A/N: Thanks goes to my great beta zoraamorlink, who had a look at my translation stuff. Also big thanks to SaiyanPrince541 aka W1nn1ng for helping me out! :)

Chapter 3: Christmas dinner and other difficulties

Vegeta reveled in the refreshing sensations of the hot water flowing down his body and soothing his aching muscles. He washed his messy hair that had suffered the misfortune of absorbing the stinking odor of sausages that wafted through the air from Kakarot's booth, from earlier. The prince wanted to do nothing more than confine himself in this cabin forever. Just thinking about the horrors that were to materialize within the next few hours were enough to send dreadful chills down his spine. He was giving himself a migraine just thinking about it.

After a while, he finally finished and switched off the water. Exasperated beyond words, he got out of the shower, dried himself off and donned a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. Doubtless Bulma would snap at him, for his choice in clothing. While he preferred casual attire, she always made sure to rig up during such holidays. Not that it was of any consequence now though, since the evening was already over for him, one way or another.

Finally, the Saiyan went downstairs into the living room, where the rather large dining table was enlarged and plentifully covered. On the table were - as expected - her parents, Kakarot's family and the two guests that he least wanted to see - Beerus and Whis. In the middle were the untouched delicacies that he would soon devour: a Christmas goose, marinated salmon, some other entrees, various side dishes and salads; Everything a Saiyan's heart desired. The deserts weren't lacking either, Vegeta realized, as he set his brilliant gaze upon the array of delicacies from the previous year, such as the nougat parfait with fruits and the mascarpone cream with cinnamon. In addition, there were several jugs of water, wine bottles and other alcoholic as well as non-alcoholic beverages that were evenly distributed across the table. His mouth began watering at the sight and aroma of the palatable smorgasbord before him. However, it was cluttered with all sorts of dishes, glasses and napkins; far too much cutlery for his taste. A knife and a fork was all he needed.

"Hey, Vegeta. We all are waiting for you. Have a seat." Goku grinned in that trademark goofy manner of his, as he pointed to the empty seat, opposite him. Vegeta groaned vexedly, forced to oblige his rival, since this was the only vacant spot. He sat across Goku, beside Mister Satan and shifted his gaze about, until it reached Bulma. Dammit, this could not get any worse! Beerus and Whis were sitting on either side of her, the latter occupying the chair initially meant for him.

'Pft, I don't care.' He reassured himself mentally, yet was unable to suppress the odd feeling in his heart; something akin to- jealousy?! "Ridiculous!" He muttered to himself, arms folded in his usual pompous manner. All Whis ever cared about was food, so it didn't really matter. In any case, he had only himself to blame for this whole situation. He was just incensed at being driven like a slave all day, so much so that he finally snapped at his wife, unable to contain his discontentment any longer. Sometimes, he thought, it would really be a lot better to keep his mouth shut. But that just wasn't in his nature.

"What is ridiculous?" Goku asked him and Vegeta looked up at him.

"Nothing! Mind your own damn business!" He growled back, averting his gaze. He continued to watch his wife, who was schmoozing with Whis. He could not hear exactly what they were talking about, since they were too far away. Actually, it didn't interest him at all. So why was was he persistently taking ganders their way?

Suddenly Whis turned his head over to Vegeta and looked at him, amusedly, making him feel that much more uncomfortable. The Prince's gaze swung to the glass in front of him, which was still empty. He contemplated the wisdom behind drinking something that strong how wise it was to drink something potent. He shrugged off those thoughts, as he picked up the wine bottle next to him - red wine variety "Zweigelt" (A/N: Zweigelt is an Austrian red wine). Perhaps it would be a little easier to get through with some alcohol in his system. Truth is, he didn't want to touch this stuff, since it took away his inhibitions and was detrimental to his training. However, this time he decided to make an exception.

"I never seen you drink wine before, Vegeta." Kakarot observed, from the opposite side of the table. Why was this fool constantly pestering him at every turn? Could he not bother someone else, for once?

"Tch." Vegeta scoffed. "You don't say." He hastily emptied the wine in his glass, almost filling it to the brim. The very next moment, he took it in his hand and just as quickly the blood red contents disappeared down his throat. He again reaped an astonished glance from his rival.

"I'm not exactly a wine connoisseur... but I don't think that you should drink that so quickly, Vegeta."

"Who asked you?" The Prince hissed back, making no effort to hide his sullen mood. Again he glanced at Bulma and Whis who had viewed his action with pure shock. His wife shook her head and snippily turned her head away from him. Vegeta really had no clue what was wrong with her today. She appeared... different… somehow, more irate than usual, which was saying a great deal. Sure she'd always been difficult, but today she appeared particularly sensitive. He also noted that she hadn't touched her own wine yet. Normally she would have had her second glass, by now. Vegeta was not sure whether something was in the air or he was just imagining things.

The next moment Bulma raised her glass, drawing the attention of all the guests present.

"Thank you for coming. It means a lot to me that we celebrate Christmas this year, together with all those who are very close to me. I hope that we'll have a nice and peaceful evening." The blue-haired woman opened with a few welcoming words the Christmas dinner. Vegeta, who sat on the left side of the table, looked asquint at her and could tell that her eyes were locked onto him at this moment. Why was she staring at him? Did she want to tell him something by that?

"I will no longer be on tenterhooks you. Take a grip and eat as much as you can!"

All - except Vegeta - were clapping and happy about the grand opening. The Saiyan was still sitting there with his arms folded, not daring to lift his gaze there. Instead, he finally grabbed without a moment's hesitation the Christmas goose, which was directly between him and Kakarot and forgot for a while everything around him. Finally, there was the long-awaited Christmas dinner.

The food was plentiful, even more so than last year. Granted, the blue-haired knew how she had to measure out the amount. This year she not only had to deal with a lot of gluttons in form of Saiyans, but also with a God and Whis whose stomachs were like bottomless pits.

Vegeta was surprised that the food proceeded without any further incidents. Actually, dinner was almost ... tolerable. The only thing that he was displeased about was that the people around him talked too much in his opinion. Especially Mister Satan and Gohan, who sat next to him, chatted without interruption about the little Pan. Damn, was there no other topic than this little pooper? Vegeta didn't know what was so interesting about such a small child anyway. Admittedly, he was not the best father prime example. After all, he hadn't taken care of Trunks when he was little.

"Isn't she sweet?" Again, Kakarot had turned to him. Vegeta had not noticed that he had stared at the little bundle in such a long time that even his opponent had noticed.

"Yeah ... charming," he admitted more than sarcastically back and took a sip of the red wine.

Fervently Vegeta had hoped that after the Christmas dinner everything was all over. But this year, Bulma truly had put her shoulder to the wheel. There weren't the usual gifts and more or less cozy get-togethers. No, they - or rather, the children had a small Christmas play prepared to entertain guests. Vegeta could not believe what charade was organized today. The Prince and the other guests were sitting in the living room and waiting for what was coming. In front of them was a small stage, which was constructed using wooden planks, so nothing extravagant. There weren't really props - only his son, Goten and Gohan stood before them and were about to start with the bullshit.

"For our play ... we exactly need a volunteer," Trunks said and looked into the audience before him. Vegeta was queasy at the thought that this story needed one more person. They already had three, was a fourth member that necessary?

"We are looking for someone who can be a grumpy protagonist," Goten explained further.

Vegeta was truly uncomfortable. A grumpy protagonist? Now he really hoped that it would not come as he feared it-

"Hey! Saiyajin no Ouji!" Vegeta suddenly heard a voice near to him. The Prince moved his head slightly to the left and looked at the cat-like humanoid, who looked amused. "That sounds like a role that would be perfect for you."

Vegeta gritted his teeth and could not believe what was happening now. Did he really need to join this bullshit, so that the God of Destruction would remain in a good mood?

"I don't... uh don't really know if I'm the ideal person for it," he quickly sought for an apology and wanted to turn away himself as the God spoke to him again.

"I want to see you as a bad-tempered guy! Or do you want me to be in a bad mood?" he said with a slightly threatening undertone. Vegeta did not quite know what to make of it. The cat looked at him, even more amused, but still he was not allowed to be forfeit with him. Somehow this Horror Christmas Eve didn't want to stop. Every time he thought it could not get any worse, he was quite mistaken.

"Yes..." the fighter moaned in agony, thus resigned that he truly had no choice if he did not want to cause a fight.

"Hey, we have a volunteer!" shouted Beerus to the children on the wooden stage counter, pointing at Vegeta, who was trying not to freak out.

The story of this play was a little bit familiar to him. When he was on stage, the audience was told that he should represent Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". Trunks, Goten and Gohan were the three ghosts who visited this grumpy and old miser. It was completely improvised; Vegeta was just the way he really was, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. Apparently he met the protagonists as chalk and cheese. Still he didn't enjoy that play at all. Every time someone laughed or applauded from the audience, he turned his head away in shame. The work at the Christmas market was harmless. The situation now was more... humiliating.

Every now and then, he dared to take a look at the crowd, mostly just to see what Bulma did. As usual, she was sitting next Whis, yet she was completely focused on Vegeta. He could literally see a beam in their eyes, as if she really liked that he condescended to nonsense. Her bad mood from earlier seemed to have completely disappeared.

After what seemed like ages, the play finally ended and without waiting a final applause, the black-haired fighter marched off the stage and went straight to the terrace door. He did not even want to sit in the audience again because he felt too exposed. Vegeta simply didn't want to see anyone, too deep in the humiliation so he couldn't even look anyone in the eye. Although he heard in the background as Bulma announced the handing out of presents with the ringing of the hand bell, he had to get away. It had been too much clearly! Why would he be interested in stupid gifts? He had already told her earlier that he did not need anything, and he especially did not want anything.

With an effort he opened the patio door and closed it just as quickly behind him. A cool breeze greeted him and he truly did not care that he froze off his ass. Although the cold already made goosebumps on his bare arms, he was glad to be in the fresh air. He walked up to the railing and looked at the garden of the Capsule Corporation, bathed in soft white snow. At the Christmas stalls there was still some burning light, even if no one was down there. Granted, it seemed quite pleasant and peaceful outside. It was dark and a few snowflakes made their way down. Why could it not always be so calm?

Somehow the Saiyan sensed that he would not be alone for long. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him, as if someone would open the terrace door. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you cold in that outfit?" It was none other than Bulma, who had followed him. "But I'm not here to talk about your clothes. The others are already unwrapping their presents, don't you want to come in again?" His wife came a few steps closer to him until she finally came to a stop next to him. She was dressed in her winter coat, because it was pretty icy. However at the moment, Vegeta preferred the cold rather than the noise in the living room.

"Not interested," he said, continuing to look forward. It surprised him almost a little that she suddenly appeared as she had rather resentful behaved before, during and after dinner. However, her mood during the Christmas play had clearly changed for the better.

"Vegeta, why are you weirder than usual?" she said, almost indignantly as he looked asquint at her while she looked at him skeptically. "What's going on?"

But he did not really have an answer to that question. It was just everything. Furthermore, he gave her only endless silence, until he finally came up with a counter-question. "What's the matter with YOU?"

"What about me? "

Now the prince turned his gaze at her and looked into azure eyes. "You are more irritated than usual and acting strange. Is there anything you want to tell me? "

"No idea what you are alluding, but it's really nothing. I just wanted to spend a nice evening with you and ... the others. But apparently your desired presence demand was probably too much." Some disappointment spread across her face. Admittedly, she was not wrong. Basically, he had to do nothing, just sit down at the table and enjoy. But this Christmas market and the kids' play gnawed on his ego.

"This year, you didn't make it easy for me. First, this Christmas market and then ... this silly Christmas play," he snorted at her scornfully.

"Okay you can hold the Christmas market against me, but this play ... that wasn't my idea. By the way you gave Trunks a treat with your acting. Our son enjoyed it more than usual because you're never here anyway and have no time to take care of him." Vegeta could literally watch her facial features, how they were always thoughtful and disappointed. His wife was actually right; he was hardly ever at home. But...

"Trunks is old enough to take care of himself."

"That's not the point! I just wanted to say that if you're so rarely present, you could give him the joy with such things without rushing out. After all, he looks up at you, if you haven't realized it," she told him.

Vegeta never had a bad conscience because of anything, but now that she was talking insistently on him he really ... almost felt a bit guilty. Again his lips remained closed and stillness enveloped the two.

"Let's stop talking about that..." she sighed. "It's time for the presents."

"You know that I don't give anybody anything, so what's the point?"

"Just because you don't make anybody a present doesn't mean that I have nothing!" she told him with a cheerful voice and put her left hand in her jacket pocket. She took out a small box that was wrapped with a ribbon. No wrapping paper, just a simple bow of the ribbon graced the top of the box.

Curiously Vegeta eyed the thing in her hand and was surprised how small her gift was. Normally, she always came with big gifts with something he did not need. Maybe it would be different this year. Inwardly, he believed that it would really be.

"Merry Christmas, Vegeta," she said, handing it to him energetically. Hesitating, the prince took the box in his hand and unwrapped it. Almost excited he opened the small thing and was amazed when he realized what was in there.