AN: Oooh, I got a flame! And this time it isn't even about it being yaoi or whatever. Allow me to clarify something for Mr 'Daniel'.

THIS IS FANFICTION. More specifically, it is set after Majin Buu at the end of Dbz. Now, you were quick to label my work as bullshit (you're cute for using 'bullcrap') because in Dragonball, they didn't use energy. Fair enough, but this isn't set in DB and in all fairness, they were fighting Emperor Pilaf, a midget with an evil attack of kissing. And, ahem, when Goku fought off the Red Ribbon army, he was using energy. When he fought Piccolo, he used the Kamehameha. They did use energy. And not only that, but in Dbz, the enemies were about two hundred times more powerful. Things became relative; as the Z Fighters got stronger, so did the enemies. It's all evolution. The point is, splinky, this is about Vegeta teaching Kakarot new things for other reasons. Read this chapter, and you'll understand why. I'm not trying to undermine the world's greatest anime series, this is just my spin.

But thank you for at least taking the time to flame. I guess that's something. And thanks for the good wishes as well. You aren't so bad, but you can't just label someone's work, their pride and joy, because you don't agree with it. That's unconstructive criticism, AKA a flame. Writers don't put their work out for someone to shit on it.

To continue with replies:

Laremi: My dear Laremi, you'll just have to hold on and see what happens! Vegeta is being sneaky, as usual! Thank you for reviewing, and I'm glad this has your attention!

Warrior from Beyond: Thank you! Glad you enjoy it!

Queen Freaky: That's the exact word I was hoping to hear! Thank you very much, and I will continue with it.

Lenora: Heh, you're too kind. More is on its way. I'm not going to update this one every two or three days because there are some regulars who I don't get a chance to hear from because of being down or simple constraints of reality. I think I'm going to update every 7 or eight days, as time allows. Heh. But I shall grant you more!

Yami Persephone: I love the legend of Persephone! Does the Yami have anything to do with Yu-gi-oh! maybe? I love that series, but here in my poor African country, I can't get much of it. Anyway, cool screen name! Thank you for following it and I'm glad that you consider me a good source for DB fics! I also prefer to leave signed reviews; I can understand anonymous reviews for those who don't have an account, but notice how the flamers are always anonymous. Too shitscared to leave an account name so that I can track them down and email them. I also forget my passwords… blush As for whether it will be Goku/Vegeta…hmmm…I'm driving my editor nuts because she doesn't know either! You'll just have to hang in there and see!

Blackroseinvasion: Well, when you get round to reading it, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for the review!

Clarobell: Oh, most loyal one, I cannot tell you that now and ruin the ending! Of course Kakarot is reliant and you'll see that he learns so much more over the course of this fic.

PS: To all the Americans out there, I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day. I don't know exactly what you guys do on that day, if you have parades or parties (or both) but I hope it was fun!

Chapter Two:

Stage One:

Aural

I don't think I've ever been quite so annoyed with anyone in my life before. Who does his Royal Bloody Pain in the Ass think he is? First he drugs me, then he hauls me into space for some useless training just so he can help the Earth. Yeah, sure. Since when did he care? Personally, I think he gets some kind of perverse thrill out of ordering me around. But if it'll somehow help the Earth, I'll do it.

And I do realise that he probably hates this as well, but he knows that I'll be around longer than him and that saving the Earth will always be my calling. So I'll just bear this and prove to him that I'm not useless…and that I'll always be stronger than him. At least I hold that much over him.

Man, Chichi is going to beat me over the head with a rolling pin when I get home.

I ache all over…

I've only managed three hours of sleep with this pain and I need a lot more than that. But I'm interrupted in my musing by a smirking face poking around my door.

"Oh, good. You're alive and awake. We land in an hour, so get changed and eat. Kitchen is one level down. Take your parcel marked 'day one'. We're on rations."

He disappears before I can say anything. Alright, I'm in a bad situation, but I'll just make the best of it. It's not worth being nice to him though. He's never been one for manners. Or friendship.

But as I swing my legs out of bed and feel my hamstrings protesting, I feel a little sad. I really thought the two of us could be friends. Majin Buu wasn't that long ago. It's been, what, three years? And we've managed to get along. I mean, we weren't exactly blood brothers, but at least we weren't rivals. Oh well. Back to the old days.

If it's a fight he wants, it's a brawl he'll get.

"Come on, Kakarot. We're here."

I watch him stomp up the stairs, eating a muesli bar, part of his breakfast. I can tell he isn't happy with his meal, but its nutritionally perfect and all he actually needs. He is far too greedy and it's a bad habit. We stand at the exit of the ship and look out over the landscape of ice and snow, a huge mountain full of carvings a few hundred meters ahead of us. I walk down the gangway and he follows me silently as I lead him to the mountain. When we get there I look up at it, deciphering the various Saiya-go words carved in neat sections.

"You see, Kakarot, this planet is where all Saiyan fathers used to take their sons to train before the…explosion. This is the last place I spent time with my father. These carvings are the names of all the Saiyans that have been here. There's Nappa and his old man, Merdoc. And Turles and Verdun, and Brolly and Paragus. My father and I are scratched somewhere at the top."

My eyes roam through the carvings until I find the one I'm looking for. I point at it. "And here's your sire; Bardock. He came here with Raditz."

I turn to look at Kakarot, who walks forward until he's touching the rocks. He runs his fingers over the etching of his father's name, a slight frown on his forehead.

"My real father…I wonder what he was like."

I look up at all the names of Saiyans long dead and remembered by no one but me. Carving out runes so that they could leave their mark on this world. I feel the familiar pain of having lost my people, of failing them. Some Prince I was. Now I'm just a Prince over one last Saiyan who hates me. But I shove these thoughts away and turn to look at Kakarot.

"Your father was a legend in his time. There wasn't a planet he couldn't take on or a fight he couldn't win. He was a leader, a great tactician. I heard he annihilated one of Frieza's elite squadrons on his own. And at the end, he went up against Frieza."

Kakarot doesn't look at me, but I can tell he's listening. "You would have gotten on well with him. I found his file in the archives; you look exactly the same. Raditz always spoke very highly of him."

Kakarot turns to me, arms wrapped around him as he shivers in his combat suit. But he looks less unhappy. "Maybe I'll wish him back one day."

I nod, and look back at the cliffside. They're all gone. All with a single fucking blast. The irony isn't lost on me.

Saiyans did the same to other planets. I guess Fate had the last laugh after all.

"Time to start your training."

He shrugs and looks at the floor. "Fine."

I unwrap a strip of cloth from around my wrist and pass it to Kakarot. "Put this over your eyes. Today, we're going to work on sharpening your hearing and your radar sense."

He doesn't say much as he does what I tell him. A part of me wants him to fight back, to argue with me. But I suppose he's resigned himself to this and he's dealing with it in his own way. He pulls the last knot tight and once I'm certain that it's covering his eyes, I begin the first part of his training.

"Alright, Kakarot. You know that enemies tend to go for the eyes. In the possible chance that they do some damage and blind you, you've got to be able to use your ears as your alternate vision."

He nods as I walk around him.

"Saiyans have a radar sense. Now, I have a strong suspicion that you might be gifted at this. You seem to pick up things very quickly, and you have talent, much as I hate to admit it. But your abilities are all buried because you never bothered to act like a Saiyan."

I wait for a retort, but get none. No matter.

"What you have to do is focus and try feel out the sound. That way, you'll get an idea of direction and distance. You'll understand better in practice. Look for an anomaly in the echo. I'm going to clap and I want you to point in the direction you think it's coming from. Get it?"

"Yeah."

I could kick him for being so dispirited.

"Kakarot, at least have some enthusiasm, dammit! I would have thought that you'd at least try to spite me. If you don't get this right any time soon, you're not going home until you do."

"Then hurry up!"

"Better."

I smirk and pad off, walking softly on the snow. He can't sense energy with that manacle on, so this will be a first for him in a long time. I get quite far to his left hand side, about twenty metres away. I clap my hands twice and he cocks his head to the side to listen. Then, hesitantly, he points, but he's off by five metres.

"Wrong, clown! Try again and listen properly this time!"

"I'm trying, dammit!" he retorts, turning towards my voice. I roll my eyes and change direction until I'm directly behind him. I clap once and wait. This time, he's quicker and he gets it right first time. I do it three more times and he catches the hang of it quickly.

"That'll do for now. Next step; I'm going to attack you. Listen out and see if you can hear my movements and breathing. You can either block my punches or chase me. Let's go."

He goes into a defensive crouch and I can almost see his ears pricking up. I do a slow circle around him, my boots crunching in the ice. I never take my eyes off him and he licks his lips nervously. He'll soon discover that a sort of sixth sense kicks in when one is removed. I change direction and start pulling my fist back when he lunges forward and catches me off-guard with a punch through my face that sends me flying backwards. I skid along my back in the snow and dig my fingers into the ground to slow down. I sit up and rub my jaw and he's grinning under his blindfold.

"Hey, it really is like a radar sense! I could almost see you!"

"I told you that you'd pick it up. That's an immensely useful skill to have, especially if it's honed. Now we're going to the third level for today. We're going to fight hand to hand, and you're going to remain blindfolded. Don't expect any sympathy."

"Bring it, Vegeta."

I shake my head. "Too cocky. It'll get you into trouble."

I start the offensive, and at first, he's completely bewildered. But he starts to pick up on the slight sounds my fists make when they retract, and because I'm closer he can smell me too. He starts to fight back; blocking at first, but then he starts kicking back. I can dodge most of his punches, but a few graze and one catches me on the jaw again.

"Not bad, for a beginner," I pant before I dodge and get behind him.

"You're not bad, for an old guy."

I catch his fist and ram my elbow into his face. "Silence, brat! You can't hear me if you're prattling! Listen to your opponent, use their mistakes! See, isn't it easier to find me when I'm talking?"

He's about to reply, but ducks my kick. From then on, he decided to focus on me instead.

I call it to an end three hours later and he tugs off the blindfold, beaming. I can tell he's proud of himself.

"So, what next, Vegeta? Bring it all, I'm ready!"

I fold my arms. "At night, we'll do a few hours of contact combat. During the day, we'll visit all parts of the planet, which offer different opportunities to develop new skills. You won't get the use of your ki back until we get back to Earth, but by then your normal state will be massively improved and it'll reflect in your ascended states."

He nods, and I find it odd to see him smiling like that. Almost like he's excited about training.

"That's great!"

"Yeah, sure. You can go back to the ship, if you want. I'm going for a walk."

He almost runs back to the ship; probably to get warm and enjoy a break. I hug myself for warmth and go to find a cave I was in a very long time ago.

Why is he trudging through the snow? Maybe he doesn't want to be with me. Can't say I blame him though. He went out of his way to do this, even though it frustrates him, and I just kicked it back at him. I lean against the doorway and watch him climb a mountain, reaching for handholds. He's probably looking for something.

But I feel so proud of myself! I learnt something new today, a skill I didn't even realise I had! It feels like the very first time I did the kamehameha. But I wonder why Vegeta is only doing this now. Surely he should have done this before? Maybe he never thought about it…or maybe he needed to plan it.

Well, I'm finished. Time for a nap.

There it is; our cave. I pull myself up onto the ledge, dust the snow off and walk inside. It's nothing overly special; just a dry place for shelter, but it's the last place I ever shared with my father, so it means something to me. I sit on the smooth rock floor with my back against the wall. I sigh as my eyes drift shut.

"Father, I need you now…"

As terrible a person my father was in many regards, he always loved me and cared about me. He's always been a source of strength through all these years. I rest my hand on my chest, my heart beating too hard. I hope it doesn't give out before I get home.

I'm dying. It's that simple. Saiyans may remain young forever, but that's not always a guarantee of a long life and royal blood certainly hasn't granted me any immunity. Kakarot will live far longer than me. Decades longer. But because I ruined my body with excessive training as a child, constantly fighting without a break despite often severe injuries, my life span has been cut in half. That power boost I got from Babidi only put further strain on my already weakened heart, shaving off another five years.

Bulma knows about this, and Trunks too. I could stretch my life out by another two years, if I take it easy and stay out of the gravity chamber. But I have to train Kakarot; I have to make him stronger. He's going to be the one to defend my family after I've gone and I need to do all I can to ensure he is at his best. But this regimen will take everything I have, and if I do make it home, I'll have maybe two weeks before I die. Maybe more, maybe less. I don't really know.

I don't particularly enjoy being hard on the clown, but it makes him more determined to get it right and prove me wrong. And it is for the best that he doesn't know about my failing heart. He'll refuse to train if he knows that it's draining me, and that defeats the whole point.

Death. Been there, done that, found the dragonball. My son is still young, I love my wife, but there's nothing that can be done. A human heart will never work in my body; Shenron refuses to help because it's a natural death and my destiny. So, I've been taking it easy up until now, been spending a lot of time with my wife and son. But, if I have to die earlier because it'll make Kakarot stronger, so be it.

A wry smile snags itself onto my face.

The irony of it all.

I walk back through the snow, flakes settling in my hair. Once I'm inside I shake the white stuff out of my hair and off my combat suit. I can hear Kakarot snoring from here.

Idiot.

But an enormously talented idiot. He picked up radar faster than I did. Tomorrow, we do heat training, which should be interesting. I change into my dark blue silk pajamas, take my pills and clamber into bed. As I put my head down on the pillow I look at the two photo frames next to my bed; one of Bulma and Trunks, the other of my father. The latter is creased from being carried inside my armour for many years, but it's all I have of him. I can't remember who took the photo, but I'm sitting on his shoulders, my legs dangling down onto his chest.

The similarity is uncanny. I turn out the lights with the switch next to my bed and close my eyes, my last few thoughts being of my family three light years away.

I only hope that I make it home in time to say goodbye.