Chapter 3

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Disclaimer- Do I honestly have to go through this again? Who even cares? I certainly don't… so on with the story. ^_~

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"Heh, heh. Looks like you lose, woman." Vegeta snickered as he jumped Danny's last checker piece. Danny's face visibly saddened, she had truly wanted to talk with the man. 'Oh, well… guess I'll have to come up with another way…' She said to herself and stood.

"Yes, you did beat me. I guess I'll go now…" Vegeta's mental victory dance halted immediately. How could he gloat, when the woman clearly wasn't upset about losing? Kakarotto never let him down in that aspect. The stupid oaf always pouted after each loss, heightening Vegeta's pleasure at winning. But this woman… had to ruin it all. But being Vegeta, he wasn't about to let it show.

"Of course I beat you, foolish human. You didn't really hope to win, did you?" Danny only smiled at him.

"It was only a game. It's of no consequence to me…" She countered and almost enjoyed watching anger redden his wrinkled features. Not waiting for his temper to explode, Danny moved to the reading area again, pulled a book from the shelf and sat down in the recliner.

"Damn woman… " Vegeta grumbled as he made his way over to the TV area and sat in the chair to the left of Goku. "What are you smiling at, you idiot?" He snapped at Goku who was staring at him and clearly struggling not to laugh.

"Oh, nothing. So… how was your date?" Goku could hold it in no longer and he began to giggle.

"Date!? The damned female wouldn't leave me alone!" He growled indignantly, pretending to watch 'Jerry Springer' which had replaced… 'The Price is Right'.

"W-wow, Vegeta. And at your age too." Goku was now seriously fighting the urge not to burst out laughing. "I wish I had your skills."

"Kakarotto! Shut up!" Vegeta stood, one hand bracing his lower back. "I can still kick your ass, you know."

"Wh-what are you gonna do? Heehee… throw your false teeth at me?"

"False Teeth!!!?" Vegeta roared, once again scaring the other elderly people. "That does it!!" Vegeta began to walk as quickly as he had in a long time over to Goku, who was holding his hands up in mock defense.

"I surrender! Please! Have mercy on me, your ancientness!" Goku was now crying, he was laughing so hard.

"I'm gonna…" Vegeta trailed off and his eyes widened. He stumbled forward the last couple of steps and nearly fell on top of Goku instead of fighting him.

"Vegeta!" Goku's laughter immediately stopped as he got up and helped Vegeta sit down on the couch. "What's wrong? Are… are you all right?"

"Get off me… K-kakarotto… I don't need-" The aged prince's words were swallowed up as a wave of pain passed through his chest. He grabbed the front of Goku's shirt, as if to insult him again, but instead said only one word- "W-water…"

"Right." Goku nodded and called to Uzume. "Hey! Uzume, bring some water… quick!" As fast as she had ever moved, Uzume rushed to Vegeta's side with a glass of water in hand. Vegeta managed to take the glass and gulp down the contents without assistance. He slowly relaxed as the pain receded.

"Get away from me, the both of you." He said breathlessly.

"But Vegeta…" Goku began, only to be silenced by the glare aimed at him.

"Get the fuck away from me or I really will kick your ass." Taking short, wincing breaths, Vegeta collapsed against the couch as Goku and Uzume walked away.

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"Uzume… what happened to him? Why is he having problems so soon? We only just stopped taking our medication today…" Goku looked worriedly to the nurse for answers. Uzume shook her head and sighed.

"No, Goku… You stopped taking your pills today… but neither of us knows how long it's since Vegeta stopped taking his." She brushed away silent tears that were beginning to roll down her cheeks. "Stubborn old coot… Why won't he let anyone help him?" Before Goku could reply, Danny came rushing over to them.

"What happened to Vegeta?" She asked, wringing her hands in worry. Uzume looked up at her sadly.

"Without the medicine to keep the heart disease at bay… H-he's slowly getting sick again." Goku looked back over at the Saiyan prince, who was still in the same spot, trying to catch his breath. "See… I had a heart disease a long, long time ago… and even though I managed to get rid of it, it lived in my system all these years… dormant, I guess." Danny listened intently, watching Goku's expression darken. "A few years back, Vegeta caught the disease from me... and we both started to take medicine for it again, 'cause our bodies weren't strong enough to hold it off anymore." Uzume wrapped one arm around Goku's shoulders as a look of guilt shone in his eyes. "It's my fault he's… sick."

"No… he made the choice to stop fighting…" She whispered to him, patting his shoulder, "It's not your fault, Goku…" Words were meaningless however, and the three stood helplessly and watched the beginning of the end slip into view.

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"No!"

"C'mon!! It's our last time!!"

"I said, no."

"For a few minutes??!"

"Why should I?"

"Well, uh… 'cause I asked nice? C'mon, c'mon!! I'll leave you alone if you do!"

"All right… all right… just shut up already Kakarotto." Goku grinned in victory and grabbed Danny by the arm. She had been watching the two, and was just barely managing to keep herself from laughing out loud. She knew that that would not put her on Vegeta's good side, however, which is where she wanted to be before… before he was gone.

"C'mon Danny! You can sit with us!" Goku smiled, happy that he had 'won' and went to the entertainment room for the weekly game of Bingo. Vegeta followed, though without quite as much enthusiasm. Goku found three seats in a row and placed Danny in the middle so that Vegeta would have to sit next to her.

"Let's just get this over with. And if you think I'm to scream 'Bingo' like some old, mad lunatic… then you are more senile than I imagined, Kakarotto." Vegeta said, wincing as he sat. The pain in his chest had subsided slightly, but it seemed to hurt more when he was agitated… which he was. Goku really didn't notice this as he was staring straight ahead and grinning like an idiot, waiting for Uzume to pass the chips out. Danny just shook her head.

"Honestly… what is so exciting about a board game?" She asked no one in particular, but surprisingly, Vegeta was the one to answer her.

"That idiot thinks everything is exciting." He remarked, tapping his fingers on the long tables that had been set out just for this 'special' night.

Finally, all the chips had been passed out and one of the nurses was now calling out numbers.

"O, 26… O,26." Goku was happily searching his card for a 26 and Vegeta was placing a chip over 'O, 26'. Several minutes later, Vegeta found that his card was now filled in the 'O' column. Just as he was about to dump the chips off, so he wouldn't have to go through any sort of shouting, (it's not like he wanted any of the stupid prizes they were giving out anyway) Goku looked over and noticed this.

"Hey Vegeta! You've got a whole column! You won!" Goku practically shouted. "Aren't you gonna say anything!?"

"Absolutely not. I refuse to embarrass myself." Vegeta crossed his arms.

"Well… then… can I have your card? Since you don't want it?" Goku looked at him hopefully. In answer, Vegeta tipped his card so that the chips slid off onto the table.

"Whoops. Sorry about that, Kakarotto." He snickered.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!" Goku protested and looked at Danny. "I have a witness!" Danny covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a giggle. "Why do you have to be like that, Vegeta?" He scowled. Vegeta only smirked, rather evilly. Perhaps this night wouldn't be a total waste after all.

*half an hour later*

"Thanks, Danny! That was really nice of you." Goku smiled, holding his box of candy that he had won. Danny had given him her card, when she was about to win. It was clearly obvious that he wasn't going to be winning tonight. Vegeta, on the other hand, had had the chance to win almost every game, but had delighted in dumping the chips off each time just to watch Goku's reaction. "I'm gonna go eat candy! G'night Vegeta, G'night Danny!" Goku headed to his room to have an unforgettable candy pig-out. Danny smiled at his retreating figure. She turned around to say goodnight to Vegeta, but he was gone. With a long sigh, Danny slowly walked to her own room.

"I guess it just isn't meant to be…"

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A/N- Well, I hope someone enjoyed this light humor. Because it's going to be drama from here on out. You were warned. I might get too depressed and decide to sprinkle a laugh here and there though.