Chapter 10: The Gathering.

"Hi Goku!" Trunks greeted him as he and Chichi dropped in by instant transmission. Goku had his arms wrapped around Chi-Chi's waist and for some odd reason refused to let go. Trunks eyed the pair a moment and decided that he should try his hand at acting, "Hey! Your tail grew back too!" he exclaimed loudly while pointing towards a furry brown appendage that was currently wrapped possessively around Chichi's arm.

"Yeah. Isn't it great! I sure did miss it. Now I have a lot more power and stamina," Goku replied cheerfully.

Trunks nodded in agreement and wisely decided to not mention what he had seen them do yesterday morning. He shuddered as the memory played havoc in his mind before taking a deep breath and gesturing, "Grab a seat, the rest of the gang hasn't arrived yet."

"Thanks, Trunks. Do you mind if I grab a snack?" Goku asked as he rubbed his neck while thinking about which he'd like more. "Hmm, maybe a hundred ham sandwiches would hit the spot." Goku glanced down at his wife while giving her a light hug as his thoughts took a wild turn, "or........ Chichi laid out before me naked and covered in whipped cream....urk!" Goku blushed as that particular scenario ran through his head and muttered, "where'd that thought come from?"

"Sure, help yourself. Mom always keeps the fridge stocked in case dad gets hungry," Trunks replied before a knock was heard at the front door.

"Great! I'm starving!" Goku exclaimed grinning. He was just about to release Chichi from his arms and make his way into the kitchen when he heard his mate reply, "Honestly, Goku. You just ate ten minutes ago," Chichi muttered in exasperation. Goku leaned down far enough where he could whisper in her ear and replied, "Yeah, I did but I'm still hungry after all that exercise we had and I've got to keep my strength up if we're going to go for a second round when we get home."

"Ack! Goku!,"Chichi whispered while blushing a bright crimson color. To cover up her embarrassment at her husband being so forward she called out, "Trunks, have you seen your mother?"

"Yeah, she and dad were spending some time together about an hour ago before she headed to her lab to work on a new project," Trunks replied over his shoulder as he left the room.

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An hour later, everyone had gathered in the backyard to wait for Yamcha, Piccolo, Eighteen and Krillin to arrive. I'm hungry!" Goku whined while fidgeting in his seat.

"You just ate!" Chichi exclaimed as she eyed her husband with a frown. Unconsciously her tail tightened around her waist as she bent closer and growled, "You'll just have to wait for the others to arrive.....and if I catch you trying to sneak something off the table then you'll regret it!"

Goku shrank back while wincing at the thought of a metal frying pan connecting with his head and tried another tactic, "But......."

"NO!" Chichi yelled before lifting her arm and pointing towards the far wall. "Go stand over by Vegeta and if you move then no dessert for you tonight mister!"

Goku hung his head and nodded before making his way over to the wall as ordered. As he leaned against the cold stone wall, he heard a low chuckle coming from his left. Glancing over, he noticed that Vegeta's eyes held amusement and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Vegeta growled quietly before continuing, "...but the fact that you are whipped! Don't you have any Sayi-jin pride? You shouldn't let your mate order you around like that!"

Goku eyed his prince critically before his Saiya-jin instincts arose from their dormancy, smirking he replied, "I don't see you standing up to Bulma." Goku crossed his arms smugly and continued in the same manor of tone as Vegeta, "...so who are you to talk about it?"

Vegeta scowled at Goku's rejoinder and growled, "Shut up, Kakarott!"

"Ohhhh, I hit a nerve didn't I?" Goku taunted, still smirking as he noticed Vegeta's ki rise.

"Kakarott, If you don't shut up this instant I'll make you sorry that you were born!" Vegeta replied, heatedly; taking a step closer, Vegeta lifted his right hand and channeled a small amount of ki into his palm, ready to blast his long time rival to hell. But, just before he could deliver; he sensed eight strong powers heading their way. "What the hell is that!" he exclaimed while glancing skyward in the direction that the powers were coming from.

Goku, finally noticed Vegeta's inattention to his taunts and decided to see what had his attention, "Hey, what is it?"

"Baka! Use you senses!" Vegeta growled in annoyance while focusing his attention towards the nearing powers. Four of them felt like Goku's friends and yet they were stronger. "Hmmm. They must have been training," Vegeta mumbled to himself. Frowning, he tried to determine who those other powers could be but he was stumped.

Finally, after ten minutes, Vegeta saw Yamcha land while carrying a girl in his arms. Frowning, the prince of Sayi-jins noticed something odd about the pair. Moving in for a closer look, Vegeta inhaled almost imperceptibly in shock before growling, " Why the fuck do you two have tails and who the hell is she?!!!"

"What? I don't know!" Yamcha replied before glancing over his shoulder towards the tail that was swinging lazily behind him. "I woke up last night overwhelmed with this urge to go out and find a girl to spend the night with. By the end of the night I found her." Yamcha replied while gently setting the girl he carried, down. "Everyone, this is Cherry............my ummmmm, girlfriend" Yamcha replied and mumbled the last part quietly as he eyed the bite mark on her neck.".....I think."

Cherry stepped forward and smiled, "Nice to meet you. Yamcha's told me all about you while we were flying over."

Vegeta grunted in acknowledgment of Cherry's greeting but focused more on every word that left Yamcha's mouth, his smirk grew wider. Knowing Yamcha's promiscuous ways, and tallying up the evidence almost solidified his hunch that they had somehow turned into Sayi-jin. But, when he noticed the bite marks on both of their necks, he erupted into laughter while managing to gasp out, "She's not your girlfriend, baka. She's your mate now!"

Yamcha blinked in shock at the news. He had always wanted to get married but not this soon. Mentally, he shrugged, he glanced towards his new mate and smirked. "There are some benefits of having a mate, so it's not so bad. Besides, she's beautiful." Sighing imperceptibly, he replied, "Well, then I guess I don't have to look for a wife anymore since I've already got one."

They were about to walk over towards the tables laden with food when the rest of the group arrived. Three of which none of the Z-senshi recognized. Just as they were about to attack them, Eighteen stepped forward and raised a hand, signaling that they should give her a chance to explain. "Now, I know you don't recognize him but, this tall and extremely handsome Sayi-jin," she pointed towards a spiky black hared man that had flown by her side, "....is Krillin. We don't know what happened but we've a general idea that someone wished on the dragonballs for this." Turning around, Eighteen pointed towards her own blond tail and replied almost absently, "Oh, and for some odd reason, I received a tail too."

Bulma stepped forward and eyed Krillins new look before grinning, "I always knew you wanted to be taller. But, I bet you never thought that all it took was a wish to change that!" Reaching out a hand, she ignored Vegeta's growling and fingered Krillins new muscular arms and purred, "...and these muscles....they really must turn Eighteen on."

"Bulma!" Krillen yelled, blushing. He was slightly uncomfortable with Bulma's reaction towards his new body; his tail stood straight out and puffed up, betraying his feelings towards the other Sayi-jin in the yard. Eighteen stepped forwards and laid a comforting hand on his muscular back, "Easy there, stud. I know you're not used to this type of reaction but don't let it swell your head. Just remember," Eighteen growled out the warningly, "you're mine!"

Goku turned towards the other two arrivals and took a guess at the males identity, "Piccolo, is that you?"

The tall Sayi-jin stepped forward and growled, "Yes and this, " he pointed towards the female who stood a few inches shorter than his seven foot height. "...is Diana."

The six foot nine woman stepped forward, smiling, "Hello. It's nice to meet you all. I'm hoping you can all explain to me what I am now. I mean, I woke up this morning and I had a tail."

"Hey!" Chichi called to get their attention. Seeing that she had it, she said in a thoughtful tone, "You know, I guess this means that the Sayi-jin race is not so extinct anymore. I mean, look at us!" She motioned around the group, "If you count, there are now six female Sayi-jins and their mates."

Vegeta looked at her oddly before growling, "What the heck are you talking about you harpy? I only see three female Sayi-jins."

Chichi ignored his taunting while at the same time, her tail snaked its way out from hiding and lashed back and forth; showing her irritation at the prince's comments. Chichi tilted her head while contemplating the facts and continued as if Vegeta never spoken"...That means there are twelve of us, not counting Gohan and the kids. I for one, don't mind being like this and I think it does have it's benefits what with the aging factor and all."

Everyone nodded in agreement, except Piccolo. Stepping forwards, the former Namekian growled out, "I don't like being like this! I want to change back!"

Goku placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and replied, "If you do change back and you're already bonded to this girl then you will both die."

Vegeta nodded in agreement and spoke, "Kakarott is right. If you break a bond then it will result in a very painful death for both parties. You will have to remain as you are now." Vegeta crossed his arms, signaling that the discussion was over as far as he was concerned and thought to himself, "Now, the Sayi-jin race has a chance of surviving. We will grow strong again and hopefully we'll gradually breed out the humans until there are only Sayi-jin left. Besides, as my mate says, Sayi-jins and humans are very closely related. Otherwise, we would never have been able to have the brat."

"I don't mind being like this either," Krillen interjected. "Look at the bright side..."

Piccolo glowered and growled, "Yea, what?"

"I'm taller now," Krillin replied, grinning.

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*AN* Well, what do you think? Did you like this chapter...I hope you did. Now, what will happen when Gohan meets with this strange female Sayi-jin...will sparks fly or will it be fists instead? Uh oh, You better be carefull Gohan. She may not like you.