Rift

Chi-Chi was chopping up vegetables for the soup she was making for dinner when she heard a knock on her front door. She checked the clock and saw that it was already time for her weekly spar with Bulma. After Goku and Vegeta's fight, the women decided they didn't need to have a spar three times a week, so they only met on Saturday afternoons now. It was an ideal time, when Goku was training with Raditz – who Chi-Chi was still slowly warming up to – and Gohan went fishing or hiking with Krillin. Chi-Chi didn't ask if Piccolo hung around because she honestly didn't want to know. She preferred believing Gohan was spending time away from his two bad 'uncles.'

Wiping her hands on her apron, the young housewife went to answer the door. She gave a strained smile when she saw Bulma. "Hello, Bulma. You're a bit early, I'm still working on dinner. You'll have to wait a few minutes."

"That's fine. I'm in no hurry." Bulma, too, gave a strained smile and went inside when Chi-Chi stepped aside to allow her entrance. They went into the kitchen where Bulma sat at the table and Chi-Chi resumed chopping vegetables at the counter. "How have you been this week?"

Chi-Chi sighed and pushed the vegetables off the cutting board into the soup pot with her knife. "It's been fine. Same routine every day. I get up and make breakfast so Goku can go train in that gravity room all morning while I prepare lunch. Then he goes and trains with that – that brother of his all afternoon while I prepare dinner. Then he comes home all beat up, dumps his dirty clothes on me to wash, and takes a nice, relaxing bath. And after dinner he trains more! And now Gohan wants to train all day like his father. I don't mind him training a little, he needs his exercise, but all day, Bulma? All day? He's a child! He needs to be inside studying!"

Bulma only half-listened, occasionally grunting her agreement or nodding emphatically. She heard essentially the same rant every Saturday. It wasn't news to her anymore that Chi-Chi wasn't happy with her husband training all day and her son wanting to train too. "I know what you mean, Chi," she mumbled.

"It's all because of that fight Vegeta started," Chi-Chi continued. "Now Goku thinks he has to train even more to get stronger than him."

The blue-haired woman rolled her eyes. "Goku helped start that fight too, Chi."

Blatantly ignoring her guest, Chi-Chi ranted on, "Vegeta has been a terrible influence on everyone! He tells us this freezer idiot is coming and suddenly everyone has to train all day long! And if it weren't for him, Raditz never would have come here, and he wouldn't have ever started this whole thing! We could have—" she started sobbing dramatically "—we could have gone on living happily and never been pulled into his mess!"

Bulma slapped her hand against the table, finally gaining Chi-Chi's attention. "Chi! You can't blame Vegeta for everything! He's doing his best to protect us! Goku and the others need to be stronger so they can defeat Frieza when he comes."

"Protect us?" Chi-Chi hissed. "You think he's trying to protect us? You mean like how he protected Goku when he started that awful fight that almost got my husband killed – again?"

Bulma shot to her feet, knocking her chair over backwards. She pointed accusingly at Chi-Chi as she yelled, "Chi-Chi! Either you stop blaming Vegeta for that fight or I'm leaving and I'm not coming back unless you apologize!"

"Blaming him for what? For what he did?" Chi-Chi's voice somehow managed to raise above Bulma's. "Fine then, get out of here! I don't want you to visit if you're going to keep defending that creep!"

"Fine, you crazy psycho!"

"Spoiled bitch!"

The outside door to the kitchen flew open and Goku and Raditz came running inside. Goku stopped when he saw Bulma and Chi-Chi glaring daggers at each other. "Chi, honey, what's going on?"

Chi-Chi angrily turned to her husband and pointed at Bulma. "She's still defending Vegeta! I want her out of my house!"

"Yeah, and I was just leaving," Bulma snarled. She pushed past the saiyans and went outside where she threw her jet capsule on the ground and hopped in the pilot seat.

Goku turned to his wife when he heard Bulma's jet take off. "Is that all this was about?"

"What do you mean is that all?" Chi-Chi screamed.

"The fight, Chi-Chi," he said, holding his hands up defensively. "It wasn't that big of a deal, really!"

Raditz laid his hand on Goku's shoulder. "I'd better go, Kakarrot. I'll see you tomorrow." Before Goku could protest, the larger saiyan made his exit, quietly closing the door behind him, and took off for Capsule Corporation to attempt a little damage control if he could. This feud between Bulma and the rest of her friends was really getting out of hand. For the past month tensions had been high between them. He admired Bulma for sticking up for Vegeta, but he didn't like seeing the anger between the two parties. He still wasn't on the best of terms with the z-fighters, but he recognized them as allies against Frieza and wanted to earn their trust if he could.

Bulma landed her jet in the back yard of the compound. She was absolutely livid. She couldn't understand two things. The first was why her friends were still so worked up over the fight Goku and Vegeta had. They were both fine, no harm done, and actually it made both of them a whole lot stronger. The second thing was why her friends insisted Vegeta was the sole instigator of the fight when Goku had admitted he played a role in starting it. She didn't really expect them to suddenly decide to trust Vegeta – he had to earn that – but why wouldn't they at least give him a chance? It was infuriating! She was fed up with trying to get everyone to see her side. If they wanted to hold a grudge against Vegeta, they were going to have to hold it against her too, because she wasn't going to switch sides.

Without bothering to capsulate her jet, Bulma started toward the compound, then paused. She glanced over at the gravity room, which was, as usual, running. She turned around and marched over to the gravity room and started banging on the door. After a minute she heard the simulator powering down and the door opened, revealing a sweat-soaked, flame-haired saiyan.

"What do you want, girl?

She straightened her back, drawing herself up to her full height. "I'm pissed off!"

"Yes, I gathered that. What am I supposed to do about it?" He felt her fluctuating ki miles away. He knew before she came that she was upset about something.

"I don't know!" she yelled, balling her hands into fists. She tried to push past him into the gravity room, but he held his arm out to bar her way. Frustrated, she started beating her fists against his solid chest. "I'm sick and tired of everyone hating you!"

Vegeta grabbed her wrists and held her hands away from him. "It doesn't matter that they hate me."

"Yes it does!" She tried to break free of his hold, but she was unsuccessful. "It does when they're making me choose between you and them! I know you don't care that they hate you, but I do!"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous!" she screeched. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She started crying as her knees buckled under her weight. "My friends all hate me and they hate you and I can't stand it anymore!"

Vegeta pulled her to her feet, forcing her to stand. He was not in the mood for her melodrama. "Girl, since when have you ever given a damn what other people thought of you?"

"They're not just people, Vegeta, they're my friends."

"If these so-called friends of yours hate you because of me, they're not friends and not worth your time. Now stop your crying and go bother someone else."

"Why?" she moaned, wiping her nose on the back of her hand. "Do you hate me too?"

He rolled his eyes. "You are an idiot."

A fresh wave of tears fell from her eyes and he had to turn away when he saw her bottom lip trembling. Any second now the bawling was going to start and he didn't want to hear it. "Vegeta! Don't you even care?"

He sighed. "What the hell am I supposed to do, girl? Go apologize for something I'm not sorry about?"

Bulma hardly knew what she was doing as she drew her fist back and swung at his head, but she was disappointed when he raised his arm and easily blocked her punch. Angrier than ever, she threw her other fist at him, but he spun around and caught it. "I just want you to give a damn!" she screamed. She yanked her fist free and tried punching him, again and again she swung at him but he was always able to block or evade her hits. It only took a few minutes for her to tire herself out. When she did, she leaned against him and wrapped her arms around him for support.

"You're being foolish, girl," he told her. Still, he wrapped one arm around her waist and waited patiently for her to gather her wits.

She cried silently for a few minutes before she drew in a deep, shaky breath and sighed. "I'm sorry, Vegeta. I don't know what's wrong with me, I'm just—I'm just—"

"Menstruating."

Bulma's cheeks flushed a deep crimson. She was glad he couldn't see her face, since it was still buried in his chest. She tried to sidestep admitting he was right by asking, "Do I even want to know how you know that word?"

He shrugged. "Your mother explained it to me when I mentioned you smelled like blood the first month I was here."

"Vegeta!" she squeaked, "That is so embarrassing! You can smell it?"

He snorted. "How could I not?"

"Okay, I'm sorry, but that is too awkward. Please never mention this conversation ever again, and never, ever say anything about my period ever again or I will die of embarrassment."

He wondered why she was embarrassed by a natural bodily process. It wasn't as if it was anything she could help, so why be ashamed of it? Didn't humans regard fertility positively? Shouldn't she be proud of being able to bear offspring? He would never figure humans out. They were an enigma and hardly worth the effort it would take to understand them.

Figuring she was finished with her emotional breakdown, he pushed her away and stepped back into the gravity room. "I need to train, girl."

"Oh, yeah, sure," she murmured. She waved and turned to go to the compound. She felt better after talking to Vegeta, if she could call it that. More like trying to beat him up and failing miserably. But it was a cathartic experience and got most of her anger and aggression out. She wiped the tear stains off her cheeks and smiled slightly. She was definitely letting her emotions get the best of her. Vegeta was right. She was being ridiculous. Her friends didn't hate her. They were just having a minor disagreement that would be resolved soon enough.

Bulma walked into the kitchen to get a snack and found Raditz searching through the refrigerator for a much larger snack. "Oh…hey, Raditz. I thought you were at Goku's."

He stood up when he heard her, banging his head on the freezer door. He winced a little and rubbed his head nonchalantly. "Yeah, I was. I came back here after your argument with Chi-Chi."

She covered her mouth with her hand to hide her giggle. "Why?"

"Honestly? I'm tired of this shit between you and everyone else over that fight."

"Well put." Bulma opened the refrigerator door and picked out some cheese. "I don't know what you hope to accomplish by coming back here instead of training though." She opened a cupboard and grabbed a box of crackers.

"I guess I was hoping to talk to you."

She quirked an eyebrow. "Talk away."

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Look, I feel like I'm in the middle here, too. I serve Vegeta. He's my prince. But Goku is my brother and I don't want to fuck it up with him again. I can't choose sides here, and neither can you."

Bulma started cutting off small pieces of the cheese and put it on the crackers. "It's too late for that. I've already picked a side. I'm sticking with Vegeta."

"You would put him above the rest of your friends?"

"Of course. He's family." Bulma ate one of the crackers and crossed her arms over her chest. "I knew him before I knew any of them and if I don't stand by him, who will? You're on the fence and no one honestly cares about Nappa's opinion because they all hate him too."

Raditz was struck by her loyalty to Vegeta. It seemed stronger than his own, and that didn't set well with him. Had he become so soft that he would put his brother before his prince? He shoved that thought aside. "Kakarrot is coming here."

"Let him come. I don't care anymore. I don't want to see him."

"I'm more concerned about Vegeta's reaction to his visit."

"He's training. He probably won't even notice he's here." Bulma ate another cracker and opened the refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water.

"I wouldn't bet on that." Raditz walked across the kitchen and looked out the window. He saw his brother landing on the front lawn and sighed. Vegeta's ki spiked the moment Goku's feet touched the ground.

Raditz left the kitchen and went to answer the door before Goku could even ring the doorbell. "What are you doing here, Kakarrot?"

Goku frowned. "I want to know why you took off. And where's Bulma? I'd like to talk to her."

"She's—"

"Right here," Bulma growled as she came out into the hallway. "What is there to talk about?"

Goku stepped across the threshold and held his hands out to Bulma, pleading with her to give him a chance. "Bulma, what is going on between you and Chi-Chi? She seemed pretty mad."

"I think you know what's going on, Goku," she spat. "Everyone thinks you're Mr. Perfect and Vegeta is Mr. Evil-Bad-Man-Who-Tried-to-Kill-You. Krillin, Tien, and now Chi-Chi have told me how much they don't like him. Piccolo probably would have told me his opinion on the matter if he weren't the silent type! They don't trust him and they think he was the only one who started that stupid fight you had! It wasn't even that big of a deal and now it's blown out of proportion and I wouldn't care, but I hate that Vegeta is being the one blamed for it. And what I really hate is that they're all using it as an excuse to try to get me to kick Vegeta out of my home!"

"Whoa, whoa, Bulma, they what?"

Bulma rested one hand on her hip and raked the other through her hair. "They want me to throw him out. He's 'dangerous.' Krillin's come over more than once to plead with me to get rid of him and Tien stopped by a few days ago to say the same thing. And Chi's been telling me about the same thing every week I come to spar with her."

Goku rubbed the back of his head and frowned. "I didn't know they were saying that. But Bulma, honestly, I don't think you should trust him. He's done terrible things, and—"

"That's in the past, Goku," she said icily. "I thought you were all about second chances? Get out of my house."

"What?" Goku pouted. "You're not serious."

A low growl erupted behind Bulma. "You heard her, Kakarrot."

Bulma whirled around when she heard that voice, low, deep, threatening. "Vegeta, what are you doing in here? I thought you were training in the gravity room."

The saiyan prince stalked up to them until he stood next to Bulma with his foot extended in front of her, protecting her. His tail lashed behind him. "Why the hell are you just standing there, Raditz? Get your idiot brother out of here."

Raditz looked helplessly between his prince and his brother, torn between his loyalties. "But Vegeta—"

"What's your problem?" Goku demanded.

"She told you to get out," Vegeta snapped.

Bulma grabbed Vegeta's arm to hold him back. She could feel the tension in his muscles, wound up and ready to pounce. "Please, Vegeta, don't do anything to him. He can find his own way out."

Goku gaped at Bulma, obviously hurt. "But Bulma! How can you choose him?"

"What do you mean how can I choose him?" she asked exasperatedly. "Goku, I'm sorry, but until this mess is sorted out, I don't want you coming around here. Maybe you can get the others to back off. Let me know when you do."

Vegeta's lip curled over his long canines in a warning snarl to the younger saiyan. He pushed Bulma behind him and stepped forward, ready to fight if he didn't leave. Goku looked from his brother, to Bulma, to Vegeta. He may not have known much about saiyan culture, but he still knew Vegeta was acting possessively toward Bulma. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. He couldn't explain why, but seeing Vegeta defending Bulma from him made him feel jealousy like he had never experienced before. He growled.

"Kakarrot, what the hell are you doing?" Raditz hissed.

"Be quiet, Raditz!" Goku barked.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" Bulma shouted as she tried to push past Vegeta. He shoved her back with his tail, nearly knocking her to the floor. "Guys?"

Goku's foot slid forward. "Don't hurt her!"

Vegeta snapped his teeth at the tailless saiyan. "Stay away from her."

"Would you stop?" Raditz tried to intervene. "Kakarrot, get the hell out of here!"

"Goku," Bulma said firmly, "I choose Vegeta. Leave."

Goku snarled at Vegeta as he straightened and turned to leave. "Fine, I'll go." He managed to hide the hurt in his voice. He felt rejected by one of the people he loved the most. Bulma was more than a friend to him. In a way, she was like a family member. He didn't know it, but he considered her a part of his pack. She was one of his own, along with all their warrior friends. She wasn't as strong, but she was, in a way, the leader of the pack, the one who brought them all together. Being rejected by her was agonizing. And it was all because of Vegeta. He didn't hate the saiyan prince before, but he did now. He stole Bulma.

"Kakarrot, wait!" Raditz called after him. He glanced over his shoulder at Bulma, as if to tell her they would talk later, and ran after his brother.

"What, Raditz?" Goku growled.

"This fighting is pointless! You know we only have about a year before Frieza gets here. We've spent a whole year training and your friends still don't like me. I can't say I blame them, but Goku, we're allies in this fight. If we're fighting amongst ourselves, we're going to be a weak force for Frieza to contend with. You've got to do something to make them see that!"

Shaking his head, Goku levitated off the ground a few feet, ready to fly home. "Maybe you trust him, but I don't. I need to get home. I'll see you for training tomorrow." He flared his ki and blasted off into the sky.

Raditz was left standing in the yard alone. He looked up at the sky and sighed. He stood still for a few minutes, the cool September breeze blowing his hair around him. Bulma chose sides. Everyone else had chosen sides. But he hadn't. He knew their only chance at defeating Frieza was to work together. And how could he choose sides? He was still amazed that Bulma had. 'Where the hell is Nappa? Maybe he'll know what to do.'

He decided to go find the old saiyan. If nothing else, talking about the situation might help him come up with a solution. Apparently Bulma wasn't interested in helping. She expected Goku to make everything right, but he was too mad at Vegeta for taking away his friend to try making peace. Raditz sighed again. Why were the shit jobs always left up to him?

...

The doorbell rang. Bulma considered ignoring it, but no one else was home to answer it. Her father was working at headquarters, Vegeta and her mother had gone grocery shopping, Raditz was training at Goku's, and Nappa…well, even if he wasn't busy training in the back yard, she wouldn't want him to answer the door. Throwing her wrench down on the table, she left her laboratory to go answer the door. She was walking through the hall when the doorbell rang again. She rolled her eyes. Whoever was at the door needed to learn some patience.

She paused a moment before opening the door. "Krillin. What a surprise."

The short man rubbed his head. "Good to see you too, Bulma."

"Why are you here?"

His eyes shifted around nervously. It was so like her to cut to the chase when she wasn't in a good mood. He had hoped she would be a little more cheerful. "I heard you had an argument with Goku a few days ago."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "What's your point?"

"Are you sure Vegeta is worth this?" He sighed. "I mean, we're your friends. We're worried about you."

Bulma scoffed. "Worried about me? What is there to be worried about? The fact that I'm not willing to throw my oldest friend under the bus because you're all a bunch of testosterone-filled meatheads?"

"It's – it's just that…" He didn't know what else to say. He practiced having a conversation with her a dozen times, but she never responded the way he would have hoped and so he had nothing to say to her. "I've talked with the guys, and well…"

"You're upset that I'm taking Vegeta's side."

"Well, yes, but that's not what I meant to say…"

"Then what did you mean to say?" she snapped.

"We don't want you to be mad at us."

"I'll stop being mad at you when you get over yourselves and admit you're wrong about Vegeta. I know he's rough around the edges, but he's not evil. Let me know when you realize that." She slammed the door shut and went back to her laboratory to resume working on one of Vegeta's training bots, but she was too distracted by her thoughts.

'Seriously, he doesn't want me to be mad anymore? I don't think it's unfair for me to be mad when they're wrongfully hating Vegeta!' She sat on the stool at her workstation and held her chin in her hand. 'I don't want this dumb fight to keep going either, but I want them to see that Vegeta isn't a bad guy. He's … he's actually kind of sweet in his own weird way underneath that tough-guy façade. Okay, maybe not sweet, but there's more to him than an evil killer. I love all my friends but I love Vegeta too. I love him a lot.'

Two days after Krillin's short visit to Capsule Corporation, he stopped by Goku's house. He wasn't surprised when he found the gravity room running and there was the unmistakable noise of ki blasts, shockwaves as blows were block or hit, and grunts of pain coming from within. He went to the door and knocked.

The gravity simulator powered down, then the door opened. Goku stepped out into the late September sun, wiping sweat from his brow with an already sweat-soaked towel. "Hey, Krillin! What's up?"

The short man grinned at his best friend. "Not much, just came by for a visit. How ya doing?"

Goku shrugged and walked over to sit in the grass. "Doing alright, I guess. How 'bout you?"

"Doing okay."

"Hey Raditz!" Goku craned his neck to look back at the gravity room. "Why don't you come out and take a break?"

A few seconds later Raditz emerged from the gravity room, tugging a shirt down over his head. He pulled his hair out of the shirt as he sat down near Goku. "Hello, Krillin."

"Hey."

Raditz noticed how his brother's best friend was still fidgety and nervous around him. It was a reasonable reaction, given their first meeting, but he was still disappointed that in a year he hadn't gained more trust than that. In all that time he had never stepped out of line, never threatened anyone, but the earthling warriors still avoided him.

"So have you talked to Bulma lately?" Krillin asked Goku.

"No," he grumbled. "I guess she doesn't consider me her friend anymore. Won't answer the phone when I call and last time I went to see her she threw me out."

Raditz groaned. "Kakarrot, don't be stupid. She's still your friend! She's just mad at you because you hate Vegeta."

Goku glowered at his older brother. "What would you know?"

"Hello, I live with her," Raditz reminded him. "She's not happy about this stupid fight either. She wants it to be over, but she wants you guys to give Vegeta a chance. Is that so much to ask? He's not hurting anyone and he isn't going to. He's working his ass off harder than all of us to be ready for Frieza."

"Why should I give him a chance?" Goku asked sullenly.

"Why did you give me a chance?"

"I'm still wondering that," Krillin muttered.

"Because," Goku said, "Because – because you actually made an effort to gain my trust."

"And you want Vegeta to do the same."

"It wouldn't kill him," Krillin commented.

Raditz glared at him, not appreciating his input. Krillin gulped and averted his eyes. Satisfied, Raditz turned to Goku. "Kakarrot, you can't ask that of him. I know you can't understand this, but he will never try to gain anyone's trust because he doesn't trust anyone. It's kind of a foreign concept to him, I guess."

"That's not an excuse," Goku insisted.

"Brother, you don't get it," Raditz continued, somewhat exasperated. "You didn't grow up under Frieza like he did. You never knew what it meant to be handed over by your own father to be a slave to a monster. You don't know the kind of people he grew up around. They're evil, Kakarrot. You think he's bad? He is what he is because he had to learn to survive with real monsters. It's a miracle he trusts me and Nappa, after what happened a few years ago. And he trusts the Briefs. I know you don't know much about saiyan culture, but he considers them his pack, Kakarrot. He would die for them. He cares for them."

Goku looked down at his hands and sighed. "Why have you never mentioned this before?"

"I'm not sure he'd want me to. He still thinks attachments are weaknesses," Raditz admitted. "And he doesn't want anyone to know about his past. He wants to forget it himself, but he can't. You couldn't imagine what life has been like for him. You've all seriously misjudged him. He's not bad, deep down."

"You know," Goku said thoughtfully, "Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Piccolo all used to be my enemies. But they all became good guys. I guess you have too."

Krillin nodded. He leaned back and looked up at the sky. He had tried not to listen, not to allow Raditz to persuade him to change his opinion of the saiyan prince, but how could he not? Goku was right. Most of their gang used to be 'bad guys.' Maybe Vegeta would be the same way. Maybe he just needed to be given a chance.

Raditz stood up and patted the grass off his training shorts. "Well, how about we get back to training?"

Goku stood up and stretched. "Yeah, let's go. Why don't you stay for dinner, Krillin? Just let Chi-Chi know."

"Thanks, Goku," Krillin said. He watched the saiyan brothers as they disappeared into the gravity room. A couple minutes later the low hum of the gravity simulator started. He shook his head as he made his way over to the house. Those saiyans never seemed to want to stop training. He understood why Goku was always such a natural at fighting and why he always looked forward to a challenge now. It was in his blood. Saiyans were warriors, through and through. So was Vegeta. And he was fighting on their side. Didn't that mean he deserved their trust, as an ally?

…

Two saiyan space pods landed at the base, but the hatches did not immediately open. In fact, they didn't open until they were manually opened by one of the soldiers who was sent to meet the saiyans on arrival. He stumbled back from the pods when he found them empty aside from the scouters lying in the seats. Where were the saiyans, if not in their pods? He gulped, knowing he would have to be the one to report to Lord Frieza.

Luckily for him, Lord Frieza was not currently on Base 108. About five months ago, after he finally found some information about some sort of wish-granting dragon, he left for a small planet called Namek, somewhere in galaxy XR. The soldier, a purple reptilian humanoid, raised his shaky hand to his scouter and pushed the button to contact the technicians on Lord Frieza's spaceship. He felt a cold sweat breaking on his face and neck. He was just the messenger, but he was afraid he would be killed for what the saiyans did anyway.

It took a few minutes for the transmission to connect. He nearly jumped out of his scaly skin when he heard someone speak. "You have contacted Lord Frieza's ship, soldier. Report."

The soldier took a deep breath. "The—the saiyan pods have just arrived on B-Base 108." He swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut as he continued his report. "The pods, they were – they were empty, sir. It was just th-their scouters inside. The saiyans are s-still on p-planet 1076XR. Over."

"Copy. Forwarding the report to Lord Frieza. Stand by."

The reptilian soldier had to wait several minutes before he heard a voice on the other end again. During that time, he sank to his knees on the landing pad, his legs no longer able to bear his weight. He was surely going to be killed for being the unfortunate one to send the report.

"Soldier, do you read?"

"Copy."

"Lord Frieza will deal with the saiyans personally. Move their ships to the hangar. Have the scouters taken offline and retrieve all information on planet 1076XR from them. Out."

The soldier released a breath he hadn't known he was holding as he pushed himself to his feet. He sent the orders to have the pods taken to the hangar and took the scouters out of them. So far, at least, his life was spared. He hoped Lord Frieza would be merciful. He turned around to head back into the control tower when two soldiers appeared at the door. Without a word, they raised their weapons, aimed at him, and fired.

Frieza did not receive news of the saiyans well. Though he remained calm on the outside – aside from shattering the glass of wine he was holding in his hand – he was enraged. How dare the monkey prince think he could outsmart him? And how dare he disobey orders? His plan was ruined! He had waited nearly two decades to see it come to fruition, but now it was ruined! He didn't know how, but something must have gone wrong. Something triggered a memory, Nappa told him what happened, it didn't matter. All the waiting, the anticipation, for nothing.

Vegeta would pay. 'Just wait, you foolish monkey scum! I'm going to make my wish on Namek and you'll never be able to defeat me! And then I'll go to that puny little planet and smite you and your disgusting race once and for all.' Frieza's nails dug holes into the armrests of his throne as he fought to keep his anger in check. Vegeta would pay. Yes, he would pay with his life. He favored him, pampered him, gave him a home, provided for his needs, trained him, protected him. But no more. Vegeta was a rebel and he would be killed.

The small tyrant glanced at the five large dragon balls gathered in the throne room of his ship and smirked. Only two more to go before he could make his wish for immortality. Terrorizing the Namekians was amusing, but it was time to finish his task and move on to his next order of business. It had already taken him three months to travel around Namek, trying to find the tiny villages to take the dragon balls. He could have gone much faster had he felt pressed for time. Well, it didn't matter either way. Soon he would have his wish and he could leave the miserable planet, putting it up for market on the planet trade, and travel to 1076XR to end a rebellion before it ever had a chance to really begin.

A/N: There's your regularly scheduled Frieza update, even though Frieza updates aren't really that regular. Does that put a damper on things? I certainly hope so. What do you think will happen? Will Frieza get his wish? Only time will tell!

Well, second wedding of the summer done. Only one more that I'm in, then going to another one a week after that. So that means there should only be one more weird update (probably a day late for that one, but don't worry, that's not for a couple weeks).

I finished chapter 62 and I've been working on 63 for a couple days. It's been giving me problems, but I think I've finally come up with a way to end it satisfactorily. Then on to 64, which begins the real exciting stuff. Another point of interest: I'm considering adding a chapter to this story, making it a total of 73 chapters. Tell me, my dear readers, would you like it to be extended another chapter, or is it already getting too ridiculously long? I would appreciate your input on the matter.

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

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