Disclaimer: Don't own it, never will.

A/N: Yes! Finally! I actually have time to type something down! I'm so sorry! I just came back from an SAT thing and all my teachers are evil and please don't be all nasty when you review! .....Oh wait, I was working on my new web site too.... Sorry! But if you wanna check it out, go to . It's the first website out of school that I've designed. Well, enough of that, on with the story!

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Jumping from branch to branch, Vegeta makes his way through the dense jungle, Goku still tucked under his arm. Damned if he ever let go of him again after that whole bear incident. Today is the last day of the two weeks that Dende had made out for himself and the last day that Vegeta headed out to the infamous quicksand pits. He supposed that if he stayed near where the map is, the little Nameck would've been able to find them. After all it's not like the map's going anywhere.

No such luck.

So like Dende had advised, Vegeta prepares himself to stay in this particular forest for a very long time. Probably months, maybe even years. In any case he doesn't have anywhere else to go. Blade knows all of their old hiding spots. Kami Island, Capsule Corps, Goku's little shack thingy, even the apartment that Yamcha stays in, in the city.

He mutters to himself, "Actually staying alive here would be easier if I hadn't lost that bag of capsules." However, he already made himself, a sort of make shift tree house. Although the last two weeks had been something of an adventure. Vegeta discovered a primal part of himself that's actually comfortable up in the high canopy. Sticking to the trees. That's what his ancestors always did. That's also what his opposable thumbs are for, too.

So that's what he does. Almost the whole two weeks he barely even touched the ground. He also doesn't know why the hell a tropical jungle and a Temperate Zone forest can thrive next to each other, even somewhat intermingled, but it's good for a whole different variety of foods. From bears to ocelots, mangoes to apples, the ouji has a diet fit for a king.

He thinks to himself, {Now if only Prince Goku would wake up. I'll go insane just talking to him without any actual interaction, and all alone here too.}

Not really paying attention to where he's going he suddenly finds that he's run out of branch and is staring down at a large ravine, its bottom not even visible. All there is..... is black shadow, crawling up the sides of the stony walls. He mutters to himself, "Odd. I've seen this place before." He grabs the branch he's onto, swings down from it and lands on the edge of the chasm. He suddenly recognizes the shape of it, thinking back to the map that he lost. {I've seen this before. I think it's called Death Gorge.} He leans in for a better look. If he didn't know any better he'd say this gorge leads all the way to the center of the Earth. Suddenly he gets a chill, his gut instincts telling him there's something very, very wrong about the place.

But just as he's leaning over the edge, something pulls Goku from his strong grip, taking him down into the deep abyss. Vegeta yells, "Holy crap!" Without even thinking he jumps in after, speeding towards the little saiyajin. He manages to grab Goku back into his arms, just in time to see they're about to come into the shadow of the gorge. Something he does NOT want to do. He screams at himself, squeezing shut his eyes, "Dammit! Fly! Fly! I want to FLY!"

And with a sudden jerk, he stops. Vegeta opens his eyes, very confused once he feels the air stop whipping around his face. He's hovering right above the dark abyss, almost touching shadow. He mutters, "What in the- How did I- " He frowns, testing this hovering out, trying to get himself to move like he would if he were flying with ki. No such luck. He doesn't even feel his ki holding him up, like invisible wires are just keeping him there. {How did I start flying in the first place? Did I just will it?}

He decides to test it out and thinks, {Left.} Suddenly he starts speeding towards the canyon wall, ready to smash into it and he screams, "ACK! STOP!" And he does. Panting, Vegeta thinks, {Oh Kami, I hate this. I do NOT like this one bit.} But then he starts to drop and he screams once more, "NO! FLY! I WANT TO FLY! I LIKE FLYING!" Then he stops once again.

The ouji's whole body shakes, eyes-wide and bulging, and he clutches onto Goku tightly, "This is insane." He looks up at the clear blue sky and thinks, {Up, slowly.} And his body starts drifting towards the top of the ravine, back up into the open. He wills himself back onto the side of the ravine. Without another thought, he jumps back up into the trees and speeds towards the tree house.

****

The next day...

Vegeta growls as he jumps along branch to branch, "This is so stupid! What's the point of using ki if I can't even get a handle on it?!" He looks back at the burned grove where he was practicing summoning up balls of ki. Needless to say, he's going to have to find another training site. He hops onto the ground, deciding to get a rest and eat some of the deer that he caught before. He leans Goku against an old birch and jumps back up in the tree to grab some sticks for the fire. He pauses the chore and frowns, "What am I doing?" Once again he hops back down to ground and cracks his knuckles, "Well, this'll be good practice," looking down at the stag. Then he starts to summon his energy.

About half an hour later, Vegeta is grudgingly munching on burned venison, both face and clothes singed from energy burns. He finally gets control of his ki, but unfortunately the deer was already too far burned for it to matter right then. He says out loud to Goku who is still leaned up against the tree, "Well, that takes care of the whole not sensing ki thing. The only other thing now is to try and wake you up."

He gives Goku a scrutinizing gaze, "It's already a whole two weeks since you've eaten. Why can't your stomach wake you up?" Then he blinks, "Why can't it?" At once he takes the leg of meat in his hand and dangles it over Goku's head, hoping for some sort of response. "Oh come on!" he says in annoyance, "do something!"

And yet, still nothing. Vegeta visibly slumps and leans back onto his seat. Normally, if he could sense ki, he can see how healthy Goku is. But the only thing reassuring him that the chibi saiyajin isn't dead, is the fact that he can see him breathing.

He looks up in thought, gazing at the bits of sky peeking through the dense leaves, "So what else can I do?" He suddenly gets hit with an idea. Bolting up Vegeta yelps, "The Healing Technique! My god! Why didn't I think of it before?!" He pauses, and mutters, "Maybe because I don't know how to do it..."

Vegeta pops up from the ground and says, "Well that doesn't matter. I saw Kakarot do it once, I'm sure I can just copy. But maybe I should get a test subject first," looking around the trees." He suddenly spots a chipmunk on the branch above him and grabs it in his hand.

Without a second thought, he rips of its right leg. It gives off an annoying squeal of pain, but Vegeta keeps it in his hand. He cuts himself on the finger, pressing a drop of his blood on its forehead. It looks up at Vegeta with terrified eyes, but the ouji doesn't give a damn.

He places his weight onto his right foot and moves his arms in a circular counter clockwise motion. He points at the sun and shifts his weight onto both feet. He thinks to himself, {Why does my life always seem to be filled with stupid poses?} That's when he's supposed to be getting to the chanting part, but his mind draws a complete blank. Vegeta sweatdrops, {What the hell am I supposed to do now?! Argh! I have to remember those verses!}

He struggles to think, and start mumbling out anything he can think of in saiyago that would sound like something his ancestors would say.

[Translation]

Uh... Oh great god, Nasarith, wait or was it Lema, who's the god of strength and healing? Damn, I should have read up on my gods. Okay, start over.

Oh great god Nasarith, I beseech you- thee to heal this um... lowly Earth animal? For whom I have- hath shed my blood.

Just to let you- thee uh... knoweth, I don't really care about the chipmunk, but I'm just using him as a test subject. So if this really works can you give me some sort of sign?

[End Translation]

At once the squirrel's head begins swelling and bulging, its eyes growing nearly three times its normal size. Vegeta drops it on the ground, just before its head explodes with a loud BANG! brain splattering all over Vegeta's leg. Calmly, the ouji wipes it off and smirks, "Well, I'll take that as a sign!"

Taking up Goku into his lap, he cuts the palm of his hand and smears the blood onto the young saiyajin's forehead. Then he carefully lays him down against the tree, and then carefully performing the pose, he chants in saiyago, this time being much more respectful to Nasarith and pointing out he wants Goku to heal, not have his head blown up. Finishing his prayer he anxiously sits next to Goku's side, waiting for him to wake up.

The blood on the chibi's forehead glows gold and trickles down to Goku's abdomen, then it disappears. Then is the moment of truth. Vegeta shakes Goku and says, "Hey, Prince Goku. Come on, you can get up now."

And yet, absolutely nothing happens. Goku remains in the same state as ever.

Realizing this, Vegeta's anxiety quickly turns to anger. "WHY YOU LITTLE-! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO DAMN DIFFICULT!" He thinks off all the effort he took to taking care of him, finally realizing the possibility that the saiyajin might never wake up. He balls his hand into a hit and yells, "IF YOU WON'T WAKE UP ON YOUR OWN, I'LL DO IT MYSELF!" He pins Goku down on the ground and swings a fist right at his face.

Suddenly, Goku's eyes twitch open just as Vegeta hits him right in the nose. Goku gives a small cry and his eyes roll up and he passes right back out again.

The ouji stares at him in horror, his jaw hanging open in shock. He finally mutters to himself, disbelieving what he just witnessed, "He- He was...awake. And I..I..." He picks Goku up by the sides and starts shaking him wildly, growing hysterical, "YOU STUPID IDIOTIC BAKA!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE UP BEFORE I DECIDED TO FRICKIN' HIT YOU?! WHY?!"

All of a sudden, Goku groans, stirring in Vegeta's hands, clutching them with his tiny fingers. The ouji stops shaking him and wide-eyed, he ventures cautiously, "Prince Goku? Prince Goku, are you awake?"

The little saiyajin opens an eye and mumbles, "Wha?"

That's good enough for the ouji. His mood changes rapidly and he grows ecstatic. Grinning madly, he tosses Goku up into the air and catches him, yelling, "YES! YES! YES!!! YOU'RE NOT IN A COMA! YOU'RE AWAKE! YOU'RE AWAKE!!" He even goes so far as to squeeze Goku in a hug. But then he suddenly realizes what he doing and he nearly drops Goku onto the ground.

Goku squirms in his hands, making a slight whining sound before he manages to open his groggy eyes. Through half lidded eyes, he tries blinking through his blurry vision but to no avail. He mumbles once more, "Wha- Where?" Then his stomach gurgles.

A reassuring voice says, "I guess you still need to recover. Kami, you didn't even eat in two weeks! You must be starving now. I'll take you back to the treehouse and get you some real food there, not any of this burned crap."

Trying to fight off the dizzy, disoriented feeling, Goku closes his eyes once more and says apologetically, "I'm tired."

Vegeta gives a small smirk to the little sleeping boy in his hands, "You're almost like a baby, aren't you? Only without any of that annoying crying. Might as well nurse you back to full health. I've taken care of you this long anyway. Nearly a month I think." He carries Goku close to his chest with one arm and jumps back up into a tree, heading back towards the treehouse, thinking to himself, {Funny, it seems a hell of a lot longer than that.}

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A/N: Now you're all thinking, 'Yay! Goku's awake!' Heh, poor fools. Just wait until you see what I have in store for Goku next time..... *breaks into almighty evil laughter*