Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.

Vegeta padded into his quarters, somewhat exhausted. He sighed, letting out the lungful of air he had been holding in. The room was pitch-black. This was what nighttime was like in the Room of Spirit and Time. When it became dark, it was like a void of nothingness. Perhaps this was a silent reminder of what was to come if its occupants chose to stay too long. When the lights were out, this is what the abyss would be like.

Vegeta couldn't help, but shudder at the thought of this. He strided across the room, sat on the edge of his bed, and lit up a flicker of ki on the tip of his finger. It was iridescent and bright yellow. It illuminated the room in its brilliant phosphorescence and casted shadows upon the walls. Vegeta place the tip of his index finger to the top string of a white wax candle that was sitting atop his nightstand.

He held it there for a few moments, allowing the heat from his ki to ignite the string. He drew his finger away when a flame lit up at the tip of the candle. He allowed his ki to dissipate as he gazed at the flickering flame. He laid his tired body back in the bed, and comfortably crossed his arms behind his head and rested on his forearms.

He lazily watched the shadows dance across the walls in time with the flickering of the candle. He silently wondered how long Goku was going to take in the bathtub. He could really use a hot and steamy bath right about now to mend his aching muscles and sooth his abraded skin. He allowed the ominous shadow figures serenading on the walls to lull him to sleep.

Vegeta didn't sleep for very long. He awoke with a start. There had been a loud banging noise. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was just Goku. She had a problem with slamming doors shut. He could hear the pitter-patter of her bare feet as she trotted at a steady pace down the loan hallway. Vegeta half-expected her to slip and fall. After-all, she'd just gotten out of the bathtub. Knowing Goku, her feet would still be wet.

"Idiot," Vegeta murmured to himself, sitting up, and reaching out for the candle. "Who runs around the house with wet feet in the dark? Kakarrot, that's who."

Vegeta froze still as he heard Goku stop at his door. He drew his brows together in confusion. 'Maybe something's wrong?'

She rapped at his door. It sounded impatient.

"Come in," replied Vegeta, turning his attention toward the door, forgetting about the candle. Meanwhile, Goku struggled with the doorknob.

"It's locked!" she complained.

Vegeta grunted in annoyance, stood up and walked toward the door. He opened it while demanding rather harshly, "What do you want Kakarrot?"

The initial light from the candle that escaped Vegeta's room when he had opened the door caused Goku to wince. She rubbed her eyes, trying to speed up their adjustment to the light. With her eyes covered, she wasn't able to see the initial expression of alarm on Vegeta's face.

"Someone's grumpy," she grumbled jokingly.

Vegeta's body was frozen completely still. For a moment he wondered if the Hyperbolic Time Chamber's temperature had changed again, but it hadn't. His body was in a sort of shock. He couldn't move an inch. His eyes were free though, and his mind was definitely working at full-force.

His eyes roamed the expanse of Goku's body in complete disbelief and quite a bit of pleasure. By now, Goku was finished with rubbing her eyes, and she was watching Vegeta's reaction with a perplexed look on her face.

Here Goku was, right before Vegeta's eyes, stark-raving-naked and soaked to the bone. Her hair was matted to her face. Her cheeks were flushed, not with embarrassment, but from either the heat from the hot-tub she'd just been in or the cold feeling of being naked and soaking wet. Vegeta was trying his best to keep his attention above the neckline, and when that failed rather miserably, above the waistline. Her body looked so impeccably flawless to him; she looked so appealing, it was as if her body was talking to him, it was screaming, "Look at me! I dare you to touch me!"

Vegeta couldn't help, but feel that Goku was pulling his leg now. For the past few months, she'd been keeping her distance from him. When they'd first arrived together in the Room of Spirit and Time, he'd initially thought that they'd inevitably grow closer to each other, but that wasn't the case. He couldn't understand what she wanted with him. She'd appear like she held the same feelings for him, but when he tried to get closer to her, she would flinch away. After awhile, she started to keep her distance from him at all times. The only time he could be close to her was when they were fighting. It was maddening! He had become obsessed with her. He needed her, and she appeared completely indifferent to him!

'Damn-it! She's playing me as a fool now!' Suddenly, Vegeta felt incredibly angry. 'This was all just an act! She thought she could disgrace me? She thought she could dishonor me, the Prince of all Saiyans, even more than she already has? She just thinks this is a joke. She's been tooling with my emotions all along!'

Goku furrowed her eyebrows. Her face took on a worried expression, "Are you alright, Vegeta? You look kinda funny."

Vegeta seethed in anger. "Am I alright? Am I alright? Why are you even bothering now, Kakarrot? I've caught on to your little scheme. You thought you could make, me, the Prince of all Saiyans look like a complete and utter fool?"

By now, you can imagine that Goku appeared downright bewildered. "What?" was all she could manage to put in edgewise.

Vegeta jabbed his index finger at the center of her chest. "Well I have news for you!"

He roughly grabbed her biceps and shook her. "I will not be made a bumbling fool by the likes of a clown like you!"

At this point, the grip on her arms had become intolerable. "What are you talking about Vegeta? Let go of me! That hurts!"

Vegeta shoved Goku against the wall, his hands sliding down to her wrists. He pinned her against the wall, and paid close attention to her legs. He knew she was a skilled fighter, and that she could definitely hurt him if he wasn't careful.

He glared at her. He felt the sudden urge to spit in her face. "I genuinely cared about you, Kakarrot, and this is what I get? A fucking tease! Well, I'll show you who the fool is! I'm stronger than you Kakarrot, and I can take you any time I please. Maybe I will right now. That'll teach you a lesson!"

Goku struggled against Vegeta's grip. She made a move to kick him away, but Vegeta blocked her attack. If she could just gain the upper hand, then maybe she could beat some sense back into Vegeta.

"Vegeta, I have no idea what you're talking about, really! I know that you're stronger than me now… so then why do you think I'm trying to make you look bad? I don't know what you mean! And I don't want to fight you right now, Vegeta. We just got finished sparring and I'm pretty worn out," Goku paused, glancing at Vegeta's hands on her wrists. "Please let go, or at least loosen it up a little. That hurts!"

Vegeta let go of Goku, half expecting her to get into a fighting stance. He was imagining she'd jump at him the instant he granted her freedom. He suspected that she was playing dumb. But to Vegeta's astonishment, Goku didn't move.

"Please tell me what's bothering you. What did I do to hurt your feelings?" she asked, her face genuinely concerned.

"Kami!' muttered Vegeta in stupefaction. He clenched his fists, suddenly angry at himself for believing Goku would even think to do such a thing in order to hurt him. "You didn't?"

"I didn't what?" she asked.

'She wasn't trying to tease me all along? Then why has she been ignoring me lately? Why do I get looks of repugnance every time I try to make an advance? Is she afraid or something? I don't understand?! And after what I just said, how… how can she even look at me?' Vegeta stared at Goku's face in bewilderment. She was looking at him perplexedly. She had an innocent look of curiosity on her face. 'She's so naïve. She didn't even realize what I was insinuating. She thinks I want to fight her…'

Vegeta, combed his fingers through his hair, "Just, forget I said anything."

"That's kind of hard to do when you looked so mad just a second ago…"

Vegeta had trouble getting the words he wanted to say out. "Look, Kakarrot, I'm s- sorr… what were going to say to me when you came up and knocked on my door?"

Goku seemed to forget what was bothering her and smiled at Vegeta happily, "Will you join me in the bathtub Vegeta?"

Vegeta was taken aback with pure shock. "Wha- what?"

Goku suddenly seemed to realize the awkwardness of the situation. She looked down at her bare body, and back up at Vegeta. She laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of her head in her usual mannerism.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to take you by surprise, or embarrass you or anything," explained Goku. "But it's not that big of a deal. I mean, it isn't like you've never seen a woman naked before, right?"

At this inquiry Vegeta suddenly blushed a bright red, "Of course I've seen a woman naked before, you nimrod!" he defended in sheer humiliation.

"Good! So it won't be weird. So do you wanna take a bath with me or not?" asked Goku, with an eyebrow quirked and her arms crossed over her breasts.

'Like hell it won't be awkward. Have you forgotten what it's like to be a man already, Kakarrot?' Vegeta's mind was screaming in annoyance. "Well," he replied hotly, "If you're going to take so damn long I might as well take a bath with you. I don't want to wait all night, you know!"

Goku rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Okay!" she replied, skipping off to the bathtub.

Vegeta watched her retreating naked figure and thought, 'What have I gotten myself into now? What in the hell just happened anyway?'

"Last one to the bathtub has to scrub the other's back!" Goku shouted childishly.

Vegeta instinctively began to run, but then stopped himself. 'Wait just a minute…' he thought, beginning to smirk, '… I think in this particular instance, I'll allow Kakarrot to emerge the victor.'

Vegeta arrived outside. Nearly the entire area was solid black, but the wood burning beneath the bathing tub illuminated a small area. He could see that Goku had already submerged herself in the water. She looked extremely giddy.

She waded to the rim of the tub, and hung her dripping arms over the edge. "No fair, Vegeta! You didn't even try!"

Now it was his turn. Vegeta smirked at Goku. He slowly pulled off his shirt, and after he'd tugged it off of his head, he surveyed Goku's reaction. His smirk broadened with pleasing amusement as he saw her staring at his muscular build in a sort of awe. He then went for his pants. He loosened its hold, and allowed the clothing to fall to his feet. He stepped out his pants. The last fragment of clothing left was his boxers. Goku was now blushing furiously. She suddenly turned away from Vegeta, facing the other way.

"What's wrong Kakarrot?" Vegeta inquired mischievously, "Never seen a naked man before?"

"I've seen myself naked, but I've never intentionally looked at another man, no," she replied. Her voice trembled nervously.

Goku sucked in a deep breath of air. 'What is wrong with me? He's right, I'm acting like there's something wrong with this, and for what? I've never been shy. I didn't even know nakedness was something to cover up until I married ChiChi, and even then, most the time I just ignored her. Why am I so nervous to see... all of him?' She exhaled slowly. 'Pull yourself together, this is ridiculous!'

Vegeta finished disrobing and slipped into the tub, right next to Goku. He took hold of her chin in his hand, and directed her abashed-looking face in his direction.

"You're afraid of being attracted to me sexually," Vegeta stated softly. "All you've known is your sexual relations in your marriage, and now you think it's wrong to find fancy in someone else."

Vegeta was expecting Goku to shy away. This was her cue to distance herself from him. She was afraid to get too close to him. This had been happening since they first came to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Vegeta had blown up on her earlier because he'd begun to expect that she was only toying with him. But he could now see what was so blatantly obvious:

Like clockwork, Goku began to inch away from Vegeta, but he pursued her. He took a hold of her arm and spoke gently, "I have some questions for you, Kakarrot. I want you to answer them truthfully. Can you do that for me?" Goku seemed to have seen this coming. She looked frightened, but nonetheless, she shook her head yes.

"When the dragon balls restore themselves, will you wish yourself to be a man again?" he asked.

Goku twiddled her thumbs in uncertainty, "I don't know."

"That isn't good enough," Vegeta replied, his voice becoming louder and harsher. "Answer me truthfully: do you want to be a man again?"

Goku's face was ashen white. If she said, yes, then would she love ChiChi again. Would these feeling for Vegeta simply - Poof - vanish as quickly as they had come? Did she only love Vegeta because she was a woman? Did she like being this way?

"Don't overthink it, just answer. Out with it, Kakarrot!" Vegeta nearly snapped with frustration.

"No."

Vegeta looked taken aback.

Goku closed her eyes and sighed, then looked Vegeta directly in the eyes. "The answer is no."

Vegeta began to calm down. "Then why are you still debating whether to use that wish to – "

"Because of Gohan and the baby that's on its way. I want to be a father to them! It's not fair! They deserve to have a mom and a dad," Goku replied earnestly.

"Okay, Kakarrot. I can see why you'd want your children to have some sort of normalcy in their lives, but Gohan has come to terms with your predicament, and your new child won't know any different! When that child realizes that his father is the wrong gender, he'll eventually get over it too, and probably more readily than Gohan did, because this new child will have become accustomed to it!" Vegeta explained.

"I need you to make a choice now Kakarrot. I want you to decide what you want now!" Vegeta suddenly shouted, unable to hold his anger in any longer.

"What do you mean?" asked Goku, somewhat befuddled.

"Do you have feelings for me?" asked Vegeta, steadying his piercing gaze on Goku's own eyes.

Goku could see that he was completely serious. "Yes."

"How strong are those feelings?" he pressed onward.

"I – " began Goku, turning away, unable to keep eye-contact any longer, " – I love you, Vegeta."

Vegeta felt as if his heart had dropped through his chest and into the pit of his stomach. He was certainly not expecting that sort of profound affection from Goku. He couldn't stop himself from saying what came flying out of his mouth next:

"If that's true, Kakarrot, then you won't make that wish! If that's true than you will stop keeping your distance from me. Lastly, if that's true you will stop giving that wretched wife of yours the pleasure of having you for herself when you're rightfully mine!"

"Alright," she replied, her eyes still diverted. She was gazing at the water as if she were fascinated, but Vegeta knew that her mind was elsewhere.

Vegeta was once again, taken aback. "Really?"

"But on one condition. Only if you hold the same feelings for me that I have for you," she replied, finally gaining the courage to look him straight in the eyes. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"True Saiyans don't proclaim such silly things as 'love'," replied Vegeta, crossing his arms stubbornly. He could immediately see how greatly this statement had upset her, so he quickly attempted to mend the situation, "But nevertheless, I do hold the same feelings for you, Kakarrot."

Goku smiled happily and came closer to him. She rested her head on his shoulder, and he instinctively wrapped his arm around her slender waste. She nuzzled her face into his neck. The intimate touch sent chills down Vegeta's spine.

"Do you want to know why I wanted you in the bathtub with me?" she asked, resuming her comfortable position on his shoulder and closing her eyes in relaxation.

"Does it have to do with me?" asked Vegeta suspiciously.

"No, Gohan," she replied.

'No I don't want to hear the damn story then!' he thought, but nevertheless, he said, "Sure, why not."

"Well, Gohan and I take baths together, or more accurately, we used to take baths together. I can't anymore because I'm a woman now and it would be inappropriate according to ChiChi. I really miss Gohan's presence. I don't like being alone anymore. It's not just the bathtub thing. I mean, that's really nothing. It's just all of the small things that add up that are getting to me. I'm just so tired of feeling alone, Vegeta. And I thought that maybe since you have these… feelings for me… I thought you might want to keep me company?"

The last sentence she uttered ended in a question, but Vegeta didn't feel the need to reply to it. She already had been granted his answer.

"You and Gohan will get your relationship back. He really loves you, Kakarrot. Even someone like me can see that. The kid really looks up to you too. It's like you're his hero or something," explained Vegeta, trying his best to rationalize the situation.

"I hope so," murmured Goku, running her hand down Vegeta's chest.

She wasn't trying to become intimate, to Vegeta's dismay. She was tracing a rather large battle-scar on his chest with a sort of childish curiosity. This small act gave Vegeta hope. At least she wasn't afraid to touch him anymore.

"Will you tell me about your past, Vegeta?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist comfortably.

"Why do you want to know about my past, Kakarrot? You know that it isn't pretty," replied Vegeta, though, to his amazement, he felt oddly calm.

"Well we were planning on getting serious, right?" Goku paused and commenced onward once she'd received the affirmative nod from Vegeta. "Well, Bulma says that boyfriends and girlfriends should tell each other everything."

Vegeta found himself cracking up at this statement.

"What?" asked Goku dumbfounded, "Stop laughing, Vegeta."

Vegeta struggled to control his laughter. "Silly woman, I'm not your boyfriend. Earthlings have such ridiculous customs."

Goku's eyes widened in disbelief, "Well, I'm not your wife, Vegeta!"

Vegeta burst out laughing again, and was forced to choke his laughter down. Goku was starting to appear perturbed. "What part of Saiyans don't take part in absurd Earthling customs don't you get? Saiyans don't get married!"

"I did!" countered Goku.

"Yeah, well you're such a dope you practically got tricked into it!" argued Vegeta.

Goku ignored the insult. "Well, then what are we, Vegeta?" Goku asked, stressing her point.

"We aren't anything yet, but once we have sex we'd become mates," explained Vegeta.

"Oh… well is a mate like husband and wife?" asked Goku.

"I guess you could say that, but when Saiyans mate, it's sort of like animal imprinting. There's no such thing as divorce," continued Vegeta.

"So, once you mate… you can't decide you don't like the other person?" asked Goku.

"Well, you can dislike your mate, and Saiyans can lose 'love' interest, but Saiyans generally don't break apart after they've mated. It's unheard of."

"Oh," mumbled Goku. She suddenly jumped upright with a look of excitement. "Will we be able to do cool stuff like mind-reading with each other?"

Vegeta looked at Goku as if she were crazy, "Where the hell did you get the notion that we'd get some gift of telepathy from sleeping with each other?"

Goku blushed and directed her attention elsewhere out of embarrassment. "I saw it in a movie once."

Vegeta gazed at Goku's countenance, trying to read what she was feeling. She confused him even more than most women did. He thought that usually he was a pretty good judge of character. He couldn't understand her at all though. Sometimes she seemed ludicrously stupid, and at other times, with certain things such as fighting and strategy, she seemed like she was a genius. He couldn't tell if she was extremely stupid or amazingly smart. He only knew that she was incredibly naïve.

Another thing he couldn't understand about her was her empathy for others, even people that didn't deserve it. Vegeta hadn't been raised around any people that even had a vague characteristic of niceness about them, but he understood the concept of a nice person. He knew what qualities made up your average kind person, but Goku was overly kind. She seemed so selfless and considerate of others; he thought she might actually be the one truly altruistic person in the universe.

He would never understand how she came to be that way. She didn't exactly have the picture-perfect childhood. She'd been telling him about her past while they were in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and hers wasn't too pretty. She'd been born a baby boy, sent to Earth to purge the planet. She was found by a loving and adoring old man whom she called grandpa. She had received a terrible injury to the head that caused her to forget her ancestry and her mission. She killed her own 'grandpa' by accident, smooshing him like a bug in her Oozaru from. She was practically raised by a spoiled, self-centered teenage girl. His closest friends were a lecherous old monk and pig, a shape shifting cat, a hormonal girl and her bandit boyfriend, a bipolar woman that changed from sweet as molasses to nail-eater at every sneeze, and an egocentric little bald monk-boy.

Albeit, Vegeta's perception of Goku's childhood friends was a little farfetched compared to Goku's rendition of them. Regardless of that, somehow these crazy people managed to raise an innocent, caring, naïve, angel-child, that grew up into a fine young man, and later changed into a beautiful young woman, both inside and out. And with all of this considered, Vegeta could see no reason for Goku wanting to be with someone like him. He could see why Goku had been worried that Vegeta would end up with Bulma. He and Bulma fit like pieces in a puzzle, while he and Goku were polar-opposites. Why would someone as innocent as Goku want someone as guilty as him?

By now, Goku's face was upturned, gazing up at Vegeta inquisitively. "What are you thinking, Vegeta?"

"N – nothing, I'll tell you about my past, if that's what you want; but I have to warn you again, it isn't pretty," replied Vegeta, taking hold of Goku's slender hand and squeezing it for the strength to say something he'd never reiterated to anyone before.

"I know that it isn't pretty, but I want to understand you better," she replied with a slight smile. This wasn't an easy topic, especially when Vegeta was concerned.

'That goes both ways, Kakarrot.' "Alright," began Vegeta, "I don't remember much about my childhood before I was taken by Freeza. I was only five when he recruited me. He took me the day our planet blew up, the day you were born, and the very same day you were sent to Earth."

"He told me that Planet Vegeta was hit by a meteor. He had sympathized with me that my entire race had been obliterated by a mere asteroid. At the time, I was too young to recognize sarcasm. I was assigned to missions with the only two remaining Saiyans that were known of at the time, Nappa, whom had once upon a time been my Royal Guard, and Raditz, a third-class nobody who just happened to be lucky. Now that I think of it, maybe he wasn't lucky. Maybe he would have been better off dying with the rest."

"I have to attest to you that I was no stranger to killing. At the tender age of five, I didn't mind killing at all. In fact, a small part of me enjoyed it. It was like an intoxicating thrill, an adrenaline rush. I would have my fun killing, and then I would return to Freeza to be praised," Vegeta paused, noticing the funny look on Goku's face.

"Yes, Kakarrot, praised. Initially Freeza tried to act like my friend, a sort of father-figure if you will. But that didn't work for long. I was a bright young man, and I detected something offhand in Freeza's attitude. I could almost immediately see him for who he really was. When I confronted him, that was when all hell broke loose for me. That was when my life ended…"

About an hour later:

"… I guess you can say that I was reborn when you defeated me on Earth. I think you knew what the consequences of rebellion would be, and you still rebelled. You humiliated me, I hated your guts, but at the same time, you gave me hope, enough confidence to fight for my freedom!"

Vegeta stopped to glance down at Goku. He gently ran his fingers through her hair. She had fallen asleep. He had realized this a little while ago, but he wanted to end his story on a happy note for once.

He picked her up, and stepped out of the tub. He dried the both of them instantly by raising his ki, and he stepped quietly into the house, as not to wake her. He crept across the hallway, preparing to drop her off in her room, atop her bed, but he stopped. Something made him change his mind, and he headed toward his own bedroom, with her sleeping form still in his arms. He deposited her gently on his own bed, and took his rightful place beside her.

He tried his best to fall asleep, but seemed to be struck with a terrible case of insomnia. He couldn't even manage to close his eyes. He was enjoying watching Goku sleep. He liked seeing her peaceful, angelic-looking face, and watching the rise and fall of her chest as she inhaled an exhaled the same air that he breathed. This day had certainly not turned out the way he had thought it would, but he was glad that it did. He had never felt closer to her than he did now.