Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. This work of fiction is meant for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note: As always, read, enjoy, review.

Chapter 5

The air became bitingly cold and dry. Mai hugged her arms around her shoulders. She slowed her speed slightly and used some of the ki to warm herself. Vegeta peered at her over his shoulder and frowned. Even Goten had curled into a ball, tucking his little hands underneath Vegeta's shirt and hitching a ride with the Prince. Vegeta growled at Goten and tried to shrug him off as cold air seeped beneath his spandex and weathered armor.

"Weaklings, sometimes you make me seriously doubt that you are saiyans at all," he called roughly behind him. But his companions didn't hear his voice. The wind sang in their numb ears. Mai just concentrated on the mountains below. She searched for the tell tale shadow of the familiar cave.

"Wish I had my cloak," she muttered, rubbing her arms vigorously. Her teeth chattered. She was beginning to feel slow and sleepy. Snow began to tumble out of the sky.

"There it is," Vegeta pointed. He dove down, heedless to Goten's yelps. Mai followed him with a last surge of energy. All three saiyans whipped into the cave. Mai and Goten huddled to Vegeta who sneered down at them. But he raised his ki for their warmth, which made them press even closer. But the Prince broke away and strode deeper into the lightless cave. The small opening gave only a little white light at the entrance, but mostly it let in the cold. Mai scooped up Goten into her arms and followed Vegeta.

"I wonder what's on his mind," she thought silently and burrowed her face against her brother's. He wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her closely.

Deeper in the cave, Vegeta stopped and shot a blast of energy at a pile of kindling at his feet. A crackling fire sprang up and alighted the cavern. Vegeta picked up a few pieces of wood from a small pile nearby and fed them into the fire. By the time he was satisfied that the flame had caught, Mai and Goten had arrived. They didn't bother to huddle near the fire, but instead leapt into the pile of furs in the corner. They buried beneath the musty skins. Goten wrapped a mammoth pelt around his shoulders and head. He sat cross-legged with his nose and eyes being the only visible signs of a boy beneath the massive skin. Vegeta smirked at the boy, but followed Mai under the covers. Their breath clouded and hung in the cave.

"What's up, Vegeta?" Mai asked him softly. She leaned her head against his shoulder as he slowly sunk back into the soft heap.

"I've been thinking a lot lately," Vegeta began after a long pause. He reached for a stick that lay beside the bed of pelts. Restlessly, he poked at the fire. Sparks gathered at the low ceiling and died among the stalactites. He glanced over at Goten, who had already fallen over. The Prince waited to hear the boy's tell-tale gurgles that signaled his drift from consciousness. Satisfied, the older saiyan continued. He dropped the stick and fell back completely into the furs he had skinned years ago.

"I don't want to love you anymore," Vegeta muttered. For a moment, Mai didn't understand. The words were no more than growls and rumbles that she could feel in his chest. Quickly, she realized her mistake.

"Why not?" she answered in his choice of the saiyan language. She let the yips and purrs that constituted the words role from deep in her throat.

"Because you do stuff like that and it kills me," Vegeta quipped and stroked her nose with only the lightest touch of his gloved finger. They spoke saiyan so rarely together. He loved it.

"Why can't you love us?"

Vegeta sighed and rolled onto his side to face her. "I can't help Kakarott. I'm not that person. That's not how I was raised." But he paused before ending with a final verbal slap to her face. There was no time like the day to loosen her grip on his love. "You're just dragging me down, bitch."

Mai smacked his face, but quickly withdrew her hand from the cold air that surrounded their bed. She growled like a tigress. "I never asked for your help."

"You were too pitiful, you didn't need to ask," Vegeta snarled and grabbed her shoulders, crushing his fingers into her thin arms. Goten stirred in his sleep, kicking a buck skin from his feet. Both Mai and Vegeta glanced in the boy's direction, tensing, but relaxing when his snores returned.

Mai turned back to face Vegeta and the anger slid away. His eyes were closed and his head was bowed. She tentatively reached one hand up to his face and stroked his cheek.

"I used to be a proud warrior. I was the best, until I met your father," Vegeta stated firmly. "And even now he tortures me with you and that brat."

"Vegeta, hush," Mai whispered and drew him into her arms. The Prince tried to squirm out of her grasp, but finally he rested in her embrace. Slowly his arms crept around her in return.

"I'm going to find the Dragon Balls."

Mai stiffened.

"I will wish to never love you or Goten again. And then I come and kill you both."

"You would never," Mai cried and hugged him tighter. He returned the motion with her same strength and craze. As if both fought the other with love.

"I will," Vegeta sobbed. "I can't take feeling this way about you. It's killing me. And I will always find a way to survive." He buried his face into her neck and began kissing it damply through his tears. For the first time, Mai realized what she stood to lose.

"I was so scared of you at first," she admitted, her own eyes wetting. "I thought you would kill us before. But you didn't."

Vegeta didn't answer her unasked question. Why hadn't he killed them? "You became my family. But now I don't want you. I can't protect you forever," Vegeta cried to himself. "This is goodbye. Then I leave for the Dragon Balls," he whispered in her ear in that deep guttural saiyan. He rolled over so his body pressed down on hers. "It was easier the way I was before."

Mai tried to hold back her sobs, knowing how much Vegeta hated crying. But it didn't help that tears trickled from his own hard eyes. He fumbled with their clothes, tearing and pulling them off their bodies.

"Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye," he groaned with each thrust. Mai could only turn and stare at the wall. She couldn't take the regret in his eyes. The light flickered softly and she noticed simple drawings on the stone, scratched in with the ash of burnt wood. There was an emblem of a sun with rays that wavered across the limestone.

Sitting up, fighting Vegeta as he tried to push her back down, Mai clasped her hands against his stubbled cheeks. "I won't let you forget us. I'll fight you for the Dragon Balls. We'll see who gets their wish," she growled proudly. Vegeta grasped her hips, panting like a dog in heat. An evil grin flashed and brightened his face. Tears mingled with sweat until his sadness was swept away in his warmth. Cold air tingled against both of their dewy bodies.

"I will win, woman," he moaned, forcing her to lay on the downy minx fur again. She relented, but bucked her hips in rebellion. They wrestled among the pelts, striking out with thrusts, counter-thrusts, and threats.

"You'll never win, because you really don't want to," Mai snapped back, utterly radiant, glowing bronze in the dark from the fire's fickle light.

Eventually, Vegeta collapsed and nestled his cheek between her breasts. She dragged her sticky fingers through his hair. He would have barked, but he could barely breathe. Mai writhed beneath him, which made him grin regretfully.

"Do you think Goten noticed," she finally asked softly, returning back to Japanese.

Vegeta snorted. "Has he ever before?" Mai nodded in agreement. She wiggled free from Vegeta, who retaliated by spooning her.

"We still have tonight, but tomorrow everything will be different. I won't be your ally," Vegeta sighed in Mai's ear. She mumbled softly, but she barely could keep awake. "You have to remember, I'll be your enemy. Just as I should be. I'll find a way to escape you." The two saiyans tumbled into a dreamless sleep.

Author's Note: Sorry, shorter chapter, but I feel as sleepy as they do.