I awoke late in the night to find the room empty. I wasn't sure what had woken me. I climbed out of the bed, looking around the room curiously. I moved towards the door and realized what it was that had disturbed my sleep. Trunks stood on the other side of the massive wooden barrier. I placed my hand on the wood, knowing for certain he was doing the same. My mate. I reached for the handle, feeling the incredible urge to see him, to hold him, the bond reminding me that it had been over a week since I had seen him. I pulled the handle and found him staring at me sadly. My name came out as a sob and he fell to his knee's, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing his face to my stomach. He wept openly, his remorse unbearable, not only to himself but to me. His pain gripped at me and I had to make a conscious effort to breath.

"My love, my mate," he cried. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I stared down at him, wanting to be angry, wanting to hate him for what he had done. A tidal wave of emotions rose up in me, then ebbed as quickly as they I had come. I felt only sorrow for the wretched creature before me, maybe because I didn't remember or maybe because I could see that he would punish himself far more than I ever could.

"Please forgive me!" he sobbed, twisting my gown in his hands and looking up at me with desperate eyes. "I love you. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

I lay my hand on his head, stroking his hair gently and he buried his face once more in my stomach. I knew he hadn't slept nor ate since he had awoken and saw what he had done.

"What are you doing here?!"

I looked up and saw Vegeta storming down the hall, glaring murderously at his son.

"It's alright, Vegeta," I said in a soft voice. The Prince paused, looking at me cautiously.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"We can't stay away from each other forever," I said. Vegeta eyed me for a moment before shooting his weeping son a dark glare.

"I'll be in the next room," he said, turning and stalking into said room. I heard the unspoken comment. 'Call if you need me." I was touched by this. Vegeta had shown a more caring side than I had ever guess him capable of. I now saw what Bulma had when she fell in love with him, when she would speak of him wistfully, missing him.

I turned my gaze to Trunks who remained kneeling before me, his eyes red and swollen.

"Trunks," I said in a soft voice. His head shot up, his eyes looking at me desperately yet worriedly.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Come," I said, backing away from him, my gown slipping from his fingers. I moved towards the bed, sitting down and looking over to where he still knelt on the floor. I patted the spot beside me on the bed and he scrambled to his feet, rushing into the room and dropping heavily onto the bed, his arms going out to hold me, then pausing. He pulled his hands back to himself, resting them in his lap. I felt his desperate urge to hold me, kiss me, feel me and looked up at him. I looked at him and saw tears still freely pouring down his cheeks. He looked over at me and fell once more to his knee's before me. He threw himself at me, pressing his face into my lap and sobbing once again.

"Please forgive me!" he lamented. "I will do anything. I will spend eternity-"

"Trunks," I interrupted.

"Yes, my love?" he asked eagerly. I spread my legs and he moved between them, winding his arms around my waist and burying his face in my breast. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, stroking his hair gently before dropping a kiss to the crown of his head.

"I don't hate you," I said.

"You should," he told me in a sorrowful tone. "You should despise me."

"But I don't," I said. "I love you." This comment caused a twist in his very soul, further proof to himself that he was a monster to have hurt someone as good and kind as I.

"You're too good," he said, still weeping. I said nothing, only sat there, carding my fingers through his hair as he cried.

"I love you," he whispered. "So much." He tightened his grip on me slightly before relaxing it.

"And I love you," I replied.

"Can I...?" He cut himself off, but I knew what he wanted.

"Yes," I said. He lifted himself up slightly, his lips finding mine. At first it was a simple brush of our lips, then a firmer press and finally I parted my lips to him, feeling his tongue slide along mine. He cupped my face tenderly, tilting his head to deepen the kiss further. I moaned into his mouth, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his body on top of mine. The bond calmed, his emotions becoming a dull drone in the back of my head and an ache I hadn't noticed leaving my body. He panted against my lips, pulling back to hold his body over mine with an elbow to the bed. His free hand cupped my cheek, stroking it as he stared at me.

"My mate," he said in a hoarse voice. My body tingled at the words and the tone. My eyes fell to his neck, seeing a dark red crescent there. I reached out, my fingers trailing over it, causing him to shiver. He returned the favor, his fingers gliding ever so carefully over my own mark. My eyelids fluttered closed and I keened low in my throat, my body alighting at the feeling.

"My Mate," he said in a gentle voice. "So sensitive." My mind raced at that simple comment, recalling suddenly what had eluded me for days.

Trunks pinning me to the bed after accusing me of seducing Broly. My pleas for him to stop, to not do what I knew his entire being demanded, what my entire being demanded. The pain of his abrupt entry despite his attempts to ease the way. His teasing caresses and rough touches that bruised by skin because he was powered up, something he had done when I had raised my Ki to try and fight him off. Begging him not to mark me as his teeth grazed my skin even though my entire being called for it. A feeling of being complete, of being whole as his teeth sank into my skin, marking me as his. Orgasm after orgasm being torn from my body as he reaffirmed the bond over and over again until I could take no more. Falling asleep in his arms, his skin almost feverish against my own.

I let out a startled cry as the memories assaulted me and Trunks reeled back, alarmed. I shifted beneath his weight and suddenly found it was gone and a loud crash filled the room. I looked up to see Vegeta had flung his son across the room, Trunks landing in the wall so hard the stone crumbled.

"Vegeta, stop!" I yelled. He turned to me, his eyes flickering teal.

"Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"No," I said. "I'm fine. I just...I just remembered." The room fell silent. Trunks didn't move from where he had crumbled on the floor. I looked to see Vegeta staring out the window, his fists clenched tightly.

"It's alright," I said. Vegeta's head whipped in my direction, his eyes wide even as his scowl deepened.

"How can it be alright?" he asked.

"You were right, Vegeta," I said. "Fighting it was pointless. And if I'm honest with myself, I never really wanted to."

"Still..." Vegeta said.

"I feel whole," I said. "I feel complete." Vegeta looked at his son, then back at me.

"I suppose you wish to be alone with him," he said.

"Yes, but I think we should go for a walk," I said. "I need some fresh air." Vegeta nodded and moved over to a closet, reaching in and pulling out a light cotton dress. He handed it to me, reaching out with his free hand and resting it on my head.

"Holler and Kakkorot or I will come for you," he said.

"Thank you, Vegeta," I said. He turned and left the room. Trunks didn't move as the door closed behind his father.

"Can you help me?" I asked. Trunks was on his feet in a second, rushing over to me and gently pulling the sleeping gown over my head. He paused and slid his hands over my shoulders, down my arms, along my sides, over my hips. I looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm still scum," he said, looking at me sadly. I shook my head, letting him know we would talk about it in a bit. He pulled the dress over my head. I wandered where it had come from and made a note to ask Vegeta about it later. I took Trunks' hand and walked with him towards the entrance, stopping when Goku greeted us.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I am," I said. He looked towards Trunks then back down at me, reaching down and petting my head briefly before allowing us to continue on.

The doors opened and I smiled as the cool breeze hit my skin. I tugged Trunks towards a patch of woods, enjoying the feel of grass beneath my feet. I released Trunks' hand to pick a large orange flower, bringing it to my face and inhaling the scent of it. I heard my name called in a pained voice and turned to see Trunks staring at me as if he was in utter agony.

"Trunks," I said.

"I...I'm scum," he said again. "What I did to you..."

"Trunks..."

"It was inexcusable. Father was right to..."

"Trunks!"

"...Beat the shit out of me..."

"TRUNKS!"

"What?!" he cried.

"I forgive you," I said.

"You do?" he questioned.

"Yes," I said. "I love you. You're my mate."

"You should hate me," Trunks said.

"I should," I agreed. "But one lapse doesn't change a lifetime of what we've had."

"How can you be so...so...forgiving?" he asked, exasperated.

"What would you have me do?" I questioned.

"Get mad! Hit me, swear at me! Call me a bastard! Tell me I'm a piece of shit!" he exclaimed.

"And what would that accomplish?" I inquired in a deathly calm voice. "It was going to happen eventually, Trunks. Vegeta was right. Fighting it was a foolish thing to do. We're mated now. I should be angry, I should hate you. I don't, though. This feeling...I'm complete." Trunks stared at me, the emotions in his eyes turning the vibrant orbs dark.

"You know as well as I do that my weak little protests weren't wholehearted," I said. "They were born of my own fear and stupidity."

"I don't remember to be honest," he said. "It's like a cheap film reel, blurry and entire moments blacked out." I paused as I contemplated this. I decided I didn't need to fill in the details because in the end, they didn't matter.

"Despite everything," I said carefully. "I feel whole, complete. Don't you?"

"Of course," Trunks said, stepping close to me.

"Then we'll figure the rest out later," I said. He reached down, taking the flower from my fingers and tucking it behind my ear.

"You can touch me," I said.

"That's not what father said," Trunks told me.

"What exactly happened?" I questioned.

"I'll show you," he said, closing his eyes. I felt him concentrate hard as saw a sudden flurry of images.

He was waking up, looking around him confused. His gaze was landing on me and the cold realization of what he had done came over him. He was running from the room, bursting into Vegeta's room. The Prince was sitting up in his bed, demanding to know why his son had woken him. Trunks was blurting it out, the words 'raped' and 'forced' like acid on his tongue. Vegeta was furious, charging at his son, his hand clamping down on the boys neck as he pinned him to the wall, demanding to know what madness had gripped to boy to cause him to do that to me. Trunks was crying, not having words to excuse himself. Vegeta flung the boy to the side and stalked out of the room, seeming to know where my room lay, no doubt following the scent. Trunks followed, seeing Vegeta bend over the bed and brush the hair off my neck, baring the dark red crescent, his dark eyes moving from the mark to the hand shaped bruises that littered my arms and back. Vegeta shot his son a dark look, the likes of which I had never seen and bent over me, wrapping me in the blanket and lifting me up. Trunks collapsed on the floor of my room, sobbing. Vegeta came back some time later, grabbing his son by the neck and flinging him out the window. The prince followed, landing a hard punch to Trunks' gut that knocked the wind out of him. Another blow was landed to Trunks' face, sending him flying into the ground. Trunks didn't bother to fight back. Vegeta stood over his son, landing a kick to his chest, all the while telling the boy what an utter idiot he is and how dare he do that. I watched as Vegeta lifted Trunks again by the front of his shirt, backhanding him as he declared that Trunks was not allowed near me until I said I would welcome it. He dropped his son to the ground and flew back to the castle.

The images faded and I stared up at my mate.

"Who knew that rape was one of Vegeta's buttons?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Apparently taking a mate by force is a grievous taboo to Saya-jins," Trunks said. "One that's often rectified by killing the offender to free the wronged party." I shivered.

"Harsh, huh?" I asked with a grin.

"No," Trunks said. "I think it's fitting." I stood on my toes and placed a tender kiss on Trunks' lips, wrapping my arms around his neck. He sighed against my mouth, returning the kiss, his arms going to my waist.

"We'll be okay," I said. Trunks just smiled at me.