Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

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"Woman, will you deal with that infernal screaming? Your child is disrupting my training!"

"Your child? Trunks is just as much your child as he is mine!"

"No son of mine would wail in such a pitiful manner! Take him away and feed him!"

"He doesn't need feeding! He needs rest and he can't get any with you meat-heading your way through machinery!"

"Well why don't you..."

"No, you listen here, Mister! Why don't you consider the fact that I need to rest as well and you go put Trunks to bed for a change?"

"Hmph, such a task is more suitable for a handmaiden..."

"Of which we have none! So act like a father for once in your life and put your son to bed!"

Hence, Vegeta found himself in the most precarious of situations as his hands, strong enough to topple mountains, now cradled his infant child. "Well what am I meant to do with him?"

"Take him to bed and tell him a story," declared Bulma as she took a seat in one of the nearby chairs, propping her elbow onto the table and resting her head upon her hand.

"A story?" questioned Vegeta in confusion as he looked at Trunks. "The babe can not yet even form a word, how is he meant to understand a story?"

He waited for the response from Bulma; the witch seemed to be ready to respond to every sentence he produced but for once there wasn't a witty retort or a quick remark. Turning to look at the mother of his son, he noticed that Trunks wasn't the only one who was exhausted. Bulma had managed to fall asleep, propped up on the table and was dozing away without a care in the world.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he considered the crying baby in his arms before making his way towards Trunks' room. Vegeta knew that he could make the journey in the same time that it took to bat an eyelid but the infant he was carrying had no experience at traveling at such speeds and could very well be injured.

He would never hear the end of it if that were the case.

At least while walking Trunks seemed to be in a more stable condition and was merely whimpering as opposed to his unbearable squealing.

Minutes passed as Vegeta carried his son across the length of the building before arriving at his room. Pushing the door open, Vegeta surveyed the area. He had been in this room sparingly, the resting room of a child was no place for the Prince of Saiyans. It seemed though that Bulma's parents had provided Trunks with yet another oversized stuffed creature to plague the floorspace. Trunks was to be a warrior when he was of age, there was no need for such frivolous items.

Placing Trunks in his cot, Vegeta could immediately notice the boy beginning to squirm, preparing himself to cry out once more. "Fine, I'll tell you a story," grumbled Vegeta as he looked over to where a bookshelf stood, numerous stories filling it's shelves. Scouring through the material, Vegeta, while he would never admit it, found himself struggling to figure out which story would be appropriate. The child could not yet fully comprehend spoken words, what was he meant to tell him?

Trunks' groans of annoyance begin to grow and Vegeta knew that his time was growing thin. "Fine, I'm coming!" he growled as he grabbed a random book off the shelf and took a seat next to the cot. Looking at the title he had grabbed, Vegeta's face scrunched into one of annoyance before he tossed the book to the side. "You want a story, fine then, I'll tell you a story!"

Taking a calming breath as to not yell at his son, Vegeta considered just what it was that he would tell the young child. While true that he could not yet properly comprehend words, that didn't mean that it was right of him to tell some absurd or violent tale that could potentially give the child night terrors. The last thing Vegeta wanted was for Trunks' wailing to wake him at more ridiculous hours of the evening.

"There once was a Prince," started Vegeta, his words immediately having the desired effect as Trunks' noises dwindled in volume. "He was the Prince of a proud nation and he was destined to rule it all. Destiny however had other plans and the Prince found himself without a home to call his own. The vastness of space was an empty one and the Prince truly believed that there was somewhere out there that he could rule over as he had been taught."

"Planets shuddered at his very name and rightfully so, such was the might that he possessed. For many years the Prince did as he pleased without caring for the consequences of his actions. Yet, while still searching for a home to call his own, he found that while he thought that he was powerful by birthright alone, it didn't give him true strength."

"The Prince found himself humbled when he was recruited into the force of a tyrant whose numbers and ranks gave him infinitely more power than what the Prince had at his disposal. The Prince tried to revolt but was beaten and given a harsh lesson. Mere grunts had been more than enough to deal with the Prince and such knowledge had filled the Prince with hatred and rage."

"Despite his anger, the Prince could do nothing but obey," continued Vegeta as he stared up at the ceiling, gazing far past the roof. "Tasks which he once believed were well beneath someone of his status were forced upon him and he begrudgingly did as instructed, as much as he hated it."

"Time went on and the Prince continued to do as he was told until he began to rise in rank and power, hoping one day that he could stop the tyrant. On that journey he visited a planet which would one day become his home, even if he had no idea that it would be such at the time. During his visit, he sought to only increase his own strength so that he could one day topple the tyrant."

"The forces he encountered that day had resisted, pushing the Prince back into the cosmos in shame," said Vegeta solemnly as he turned to look at Trunks, prepared to continue his story. Before he said anything else however, he noticed that Trunks had clearly taken well to his words and was now dozing off, sound asleep.

A smirk of victory crossed Vegeta's face. Who knew that his words could hold such power?

Getting up from his chair, Vegeta made to exit the room in a rush to get back to his training. Stopping at the door however, Vegeta turned to look at his son. "Sleep well, my little Prince," he whispered before heading towards his training area. Perhaps one day he would resume his story, when Trunks was truly old enough to appreciate his words and 'Aww' in excitement.

Perhaps.