Chapter 40
The two royals look at each other as they both stand there; Vegeta gauging the woman's nerves and apprehension whilst Ayeka tries her best to disguise it as she cautiously watches for any sign as to what her prince thinks about her starkly different outfit. Hearing the front door close as the other pair exit she turns her head to the sound of the noise, being quite jumpy at the moment, and her stare lingers there after the other Vegeta and the woman he is accompanying that is not her. She turns back to face her Vegeta, the one dressed casually in shirt and jeans, and bright flashes of gold flare and illuminate both of their faces as the main reservoir of Vegeta's power trains.
"Lady Ayeka, you have correctly followed my dress code, this manner of clothes also looks good on you. As you have noticed I did not cut corners, this is not a clone of Ryoko's, this is a date personalised for your tastes. You will have plenty to fill the pages of your diary with." The prince's confidence and egotistical nature exudes a strong charisma that Ayeka finds somewhat appealing under the circumstances. Though she is quite preoccupied with his compliments and kind words to her, they please her an awful lot and her tentative smile grows larger and warmer even as she attempts to hide her rosy cheeks. Both easing her worries about looking weird and sending her heart fluttering wildly she cherishes his flattery and is too caught up by it that for a few seconds she does not notice the hand held out to her.
Deep crimson eyes gaze at both Vegeta's hand and his confidently smirking face. A dainty hand of her own starts reaching out to it, knowing that he means to teleport them to the location of their date together, a thought that both births equal amounts of mirth and anxiety. What she completely fails to perceive is that Vegeta is wearing a mask. Seeing her nervousness he knows that playing the confident role will help to improve her mood and placate her yet it is serving the main reason of hiding the disquiet inside him. The ghost of Bulma has barbed hooks still deep in him and this double dating is putting a severe strain on him psychologically as they rip and tear with this attempt to dislodge them. Ayeka smiles back at him as her fingers lightly touch against his own hand. It is taking courage for both of them to do what they are doing. She nods at him, ready for her very first proper date, and Vegeta instant transmissions them out of the house and many leagues away.
Noise and people, the prince and princess from a world far away and a world that is long gone appear at the fringe of a small crowd with the Sun higher in the sky than where they left. Families walk about, couples as well, and Ayeka looks about at this throng of humans conversing and moving about towards an entrance way with ticket booths set up. She is curious, there are many sights, smells and sounds here foreign to her and the signs are written in a language she has a very minimal knowledge of. Vegeta waits and watches as she absorbs her strange new surroundings. Her red eyes have spotted the carved statues and the merchandise several people and children are carrying.
"Lord Vegeta, … are we at a nature preserve?"
"Close enough, it is a zoo. Juraians have a close affinity with nature, do they not? This is a very efficient place to see many in a small area and small time, a much better plan for a date than a fly by safari I believe." Thanks to Sasami he had all of last night to formulate and finalise his plans for both dates, even Ayeka's which at the time was still something she had not confirmed. She smiles at him and nods, thanking him before she then looks down and sees that their hands are still lightly joined with her fingers touching his. Her fingers start curling to slowly escape. Vegeta seizes her hand firmly with his own, his rough palm against her young and pampered skin.
"We have walked in such a manner before and you wanted a date so this is how things will be. I need not the excuse for not wanting to lose you in a crowd for that is an impossibility for me." Vegeta confidently states as a fresh blush blooms on her cheeks and he starts motioning towards the gates of West City's Zoo. She starts following him, hand in hand with her gaze now going out half to the prince at her side and half making sure there are no people staring at her for her self consciousness is playing up.
Pulling out his wallet from the front pocket of his well worn jeans, Vegeta produces a card identifying him as Mr. Briefs the husband to the late CEO of the Capsule Corporation which just so happens to be a large benefactor of this zoo. The clerk at the booth looks at the card and nods to the man using his political clout to gain free entry, he looks across to the young woman at the side of this widower thinking to himself that it didn't take long for Mr. Briefs to get back in the game after his wife passed on. He waves them on through and they enter the zoo, with Ayeka glancing back at the man she thought was looking at her weirdly. She soon drops it though as she gets pulled along by Vegeta's fast pace, a pace not too hard for her to match as her slender legs are actually a bit longer than his own. Vegeta comes to an abrupt stop in the middle of a large tiled plaza lined with palm trees and turned off street lights with banners advertising the zoo and attractions. Stood next to a large fountain spouting regular jets of water high in the sky, the proud warrior turns to his fiancée absorbing all of this new culture around her before he points to a large wooden map beside him. She looks at him and then to this map of the full zoo. Vegeta asks her where she would like to go and what animals she would like to see first.
"I am sorry Lord Vegeta, I do not know of many terrestrial animals. Is there anywhere you would like to go?" She politely turns the question back to him as she turns away from the not too helpful map and to her prince. It is making her feel awkward being here with him, just her and a man walking hand in hand. His attempts to abate her nerves are working yet her agitation is still clearly present, taking such a large leap like this is testing her. She takes comfort in the fact that he is her fiancée and can excuse this day due to this relationship between them. A loud bark from deeper within the zoo breaks through the constant cacophony of noise and startles Ayeka. Vegeta lightly squeezes her hand to focus her.
"There is not. Quick question though before we continue this, you are fine with animals in captivity aren't you?" Vegeta has been wondering this since he first came up with this idea, it is a risk he decided was minimal enough he could take. The fair jewel of Jurai smiles warmly back at him. He is being considerate towards her and making sure that her date with him will not be ruined by any minor detail, a detail on ethics that Ayeka thought he would not care for or even notice. She knows such issues as caging animals do not bother this Saiyan with only one thing ever on his mind, yet he had to have been thinking about her for him to even acknowledge it.
"I would rather they were not but I do not take offence at it, many animals require conservations such as this anyway. It is kind of you to consider my opinions on such trivial things."
"I know you cannot read the map but do any of the silhouettes on the map spark your interest, you get full reign over our course throughout this zoo so choose."
"Thank you. … A few of these shapes do remind me of familiar animals from Jurai or things I saw on the Television but … Why don't we just go to that one first and see where the path takes us, this one is closest to us, if I am reading this right."
Ayeka wants to do her part to make sure the date flows well and so points at the nearest enclosure to them on the map. Standing around discussing the route of their tour around this place is interrupting the flow of things so she tries to get the ball rolling again. As soon as her pale fingers land on the map, Vegeta tenses, his body stiffening and his eyes look off to the side. He can already very clearly hear them. This was another risk he had perceived earlier and obviously had miscalculated its potential risk. That is the one place he wants to avoid. A memory from several years ago is painfully reminding him what that place entails for him. His wife mercilessly laughed at him and mocked him for weeks, Bulma only tired of the joke when he holed himself up inside his training room and refused to leave until he reached super Saiyan 2.
"Are you Ok Lord Vegeta? Did I choose wrong?" Ayeka curiously looks at Vegeta, his stiff and awkward posture such obvious signs that he has been troubled by her decision. She does not know where she has pointed to and looks again at the map but the words mean nothing to her and she can discern nothing wrong from the small image.
"No … you just are not allowed to comment on it. Do not breathe a word of this to anyone, I entrust you with this." Weakness is showing and Vegeta quickly tries to cover it up again, yet he is trying to cover himself for he knows what will happen if he sets foot in that place. His confidence was helping her deal with her own colossal mess of nervousness and so he tries to raise his facade but the dread that he holds towards that place is strong, the strategic words he uses against her do well to distract her from this. He sets off at a brisk pace towards the set of enclosures all housed inside a very large iron framework aviary that had previously been used a long time ago for keeping pteranodons in, Ayeka follows him blushing after his words of faith in her. He will not let this place defeat him again, he will best it and eradicate his weakness to it.
Silence spreads out like a plague as Vegeta enters the recycled prehistoric aviary. The raucous racket of incessant and constant howling and chattering ceases as they sense his large presence very close to them. Over a hundred hairy faces turn to face the short man, as do many of the guests already there. At the nearest plane of plexiglass directly next to the very confused Ayeka and the cringing Vegeta a great beast rears up onto its diminutive legs and pounds rapidly at its sturdy and large chest. Off in the distance a young infant further breaks the silence by bawling for its mother as she cradles it close to her whilst hanging from a rope swing. Vegeta turns to look at the 7 foot tall silver-back dwarfing him, baring its great fangs at him and roaring at this alpha male challenging his position. Once his eyes land upon the great gorilla it drops back down onto its knuckles and bows its head down, silencing itself before turning to skulk off into some bushes. Vegeta hates the primate enclosure with a great deal of passion.
With an audience of chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans watching this massive threat with fear and respect, the other male gorillas follow suit and show their submission to him and soon the rest of the apes act obeisantly towards the Saiyan. They can sense his familiarity to them, the beast hidden within him, and apes born without tails warily stare at the great ape who lost his. Vegeta is trying to keep his focus straight ahead now after dealing with the silver-back, not wanting to see any of this at all and so he can pretend to himself it is not happening. The other guests start milling about again, disturbed by this weirdness and wanting to press on away from here after all entertainment value left the apes the minute Vegeta entered. His ears then twitch and his face burns with shame as a scowl enters his face and he hears the quiet giggles that Ayeka is trying her best to subdue. He glances across to her and reminds her that he said not to comment upon it. She is covering her mouth with her free hand and seeing his face causes another brief explosion of girlish giggling to break out. The mighty and proud Saiyan prince, her fiancée, is embarrassed and seeing this new side of him is amusing her a lot, the stern expression gone and replaced by reddened cheeks. He is not a warrior here, right now to Ayeka he has shown her the side to himself he tries to hide, his normal and 'human' side.
"Lord Vegeta, prince of all Simians." Forgetting herself as this most unusual of sights tickles her awfully, Ayeka jokingly mutters under her breath the phrase Vegeta hates. Merry laughter erupts from her as she finally fails to hold in her amusement for it is too ridiculous a situation for her not to. Vegeta has never heard her laugh so loud and true before, yet that is not what is on his mind at the minute, he is too concerned with stopping himself from crushing her hand as she shatters his honour with each chuckle. That slur that always follows him, the racial insult he had to suffer day in day out from Frieza, it might be true biologically speaking but he abhors and detests the word 'monkey' or those of a similar effect. Even the mild mannered and sensitive Ayeka seems not to care for her grave racial insult to him. This place has bested him again.
Miniature cracks worm their way through the concrete beneath Vegeta's feet as his anger at this humiliation he voluntarily subjected himself to grows. A chorus of terrified whoops erupt from the nearby apes as they run and swing off quickly away from the shamed warrior. Ayeka's laughter quietens and diminishes as she sees the frightened animals scampering off and feels the hem of her dress being blown against her legs. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. A painful strength enters the grip on her hand. All too late she realises herself and what she was doing. After several long seconds of standing there timidly listening to the angered breaths of her prince, Ayeka very quietly tries to apologise for her thoughtless insult to him. Vegeta remains silent as the screeching of the apes kicks up again, every sound they make he finds offensive to his ears.
"Lord V-Vegeta, I am so sorry … please, I … you are hurting my hand." Ayeka's hesitant words are all but drowned out by the cries of the primates, yet the bone crushing vice relents and releases her. Vegeta sighs loudly and in an aggravated manner to himself and then he turns to face Ayeka, she seems greatly ashamed by her offensive actions towards him but he pays little heed to that and instead lifts up her hand to his face and very lightly prods at it to check that he did not break any of her bones. For a moment she is confused by his actions but soon she is apologising again to him. He put faith in her and indulged her in going here when he could have easily refused, both the date and entering this enclosure, then she got swept up in the moment and ridiculed him and now after greatly offending him he still is taking great care with her and is concerned over his own strength towards her. Vegeta then very carefully takes hold of her hand again now he knows his anger did not pulverise any of her fragile bones and he begins walking towards the far exit to this recommissioned aviary. Without a word she follows, seeing his want to leave a place that brings humiliation and shame to him. Leaving the primate enclosure behind them, the two royals awkwardly stand hand in hand as the path splits three ways in front of them. Vegeta asks Ayeka where they should go next.
" … I will honour your words, Lord Vegeta. I will not tell a soul what transpired within there, I do not intend to break your trust in me. Just, please don't be angry with me for that moment of weakness."
" I will leave that in the past, until there comes a time I offend you at which this incident will become my pardon. 3 directions, choose, do not worry about your choice ending up as bad as the first one."
It is not exactly the forgiveness she wanted but he is too shrewd a man not to bend this however he can into something beneficial to him down the road. Unfortunately she also knows that he will indeed offend her and use this as an excuse. She blames herself for the disastrous start her first date has had, cursing herself for laughing at the proud prince she loves, and tries like him to put it past her and move on for the sake of the rest of their time together. She points off to the right hand path, and then thanks him.
They move on at a leisurely and slow pace past the antelope and zebras grazing, Vegeta stopping when necessary for Ayeka to get a proper look at this mixed herd of several species. Within 5 minutes of this she has forgotten that she is holding his hand and is walking normally beside him. A large lake of mostly submerged hippopotamuses does not entice Ayeka, she sees little beauty in these animals but for the many birds perched upon their backs as they wallow about. They check a map again for Ayeka to get her bearings and she outlines her plan to merely follow the edge of the zoo and once they come full circle to then navigate into the centre. Vegeta sees the logic in this and it makes his job easier so he has no complaint. Coming up to the third exhibit after the primate house, Ayeka comes to an abrupt stop as another eerie silence drifts over the animals she hasn't even got a chance to see. Hoping that it isn't Vegeta again, that her choice of path isn't causing him discomfort and she will not disgrace him again, she then sees another pair of guests trying to hurry on down the path they came from. Having watched many documentaries whilst stuck in Vegeta's house, she knows of the many anthropomorphic species that live alongside the humans of this planet. Her mouth forms a small 'o' as she sees that just like with the apes picking up on Vegeta and his Oozaru, the animals here have detected this bestial woman. Standing at over 8 feet tall, this bipedal female bear rushes on past them with her cub to a part of the zoo where her presence won't be so apparent and noticed.
Vegeta pays no attention to it and tells her to continue, she does as she is told, realising her standing still and gawking at this other guest is very rude. Observing the few animals in this wooded exhibit she sees they do indeed look more or less exactly like the guest bar them moving about on all fours and being clothed only in their fur. The Saiyan has noticed her drawing similarities between the anthropomorphic bear and what happened to himself, he is not keen on her equating him to that.
" It is natural for creatures to fear my power, but do not go jumping to conclusions in your head. Those two are probably close genetically speaking, neither of us are native to this planet." Pride will not let him be thought of as the same as some beast, he is a Saiyan. Loathe as he is for the discussion to turn back to the primate enclosure, Vegeta has to let her know to let those thoughts leave her head now.
" I know that, and pardon any offence my foolishness has caused. Would you mind telling me what these creatures are?" Ayeka knows it is his pride talking now, and since she is the one who helped wound it so she quickly moves the conversation on with another apology. She smiles at him with her question, he nods at her, agreeing with the topic being changed now she is not comparing Saiyans to bears. He answers with what he knows, the short of it being their name and rough guesses about them he can make from their anatomy. His eyes do go towards a plaque nearby detailing many facts about the grizzly bears they are looking at yet he will not read it to Ayeka like she is a toddler. Ayeka notices this, he has on several occasions done things for her pride's sake, some of which she does not agree with, but she likes that he sees how patronising an act that would be to her. For a couple of minutes she observes the large brown bears laze about and drink from their artificial pool of water and she starts feeling thirsty herself. Upon voicing her thirst her prince disappears and several seconds later he appears again with a can of iced tea for her, assuming her to like this beverage since she drinks tea quite frequently. She thanks him for the can and a smile forms on her face again as he joins his hand with hers again after she opens the can, takes a sip and compliments him on his choice for her.
For a good long while they both wander about semi-aimlessly together. Ayeka takes great interest in the large and fearsome predatory cats, remarking on their majestic coats and elegance. Wanting a short rest to watch over the animals she stops and sits down on a free bench with Vegeta. She converses with him, comparing the life on this planet to that of Jurai. Vegeta never learnt much about animals but he has seen his fair share of wildlife and so can bring to the conversation many more exotic creatures he has seen. For her sake he leaves out the part he doesn't have to say, that if he saw it the chances are that it is dead. Ayeka gets startled when they amble into the areas housing the dinosaurs, the obnoxiously loud roar of a large allosaurus taking her by surprise as she comments that no creatures like that thankfully exist on Jurai. The carnivorous theropod roars again before stomping off impatiently until it is next fed, in answer to its roar several of the neighbouring animals it would deem prey call out in alarm. A good quarter of an hour passes before they move on from that section of the zoo with their conversation changing to Sasami's cooking skills and how she got them and then she queries him as to whether his wife was good at cooking or not. Vegeta knows she is prying to see whether he holds culinary skills as something he would want in a woman, needless to say he does as he is a Saiyan and needs a lot of food, but hearing her say Bulma's name still stabs at him. He brushes off the question saying she was adequate in those regards and Ayeka drops the question seeing him avoid it. For a while her mind goes onto think about how hard this is for him, dealing silently with his grief and her putting this pressure on him, and then her mood takes a negative turn as she thinks on Ryoko and what he currently is doing on his date with her. It makes her very uncomfortable thinking about it like that, however she was the one who copied Ryoko's request, the one who jumped on the band wagon not wanting to be left behind and so she has no right to complain about feelings of infidelity.
Penguins, parrots, tapirs, rhinoceroses, elephants, Ayeka sees all these terrestrial animals with her fiancée leading her and explaining to her what he knows about them. Eventually they come back full circle to the plaza and fountain with only a few more animals left to see and not before long those too have been seen by her. Arriving at the final exhibit, a few small red pandas that are hiding in their den, Ayeka begins to feel a bit forlorn at this ending to her first date. It was short, but for Vegeta to concede this much time to her it is enough. She starts thanking Vegeta for this day and the time they have spent together when he smirks back at her and tells her to save her thanks for later. He begins leading her off towards the far end of the zoo, past several animals she has already seen before and though she is happy for whatever it is that he is doing she is confused at not knowing where she is being taken. She cannot help smiling though even as he answers her questions with a non-committal 'you will see'.
Standing there, gasping in awe and wonder, Ayeka covers her mouth with her hands as her surprised gape quickly turns into a very large smile. Juraians have a very strong bond with the natural world, especially trees, and thus Vegeta has brought Ayeka to the botanical gardens at the rear of the zoo. She was not expecting such beautiful and well groomed foliage, rows of trees and fields of flowers stretching as far as she can see. A few families are wandering about with their children playing on the perfectly kept lawns. Ayeka wholeheartedly thanks him for this and for what he has done for her today and then begins leading him about the garden as she inquisitively looks and examines the wonderful plant life. Smiling gaily as she smells the flowers she questions Vegeta for information on these plants, for an extremely small number he can offer up their species but that is about it.
Vegeta quickly reigns her in though before they go too far from their intended destination and he leads her towards a large apple tree currently in bloom. She adores all the wonderful flowers and the magnificent blossoms she is witness to and doesn't hear Vegeta the first time he tells her to sit down. Beneath the tree he has laid out a blanket and a hamper ready for a picnic. Once again she thanks him and seats herself whilst still gazing around her. Sitting down they eat together, with Vegeta consuming less than usual due to this being a multiform and his main body having already dined with Sasami. She warmly smiles at him as she nibbles on a sandwich and looks up at the tree they are sat beneath. Her cheeks are tinged with a womanly glow at the romantic atmosphere all these blooming plants evoke and the happiness within her at what he has organised all for her.
"This tree is unnatural, I was not expecting so many blooms here with Autumn approaching." Vegeta sparks up a new conversation mid way through their light meal. He taps against the solid trunk behind him and several of the out of season apple blossoms drift down around them. With one of his foes having been Cell he knows that humans have the technology to genetically modify organisms with ease, he does not see the pay-off though for this purely aesthetic use. Ayeka looks at the light pink flowers landing on the blanket and her dress, she takes one out of her hair and look at it in puzzlement, thinking on Vegeta's statement.
"So the trees here are mainly deciduous then? On Jurai all of the plants keep their leaves throughout the year, I would very much like to see what the different seasons are like on this planet." She smiles at him as she wonders about the changing seasons of this planet still mostly alien to her, and then her smile weakens as she blushes. Asking him to let her see the seasons change is no different really than asking him to let her stay with him after his choice which means only one thing. Ayeka did not mean it in that way. The pink blossom in her hand tumbles down as she grows silent. Vegeta is looking her way, also having picked up on the inadvertent subtext of her words, and the princess feels his eyes upon her. In an uncommonly relaxed manner he lays down on the blanket.
" 2 months time until my decision, in that time you will definitely get to see Autumn's effects, and then … "
"It's Ok, I don't want to cause you any additional stress or hurt. We – we both understand the situation." Ayeka speaks abruptly, her anxiety rising at topic changing onto this most delicate and personal of matters to her. It is defensive behaviour, she gets easily flustered by intimate discussions and with the setting being as it is only serves to amplify matters. The Saiyan prince understands she would prefer more small talk towards these heady subjects, and some of that reason being his responses when they talk about it. However, he sits up again and looks her way. Her almost pre-programmed words of kindness are the things he would like to pick her up on. Black eyes looking dead at her, Ayeka's cheeks burn, feeling all the more aware of her words and her being on a date with him that she asked for.
"Do you also understand that maybe stress and hurt is what I want? Saiyans live to challenge themselves, that is why we have our drive for fighting beyond just our aggressive nature. Making things easier for me, they are kind words and I truly do hate the pain I feel still for my wife. Things are not easy for you. Before any of what I say can be taken the wrong way, I am not keeping both of you around merely to fulfil my want for a challenge. You are my fiancée, whether I agreed to it or not, I try to see you as such."
The proud Saiyan prince cannot be thought of in the same manner as most ordinary beings, any attempt to help or aid him he will actively try to stop. Challenging is a kind way for him to describe what the past year has been for him, in his stubbornness though he will continue to painfully push on and grow from doing so. He lets his words hang there, whether they act as words of comfort to the maiden who worries for him or not is for her to decide. Birds chirp and sing in the boughs of nearby trees as Ayeka sits there digesting his Saiyan nature. Vegeta's brutal honesty is a double-edged sword for her. She finds it easy to trust him and understand what is going on with him not mincing words or being creative with the truth yet he does frequently say things she would rather not hear. This is not one of those times. Ayeka looks down at her hands resting on her lap and enjoys the last sentence he said. He is making a considerable effort on her part and it means a lot to her.
" Yet her memory will not fade from view and reveal me for a long time. Lord Vegeta, you can take as much time as you need. I need time myself." She very warmly smiles across at him as she tenderly utters the only reply she can. The guilt she feels for her feelings that push him faster through the barbed wire of loss is enough when added with her hesitation around intimacy that she is quite willing at the moment to patiently wait for these 2 months to pass. Her presence is not making his life easier, or his son's, and she wishes she could help him but there is little she can do to ease his grieving and nothing that he would allow anyway. In spite of this when he does put effort towards her affections it makes her glad that he was the one she met and fell for on this planet. He will always try and never surrender, uncaring for his own pain or turmoil, and it makes her own efforts and tribulations appear small. She does not want him to rush into anything, cause himself undue pain or try to force himself to feel the emotions he would rather keep hidden away. 2 months is a small amount of time, she can wait it out, and hopefully before then she will be more easily accepting of relationships and the future she wants but is no means prepared for. Ayeka doesn't know why she is smiling as she says this. They aren't particular pleasant thoughts, some of it is painful for her, yet all of this whole knotted mess is born from the very real emotions she holds for her prince and her fiancée.
"Yes, you have a lot on your mind daily. Most of it concerning myself, rightfully so. You are wise for your age, as is Sasami for that matter, I can guess why you have a lot to think about concerning me, yourself and your position as Juraian royalty."
"There are many things I must take into proper consideration. I … this is … it is very complicated."
Ayeka was half tempted to tell him that her problems as a princess are her own yet at this stage such words would be false. He has helped her twice now to deal with her family, maybe even three times if she counts him allowing her to stay in his house for refuge, and what he has done she is eternally grateful for. They were not his problem and he saved her future and her brother's future. Altruism is not a virtue he holds in any real regard yet he did it all the same and gave her the confidence to stand up to her father and break free from both her protective and smothering parents. For all his self centred pride and horrendously inflated sense of self he can still understand her and her side of things. The problem for Ayeka though is that the major issues now concerning her status of a princess, her future and any shame that might befall her, are all now consequences of who her fiancée is. Marrying her brother would have been bad and yet the people of Jurai would accept it with only minor disgruntlement, her love for Vegeta though will be the largest controversy the empire has seen for an age. An everlasting stigma upon her and her family's name, the traitorous princess who turned her back on her people and sided with the enemy, with a tree-less royal, with a barbaric and murderous beast. She tries not to worry about that part of the future, instead trying to focus on the present and getting up to a point at which that future gains solidity.
"I have met your family, I can guess how complex matters can be. Politics is not my forte, I never had my opportunity to rule and even so Saiyan politics boils down to our base philosophy of strength. … Where does Sasami fit into your family's plans then?" Vegeta can see Ayeka's mood deteriorating because of the topics they are discussing so he deviates their conversation onto a partial tangent. She told him not to discuss his past and if they had continued then it would have probably arisen and as long as he is respecting her wish to be on a date with him then he will do so properly. If she goes away from this with a sour and depressed mood it will not reflect well on him, and it will also make Ryoko intolerably cocky.
Ayeka begins explaining to him that Sasami never had to fear for her role within the Juraian royal family. From birth she was chosen to become a priestess of Tsunami and thus lose her claim to hold the throne through her religious vows, vows constructed to prevent the temples from gaining too much power. She goes on to say that originally that was her parents' plan for her however there is a ruling that dictates only one member of a family per generation can devote their lives to the faith and so her sister's birth and Seto's pressuring against losing her hold over the throne eventually led to her betrothal to her half brother. Vegeta nods in understanding as he listens, it makes sense to him apart for the fact that Azusa must have known having a second child to Misaki would cause claimant issues over the throne. However, thinking on who Misaki is and her love for children he can guess that Azusa's logic quickly lost to her maternal desires. The princess seems a bit less despondent now, yet they are still talking about her family matters and all the red tape that has been tied around her neck for years.
" Does Sasami want the occupation that has been chosen for her? Or will I have another Juraian princess coming to me for aid?" Vegeta sticks to the subject of her younger sister, going for a very abrupt change in conversation he thinks would be demeaning to her and insult her pride. It would probably be kinder to move onto more small talk about the trees or the weather or the zoo but he is not generally kind, he has eased things for her by swapping the subject to Sasami but he will not just drop it entirely and basically announce he feels she is too weak to talk about her own family and her own issues. If Sasami does want his aid he will give it to her, she has fed his stomach well enough to deserve it and he is confident enough that with his power he could manage to stop one girl entering priesthood. Of course, for her to be asking him for aid in the future that would by default mean that either Ayeka is a very key player in his life then or somehow Sasami keeps in regular contact with the man who broke her sister's heart.
" She is still a child, what she might want in the years to come is hard for me to say. I do think that she will not rebel against her arranged future like I did, she is very kind and would not want to cause a fuss for others over her own selfishness … Even if she were in the same situation I was in I doubt she would have taken such extremes as to flee her home." Looking up at the sky through the leaves and blossoms above her, Ayeka somewhat forlornly states her opinion on her sister. More guilt taints her words. Comparing herself to the extreme kindness and selflessness of her sister makes her feel all the worse for being the one who abducted her from their mother's side. Her crimson eyes quickly dart across to Vegeta as he stands up and stretches, scratching the base of his spine.
"More fool her then. Her heart is softer than Kakarot's and one day she will learn the importance of her own pride. Lady Ayeka, your actions so far have not been a mistake, you have achieved what you set out to do. Sometimes you must retreat from a battle so that you can grow stronger and then claim your victory." He holds out a hand down to her. Looking up at him she smiles at his comforting words. She supposes that he is right, after all if she had not run away from her fate on Jurai then she never would have met him and her brother would never have been able to marry his lover Haruna. Ayeka did not really expect him to be so forgiving of her cowardice but she assumes he is rationalising it to be similar to the time he spent patiently waiting for his time to usurp Frieza perhaps. She reaches up to his hand with her own and almost makes gasps audibly as he easily lifts her onto her feet. Her eyes are on their joined hands. Today she has most probably had the most physical contact with any man, her father included, than any other and even so she can tell that Vegeta is being very mindful of her anxiety towards intimacy. She pats down a crease in her dress and makes sure her fringe is not messy for she is quite conscious of her bare forehead.
"Thank you Lord Vegeta. I will not run away again, you have helped me find the strength I needed to fight for myself and my pride. This has been a wonderful day, I-"
" You think too little of the Saiyan prince again, I never do things in half measures."
Ayeka's eyes grow wide in surprise as her smile uncontrollably grows. He feels her hands tentative and light grip on his hand tighten by a miniscule amount before her gaze starts diverting from him and warmth enters her cheeks. Vegeta truly is going above and beyond what she though he would do, not that she had much idea to start with what her date would be like. It really is moving her and embarrassing to think he would put all this effort in for her when but one of these activities would have been enough to satisfy her.
" … Lord Vegeta, there – there's more? You spoil me, I – your time is important." Her growing embarrassment is causing words to spill from her mouth. She is over the moon that he is treating her to more time alone with him and she wants to cover herself from appearing ungrateful for him sparing his time for her. His stern face looks at her as her self conscious and nervous babblings of thanks and her gratefulness for their date so far ramble on, he raises two fingers to his temple to signify to her that he is about to instant transmit.
"About half a minute of additional training is all I need to repay this debt of the multiform. Securing different aspects of my own future is also of some importance to me, you are my fiancée and a woman who has a half chance of becoming mine. You will regret turning down this opportunity that might not arise again for a while." Vegeta smirks at her as she smiles back at him and slowly nods at him. The Saiyan might not hold any feelings for her but he is not so stupid or short sighted to not know that treating Ayeka right and fostering her emotions for him will benefit him well. The more time he spends with the new women in his life he feels will correlate with moving on from his deceased wife and then in 2 months time after he has fought his rival he will be able to live fully again. Vegeta whisks them both out of the botanical garden and one kid walking with his family nearby points and tells his parents that some people just disappeared and left their stuff behind.