A/N: For all of you readers out there, thanks so much for sticking with this story! Special shout out to the usual reviewers, too. You guys are awesome. I take your every word to heart.

Based on what I have planned, we're about three-quarters through the story. The end is near! This chapter was actually supposed to include a lot more action, but I just couldn't gloss over this intimate moment between Goku and Vegeta. They're so much fun to write. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I know the last three have been tough. You deserve fluff.

Everybody Loves Vegeta, Too!

Part Sixteen

"Vegetaaaa," Goku yelled from the bathroom.

"What is it?" In his bedroom, Vegeta waited on pins and needles. This had to be the longest shower in the world. What could Goku possibly be doing in there for so long?

"I need a towel."

Goku, for the most part, wasn't the seductive type. Not intentionally. But Vegeta knew Goku had at least two brain cells to rub together so he could find the linen closet. It was his poor attempt to get the Prince to come in the bathroom. "The towels are in the closet next to the sink."

"But I can't reach it."

"Yes you can, dear."

"Vegeta…my clothes are dirty. Can you wash them for me?"

He has a good point, his clothes are dir—"Hey! Stop being lazy and get out here already."

"Pleeease…"

"Ugh. Fine." Vegeta rolled out of bed and stomped into the bathroom. Steam filled the small space, water droplets in the air clinging to his skin. He plucked Goku's clothes up off the floor, then stared into the frosted glass shower door. Goku smiled back at him. "Hey."

Vegeta blushed. Quickly, he turned on his heel and ran out. Goku knew exactly how to toy with him. In the hallway he found the nook hiding the washing machine. He dumped in the dirty clothes along with some detergent, then started the cycle. Easy enough.

Back in his room he waited for Goku again. He pulled his sketchbook out from beneath his pillow, and shoved it under the bed. The shower's thundering roar finally ended. "Hey Vegeta," Goku said, voice much clearer than before, "I hope you don't mind if I use your toothbrush."

"WHAT!" Vegeta ran to the bathroom door and flung it open. Goku stood with a white towel barely wrapped around his waist, and a plastic toothbrush in his outstretched hand. "Put that down!"

"Geez, I was joking. I found one unwrapped under the sink." Goku brushed his teeth, still smiling at Vegeta.

"You." Vegeta's eyes trailed down Goku's firm stomach. "You're…"

"I'm what? All wet?"

"Yes." The word fell out of his mouth, stupid and slow. Of course Goku was wet. He was just in the shower. Why were they even talking about this?

Goku spit his toothpaste into the sink. "Mm. You want to dry me off?"

"Yes. Fuck. I mean no. No, I don't."

Goku slid off his towel and used it to pat-dry his spiky hair. He kept his dark eyes glued to Vegeta the whole time, as if daring the Prince to look down past his naked hips. Vegeta won that game by turning around. "When you're done, come back in my room."

"I don't have any clothes to wear, 'Geta. Since you put them in the wash."

You bastard! "Take these. They'll fit you." Vegeta pulled down his sweatpants. Thank gods he was wearing underwear.

"Thanks," Goku said, the fun all gone from his voice. Vegeta turned to leave again, but Goku grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, hold on a sec."

"Yes?"

Goku wrapped his warm arms around Vegeta's waist. He sighed, and leaned his head in the crook of Vegeta's neck. "I missed you."

Vegeta felt the steam still rising off his damp skin. The smell of his own soap and Goku's scent overcame his senses. He leaned against Goku's weight. "I missed you too."

"Good. Wanna do it?"

"Kakarot! You're here to talk, remember?"

"I know…" He growled into Vegeta's ear. "I'm just so horny. Aren't you?"

Vegeta never had the pleasure of hearing the word 'horny' grace Goku's mouth before. To recollect himself, he silently counted to ten. Afterward he plucked Goku's hands from his body. "I'm serious. We should talk."

Goku poked his lower lip out. "Fine." He marched into the bedroom, and planted himself in the middle of the bed.

As a courtesy, Vegeta snuggled up beside him. Goku's pissy demeanor evaporated, leaving a pleasing smile on his lips. Vegeta laid his head down into Goku's lap and stared up at him.

"Vegeta," Goku said in a whisper. He ran his fingers through Vegeta's hair. "Your hair grew again."

"It did?" He hadn't noticed at all, and he'd been paying close attention.

"It grew a little in the back. You're almost back to normal, huh?"

"It seems insignificant to me now," Vegeta sighed. "I'm sorry. Again. About the other day."

Goku continued running his fingers in rows across Vegeta's scalp. "I forgive you. But why don't you want to see me for a whole year?"

Vegeta slid his hand up the arm petting him. He couldn't outright tell Goku about his plans for mating. Not yet. Knowing Goku, he'd want to get the deed done in just a few days. "Kakarot, I know you love me. But if you haven't noticed, I'm not good at being a boyfriend."

"Sure you are—"

"No. I want to be better for you. So please, I need this time to focus on that."

Goku looked down wistfully at him. "So it's like you're about to train."

Vegeta chuckled at his sudden insightfulness. "That's a good way of thinking about it."

"I've been away for longer than a year, huh." He ghosted his thumb across the bottom of Vegeta's lip. "What changed your mind about all of this?"

"I thought about you while you were gone. A lot." He paused. "And 18 lectured me about how much of an asshole I am."

Goku laughed. "I wish she'd been your friend sooner."

Vegeta enjoyed the way Goku's fingers traced though his scalp and down the nape of his neck. It sent a pleasing shiver to the base of his spine. Goku hummed some nameless song under his breath, and it nearly lulled Vegeta to sleep. Goku's soft voice brought him away from the brink. "Vegeta, since you want to…change things, can I ask you questions without you getting mad at me anymore?"

He hadn't expected that. "Sure."

"Do you never want to mate with me?"

Vegeta inhaled. "How about after the year is up, maybe we can talk about it again?"

Goku gasped. "Really?!"

"I won't lie. I've been thinking about it." He smirked, pressing a finger against Goku's opening mouth. "I said I was thinking about it. Don't get ahead of yourself."

Goku flashed him a giant smile. "That's good enough for me. I'll be happy even if we don't."

"My father would be furious if he knew I'd be submissive in a relationship." He laughed to himself. It was an outright lie. Maybe back when Planet Vegeta existed, his father would be in an outrage. But only Goku could convince King Vegeta to come back from the afterlife to berate his son about mating with the third-class specifically.

"You can make me submissive to you anytime you want," Goku said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Oh shut-up," Vegeta said, playfully pushing Goku away from him.

"I have another question, Veggie. But you may not like it."

"Shoot."

"Why did you have sex with Frieza?"

He winced. "I didn't think you'd ask about that."

"I need to know. You said I was like him."

"I'm sorry I said that, Kakarot." He felt his heart pound in his chest. "It's complicated. I think I did it because I enjoyed hurting myself. I was young when it happened, and I wasn't happy then."

It was difficult to gauge Goku's long silence. "Did you want me to have sex with you on our date because you wanted me to hurt you? Because you don't like yourself?"

Vegeta bit his lip. By the way Goku tensed his muscles, he took Vegeta's hesitance as something to fear. "I wanted to have sex because I trusted you. But yes, part of me must have felt the other way too."

Predictably, Goku didn't react well. He bared his teeth. "Why do you think I'd want to do something so horrible to you?"

"It doesn't have anything to do with you at all. It's all me." He pressed his hand against Goku's chest to soothe him. "You're the only man I've ever been in love with. I'm still confused about how to handle all of this."

Goku's anger slipped from him. "That night—I wanted to make love to you. Not nail you to the floorboards…Not that I didn't enjoy it, of course."

"Don't take what I said earlier the wrong way. I trust you, and I'd do it again regardless of my feelings about Frieza." He grinned. "It was the best sex of my life."

Goku's face reddened at that. His eyes darted around the room. "Fine. Next question. What was having sex with my brother like?"

Vegeta rubbed his face. "It was fine."

"Just fine? You said he was better at it than me."

"It was a lie. You're better." Vegeta smirked. "You're a lot more fun than he ever was."

"Whew, that's good!" Goku planted a kiss on Vegeta's forehead.

"Is Yamcha better than I am?" Vegeta asked.

"Oh," Goku yelped, caught off guard. "I stopped thinking about that after Bulma got so mad at me."

"How could you stop? It was incredible."

"I'd like to think so. But what about Bulma's feelings?"

Vegeta was unsure whether to bring up what went down at Capsule Corp the other night. Was it dishonest to never mention he almost had sex with Bulma? The moment actually helped him dedicate himself to improving his relationship with Goku, so maybe it was important to bring up. "Kakarot, I'm going to tell you something. I don't want to upset you—"

"Uh-oh."

"I met with Bulma last night. We almost had sex." He let the statement exist between them for a few moments. "But I stopped myself. I was lonely for you, and it was a bad habit of mine."

"Having sex with Bulma?!"

"Yes. After a big fight." Vegeta paused again. "I won't be seeing her for a year either. She said she's going to start dating again, too."

"Wow." Goku looked away from Vegeta to stare out the window. "I guess my suspicions about you two wasn't just my imagination, huh?"

Ouch. "You're right. But I don't want her. I want you." He hoped he hadn't lost Goku already. "She's jealous of how much I care for you."

"She didn't say that!"

"She did. That's the real reason she was so pissed about getting that phone call."

Goku closed his eyes, digesting the new information. Finally he sighed in relief. "Thank gods. She made me feel like shit. But does that mean she's still in love with you?"

"There are…lingering feelings. But only on her end."

Goku frowned. Vegeta couldn't do anything to help the reality of the situation; he settled on rubbing Goku's chest as an unspoken apology. Goku covered Vegeta's hand with his own. "I can't see how she could possibly be jealous of me."

"You are hot, Kakarot."

"Heh. I always saw you as the hot one."

"That's nice and all, but you never answered my question. Is Yamcha better at screwing you than me?"

"Haha Vegeta, we only had sex one time!"

"He's that good, huh?" Vegeta muttered under his breath.

"No, no, don't take it that way!" Vegeta admired the shy way Goku scratched the back of his head and blushed. How could a grown man be so adorable? "Of course you're better! It's just I've never, um, felt anything that big in me before. It was amazing!"

"You looked amazing getting reamed by that goofy bastard. I never knew you loved cock so much."

Goku's eyes narrowed. He licked his lips. "Yeah, me neither. It was great when we did him at the same time, too. I loved the sounds you both made."

The energy between them shifted. Vegeta wanted to slap himself silly. Here he was doing the same thing he chided Goku for in the bathroom earlier. If he let things get out of hand too soon, they'd be naked in seconds. Going by Goku's leer, in his imagination he was already on all fours atop Vegeta's bed. "Would you ever want to do it again?" Vegeta asked. Shit, that's not the direction I should go in either!

"Totally. But uh, I guess Yamcha has a thing with Puar? I don't want to get in between those two."

"She's a cat. You can't be in a real relationship with a cat."

"She's my friend. I don't want to hurt her."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Kakarot."

"During this year, you're not going to…you know…"

"Fuck Yamcha?" Vegeta laughed. "I wasn't planning on it."

"Oh. Good!" Goku looked genuinely relieved. "I liked it when it was between all three of us."

Vegeta nodded. "Mm. May I ask you another question?"

"I thought I was asking them." Goku grinned. "But what do you want to know?"

"Why are you in love with me?"

Goku laughed as if the answer was obvious. "You make me so happy, Vegeta! Even when you're mean to me. You always have."

I wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"Hm." Goku counted his fingers. "You always want to get stronger, which I admire. You always look out for the people you love, even if you say otherwise. You have respect and pride for things that matter. You never give up on anything. You're a better father than I ever was—"

"Don't say that."

"It's true! You've always been around for Trunks while he grew up." He continued to count. "And you're my best friend 'cause you understand me better than anyone else. Aaand you're really attractive. Should I go on even though you're blushing now?"

Vegeta threw an arm over his face. "Kakarot, I love you."

Goku pulled Vegeta's arm down. "Aw, Vegeta…Why are you hiding from me? I have to see as much of you as I can before I leave."

"Are you going back to the prison?" Vegeta had no idea what Goku's life was like now. "Where is it? Since you have those ridiculous clothes it must be somewhere freezing."

Goku went into detail about the strange underground prison, digging the tunnel, and Boris and Anya's plan for rebellion. "It's all strange, but at least it'll give me something to do for the next year!"

Vegeta raised his brow. "You're not the revolutionary type. So why bother?"

Goku shrugged. "They seem nice enough. It's good to help people."

"Your life's been much more interesting than mine. Maybe I make you boring."

"I love being boring with you!"

Vegeta smiled. "Fine. But you can only be boring with me until the morning. Then you should leave."

"Ooh, I get to stay? Will you entertain me?"

Vegeta read the alarm clock next to his bed. "We have five minutes until the spin cycle is over."

As quiet as a mouse, Trunks slid out of Goten's room.

A thin veneer of sweat covered his body. He was at the brink of exhaustion, but he'd finally succeeded at taking Goten's innocence. Not that there was much left when they began earlier that night. Both of them were adamant to be as quiet as possible so not to raise attention from Krillin or 18. He imagined Krillin would chew him out mercilessly for taking advantage of his generosity.

He smacked his lips. He couldn't wait to get downstairs and grab a fresh, cold glass of wa—

"Ah! Ah! Ahh, Vegeta!"

Trunks snapped his neck to stare at his father's bedroom door. It sounded like Vegeta was flinging his bed against the wall and floor. Mattress springs squeaked in what resembled pain. A loud string of curses bled into the hall. "Fuck, Kakarot!"

"Yes! Oh gods, right there—" Goku's voice was at a strange, quivery pitch Trunks never heard before. His horror kept him glued to the spot.

"You fucking love my cock, don't you?"

"Yes! Yes baby—" Goku cut himself off with a long groan. The floor shook, and a picture frame on the wall fell to the ground. Trunks jumped away from the broken glass.

Unlike Goten, Trunks didn't have as easy of a time acknowledging his father's new relationship. In his mind it was a fact with no emotional connotation besides a latent annoyance. He categorized it in a part of his brain where he didn't have to consider the actual mechanics of his father having sex with a man. It was just a strange, abstract thing that happened whenever he wasn't around. Talking about it with his dad was awkward, but still allowed him the comfort of thinking about it in the theoretical.

Until now. For the first time it was real.

Maybe they're just fighting, he thought. Yeah! His dad and Goku were just sparring like old times. And fighting was always noisy. That's why they were screaming.

"Do you want it," Vegeta panted, short of breath, "in your ass or your mouth?"

"In my ass, Vegeta, fill me right the fuck up—"

Trunks pressed his weight against the wall. Yup…They're sparring! Just sparring! That's all that's happening right now!

Vegeta yelped. Moments later, all the clamor died down. Only heavy pants and gasps came from behind the bedroom door. Goku purred. "Oh, Vegeta…"

Trunks flexed his hands. Sweat drenched his palms from clenching them for so long. The unmistakable sound of slurping came from inside the bedroom, mingling with Goku's soft moaning. Minutes later, Goku's moans petered off into a sigh.

Thank the gods. Trunks could finally compose himself. Then wipe the memory from his mind forever—

Vegeta slammed the bedroom door open. He wiped his arm against his wet mouth. Trunks noticed he was also mid-way through tugging a pair of boxer shorts up his waist. The blood drained from his face. His father stared back at him, then walked to the washing machine. Tranquil, he loaded the dryer up with the wet clothes, turned on the machine, then glanced at Trunks again.

Trunks gulped. "Hi Dad."

Vegeta squinted at him, peering into his soul. "Did you just bed Kakarot's son?"

Trunks nearly fell over. "I…Um—"

Vegeta crossed his arms. "Well done."

He wasn't sure how to take that. This sequence of events was too much for his teenage brain to process.

Vegeta was in obvious high spirits. A smirk graced his ruddy face, and he walked back into the bedroom without another word.

Downstairs in his own bed, Krillin stared up at the ceiling. Beside him lay 18 with an equally as shocked look on her face.

He pointed upward. "They…made a crack…" His finger followed the long, thin fissure in the ceiling plaster.

"Wow," 18 said. "I take it their conversation went really well."

At dawn, Goku was awoken by Vegeta stretching like a cat beside him. Naked, firm muscles slid against his own. Instinctively he pulled Vegeta closer to his chest, spooning him from behind. His large palms smoothed over his stomach. "Mm, good morning."

Vegeta grumbled. He rubbed the soles of his feet against Goku's toes. Goku interpreted it as a cheerful greeting. A brilliant idea popped into his head. He sucked on a small patch of skin on Vegeta's neck, nibbling and occasionally biting down on it.

Vegeta smiled, his eyes still closed. "Stop it. It tickles."

"Just leaving you something to remember me by." Goku tugged on the wet skin until it slid from between his lips with a pop. He moved to another sensitive part of Vegeta's neck and repeated the process. Vegeta purred at the affection, his words betraying his body. "Stop it, Kakarot…"

Goku nibbled another patch of skin. "Or what?"

Vegeta slid away from him. "Turn your back to me," he sighed. Going by his groggy voice he was still half asleep.

Goku briefly pouted, then flipped over. Behind him, Vegeta snaked his arm up his chest. His index and middle finger prodded into Goku's mouth to massage his tongue. Goku sucked on them to coat them in his spit. As much as he adored the rough side of Vegeta, the rare moments the Prince lavished him with tenderness made him feel like he was falling in love all over again.

Vegeta pulled his fingers from his mouth. Anticipating what was to come next, Goku repositioned himself by pulling his right knee to his chest. With the easier pathway, Vegeta pressed the two fingers inside him with ease.

For a long while they stayed just like that. Vegeta slowly scissored and curled his fingers inside of Goku until the larger Saiyan worked himself into a mild frenzy. When he finally pulled out, Goku rolled his face into the pillow and groaned. Vegeta pressed his tip into him, slowly rocking in and out.

"Closer," Vegeta mumbled into Goku's ear. He grasped onto Goku's raised leg and pulled it closer to him so Goku spread further open. The position allowed him to slide in deeper.

"Oooh…" The pillow ate all of Goku's nonsensical muttering. He couldn't remember the last time they had sex this slow. Every time Vegeta hit the wonderful spot deep inside of him, a toe-curling wave of pleasure jolted up his spine to his neck.

"I love you," Vegeta whispered.

Goku clenched his eyes shut. It was the first time Vegeta uttered those words during sex. "I love you too," he sighed.

Vegeta wrapped his palm around Goku's cock and gently pulled. Gasping, Goku wanted to prolong the blissful moment, but couldn't contain himself. Soon he came in Vegeta's hand. Behind him Vegeta buried his face in his neck to muffle his own orgasm.

They cuddled, still joined together. Goku drifted off back to sleep.

Hours later, a soft knock rapped against the door. "Uncle Vegeta?"

Vegeta raised his head. The pillowcase stuck to the side of his cheek, glued to his face with drool. "Huh?"

"We're having breakfast downstairs." It was Marron. There was a weird pitch to her voice. She giggled. "Is Uncle Goku still with you?"

Vegeta rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Beside him Goku lay, snoring loud enough to wake the dead. How did he ever sleep through that? "Yes, he is."

"Great! You both can come down and eat with us!"

He yawned. "Sure. Let me get ready."

Marron ran away from the door back down the hall. He shoved Goku. "Wake up, Kakarot."

"Nooo." Goku pulled the bed sheets over his messy head and curled into a ball.

"There's breakfast downstairs."

Goku jumped up, eyes bloodshot. "Why didn't you say so?" He leapt out of bed. "I gotta take another shower. Where are my clothes?"

"In the dryer. Get in there and I'll join you in a second."

While Goku stumbled into the bathroom, Vegeta skulked into the hall and pulled all of Goku's clothes from the dryer. A wave of sadness hit him and he had to catch his breath. For the past few months he was used to washing Goku's clothes. This was the last time he'd do such a thing for a year. He walked back into his room and threw them onto the bed.

Krillin's guest shower was a single stall, which made it difficult for them to get much cleaning done at the same time. "Dammit Kakarot, let me get my soap!" Goku was in the middle of washing his hair, while Vegeta was still trying to get started. At one point Goku wrung his hair out and dripped soap into Vegeta's eyes. The Prince smacked him hard on the ass. "Hurry up already!"

"Ow! Fine!" Goku open the shower door and dripped all the way back to the bedroom to get dressed.

In a rush, Vegeta abandoned his morning ritual of looking in the mirror. He quickly dressed himself. "Let's go," he said while tugging on Goku's arm. They rushed downstairs like children, occasionally bumping into each other when rounding a corner.

Goku stepped into the dining room. "Hey guys!" He beamed.

Vegeta knew something was wrong the moment he stepped foot off the stairs. Marron was blushing. 18 had the most devious smirk he'd ever seen plastered all of her face. And Krillin…looked like steam was about to pour from his ears.

"Oh. Hello, Goku!" Krillen said, shouting. He stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

"Hey buddy, long time no see!" Goku clapped him on the back. "I've got some good news. I'm not going to be in prison anymore!"

"Is that so?" 18 said. She hadn't touched her plate of food yet.

"Yup. I finished my sentence." Goku frowned. "Then I'm going back to help the prisoners with something." He sat down in the empty seat next to Marron and fixed himself a huge helping from the breakfast spread on the table. "I'll be gone for a long time."

"I'm so happy to see you again!" Marron said. She hugged Goku and almost got her arm bitten in the crossfire of his eating. "Will you still visit us from time to time?"

"I hope I can," he said, looking at Vegeta. At rapid fire speed, he stuffed food into his mouth. "Where's Goten?"

"The kid sleeps like a log. If we're lucky we'll see him by lunchtime," Krillin muttered.

Vegeta sat down opposite of Marron. The girl's eyes bulged, then she looked away. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she said.

"Vegeta," 18 said, her voice cracking. "Did you—" she laughed. "Did you get into a fight last night? Your neck is covered in..." She laughed, unable to finish the sentence.

Horror stricken, he raised his hand and touched his neck. Goddammit, Kakarot!

"Sorry," Goku said, blushing.

Leave it to Kakarot to cover me in hickies! He rubbed his neck, ashamed.

"That's not the only thing you should apologize for," Krillin murmured.

"Oh." Goku looked up from his food. "Sorry about the other night, Krillin. I had to borrow some food. I was so hungry! But you should be happy, because you also fed a bunch of the prisoners—"

"Not that!" Krillin yelled. "Well, that pissed me off too! But what about last night?"

Goku tilted his head. "Did I do something wrong?"

18 laughed. "The whole house got to hear you two's performance." She applauded in Vegeta's direction. "Bravo, Prince Vegeta!"

Oh my gods. Vegeta face-palmed himself.

"Oh wow, you could hear us?" Goku said. "I'm sorry!"

"You nearly broke my ceiling!" Krillin yelled, waving his arms in the air.

"Hee-hee!" Goku scratched the back of his head. "Sorry Krillin. There's no way I could be quiet while Vegeta was—"

"Let's not talk about this anymore!" Vegeta loaded up his plate. "Isn't there anything more interesting to discuss?"

Krillin huffed. "I guess." The anger faded from his voice. Vegeta figured few people could stay upset with Goku for long. "Last night 18 told me about your new hobby, Vegeta."

Marron squeaked. "Dad! Not while Uncle Goku's here!"

Both Goku and Krillin raised a brow. "Why not?" Krillin asked. "Goku should know Vegeta is—"

"Hush! I told you it's going to be a surprise!" 18 grabbed onto Krillin's wrist.

"Huh? What?" Goku looked at Vegeta. "What's a surprise?"

"Nothing at all." Vegeta sighed. This family was going to be the death of him. "Kakarot, you should tell us more about your journey the past few days."

Goku gave him a strange smile. "Okay."

The rest of breakfast was filled with conversation about the underground prison, the strange wintry wasteland it lay in, and the prisoners' plans. "It sounds pretty dangerous," Marron pointed out. "Are you sure you won't just get into more trouble?"

Goku shrugged. "They said they wouldn't kill anyone, so it can't be too bad. Right?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Sure."

After breakfast, Vegeta walked Goku to the front door. The familiar twinge of sadness hit him again. It was hard to remember he had to stick to his goal. If Goku pushed him too much in the other direction, he might just agree a year apart was too long.

Goku stood in front of the open door, peering sadly into the outside world. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know." Vegeta peered over his shoulder. Krillin's whole family was watching them. "May I have some privacy?" he asked.

"No. Not after last night. You lost that privilege," 18 said.

Vegeta sighed. "Fine." He looked up at Goku's sad face. "Please trust me. It's a long time, but things will be better when you get back."

"I can't imagine what that'll be like," Goku said. Like during their picnic date, the sunlight pouring in the doorway cast a halo around his face. It was so blinding Vegeta wanted to look away. "You're already perfect for me, Vegeta."

"Aww," 18 said.

Vegeta rubbed the side of Goku's face. "You're too kind to me."

"Can I come see you sometimes? Or at least call you?"

"You can call me once in a while."

Goku's smile lit up the room. "Are you going to stay here the whole time?"

"If they let me."

"We will!" 18 yelled.

"Good. I'll send you things in the mail, okay?" Goku leaned down and pecked his cheek.

"Wow Uncle Vegeta, you're going to get love letters!" Marron gushed.

All this talk from the peanut gallery was driving Vegeta up a wall. "Yes, it's all very romantic."

Goku straightened his back. "I'll miss you. I love you, Vegeta."

Vegeta blushed. He didn't want everyone to see this part of their goodbye. But what could he do about it now? "I love you too, Kakarot. More than anything."

"Aww!" 18 and Marron cooed behind him.

"This is super weird," Krillin said, half-laughing.

"Shut-up!" Vegeta said. He pulled Goku down into another kiss. Goku sighed and embraced him. They continued to kiss each other, Vegeta pleased by how Goku's mouth felt perfect against his own. Goku's hand roamed down his back to grab his ass.

"Ahem," 18 coughed.

"Okay, time for me to go!" Goku looked past Vegeta and waved. "See you guys in a year!"

"See ya, Goku," Krillin said. Vegeta glanced back at him, and could've sworn he was misty-eyed. He wondered how many times Krillin had to say goodbye to Goku in his lifetime.

"Goodbye," Goku said. He stole another quick kiss from Vegeta. He mouthed 'I love you', then walked backwards out the door.

"Kakarot…" Vegeta followed him. He tugged on Goku's sleeve. "I'm sorry for throwing the rings away." He wasn't sure why that had to be the last thing he said to him. But in his heart it felt important to mention.

Goku smiled again, but this time he looked so forlorn. "That's okay, sweetie." He leaned close to Vegeta. "Besides, I can't wait to see your surprise when I get back."

"Don't forget about me," Vegeta said in a rush. It was the stupidest thing he'd ever said. He pulled Goku into another kiss, unable to tear himself away.

Goku laughed into his mouth, and pressed his fingers to his forehead. In the middle of their kiss, he disappeared. Vegeta tumbled forward, catching himself on one knee.

He's gone. Vegeta stared into the empty void in front of him for a few seconds. He regained his composure and walked back inside the house.

Marron's eyes sparkled. She clasped her hands together. "I hope I can be in love like that one day."

"Whatever." He rolled his shoulders. "Can we begin our lessons now?"

She looked taken aback by how Vegeta didn't appear fazed at all. She nodded. "Of course!"

"Good. I'll be in your studio shortly." Marron skipped out of the front room in joy. Vegeta brought his attention to Krillin and 18. He bent into a half bow. "Thank you both for keeping me. I'm sorry about last night."

"It's—"

"Fine," 18 said, interrupting Krillin. "Don't worry about it."

"Krillin," Vegeta said, "I need a favor. Do you know where I can find the Namekian? I don't want to waste time searching the whole planet for him again."

"Piccolo? He's usually over Gohan's house nowadays." Krillin chuckled. "He's big into babysitting Pan."

"Is that so?" Vegeta looked up at the ceiling. I don't like children, but if this plan works…

"Yep. What do you need him for?"

Vegeta didn't bother replying. He walked outside through the patio door toward Marron's studio, still looking up at the sky in deep thought.