A/N: Thank you guys for all the kind support! I felt a bit nervous that I am rushing their interactions, but hopefully you guys are thinking otherwise! Ah, I love these two.

The cave had grown silent.

A little too silent, in Bardock's opinion.

After the small woman had pulled away, the scarred Saiyan had looked away in embarrassment at being caught off-guard for the first time since he was a child. He didn't even want to look at her big doe eyes pleading to him for more secrets; more unguarded moments. He stood up despite her motionless protests and began wandering the mountain area. The storm had finally ended, but raindrops still lingered on the tips of the grass and would surely be frosted over due to Stratreon's unusual freezing night after a hot day.

Finding a large rock, the grumpy former leader of his current non-existant crew, who were probably laughing their asses off about leaving him behind with Gine, looked up at the numerous stars. They were illuminated against the dark sky; and Bardock concluded that perhaps Stratreon, despite its weaklings, was a decent planet.

Absentmindedly, the male touched his lip and then growled lowly realizing that the sensation of before that came from her still lingered there. "Son of a bitch..."

"Baaaaardock... Bardock! Hello?!"

Feeling relief wash over him upon hearing the sound of his right hand man, Bardock spoke into the scouter. "Where the hell is that ship, Tora?"

"Relax!" the tall Saiyan laughed loudly. "We aren't even back home yet to get it. It's only been a couple of hours, ya know."

Bardock grimaced as if the news physical hurt him. "Dammit, Tora! If I stay here any longer, I'm going to go insane."

"About that," even though Bardock couldn't see him, he knew his friend was winking and looking like an idiot. "I heard a...strange sound not too long ago. Maybe the reason you're so pissy is because I'm interrupting something...?" The scarred one fumed when the sound of his entire crew's laughter came through the transmitter. He stood up and stomped his foot like a petulant child not getting his way.

"This is why I keep this stupid shit off half the time!" he snarled, prepared to press the button. "Goodbye now, dumbass-"

"Bardock, wait!" Tora chuckled, and then lowered his voice in a soothing manner so he wouldn't upset his leader and friend any further. "Listen, I'll actually be glad if I was interrupting something. Don't you think out of every Saiyan there is left, that you need to start bringing a son to Planet Vegeta? You just mate up and leave, I'm not asking you to give your life to the damn girl. She's pretty good-lookin', too, so that's a bonus."

"...You're an idiot." With the thoughts he was imagining now, Bardock was an idiot, too.

"Listen, Bardock!" Fasha pressed this time, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Out of all of us, you work the hardest. You fight the hardest. You deserve to have some fun every now and then... I know you don't know what that word even means, but just give it a try. You'll get a child out of it, and then you can go back to your usual ways. What do you say?"

While Bardock slightly began to turn red and remained silent, Tora's voice overpowered Fasha's. "Think of it as a challenge! Come on, man, are you not up for the challenge!? Can the all mighty Bardock not conquer a woman for a night!?"

"THAT'S IT!" the leader snarled, removing his scouter off his face and dropping it on the ground. He could hear his crew begging him for to come back as he walked away from the device, making a mental note to pick it up in a few hours when they entered stasis during their travel. The grumpy Saiyan continued to mutter profanity under his breath while he marched his way back to the cave, prepared to yell at the skinny female for her little stunt that she pulled earlier.

"GINE!" he yelled, coming up to the entrance but his voice was sure loud enough for her to hear. "I don't know what the hell those idiots told you, but I am one hundred percent, absolutely, COMPLETELY positive that I do not want to mate or have anything to do with you! Do you hear me!? LADY, I SAID DID YOU HEAR ME!?"

A strange feeling began forming in Bardock's stomach when there was no voice responding to him. Entering the cave, he blinked at the sight of the fire flickering but no Gine. "Pain. In. My. Ass."

Gine was watching a rather large deer enjoy his midnight snack of wet grass through a bush, and taking deep breaths while fiddling with her thumbs. "It's okay, it's okay Gine. He's.. He's full grown!" she began smiling, trying hard to convince herself what she was doing was right. "Yeah, he's lived a full life! I'm sure he won't mind ending it.."

The woman sweatdropped and lowered her head in shame, realizing what she was thinking and believing herself to be insane for doing this. Her thoughts brought her back to her conversation with Bardock in the cave; how he mentioned besides storms that he liked deer, and perhaps eating it would make him happier than her kiss.

Gine groaned and lowered her head even further, feeling embarrassed for what she had done. He didn't even seem to have enjoyed it; that look he was giving her was just awful when she pulled away! "I've got to redeem myself somehow," she began talking to herself, not noticing the figure that was behind her since she always had her scouter off. "Alright, ol' girl, go get him."

Letting out a small war cry and imagining herself to actually be in some sort of great war, she ran out of the bush like a mad woman and charged at the surprised animal. The deer began sprinting away, but Gine even amazed herself when she was able to keep up with his fast speed. Sprinting into the air, she wrapped her dainty arms around the animal and was expected to bring it down.

What should have been an easy task turned into some sort of Saiyan-deer wrestling match.

The deer had stopped, seemingly smirking at the now terrified woman as it began swinging his head wildly around to try and knock her off. "You don't understand!" Gine cried out. "Bardock needs to eat you to forgive me! You lived a good life; look how strong you are!" When the animal just wouldn't stop, Gine began to sweat as she swung herself around its neck, ending up on its back.

And then, it was off again.

"No! No!" she closed her eyes tightly, starting to feel nauseous. She wasn't in the mood for deer-back riding. She wasn't even in the mood to get food for Bardock as a peace offering anymore. Gine's little arms were wrapped around the deer's neck so she wouldn't fall off the crazy ride. "Please stop! I'll leave you alone!"

When the deer actually came to an abrupt stop, Gine blinked her eyes open slowly to see Bardock standing in front of them. "Uh..." she began turning crimson. "Hi..."

"Get off the damn deer, Gine."

Reluctantly, the woman listened. She knew the male was going to blast the poor animal, but she didn't want to be on his bad side anymore. Pouting, Gine walked away from the deer and wanted for one his ki blasts to cook it on the spot while it began darting away. Her eyes followed it in amazement, realizing that it had disappeared without meeting death. Trying to get over her momentary shock, she turned her attention to Bardock who had his arms crossed over his chest with a raised eyebrow aimed at her.

"Bardock..." she placed a hand on her beating heart; secretly beginning to feel annoyed that it did it so much whenever he showed some rare mercy. "Why didn't you kill him?"

"You looked like you were having too much fun," he simply shrugged and then a slow smirk grew across his face when she began stomping her foot in anger. "You already mentioned you didn't have any friends, I couldn't kill the only one you're probably going to ever have."

"Gee, thanks!" she stuck her tongue out at him and immediately put it back with a blush on her face, realizing that he had enough of her tongue for the night. "What are you even doing here, you-you jerk!" Her blush grew even more when he closed the distance between them; even went as far as to flick her nose. Flick her nose!

Bardock blocked her fingers from doing the same to his and spoke in an exhausted, gruff voice. "Look, I warned you about leaving my sight and you nearly got yourself killed. I'm a bit over the whole cave scene," he looked away from the fuming female to observe the cold, fresh smelling and wide open field underneath the starry night sky and already began to feel relaxed. "Why don't we just sleep here? I promise I'll snap the neck of any deer that tries taking you away again."

Throwing her hands in the air as a sign that she just wasn't having it tonight, Gine proceeded to bring herself to the grass and sprawl out on her back. She expected her moody leader to disappear about fifty feet away, but she gasped when she felt the hot skin of his bare arm touching hers. He wasn't even giving her an inch! "What in the heck do you think you're doing, mister!?"

"Resting."

Glaring at the smug man through her peripherals, she noticed her was using his arms as a pillow and was chewing on a piece of grass. "I hope that has pesticides in it and you get very, very sick."

Bardock snorted in response and the Saiyans fell into silence while watching the stars twinkle in the magic way they do. Hearing the breathing of the woman beside him begin to fall into a rhythmic pattern, he figured she was asleep or at least to the point where she didn't know what was going on around her. "Remember how you asked me that bullshit about having a happy memory with my father?"

Nothing but the sound of crickets chirping responded to him, letting him know it was okay to continue.

"Before Frieza came into the picture, my father took years to train me in the arts of the hunt and warfare," Bardock smirked, remembering how he hunted through frozen wastelands and barren desserts alongside the older version of him. "We would go together on an annual hunt to symbolize the death of my childhood and birth of becoming a man. It wasn't until I went on it alone that I was deemed an elite warriors. At least, among my group of Saiyans. Eventually, I learned how to kill with my bare hands without any use of ki, picking up on new and stronger ways to fight on each battlefield."

"...That's beautiful..." her voice was slurred, but caused a strange sensation to run through him. Bardock propped himself on on his elbow so he could look down at the sleeping woman, noticing that there was slight drool coming out of the corners of her mouth. Her hair was tangled and frizzy from the rain, and her alabaster skin was painted with mud and bug bites.

"Yes," Bardock whispered, brushing a strand of her air off her forehead with his thumb. "It is..."

You deserve to have some fun every now and then!

Fasha's words were growing even more tempting by the minute, but the alpha male managed to shake it off as he brought himself back down on the ground. He did deserve to have some fun, but not with the wrong woman. The weak woman, who had made him feel strange ever since they first met. Rolling his eyes at his shameful self, he turned over on his side and closed his eyes tightly.

Only to reopen them when he felt two dainty arms wrap around his torso and a cold nose was pressed against his neck. "...Goodnight, Bardock..." she yawned and smacked her lips a couple of times. "I'll make you crow on the cob in the morning."