Here's another chapter up. I hope everyone is still enjoying reading this as I am writing it.

-CP

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Chapter 8

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"Again!" Vegeta growled as Goku was tossed across the pool once more. "Ignore the craving for food and stay focused!"

"I'm hungry, damnit!" Goku shouted as he charged the older Mer. Water whipped around his form in his anger before he was caught by his tail and swirled around.

"Channel the need into something else! You won't be allowed to eat in the midst of a battle, Kakarot. You need to focus on the battle and not your gut! You want to be able to eat dinner don't you?"

"You're not a parent!" Goku charged again. "I need food."

"No, you don't! You need to fight for you life!" Vegeta charged forward and lashed at him with his tail, the scaled flesh becoming rigid with spines as he spun through the water like an ice skater in perfect circular motions. "Now focus damn you! Defeat me and you can eat!"

"That's not fair!"

"It's more than fair you simpleton!" Vegeta rebutted again as he caught Goku's heavy fists and headbutted him "Fight me!"

"Fuck you!" Goku spun around creating a tornado which caught Vegeta in it's updraft. "I want to eat!"

Vegeta extended his arm and made the, 'come get some' motion with his hand. "Then you've got to go through me. Clear your mind and channel your rage."

Goku rushed him again, this time actually connecting a few attacks before Vegeta knocked him back once more.

"Good, again."

Goku's hair frizzed out as he charged up an attack, a land attack he'd once learned from a chi-fighter called Roshi. "Ka-me-ha-me … HAAAAA!"

Electricity and water swirled together in a long arching beam. The sideways twister was too much for Vegeta to doge or block and he quickly dispersed it into the water as it created a tidal wave. His eyes widened as his student treaded water, his eyes an angry flash of gold and indigo.

"Where did you learn that attack?"

"Master Roshi taught me when I was a boy."

"There may be some hope for you yet." Vegeta's face twisted in a crocked smirk. "It was quite similar to my own water blast passed down the royal line. You'll have to take me to this Roshi one day."

"Can we eat now?" Goku's stomach let out a loud growl.

"Yes, Kakarot, I think that was a good lesson for the day." He sighed. "Go to your mate and get a decent dinner."

Vegeta watched the young mer change rapidly and run into the house while he did lazy laps around the pool. He was hungry, yes, but he didn't want to go inside yet. Sometimes he wished he could enjoy a meal out here but he wouldn't sully the training grounds with the smell of food. They didn't mix.

Just as he rounded on the backside of the large water area, he felt the energy of his chosen coming towards him and he turned to face her.

"Are you coming in to eat, Vegeta?"

"Yes. I'm sure Kakarot is done making a fool of himself with his loathsome table manners."

"He's starting in on fourths. Chi can hardly keep up with him."

"Yes, well he'll learn to control that bottomless gullet of his soon enough."

"I doubt that." Bulma chuckled and he felt his cheeks turn red at her barb.

"Do you question my methods?"

"No, not at all. I question Goku's ability to focus on anything but food until he's full." She stated honestly.

"Come, sit." He heaved himself out of the water and watched as she joined him with little hesitation this time. "He irritates me, but I need him. The Bardock family have always been a little on the off side. I could barely stand his brother, Raditz."

"What about their father?"

"Bardock was an amazing mer. Excellent combat tactics, respectful of the throne; an heir of dignity." He grumbled as the compliments felt like rocks in his mouth.

"Why does it bother you to compliment someone?" She asked as if sensing his mood.

"I'm a royal, such things should be beneath me. However, I am also required to recognize merit. My father did not raise a heathen." He grabbed the shorts behind him and changed back. "Come, let's eat."

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Bulma watched Vegeta as he ate. At least he wasn't like Goku in that regard. Yes, he consumed about the same amount, but it was with the regality of a prince. Nothing spilled, nothing broken, and most certainly no talking with his mouth full.

After the meal concluded, they both sat out on the patio with some drinks and she looked at him before asking something on her mind for a few days.

"Tell me about Freeza."

He sighed. "Freeza is part of a band of creatures from the Arctic seas. Ice lizards who have been vying for control of Vegetasai for generations."

"Why do they want the kingdom so badly?"

"Because it's the center hub for all of the ocean. Vegetasai controls the trade in several populations to the south of the equator. Most of them are Mer, others are more fish, or even amphibious. Yes, there are even some human contacts. However, we don't like to be on land more than we have to. Especially, royalty."

"If it weren't for Goku you wouldn't be here?"

"If it weren't for Freeza, I'd still be learning the kingdom under my father's tutelage." He growled. "The creature made everything go to ruin. The worst part of it was how my father promised him me in turn for a place in the Cold empire. His father would be rolling in his grave if he knew of what transpired. We've been fighting the Colds since Freeza took the throne from his father King Cold."

"So he's a king then?"

"No, he's not." Vegeta took a sip of his water before continuing. "He was never officially sworn in. No one wanted him to be king of the Cold's territory. He killed his father to become the ruler. A small portion of the territory sided with him, but it was enough to make his mark. He calls himself Lord Freeza. He was hoping to become King of Vegetasai after he murdered my father. However, only a Vegeta can take the throne."

"Will Goku be allowed to come back after he helps you?"

"Yes. He has a mate and a son. I would not keep him from his family." Vegeta eased himself up out of the chair. "It's time for bed."

"What about you? What if I asked you to stay on land with me?" Bulma looked into his dark eyes as he turned to her.

"I could deny you nothing." He sighed and looked up at the starry sky. "I must go wherever you are. The bond will not allow us to be separated. It's the way of the Mer. I remember my grandfather telling me of what his father had gone through loving a human female. That pendant around your neck is so you can follow me. However, I only ask that you not keep me from getting Freeza out of the kingdom."

"I wouldn't do that, I know how important it is to you." She answered as she looked down at her feet. "I just don't think I could give up the shore to be in the ocean."

"I understand and I cannot make you." He replied. "I also know that Freeza has probably destroyed my home and there is probably nothing I have to go back to, but I must avenge my people."

"If there was a kingdom, who would you leave in charge?"

"I could not say." He looked into her blue eyes and was lost. "It's something I cannot predict right now."

"Let's go inside."

"Yes, it's time for sleep." He leaned in and kissed her, a human custom he was enjoying immensely. Bulma was definitely dangerous, but as a warrior he really thrived on it.