A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far!

"I'm really confused, Chi." Bulma sighed for what felt like the eleventh time as she pressed the phone to her ear. On the other end Chichi was trying to chat but kept getting distracted.

"Really? Why's that? Gohan! Where do you think you're going?"

"Well there's this guy…"

"Ooo, a guy? What guy? Do I know him?" Chichi's carnal desire for gossip temporarily overrode her need for supreme parental control. Bulma smiled down the phone,

"Yes, you know him, but I'm not going to tell you who he is."

"Oh but why?" Chichi fairly whined at her friend, "I won't tell – Gohan get back here right now! Honest I won't."

Bulma could imagine the rabid parent drooling at the opportunity to 'accidentally' flap her mouth to the rest of the senshi, "Nice try, Chichi, but no. Anyway, this guy; he's a little hard to approach at the best of times (if at all, she thought to herself), but recently he's gotten so distant. He won't even talk to me anymore."

"Don't you give me that face, Mister; you have your future to think of. Make him talk to you – corner him; that's what I did. Is he cute?"

Bulma laughed lightly, "I hadn't really thought about it until the other day, but yes; he's very handsome, very…regal." Oops! She clamped a hand over her mouth. There was silence on the other end of the line and Bulma chewed nervously on her lip, afraid that her slip had given Chichi the clue she needed to work out that the Saiyajin Prince was the one she was currently fixated with. After a long pause, Chichi spoke,

"Sorry about that, Bulma; I had to go tie Gohan to his desk. What did you say?"

Bulma breathed a silent sigh of relief, "I said yes, he is cute."

"Icarus! Get away from that door! It's locked for a reason; do you know what that reason is? No? It's to keep you out so you CAN'T DISTRACT GOHAN! Then go for it. Personally I think it's Yamcha, but he's not hard to approach is he?"

She smiled down the phone, satisfied that her secret was safe – at least for the moment. "No he's not. Thanks, Chichi."

"Hey, Vegeta," block "I never had you pegged," sweep as a coward." Block, block, block, block, crunch

Vegeta jumped back from his opponent who staggered a little, clutching a broken nose. He growled in irritation, "What are you blithering on about, Kakarrot?"

"Yu sdill haved dold er ave u?"

Fighting back the flush that threatened to stain his cheeks, Vegeta relaxed from his beat-seven-shades-of-shit-out-of-Kakarrot stance and folded his arms firmly across his chest, smirking as the taller man tried to staunch the flow of blood, "No. I haven't told her. That doesn't make me a coward."

Giving up trying to clean himself with his hands alone, Goku motioned for his prince to follow him to the small, ravaged first aid box by the door to the gravity unit. He spoke as he crammed gauze up his nose, "Baybe dot, bud id doesn'd bake you very brave does id?"

Vegeta harrumphed and turned away, unable to believe he was actually talking to his arch-nemesis about this. He let his eyes wander as he stared at nothing, "I almost did."

Goku paused in his cramming, "Almost?"

The shorter man grumbled to himself for a moment before speaking, "I didn't want to …but…she caught me off guard…"

"You almost talked to her because she caught you off guard?" Goku's disbelieving, mocking tone grated across Vegeta's nerves and he whirled, exasperated,

"Look, she caught me in a moment of vulnerability okay?" He re-crossed his arms and looked away as Goku's jaw hit the training room floor.

"You? Vulnerable? Since when?"

Vegeta mumbled, only just loud enough so the other could hear, "I was in the middle of getting changed."

Now Goku was really confused, "Why would that make you vulnerable?"

Vegeta grit his teeth; this was getting very old, very fast, "Because I was embarrassed."

"Of what?"

That was it; the Prince turned and thumped Goku in the nose again. As the taller warrior stumbled to his knees in renewed pain, Vegeta towered over him, "OF HER SEEING ME WITHOUT ANY CLOTHES ON!" then stormed out of the G.R. to train outside.

Five minutes later, and Goku was back for more,

"I still don't get it, why would you be embarrassed of being naked?"

"Go away."

"No, I want to know."

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Yeah, but-"

"No."

"Veg-"

"I'm not telling you."

Just as Goku opened his mouth to ask again, it hit him, "Oh my goodness! You're shy!"

Vegeta's eye twitched, but he didn't stop his kata, "No I'm not."

"Yes you are! But-" this time he was ready for the fist that swung for him and he caught it, his expression turning serious, "But you don't need to be."

Vegeta looked supremely angry, "Kakarrot…"

"Vegeta, by human standards, hell, by any being's standards, you are practically God-like."

The anger slowly drained from the Prince's face to be replaced with uncertainty.

"I mean look at you; really look. You're gorgeous."

Vegeta flushed and his eyes widened slightly as Goku gently touched his face,

"You're enough to make a guy want to turn." Goku jumped back, laughing, as Vegeta turned a violent shade of puce and lunged for him. "It's just a joke, Vegeta! Although I've seen how the blood lust affects you sometimes!" With a shriek of laughter, he touched his head and vanished as the furious Prince slammed his power up, ready to attack.

Left alone, Vegeta tried to slow his breathing, to calm down from the abrupt embarrassment/anger fuelled, blind power-up. After a few long moments he succeeded and sagged in defeat. He had to try and talk to her again, or his rival would never leave him alone.

A/N Next time, the end is nigh! Vegeta gets another nasty shock and Yamcha shows up to mix things up a little.

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Doc xx