The Princess

Epilogue

By: senzubean

I do not own Dragon Ball Z in any way. I make no profit from this story. I just wrote it for fun.

A year had passed. The Briefs' family was greatly extended with the addition of six Saiyans and they were never happier up until now. But a dark shadow had passed over the house recently.

"MY BABY IS LEAVING! SHE'S GROWN UP! I'M SO OLD!" Bulma wailed at Vegeta.

"Knock it off , woman, I'm tired of listening to you." Vegeta grunted. Bulma had been doing this every night for the past week. Bulma continued her wailing, so Vegeta pulled his pillow over his head in attempts to muffle the noise. It didn't help and made Bulma angrier.

"YOU DON'T CARE!" She screamed and started punching him. "BUT WHY SHOULD YOU? YOU SAIYANS DON'T AGE! ARGH! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, VEGETA! WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE BEEN A GOOD FATHER SOONER? WE COULD HAVE HAD MORE KIDS!" Bulma sobbed harder than ever at that. "I want more babies..." She added weakly.

"How was I supposed to know you human women become sterile with age?" Vegeta replied sourly. He also had wanted another child after he decided that his brats weren't so bad. But to his disappointment, Bulma had hit menopause.

Bulma was shocked at his statement.

"Sterile with age?" Bulma repeated aghast. "THAT'S A TERRIBLE WAY TO PUT IT!" And she slapped him again.

"You are being completely foolish!" Vegeta said tearing the covers away and getting out of the bed. "It's a simple fact that children grow up and leave their parents. You ought to be proud of her!"

"I am." Bulma mumbled. "But Trunks didn't go away, so I don't know how to deal with her leaving..." She began to sniffle. Vegeta winced seeing her face contort as she struggled not to sob. She wasn't successful.

"I MISS HER ALLREADY!" Bulma cried out and continued to talk incoherently. Vegeta went to the balcony, very tired of trying to deal with her, and dropped down in the backyard.

It was cold for August. A chilly wind blew around the Prince, dressed only in his boxers. He looked at his Training Capsule, standing lonely in the shadows. He hadn't been using it much of late. Bra and he had ceased their training a week ago. She'd trained hard, now Bra was more powerful than her brother. Also, with that power of hers, she had a definite advantage over Vegeta, although he doubted she'd have the nerve to use it against him. She could beat any saiyan alive now, even Kakarrot.

Vegeta smiled at the thought of him. He was still confused by Vegeta's refusal to have a good fight with him. Vegeta just didn't think it important anymore. He didn't need to beat Goku to feel good about himself. He had his family for that, just like Goku admitted the first time they'd met.

Kakarrot, after thirty years of Vegeta telling him otherwise, refused to accept the decline of a determining fight. In their recent sparring sessions, the softhearted saiyan certainly shed his character and tried to coax Vegeta to beat him good and proper. He'd actually been fighting dirty, and was very affronted when Vegeta called him on it laughing. Everyday, Goku, Tuce and himself would go spar out in the wilderness. Vegeta would never forget the first time he announced that he and Tuce would be doing this, and asked Goku if he would like to come. Goku grinned his most stupidest grin to date, happy that Vegeta finally openly acknowledged that they were friends.

The Prince ran his eyes over the smooth contour of what was once his most beloved possession. Now like video game systems piled up in the storage room, once treasured beyond imagination by Trunks, it just wasn't fun anymore.

Throaty chuckling, followed by soft giggling, reached Vegeta' s ears in the dark. The source of the noise could only be coming from one place. Vegeta bristled at the thought of who it was.

He went to investigate and as he expected, he found two teenagers; one was Potay, the other his beautiful, innocent princess. And to his utter choler, they were holding on to each other as if they would float off the ground into space if they let go. Not only that, but their lips were stuck together and to further aggravate Vegeta, they were enjoying themselves so much with this activity that they hadn't even noticed that he'd become a spectator.

"Ahem." Vegeta interrupted after deciding it was high time his child had a breath of fresh air.

"Hi Daddy." Bra chirped, seemingly un fazed by Vegeta's presence. But Vegeta could tell that Bra was hiding her real reaction like a master. He had taught her well.

Potay on the other hand was obviously nervous. It was, after all, the first time Vegeta had caught them in the act. In reality, Vegeta had seen it several times but chose to bide his time. Since the two saiyans were leaving tomorrow to go to school together, Vegeta would no longer be able to enforce parental guidance.

"Bra, let go of that, and go to bed."

Bra sighed, but didn't dare argue. This was one of those times that she couldn't tell what her father was going to do, and those times were all ways frightening. As soon as she was in the house, he glared venomously at Potay, who, knowing that he had not been dismissed, hadn't moved.

"Boy, you're really pushing my buttons."

Potay sank deeper in the long grass. They had learned a great deal about each other over the last year. Potay , in attempts to mend things between them, and show Vegeta that he was responsible, asked to be trained. Something that the kid regretted later, but dare not quit. In one of those sparring sessions, Potay had shown great advancement and priding himself on his training abilities, Vegeta praised him. Potay, thinking that this meant that Vegeta had finally forgiven him, announced that he liked, Bra. A lot.

Vegeta had tried that day to beat that idea out of his head, but apparently he failed. Hating to fail at anything, Vegeta now decided that he would have to resort to verbal abuse, coupled with the extremely effective technique of mind games.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Vegeta asked.

Potay stared blankly at his elder, not knowing how to respond to that vague statement, which was what Vegeta wanted.

"The truth is , boy, I look like I can control my actions, but I have a really hard time with rage. And, as you know, when my daughter stands in the way of getting hurt, I become very enraged." Vegeta leaned closer to Potay, who was now sweating. "I may lose it if she gets hurt again. Understand?"

Potay nodded slowly, eyes wide and petrified. Vegeta smirked impressed with himself. But he knew that he wasn't done. Potay was brave, but it was a bravery that border-lined true courage and hot-headed stupidity. Even then, Potay's face settled into complacency.

"I would never hurt, Bra." Potay said. "I truly love her. I think I could spend the rest of my life with her."

That did it, Vegeta shoved his face right into Potay's. "Thinking and knowing are two very different things. And since I know that you're thinking with your dick, you will never know! Stay the hell away from my little girl or I will rip off your empty little head and use it as a centerpiece for the coffee table! Got it?"

"Y..yes sir." Potay stuttered. There was a lengthy silence as Vegeta continued to glare at Potay as if burning his sentence into his brain for eternity.

"Can I go now, please?" He asked.

"Go straight to your room; do not stop for anything!"

Potay ran straight across the lawn, leaving the front door swinging.

When Vegeta got in, Tuce was watching T.V and Argo was snoring in a lazy boy. Tuce was baffled by Potay's behavior, but his face brightened a bit when Vegeta walked in.

"So you're responsible, I was worried for a minute."

"Hmph!" Vegeta scoffed. "You'll have a lot to worry about if he continues his advances on Bra."

Tuce laughed. "Come on Vegeta, he's my kid, at least you know where he came from."

"That's exactly the problem."

"I'm getting a bit insulted here." Tuce teased. "Are you implying that my character is tainted?"

"No, I'm telling you that that boy is like his mother and her character is very questionable." He said with a smirk.

Tuce laughed. "Good thing Argo is asleep. He'd fight you for saying that about his little girl."

The next morning at breakfast, Potay wouldn't even look at Bra let alone talk to her. He shot glances at Vegeta every so often to determine if he was watching him. Every time he was met with a stern glare. Potay sank down farther in his chair.

"Sit up!" Sala scolded. "If you sit like that in your classes, your trainers going to question your ability to take things seriously."

"I'm serious. Very serious." Potay replied solemnly and looked over at Vegeta, who was not impressed at all.

Bra was watching Potay too, and her suspicions of her father's influence were confirmed.

After breakfast, they all went to the backyard where Letta's space cruiser had been released from its capsule. Bra, Potay, Recely, Letta and Sala were all leaving for ten months. Everyone exchanged their good-byes. Bulma ran in the house feeling that she was about to go hysterical after hugging Bra. Trunks looked at the ground after his hug, and stood off to the side.

As soon as he saw an opportunity, Vegeta took Bra aside, leading her around the corner of the house, wanting to say his goodbye in private.

"Could you please try to be nice to Potay?" Bra begged.

"He's going to be gone, I won't have a chance to be nice." Vegeta replied. "And you be careful."

"Aw, can't you trust me , Dad?" Bra asked a little hurt.

"I trust you implicitly, Princess. It's that Boy I'm afraid of."

"He's nice, Dad. You don't have to worry."

Vegeta left it at that and looked down at his child. It pained him to see her like this. Grown up, independent, not that little girl that ran to him for absolutely everything. He missed that little girl more than anything.

Bra sniffed and a few tears streamed her face.

"Nervous?" Vegeta asked. Bra nodded. "Mother will take good care of you. You can go to her for anything, understand."

Bra nodded again, then abruptly threw herself against him. Vegeta hugged her close.

" If you decide this isn't right for you, I want you to come home. You have to think of your happiness above everything. You will be no use to anyone if you're miserable." He squeezed her a little more, holding her securely against him. "I'm very proud of you, Bra and I always will be."

"I love you so much, Dad." Bra sniffed.

They hugged for a few more minutes, until Bra pushed herself gently away.

"I have a gift for you." Vegeta said and held out a small box wrapped in a paper bag. "Don't open it until you're off the planets surface."

"OK." Bra said and pocketed it. She smiled warmly. "Thanks , Dad."

"Call me if you need anything or even if you don't need anything."

Bra laughed. "I won't be a stranger."

Vegeta nodded, and looked at her intensely, his face softening considerably.

"You'd better get going." He said and then flew off. Bra watched him until he disappeared.

"Bye, Daddy. I'll miss you."

Before, Bra knew it, she had left the Earth behind, not to return for a good ten months. She looked at the stars, space looked so lonely. She missed her family all ready.

"Hi." Potay said a little un surely, afraid Bra might be angry with him for shunning her.

"My Dad sure did a number on you." Bra replied with a grin.

"He is a scary man."

"He is not." Bra smiled "He'll be fine once he starts to trust you."

"When will that be?"

Bra shrugged. "Who knows, Dad's fickle when it comes to deciding who he likes."

Potay's face fell and he slumped on the window sill in defeat.

Bra laughed, her Father was quite the character. The thought reminded her of his present. Bra pulled it out of her pocket.

"Daddy gave me something." Bra said and looked at the brown wrapped box fondly.

"He actually got you something?" Potay asked. The thought of Vegeta actually going out shopping by himself was mind boggling.

Bra nodded and rubbed the paper with her thumb.

"So, open it." Potay said.

Bra did so carefully. The box was a capsule case.

"Maybe he got you a cool car!" Potay exclaimed. He loved earth cars, but his mother wouldn't allow him to have one. "We'll be the envy of everyone with a capsule car!"

Bra stared at the box, she knew that her father wouldn't give her a car. She popped it open, and gasped.

The case fell from her hand and a large capsule rolled across the floor. Potay stooped and picked it up.

"It's big. Probably a mini van or something practical." He stated disappointedly.

"N.no it's not a car." Bra said and took it from him. "Its Dad's training capsule."

Potay nodded grimly . "Yep, something practical. As if we won't have enough work cut out for us."

"You don't understand, he loved this thing!" Bra exclaimed, then wiped away a tear. "And he gave it to me." She noticed something on the floor out of the corner of her eye. It was a small piece of paper. She picked it up and immediately recognized her father's elegant writing, so odd for a hardened warrior. Then message, however, like a hardened warrior, was brief and to the point.

I don't need this anymore. I know you will make good use of it.

It is not to be used for kissing.

All my love,

Dad

*************

Well, it's finally done. It only took a year. Thanks all for being patient with me. And thank you very much for taking the time to read my story. I hope you enjoyed it! :D

~senzubean