No Fight's Over Until I've Won--Ch 4
By Elbereth in April


A/N: People are reading this after all! I love all my reviewers! My inspiration to write has quadrupled! I have seen other authors reward their reviewers this way, so here! Have some cyber Oreos and milk, a Chi-Chi action figure with special frying pan action features, and another chapter!
Oh, and um, sorry for the time elapse if you were expecting more after the kiss in the last chapter-but come on, people, they'd only known each other two days!
_________ ________

Kakkarot planned his sneaking out carefully. Quite a few times when everyone thought he was training or scouting alone he was with Chi-Chi. He'd spend a couple hours straight one day, maybe go over several times for half-an-hour another day. Sometimes she'd meet him in the meadow between his camp and her house.

As long as he kept up with his daily chores and met to spar with Vegeta once a day, nobody cared where he disappeared to. Vegeta had decided nobody on Earth could be a threat to them, so the others would roam off sometimes as well.

At any rate, nobody said anything. And except for an occasional moment of remorse over doing something he knew he wasn't supposed to be doing...well, he was too happy to care. He deliberately didn't let it worry him.

And so Kakkarot, who normally couldn't lie to save his life, was in effect, lying all the time.

However he was worried about Vegeta for an entirely different reason. It had been nearly nine months now since they'd landed on Earth, and still no word from the king. He knew Vegeta was brooding over it. Why wasn't the army ready yet? What if something had happened? What if Frieza had found out their trick and wiped everybody out?

Vegeta would gather them all up as a group first thing in the morning and drill them in preparation for battling Frieza with the rest of the Saiyan army. Sometimes he'd give them little pep talks which (accidentally) mostly served to show how worried about his father he really was.

Then Thenore would yell out, "We fight to win!" and the rest of them would cheer. And they'd all do their best to think of reassuring things to say.

So when Kakkarot wasn't with Chi-Chi, he was usually hanging out with Vegeta, keeping half an eye on him. Well, he would have been hanging out with Vegeta anyway, but not watching him for signs of stress.

Vegeta noticed after awhile. He found it kind of amusing. "I'm not weak, you know," he told Kakkarot.

They were sitting by their lake, wringing water out of their hair and pants, 20 huge fish at their feet.

"Aw, come on, Vegeta. I'm not implying you are. I just don't want you to be concerned over-well, the situation."

Vegeta turned his attention to drying his feet enough to put his boots back on. "I'm not concerned. I know we'll win. We will destroy Frieza," he finished up vehemently.

Kakkarot scuffed his bare toe in the dirt. "I'm worried," he muttered.

Vegeta looked at him thoughtfully. Then he pulled the one boot he'd put on back off. Then he lunged at Kakkarot, picked him up, and threw him in the lake.

Kakkarot came up spluttering to see Vegeta smirking. "Did that take your mind off it?"

With a whoop, Kakkarot charged him. After they'd dunked each other a few times, they got down to serious sparring.


Later that day, Kakkarot repeated the conversation for Chi-Chi (except for telling her why Vegeta was worried about his father).

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Men just can't talk about their feelings, can they?"

Kakkarot looked at her indignantly. "Sure we can!"

Chi-Chi put her cards on the floor. She was teaching Kakkarot to play rummy. "Have you ever, even once, talked about your feelings?"

"Well...no." He perked up. "We did say we were such good friends we should become blood brothers, though." He showed her the scar on his hand where they'd drawn the blood from.

Chi-Chi thought about this. "I guess that's close. Maybe it's as close as boys can come."

"I couldn't say anything mushy to Vegeta anyway." Kakkarot shuddered involuntarily. "He'd kill me."

Chi-Chi laughed. "I can imagine. But who said you had to be mushy about it?"

"Talk about feelings is always mushy. Well, unless you hate the other person."

Chi-Chi laughed again. "Just draw a card, Kakkarot."
________ ________

It was about two days later when Radditz finally realized something was going on. He watched Kakkarot go off to "meditate" just a little too nonchalantly, and followed him. He saw him meet Chi-Chi in the meadow.

He floated up above the trees and waited for Kakkarot to notice him. When Kakkarot did, he turned pale and told Chi-Chi, "I'm sorry, I can't stay today. I just wanted to see you."

She frowned. "You'll at least kiss me goodbye, won't you?"

He was in for it anyway. He kissed her softly.

Radditz powered up. Chi-Chi finally noticed him, too. "Oh, there's your brother. I guess I better go."

"Yeah."

"One of these days you really have to tell me how you guys can fly."

"Yeah. Chi!" he kissed her again, then let her leave.

When she was far enough away, Radditz joined him. "I thought Vegeta told you to stay away from that Earth girl, brother."

"We were just..."

"Oh, I know. Just like Thenore and I have been just...well."

Kakkarot knew his face was red, and his tail was whipping angrily. "Would it be so bad if she and I--got together?"

"What would you do?" Radditz scoffed. "Take her back to Vegeta-sei? What would the King have to say about that, do you think?"

Kakkarot swallowed. "No. I'd stay here."

Radditz's eyes went very wide. "You'd-on Earth-you can't!" he cried in real dismay. For a long moment they just stared at one another. Then Radditz straightened his shoulders. "Kakkarot. You have a duty to protect the Prince. We are the King's sworn men. You must uphold that duty."

Kakkarot's face went still. Radditz had no idea what he was thinking, and since normally his brother's thoughts and emotions were plain for everyone to see, this was very disturbing.

"As you say, brother," he said at last, with no inflection.

Radditz shivered. He dared not tell Vegeta about this as long as Kakkarot was acting this way. He'd just have to keep an eye on both of them himself.

Which he tried to do, but wasn't very successful at.
__________________

Kakkarot waited several days before he tried to see Chi-Chi again. Finally he saw his chance when Radditz was distracted by his own woman. He snuck out again.

Not too much later, he and Chi-Chi were snuggled up on the couch, watching T.V. "What kind of strange show is this?"

"It's a game show."

"People get money by spinning that wheel?"

"Yes. If they can guess the puzzle."

Kakkarot scratched his head. "Huh."

Chi-Chi began to giggle. "It is kind of funny when you think about it."

Kakkarot grinned and pulled her even closer. But just then his stomach rumbled. Chi-Chi giggled more. "Are you hungry?"

"I guess so!"

She pulled him off the couch to the kitchen. "Well, come on. Let's see what I've got."

Half the contents of the refrigerator later, Chi-Chi was staring at him across the table with her mouth open. 'OK, the tail I can handle, the lack of table manners I can correct over time, but how in the world could I ever keep him in groceries?'

He paused in his eating suddenly, flustered. "Um, is something wrong?"

In her shock, she replied with blunt honesty. "I've never seen anyone eat so much in my entire life."

Oops. He'd made another cultural mistake. "Um...I've had a really strenuous day?"

"Ever," she said.

The grin again. "I just have a healthy appetite. You should see my brother. He eats twice as much as I do!"

Her mind tried to grasp twice as much, and couldn't.

He decided he'd better just finish what was on his plate and stop. He could eat more when he got back to camp.
________ _________

When Radditz couldn't find Kakkarot anywhere, he knew right away where he had to be. But he wasn't at that meadow.

He thought for awhile and finally came to the decision he had to tell Vegeta after all. Vegeta was their Prince. He needed to know what was going on in his own camp. Their security could be an issue.

"I think he's with that Earth girl," Radditz reported. "But I don't know where."

Vegeta's expression was unreadable. "He'll turn up for supper. I'll deal with him then."

But he didn't show up. Supper was over and the others were cleaning up, not suspecting anything wrong. Radditz was content to let Vegeta deal with the matter. "I'll be back," Vegeta said, and went off to look for his errant subject.

Vegeta flew slowly, following Kakkarot's ki. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He couldn't just go busting in if Kakkarot was with that girl. Well, actually he could, he was the Prince, and Kakkarot was disobeying a Royal command. Except he hadn't exactly commanded. He'd thrown in that comment saying Kakkarot could flirt. Maybe this was just...flirting. 'Yeah, that's why he didn't tell anyone where he was going-or even that he was leaving.' So if he broke the door down and ordered him to leave, Kakkarot would probably be very angry with him.

OK then. He'd just check and see if that was really even where he was. He just had Radditz's opinion, after all. And his own very strong suspicion. Anyway, he'd just check, but if it was true, when Kakkarot finally wandered home, he would forbid him to ever see her again.

Hn. How wise was that?

Would he stay away or would it make him more determined to see her again? He remembered briefly dating a Saiyan girl his father deemed as unacceptable for a prince. The excitement of her being forbidden had just added to the thrill of it all. And he hadn't even been in love with her.

Not that Kakkarot was in love. He was too smart for that. He wouldn't allow it to go too far. Would he?

He landed on the lawn next to the house. He walked quietly over to a window and peeked in. Empty room. Next room. Empty. Next room...ah. There they were. Eating. He should have known.

He was very careful not to be seen. They appeared to be enjoying each other's company, although the human seemed shocked about something. Probably Kakkarot's table manners.

Well, suspicions confirmed. He should go back now. But he watched a little while longer, as Kakkarot finished eating and Chi-Chi put the tiny bit of leftovers away and the plates in the sink. As Kakkarot grinned at her and apparently offered to help with the dishes, as they then proceeded to do them. Domestic as any mated couple. Kakkarot scooped the clean bubbles off the water and deposited them on Chi-Chi's nose. She squealed and splashed water on him. A small water/bubble battle ensued.

Reluctant realization hit Vegeta all at once. It had already gone too far. His blood brother was in love with the girl. 'I warned him!' Vegeta raged to himself. 'I expressly told him to leave Earthlings alone. If he disobeyed me and gave out his heart, it's not my fault. We'll go back home and Father will refuse to let him have any more to do with her. He'll just have to suffer the consequences.'

But his head hurt, and his heart hurt, and he didn't want to see Kakkarot suffering. 'Freak it. What do I do now?'

He couldn't watch any more. He went home.
________ ________

It was dark when Kakkarot snuck back in. He bypassed Radditz, who was walking around, securing the perimeter. He skirted past Nappa and Thenore, telling each other ghost stories by the fire. Vegeta was sparring with his shadow over by the tents.

He wanted to go on by to his own tent. He tried to give his regular grin, but didn't quite manage it.

"Stop. I know where you've been."

The grin faded. They looked at each other.

Vegeta looked up at the stars coming out. "Do you recognize any of them?" he asked.

Kakkarot blinked. "No."

"That's because they're not Saiyan stars." He looked back at Kakkarot.

Kakkarot felt his face flush and then go pale.

Vegeta crossed his arms and turned away. "Just be careful. Remember who you are." He went inside his tent.

Kakkarot walked away blindly. 'So she's not Saiyan!' he raged to himself. 'That doesn't make her any less a person. Who said Saiyans are so much greater than everybody else? I won't stop seeing her. I won't!

'I can't.

'I couldn't stop now if I wanted to.'
________ ________

A couple more days went by. Vegeta didn't say anything else but Kakkarot knew what he was thinking. Radditz, too.

Things between him and Vegeta felt strained and tense now. They tried to pretend nothing was wrong, but couldn't make it real.

Kakkarot began to feel overwhelmed by the whole thing. Nothing would make him drop Chi-Chi. But it hurt so bad to have Vegeta mad at him.

The two still had their daily spar. They both seemed to fight much harder now. Vegeta came to their fight that day with this look-as if he was determined to win it if he killed both of them doing it.

They faced off, then both attacked at once. Vegeta never let up. Punch, kick, ki blast, turn, kick, ki blast, punch. Every time Kakkarot would try to fall away just to get his breath, Vegeta would get behind him and double-hand him in the back. The last time he followed it up by grabbing his leg, spinning him around, and letting go. He slammed into a tree, knocked it over, and slammed into another.

Vegeta floated over and looked down at him. "You're not concentrating."

Kakkarot slowly pulled himself to his feet, panting. "You've got extra energy because you're mad at me."

Vegeta frowned and crossed his arms. "No, I'm not."

Kakkarot felt his chest constrict, but not because he was having trouble getting his breath. "You are. Vegeta, I can't help it!"

"I know. But I thought you were smarter than that. I thought you were more-Saiyan."

Kakkarot clenched his fists. "What's so wrong with her?"

Vegeta sighed. "She's probably wonderful. But she's not Saiyan. That's all that matters to my father."

"Your father! But what do you think? Do you despise her?-And me?" He heard the slightest catch in his voice.

Vegeta floated down and stood beside him. "No. If you truly think she's as good as a Saiyan girl-I'll believe you. But it doesn't matter what I think. Father is King. The King rules."

They were interrupted by Thenore yelling Kakkarot's name. When they got over to her, they found Chi-Chi was with her.

Kakkarot shot a panicked glance at Vegeta, who seemed unperturbed. "Tracked him down, did you?" he greeted her.

Chi-Chi blushed, unsure of how he meant it. "Kakkarot told me how to find him." She looked at Kakkarot, who was nervously playing with his ripped shirt-sleeve.

"What about security?" Thenore asked, shocked.

Vegeta waved a hand. "She won't tell anyone where we are. Kakkarot." He looked at his friend meaningfully. "Why don't you go have a talk with her?"

Break up with her was what he meant. It was as clear to Kakkarot as anything. He took her hand and led her away to the meadow.

They didn't say much on the way there. When they got there, Kakkarot sat down and Chi-Chi stayed standing. She reached down and picked a daisy. "Kakkarot. What's going on?"

"Um..."

"Something's wrong." She stared him down until he was forced to meet her eyes. He bit his lip and nodded.

"Your friends don't like me."

He shook his head.

"So how is that going to affect us? You and me? Do you like me, Kakkarot?" she demanded.

"Why don't you sit down?"

She did so, facing him. "Well? Can you bring yourself to talk about-feelings? Or do I have to torture this daisy?"

His disturbed expression became more disturbed. "What?"

"It's a kid's game. You pluck each petal. He loves me, he loves me not. And you see what the verdict is with the last petal." She raised up onto her knees and held the daisy in a threatening manner. "Well?"

At that he had to laugh. "Come here, Chi." He pulled her down and into his lap.

"Chi-chi, listen. I'm not-not very good with words," Kakkarot said slowly. "But I love you."

She laughed, eyes sparkling. "That sounds poetic enough to me!"

But he shook his head. "I can't promise you anything. My future is very uncertain and I have a lot of-other loyalties."

She frowned. "What--?" but she was cut off by Kakkarot turning completely white, shoving her out of his lap, and jumping up. He was staring at the sky. "No! Oh no!"

"Kakkarot..." she started again, but he was running.

"Stay there, Chi-Chi!" he yelled. "Don't follow me!"

And then he was flying-literally-away.

Kakkarot was flying all out, panic choking him. He felt other ki's-dozens of other ki's, very powerful, all converging on their campsite.

Not Saiyans. It had to be Frieza. And it could only mean they'd been found out, and Vegeta was in danger.
____________________