Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of it's characters.
Matronene opened her eyes, blinked, closed them again, then opened them once more. She realized she was hearing a faint scratching noise, followed by a gasp of air. A few words were choked out, but the girl only caught a few of them.
"Dodoria- let go- throat-"
Matronene recognized the voice as Prince Vegeta's. She listened closer, and heard a different voice. This one was slightly louder, though still a whisper.
"Shut up, weakling freak."
There was a thump outside the door and someone, Matronene assumed it to be Vegeta, coughed.
"What do you want, Dodoria?" snarled Vegeta.
"Lord Frieza is the one who wants you," answered Dodoria.
"Frieza?" repeated the prince. "It's two in the morning, what does Frieza want with-"
Suddenly there was the small yet slightly loud sound of someone being punched in the face. Vegeta sighed, almost whimpered, in pain and exhaustion.
"That's Lord Frieza to you, lowly scum," growled Dodoria. "He said something about the saiyan girl that was found."
Matronene, who had still been listening, stood up out of bed, her eyes wide.
Vegeta stood up. "Yes sir."
He walked down the hall until he was out of sight, then began to run.
"What is he going to do to her?" he thought desperately. As much as he hated to admit it, his thirteen year old mind was about to cave under everything that had been happening lately. The last mission he had gone on, a young boy had tearfully begged for his mother's life as well as his own, but Vegeta killed them anyway. No one knew that it had even happened, or that it was disturbing him, tearing up his mind. Now another saiyan had showed up, and it was his job as prince to protect her from Frieza, everyone on the ship, and anything else. He hadn't slept for about three nights, two of which he had been destroying a planet and killing people, the third, being put near death himself by Zarbon. This would be the fourth night without sleep unless he got to it soon, but at that moment, he had to find out Matronene's fate. Then he would have to tell her the news, whether it be good or bad. Yes, Vegeta was about to break; he couldn't take all of this at once.
The prince found himself outside Frieza's room. He took a deep, steadying breath and pushed open the door.
"Master Frieza." Vegeta bowed. "Dodoria said you wanted to see me."
"Yes. It's about that girl. I've decided what to do with her," replied Frieza.
Vegeta looked up expectantly.
"She will be staying in your room."
"And me?"
"Sleep on the floor," Frieza said impatiently, waving off the question. "She will cook and clean and wash the ship, since she's a woman. I want to test her power level, then I might send her on missions with you and your team."
Vegeta nodded. "Is that all?"
"Yes. Go get some sleep, you look like you need it," Frieza said, his voice full of malice.
Once again, the young prince bowed. "Yes, thank you, Sire. I will be sure to relay this information to the saiyan woman." He turned and left.
"Matronene," Vegeta muttered, opening the door to his room. But Matronene had gone back to sleep, so he crept over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Matronene, wake up," he said a little louder. Then he took up his usual hateful manner.
"Woman, wake up," he snapped, pulling his hand back.
The girl rolled over on her side and opened her eyes slightly. They widened when she saw the prince and attempted to leap out of bed.
"Relax, girl," Vegeta muttered, and put his hand back on her shoulder. "It's okay. I just have to tell you something."
"What is it?" Matronene asked.
"You will be staying here, in this room. Frieza will be expecting you to cook, clean, and wash."
Matronene nodded, and Vegeta continued.
"Lastly, he wants to check your fighting skills and power level. If those are good, he might send you on missions with Nappa, Raditz and I."
"All right," Matronene said. "I can live with that."
Vegeta smiled. She was very beautiful, even to him. Not that he would ever admit that.
"Anyway," the prince said shortly, "I'm tired, I'm going to bed."
He threw himself down on the floor, rolled on his side toward the wall, and fell asleep instantly. Matronene watched him sadly for a moment.
"Good night, Prince," she whispered, and went back to bed.
