Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

Why was she doing this? Why now?

For a fraction of a second, I considered the possibility that she'd somehow misunderstood something. But no. In her exterior was purpose: a slight stubborn tilt of the head, squareness in her shoulders. That steady glare, anger brimming beneath the surface.

I wasn't the only one who'd noticed. People around her were stirring, looking up, muttering.

Daikon hadn't been standing, but he darted up a moment later, grabbing Ravi's arm and trying to get her attention while she ignored him, not looking away from where I stood.

"Hey, you!" someone yelled from the crowd.

"Who do you think you are?" another said.

"Are they challenging the prince?"

"That Saiyan over there is refusing to kneel!"

Soon, the voices became too intertwined to make out individually. People were getting up, forming a circle around her.

Damn it. Damn it all, why is she doing this?

I needed to think of something, some excuse, quickly, before I was expected to act against what appeared to everyone like a usurper.

But what could I do? I couldn't challenge her the way I had Yarrow—I knew that even if I made that choice, she probably wouldn't surrender, so a battle to assert myself as leader would only end in her death or damn well near it. Yet if I outed her as a defector and did nothing, I'd lose the respect of the Saiyans as Bardock had warned, and I refused to use my strength to force them to obey me like some kind of tyrant. So that only left me with one option.

A believable excuse.

I stared at her, mind racing. There were only a few people in existence that would be pardoned for not kneeling in this situation. My father. My sister, the princess. The queen. Other royalty, any royalty in relation to me, or even my—my…

I hopped down from my perch above. Saiyans cleared the way as I landed, made a path for me as I walked towards Ravi. The area quieted for me. Daikon had backed away a little when he saw my approach.

"It appears I've forgotten something important," I said, loud enough for everyone to hear me even if they couldn't see me. "I can only imagine how this must look—it wasn't my intention to thrust this on all of you so unexpectedly, but I did this out of caution. But it appears Ravi has the right idea. All of you deserve the truth."

Thankfully, Ravi remained silent and unmoving as I neared. I kept my strides leisurely, exuding what I hoped was natural confidence when I drew close and put my hand on her arm. Still, she did nothing, simply staring at me with a look that was more curious than severe now.

Say nothing, I mouthed soundlessly. Then, Follow my lead. Talk later.

She raised an eyebrow and I drew in a quiet, hopeful breath. If she said anything or pushed me away, it would fuck over the one stupid idea I'd come up with and then we'd really be caught between a rock and a hard place. I only needed her to cooperate for a minute, and then we could get out of here and figure the rest out. Reaming her out for whatever burst of stupidity that'd kept her standing would have to wait.

I turned back to my wider audience.

"Everyone," I began, "this is Korravi. I understand most of you don't know her. But I feel it's my… privilege to introduce her as one of the finest Saiyans I've ever met, and… a skilled warrior. Though I may only be serving as king while my father is gone, because I have been and will continue to take on many of the responsibilities of that role, I've needed people strong, loyal, and intelligent at my side. Ravi has been… among the greatest of my support through all of this since I've met her. And I realized that I'd rather no one else take her place. So though it may not be custom for a prince not yet crowned, I've chosen her to be my life-long companion, and serve as Queen Regent alongside me. The reason I was wary of telling you all is because… she's lost hearing in both her ears. But I expect now, with me as your leader, that you'll treat her with as much respect as you would me."

More muttering was going through the crowd as they gawked at us. No one was doing anything drastic, but they seemed unsure. Ravi, who'd been alternating between reading my face and watching the crowd, grabbed my arm and tugged, discreet enough that others wouldn't really notice, but I didn't respond yet. I didn't know how much she'd caught of what I'd said, but apparently it was enough.

It was then that Yarrow spoke up.

"Oh, is that all? Why didn't you say so when you first arrived?" he exclaimed. He hopped down from the boulder and put his hands on his hips as he treaded towards us. "That explains why you dove in to save her so quickly during our battle! I simply assumed by the casual way you spoke to one another that she was your First Lieutenant."

Raab, following in close behind, spoke up, although in more hushed tones. "Your Highness, this is… very unprecedented," he said, bumping past Yarrow. "Seldom in our history have firstborn princes or princesses ever selected their mates before being crowned king or queen. Much less declaring a person of unknown and unapproved esteem to be your intended. Even when your father chose an alien woman, you had already been born and—"

"And nothing," I said. "We've made our decision. Now if you'll excuse us—"

"We're going," Ravi cut in, right on time. "Now."

"But wait," Yarrow said, "aren't you going to—"

And with that, still holding my arm to presumably ensure I was coming along, she blasted off into the sky, and soon enough the crowd of Saiyans was nothing but a dark cluster rapidly shrinking behind us.

We landed a few minutes later abruptly and unceremoniously when Ravi made a sudden dive, towards a patch of thick forest no different than the area surrounding it for kilometres beyond. I flew down after her, setting down gently once I neared ground while she thudded into the earth the same graceless way she always did.

"Is this out of earshot?" she said as she straightened, turning.

"Uh, yeah, we're way out hearing range," I replied. "You don't have to fly for more than a—"

She marched up to me and poked her finger into my chest, her tail lashing behind her. "What in the world," she enunciated, "and in other worlds and in any ridiculous planet in this universe did you tell them, exactly?"

"Hey, you have no right to be pissed at me," I fired back, batting her hand away. "You're the one who fucked up! None of this would've happened if you'd just stuck with the plan!"

"I don't know what just happened!"

"You mean you don't know why you deliberately put yourself on the spot in front of everyone and stood there like a stubborn half-wit?"

"Of course I know why I did it. I want you to explain to me what you told everyone I was, directly to my face so that I know what I think is true."

I blew a lock of stray hair out of my eyes. "Well, to put it shortly… I told them you were my wife. You do know what marriage is, right?"

She blinked at me, slowly. Then she kind of turned away and put her hand over her face. And then she was—laughing. Laughing. The loud, full-bodied, damn-near falling over kind.

By the time she was composed enough to even look at me, I was fuming.

"I'll bet that's fucking funny to you," I snapped. "Do you have any idea how much shit you're in? How much worse shit we were almost in? I was this close to having to beat you to a goddamn pulp!"

Ravi ran a hand through her hair. "You… You're one of the single most infuriating men I've ever met."

"Me, infuriating? What the hell did I ever do to purposefully fuck up your life?"

"Nothing. And it's the best part. Because all the things you've done that have upset my life you've never done on purpose. You exist as you are, and you destroy it. The universe must truly hate me."

"I don't know what you want from me," I said, hopelessly. "We agreed to work together. You agreed. Why would you—"

"I kept my silence as you asked. I haven't said anything that would jeopardize you the entire time we've been here so far. All I did was remain standing. If that's all it takes to destabilize your authority, you have much bigger problems than me."

"But why did you do it?"

"What did you think would happen? I don't bow for anyone. I told you that I serve no one but myself. And you still chose to take me with you, knowing that."

"And you knew what I was from the moment you saw me, and you still chose to come! Did you think me being the Prince of Saiyans wouldn't start to matter once we arrived?"

She held her hands open at her sides. "What else was I to do? It wouldn't have done me any good to stay stranded. I hadn't even intended to stay here very long, but my ship is destroyed thanks to your carelessness and now I have no choice!"

"As if I'm the only one at fault! You left it there like a sitting duck! And you said you were looking for the safe haven, so why wouldn't you intend to stay?"

"I was planning on leaving Daikon here for his own safety and finding my mother, if she was here—and she's not here. I didn't think you were planning on staying very long either until the little dedication speech you just gave."

"How the hell would you know she's not here? It hasn't even been a day! And you would just leave Daikon behind like that? To keep looking on your own and probably die once Frieza's forces trapped you?"

"Of course I want to live. But death is always a risk. We agreed that you'd help me find my mother, and I'd help you stop Frieza and retrieve your father. I believed that you meant it. When you spend a lot of time learning to read people's faces, you learn what it looks like to lie. But you, I don't know if you're lying to me or not anymore."

"I didn't lie about wanting to stop Frieza. Or trying to get my father back."

"You refuse to explain why you're looking for Namek. You also told us your allies and your family had lost their lives in battle."

"So this is about Namek now? And my family? I've never lied about either of those things."

"You don't think you're half the engineer your mother is," she echoed. "You told me that mere hours ago. As if she was alive, when you told us she was dead. And your friends—they've been with us all along, alive and well. But you were telling the truth when you said they were lost. I thought I had to be making a mistake until I realized how often you slipped up."

Oh. Oh. So I had lied—or rather, I hadn't told the whole truth.

"I can explain," I said.

"There are stories about Namekians," Ravi went on, pacing back and forth without letting me out of her line of vision. "That they can grant any wish you desire. People have been searching for Planet Namek for as long as its natives have retreated into secrecy. I always thought they were just that. Stories. Imagine my surprise when the Saiyan Prince returns from his absence in the cosmos, immeasurably stronger than anyone has ever seen, and he's come looking for Namekians." She stopped in place. "I've been thinking it over. You found something, didn't you? Wherever it is that you'd went, you found something. So which is it? Have you resurrected your loved ones with Namekian magic, or did you grant yourself invincibility? Or both? You must have used it all if you're still looking. You want more."

"I… okay. I'm not invincible. Let's start there. You saw my blood after Daikon cut me." I touched the centre of my chest, where the hair-thin line still was.

"Being able to bleed or feel pain doesn't mean you're able to die. And he cut you with your own sword—a weapon that's as good as part of you. Did he ever have a chance of killing you? Were you toying with him? Have you been toying with me?"

"No! If you'll just let me, I can explain…!"

"I trusted your word. Yes, I knew you were the prince, so I refused to tell you the truth about us at first, but I never lied to you. I let you stay on my ship, I trusted you to fix it. I told you about my mother. I even told you about my grandfather. And you return that by lying, destroying my ship, and asking me to bow to you? My own pride is the reason I stand here now. My conviction in myself has kept me alive. People make promises about loyalty, about honour, about love all the time, but inevitably, they leave or they die and they take those words with them. Live for yourself, take what you can and enjoy it while you can. That is my way of life. Why would I give that up for you? Why should anyone?"

"Please, just listen. It's not like that. I would never ask you to bow down, either literally or figuratively, if it weren't to protect you. And it wasn't even real—it was for show, for those people. I didn't even initiate that! It doesn't even mean anything because I don't think you're less than me!"

Her eyes flashed. "Let me explain something to you. When I took Daikon away from that miserable, chattel-hoarding rock, I told him that as long as he was with me, he'd never have to give his life to a master again. I did not take Daikon all this way just to serve you. He didn't earn his freedom and pride just to give it up—not for anyone or anything. No one should do something as stupid as surrender their life for someone else."

"We can't just not have leaders because you don't like it! And I didn't force Daikon to do anything! He knelt of his own free well because he presumably understands the situation, and you don't! You've got a lot of nerve, complaining about not wanting to give up even a little of your pride when he was willing to give his life for you! Do you not realize that if I hadn't thought of a way out, you putting yourself on the spot in front of all those Saiyans meant he'd be in danger too? If you're somehow unaware, what he did on SE-3 wasn't just because he hates me! I mean, I was the catalyst because he was afraid I'd get you killed, but his concern for you was his motive for all of that!"

She flinched. "What are you talking about? I know he was upset with me for agreeing to help you, but he did what he did because of you."

"No, he didn't! He thought if I killed him, you'd never help me and it'd keep you safe. He told me about how you freed him, freed all of the slaves on his planet. Gave him a name, a life—everything. You can't seriously be unaware of his devotion to you for that."

"I… Anything I've done for him was the bare minimum anyone should've done. If he thinks I'm worthy of something so ridiculous as admiration or love for that, then he's a fool."

"Whatever. If you want to be callous about it, fine. It doesn't matter now. You get to be the de facto Queen of the Saiyans, after all. You get to be on top of the damned world while we're here. But don't worry, I'll be doing the actual work—gods know that caring for a few hundred Saiyans is way out of your league when you can barely care for your friends."

If she didn't look ready to smash her fist into my face before, she certainly did now. But she didn't move. Instead, she held up a hand.

"That young man," she said. "Goten. You must care for him very much, to make him bow down to you like a servant. Do you think he enjoys being treated like your lesser, or just puts up with it to get by?"

I took a step forward. "Don't you dare talk about him. Ever."

She curled her hand into a fist, then raised her other, settling into a stance as her tail curled back around her waist. "Make me stop."

I crossed my arms. "I'm not fighting you."

"I'm not asking, Prince of Saiyans. I'm challenging you. And you can't refuse."

"Like hell I can't."

"If you walk away from me or refuse to fight back, I will crush you."

"If you fought me, you'd lose."

And with that, I turned and began walking away.

Some people would never strike the first blow while someone's back was turned, considering it cowardly. For others, battle was battle, and all was fair. I was prepared for Ravi to be either, but I couldn't say I hadn't been hoping for the latter.

I only got five paces before I felt the air shift as she swung at the back of my head.