Chapter 36- Home

The frozen ground crunched audibly under her feet as she made her way out to the darkened yard. Gohan was pulling her along gently, and casting nervous glances her way. She kept her eyes straight ahead, lest her eyes meet the young demi-saiyan's and the small irksome thoughts in the back of her mind get confirmation. She stubbornly refused to believe her suspicions.

Ahead of her, the rest of the household were moving hastily to gather around the dragon.

Certainly she would have sensed it instantly. She had felt him die when Buu was here. But then, she had felt a little odd recently.

No.

Trunks would have said something. And when you really thought about it, it was impossible. The man was far too strong to be killed—not to mention too stubborn.

There. She concluded. It was just my imagination running away with me. They must have been talking about something else.

"What is your first wish?" The booming voice drew her attention immediately, and her eyes shot up toward the dragon.

"We wish for all the Earthlings who have been killed because of the Tauran Empire's raids to come back to life and be returned to their families."

The dragon's eyes flashed. "It shall be done." He announced.

A bright light appeared outlining the small stature of one of their oldest friends.

"Hey!" "Krillin!" "Daddy!" A loud hail was sent up by the Z warriors, and Marron ran forward to latch onto her father.

"It is done. Name your second wish."

"Hi cupcake." Krillin laughed and picked up his little girl. "Did you miss me?…oh wait!" He paused, his face growing urgent. "Piccolo."

Piccolo nodded, hardly needing to ask what Krillin wanted. "I know."

The two men stared at each other for a moment before Krillin accepted that Piccolo did somehow know what he was about to say.

Standing beside him, Trunks looked up at Piccolo nervously, as if worried that he would get the next wish wrong.

Piccolo raised his eyes to meet those of the great green dragon. "We wish for the Saiyan Prince Vegeta to be returned to Earth alive," The crowd of gathered friends gasped at the wish, "and in one piece."

The dragon paused. His eyes glowed. With a mixture of surprise and confusion, the gathered friends watched. But nothing was happening.

Vegeta sat alone now, under the shade of a large tree. His mood was somber, and his spirit conflicted. He was now faced with his decision. A moment ago, Krillin had disappeared back to the living world, and Vegeta knew that his time was coming soon.

Vegeta had been sitting silently beside his father watching the other warriors spar when it had happened. He had been comfortable, and a companionable silence had settled between the two men, broken only by occasional comments—mostly from his father.

Up near the white-tiled ring, he could see Krillin sparring with a large ancient Spartan. The man had no Ki control, but he was clever and packed a hell of a punch.

Suddenly Krillin had paused, dropping back down to the ring. His body began flickering. Vegeta knew instantly what was happening. He was being called back.

It was a surreal thing to watch. Krillin held his hands up to survey himself, and a smile graced his features. The large Grecian stared at his sparring partner in confusion. Krillin said something to the man, that neither Vegeta nor his father could hear.

"That is your Earthling friend, is it not?" King Vegeta had asked, following his son's gaze.

"Yes. He was apparently just wished back to Earth." Vegeta had answered.

"Then I fear your time is near. You must choose. Will you stay here? Or will you return to the living world? The choice is yours to make." He spotted the Supreme Kai suddenly standing some distance away, and realized that it was his time to leave as well. "Either way, I cannot stay."

Vegeta continued staring fixedly at Krillin's fading body as if the other man might give him some clue. As if sensing his gaze, Krillin's eyes had suddenly locked with Vegeta's. The smaller man studied the saiyan prince for a moment, and then apparently reached some conclusion. With a grin, Krillin threw a thumbs-up to his newfound friend, and then waved to the king. A moment later, he disappeared.

The large king pulled himself to his feet and stared down at his eldest son. "Goodbye, my son. We will meet again."

"Goodbye, father." Vegeta echoed, somehow finding that simple phrase to be one of the hardest things he'd ever had to say. His father nodded and then turned and walked away. He too disappeared a moment later with the Supreme Kai, and Vegeta suddenly found himself alone.

Vegeta dropped his gaze to the ground, as he felt the familiar tug on his spirit. The dragon's voice boomed in his head, asking him if he would return to Earth.

Vegeta hesitated. This was a choice he was not ready to make.

Suddenly a he heard a whisper—a familiar voice that he had not heard outside his dreams for quite some time. It was a tearful whisper, full of confusion and hurt. "No. Vegeta. He can't be dead." He clenched his eyes shut.

A moment later another whisper joined it. "Come on, dad…What's taking so long?"

Vegeta's hands clenched into fists. It wasn't fair. His thoughts returned to his father, so proud and strong. He remembered the odd feeling of security that he'd felt when he'd been with him. It was a feeling that was almost completely alien to him. He'd been robbed of security when he had been separated from his father and thrust into the clutches of an evil monster. He couldn't force the same life—the same hardship—on his son. He couldn't bear to hear that tearful whisper in his head for all eternity.

He knew what he had to do.

The entire Z gang waited with bated breath, but still nothing happened.

The newly-revived Krillin bit his lip. "He's got to come." He said lowly.

Piccolo glanced down questioningly at the remark.

No one else spoke, all just staring up at the large, green dragon.

Suddenly, the dragon began to glow. "It shall be done." He said finally, and a collective sigh of relief seemed to fill the clearing before being blown away with the wind.

"Piccolo, what…" Bulma finally started, her voice shaking. However she trailed off as a person materialized in front of them. "Vegeta." She whispered, recognizing him instantly. The truth finally hit her.

He was standing before them, his head hanging slightly, and not looking particularly happy to be where he was. In truth, he looked confused, tired, and somewhat hollow. His face was pale. He was wearing nothing more than a pair of gray pants, and his exposed torso was gaunt.

The dragon pulsated light, casting Vegeta in shadow, and accentuating the fact that his ribs could be clearly seen. With a word of parting, the dragon disappeared and seven orange orbs scattered across the newly brightened sky.

No one moved for a moment. The surprise of Vegeta having actually been dead seemed so stun people more than the fact that he was standing before them now.

Then…"Dad!" A purple streak nearly flew toward Vegeta.

Vegeta visibly tensed, but didn't have time for much more before Trunks literally plowed into him, knocking him back a few steps. Vegeta caught his balance, and looked in somewhat panicked confusion at his son. To an onlooker, it seemed as though his mind was momentarily in a different place. Somewhere much darker. A loud sob seemed to snap him back to himself.

"Trunks?" He pulled his son away and stared down at him. He didn't say anything, but just waited for an explanation.

Trunks hurriedly dried his face. "I…I…" His lip trembled and a moment later, he threw himself onto his father, wrapping tight arms around his waist. "I saw it, dad. I saw you die." He mumbled into his father's stomach.

Vegeta tensed. "Saw it? Saw…"

Trunks tightened his arms. "Saw it."

Piccolo approached the two. "It was broadcast." He motioned with his head to the group of onlookers. "No one else saw it though." He assured him.

Vegeta stared at Piccolo. Somehow his disorientation was not leaving him. The small bit of peace that he had found sitting in Otherworld beside his father had suddenly flown away, leaving him feeling hollow, cold, and unguarded.

He suddenly blinked as Piccolo's statement rang in his head. The execution had been broadcast. But no one had seen it. That relieved him for some reason. But Trunks had watched it. Vegeta released himself from Trunks' grip and then stared down at him sternly. "What possessed you to watch such a thing?"

"I…I." Trunks grabbed on to his pants leg as if afraid that he might disappear at any minute. He switched to Saiyago to say his next sentence. "I didn't want you to be alone."

Vegeta shivered a bit and frowned. He didn't know what to say to that. Luckily, he was spared having to think of something.

Bulma's thoughts up to this point had been a raging hurricane. Her husband had been dead. Dead! For how long, she didn't know. And people had known about this and not told her. It was so strange. And…infuriating. She could just take Piccolo—for she had gathered that this was all his fault—and string him up by his toes and beat him with a frying pan for a week straight. She sent her evilest glare at the tall, green man, but he didn't notice her.

A moment later though, her eyes fell back to her husband, and she finally took in his appearance. It horrified her. He was so pale, so thin. His proud, arrogant stance had turned into one more guarded, more nervous. But he was here. Suddenly her eyes were watery. He was here. On Earth.

How long had it been since she had last seen him? Really seen him. It must have been over a year. She swallowed down a lump in her throat. "Vegeta?" Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, but it caught his attention. He looked over to her with a somewhat guarded expression. "Ve…" She choked a sob, and took a hesitant step toward him.

He blinked at her. "Hello, onna." He said somewhat lamely. He wished someone had warned him that he would be wished back to life today. He could have prepared himself for the shock. As it was, he felt like he'd just been dropped into the middle of an icy ocean and was floundering to orient himself.

She gasped. Then just as Trunks had, she crossed the yard in less than a second, and threw herself at him, sobbing. Vegeta momentarily wondered where their restraint had gone. Even after he'd died trying to kill Majin Buu, both Bulma and Trunks had managed to greet him with a modicum of decency and self-control when he'd returned.

It should have been shameful. And yet, at the moment, he was too disoriented…too empty…to really feel embarrassment at the display.

"How could you die, you idiot!" The sudden shout brought his attention back down to her, just in time to see her small fist flying toward his face.

His head snapped back, and he blinked in surprise.

In any ordinary situation, such a weak punch wouldn't have hurt him at all. But apparently he was being Ki blocked again. A thin trickle of blood ran from his lip.

Bulma saw it and gasped. "Oh Kami," Her eyes went wide, and her hands flew to her mouth. "I'm so sorry." She looked completely horrified with what she'd done.

Though he would never tell her, getting a nice clock to the face was just what he'd needed then. It brought him back to reality with a crashing halt. Just as a precaution, he sniffed the air. He smelled her. He smelled all of them. This was no illusion. The sights and sounds…the apparently freezing weather. This was Earth as he'd come to know it. This was his home. And yet, he still wasn't sure how to feel about suddenly being back here.

As Bulma started to untie her handkerchief, somewhere nearby Vegeta heard someone chuckle. He knew exactly who it was. That was someone he hadn't particularly missed—not that he'd admit anyway. He turned a glare on Goku. The glare was a bit weaker than he'd intended it to be, and to his slight horror, he felt his lip twitch upward. Through his discomfort he couldn't help being slightly amused with the situation. Some part of him realized that he was happy to be in the place he'd grown to call home.

Bulma pressed the handkerchief to his lip drawing his attention back to her. "Why didn't you tell me you were dead?"

He snapped his head back to her. "Wha…?" He shook his head as if trying to clear the remainders of the haze away. "Onna don't be ridiculous. How on earth could I have told you I was dead?" Technically King Kai offered to let him contact Earth, but he'd been in such a state at the time, that he declined. He hurried to turn the conversation away from that. He suddenly felt much more like himself. Sure the first thing he'd get upon being wished back to life was a cold reminder of his death and a punch to the face. It amused him for some reason. "Besides apparently the Namek knew. If he didn't mention it for all this time, he must have had his reasons."

Bulma glared at Piccolo again, and opened her mouth ready to let loose a firestorm, before something Vegeta said finally registered in her brain. "All…this time?" She asked turning back to him, her eyes seeming to well up again. "How…how long have you been dead?" Her voice cracked when she asked.

"Please don't start crying, Bulma." He told her softly.

"How long?" She demanded.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Time means nothing in other world."

Her eyes glistened.

"It was a little less than a week, dad."

Bulma looked down at her son. "Trunks, how could you not tell me that your father was dead?"

Trunks shifted a bit to put his father between him and his mother. "Piccolo said not to tell."

Bulma turned a furious glare at Piccolo again. It all came down to Piccolo. How could he not let her know? And how could he let her little boy live like that without his mother to share his grief? Her glare hardened even more as ideas for revenge began flashing through her mind. They convalesced, clashing against each other, and set her heart pounding. Her hands balled into fists.

Piccolo actually began to look nervous.

But then, it became too much. Instead of breaking into a furious, violent rant as everyone was expecting, she suddenly sobbed and, grabbing Vegeta, buried her face into his chest. Everything was such a swirl in her head. She'd hardly had the time to process that her husband had somehow died, before he was magically standing before her again, looking like he'd probably starved to death. Then her son tells her that he's been dead for days and that for some reason it had been kept a secret. What on Earth was going on? Why would they do this to her?

She would deal with Piccolo in her own sweet time. Right now, she needed to reassure herself that what she was seeing—what she was feeling—was real.

Knowing that Vegeta would be uncomfortable with such an open display of affection, she slowly pulled away. He glanced down at her, before looking away again. Just then, she realized that Goku was standing beside them, shrugging off his jacket.

"…yea, but if you freeze to death again, that would just be silly." He said, draping the jacket over Vegeta's shoulders.

She glanced around to see that Gohan and Goten had come closer to surround their newly revived friends as well, and were grinning in amusement.

"I said I don't want it." Vegeta looked decidedly unhappy about wearing his rival's jacket, but didn't take it off.

"Now don't complain." Goku grinned sneakily. "I'll get Bulma to punch you again."

Vegeta just rolled his eyes.

Now that she wasn't quaking with sobs, she could feel that he was shivering. She blinked at him. It was such a human thing, to shiver. She looked him over thoroughly. The pale, sickly look, dark bags under his eyes, gaunt figure, and those eyes. They were hollow, like they'd been years ago. They told of some horror that was still undoubtedly fresh in his mind. What had he been through?

She glanced at Goku, to see that he was apparently wondering the same thing. Suddenly, though he glanced down. His eyes widened comically. "Vegeta your tail's back!"

"Wha…?" Vegeta glanced behind him, and then pulled his tail around to wiggle it in front of him. His lip twitched upward slightly. "Yeah, it's been there for a while. I thought you knew that already." He quickly tucked it around his waist.

"We'll have to cut it off." Piccolo said, a little off-handedly.

Vegeta's reaction shocked everyone. "No!" With a suddenly panicked look, he jumped away from Piccolo, scurried out of the ring of people who'd surrounded him and then crouched into a fighting stance.

Piccolo understood the reaction, especially given the way that Vegeta had been killed. However, he wouldn't tolerate it.

"Vegeta don't be ridiculous. The Earth's moon is back. We can't have you turning into a giant ape and destroying cities."

Piccolo's reason seemed to not penetrate Vegeta's head for some reason. He just glared hostilely at all of the Earth's fighters. He was tensed, panicked, like a cornered animal. He looked as if he expected one of them to suddenly charge him with a knife.

He felt something tickle his mind. He floundered for a minute, before hurriedly slamming his protective barriers down. He'd just started getting comfortable being back, when the threat of dismemberment sent him careening back into a panicked, animalistic, and instinct-driven side of himself that was only concerned with self-preservation. In that moment, he was having trouble figuring out if everything was real. The Xiee specialized in creating visions. It was entirely possible that he was still in the dungeon, and that everything that he was seeing was just a figment of his imagination. How many times had been forced to live fantasies that featured these people? How many times had he been rejected, turned on, even killed by them? He couldn't remember. This could be one of his fantasies. But, he thought it was real.

Then, they really were turning on him. The very people he had dared to call friends and family were turning on him. The thought terrified him.

"No one's cutting off anything." The command was forceful, and brooked no argument.

Vegeta whipped his head toward the voice, to see that Goku was fixing him with a half-shocked, half protective gaze. Goku stepped in front of him and turned to Piccolo. He gave him his most determined stare. "A Saiyan's tail is a like a human's arm. It would be cruel to cut it off when he's not causing any trouble with it." He turned to Vegeta. "If you stay inside during the full moon, you can't transform anyway." The caged look and defensive stance wasn't lost on Goku. He looked over to Bulma who was staring at her husband with a sort of lost, despairing gaze.

Seeing that she was clearly needed in some way, she hurried over to her Vegeta.

"We should go inside." She said hesitantly laying a hand on his arm. When he didn't flinch away, she added. "Before you freeze."

"Good idea!" Goku said, snapping back into his normal cheerful self. "I wonder if dinner is ready."

"We just finished eating." Chichi stated, causing her husband to whirl around in surprise and despair. He clearly hadn't noticed her follow them out. When she saw his expression, however, she folded. "But we could probably fix a late snack." She huffed, striding off. "Come on, Chaotzu."

"Yeah!" Goku trotted after her. "I'll help too."

"No, that's ok." Her hasty reply was just audible as she disappeared back into the house.

"We'll join you in a bit, guys." Bulma said to the rest of the gathered friends, as she steered a somewhat shocked and numb Vegeta toward the capsule house situated across the lawn from the Son's house.

"Us too!" Krillin called. Behind her, she saw Krillin, 18, and Marron crossing the yard to the other capsule house.

"Ok!" Goku shouted back.

"Don't eat everything!" Trunks warned them, following his parents.

Goku laughed and waved back to them as he headed inside. "Ok. No promises though."

As soon as they penetrated the door to the capsule house, Bulma and Trunks threw themselves onto him again.

"Vegeta, what happened?" She had to know. He didn't look right, and all the mystery surrounding his death suggested that it hadn't been a particularly clean one.

He sighed. Feeling the warmth emanating from his wife and son's bodies grounded him. "I…it's a long story. I don't really…"

Bulma pulled back and took his face in her hands. "Later then." She said, letting him know that he wouldn't get out of telling her. She wondered if Trunks knew.

"I'm glad you're back." She pressed herself back to him, reveling in his familiar scent. "It's so good to have the family back together again." She said it more to herself than to him.

She glanced down towards Trunks to see that he was closely inspecting Vegeta's arm as if looking for something. Vegeta and Trunks both noticed the look. In a simultaneous movement, Trunks let his arm go, and Vegeta pulled it back to his side.

Bulma looked between them, noting the guilty, guarded looks.

Whatever had happened, Trunks knew about it. Why on earth would he not tell her?

Her moment of contemplation was swiftly interrupted when Vegeta pulled away from her. "Do you happen to have any of my clothes here?" He asked.

Bulma frowned, seeing in his expression that she would get no information out of him now. "Yes." She sighed, and then turned to go find something for him to wear.

It took more time than expected for them to find a pair of pants that weren't too big for his slimmed down frame. Eventually she found a pair of old jeans and popped a new hole in his belt.

Fifteen minutes later found them entering the Sons' dining room. A loud hail greeted them upon their arrival.

"It's about time!" Goku whined. "Chichi wouldn't even let us start."

"Serves you right, you cow." Vegeta said, pulling out the chair next to Goku and dropping down in it. "Not even your own woman trusts you not to eat everything in sight."

Trunks hopped into a chair near Goten, and Bulma headed into the kitchen to help Chichi with the food.

As soon as she was gone, Goku leaned over. Flashed clips of images gleaned from Vegeta's mind a few minutes earlier rushed back to him. They were all horrible, filled with darkness and pain, but nothing had been clear enough for him to really know what had happened to his friend. He didn't want to bring up bad memories, but he had to know what they were dealing with. He quietly asked. "So…was it Hui? Is he really that strong?"

The fact that the attention of everyone in the room was focused on him wasn't lost on Vegeta. He was finding it hard to be his normal self. In a way, he couldn't remember what his normal self was. He settled on crossing his arms and leaning back coolly. However, something wasn't clear to him. He glanced at Piccolo. "Was there some reason you were keeping this a secret?" He asked.

"I was keeping morale up." He admitted. Vegeta suspected that there was more to it than that, but he didn't feel like asking.

"And now?"

"It's up to you."

Vegeta shrugged and turned back around. "I've never met Hui." He said simply avoiding looking anyone in the eye. He wished he didn't have to tell anyone this, but the fact was, they needed to at least know the basics. It was better to get it over with now.

"But…if it wasn't him…is there someone else that powerful?" everyone gathered around the table looked astonished and terrified at the idea that Vegeta had been killed by a simple soldier and not the emperor himself.

Vegeta found himself chuckling. "There are many powerful creatures around the universe, with abilities that most of you probably couldn't even imagine." The Xiee sprang into his mind, but he shook the thought away. "If there is anyone more powerful than me out there…I can only speculate."

"But then…did they block your ki? How did you get killed? You didn't blow yourself up again, did you?"

"I wasn't killed in battle." He said simply, crossing his arms a bit defensively. "I was executed."

The room would have gone silent if not for the sound of a stack of plates crashing to the floor.

Everyone whipped around at the noise to see Bulma standing in the doorway. "Executed?" She whispered, staring wide-eyed at her husband.

Vegeta wasn't sure what to do in that moment, so he just sat, staring blank-faced back at her. He hadn't known how she'd take that little fact, so he was going to avoid telling her. Ever. Too late now.

Trunks and Goten hurried over to pick up the plates she'd dropped.

His attention was turned away from his shocked mate when, to his surprise, Goku jumped to his feet and slammed a hand on the table. The news seemed to have had an odd effect on him. "They executed you? That's barbaric!" He looked positively furious.

That made Vegeta laugh. "You don't know the half of it." He said.

Trunks had gone pale at the thought of an execution. He slid the plates onto the table and tried to get inconspicuously back into his seat.

"And Trunks saw it?" Goku carried on, noticing the boy. "You too, Piccolo?"

"The execution was broadcast throughout the universe as a warning to anyone who would have opposed the Tik."

"Why didn't you say something, Piccolo?"

"What could you have done?" Piccolo let his gaze sweep the room full of upset-looking people. "What could any of you have done?"

"I…I…" He fumbled, glancing at Vegeta who, surprisingly looked to be the least perturbed with the fact that he was executed. "You could have at least said something!"

"I agree." Bulma said, coming over and poking Piccolo in the chest. "What on Earth makes you think that I don't have the right to know that my husband is dead?"

"It was for the good of our efforts here. We couldn't afford for you to be wallowing in grief for weeks. We couldn't afford for anyone to get angry and do something rash, and we certainly couldn't afford for anyone to become so terrified by the Tik brutality that they abandoned the fight."

Bulma was instantly furious. However before she could say anything, she heard Vegeta speak. "That was probably the best idea you've ever had, Namek."

"What?" She rounded on her husband. "Vegeta, what—"

"It wouldn't have helped anything for you to be distracted and emotional." He looked her up and down. "Look at you now. The Namek obviously had everything planned out. What good would the knowledge of me being dead have done anyone anyway?"

"But…" She didn't have the time to articulate why his logic was entirely off-base.

Vegeta turned to Piccolo. "How did you keep anyone else from seeing it though?"

"We were…otherwise occupied when it was happening." He sent a fleeting glance to Gohan and Videl. "But I kept them from finding out about it afterwards by blocking nearly all communication with the outside universe."

Vegeta raised his eyebrows and then nodded as if agreeing that that had been a good idea. "One more question."

Piccolo cocked an eyebrow.

"There's an unconscious alien in Bulma's capsule house." He heard Bulma gasp, but carried on. "Your doing?"

Piccolo nodded. "We couldn't have the Krimzon technician seeing the dragon, could we?"

"Why does everyone look so serious?" Chichi asked walking in with food. "Hello, Krillin." She sent a smile to the man, and then gave a slightly less warm nod in Vegeta's direction. "Vegeta." Still, it was courteous. She turned to Bulma. "Bulma, are you alright? I heard something fall."

"I'm fine, Chichi." She said shakily before brushing past her and Chaotzu to go back into the kitchen.

Chichi put the giant dish on the table and then blinked in confusion. "Goku, the food's here." She said, clearly surprised that he hadn't already snatched something out of the dish.

"Huh?" He snapped his head toward her and then looked down at the food. "Oh. Looks great, Chichi." He said, though with not as much enthusiasm as he usually did. He sank back into his seat, casting Vegeta an odd glance as he did so.

Chichi blinked. "Son Goku, is something the matter? Are you sick?"

"No. No. We were just talking. That's all."

Bulma came back in carrying another dish of food. She was still pale, and looked to only be shakily holding herself together.

"Well, I'm surprised I have to say it, but dig in."

"Yeah!" Goten was the first to dive in.

Surprisingly, Vegeta was the second, though it probably shouldn't have been so unexpected. Given one look at his gaunt face and his thin arms, it was easy that he hadn't eaten well in quite some time.

Trunks took the cue from his father, and soon the room was filled with the sound of saiyans devouring food. After only a few minutes, things seemed to calm down and get more cheerful. Slowly, the sound of chewing was replaced by cheerful banter.

"Hey, dad." Trunks caught his father's attention after a while. "I convinced Pop to give me the recipe for Pato."

"What's Pato?" Gohan asked from across the table.
"A traditional Saiyan dish." Trunks said enthusiastically. "It's the most awesome thing ever."

"Oh I want to try it!" Goten said excitedly. "Maybe you can give mom the recipe."

"I can't." Trunks said. "He only gave it to me under the condition that it stays in the family and I guard it with my life."

"I'm not sure that anyone in your family knows how to cook." Vegeta said offhandedly, grabbing an eggroll.

"Excuse me?" Bulma nearly shouted. Vegeta glanced over at her with a surprisingly bashful look as if he hadn't realized he'd said it out loud.

"Grandma can." Trunks said, not even noticing the interaction between his parents nor the amusement it was giving the rest of their friends. "She's family, right?"

"Oh yeah." Vegeta smirked a bit at his wife. "Yeah she'd do."

Bulma narrowed her eyes and looked between her husband and son. "I think you should make it yourselves." She griped. "Since you're so good at critiquing people's cooking skills."

"I agree." Chichi added. "If it's a Saiyan dish, it stands to reason that a Saiyan should cook it."

"By that logic, you shouldn't be cooking Italian food." Vegeta said, grabbing a slice of homemade pizza taking huge bite.

"I don't know if I'd trust Vegeta in my kitchen, Chichi." Bulma admitted, though with a playful tone. "Things tend to catch on fire."

Krillin choked on his food and then made a great effort to cover his laughter with an exaggerated coughing fit.

"Oh I know what you mean." Chichi said. "I told you about the mother's day fiasco last year right?"

"Hmm…" Bulma thought about it.

"Aww Chichi!" Goku whined, and Gohan and Goten slumped in their seats looking embarrassed. "That was an accident! And we tried really hard."

"I know you did honey, and it was very sweet of all of you. But these kinds of stories are fun to tell." Chichi said. "So they were trying to make…" She glanced over to Gohan. "…pancakes?"

Gohan sunk down in his chair even more. "Uhh…well we couldn't decide if we wanted pancakes or muffins so we compromised and tried to mix the recipes."

The table burst into laughter.

"Maybe it's just a Saiyan thing." Chichi speculated. "Maybe they're just not meant to cook."

"That hardly seems logical, given how much they eat." Bulma chimed.

"Uncle Tarble can cook." Trunks said. "And actually dad cooked someti—"

Vegeta inconspicuously shushed him, and Trunks quickly stopped talking, quickly staring with unusual intensity at his plate.

However, Bulma and Chichi noticed. They shared a devilish look. "Oh so he can cook, can he?" Chichi said.

"I guess you can cover dinner tomorrow night." Bulma giggled.

"You'll all starve." Vegeta told them seriously and then seamlessly changed topic. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Goku who was sneakily creeping his hand closer to Vegeta's plate. "Kakarott if you touch my chicken, you'll lose your hand."

Goku's hand hesitated a few inches above Vegeta's chicken leg before he chuckled and withdrew it. "I was just…keeping you on your toes 'Geta." He chuckled. "Don't want you to lose your touch."

The group of friends erupted in laughter.

It was late by the time they got back into their small capsule house. Trunks had fallen asleep playing video games, sprawled across Goten's bed, and his parents had decided to leave them there. "I know it's not quite home, but well…" Bulma flipped on the light and slipped off her shoes.

Vegeta just shrugged.

"Are you alright?" She asked, coming around and slipping her arms around him again. She rested her head on his chest, just enjoying hearing the sound of his heart beat. He snaked his arms around her waist and rested his cheek on the top of her head.

"Vegeta?"

"Hm?" Her hair smelled like strawberries. Her body was warm and soft. It was comforting. So nice. How he's missed this all those months on Iro. Even more so, locked in that cold, dank dungeon.

"Are you ok?" She asked again.

"Mmhm." He said a little distractedly, bringing a hand up and twirling some of her hair around his finger. So soft.

"You know I don't believe you." She told him. She pulled away a bit.

"Huh?" He looked down at her in confusion wondering if he'd just done something wrong.

"You seem…I don't know. Distracted?" She placed gentle hands on his face and forced him to look her in the eye. "I know that you're suffering." She said.

He cocked an eyebrow, but quickly looked away.

"Maybe not physically." She said. "But…Vegeta, I think even I'm going to have nightmares about what you went through, and I hardly know what happened. Please promise me that you'll talk to someone if you need to. It doesn't even have to be me, if you'd prefer it. But I am here, if you want." She clarified.

"Onna I don't know if you'd—"

She cut him off. "Be able to handle it?" She asked, bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. "Maybe Goku or Piccolo or Tarble then. It's up to you. Just…don't try to take everything on alone, ok?"

He just blinked at her and came closer. "I'm fine, onna. Don't worry."

"Vegeta, you…you were captured, starved, and executed. I don't know how anyone could be fine after that."

He was suddenly really tired. How could he tell her that, yes he was fairly traumatized by it, but that it wasn't anything that he hadn't been through before? "Fine…I'll…just…" He sagged. "Let's just go to bed."

Vegeta had trouble falling asleep. Images of torture, of suffering, of the Xiee, kept him awake for hours. He tried not to toss and turn. He didn't want to keep Bulma awake, but she'd refused to go to sleep until he'd fallen asleep himself.

It pained her to see him so disturbed. He would drift off, and then jerk awake again looking terrified. She could feel him sweating, feel his heart pounding, his breath coming in gasps. Sometimes he'd be shivering.

She'd shush him every time, and cup his cheek in a warm hand.

He would tense in fear at the touch. Then relax when he realized it was her. Then he would tense again in embarrassment.

She'd pull herself closer, and he'd accept the invitation, tightening his arms around her and seeking comfort in her warmth. His tail wrapped around her thigh was a new sensation and at first, somewhat surprising. Then she found it a welcome one, it was warm, fuzzy, and told of his mood far more than he would have let on himself.

She'd whisper calming things in his ear. Sometimes she'd hum a bit. She'd remind him of happy times they'd spent together, try to get his mind on other things than on whatever was plaguing him.

He eventually had drifted off to sleep, on his side, both arms wrapped tightly around her, his face in her hair. She stayed awake for a while, rubbing calming circles on his back, making sure that he didn't wake up again, and just reveling in the long-missed sensation of his warm, strong embrace. Eventually, she fell asleep herself.

She awoke before him the next morning. It wasn't surprising. He'd looked exhausted. She didn't move upon waking. She was in bliss right where she was. They'd shifted a bit in their sleep. He was on his back, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her waist, his tail around her thigh.

Outside, the sun was shining, but the wind was howling. The cold weather made the warmth of her situation all the better.

She put a hand on his chest and closed her eyes. She could feel him breathing calmly, feel his heart's steady beat beneath her palm.

Oh how she'd missed this. She could stay here forever. Alas, there were things she had to do. With five saiyans in residence, it would take an army to make breakfast. She had, of course, volunteered to lend a hand. Slowly extracting herself, she rose from the bed, carefully tucking the covers back around him. She smiled slightly and ran a gentle hand over his forehead. He looked so peaceful when he slept.

She glanced out the window at the yard outside. The grass was white with a light layer of snow. Beneath the tree a familiar figure sat, his white cape whipping around in the harsh wind. He seemingly paid no heed of it.

She suddenly remembered. All of it.

Her eyes narrowed at him as devious thoughts began swirling through her head. She ran to her closet full of weapons prototypes. Grabbing a rather high-powered taser gun from the shelf, she marched to the door.

Vegeta was awoken at 7:12 to a loud shriek. "PICCOLOOOO!"

His eyes shot open and he listened to the shout as it echoed back through the mountains. Curious, he pulled himself out of bed, shivering a bit at the cold, and made his way to the window.

He pulled away the curtain and blinked at the scene before him. Then, he chuckled slightly. Bulma's yell had drawn quite a crowd, and he could see the faces of most of the residents of Mount Paz gazing out of their windows. Indeed it was quite a sight. Bulma was still in her robe. Her hair was thrown into a hasty ponytail, and she was sporting snowboots. A large weapon was thrown across her shoulder, and she was charging across the lawn toward the rather petrified Namek.

Piccolo had the presence of mind to pull himself to his feet, before a bolt of lightning flew from Bulma's gun and hit him dead in the chest. He spasmed and screamed, flailing before falling hard in the snow. He lay there for a second, before the sound of the gun recharging shocked him from his inaction.

With a rather terrified look, he shot back to his feet and backed away.

Bulma fired again, but Piccolo dodged this time. The blast took a branch off of a nearby tree. Piccolo gazed at the branch. He shouted something to Bulma, and then took off into the forest. Bulma just stared after him, blowing the smoke from her weapon and propping it over her shoulder. With a self-satisfied not, she turned back toward the house.

Vegeta chuckled again and shook his head. There was no way a Xiee could have invented that image. So with amused thoughts and a somewhat lightened spirit, he climbed back into his warm bed to dream of a blue-haired warrior woman in snowboots.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed that. Thanks to all of you for your support and ideas. It's really great to hear how many of you follow this story and enjoy it. I really appreciate the time that you all take to write me such thoughtful and nice reviews. Again, thanks a bunch.

If anyone has any ideas or things they'd like to see now that Vegeta's back with the gang, let me know, and I'll try to write it in.