The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret

--Waging War--

Everyone in the kitchen--Bulma, Goten and Bra--turned to face an incredibly angry Vegeta. He glared at Goten as if he had killed one of his family members in cold blood.

"You. I knew I heard your voice in here," Vegeta said. He obviously wasn't happy.

It was a countdown to destruction. They were all speechless for the moment. What was one to do when you were facing down your very powerful and half insane father? A person who never liked for you to even have male friends, let alone a boyfriend. This was just too much to bare. Something had to be done.

"Dad--" Bra began.

"You stay out of this," Vegeta said to his daughter. He looked at Goten with the fiercest expression Bra had ever seen. It was dangerous to even be in the same room with this guy right about now.

Goten just stood his ground and stared Vegeta straight in the eyes.

"Vegeta, I think you should calm down," Bulma stepped in.

"I will not calm down!" Vegeta bellowed. "I will not have HIM coming into my daughter's life and...seducing her into believing she has feelings for him."

It was easy to tell by the look on Goten's face that he had been hurt by the remark. The fact that Vegeta actually believed that he was tricking Bra into thinking she had feelings for him was a stab at his character.

Bra silently boiled during all of this. She hated that her father was doing this to Goten. And she hated that her father believed that she wasn't capable of handling her own relationships.

"You're such a pompous prick, Vegeta!" Bulma shouted.

"Both of you, just stay out of it. This is between me and the brat," Vegeta said calmly. "And I plan on teaching this brat a lesson." He pointed at Goten. "We'll settle this outside."

The four of them went into the back yard of Capsule Corporation.

"Is this really even necessary?" Goten asked Vegeta.

That Goten. Forever lighthearted and freewheeling--that is, until you get on his bad side. What person could hate someone so cheerful and positive? Oh, yeah. He stood right in front of him now.

Bra's temper was steadily getting shorter and shorter.

"Always the good guy. Just like your idiot father," Vegeta said.

Goten's facial expression quickly went from friendly to fatal. And who could blame him? Both he and his father had been insulted in the same statement. This undoubtedly meant war.

"Vegeta, I don't want to fight you. But if it means that I'll be able to be with your daughter in peace, then I guess that's what it's come down to," Goten told him. He took his fighting stance.

Vegeta smirked and took his stance. "You're either brave or foolish to butt heads with the prince of all Saiyans. And I think it all comes down to how foolish you are." He powered up to Super Saiyan level 2. "When I'm done here, you'll think twice before you try to manipulate someone else's daughter."

That was it. That was the last straw. Bra powered up to Super Saiyan level 2 and phased over to where her father and the love of her life stood. "Dad, I won't have it." She stood between the men.

Vegeta looked at her strangely.

Bulma's eyes bulged. "Wha--? She's a Super Saiyan too?"

"Goten's been nothing but kind to me my whole life. He's a great friend. But my feelings are my feelings. And it's not because he did anything to make me feel this way other than being himself," Bra told her father. "And he feels the same way about me." She looked over her shoulder at Goten and smiled. Then she looked back at her father with a serious expression. "So, if you can't handle that, you're just gonna have to take it up with the person you should have been taking it up with in the first place. Me." She took her stance.

"Is she serious?" Bulma asked.

Goten looked a little surprised.

"She's talking about FIGHTING? She's talking about fighting her FATHER?" Bulma asked no one in particular.

Goten walked over and stood behind Bra. "What are you doing?" he whispered.

"Just stay out of this, Goten," Bra said without even turning toward him. "This is the only language he can understand, you know. It's the only way to get through to him."

"I'm not gonna let you do it," Goten stated. He placed his hand on her shoulder.

Vegeta furrowed his brow.

Bra finally turned and glared at Goten. "So, you're saying you're not gonna let me stand up to my father? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me make any decisions? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me express my feelings? So, you're saying you're not gonna let me be with you?" she exclaimed, getting louder and louder with each sentence.

Goten held his hands up in defense and backed away a little. "Okay, okay. I get the picture. But there has to be some other way."

Bra turned back toward her father. "I want you to see that I'm not a little girl anymore. I want you to see that my feelings for him are real. And I'd like for us to have your blessing. So, if challenging you to a sparring match is the only way to prove myself, then I challenge you."

Bulma fainted and Goten quickly went to her aid.

Vegeta smirked. "It's an interesting offer. And I think I'll set the conditions." He thought for a moment. "If you win, I'll give you and the brat my blessing. But if I win, you get no blessing from me and you are to never see him again."

Bra swallowed hard. It was a tough decision to make. She was putting it all on the line this time. Everything depended on whether she won or lost in a fight against her own father. She wasn't sure what the outcome would be, but she knew that her father would hold nothing back. Especially with such high stakes. And she would hold nothing back either. She looked back at Goten, who was holding her mother in his arms and looking at Bra worriedly. She had to do it for him. She had to do her best in order to be with him. Losing was not an option here because losing the fight meant losing everything.

Bra took a deep breath and nodded to Vegeta. "The conditions are fair enough."

Vegeta nodded. "Then let us begin, child."

Bra's aura flared around her and her golden locks whipped violently atop her head. "I am not a child!!" she yelled as she accelerated toward her father.

She made an attempt at dashing at him quickly with a punch to the jaw, but he caught her by the fist. Bra delivered a surprise kick to the side of his head to make him let her go.

He looked at her and smirked. "Not bad. But I hope that's not all you're bringing to the party."

Bra squinted her eyes at him. "There's plenty more where that came from. I hope you're ready for it."

She phased out of sight and ambushed her father from behind with blurred kicks and punches. Unfortunately for her, Vegeta had anticipated the attacks and dodged them easily at first. Then he began a combination of swift punches and kicks of his own. Electric currents seemed to spark around them as they attacked each other in mid air. The assaults continued for a while, both getting a few attacks through, but not enough to do any major damage.

Vegeta suddenly jetted backward, sending miniature ki attacks at Bra. She swatted them away with ease and gave chase. Vegeta then seemed to disappear from sight. Bra stopped dead in her tracks and looked around for him. He was much too fast for her to find with her eyes, so she felt for his ki signature. There! She grabbed the prince by the ankle and threw him toward the ground as hard as she could.

Vegeta made a recovery and just before hitting the ground, landed on his feet. He looked straight up at his daughter, who seemed to be gathering ki for an attack.

"FINAL FLASH!!!!" Bra sent the enormous amount of energy at her father at a record speed.

Vegeta didn't have time to respond before the light enveloped him.

--End Waging War--

--Well, here's another episode of The Lost Art of Keeping A Secret. Hope you enjoyed it. Just let me know what you think. I'm not sure if anyone's done this scenario before. Why don't you give me your opinion on it? Loved it? Hated it? Could have been better? Could have been worse?

--Thanks for past reviews and thanks for reading this installment. There's more to come. Let's just hope I can get it out before Ivan strikes (some of you out there know what I mean). Until then, see ya.