ass," she replied flatly. "Now… Let. Go. Of. My tail." She gasped when the fingers circling that ultra-sensitive appendage loosened and began to stroke the silver fur that covered it. "Vegeta, let it go." She'd meant for it to come out harsh and biting, but the words came out sounding like a throaty purr, and she was trying her very best not to close her eyes and surrender to the waves of pleasure that his fingers were invoking. "Gods… Geta… " She whispered, her voice growing husky. "Please…"

"Say the words I want to hear, girl," he chuckled. "I'm sure you remember them, I made you say them often enough when we were brats." When she only clenched her fists and began to breathe raggedly, he frowned. "I remember this particular spot making you scream that you were about to piss yourself," he grumbled a little. "Why aren't you laughing and screaming at me?" Vegeta had been hoping to tickle her damn near to death before she finally conceded defeat, but it was causing a completely different reaction. She'd gone limp… and what the hell? Was that a moan? And he could smell—Vegeta immediately released her tail, and backed away a couple of steps, his eyes going wide for a moment in surprise.

Usagi blinked, relieved that he'd finally let go, and hit her knees when her legs gave out. Damn, Raditz and Rei teaching her tailplay was nothing compared to that!

She found herself blushing bright red at the realization that Vegeta, of all the people in the universe, had just gotten her extremely aroused, and she spun in place before leaping on him, ki flaring and fists flying. "What did you think it would do, Vegeta!? I'm a grown fucking woman, for gods' sakes!"

Raditz watched all of this with surprise and amusement from the sidelines. He'd been about to warn Vegeta about the repercussions of playing with a grown female's tail, especially with the hands, but he knew the reaction would be explosive and immensely entertaining, so he'd kept his mouth shut.

And for a split second, he'd almost hoped that Vegeta knew what he was doing; if Raditz couldn't have her, he'd at least take some solace in watching the princess quelled into compliance.

Right then, though, Usagi was anything but quelled and compliant, and she was flinging every Saiyan curse she knew at Vegeta while he simply tried to keep up with the flurry of punches and kicks that were aimed mostly at his balls.

Raditz grinned in a downright friendly manner and waved his brother over to join him, and laughed when Kakarot hesitated, clearly suspicious. "Trust me, brother, you don't want to be in the crossfire when Usagi's pissed off!" He laughed.

Goku approached his brother slowly, unable to shake the feeling that he was there to once again try and force him to join up, or worse, try and destroy his home planet. But when it was obvious that Raditz was no longer paying him any mind, and simply watching the blonde woman and Vegeta fight, he relaxed and leaned against the space pod, right next to his brother. "Who exactly is she? Vegeta already made it clear that she's not his sister."

"She's a childhood friend of the royal house. We all used to play together as children, but she was sent with her and Vegeta's brother, Tarble, to purge some planet out in the middle of nowhere. I picked her up about four months ago on a reconnaissance mission to find the royal brats. Tarble was mated to a native of the planet, and chose to stay behind."

"Oh, so you didn't try and force him," Goku said flatly, with a touch of bitterness.

"That's not who I am anymore, Kakarot," he replied flatly. "If you'd like to call in a blood debt, I'll understand. But right now I want to watch Usagi kick the shit out of His Royal Highness."

"I have to admit, it's refreshing to see someone that's his equal, besides me," Goku said brightly, just as Usagi took advantage of an opening to nail the prince right in the balls before following up with a kick to the face. "Kami, she's vicious."

Vegeta fell to the ground in a heap, clutching the royal jewels of Vegeta-sai, and Raditz laughed when Usagi landed, standing over the prince, with a ki blast aimed for Vegeta's cock. "Actually, Kakarot, Usagi normally wouldn't hurt a fly... unless that fly was trying to claim her. But Vegeta… he just tends to bring out the Saiyan in her. He always has. Makes for great entertainment. You should have seen them fight as brats."

Goku grinned brightly at that. "Sounds like love."

"Either that, or she really, really hates him. I've never been sure which, honestly," he joked. Raditz laughed hysterically when he heard Usagi say something in Saiyan.

"Say the words, Vegeta, I'm sure you remember them, even after all these years," Usagi chuckled darkly.

Vegeta growled at the ki blast in her hand, while his balls still throbbed from the punch she'd landed. "You wouldn't," he snapped.

"Ok, you've got me there," she admitted. "But I wouldn't hesitate to hit you again, and I promise you that it'll hurt a lot worse than the first time." Usagi waited patiently, smiling smugly. "I suggest you say the words, Geta." She laughed when he mumbled something. "A little louder, baby Gee-Gee, I didn't quite catch that."

"Fine, girl!" He shouted. "I bow before the almighty Queen of the Saiyans! I'm not worthy of her presence! She is awesome! I eat mud and smell like a Saibaman!"

Usagi waited a moment before lifting an eyebrow. "The rest of it Geta… don't think I've forgotten." She barely managed to keep from joining Raditz in his hysterical laughter, while she waited for Vegeta to finish saying what he'd made her say more times than she could count.

"I'm trying to think of a way to say it, girl!" He snapped at her in embarrassment. "Saiyan males don't say those damned words and you know it!"

Usagi laughed, unable to help herself anymore. "Get as close as you can, and maybe you'll remember not to be such a douchebag!"

"You'd better say it, my prince," Raditz advised with a laugh. "She's kicked me in the balls a couple of times, and she never bluffs. I know how painful it's going to be if you don't do as she says."

"Bitch," Vegeta muttered.

"Say, it, Geta," Usagi said patiently.

"Fine, fine, fine! I yield, girl! I lo—" He glared at her. "I'm not saying that word," he said flatly.

"Then you'd better make it good."

Vegeta grinned despite himself. God, this was just like old times, only he was being forced to submit to her for the first time ever. Damn, she'd gotten strong! He eyed her, and his interest suddenly sharpened at the sight of all those perfect curves, that long blonde hair, and those crystal blue eyes that had only seemed to get even bigger and more expressive over time.

Somehow, those dreams hadn't even done her justice. Even if they had been real dreams. And Vegeta couldn't wait to find out if she was just as responsive to him in person as she had been in her sleep.

He saw her smug expression suddenly falter under his predatory gaze, and his grin only grew wider. "Usagi is the most beautiful, gorgeous creature in the universe, and I submit to her prowess in battle. And I'll never grab her tail again." He quirked an eyebrow and added softly, for her ears only, "unless she wants me to? Then I think I'll be more than happy to oblige."

Raditz wondered what that last bit had been when he saw Usagi's face grow beet red, and Vegeta was suddenly the one looking awfully smug.

Usagi absorbed the ki ball back into her body and huffed, no longer as pleased as she'd been only moments before. "Radu, I'm going to go set up camp somewhere suitable," she snapped angrily.

Vegeta climbed to his feet once she was out of sight, but he could feel her ki fluctuating as she was obviously ranting to herself in the woods, cursing his very name for his last remark. "She got strong."

Raditz nodded, also monitoring Usagi's ki very closely. "And I see you still have the same effect on her, Your Highness. If you don't mind me speaking out of turn?"

"What is it?" He asked pleasantly, completely at odds with his normal demeanor. He was too busy smelling Usagi's too-familiar scent in the air, mixed with the cloying smell of a fully mature female. Kami, those dreams hadn't done her justice.

"She's had a lot of suitors, Your Highness, so the fact that you grabbed her tail… she's not happy, and she'll likely not be happy unless you apologize."

"Is she mated!?" Vegeta suddenly asked, his head snapping around to glare at the nightguard. She couldn't be mated, there was no possible way if he was still feeling the pull for her… right?

"No, Your Highness, she kicked the shit out of them all… including myself." He shrugged when the prince growled at him and his black eyes flashed malevolently. "You'd seriously blame me for trying? Shit, Your Highness, look at her!" He sighed a little. "But she wouldn't have me, and I promised her I wouldn't try and take her again. I wouldn't have, anyway… I'd want her willingly, to be honest."

"You stay away from her, Raditz, do you understand? She's mine," he said flatly, surprising all of them, especially himself. He'd been hoping to keep that information to himself, at least for a little while longer, while he adjusted to the fact that she was actually here.

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Usagi instantly recognized the stomping through the underbrush, and spun around, suspicious that he'd try and grab her tail again. His arms were folded over his chest in a gesture she was all too familiar with, and he was watching her silently. She quickly looked him up and down, completely ignoring the way her pulse was suddenly racing at the sight and smell of him. "You got really tall." However, she wasn't going to boost his ego by adding a comment about the development of all those perfect muscles.

"And you're still a midget." He smirked when she rolled her eyes and huffed at him before returning to her job of clearing the campsite.

"And I see that you're still an arrogant prick," she said sweetly.

Vegeta leaned against a tree and simply watched her for a moment. "I'm sorry I grabbed your tail."

Usagi's head snapped up so fast that it would have broken her neck if she'd been human. "Did the great Prince of all Saiyans just apologize for something?"

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. "The only female I was ever around was you, Usagi. And I was given to Frieza when I was twelve, remember? I didn't know that it would have that kind of effect on you." When she beamed at him happily, he forced down a smile of his own.

"Start over, then?" She suggested.

"If you'd like, girl. Woman. Whatever."

"Do I get another hug?" She teased. She chuckled when he lifted an eyebrow and shook his head. "You didn't have a problem with hugging your baby sister a little while ago."

"Not my fucking sister," he snapped. Damn it, he was going to have to force her to make eye contact at some point soon before she drove him out of his mind with that brother-sister bullshit.

"Never mind," she said flatly.

It was time for a change of subject, damn it, before he really hurt her feelings and she started crying. Watching her cry was the one thing he could never stand to see, and she'd already done it once since she'd landed. "What in the hell are you doing, woman?"

"Clearing a campsite, what does it look like, Geta? You've done it enough times to know… and I'm amazed that you haven't offered to help." Vegeta had always jumped in to help her when they'd been children, but now he was simply staring at her blankly.

"Woman, did it even occur to you that Kakarot and I have homes on this pitiful dirtball?" He stalked forward and grabbed her by the arm, tugging her to her feet. "Come on, we'll get your things, and get you settled. I'll be damned if I'll have fellow Saiyans living in abject poverty while I stay at a house as big as the Saiyan palace," he spat. Especially her, damn it. She was staying at Capsule Corp, with him, whether she liked it or not. And if Kakarot so much as offered her a room at his own home, that baka was going home with a broken face.

Usagi didn't protest when Vegeta tugged her through the woods; she'd learned years ago to pick her battles or deal with his temper. Never mind that she could beat him in a fair fight now. She smiled when he slid his grasp to her hand, enveloping her smaller one, bringing back a flood of memories.

Vegeta was amazed when Kakarot intuitively claimed to only have room for Raditz in his home, and gave him a look that was as close to gratitude as he'd ever come. He smirked when Kakarot winked in his direction while Usagi was looking away. Damn, maybe he wasn't as big an idiot as Vegeta had thought.

Raditz tried not to glare at his prince, but found it impossible. Yes, he was jealous, he was man enough to admit it, but he was far more concerned with Vegeta forcing a pair-bond on Usagi when she clearly wasn't ready for one.

He discreetly confronted the prince while Usagi was gathering up her things, chatting in an animated fashion with his brother. "I'll die defending her honor if you force her, Your Highness," he said bluntly under his breath.

Vegeta opened his mouth to say something biting and insulting, but something on Raditz's face kept him from doing so. If the boot was on the other foot, he'd be telling Raditz the same damned thing, wouldn't he? "I won't force her. I don't think I could, even if she was as weak as you," he added with a growl, just to regain a sense of balance.

"Well then, I hate to admit it, but I'm going to enjoy watching her make you batshit. Just wait til you see her wearing one of those flimsy see-though nightgowns of hers. Gods, it'll make you fucking insane," he groaned.

"Hn, I think I'm looking forward to it," he chuckled. "Too bad she doesn't sleep naked anymore."

"Well, we're not exactly brats anymore, Prince Vegeta. After you left, she started to mature, and her mother demanded that she wear something, despite the heat in the evening."

Vegeta sighed a little, despite his pride. He remembered a certain blonde child climbing into bed with him nearly every night, snuggling up to him against the cold late nights of Vegeta-sai, both of them completely innocent to the fact that they were naked. It wasn't uncommon for the servants or the king to come in in the morning to find them curled up together, their tails entwined, wrapped around each other protectively. "No, we're not brats anymore," he agreed, with just a hint of longing for simpler times.

"She still has a lot of trouble sleeping by herself," Raditz found himself admitting, surprised at his own willingness to help out what should have been a rival for Usagi's affections. Fuck, who was he kidding? Usagi wanted nothing to do with him romantically, and she'd made it infinitely clear when she'd nearly kicked his head in. "Before the fight…" He sighed heavily, also wishing for simpler times. "I was her nightguard, and shared her bed unless one of her handmaidens stayed with her. If she slept by herself, she slept just like she used to. A couple hours a night, then groggy as hell and dead on her feet for the rest of the day."

Vegeta's lips twitched up in a devilish smile. "Well then, I might just have to take advantage of that for a while."

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Raditz's word proved to be true the moment Vegeta had gotten her to Capsule Corp. She'd been under a chemically induced sleep for months, and the woman was clearly exhausted for real sleep, but she was doing an admirable job at hiding it while she met Bulma and her family.

But Usagi was clearly trying not to nod off after packing away as much food as he had, despite the fact that she'd avoided drinking any wine with her dinner.

"Usagi, dear," Bulma said with a touch of concern, "you should probably get some rest." She smiled a little when the blonde shot her a look full of pride, managing to look very much like Vegeta. God, she knew that look all too well.

"I'm fine," Usagi said flatly, "but thank you for your hospitality, Bulma."

"No, woman, you're not," Vegeta huffed. "You've been in that space pod for three months, and I know how fucking horribly you sleep in them. You're going to bed." He lifted an eyebrow when she shot him a venomous look. "Did I fucking stutter, woman? Go get out of that armor and get some sleep. You're sparring with me in the morning."

"We'll be sparring tonight if you don't lose that fucking holier-than-thou tone, Vegeta," she snarled. "Did you forget who put you in the dirt only a few hours ago, or do you need a reminder?"

The Briefs family watched all of this with amusement; finally, someone was putting Vegeta in his place! Bulma barely managed not to start laughing, and it was only because she had a feeling that two Saiyans would be pounding on her if she let out so much as a chuckle.

"Gods, I'd forgotten how bitchy you are when you're exhausted, woman. Go get in bed," he ordered. He simply stared at her when she came around the table, forming a ki blast in her hand. "You really think you can take me on, woman? You're too tired to fight me, and you know it."

"And not in the house," Bulma said sharply, as she realized that the newest addition to her household wasn't bluffing. She sighed with relief when the ki ball disappeared, absorbed back into its owner.

"Sorry, Bulma," Usagi said, looking contrite. "He tends to annoy me, even sixteen years later," she added dryly.

"I feel your pain," Bulma answered with a grin. She'd been waiting for this day ever since Vegeta had finally started talking to her about Usagi, and it was definitely living up to the hype she'd built up in her mind. She couldn't wait to see what happened when Vegeta tried to claim her.

Of course, she'd be half a mile away when it happened, well out of the cross-fire, sitting in a lawn chair and eating a bowl of popcorn while she watched the fireworks.

"Alright, enough of this." Vegeta stood, grabbing Usagi by her arm, and forcibly drug her out of the dining room, towards the stairs. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let you do this to yourself, Usagi," he said, once they were out of earshot. "I promised you once that I would protect you. Well, that includes protecting you from yourself," he added, when she opened her mouth to hotly protest. "Now, I'm ordering you to bed. Or are you going to disobey a direct order from your liege?"

Usagi's mouth fell open, and she stuttered and sputtered where she stood, completely in shock that he'd just given her an order. "You—you can't—"

"Think again, woman. I can, and I just did. Last time I checked, I led the Saiyan Elite, and unless I'm mistaken, you're one of them, aren't you?"

"I lead the Saiyan Elite!" She yelled. "I'm the highest ranking Elite, ever since Vegeta-sai was wished back!" She pulled her armor over her head, and tugged down the shoulder of her bodysuit to bare a tattoo on her shoulder, proving her rank. "See! And my sword of rank in is my pack, if you were planning on asking about that! If anything, boy, you'd be following my fucking orders, thank you very much!"

Boy? Did she just dare to call him boy, like she was already his commanding officer? "Woman, I am no boy! And the only reason I never got tattooed like everyone else was because I went off planet at twelve!" He shouted. For you! He added silently. "Now, either get your ass upstairs and in bed, or I will fucking put you there!" He roared.

"I fucking dare you," she whispered dangerously.

Not one to bluff, Vegeta proceeded to throw her over his shoulder, where she immediately began kicking and punching him as hard as she could. He grinned when she instinctively reached for his waist, and let out a gasp of surprise. "What happened to your tail, Geta!?"

He set her down when he finally reached the guest room directly across from his, and shook his head at the look of horror on her face. "I lost it in battle, years ago. Don't you dare pity me, woman," he added, when her face softened in sympathy. The loss of a tail was one of the most terrifying things that could possibly happen to a warrior, even worse than being enslaved, like he had been with Frieza. It was a disgrace.

"But… it…" She felt tears welling up in her eyes, unbidden, at the thought of losing her own tail. Gods, how would she survive without it? It would be like losing an arm or a leg. "Did it hurt badly?"

Vegeta nodded, and couldn't help himself when he pulled her to him tightly. She'd been the only one that had ever cared, even when they were children. Except for maybe Tarble. But Usagi's kindness had always been the only kindness he'd ever accepted, and he couldn't help but do it now. "Don't cry. It's over and done with, Usa."

She nodded against his chest, feeling completely safe for the first time in a decade. He'd always made her feel that way, just like an older brother should, and just like a little sister, she couldn't help but admire his acceptance of such a great loss. Usagi would have been devastated, but Vegeta had handled the loss like a true Saiyan warrior.

She wondered… no, not tonight, she'd try it once she finally got a good night's sleep and regenerated her powers. Maybe she'd finally find a use for her father's lineage besides minor healing and blowing shit up, like Gure had tried to teach her.

Vegeta nearly smiled when he felt her relax against him, just like she'd done when they were brats. He wondered briefly if they could regain some of that childhood trust and innocence before he decided to claim her. It was probably too much to hope for, but the twelve years he'd spent with Usagi were without argument, the best years of his life. "Come on, Usa, you really need to sleep."

"Alright, I admit defeat," she huffed. "Where's my stuff, Geta?"

He smirked as she pulled away. "I knew you'd see the light, woman. I'm always right… or did you really forget it after a decade and a half?"

"Shut up, jackass," she answered half-heartedly, snagging her bag from the dresser. She pulled out a nightgown, much like the ones that the women in the palace wore during the hotter hours of the early evening, and stalked into the bathroom.

Vegeta nearly had a nosebleed when she came back out, despite the fact that her nightie was more translucent than transparent. Thank Kami that Raditz had exaggerated, because Vegeta didn't think he could have handled seeing her if that piece of clothing had been completely sheer.

"You ok, Geta?" Usagi asked with concern.

"Damn, girl, when did you grow tits?" He snorted, quickly saving himself from looking like a pervert. Get her annoyed, that was the quickest way to distract her from the fact that he'd been staring at her like a lion stared at a fresh steak.

Usagi rolled her eyes. "If you could call these things tits." She looked down, studying them. "Then again, I guess they're an acceptable size for a female warrior," she amended.

"Definitely." Kami, they were absolutely perfect, in his opinion. "Any bigger, and you wouldn't be able to spar without your armor. You'd be poking yourself in the eye every time you threw a kick." He grinned when Usagi laughed, the sound ringing out through the room. How he'd missed that sound. "Now get in the bed, and take the melons with you, woman."

"More like bee stings," she snorted. She did as she was told, climbed in the bed, and flushed with pleasure when Vegeta tucked her in, just as he had all those years ago. "Night, Geta," she said softly.

"Night, Usa. I'm across the hall if you need anything."

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"Ok, this is going to be the hardest part. So just do me a favor and stay put out here. Got it?"

Raditz nodded without question, since he was grateful that his brother was allowing him to stay at his home, rather than out in the woods, but why did such a formidable warrior look so damned terrified?

He kept quiet and stayed outside the door, and simply listened in with his superior hearing.

Goku grinned shakily at his wife, who was setting the table for supper, and tipped his head back towards the door. "Heya, Chi-Chi! We have some company."

"Why, Goku, that's wonderful! But why are you being so rude? Invite them in already!"

"Well, see, Chi-Chi, that's the thing. I didn't want you to freak out or anything. You know how I wished back everyone with the dragon balls?" He cringed when she glared at him; Chi-Chi was anything but stupid.

"Who? Who's outside, Goku?" She growled, scooping up her trusty frying pan.

"He doesn't mean any harm, he swears it!" He said quickly, blocking the door with his large frame. "Trust me, if I thought he did, I would have already taken care of it!"

"WHO!?"

The Saiyan cringed as she stalked toward him, pan in hand and at the ready to strike. "It's my brother," he said simply.

Chi-Chi's face turned red, and she opened her mouth to scream some obscenities when a high-pitched squeal came from outside the door. The woman shoved her husband out of the way in an instant, recognizing the cry as coming from her child, just as any good mother would, and immediately put herself between a trembling Gohan and Raditz, who had been trying to shush him without any success.

"Hello," the huge Saiyan warrior said weakly, at a loss for what else to do.

"Try and take my boy again, will you!?" Chi-Chi cried, her ki erupting around her in bright red flames. "Over my DEAD BODY!"

"AH! CHI-CHI, NO!" Goku yelled, diving forward with ridiculous speed to knock Raditz out of the way. "NOT THE KAOIKEN!"

Raditz looked up at her from the ground and shook his head. "Woman, I'm not here to start any trouble, I swear it on my tail! The princess and I are here to retrieve Prince Vegeta, that's all!"

Chi-Chi stopped at that and looked around. "And where's this princess, then, huh?" She asked suspiciously.

"She's staying with Vegeta, Chi-Chi!" Goku interjected, still between the two of them. He managed a little grin for his next statement, though. "She's his girlfriend."

The red flames faded around her and she just stared at him in shock. "Vegeta has a girlfriend? You're telling me that arrogant prick has actually convinced a woman to sleep with him?"

"Actually, woman, if you could not mention that to the princess, it would be better for everyone involved," Raditz said quickly. "She doesn't know yet. She still thinks of him as a brother."

Chi-Chi was floored by this enough to take a step forward. "Seriously? Vegeta… this is the same Vegeta we're talking about right?" When Raditz and Goku nodded, she only laughed and shook her head. "So, Vegeta is basically in love, and we're going to get to watch him make a damned fool of himself?" She laughed harder when both men nodded again. "Oh, Kami, that's worth it alone. Come on in and eat, Raditz."

She turned around at the table when she heard him coming in through the door, and scowled one more time. "Just so we're clear, though, if you touch my son… or even look at him wrong, I'll cut your nuts off where you stand."

"Oh, we're clear, woman." Raditz smiled at Gohan, who was still hiding behind his mother's skirts. "Brat, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Mom?" Gohan asked hesitantly.

"He swore on his tail, son," Goku said brightly. "I'm pretty sure that's a promise that he can't break. He's just here to eat and sleep, he'll be sparring with me during the days, I suspect."

"You can spar with us, too, brat. You're way past the age to be trained. How old are you? Ten? On Vegeta-sai, you would have started the moment you could walk."

Gohan nodded. "Mr. Piccolo trained me, though, after you killed my daddy," he said flatly. He straightened his back bravely, the gesture stating clearly that he wouldn't let such a thing happen ever again if he could help it.

"Gohan's pretty strong," Goku said brightly, "don't underestimate him just because he's small."

"Enough fight talk already!" Chi-Chi ordered, setting the last of the food on the table. Thank God she always cooked extra for her mate's midnight snack, since she was feeding an extra Saiyan. Goku would just have to make something for himself in the wee hours of the morning for once in his life.

I wanted to extend a big thank you to all of my faithful readers who have expressed support for me in their most recent reviews. You guys are fucking awesome. You guys are the reason I keep busting out chapters. Even when I can't breathe.

So, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, and to ANYONE who thinks that Vegeta's reaction to Usagi was out of character… kiss my ass. He cried on the fucking show, for God's sake. Don't remember it? Watch the Frieza saga. The man can show emotion, it just doesn't happen horribly often. And in this fic, it pretty much only happens in front of Usagi.

Next chapter: Althea!