Disclaimer's: I don't own anything DBZ related. I do however own my overactive imagination and this is a product of what happens when I succumb to it. I also apologize for the unusual pairing in this fic. I thought, what the hey? Why not? Hence, this story. Enjoy!

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Tears At Midnight

Vegeta got up from his bed. He and that woman had had a fight again, and he was back in the guest room for as long as she said. He felt awful, even though he would've never admitted it to anyone. Worse, he felt guilty.

The fight had been his fault. It had been a little fight on how he never seemed to remember to do anything she said. He could've apologized and ended it right there, but his damn saiyan pride wouldn't let him.

He flew out his window into the night. He needed to be alone. The only time he let himself cry was when no one could see him. He would never live that down.

Why am I so cold? he asked himself, Why do I always do the exact opposite of what I should? I excuse it as my being royalty, but a true prince would care about his people, not hurt them because he was hurt.

He found himself outside of Kakarot's place. Why had he ended up here? He didn't want to wait around, just in case someone was awake.

He flew to a lake nearby. It was as good a place as any. Besides, who would be out here this late at night? Besides him, of course?

He floated above the still waters and closed his eyes. Right now, he needed to think. His mate was mad at him yet again and it wasn't like there was anyone else on this baka planet who cared about him. Except for Kakarot and his stupid friends. No matter what he did, they always excepted him back into their group.

I suppose I could blame the way I am on Frieza and how I had a rotten childhood, he thought, But even if I grew up with Father, it wouldn't have been any better. He was just as ruthless as Frieza. No, it's my fault. I could've been a better person, IF.

He floated down to a rock and sat down. If he kept this up, he wouldn't have anyone left who cared at all. The thought of being alone with all these strange Earthlings made him feel sick.

No, it made him feel scared, an emotion he never let himself feel. Now, all the times he had pushed fear away came back to him on the hundred fold. Why couldn't he just... LIVE a little bit?

Just then, as he was about to leave, he heard a noise most normal people wouldn't have picked up. That was 1 thing his heritage was good for. It gave him a slight advantage over the Earthlings and he needed all he could get. It was the sound of quiet crying, like the person didn't want to be heard. Curious, he flew over to investigate.

The ki pattern he was picking up was familiar to him. Someone he new was out here all alone crying, just like him. Who was it?

He came within 20 feet of the person before he recognized who it was: Chi-Chi, Kakarot's mate.

Why was she out here crying. When she and Kakarot fought, it was him who was kicked out, not her. If she was upset about something, Kakarot should be there to help her. She shouldn't need to cry her tears at midnight, alone, like him.

A pain filled his chest. He felt... sympathy for her. An emotion he never felt before. Why did he feel so bad about her tears? What did they matter to him?

He was tempted to fly away. If she was out here crying all alone, she obviously didn't want to be disturbed. Something stopped him. Curiosity, he supposed. Kakarot's mate was prone to being hysterical (fainting and screaming if she didn't get her way), but this was different. She genuinely seemed to be in distress. He flew over to her.

"Woman, what's wrong?" Not the nicest greeting, but he couldn't think of anything particularly nice to say on the spot. That was another 1 of his faults.

Chi-Chi jumped, "VEGETA? What are you doing out here?" Her voice shook as she wiped her eyes.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, smirking.

"My house is right over there," she said, "This is my property. What are you doing here in the middle of the night? And don't even say training or sparring. I'm not stupid."

He had to give the woman credit. She was very good at not letting her emotions show.

"You were crying," he said, "I came to investigate. Did you and that baka have a fight?"

"You still haven't answered my question," she said, "You couldn't have heard me crying all the way from Capsule Corp. which is where you belong. Why aren't you at home, and why are you here, in this exact spot?"

This was a surprise. The woman was much more intelligent then he would've given someone who married Kakarot credit for. Now, he had to come up with a reasonable lie. Damn.

"Saiyans have sensitive hearing," he said, "I heard you and recognized your ki pattern, so I came to investigate." There, perfectly reasonable.

"If you could hear me at Capsule Corp., then why can't Goku, Gohan, and Goten hear me from 100 feet away? If they heard me crying, they'd be here quicker than you were."

Damn it, this was intolerable. No woman should be able to outthink the Prince of all Saiyans!

"Furthermore," she continued, "Even if you did hear me crying, why would you come and investigate? I doubt you consider me a friend, and I certainly don't think you're capable of feeling sorry for someone who doesn't spar with you or cook your food."

She stared up at him, "Why are you here, Vegeta?"

Looking into her eyes, Vegeta felt like he was falling. Those eyes held more sorrow than he had seen anywhere. Not in the eyes of the people whose planets he blew up, not in his random victims, not in anyone. How could she have been through so much? She was only about 42, human years. She was young compared to how long a saiyan could live. What had she seen?

"Nothing," he mumbled, "Maybe I should go now." He started to fly away, but stopped, "Why are you crying?"

"Why do you care?" she shot back.

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because you're cold," she said simply, "If it weren't impossible, I'd say you had no heart, or at least a heart made of ice. You don't even care about Trunks, Bra, and Bulma. Why would you care about me?"

"I don't know," he said, "For now, let's say I'm curious." Everything this woman was saying to him, he agreed with (so did most other people), so why did he resent hearing it from her?

"It's none of your business," she said, "And I still want to know how you came to be here in the first place."

Vegeta looked at her and said, "Guess."

"You were being your charming self and Bulma kicked you out?" she asked.

"Mostly." Why was she so smart? Of course, the fact that he and Bulma fought a lot was pretty common knowledge, "She didn't kick me out of the house, she demoted me to the guest room. I needed some cool down time, so I flew out here."

"Why here?" she asked.

"Kakarot and I train here," he said, "I knew it was a private place and that no one would be around," He looked down at her, "No one except you. Your turn. What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong?" she asked.

"You were crying, woman!" he said, "You humans cry when something's wrong!" So do saiyans...

"Nothing's wrong," she said, "Nothing bad has happened, my family and friends are safe and sound. Nothing's wrong."

This was exasperating! "Then why are you crying if nothing's wrong? Honestly you women are exasperating!"

"Because when something's wrong, I have to be strong for my kids and my husband!" she yelled, "I can't cry then, because if they're worrying about me, then they'll be more likely to get hurt or die! So I save it all up, and wait for a safe time to cry. I've been saving up tears since Cell. I've been out here crying for the past week. Does that answer your question?" Tears ran down her cheeks, "Would you please leave?"

Vegeta stared at her. No words came to mind except, She could be a saiyan, She certainly would've ascended by now. It was a completely irrational thought, but still. She was crying for the same reason as him.

He floated down onto the rock next to her, "Sometimes you shouldn't cry alone. I can see why you wouldn't want to cry in front of your family because they would feel guilty, so would you like to cry with, for all intents and purposes, someone who's a complete stranger to you?"

Chi-Chi stared at him in shock. So the Ice Prince did have some human feelings....

"Why are you here?" she asked him again.

"I told you already," he said, "Bulma and I..."

"No," she cut in," Why are you really here?"

He stared at her and sighed, "The same reasons as you. If anyone saw Lord Vegeta crying, I would lose whatever respect I had from them to begin with."

"Not with us," she surprised him by saying, "Showing emotion might make our group respect you more. Feelings are a good thing. They make it easier to relate to people. None of us would make fun of you for crying. After we woke up from fainting, we'd be even nicer."

"I was not raised to show emotions," he said.

"You weren't raised by people who had the right emotions," she said "All they knew was pride and greed. Why should you have turned out any different?"

"I was whipped for crying," he said quietly, "So I learned to hide it. It's easier to do when you have a whole planet to run through to cry in peace. There aren't too many places on a spaceship to cry."

"Why are you crying?" she asked.

"Why do you care?" he asked.

"Because you cared about me," she said.

He looked at her in shock, "Don't try to deny it, Vegeta," she said, "There's no way you would've stuck around this long unless you cared. So, why are you crying?"

"The same reason I always cry," he said, "My past, and how it affects me now. How maybe I could've been a good person, IF."

"You could be a good person if you tried a little," Chi-Chi said, "You need to try."

"I don't know how."

"If you talk to people like you're talking to me right now, especially Bulma, things would be a lot easier on you than they are now," she said, "Just be nice."

"When other people are around, I find it very difficult to be nice," he said.

"And you think that everyone doesn't feel like they'd like to kill the next person who looks at them wrong?" she said, "The only difference is we don't kill them, you do."

"No," he said, "I genuinely can't stand most of the people I've met, especially your mate."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"They're better than me!" he yelled, "No should be better than the Prince of all Saiyans!"

"There are only a handful of saiyans left," she said, "And here on Earth, there are no Princes." she paused, "Shouldn't you be King by now and let Trunks be the Prince?"

He stared at her, "Woman..."

"Yes?"

"How does your mate put up with you being right all the time?" he asked.

"He loves me," she said, "That's why Bulma always lets you back into her room. She loves you. You might want to tell her you return the feeling sometime."

"How?"

"What do you mean, how?" she asked, "Tell her you love her. Kiss her, hug her, do something nice!"

"I don't know how to be nice."

"You're being nice to me," Chi-Chi said, "You asked me what was wrong and you were very nice and understanding. Treat her like you've been treating me tonight."

"My mate is difficult," he said, "You're easier to be nice to."

"Thank you," she said, "And you might want to try manners and see how that works."

"This is ludicrous," he said, "I don't want to be nice to my mate. It won't matter."

"Why?"

"Because, she is never around when I'm in a good mood! When she's around, it puts me in a bad mood!"

"She's your wife," Chi-Chi said, "Deal with it."

"Fine!" Vegeta said, "Are you happy now? I will try to be nice to everyone."

"The question is," Chi-Chi said, "Are you happy?"

Vegeta shot her a look and said, "Are you?"

"Why does that matter?" she asked.

"I'm practicing being nice," he said.

"I'm fine, thank you," she said.

"Then, I suppose I'm fine, too," he said. He paused, "Was that nice?"

"Yes, very," she said, "Maybe we should both go home."

"I suppose," he said. He lifted off the rock, then stopped, an went back down, "Thank you." He kissed her cheek and flew off for real.

"You're welcome," she whispered, then went inside. She lay down next to Goku.

"Chi-Chi?" he mumbled sleepily, "Where were you?"

"I needed some fresh air," she said, "Go back to sleep; I'm here now." They both rolled over and fell asleep.

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Well, how was that? See, nothing graphic. Just a little sappy and surprising. Should I continue this story? I'm not sure, so help me out a little (read my other fics, too!). REVIEW!, K? Thanks!

Ja ne! The Management