Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. You wouldn't get anything even if you did. *hides my DBZ tapes*

Warnings: implied violence, mentions of hostile actions

quotes -- talking

italics -- thoughts or flashbacks

Previously: The next 2 days would be primarily for judging the girls on their performance and ability to handle stressful situations. In 2 days, the Prince would finally make his choice.

The Questioning

Before the Prince could make any choices on which girl would be most suitable for him, his mother suggested on a questioning session. Each girl would be brought in, asked a series of questions, then judged on based on their answers. The questions would be random and each girl could have different questions asked to them. Vegeta starts writing down a series of questions and laughs a bit as he does so. Some of the questions were rather revealing and some were down right embarrassing. He shows his mother who laughs at the group of questions too. "You are so bad Vegeta, but then again, we need to know stuff like this in time anyways. If these girls have anything secret, they need to tell us about it otherwise those secrets could be a problem."

Vegeta nods in agreement and starts writing down the order for the remaining six girls. "Theres six of them left, so we need to have a couple hours with each one in these questioning sessions. This could take all day to do. Lets see here, start with Katai, then Brenara, Senchi, Torana, Lumara, then Bulma. That way, when we get to Bulma, we'll know immediately if she's worthy enough to be my mate. These six girls have shown some changes since they first came here. Its not going to be easy for them during the questioning. Pretty soon I will know who is likely to be good mate material, and who is not."

For that day, they talked with the people in town to discuss the opinions the people had on the girls. The people seemed to not like Senchi at all and so was removed from the list. They had called her arrogant and childish. Torana was also knocked out of the running as they said that she didnt know how to properly handle a child, she returned the child filthy and hungry, and didn't even answer the questions the mother had for her when the child was returned. Such behavior was inexcusable. The other four girls were accepted by the people, including Bulma. This surprised both Vegeta and the Queen as they looked at the list of names.

With the four girls remaining, this would make a long day alot shorter. Vegeta and the Queen head back towards the palace by mid-afternoon and join the girls at the table. Vegeta looks at the six girls and sighs. "Four of you will remain, two of you will not. We just spoke with the people of town, and they will not accpet Senchi or Torana. You two are out of the competition. You may finish your meals, but then you must go home. The remaining four will be asked a series of questions tommorrow as part of a final test. Your answers to the questions will decide if you stay or go. Pick your answers wisely." The two girls that were to go home finished eating then excused themselves. They bow a goodbye to the royal family then head up to change back into their normal clothes and grab their bags to go home. The remainder of the evening was quiet as the four girls prepared themselves for the next day.

Early the next morning, Katai was called down to the questioning room. Prince Vegeta was there as well as Queen Emerald (1). There were four guys sitting at the table with papers loaded with questions in front of them. She sits down nervously in the single chair in front of the table and waits. The guys look at her and start the questions. The questions asked were, had she ever been around men before? Has she ever helped bathe anyone besides a child? How old was she when she first started showing interest in guys? Had she ever shown interest in other girls? The last question was, if she was to become the mate of the Prince, could she handle an all nighter?

Katai blushes at the last question and shudders then answers the questions. Of course, she didnt want to tell the truth about all of it, so she lied on some of them. Her answers were yes, she had been around men before, she had helped her sickly mother bathe a couple times, she started liking boys at 15 years old, she had never shown interest in a girl, and the all nighter...she said she honestly didnt know. The parts she lied on was that she had shown interest in other girls before, she had already done things with boys, other than being friends with them, and she had only helped her mother once because the night she did help, she scalded her mother with the water and killed her.

The guys write down the answers and were skeptical about a couple of them that she gave them. One of the guys knew of her past with her mother and other girls and mentions it to the other three men there. They mark her down as declined but don't reveal that right away. They wait as Brenara steps into the room. She makes her way over to the chair and sits down. Her questions were: How many times in the past was she tempted to jump a guy? How often did she act on it? How many fights had she been in? Considering her obvious lack of education, could she handle diplomatic issues? The last question was, if asked by the Prince to fix him a romantic meal, could you manage it without messing it up?

Brenara scowls a moment then answers her questions. She was tempted at least a couple dozen times, only acted on it twice, had been in 7 fights all of which she lost, she wasnt sure if she could handle diplomatic issues, and a romantic meal to her was a piece of cake. She looks at the guys with a hostile look considering the obvious insult to her intelligence. She wasn't the smartest in the world, but in various things, she wasn't stupid either. For them to insult her in that manner made her want to jump up and throttle them. Her apparent aggitation was obvious to the guys. They look at Prince Vegeta as he shakes his head no. They mark her as declined then ask her to send in the next girl.

Lumara was the next girl to enter the room. She was a bit hesitant and very shy but she was lovely, had a good figure, and had a sweet personality. She sits down and looks at the guys sweetly. The questions start up again. How often did she go outdoors for basic activities? How often did she spend reading books on childcare or cooking? How many times had she been asked to do something and actually did it with no questions as to why? How many guys have actually approached her in regards to being their mate? Could she handle doing naughty things with the Prince even if it was more than once or twice a day?

Lumara blushes bright red at all the questions and hides her face a moment. After a moment she gets under control then starts on her answers. She went outside every day for basic activities, she read books on childcare and cooking at least a couple times a week, she had done things for people with no questions of why on quite a few occasions, she had been approached by 4 guys asking her about being a mate, and she couldnt honestly answer the last question because she wasn't sure. She said she had never done anything like that, so she wasn't sure if she could handle it or not but would be more than willing to give it a try should the need arise. The guys nod a moment and notice Vegeta nodding a yes as well. They mark her as approved then ask her to send in the last girl.

Bulma was the last girl to be questioned and walks in nervously. She takes a seat and grins momentarily at the guys. She bows to Vegeta and Queen Emerald a moment before turning her attention to the guys asking the questions. They smile at her then begin the questions. How much stress is she used to handling? Can she deal with diplomatic stress? If asked to go to another planet for a mission, could she handle it? If someone in the science department needed expert opinions, could she do that? What could she do in the position of Queen to prove to people that she could maintain it?

Bulma starts laughing a moment at the questions. "You really want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. How much stress am I used to handling? I was the owner of a multi-million dollar company, had 25,000 people working under me, made about 10,000 different products every month, and handled all the payroll for the workers. Diplomatic stress? Everywhere on Earth I went, I was the diplomat for Capsule Corp. I went to 300 different locations every year to handle that kind of business. Going to another planet for a mission, thats exactly what I'm doing right now. This in itself is a mission for me and it is offworld, so yes, I could handle it. Expert opinions in the Science Department, excuse me but I could probobly run the whole thing alone. I could give them more advice than they would probobly use in a year. To prove myself, I would just try to help the people as much as possible. Leadership is never easy, and I'm not going to lie and say it is. We all know it's not easy to lead people. Even the people in leadership positions have their bad days and their good days. It's a learning process, and anyone who says it isn't is full of crap. Maintaining it, well, that's not going to be easy and I would probobly rely alot on the people to help me with that."

The guys, Vegeta, and Queen Emerald look at her in shock at all that. They all nod a yes to that and mark her as approved. They thank her for her time and ask her to tell the other girls they had the remainder of the day to themselves so they had time to go over the information. Bulma nods and heads out to the other girls and lets them know the situation.

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(1) Queen Emerald is for you Gavvy girl. You helped me come up with her name so PROPS TO YOU!!

Read and review please and I hope you enjoy. Took a while to get all this typed up. Next chapter, Vegeta chooses his mate.