Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

"You filthy monkey!" Frieza exclaimed when he found Vegeta holding his sleeping, naked daughter.

Vegeta sighed knowing he couldn't explain this one to his tormentor. Luckily, Bulma woke up to the sound of her father's shrill voice.

"It's not what it looks like," Bulma defended weakly though her tears. "Vegeta saved me."

"He saved you?" Frieza asked in shock. His glance shifted to the Saiyan teen that he hated. He knew Vegeta hated him too, so why would he protect his daughter? Bulma nodded and cuddled closer and deeper into Vegeta. His anger dissipated as he saw how weak his daughter looked in that moment. Then Frieza glared at Vegeta. "What happened?" he asked in a demanding tone.

"I felt her ki spike," he explained. "I went to check on her and some newbie was trying to rape her." Vegeta ran his finger through her hair when she tensed. He hadn't meant to be so blunt, but Frieza needed to know the truth. "I gave him a good beating."

Frieza hated Vegeta with a passion, but was thankful that he was around to stop the soldier. And by the sounds of it, he left him alive. Frieza would just have to correct that and would have to make sure that no one ever her his little girl again.

"When she calms down, leave," Frieza ordered. "I don't want your monkey filth rubbing off on her." With that Frieza left.

Bulma relaxed in Vegeta's grip again. "Vegeta?"

Vegeta's attention was brought down to the young woman he was holding. "Yes?"

"Thank you." She moved to kiss his cheek before falling back to sleep in his arms. Even though her father was the strongest man alive, she felt safer with Vegeta and Vegeta knew that too.

"Rest now," he ordered. "Tomorrow, I'm going to start training you."

Bulma looked up to him in shock. "You mean it?" she asked hoping he wasn't toying with her.

Vegeta nodded. "When you're done with your job and everyone is asleep, we'll sneak into the training arenas and I will train you to defend yourself properly so that this doesn't happen again. Frieza was foolish to think leaving you untrained would work in your favor."

Bulma jumped up a little in his lap and wrapped her arms around Vegeta's neck. She had always wanted to train with the men, but her father would never let her. Bulma felt like she needed to train, and her father just didn't understand. Now Vegeta was going to risk his life just to teach her how to defend herself while he was away.

"Monkey, let the princess get dressed," Zarbon ordered walking into the room. "Lord Frieza needs to confirm the one who tried to…harm her."

Vegeta nodded and helped Bulma up off the floor. He slid his hand down her arm and flashed her a sympathetic glance. He walked out with Zarbon and left Bulma to clothe herself. Bulma came out of the room minutes later and the three walked into her father's throne room.

"Good, you're all here," Frieza stated. He motioned to the dying man on the ground. "Bulma, is this the man that attempted to violate you?" The look of fear was the only reply he needed. "Turn away."

Bulma didn't have time to process what he meant, nor did she have the time to ask as Vegeta turned her to face him. The picture of flames reflected in his eyes as she heard the desperate yelp from her attacker. Her father had, for the first time in her life, killed in front of her, yet he still didn't want her to see it. The knowledge of the kill alone hurt Bulma even more. Vegeta stood emotionlessly, but let Bulma lean her head against his chest.

Frieza ordered Dodoria into the room to escort Bulma back to her room and keep guard until further notice. He was then alone with Zarbon and Vegeta. Looking to the Saiyan, he knew something had to be said.

"Vegeta," Frieza called to the young Saiyan, "this changes nothing between us."

Vegeta nodded in agreement. "It wasn't meant to."

Frieza sighed at the boy's honesty. "I will reward you, though, for protecting my daughter. What is it that you want?"

"Her," Vegeta answered shocking Frieza. "I want her."

This was shocking. Vegeta was asking for his daughter's hand in marriage and he didn't even know they had been dating, and thankfully still didn't.

"Why?" Frieza asked, wondering if he was doing this to get to him.

Vegeta hesitated. He was about to admit that he cared about her, but he still had his pride, so he changed it up a bit. "I like her. She's intelligent, more so than any other woman I have met. I can actually have a decent conversation with her."

Frieza glared at him, but then smirked. "How about this, Vegeta? If I don't find anyone suitable for her by the time she turns eighteen, then you may marry her. Sound fair?"

Vegeta knew that was the best he was going to get and nodded. After he walked out of the room, Frieza turned to Zarbon.

"How would you like to marry my daughter?" he asked. Frieza was sneaky alright. He was going to shatter Vegeta's hope which was pretty much all the Saiyan had left. As for his daughter, he would never let her marry a monkey. She couldn't know of her connection to them, either. This was for her own good.

A/N: This chapter was edited on 12/7/2012