Kakarot smiled at Rahi before playing peekaboo with the cub again making him squeal in happiness. Days like this were his favorite. The days where he didn't have to do his separation therapy and he could just be with his cubs and love them. Rahi and Amara were growing so fast now. They were almost five months old and beginning to speak. A part of him regret he missed this with Seba and Kome, actually teaching his babies and encouraging them to learn new words. He couldn't wait for Kome to come back from working with Teti today. Amara had quite the surprise for her big brother.

Kome started going with Bardock to the basic training classes to help him teach and test the recruits in combat sign. Kakarot and Toa hadn't exactly been thrilled with the idea at first but Kome wanted to try. His oldest was so, so very smart and the beta was extremely proud of the young alpha. Kakarot knew that there wasn't a lot more he could teach Kome at this point and if his son wanted to learn more and this helped him do that he'd support his cub the best he could.

Little hands pulled at his tunic and the beta tickled Amara with his tail making her laugh. Tarro he had missed this, just making his cubs happy when they were too young to know about all the bad things there were.

Rahi let loose a tiny growl as his tail swayed in the air and he pounced at Kakarot's tail. Toa purred inside, and the beta let his feral side have just a little more control. The wild beta rolled back into the soft carpet letting Rahi knock him over before scooping up both cubs and tickling them both with his tail. Peels of happy squeals and laughter filled the living room where he and the cubs played. Toa wished they were just a little bigger so they could chase him, but that would come soon enough. He didn't play as much with their cubs before now, either too tired, hurt or needing to protect them. Kakarot did his best to make sure he had time with Rahi and Amara, Seba and Kome too but Kome wasn't happy lately. He really hoped this thing with Teti helped their eldest.

He heard the door open and glanced up from where he lay on his back with a pair of giggling, squirming cubs on his chest to see Bardock and Kome come in. Kakarot immediately came to the front of their mind in happiness.

"Kome!" He frowned when his eldest shot past him without a glance and the door to the cub's bedroom slammed shut. Even Rahi and Amara quieted at their brother's behavior. He looked at Bardock not understanding what was wrong as he sat up holding the twins close.

"What's wrong?"

"Kome had a hard day." Bardock said sitting down next to his son. "Some of the recruits don't like the fact Kome is their teacher and aren't listening to him like they should. One of the councilors, Retaso, was observing this afternoon and was unimpressed and questioned what I was thinking letting a cub teach combat sign." Kakarot whined softly. Kome needed his Tama it sounded. He looked at the twins and then to his father.

"Can you watch the twins?" He asked softly. "Just a few minutes?"

"Of course." Bardock loved his grandcubs and eagerly let them crawl into his lap while Kakarot got to his feet. He needed to help Kome feel better.

++break++

The bang of the heavy door slamming shut was satisfying as the preteen leaned against it briefly before dropping to the floor to pry at the shoes on his feet.

Already frustrated with the laces that his grandfather had helped him with earlier the young alpha growled and ripped them in half allowing him to pull the boot off. He hated these shoes. They pinched his feet and felt heavy, like they weighed him down. Snarling he chucked the boot across the room feeling another surge of satisfaction when it hit the floor by the closet. The other boot quickly joined it pair.

Eyes burning the young alpha jumped onto his bed and buried his head under the pillow trying to hide the shameful tears of frustration. How dare those, those idiots tell him he didn't know about signing! Half of them couldn't sign if their lives depended on it!

They didn't understand the need to be quiet. How even breathing too loud would draw dangerous attention. A loud growl ripped from the teen in the only way he knew to vent his frustration vocally.

The was a soft knock on the door and Kome lifted the pillow off his face to stare at it when the knock repeated itself.

"Kome?" His tama's voice was soft. Frustrated, the young alpha rolled on his side and put his back to the door. Right now he just wanted to be alone. He heard the door open when he didn't say anything and tensed. "Kome?"

Moments later the bed dipped as his Tama sat down next to him. He said nothing and then there were fingers softly carding through his hair. Just him and Tama, he almost felt his anger fade away.

"Teti said you had a bad day." The cub softly growled in response. Kome didn't want to talk right now. Kakarot purred softly in reply and kept brushing his fingers through his son's hair. Slowly the tension started to bleed out of the eldest cub. Kome still wasn't happy though. His cub didn't want to talk about it either.

"Rahi and Amara missed you." Kakarot tried again. "Amara a lot. Want to come play with them?"

Kakarot didn't see the scowl on his eldest's face. Of course. It always came back to the twins. Not the twins and Seba, just the twins lately.

"No." Kome growled out. He didn't want to see the twins right now. He didn't want to see them encouraged to do things that would have gotten him and Seba taken away for good

"Do you want something special for dinner?" The beta asked. He was starting to feel very worried for his oldest cub. "We'll have whatever you want."

Kakarot smiled some as he saw the young alpha perked up at that. His smile grew as another thought came to him. Kome might like a day off from all his studies. He enjoyed when he played with Seba and Geta while they were in the Bad Place. Perhaps a day with everyone will cheer him up even more.

"We could all have a day with Seba, the twins, and Geta tomorrow." That was the wrong thing to say when his cub immediately tensed up.

"I said no!" Kome snapped as he moved to bury his face in the pillow. He could feel his anger growing again. Why couldn't his tama leave him alone?

"But, Kome…why not?" Kakarot looked confused. "I thought you loved playing in the garden?"

"I don't want to." The words were muffled, but they made Kakarot even more concerned.

"Atarau will be there too." He ran his fingers through Kome's hair once more. "She loves spending time with all of you. And I think she'll actually let Geta play with Rahi this time-."

"NO!" He jerked away from the beta and bared his small fangs at Kakarot. "I don't want to! I don't want to see them or that lying alpha!"

"What?" Kakarot blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about, Kome? Geta hasn't lied."

"Yes he has!" The young alpha leapt from the bed and started to pace in front of his tama. "He's hurting you and you're just letting him!"

"Geta's not hurting me…"

"I saw him!" Kome glared at Kakarot. "He was touching you all over and you just sat there letting him! He's going to make you have more cubs! You'll have more and when they get here, you'll forget about me and Seba and just stay with your new cubs!"

"I would never-!"

"You already have! It's all about the twins! You never spend time with us anymore!" Tears started to making the cub's eyes shine. "You let him change you. You talk again, you look different! You spend more time with the twins than us! I wish he never showed up!"

"Kome!"

The small alpha ran out of the room ignoring his tama's call. He rushed out of the house and into the garden with angry tears blurring his vision.

Kakarot just sat on the bed with a lost expression and a hand outstretched to where Kome had been standing. Tears gathered in his eyes as he slowly lowered his arm.

What was Kome talking about? He hadn't been ignoring his older cubs had he? The twins needed more of his time than his older cubs. They were too young and still needed him, but he thought Kome and Seba understood that.

He tried to remember the last time he spent with them while Toa whined in the back of his head. It had been a long time since he had. Lately it had been with all of them when he could meals, baths and playtime, but not just him and Kome or Seba. He covered his mouth and curled into a ball on the bed.

Did Seba feel this way too? Why hadn't he seen that? Small whines came from his throat as tears streamed down his cheeks. Was he a bad tama after all?

"Kakarot? What's wrong!" Teti was there then. "Kyuata, why are you upset?"

"I'm...l'm a bad tama..." Kakarot whined softly. "I forgot about my cubs..." Bardock was lost. Kakarot didn't forget any of his children. If anything they had to drag him away from them.

"You're not a bad tama." Bardock said firmly. They all had to be firm with him about that to try breaking his low self esteem. "You came in here to take care of Kome." The distressed whine and tears at his cub's made Bardock's hair stand on end when he realized that Kome wasn't in the room.

"Kakarot, where's Kome?!" Bardock demanded afraid.

"I don't know..." Kakarot said clutching at his head as he sobbed. "He was angry and left. He called Geta a liar and said I forgot him and Seba."

"Hey, it's going to be ok." Bardock said trying to calm Kakarot down before he had an episode. They didn't have time to deal with one at the moment. Right now they needed to find where Kome ran off to before something happened to him. "Kyuata, you are not a bad tama, get that out of your head. If you care enough to worry if you're a bad parent you obviously are a good one. Making a mistake with your cubs doesn't make you a bad tama. Tarro knows I made plenty raising you and your brother."

"Kome's never been..."

"Cub, he's an alpha. He's done so well adjusting to everything and we're all proud of him but sooner or later we all expected him to get angry enough about something to lash out. He's coming into his growth spurt that starts puberty Kaka. You were little enough you missed that part of your brother's. Alpha's get angry, he's going to butt heads with you and Vegeta at times while he tries to figure things out. But that doesn't mean you're a bad tama."

"I'm not?"

"Was I a bad teti?" Bardock asked suddenly.

"No!"

"We fought didn't we?" The beta paled at that, remembering everything that fight led to, but he understood. Fighting with his Teti didn't make his Teti a bad father. Kome getting upset didn't make him a bad Tama.

"I'm not a bad tama."

"Exactly." Bardock smiled softly. "Now you need to pull yourself together. You watch Rahi and Amara-"

"No." The beta wiped the tears from his face getting up. "He went in the garden. I'm going to find him." There was a fire in Kakarot's eyes Bardock hadn't seen in so long he wondered if he'd ever see it in his son's eyes again.

"I...I'll show him. He means just as much as the twins." Nodding Bardock stood up.

"We'll leave the twins with Kale, and I'll call Vegeta. We'll find him, Kyuata. And then we'll all sit down and figure out how to make things better."

++break++

"Nii-saa? Can I talk to you about something?" Tarble asked softly.

Vegeta looked up from the reports on his desk. Tarble was standing anxiously in the door to his office. He set the tablet down and waved his little brother inside. Tarble shut the door and stopped near his brother's desk but he didn't say anything. Kneeling the elder brother got on his little brother's level. Tarble rarely got nervous like this.

"What's wrong, Tarble?"

"N-nothing's wrong." The cub tried to evade anxiously before wilting as his brother fixed a hard stare at him. "Okay so something is wrong."

"Hey, you can tell me and we'll figure something out alright. And if I can't we'll talk to Tatama or Father."

"I...maybe it's just easier to show you.." he mumbled before taking off his shirt. Vegeta watched Tarble confused until the little cub turned around. The older male felt himself stop breathing for a moment at the ornate gold sun, emblazoned on his little brother's chest.

"Tarble..."

"Please tell me it's not what I think." The small cub said as his tail curled around his leg anxiously.

"How long have you had this?" Vegeta asked calmly.

"Since...since you came back with Kakarot and Kome."

The older prince took a deep breath at that. If the symbol showed up then, then that would mean that Kome is his tau. Kalious tended to choose the tau for his sha instead of the sha choosing, but the God had never been wrong in his pairings in the past.

However, as far as he knew, the young alpha didn't have a matching mark on his body at all. It worried him some that this hasn't happened to Kome yet, but there must be a reason why. He'd check with him later on when he got back to his mate.

"Nii-saa?" Tarble quietly asked. His tail was curled around one of his legs, and he held his shirt in a tight grip.

"Don't worry, Tarble." Vegeta gave his brother a hug. A comforting purr rumbled deep in his chest as the young beta buried his face in his shirt. "I know it's a lot at your age, but you will be a magnificent saibai-sha."

"Really? You think so?" His brother smiled at him.

"I know so. Lord Kalious would only choose the best for his Saibai-sha." He tightened his embrace for a moment before pulling back. "Have you told Father and Tatama about this?"

"N-no." Tarble looked away with flushed cheeks as he pulled his shirt back on. "I don't know how to bring it up to them."

The older prince chuckled as he ruffled his brother's hair.

"Want me to come with you to tell them? They will need to know so we can plan for your training." Vegeta's chuckle grew into a laugh when Tarble hugged him around the waist.

"Would you please, nii-saa?"

"Of course, I-."

The door to his office burst open to reveal Raditz panting for breath. Before Vegeta could ask what happened, the guard blurted out.

"Have either of you seen Kome?"

"No," The alpha said after getting a shake from Tarble's head. "Why? What happened?"

The long haired saiyan let out a muffled curse as he ran a hand over his face.

"He ran off, and we can't find him. Kakarot is looking for him in the gardens, but he's not found him yet. We were hoping you'd seen him."

"What do you mean he's run off?!" Vegeta growled getting to his feet. Tarble whined softly in his throat and clutched at his shirt where Vegeta knew his mark was. This wasn't good. "Wait, Kakarot left the house!" The larger male nodded.

"Father said he was upset after he taught today. Kakarot went to speak to him and he got upset and ran out. My brother gave Amara and Rahi to Chorri and went into the gardens after Kome."

"Shit, we need to find them now, before someone sets either of them off." Vegeta growled. "Tarble, do you have any idea where Kome might have gone?"

"No..." the alpha saw the panic in his little brother's eyes.

"Hey, we'll find Kome. It's going to be okay, Tarble. Can you go keep an eye on Seba and Tasik for us?" Tarble nodded and ran off to watch the younger cubs.

"Have you tried your scouter?" Vegeta asked Raditz as they jumped out the window and flew to the gardens.

"I don't know Kome's power level."

"I get the feeling you'll know it when you see it."

++break++

Kome sat huddled under a willow tree both angry and wanting to cry. How had he said those things to his Tama? He could see the pain in his tama's eyes, and he knew that his tama didn't deserve that.

It still made him mad that he and Seba were not enough for Tama to be like he was when he was little. They were not enough for Tama to stay sane.

He needed new cubs and that...Alpha.

Kome's hands clenched into fists bunching the purple fabric of his pants and buried his face in his knees.

The angry side of him wished that Alpha….Vegeta never came to them in the first place. Then he could have tried harder to help Tama, and he might have gotten better. It was all his fault!

The young alpha rapidly inhaled and froze for a moment as a sudden rush of guilt temporarily drowned the anger.

If…if Vegeta didn't come to the Bad Place…then he and Seba wouldn't be with their tama like they were now. Bad One would still be alive and Tama would be hurt by Bitter One and Cold One. They wouldn't be safe.

He knew that his tama was hurt a lot when they were there, and when he wasn't, he was so focused on keeping them safe that he was always in danger. Kome realized that Tama would never have recovered as long as they were trapped in the Bad Place.

And he wouldn't have met the rest of his family or Tarble. He loved being here and spending time with Tarble. They were…friends.

He huffed and rested his chin on his legs as he stared unseeingly at the swaying branches of the willow tree. He was still mad and for some reason, wanted to stay that way for a while.

He was still very mad over all those idiots that his grandfather had asked him to teach, and at Bardock for even suggesting that he do that.

While he could see where they were coming from, with the soldiers being older and more experienced at other things, that didn't mean that they could just dismiss him. He had been through things those morons haven't. If any of them were in a situation where they would be killed for even making a sound, well, their funerals should already be in the works.

None of them would last five minutes if they had to stop talking. What was so weird about him teaching them how to sign? He taught Seba, and he was even helping Turles sometimes since Tasik was learning even more sign from Seba. Tarble too. His age had nothing to do with if he was good at signing so why all the fuss and complaining about him being a "baby" as one of the recruits called him. He wasn't a baby, he was almost 12 now. Seba wasn't a baby either he was just as good at signing.

His tail bristled as he heard the obnoxious laughter. Onon and his two friends Maize and Daikon. He didn't want that idiot to talk to him right now. However it was too late.

"Well if it isn't the little baby." The almost adult taunted. "What's the matter, missed your nap?" A low growl built in the cub's throat as he tried to walk away. The larger male shoved Kome back as he tried to leave.

"Don't touch me." The younger growled as his tail flared in agitation. His fangs were starting to peak out as he glared through his bangs. Onon smirked and pushed him again.

"What are you going to do about it Baby? Go running to commander Bardock? Your father?"

"I don't have a father." Kome growled. Onon grinned.

"So you're a bastard as well as an annoying little know it all."

Kome just growled again, but moved to leave. He didn't want to deal with these jerks.

"Aww…look." Onon snickered. "I hurt his feelings. Bet you're going back to your whore of a barer since you got no father. They were probably a slut that just spread their legs for any alpha to fill!"

Jeering laughs filled the garden, but Kome paid no mind to them. He stood stiff under the swaying branches of the tree as those words sunk in. His anger raged inside of his mind and his vision bleed to red before he turned with a snarl on his face.

++break++

Kakarot frantically looked through the foliage of the garden as he ran searching for Kome's scent. He needed to find his cub.

There! Toa growled in his mind as the feral half tracked Kome's scent. Kakarot nodded and took off again. He heard the scream of pain and prayed it wasn't his cub. Round the bend of shrubs Kakarot panted and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Kome attacking an older alpha with rage in his eyes. Blood spouted all over the larger male from the numerous wounds Kome inflicted on him. His eldest snarled and reared his arm back intending to rip out the boy's throat and Kakarot acted.

He bolted forward and wrapped his arms around his cub, pinning his arms to his sides. Kome snarled and thrashed while Kakarot tugged him back and collapsed against the willow tree as he tightly hugged his cub tightly in spite of his struggling. He didn't waste time telling Kome to calm down. He was too upset. Instead he gently bit the back of his cub's neck when Kome exposed it in his struggles and let loose a deep growling purr. He didn't care when the other two teens grabbed the one his son attacked and fled, all that mattered was the cub in his arms. Kome let loose a frustrated snarl before going still and letting out a soft hiccuping sob. The beta released his cub's neck and nuzzled him while purring softly hugging him even closer when Kome tightly latched onto his arms crying.