A/N: I'm not sorry for the Billy Madison reference.

Everybody Loves Vegeta, Too!

Part Fifteen

Marron promised to be a relentless teacher.

As soon as Vegeta woke up at 8AM the next day, Marron demanded four hours of his time. Basic color theory was the first topic at hand, and already they'd run into a roadblock.

"Uncle Vegeta," Marron groaned. "I don't know why you want to argue with me about something so simple." She pointed at the graphic representation of the color wheel pinned to her studio wall. "This," she emphasized, pointing at a red circle, "is the color red. And this," she said, "is the color green. They're different from each other. Red is a primary color, while green is a complementary color made from mixing yellow and blue."

Vegeta didn't like the tone of her voice. "Yes, I know that. All I'm saying is that next to each other, red and green look very similar. It's normal to get them mixed up."

"But they're not similar at all! They're completely different colors!" She rubbed her cheeks. Her eyes widened. "What color is Uncle Goku's training gi?"

"It's green."

Marron blinked. "It…is?"

"Of course it is. Are you joking?"

"…Hm. Hold on a sec."

Vegeta crossed his arms and watched her scramble over to her huge wooden work table. It was difficult for him to stay respectful. He had few teachers in his youth, and as a prince, they had to work to please him. Not the other way around. Marron, on the other hand, had high expectations of him and made it apparent when she was disappointed.

She ran back over to Vegeta and shoved a sheet of paper into his lap. "I just colored this. What do you see?"

He squinted his eyes. "A green square with a blue circle inside of it."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, that's all I see!"

She stood back. "I think you're color blind." She pressed her finger onto the paper, then traced it around an invisible shape. "Right here, there's a reddish-brown triangle inside the green square too."

"I can see colors just fine."

She laughed. "I think you just have trouble with reds and greens. I'm not saying you can't see color at all."

"Hmph."

"It's okay!" She smiled. "There's nothing wrong with being color blind."

He covered his eyes. "You're saying I'm deficient."

"No! Not at all." She sighed. "You shouldn't think of it that way. You're just different."

He didn't want to be different. Not in that way.

An hour later, Marron insisted they both travel to the mountain trail several miles north of the suburbs. "I think you learn best from observation," she insisted. "When I was a kid, I hated all of the art classes where we never actually went outside."

"You're still a kid to me," Vegeta said. They were walking back inside Krillin's house. "What's the huge bag for?"

"It's full of art supplies, silly." Marron jumped once in the air to readjust the weight of the bag slung over her shoulder. "Got to make sure we have everything we need!"

He glanced over at her. She looked exhausted and excited at the same time. The girl got little sleep because of her late-night work schedule. "Don't you have school today?" he asked.

"Not anymore. It's the summer!" She twirled around in a circle, and almost fell over. "No school until the fall."

Vegeta nodded. By this time next year, it would be summer again and Trunks would be done with high school completely. "What grade are you in?"

"I'll be a junior next semester. But if I'm lucky, I can graduate early. I'm ready to go to college already." She paused. "Wait here. I'm going to check if Goten's upstairs. Maybe he'll come with us!"

Good luck with that. Goku's son had the worst time waking up in the morning. A few minutes later, she came back downstairs with Trunks in tow. "Look who I found awake instead!"

"I don't want to go anywhere!" Trunks mumbled.

"It'll be fun. You should support your father's endeavors!"

Trunks rolled his eyes. "You're such a nerd."

"Be nice," Vegeta said evenly. "Besides, Goten will still be here when you get back." Trunks blushed at that, and shut his mouth.

"Guys. Guys. This is going to be so much fun!" Marron jumped in the air again. "Let's go outside and catch the bus to the mountain trail!"

"Bus? We can just fly there," Trunks said.

"I don't know how to fly."

Vegeta couldn't stand the crestfallen look on Marron's face. "We're taking the bus," he announced.

"But Dad, I could just carry her—"

"Did you hear me? Just shut-up and listen to Marron. She knows what she's doing."

Marron absolutely glowed at hearing that. "Come on, let's go!"

A block away from Krillin's house, they crowded around the bus stop bench. Vegeta's patience wore thin once twenty minutes passed and there was still no bus in sight. In Vegeta's opinion, such rudimentary public transit was the mark of a stunted civilization. Earth fit the bill perfectly. If creatures struggled to traverse their own planet, then they'd little hope for intergalactic travel. If it weren't for Goku and his friends' encouragement, he wasn't sure he'd be impressed with Earth much.

I wonder what Kakarot is doing right now. How horrible was the prison he was sent to? Where was it? Vegeta wasn't quite ready to confront him again, but he had to know if the third-class was at least holding up. Goku always managed to hold on to his cheerfulness even in dire situations. Vegeta just wanted to see his stupid grin again—

"Uncle Vegeta, why are you smiling? What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing at all!" To his relief, the bus finally pulled up to the street curb. The sliding doors opened.

Vegeta stepped inside, and immediately feel nervous. The bus was crowded with people, and the bus driver stared down at him with disdain. The driver poked his chubby finger at the payment machine next to his seat. "It's a dollar fifty."

Vegeta dug into his jean pockets, and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.

"Whoa. WHOA." The driver held up his hand. "You need exact change, or you're not riding on my bus!"

Vegeta leaned back to avoid the spittle flying out the driver's mouth. Unsure how to react, he looked over his shoulder at Marron.

"It's fine, I can pay for it." She inserted exact change into the machine, then ushered them all toward the middle of the bus. The driver jerked hard on the accelerator and nearly sent them all flying to the ground.

This is fucking awful, Vegeta thought. Marron and Trunks took the two free seats on the bus beside each other while he stood hanging on to the nearest metal pole. All of the passengers stared at him with bewildered looks on their faces. Am I that weird looking?

"Hey," whispered a kid sitting near Vegeta. "I'll give you two bucks if you throw my soda bottle at the bus driver."

Vegeta looked down at him, astonished. The kid handed him a half-empty bottle of root beer.

Marron made a face that made Vegeta feel apprehensive. But Trunks was grinning his ass off. Vegeta turned and chucked the bottle at the back of the driver's head. It hit harder than he intended—a large bump swelled on the back of the man's skull.

"OW! HEY!" The driver screamed. His foot slammed down on the break, and the bus skidded to a stop. Everyone save for Vegeta tumbled over in their seats or into the aisle. The bus driver half-stood in his chair and scanned the back of the bus. "Who the fuck did that?!"

No one said a peep.

"I swear to God," he mumbled, readjusting himself in his seat. "I'll turn this damn bus around and end your precious trip pretty DAMN quick if you do that again!"

The kid next to Vegeta cackled. "Holy shit dude, you nearly killed him. That was awesome!" He waved two dollar bills in Vegeta's face.

"Keep your money," Vegeta replied. He smiled the whole rest of the ride.

The hike up the mountain was easy for Vegeta and Trunks. Marron huffed and sighed while they walked the dirt trail, until Vegeta insisted on carrying her the rest of the way. "I'm fine!" she laughed. "But could you carry the bag for me?"

"Sure. Trunks, carry her bag."

Trunks opened his mouth, then closed it. He took Marron's bag without as much as a derisive scoff. He's learning, Vegeta thought contently.

They stopped once they reached the summit. It was a beautiful view: Vegeta could see the entire city flanked by a circular mountain range. Towering at the summit sat a giant sequoia whose leaves offered a small area of shade around its huge base. "Isn't this tree cool?" Marron said. She snagged her art bag from Trunks, and unpacked all of its contents.

Vegeta ran his hand along the bark of the tree. "What do you want to do all the way up here?" he asked.

"We're going to draw." She approached him, and dropped a pile of materials in his open arms. "I'm giving you a sketchbook, some pencils, and some conté. Follow me."

She led them deep into the forest beyond the mountain trail. Vegeta never silently observed the natural world on Earth, and it wasn't until now it intrigued him. The forest bustled with a strange, mystical energy that engulfed him. Sunlight struggled to penetrate the branches of the towering trees around them. Skittering lizards circled his feet; he obeyed the strange urge to avoid stepping on them. The hair on the back of his neck rose as he felt himself being watched by animals hiding in the trees. He wondered what Goku would think of him in a place like this.

"This is a good spot." Marron sat down on a giant rock. Vegeta and Trunks sat down next to her.

She pointed forward. "See the light coming through the trees, Uncle Vegeta?"

He nodded.

"Do you see how it affects the things it touches? And how it changes based on what blocks it?" She pointed downward. "When it hits that tiny creek there, it creates abstract shapes on the water. When it comes through the tree branches, it appears as shafts of light that gently fade the closer they approach the ground. And when it goes through Trunks' hair, it glows around the edges and makes his hair strands look translucent."

Trunks blushed, then touched the ends of his hair.

"So you want me to draw the light," Vegeta said.

"Yes, and everything else."

Vegeta opened his sketchbook and drew. It was difficult to determine exactly where to begin. Everything in the forest tumbled around and inside of itself. The organic shapes of nature were difficult to copy down onto a page.

Marron leaned over his shoulder to inspect his work. "Hey!" he shouted, shying away from her. "I'm not done yet."

"I'm your teacher, so I have to teach. Give me your pencil!"

He handed it to her. He didn't expect her to hold it into the air at arm's length. "What're you doing?" he asked.

"This is how you can quickly figure out the proportion of objects in an environment. Look at my hand." She slid her thumb down the side of the pencil. "Let's say that bush over there, from our point of view, is as tall as the top of the pencil to where my thumb is." She slid her arm to the right. "And that tree next to the bush is about…six times as tall as the bush." Slowly she raised the pencil up in the air in six increments. "Knowing that, you can draw the tree six times as tall as the bush in your sketchbook. It's a handy way to make sure everything's proportionate to each other in a drawing."

Vegeta's eyes widened. He didn't have anything to say in response. Not in a million years would he have figured out such a thing on his own. Or so he assumed. "Thanks," he mumbled, taking back his pencil.

Over the course of the next hour, all three of them drew. The natural sounds of the world around them placed Vegeta into a trance state where all the distracting thoughts in his mind quieted down. It was the closest he'd ever been to meditating.

"Dad…Can I ask you a weird question?"

Vegeta almost broke his pencil in half. "What is it?"

"It's about sex."

This is going to be bad. "What do you need to know?"

"I haven't mentioned it, but it's obvious Goten and I have a thing going on."

"A thing," Vegeta repeated. There goes my meditation.

"Are you a couple now?" Marron squeaked. Out of the corner of his eye, Vegeta noticed she looked flustered.

"It's a thing, okay?!"

"Fine. It's a 'thing'. What's your question?" Vegeta said through gritted teeth.

"Um…" Trunks tapped his knee and looked in the opposite direction as everyone else. "What's the best way to get it…inside?"

Marron fell off her rock. Vegeta felt a dull pain rise in between his eyes. "Why would you ask me?!"

"You know, because you and Goku have sex!"

"No, I don't have sex with Kakarot anymore. And couldn't you just look up something like that on the internet!"

"Come on Dad, cut the bullshit. I know if I ask you, you'll give me a real answer."

Vegeta sighed. "Fine." He ignored Marron's wide-eyed stare at the both of them. "If you're going to have sex with a man, he has to be prepared first."

Marron dropped her pencil and gazed at him intently. He was embarrassed to basically explain in front of two teenagers how he used to fuck Goku, but it was the first time in a while Trunks showed interest in anything he had to say. It was a rare opportunity to teach him about something other than fighting. At least Trunks wasn't asking how Goten could penetrate him.

"Prepare him how?" Trunks asked.

"First." Vegeta grimaced. "He should be relaxed, and preferably aroused. So before having sex…you two should…there should be—"

"Foreplay."

"Yes. And since it's his first time, you should…" Oh gods, am I actually going to give my teenage son step-by-step directions on how to screw Kakarot's boy? "Make sure he's stretched out first."

Trunks raised a brow. "You mean…?" He raised his palm in the air, hoping Vegeta would fill in the blanks.

"You put a few fingers inside of him. But make sure they're wet with lubricant first. You can do it one finger at a time, then scissor him until he's…happy with it."

"Wow, then what?!" Marron squealed.

"This doesn't even apply to you!" Trunks yelled.

"I know, but it's fascinating." She'd abandoned drawing anything at this point.

Vegeta rubbed his face. Maybe it'd be easier to explain things in as dry of a way possible so they didn't get the wrong idea about him. "Make sure you're wet too. Then you can slowly push in. It'll be painful for him, but as long as you go slowly at first, it should be fine." Vegeta was sure his whole face was red now. "Since you're both inexperienced, it might be easier to just fool around before jumping straight to intercourse."

Trunks twirled his pencil around in his hand. "Does it matter whether or not Goten eats before we do it?"

"What!"

"Come on Dad, I'm sure with Goku it was an issue at some point!"

Vegeta chucked his sketchbook at Trunks' head. "That's none of your business!"

"Ow!" Trunks rubbed the sore spot. "It's just a question!"

Marron's eyes were still wide with wonder. "Oh my goodness. Wow. Does Uncle Goku really like it when you do all that stuff to him?"

Vegeta hid his face again. "You children will be the death of me."

"It must feel good for Goku, right?" Trunks said. The boy was getting way too excited by the idea of testing out this new information.

"Of course it feels good, why else would he do it!" Vegeta yelled.

"Wow," Marron repeated. She squished her face in between her palms in shyness. "I never thought something like that would feel good."

"How often did you two do it?" Trunks asked.

"That's none of your concern!"

"Oh." Trunks smirked. "So not often. That makes sense. You two are old."

"How dare you!" Vegeta squeezed his pencil. This time it really did break in half. "We had sex daily, sometimes two or three times if I could help it!"

Marron gasped. "Wow!"

Trunks scowled. "Okay, I'm done asking questions. Thank you, Father."

Vegeta pick up his art supplies, and returned to his drawing. They remained silent for another hour.

"It's time to head back," Marron announced. She held open her hand. "Trunks, show me your drawing first."

He handed her his sketchbook, shrugging. "I'm not that interested in drawing, Marron. Sorry."

Marron groaned. "This is a drawing of a naked woman!" She shoved the sketchbook back into his lap. "Uncle Vegeta, show me yours."

Vegeta hesitated, then passed his work over to her. She stared down at it. Her soft face transformed into a horrible grimace. Blue eyes darted left and right over his work. Is she upset with me?

"Uncle…"

"Yes?"

"When you asked me to teach you art, were you playing a trick on me?"

"What?!"

"Let me see!" Trunks said, laughing. He stood behind Marron and looked down at Vegeta's work. His facial expression mimicked hers. Simultaneously, they tore their eyes up from the drawing to stare at Vegeta.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the matter with it?"

Marron gently set the sketchbook on the ground. "I can't believe it. It's perfect. Literally—it looks like a computer drew it. Look!" She pointed at the drawing in accusation. "What the hell! Everything is rendered perfectly, the light is depicted perfectly, the shading is perfect…how did you even make this texture over here with a 3B pencil?!"

Vegeta slumped his shoulders in relief. "I thought for a moment I did something wrong!"

"This is insane." Marron shook her head. "You've never drawn anything before?"

"Not in my life."

"I don't believe you!"

Vegeta raised his brows. He'd never seen Marron this excited before. Granted, he hadn't known her a long time, but this side of her was a bit scary.

She stood up. "We're leaving right this moment. I'm taking you back to my studio. I need to confirm something." With haste, she packed her art bag. "Let's go!"

Back in Marron's studio, Vegeta sat in front of a large block of red clay. Nervous, he wiped his brow. Marron stood beside him with her arms crossed.

"Sculpt Trunks," she said.

"Excuse me?"

"Him." She pointed at Trunks, who stood a few feet away with his hands on his hips. "Make this block of clay look like Trunks. It can just be from the shoulder up, like a bust."

"I don't know how."

She dragged a small table on wheels next to Vegeta. A spread of sculpting knives, metal wire, and sponges lay on the top. "Use these."

"Marron, I have no idea what these tools are for. Won't you show me?"

"The wire is for cutting the clay in slices. The sponge and water is for wetting it so it doesn't get dry. The knife is for cutting too. There's also more clay if you need it. Go."

"No need to be rude about it," Vegeta said under his breath. His hands hovered over the tools. Yes…Inside his mind, once he really thought about it, it made perfect sense how each tool worked. He inspected the clay. He gently pressed his fingertips against it. It gave way to his touch, so it probably didn't need much handling on his end. It'd probably take a long time for it to dry out…

With precision he didn't know he possessed, he shaped the clay in his hands. Periodically he'd pick up more clay from the second heap on the table, roll it between his hands, and add it to the rectangle block in front of him. Even though Marron's hawk-like gaze stuck to him the whole time, he once again found that meditative state where nothing bothered him.

"Oh my God," Marron yelled.

The trance broke. He looked up at her. "I'm almost done. What's the problem?"

"Whoa," Trunks said, walking around Vegeta's sculpture. "It looks—"

"Just like you," Marron cut in. "I know. Christ on a cracker!"

Vegeta looked at his work. "It's fine, I guess."

"You guess?" Marron tugged on the ends of her hair. "I'm getting my acrylic paint out."

Ten minutes later, Marron finished squirting an array of paints on a wooden palette. Afterward, she rummaged through a heap of junk and found a portrait-sized canvas for Vegeta to use. "Trunks, get that easel over there and put it in front of Uncle," she ordered.

All of this attention made him uncomfortable. He just couldn't get a read on whether or not Marron was pissed off at him, or if he was doing something right. The squeak of the easel dragging across the floor grated on his nerves. Once Trunks placed it in front of him, he put the canvas in place.

"Okay!" Marron dashed five feet away. "Paint me!"

"I don't know how."

"You do. Just feel it out, like you did with the clay. Earlier I taught you everything about mixing colors, so it should be a breeze."

"I'm not going to finish a whole painting as fast as the sculpture."

"That's fine."

Vegeta sighed. He picked up one of the brushes on the easel. It was fat on the end. I bet this would make it easy to set a neutral base.

Out of everything that happened, Trunks' investment in his art-making surprised him the most. The boy sat behind him for three hours straight without saying a word. If only he studied my fighting as closely.

Over time Vegeta experimented on the canvas with different brushes, sometimes even using the sponge available to play with texture. The familiar trance from before took hold of him. It faded away once he was satisfied with the painting. "I think I'm done."

Marron exhaled. She'd been standing still the whole time. She walked over to the painting. She screamed.

Vegeta clutched his ringing ears. "Marron, don't do that!"

She screamed again. Her hands rose to cover her face. "Uncle Vegeta," she said, breathless. "You're…a prodigy."

Vegeta scoffed. "I appreciate your kindness, but I don't like being made fun of."

Trunks came up behind him. "I think she's right, Dad. This is insane. Is there a reason her skin looks so weird?"

Vegeta blushed. "What's weird about it?!"

Marron spread her fingers apart. She looked ominous peering between them, her eyes narrow and mouth bent into a scowl. "Your dad can't distinguish reds and greens very well. So when painting the skin tone, he probably mixed up the red paint for the green paint."

The way she said it—it made Vegeta blush again. It was as if she told him a long-held secret.

"This painting…It's…" She clenched her hands together and pulled them beside her waist. "It's beautiful." Her bottom lip quivered. She cried.

Prison wasn't so bad once everyone liked you.

When Goku brought back a bounty of food after his visit to Krillin's house, everyone cheered for him. For many of the prisoners it'd been years since their lips touched anything as delectable as smoked turkey, fresh bread, beef stew, and wine. Boy, did they love the wine, Goku thought. They had to heat up everything using the pitiful furnace beneath ground. Goku helped speed along the process using his energy, but he did it discreetly as not to show off.

The following day, they were still celebrating even though most of the food was gone. "Cheers to Son Goku!" cried one man leaning off the side of his hammock. He fell over to the floor, drunk.

"You are a beautiful person!" said a stocky man with his face covered in soot. He grabbed both sides of Goku's face, and kissed him full on the lips.

"Oh, wow!" Goku said, blushing. "It's not that big of a deal. Really."

"Would you be able to do this again?" asked the man stoking the furnace.

"Um, I probably can't go back to the last place I visited." He smiled. "But I can go hunting if you like dinosaur meat."

"Is there anything you wish of us?" It was the prisoner with the thick accent Goku first spoke to after his incarceration. Goku later found out his name was Boris. "I know we can't do much down here. But if you have a special request, perhaps we can help you."

"Hmm." Goku rubbed his chin. No one there could make Vegeta love him again, so that was out of the question. He was still unsure if the man even wanted to see him. But maybe…"There is somebody I'd love to call over the phone. But I don't want them to know where the call is coming from." He lamented having his cell phone taken away shortly after his arrest. Not that he could charge it or get service in a dirty tunnel beneath the ground. Or call Vegeta without the Prince recognizing his number and hanging up.

The men murmured. Boris snapped his fingers. "There is a small village a few hundred miles north of here. If you can get there, visit the shack near the graveyard. A woman named Anya will let you use her phone if you tell her Boris sent you."

"Perfect!" Goku spun around and jogged toward the sealed door to the outside world.

"Wait!" Boris cried. "You're going now?"

"Sure. Why not?"

Boris ran up to him carrying one of Krillin's loaves of bread and a rolled up package of beef. "Take this to her. And say Boris still thinks of her daily."

Goku's stupid grin faded from his face. "Okay. I promise."

"Mom! Mom! Moooom!" Marron dragged Vegeta across the backyard and through the patio door. "Mom, I have to show you something!"

Android 18 sat on the living room couch painting her nails. The TV was turned up loud. Awkward, she balanced the remote between her fingers and turned down the volume. "What's gotten into you? Why are you screaming?"

Marron pulled Vegeta into the living room, and presented him before her like he was…

Like I'm royalty.

"I present to you the next artist sensation!" She fell into a bow.

18 looked back and forth between her daughter and Vegeta. "Um, what?"

"Uncle Vegeta is a master artist. All this morning I watched him draw, paint, and sculpt in ways I've never seen before!" She jumped up and down, completely giddy. "I'm so excited! This is so cool!"

Trunks slowly crept back up the stairs past the commotion in the living room. You little prick, you're just going to leave me here all alone!

"Is it true, Vegeta? I had no idea you were an artist," 18 said.

"I'm not. I mean, I've never tried doing it until today. Marron just thinks I'm talented."

Marron pulled the canvas bearing her likeness in front of her. "Behold!"

18 yelled. "Damn, Vegeta! You did this?!"

"Yes."

"Wow." She smirked. "Look at that. I didn't think you had it in you."

Vegeta scratched the back of his head. While they ranted and raved about his painting, he was more amazed by his new mental discovery from earlier. Doing artwork lifted him away to a separate plane where all of the horrible thoughts bouncing around his head finally silenced themselves. Sure, thoughts of Goku still lingered, but his ex-lover's presence filled him with comfort instead of loneliness. It was a divine feeling.

"So does this mean you're going to have a show in a gallery?" 18 asked.

"Let's not get carried away," Vegeta laughed. "It's just one painting."

"You can make more!" Stars sparkled in Marron's eyes. "You could do anything you wanted, and it would be amazing. I'm so proud of you, Uncle Vegeta!"

The room felt stuffy. He wasn't used to having praise piled onto him by people who actually meant it. It felt good and uncomfortable at the same time, like he didn't deserve it. Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his pocket. "Hm," he mumbled, wondering who it could possibly be. 18 and Marron continued to talk animatedly with one another as he inspected the phone number. It read 'Unknown'.

He answered. "Yes?"

Whoever was on the other end of the line wasn't prepared for him to actually pick up. The stranger gasped and sputtered instead of vocalizing any words.

"Who is this?" Vegeta hoped it wasn't a prank caller. Or a goddamn telemarketer.

"Hi…Vegeta."

The color drained from his face. "Kakarot?"

"Yeah." Over the phone Goku tittered nervously. "It's me."

Immediately, 18 and Marron stopped talking and stared at Vegeta.

"Oh." Vegeta wasn't sure what to say, or think. The phone call had ambushed him, and he wasn't the least bit prepared. A loud thundering noise came through over the receiver, like Goku was standing in the middle of a blizzard.

"So…How're ya?" Goku asked.

"I'm…" Vegeta closed his eyes. "What do you mean? Where are you! Where are you calling from! Are you safe?"

Goku laughed over the line. Hearing the familiar noise filled Vegeta's chest with warmth. "I'm fine. Just a bit cold here. Brr!"

Vegeta laughed, then covered his mouth. 18 was wiggling her eyebrows at him suggestively. If he stayed in the living room, he was asking for embarrassment. "Hold on, I'm going to a different room—"

"Oh, no you're not. You're staying here. Your nails look awful." 18 pulled Vegeta down onto the couch next to her. She pulled out a nail file and attended to his hand.

You're vile, 18! On the opposite side of him, Marron sat with her chin cupped in her hand and an inquisitive look on her face. I guess this'll be a public performance.

"Is that 18? You're over Krillin's house?"

"You should know. You stopped by the other day."

"Yeah. I did." Goku sighed. "I'm sorry. I missed you."

"Why didn't you come back, Kakarot?"

"What? I thought you didn't want me to. You broke up with me, remem—"

"I'm sorry," Vegeta breathed out all at once. "I'm so sorry I said all those things to you."

"Vegeta!" Goku yelled. "You weren't very nice!"

18 disguised her laugh as a cough. Yes woman, get your laughs in. This is how Kakarot and my relationship works. Vegeta rolled his neck until it popped. "I know. I got carried away."

"Okay…I forgive you! Can I come back now?" Goku said all chipper.

"What? No. I mean, you can if you want. Listen," Vegeta said, sinking back into the couch. "This is a problem. Why are you forgiving me so easily?"

"Because I'm still in love with you."

Did Goku say these things because his heart was so big? Or because he believed he had no other option than to accept Vegeta for the way he was? Probably both. "You're sweet, Kakarot. But that's not enough. I need to take some time away from you to figure some things out about myself. As much as I enjoyed it, I don't think our relationship was…ideal."

"I—" Goku stopped himself. "Okay. Whatever you say, Vegeta."

"Don't sound so sad."

"Based on what you said, I have a lot to be sad about."

Vegeta sighed. 18 was busy filing down the nails on his hand, but he knew she was hanging on to his every word. He blushed. "I still want to be with you. If you'll have me."

"Really? Yes!" He heard Goku step away from the phone to whoop.

"Calm down! I'm not talking about now, but later down the road."

"Oh." Goku sounded like someone told him Christmas was canceled. "How far down the road are we talking?

"I need a year."

"I can't see you for a whole year?" Goku whined.

Vegeta bit his lip. "Maybe we can talk on the phone once in a while—"

"No. You two should talk tonight. In person," 18 said. She picked up a jar of clear nail polish, and unscrewed the top. "You can't go off and do something important, but leave him in the dark the whole time."

"I agree with 18. I should come over now!"

Vegeta groaned. "Fine. Tonight, Kakarot. Unlike you, I have something I need to do before the day is over."

"Whatever floats your boat, sweetie."

Marron and 18 giggled. "Kakarot, why do you have to speak so loudly? You're embarrassing me."

"Sorry," Goku said. He lowered his voice. "Hey. Before you go…do you want to have phone sex?"

"You shameless flirt! Get off the phone!"

"Okay, okay. I'll come to your room later tonight. See you soon. Mwah!" Goku blew him a kiss.

Vegeta hung up, only to be met with a round of laughter. "Haha, you two are so cute!" 18 pinched Vegeta's cheek. "I had no idea."

He pulled away from her and rubbed his face. The sparkling shine on his nails distracted him for a moment, and he admired them. "I wasn't ready to see him so soon."

"What's up your sleeve?" 18 took Vegeta's hands and blew on his wet fingernails. He flinched away, but she held her smile. "Why do you need a whole year?"

He stared into his lap. Could he really tell them? "I read once—I mean, a wise person once told me it takes more than liking something to be good at it. And another…wise person told me it takes one year to become halfway-decent at something new." He waited for them to react negatively, but it never came. "I made a decision last night after thinking about those words more. Please don't tell him this, but I intend on asking Kakarot to be my mate."

"Aaah!" 18 yelled, raising her fists in the air. It was a strange reaction, but Vegeta soon realized she did it out of joy. "That's awesome!"

"What do you mean by 'mate'?" Marron asked.

Vegeta opened his mouth to speak, but 18 interrupted him. "It's basically the same as marriage, but for Saiyans. Oh, and one of them is inherently weaker than the other." She clicked her teeth and winked at Vegeta.

A few days ago he would've been enraged by her comment. But for some reason, he thought it was…kind of funny. "Sure. You can think of it that way."

"Wow, Uncle Vegeta's going to get married?" Marron smiled and gazed up at some imaginary thing floating at the ceiling that must've been her fantasy of such an event. "That's so romantic."

"Gods, no one's actually getting married." He folded his arms. "Anyway, I don't think I know how to be a good mate. So I decided a year should be adequate for me to become halfway-decent at it. I can't sort things out with him around. He doesn't think anything's wrong with our relationship at all."

"So I did get through to you yesterday," 18 said, puffing her chest out.

He smirked. "Part of the mating ritual also requires that the family of the couple approves of their union."

"Go on."

"If you haven't noticed, Kakarot has a large family. And they find me to be—"

"Barely tolerable," 18 said, filling in the blanks.

Vegeta pouted. "Yes."

"Prince Vegeta on the path to self-improvement? And trying to get in good with his future in-laws?" 18 laughed. "Not bad."

"Did you asking me to teach you art have anything to do with this?" Marron asked, still dreamy-eyed.

"Yes." Vegeta looked away. "Kakarot wants me to be an artist." Marron looked like she was about to burst, so he hurried up and finished his statement. "I want it to be a surprise, so don't go telling him about it."

Marron screamed again. "That's the cutest thing I've ever heard!"

The Prince wiggled his finger in his ear in hopes his hearing would return. "Thank you?"

"Lucky you, you've already mastered that skill!" Marron said gleefully.

"No." Vegeta frowned. As an artist, Marron should've known better than to say something like that. "I want to be happy with the things I make. I didn't care much for what I did today. They were all things you wanted me to do, remember?"

"Oh…Sorry. I was just so overwhelmed by how good you were."

"It's fine. I have a whole year." He winced. "I don't want to draw like a computer, Marron. Can you teach me how?"

She laughed. "I guess so!"

Abrupt, Vegeta stood up from the couch. "It's been nice talking, but I must run an errand before Kakarot arrives. I have some pornography I need to buy."

"What the hell?" 18 said as Vegeta walked out the front door.

Master Roshi took off his sunglasses—which he rarely did—to take a good, hard look at Vegeta. "You're giving me a what?"

"This is a DVD player," Vegeta said slowly. Explaining technology to this old man was like talking to a dinosaur. "And these," he said, rattling a black bag stuffed with plastic cases, "are DVDs. All of them are pornos."

Roshi pinched his nostrils shut. "You mean…movies?"

"Yes. They're whole movies. Of only people fucking. They're not great quality, but they're better than whatever dinosaur tapes from the 1980s you probably have buried in your closet." Vegeta peeped down into the bag. "Most of them are of women fucking each other because you seem to be into that kind of thing."

Roshi fell to his knees. "You're a god among men!"

"And don't you forget it."

Goku rubbed his freezing limbs in front of the fireplace. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here a bit longer, Anya!"

The older woman opposite him smiled. Going by her long, silver tresses, Anya was very old. But her smooth, mahogany colored skin contradicted that notion. Her tiny body was buried inside of a layers-thick parka with fluffy white fur around the hood. Slowly, she rocked back and forth in her chair. "It's perfectly fine," she said. "Feel free to stay as long as you need."

"It was really nice of you to let a stranger use your phone," Goku said.

"If Boris trusts you, then so should I." She wrapped her wiry fingers around each other. "How is he, by the way?"

"Uh…" Goku couldn't exactly tell her the truth. She knew her husband was in a prison, right? "He seems…fine."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?" She leaned closer to the fire. "He's been there for over thirty years now."

"Wow." Goku stared into the fireplace. "Have you been waiting for him this whole time?"

"Absolutely."

He watched the flames dance and curl in the fireplace. "I'm not sure you knew this, but it's an impossible sentence for him to serve."

"I'm aware."

"And you'll still wait for him, even though he's never coming back?"

"I have faith." She grinned. "You managed to get out, didn't you?"

He laughed. "I guess you're right."

"Goku. Do you have someone waiting for you somewhere?"

"More like I'm waiting on him. If you can believe it."

She gave him a strange look after he said 'him', but he ignored it. "That's pretty unusual," she said. "Do you trust, um, this man?"

"I think so. He said he won't be ready to be with me again until after a year." He smiled, wistful. "I have all the time in the world to sit around and do nothing but worry about him."

Anya burst out laughing. "Is that what you think I did for thirty years? Just sat in this shed and worried about my husband? I used to be the chieftain of this village, before all the young people left."

"Really?"

"Yes. There was a time when a lot of people needed me, even though Boris wasn't around. Sometimes a river splits in half and diverges for hundreds of miles. But they must keep flowing to ever meet again."

"I think my guy's river is dried up. And on fire."

"Haha!" She bounced up and down inside her fluffy parka. "It's good to have someone that keeps you on your toes."

Goku stood up. "Anya. Do you want to see Boris again?"

"Of course I do."

"Okay. I'll be back with him in about ten minutes."

Anya grasped the arms of her chair. "What did you say?!"

"Bye!" He held his fingers to his forehead, then disappeared.

He reappeared back near the hammocks underground. The men jumped back in fright.

"Sorry to scare everyone." He folded his arms. "This place sucks, right? Don't you all want to leave?"

Although Goku was admired by the prisoners, his chipper demeanor in the face of what'd been hell for them was a slight against them all. "Yes, we would love to leave!" yelled a man eating the last remaining bit of beans out of a can.

"Okay. At first I thought I should dig the rest of the way through, since that's what my punishment is supposed to be. But Anya put in a special request, so why waste everyone's time?" He ran down the tunnel away from their sleeping quarters. "Everyone take cover!"

Behind him he heard loud murmuring and even a few shouts. I hope I don't send the whole place crumbling down. Then the next time Vegeta sees me, I'll be in a body bag. Once he reached the farthest part of the tunnel, he skidded to a stop. He spread his legs open, then pulled himself into the familiar stance. "Ka…me….ha…me…HA!"

The wave blew through the dirt and rubble, flying miles forward underground. Eek, I hope I didn't overshoot that! The earth shook until the energy wave was well beyond his sight.

He turned around. "Hey guys, I did it!"

All of the prisoners ran forward, holding their arms over their mouths and coughing from all the dust in the air. Boris grabbed onto Goku's shoulder. "What did you do, boy?"

"I finished digging the tunnel."

Boris' eyes bugged out of his head. "What? How?!"

"Umm…I'm a martial artist…" Goku was never sure how to explain this kind of thing to humans who knew nothing about him.

But Boris' glassy eyes lit with recognition. "You—I thought I'd seen you before. You've been in many tournaments. And defeated the evil King Piccolo!"

"Wow, you remember that?"

The old man tightened his grip on Goku's shoulder. "Can you take me to Anya? I must speak with her immediately!"

"Sure!" He looked around the tunnel at the rest of the prisoners, who looked completely dumbfounded as what to do next. "Congratulations on finishing your sentences, guys!" He disappeared.

Moments later, he reappeared in the middle of Anya's shack. The old woman nearly tumbled over in her rocking chair in fright. "Goku! A little warning next time!"

"Sorry!" He scratched the back of his head.

Boris' eyes wandered around the tiny room. Finally, he laid eyes on Anya. "Is it really…you?" he asked.

Anya ran across the room, crying. She wrapped her arms Boris' waist. "You're here! You're here, and you're alive. I can't believe it…"

He buried his face in her hair. "I've missed you so much."

"Aww," Goku said.

Boris kissed the top of his wife's head. "Anya…is it still here?"

She looked up at him, smiling. "Yes. Of course. Under the floorboards."

Huh? What're they talking about? Goku watched Boris crack his dirty knuckles. In an amazing display of strength, he ripped up half the floor with his bare hands. "Whoa!" Goku yelled.

There were guns. Lots and lots of guns. Big guns, small guns, and enormous machine guns. Anya's shed hid a huge basement stockpile of artillery that rivaled a small army's.

"Uh…What's with all the weapons?" Goku asked. Maybe I should've thought twice before freeing everyone…

"Ha. Haha." Boris ripped off his parka. Beneath the clothes was an old man with rippling pectorals and arms strong enough to rip a normal human in two. "Why do you think I went to prison, Goku?"

"I never thought about it until now!"

Boris chuckled. "I was a political prisoner. Punished for staging a failed coup. If you haven't noticed, the government in this region is very corrupt."

"I did think it was strange to go to prison for destroying one painting…"

"That's what you're being punished for?" Boris stretched his arms. "Then you'll join us in destroying them?"

Goku waved his hands. "No way, I don't want to kill anyone! It's not that big of a deal for me. I'm just happy you didn't spend the rest of your life in that hole."

"Goku. You have incredible power. But if you don't want to fight, perhaps you can help us with raiding the capitol city. You dug a tunnel straight there. If we take that path, it will be easy to ambush them."

"I don't know. I'd feel weird getting involved in something like that."

"Goku," Anya said, placing a frail hand on his arm. "If we promise not to kill…too many people—"

"No. You shouldn't kill anyone!"

She closed her eyes. "Fine. If we just hurt some people, will you help us?"

"Well…"

"I promise, Goku," Boris said, "if you help, we'll give you anything you want once we succeed."

"I don't need anything from you guys."

"What about your friend? The one you told me about?" Anya asked. "We could do something for him."

Goku blushed. "I don't know what you could possibly do to help that guy out."

"We'll think of something. Don't worry!" Anya cackled. Her sweet, old lady demeanor was gone. "First thing's first—we need to tell the men still in the tunnel about the plan. After that, we need you to lead them the thousand miles into the city."

"Gosh, you two aren't kidding around." Goku crossed his arms. "But I have an appointment with someone right now. Can I come back later?"

Boris nodded. "Yes. But you must come back before tomorrow afternoon. That's when the guards return to the prison to give out rations. The men must be long gone before then."

"Gotcha." Goku grinned, then disappeared.

Why isn't he here yet? An hour past sunset, Goku still hadn't arrived in Vegeta's room. He'd never felt so anxious waiting for someone to show up. He thought back to all the times Goku left his family and friends, leaving them to wait years at a time for his return.

There were a lot of things he knew they had to talk about. Which frightened him. Until recently, he was content being reticent around Goku. He assumed Goku would just step in line and follow his orders with little disobedience and questioning. Which got him into this mess in the first place.

It pained him to know Goku felt it necessary to trick him into being his mate. Am I really that difficult to deal with?

Vegeta sprawled out on his bed. He wore nothing but a pair of gray sweatpants. The rational part of his brain wanted to believe all they'd do is 'talk' during this little visit. But unless in the past few days Goku decided to become celibate, Future Vegeta will thank him for under dressing for this occasion.

After waiting a few minutes longer, he rummaged around on the floor and grabbed the sketchbook Marron gave him. Using the same broken pencil from earlier, he doodled over the page. He drew a cartoon of 18 and Krillin dancing, but Krillin was too short to see past 18's shoulders. "Heh…"

"Vegeta, what're you doing?"

He yelped, and shoved the sketchbook under his pillow. "Kakarot, why did you sneak up on me?"

Goku stood at the edge of Vegeta's bed, smiling. "Should I have knocked on the door first?"

Blushing, Vegeta pulled his knees to his chest. Goku stared deep into his eyes until Vegeta couldn't take the intensity anymore. He lowered his head to scrutinize Goku's snow boots, then swallowed in the rest of the larger Saiyan's body. "You're filthy. And what the hell are you wearing?"

"It's a long story." Goku pulled off his giant earmuffs. "Much better. I can hear you now."

"Don't talk to me until you've bathed." Vegeta pointed at the door leading to the bathroom.

Goku blinked. "Alright." He pulled off his giant parka, which dropped on the floor with a loud thud.

"Don't leave your filthy clothes on the bedroom floor. Undress in the bathroom and put them in the hamper!"

Goku smiled. "Yes, sir." As he walked into the bathroom, he trailed snow slush and dirt across the carpet.

Vegeta fell backwards onto the bed. He folded his hands over his stomach, and smiled up at the ceiling.