When she first told them she was pregnant, they were mostly ecstatic. Goku had been excited by the prospect of having another young one around. Piccolo had congratulated her as well. Veget was indifferent.

However, that changed when she explained to them what this meant for her. Piccolo had taken it the best. He had remained mostly calm, although he refused to talk to Greg. Goku went into denial. He refused to believe she was even capable of dying. "Even if you could, we can just wish you back with the dragon balls, right?" he asked hopefully to which she had sadly responded "no". Vegeta had taken it the worst out of all of them. He went on a rampage, leveling an entire mountain range in his blind fury. All the while, there was only question on his mind: Why. Why would she do this? Why did she have to die for that pathetic little human? Why did she care so much for that twerp? In Vegeta's mind, he was a dead beat idiot with no future. He wasn't a warrior. He wasn't a guardian. There was nothing spectacular about him at all! If he had wanted to, Vegeta could have squashed him beneath his boot. And now, Mr. Universe was about to cause the death of her.

Rose deserved better than this. She shouldn't be dying this way. If she was to die, she should be dying in battle, valiantly defending the planet she so cared for. Not because some broke little 'artist' managed to catch her eye. This was all his fault! If he ever had to look at that man's face again, he wouldn't be responsible for what happened next.

Vegeta floated over a burning forest. In his palm a ball of ki grew. As he prepared to fire it, a voice called to him. "Vegeta, Stop!" it said. He turned to look down and see Rose looking up at him in disappointment. "Get down here. I need to have a word with you," she ordered. The Saiyan obeyed and floated to the ground.

"What do you want?" he grumbled, "Do you have more bad news for me? Did reveal my location to Frieza as well?"

"Vegeta stop it," she said sternly, "I understand you're upset, but you need to control yourself."

"Control myself?" Vegeta repeated, "Maybe you should take your own advice. After all, you didn't show much self control when you decided to kill yourself! You didn't even consult any of us about it!"

"Would you have reacted any differently if I had, Vegeta?" she asked. He didn't respond. "Vegeta, I'm sorry. It was not my intention to hurt any of you with this," she said, "I don't expect you to fully understand, but at least let me try to explain." "I care about you, Goku, and Piccolo very deeply, but you're not going to be around forever," she explained, "You all may live fairly long lives compared to most species but to me, it's a blink of the eye. With Greg it's even worse. This is a way for me to hold onto a piece of him, because while it may seem like I'm dead to you, that isn't how it is for me."

"If you're not dead and you're not alive, then what are you?" Vegeta questioned.

"The closest thing I could compare this to is fusion," she said, "I won't be there anymore, not truly, but I will be a part of Steven." "What he feels, I feel. Although he may not have my memories or all of my powers I still will be with all of you through him," she explained, "And because of that, I have something to ask of you. I need you to protect him Vegeta. He may be a gem, but he's still a human. Will you do that for me?"

Vegeta was quiet for a moment before sighing and turning to her. "Very well Rose...Though I may not enjoy it, I'll do as you say," he relented.

Rose smiled brightly, eyes sparkling. "Thank you, Vegeta," she said, pulling him into a hug, "You don't know how much this means to me." "Now," she said as she let him go, "As your master I have to ask you to have to clean up the mess you made." She gestured to the flaming forest. "We're supposed to be defending the planet, not destroying it, and just because I'm preoccupied doesn't mean I won't get on your case about something like this," she stated.

Vegeta smirked slightly. "Very well, Master Rose," he said with a slight bow before taking off.

…

Vegeta stared out over the water as he sat atop the temple statue. He had returned from his two year long retreat to the Sahara Desert a little over a year ago. Despite taking the time to get over his loss, he could still feel a slight sting when he acknowledged her absence. He had stayed for the day of her death to say goodbye but had left soon after the child was born. Chichi, the girl Goku started bringing around, had scolded him for his departure as he had left Goku and Piccolo alone to look after the boy with Greg. His response had been simple: he was doing as his Master had commanded of him and protecting the boy...from himself. For a long time after her death, he had been less than emotionally stable. Had he stuck around and found himself alone with the reason for his instability, there wouldn't be a child to protect anymore.

Since then, he had calmed himself down. He accepted the boy's presence, although he did not take an active part in his life. Still he did as he was told and watched over the boy. In this case, very literally. The boy was playing hide and seek with his father and Chichi on the beach below. Goku and Piccolo had left on a mission, so he was left alone.

As he watched Chichi count, he saw Greg run to hide behind his van, beckoning his son to do the same. Steven, however, had a different idea. He waddled over to the temple and attempted to climb up the ledge and hide among the rocks. His father called to him and Chichi stopped counting to see what was going on. The boy was now on the slippery rocks and attempting to climb down. The two humans ran towards him, telling him to stop, but before they could do anything, the boy started slipping. "Ahh!" he squeaked as he lost his grip.

With that, Vegeta snapped into action. Before the boy could even scrape his knee, Vegeta had caught him mid air. Little Steven looked up at his savior in wonder, although the man didn't seem to be paying attention to him as he looked to the two humans who were supposed to be looking after the boy. Chichi and Greg breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly floated the two to the ground.

As the touched down on the sand, Vegeta set him down. "You should listen to those two and come when they call," he scolded the almost two year old, "If I hadn't been there to save you, you would have cracked your head open. Now run along."

Steven didn't pay attention to his words, because as soon as Vegeta let go of him, he grabbed on to the Saiyan's leg. Vegeta growled. "Hey!" he hissed, trying to gently shake the boy off, "Let go! I'm not your-" he stopped however, when the little boy looked up to him with a bright smile. His eyes sparkled in a familiar way: the same way his mother's used to. Vegeta's eyes softened slightly.

"What he feels, I feel. Although he may not have my memories or all of my powers I still will be with all of you through him,"

Vegeta stopped trying to shake the boy off as Greg and Chichi ran up to them. "Steven!" Greg cried, "Oh thank goodness you're ok! Don't do that again! You scared us. Are you alright?"

The little boy nodded his head and squeezed Vegeta's leg. Greg flinched slightly at this and Chichi bit her lip. "Ahhh Steven! I think you should let go of Vegeta now," he said nervously, "I don't know if he appreciates it very-"

"The boy is fine," Vegeta stated, surprising both of them.

"Are you sure Vegeta?" Chichi asked. The Saiyan nodded. "Alright then…" she said.

"Still…" Greg stated, "We should probably get him back to the van. It's almost lunch. Thanks for the save, Vegeta." Chichi nodded as well.

Vegeta simply shrugged in response. Then Steven tugged on his pant leg. The Saiyan looked down at the little boy. "Geta?" he asked, "You eat lunch wiff us?"

"I appreciate the offer," he responded, "but I don't think your father has enough food for me."

"Awww…" the little boy said, looking down.

"Maybe some other time, buddy," Greg said taking the boy's hand, "Come on, let's go."

"Say goodbye and thank you Steven!" Chichi said.

"Thank you!" Steven chirped, waving his hand at the Saiyan, "Bye-bye, Geta!"

The Saiyan nodded and watched them walk back to the van.

….

A few weeks later...

Light filled the room as Piccolo touched down on the warp pad in the temple. He placed a gem inside a ring box and started walking towards the door when he heard a couple voices.

"YAH!"

"No, no, no! Keep your body still when you punch. If you throw you whole body into every movement, you'll become tired and unbalanced."

Piccolo raised an eyebrow and stepped outside the temple to see what was going on. His eyes widened as he looked upon a sight he never expected to see: Vegeta was kneeling in front of Steven with his hand outstretched as the boy punched the center of his palm.

"Like this?" the little boy asked, now taking up a firm stance and thrusting his fist at the Saiyan's hand.

Vegeta nodded. "Better," he said, "Now do that again. Repete an action enough and you will be able to perform it without thinking."

The boy thrust his hand out again, a little more forceful. "Ow!" he cried, when his tiny fist made contact, "Your hand hurt me, Geta!"

The Saiyan simply shrugged. "Your hand only hurts because you haven't toughen it up enough yet," he explained, "If you keep working, it will stop hurting one day."

"Will I get ta chop stuff up like Goku and Pickle-o and you?" the boy asked.

Vegeta nodded. "But only if you keep practicing and take your training seriously," he said.

The three year old nodded. "I can be seweous!" he announced, "I'll be da most seweous fighta of dem all!"

"Good," Vegeta said, nodding.

Piccolo smirked slightly as he watched them. After a few moments, he walked back into the temple, leaving them be.

WOOO! 50 chapters! This is by far the most I've ever written for anything! Thank you guys for all of your support! I really appreciate all the reviews, and I'm glad you like this story so much. I'm going to go on a bit of a hiatus though and probably won't be posting so regularly until late May. Until then, I really hope you've enjoyed this story so far. Feel free to leave prompts, suggestions, or just let me know what you think! Have a great day guys!