Shadows

The prince felt the boys following him, but figured it didn't matter as long as they didn't get in the way. What he didn't count on was the boys following him around all day. By lunchtime he was getting vaguely irritated by his little shadows. Vegeta sat at the kitchen table to eat his lunch, joined shortly by his son and the younger spawn of Kakarrot. As usual, they were practically joined at the hip. He rolled his eyes as he started eating, more determined than ever to ignore them.

Trunks, now seven years old and self-proclaimed expert on the world had convinced his younger friend Goten to follow his dad around so they could watch awesome in action. It wasn't hard to persuade the Goku lookalike since he agreed Vegeta was pretty much the coolest dad in the world.

What Vegeta didn't notice was the way both boys were carefully watching him and mimicking him as he ate his lunch. Their manners were, for once, impeccable as they were careful not to eat too fast and make sure every bit of food got in their mouths. They sat with their backs ramrod straight and even scowled at their plates as they ate, as if trying to intimidate their food before it was eaten. They shoved their plates aside simultaneously after Vegeta unknowingly demonstrated how to do it properly.

The saiyan's eye twitched when he saw them copy his action, but betrayed no other sign of having noticed what the brats were doing. He didn't see two eyes – one black and one blue – twitch as well as he stood up and stalked out of the kitchen to go train.

"Wow!" Goten exclaimed as they ran to catch up with the full-blooded saiyan, "Your dad is so cool, Trunks. Do you really think we can be like him?"

Trunks grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Course, Goten. We just have to do everything he does."

With that settled, they darted into the gravity room behind Vegeta before he could shut them out. The prince growled when he saw he had company, but shrugged it off as he walked over to the gravity console. He didn't usually mind having Trunks in the gravity room training with him, but the younger spawn of Kakarrot never failed to get on his last nerve. What irritated him the most about them training with him was that he had to turn the gravity down so it wouldn't crush them.

Trunks and Goten hastily stretched before jumping to their feet and facing off against each other. Sparring was a game to them. They loved the competition, but they never took it very seriously. When the gravity simulator engaged, they flared their ki and started throwing punches and kicks at one another, having completely forgotten their reason for being in the gravity room to begin with.

Vegeta watched them for a minute before shaking his head and starting his kata. It started out simple enough, but by the end he was performing his most difficult moves at a blinding speed. It was a kata he never fully taught anyone, even Trunks. It was a combination of so many alien techniques he wasn't even sure how he managed to do them himself. Explaining them to someone else would have been all but impossible, so he didn't bother trying.

After finishing, Vegeta wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced over at the two boys who were no longer bouncing around the room at a rapid pace. He quirked an eyebrow when he saw that they were staring at him wide-eyed with mouths hanging open. The admiration in their eyes made him uneasy as he crossed the room to turn the gravity back to normal. Even with his back turned on them he could still feel their eyes on him.

Once the simulator was disengaged, he turned on his heel and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned against the console. "Would you shut your mouths? You look like fools," he barked at the demi-saiyans.

There were two audible snaps in the silence that followed. Vegeta kept a wary eye on the boys, still uncertain about the way they were acting. He cringed when he noticed them visibly trembling with excitement. That was never good. Usually chaos and destruction resulted from such excitement. He pressed himself back against the console as they ran toward him and started jumping up and down.

"Wow-Dad-that-was-the-coolest-thing-I've-ever-seen-can-you-teach-me-I-really-want-to-learn-how-to-do-that-please-teach-me-you-have-to-or-I'll-tell-mom-you-wouldn't-come-on-Dad-please-please-please!" Trunks spouted his words so fast it all came out in one breath. Vegeta could hardly understand half of what he said.

"Yeah-Uncle-Vegeta-I-want-to-learn-too-teach-me-too-that-was-the-coolest-don't-leave-me-out!" Goten babbled just as fast as Trunks.

Vegeta's eyes darted around the room as he searched for an escape from the hyperactive demi-saiyan demons. In one swift move he brushed them aside and disappeared from the room faster than the eye could see. With the door slammed shut behind him, Vegeta leaned against the metal barrier between him and an oncoming migraine and rubbed his temples. He could hear them shouting at him to let them out through the door but ignored their pleas.

Several minutes passed before Goten gave up banging on the door and turned to his older and wiser friend. "Do you think he'll teach us how to do that?"

Trunks shrugged and scowled at the door and crossed his arms over his chest. Aside from his eye and hair color, he looked like a replica of Vegeta as he silently fumed. "I don't know, Goten. Either way we're going to have to wait for him to let us out, so we might as well sit."

Vegeta heard his son on the other side of the door and sighed in relief. Good, he was able to outwait his stubborn brat's persistence. When he was sure they were both sitting and waiting for him to open the door to free them, he silently stalked down the hall to the safety of the back yard where he could train in peace and solitude. He winced when the back door banged shut behind him and quickly searched for the ki of his son to make sure he hadn't figured out he could leave the gravity room any time now. He smirked when he felt both his son and the other brat still in there, presumably sitting on the floor waiting for him.

He wasn't afraid of the boys. No, that definitely wasn't it. He just didn't want two children climbing all over him babbling incoherently until it made his head spin. He shook his head at the memory of that happening in the past and fell into his defensive stance to begin a battle with an imaginary opponent. He'd rather train under high gravity, but for the time being the gravity room was serving as a prison for the overly energetic brats.

"I can't feel Uncle Vegeta's energy outside the door anymore," Goten observed after several more minutes passed of sitting on the floor sulking.

Trunks looked up at the door and felt out his father's ki and found it outside the compound. He balled his fists and punched the floor. "He isn't there! We probably could have gotten out of here forever ago!" He jumped to his feet and ran over to the door. There was no longer any resistance when he tried to open it.

"Hey, we can go find him now!" Goten cheered as he hopped over Trunks and ran down the hall.

Vegeta heard the back door open and slam shut twice in close succession. Before he even had time to look he was tackled to the ground by two small demi-saiyans. With a growl of irritation he picked both of them up by the backs of their shirts and held them at arm's length. "What have I told you whelps about interrupting my training?" he snarled.

The boys gulped nervously. "Don't do it?" Goten piped up.

"That's right." Vegeta dropped them on the ground and moved away to continue his kata. He made a point of ignoring their awestruck gaping as he moved with grace across the lawn in a mock battle. There was no way they would learn his kata no matter how hard he might try to teach them. He wasn't going to waste his time. Just because he had taken up training again when Trunks was old enough to teach doesn't mean he was going to teach him everything. Some things could not be taught except through experience.

Goten and Trunks watched from the sidelines as Vegeta punched and kicked an imaginary opponent, dodged unseen attacks, and flipped and leaped through the air to gain an advantage. Finally, Goten turned to his best friend with a huge grin on his face. "Hey, Trunks, I bet we could do that, too!"

Trunks matched his friend's grin with a smug smirk. "Of course we can," he boasted. He rose to his feet and moved into Vegeta's trademark fighting stance and started trying to copy everything he had just seen.

A second later he was joined by Goten and the two of them did their best to mirror Vegeta's every move. It wasn't long before Vegeta noticed the two boys and stopped to watch them as they performed his kata. His kata that blended dozens of alien techniques no earthling had ever witnessed. The same kata that pieced together the ancient royal kata of the House of Vegeta with influences from over a hundred different civilizations' greatest warriors. His own unique moves were mimicked impeccably as the boys bounced across the yard of Capsule Corp. His jaw went slack as his eyes followed them.

He shook his head to clear his mind and then scowled. "Boys!" he barked. "Get over here!"

Trunks and Goten immediately stopped mid-kick and in a flash they were standing at attention in front of the flame-haired saiyan prince. "What's up, Dad?" Trunks asked.

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at them. "What do you think you're doing, brats?"

Goten grinned and scratched the back of his head. "We were trying to do what you were doing, Uncle Vegeta!"

Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed heavily. They were copying his kata. After seeing the whole thing one time, they were executing it to perfection when it took him years to develop it. The phrase 'monkey see, monkey do' ran through his mind with a trace of amusement. He wasn't going to tell them that he was impressed with their ability to copy him. If anything, he was slightly aggravated that they could do it so easily. What was it about hybrids that seemed to give them a natural affinity for fighting that pure-blooded saiyans lacked? They may not have the same desire for battle, but they took to it well enough.

"You will not make a mockery of my kata," Vegeta grumbled with a sigh of resignation. "I'll teach you how to do it properly if you insist on learning it."

Both demi-saiyans jumped in the air with fists raised as they cheered their good fortune. They knew it was going to be intense training with the pureblood, but if there was one thing they wanted – for the moment, at least – it was to learn his kata well. So, for the next three hours Vegeta explained the different moves that were difficult for the boys to emulate, and by the end of their training, they were able to keep up with him as he went through the entire kata. They were quite pleased with themselves, and secretly Vegeta was pleased too.

They were sitting in the grass stretching after their prolonged workout when a yellow hovercar pulled into the driveway of the compound and a blue-haired woman stepped out. Bulma was back from the headquarters building where she spent the day in long, boring meetings. She breathed with relief when she saw the compound still standing, having spent all day worried that Vegeta would allow the two demon spawn to run rampant and destroy the place while he trained, oblivious, in the gravity room.

"Hey, it's your mom!" Goten exclaimed to Trunks when he saw Bulma approaching them.

Trunks glanced over and turned when he saw his father moving in his peripheral vision. What he saw was not surprising in the least. He had simply stood up and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest and lifted his chin so he could look down his nose at anyone, regardless of their height. It was his classic pose, the one everyone knew and loved. Well, at least knew.

Smirking, Trunks stood and crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his chin as his mother drew closer. His smirk broadened when Goten got up and did the exact same. They still had a lot to learn about being cool from Vegeta, but it was obvious they were already well on the way to awesomeness.

Bulma raised her eyebrow when she saw Vegeta and his two little shadows standing next to him. All three were drenched in sweat, which led her to believe they must have been training together. Why they were outside, though, was anyone's guess. She turned her attention to the tallest of the three and demanded an explanation with her eyes.

"What, Woman?" Vegeta drawled arrogantly when he saw her questioning gaze.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Training."

She rolled her eyes. That much was obvious. "Why outside? Someone could have seen you flying around."

It was Vegeta's turn to roll his eyes. Beside him, two pairs of eyes rolled along with his. Bulma didn't miss the cynical gesture as the boys imitated it. She quirked an eyebrow but didn't comment on it.

"Whatever. Go make dinner, Woman," Vegeta said as he stalked across the yard and went back inside, presumably to shower before dinner was ready.

Bulma watched him go with fury in her eyes. Sometimes his arrogant attitude really grated on her nerves, especially when she had a long day at work. She sighed and gazed down at the two boys who were watching the saiyan make his retreat. They seemed very intent on their observation.

"Boys," she interrupted their trance-like state, "Go inside and get cleaned up."

Trunks frowned and raised his eyebrow for a fraction of a second in a very Vegeta-like manner. "Don't tell me what to do, Woman," he growled as he turned on his heel and went inside.

Bulma was left gaping as her little boy, so young and innocent, talked to her like his jerk of a father. She could hardly believe what she just heard. As if seeking confirmation that her ears weren't betraying her, she turned to Goten, who was still posed with his chin up and arms crossed.

Goten was having a harder time with this task than Trunks had. He felt guilty as he frowned and said coldly, "I require nourishment, Woman." He, like Vegeta and then Trunks, turned and strode back into the compound without another word.

Oh, now she was mad. "Vegeta!"

The saiyan heard his mate's scream from outside and shook his head. What was her problem this time? He shrugged and finished his shower in peace.

A/N: Not the best, I'll admit, but I'm fighting writer's block! I'm sorry! I've been working on this one for a while and finally got it done.