Chapter 85

"Vegeta's engagement ring for me was in my grasp, I conceded it back to him as much as it hurt to do so."

"Well it can't be the ring I saw if it cut your hand open like that."

"Ryoko! Do not try and change the subject. Have you any idea how hard it was to be there? To give b-back my ring? To comfort Vegeta in a duty you fled from."

"... You ain't frightened of not having a ring though. Not having a ring didn't shoot your arm off or chain you up. I bet being nearly raped is something you don't know how hard is either. I want my Super Saiyan."

"I know of your phobia. A simple bulb can suffice, or if not Trunks can go Super Saiyan. We do not even know if Vegeta is returning home tonight."

"He is."

"Ryoko-"

"I let him spend all of last night with you. I am not letting my Vegey spend a second night with another woman! He's not hers any-more! He's coming back."

Ryoko's obstinate roar causes birds to take to the wing. Her rival does not flinch at her tirade. The two women have distanced themselves from the house, stood by the lake for privacy as this argument continues. Their surprise guest has been ushered into the laboratory with Washu under the guise of medical examinations and preparing a room suitable for her. The afternoon Sun shines in Ryoko's eyes as she stubbornly refuses to yield what Ayeka is asking of her. She understands this. Her concession was last night, this night her priority is for herself. Ayeka shakes her head at her.

"Be a fool and teleport back to try and force him, let us see how well that goes." A sword materialises and Ayeka dismissively glances at it. Compared to facing Vegeta this woman is small fry. "Go ahead and just try it. At least this way Kaia will come to her senses about you."

Red flickers out. Ryoko growls. She needs Vegeta to return, for him to be okay and fine, for him to have made progress. Ryoko knows she is being selfish, but that is not enough to stop her. Last night was challenging. Watching a content Ayeka lounging over her fiancée after he had somehow lowered his guard enough to fall asleep in her proximity stung and no distraction of alcohol could tear her from it. Vegeta prefers Ayeka. He is with Bulma now. She does not want to be abandoned. She does not want to be left alone in the dark. Her night shall include the company of the man she loves.

"Please. Please don't take my Vegey." Ryoko bleats in a deflated tone.

"Why not, you've got my friend seduced by your tricks. … How about you put that mind reading ability to use? Face that fear of the dark like you were doing before. If she agrees then look into the mind of someone whose whole life has been darkness."Ayeka is callous in her ignoring of Ryoko's pleas. No words will sway her on this matter.

"Fuck that. I spent more years in the dark than her, I don't need any damn reminder about it. Vegey promised to sleep with me." She growls, her nyctophobia is not the only reason she needs a Super Saiyan. So far her promises including Vegeta have not held the best track record so this one she will ensure remains. Her lover shall heal her.

"You think after all he is going through that he wants some pathetic booze-hound trying to curl up next to him? Leave Vegeta alone!" Ayeka barks viciously, and Ryoko recoils at this aggression. The princess is determined. Her prince shall be protected from Ryoko. He needs help and not someone clawing for him to help her.

"No! He's strong enough for that. I – I ain't. I'm falling apart here. Just let me sleep-"

"I will never tolerate you sharing the same bedchamber as Prince Vegeta again!" Juraian logs crackle in the air as a cerulean sphere encapsulates Ayeka. This is her power. She shall use this to enforce her demand if Ryoko does not comply. A finger points in accusation at the vulnerable pirate. Ayeka snarls. "All you do is bring ruin. You make his life so much harder than it has to be, you have no clue what damage you bring upon him in his grief. You're a selfish idiot and I won't let you hurt Vegeta any-more."

"And who gave you the right to say who-"

"My mother did when she engaged myself to him. I take my responsibility as his fiancé seriously, unlike some."

"At least I said the words to him unlike some coward! I proposed, I didn't get mummy to do all the work for me." A fist smashes through the barrier of Ayeka. Ryoko seethes back, trying to gain what ground she can in this argument. The princess has not flinched and remains resolute. The heated rivals glare at each other.

"The less said about your proposal the better for your sake. You are not getting into that room again for your own selfish reasons." With a curl of her lip in disgust, the princess bats away Ryoko's feeble attack. The royal talks down to this commoner.

"As if this whole thing ain't just your own selfish reason of being jealous that it's me there and not you. How exactly are ya gonna make me stay away? Even Vegey can't 'cos of my teleporting. I can make you stay away if I wanted."

She is becoming angry. She is also becoming increasingly desperate. A hand roughly grabs a hold of Ayeka's purple hair and tugs, getting a wince from the princess, and the temptation for violence within her rises. This princess wants to come between her and her recovery, between her and her sanity, between her and Vegeta. No night is easy even with Vegeta next to her. Ryoko is scared of facing her night terrors alone.

"Trunks, Yamcha, Gohan, even Washu. Are any of my allies people you can contend with? I am sure with little persuasion I could get Dr Washu to find some containment cell until you acquiesce. Don't make me do it." Red eyes pierce through Ryoko. She shall respond to a threat with her own.

The hand holding Ayeka releases her hair. Golden eyes close. Fingers run through her wild cyan hair and her tail listlessly swirls about from her agitation. Ryoko stands no chance. Any attempt at violence against Ayeka and instead of having a Super Saiyan night light she shall have them restraining her, capturing her – she will not become a captive of Washu again. She cannot see a way to get her point across. Ryoko needs Vegeta to be by her side so that she can keep things together, so she can make her own progress towards healing and for her it has to be done by the one who broke her so that somehow she can regain that trust in him.

"I love him. He likes being challenged and conflict and all that shit so what's the harm? If he comes back we'll ask him, 'cos I care about him too, and I'll show you." Ryoko makes one last attempt. His Saiyan nature is the only argument she can come up with. She shall make it Vegeta's decision, not Ayeka's.

"Ryoko, your care for someone is quire worthless. Would you mind telling me where Ryo-Ohki currently is?"Ayeka crosses her arms. Asking Vegeta would trouble him yet she is certain that given the chance he will have not want for Ryoko to disturb his precious few hours of sleep he gets.

Ryoko left a good while ago from the Briefs household. She cannot recall having seen Ryo-Ohki about recently now that she is mentioned. No meowing, no following her into the bath nor of Kaia remarking about her pet. Ryoko is not going to be led on by those words. She left where Vegeta is a long time ago, this princess in front of her left less than half an hour ago. This is not her fault.

"You left her behind with Vegeta?!"

Meowing contently to herself as she lays on her furry back, Ryo-Ohki swipes her paws in the air at the simian tail swishing about. This bed is comfortable and there was no-one else she recognised about so the cabbit is now playing with the tail of Vegeta. Her ears twitch. The nice people from downstairs are walking about and talking to someone. There are a lot of interesting smells about that she has been busy investigating with and the menagerie of Dr. Briefs' pets were fun for her to meet. Her ears perk up attentive. There is a light rapping coming from the door. Ryo-Ohki swats at the tail again. A hushed voice calls her name.

Crouched on the floor outside this forbidden room is Ryoko. Her spaceship is not a cabbit to be left unattended, for one she could be disturbing Vegeta like she is or a second point is her transforming and flying about wherever her whims take her on a planet not used to extraterrestrial spacecraft. Ryoko can see the stains of blood from Ayeka. The princess at least did the job she requested of her. This is not a place she wanted to go back to, and not under these circumstances with Ayeka's hurtful words ringing inside her head. She calls quietly for Ryo-Ohki again. The cabbit is comfortable and stretches out from the blankets as she pads across the room and phases through the door to her mistress.

The cabbit is picked up. Ryoko stands. The door opens. Ryoko was trying to be quiet to avoid this meeting. Those dark eyes of his, Ryoko is getting an inkling as to the hardship Ayeka went through here. Ryo-Ohki purrs as she cuddles down into Ryoko's arms. Her feline eyes are locked with his, she cannot look away. His haunted visage is harrowing. She can barely register his ki, by comparison Ryo-Ohki dwarfs him.

Behind him is a dark and unlit room. Even if Ryoko had a want to invade his privacy and break the ultimatum she gave him she will not go where the curtains are closed and the light is switched off. Seeing his clear distress gives her a want to act to help him. What she wants to do she cannot. In her place she raises her cabbit towards Vegeta and Ryo-Ohki licks his face.

"You look rough." Ryoko breaks the silence with the only statement she can, an understatement of how Vegeta appears. She then quickly adds that she is not trying to enter his marital room in case he is suspect of her.

His eyes look past her to the sky out of the broken windows. The light outside has changed, the Sun is lower in the sky than he thought. Vegeta leans against the door-frame. He can tell that Ryoko is here only for Ryo-Ohki, his ki might be gone but he can still smell her fear. This situation and his emotions to Bulma terrify her and how powerless she perceives herself to be in the face of it all.

"Did Ayeka tell you that I am staying here?" Calmly he speaks and lets her know of his intentions.

"What? No- wait but, Ayeka said you only 'might' not be coming back." Ryoko is confused at this contradiction and horrified that it is true that Vegeta is not returning to his home.

Ayeka lied. She lied with her own optimism that he might return, that he might change his mind, she skewed the truth with her own hope. She wants for the same as Ryoko even as she chastised her for her selfishness. Vegeta's response is a mere shake of the head. He holds no intention of altering his mind or going back. She shakes her head back, not accepting this. It does not make sense to her why he has to remain here to grieve as he already spent a night by her grave and that accomplished little. Ryoko does not want another night by herself.

"Ryoko, take this and put it by my bed. I shall return, just not on this day." There is sorrow in him. He lifts a heavy gloved hand out to her. He opens his hand and drops the item into the paws of Ryo-Ohki.

An inquisitive cabbit clutches at this golden band and holds onto it. Ryoko looks dumbstruck down at it. Vegeta quickly retracts his hand and grimaces. With this act he assures his return. She does not know what to make of this gesture. His wedding ring is right there, he has lent it to her whilst he settles matters internally within himself.

"I have to stay here. You take that and put it beside my bed, come morning I shall retrieve it." He reiterates his command.

Ryoko watches Ryo-Ohki so easily holding this ring. That is a wedding ring. That is Vegeta's wedding ring and it is now in her possession. Her, the one who last time he gave her something of Bulma's she wore, now has his wedding ring for a night. Ryoko can wear this too if she wants. She is glad that Ryo-Ohki is there to form a barrier between her and this metal. Her eyes are on it, as are Vegeta's. He has parted with this ring. Ryoko wants to understand what that actually means for him.

"... Next to our beds now, Vegey. Why? Why do you have to stay here?" Her golden eyes meet with his at this soft plead.

"Because the next time I think of coming here you will be entering this room." Matter-of-factly he states his reason.

"What- Ya doing this 'cos of what I said? Can't you tell when a girl's playing you? Please, come back." Ryoko tries to retract that ultimatum she earlier said if that means Vegeta will not leave her alone tonight. He has taken her words to heart and is acting on them with more seriousness than she anticipated. She did not mean to back him into a corner like this, she just wanted to give him a push.

"I can tell. You were being serious. I shall do this."

"It-it wasn't supposed to be a challenge for you to defeat like this."

"Maybe not. This prince decides for himself what shall and shall not challenge him."

That confident sounding statement stops Ryoko's argument. He looks broken and there he goes sounding exactly the same as always. Through all this he is still the same prideful prince. She manages a small smile. In some small part he is doing this, putting himself through this personal hell and facing his demons, because of her and her words to him. Vegeta's thoughts are not solely of Bulma. The ring denoting his love for her sits in her cabbit's paw pads. Vegeta is not going to back down from staying here and just maybe her letting him remain could help her fiancée fall for her that bit quicker.

"Vegey … I don't know if I can carry this." The buffer of her cabbit does not detract from the heavy burden of such a precious ring. To have this responsibility, Ryoko does not think it is wise for her to be trusted with this. He should have given it to Trunks when he left a bit ago.

"It's either that or my weighted gloves." Vegeta offhandedly jokes. Ryo-Ohki barks loudly in argument to being squished by gloves she could only lift as a spaceship. A smile does not come to Ryoko from this. It is a serious matter for both of them. He sighs and tries to think of some reason. "What you want for at the moment is the precursor to that. That is my wedding ring, you seek an engagement ring like Ayeka so that is not your goal."

"I do want a wedding ring too though. That's kinda the point of an engagement ring." She chirps back.

"You don't see me making a fuss that I have not received one."

Ryoko scoffs. It is too much to hope for him to say something about a wedding ring for herself. A ring for him she will get, and propose with, and she guesses that having a ring that does fit him will help her know what size she needs to look for- she has a keen eye concerning shiny jewellery. These words he speaks are not of Bulma, but of the future. That makes Ryoko quite happy. She shall carry this ring.

"Jerk. Give me time and with Gohan's money I can do that. … This ring, your ring. You trust me with it? You must be nearly as stupid as me. … It's fine. I'm fine. I've got myself a plan for making it through tonight. I'll do what you want to do and hole up in the training room."

"Was that what you did last-"

"No. And I've still got my own questions about what you did last night. But first, there's some news. … It's real important so I have to tell you. Life and death kinda shit." Ryoko sombres. This is horrible timing yet this will be the last time she sees Vegeta and can warn him prior to him arriving at his house with his large amount of ki. She strokes the ear of Ryo-Ohki as she wracks her brain as to how she can best word this without pissing Vegeta off. His attention is on her at this prospect of news. "Through some bullshit with Washu and Ayeka's gran a friend of princess has got stuck here. She's in Washu's lab right now."

"So whom did I trade Sasami for?" He does not hesitate, he questions to learn more about this situation. Guests concern him little since the majority of his life is within a training room alone.

"... She's blind. She's ridiculously weak and frail. Poor health, some genetic fault or something – her body is naturally in a state like yours after training. Vegeta, she can sense ki and it hurts her."

His face hardens. No matter how careful Ryoko's wording this has annoyed him. Several of his Saiyan instincts are firing against this description. His house, the house of the Prince of the Saiyan warrior race, is housing a genetic failure and weakling that his kind would have abandoned at birth and not even bothered to send out in a space pod to die far away. Vegeta wipes at his face as his brows furrow. Natural selection is a process that Saiyans are all for, weeding out the weak of the species so that they can grow stronger, but if she is a friend of Ayeka stranded on this alien world he has little choice but to abide her presence.

A vein pulses on his forehead. His ki will hurt her and so his training will be affected by this, massively so. Coming between him and his training is a dangerous place for this blind woman to have wedged herself. This is a problem he will need solved.

"You are hiding her in Washu's lab to protect her from me." Not masking the ire in his voice, he asks for clarification. A hand hits against the door-frame and rattles the wall. His training, his goal in life, shall not be impeded by a blind stranger.

"She cannot sense me, my level is safe. So is Queenie. A few times more and she gets headaches. Beyond that, pain. Gohan was our test, we tried to train her. He barely used any of his power. If you come back to us tomorrow morning and transform then Ayeka is gonna want to kill you, as will I." Ryoko keeps her voice level despite Vegeta's palpable anger. She explains it all as best as she can and warns Vegeta that this level of control he is demonstrating for Bulma is needed for another woman to not join her in Otherworld.

Vegeta's brow furrows. He growls and then he blinks. Vegeta's brow frowns in confusion now as he looks up at Ryoko. Her expressing a want to kill him is not novel. Her wanting the protection of a Juraian is. She is not one to usually care about this.

"... You?"

The hint she gave has been picked up on, Vegeta is listening to her and his mind is not clouded by his desire for training. She cradles Ryo-Ohki in her arms as she smiles at this confused prince. Ryoko takes half a step closer to him and lowers her voice.

"I'm a woman of many desires. I like being called pretty, I like attention. So, my darling prince, you've got yourself a woman who's so beautiful she seduced a blind girl." Her feline eyes remain on him as she impishly grins and bats her eyelashes at him. She watches for a reaction. For jealousy, for anger, for possessiveness, for some emotion towards her actions.

A toll has been taken on Vegeta and his mental faculties through his dealing with his grief. For a few seconds he stands there. Cogs struggle to turn. Ryoko is in love with him. Ryoko is pestering a Juraian lady for attention. None of Ryoko's stories from her past have involved female lovers. This does not seem like a joke she is making.

"And you are someone who enjoys that attention from a woman?" Vegeta questions.

She blinks. Ryoko does not think she was being obtuse in how she came out. Confusing Vegeta is fun in its own way, though these are not the more ugly love elicited emotions she wants to provoke. A chuckle comes from her. Engaged and having lived together for a long while this is the only time he has sought out this kind of information. She did not say before as she did not see him caring.

"Wow. And there I have it. However fucking long it's been and now you take an interest in my sex life. You're already a big racist to anyone not Saiyan, are you gonna add more prejudice to the list?" Ryoko laughs and teases.

"Does it look like I care?" Vegeta quickly grumbles out his base apathy. He does not want to be drawn into a talk of Ryoko and sex.

"Yeah, you didn't seem to mind me kissing Ayeka so thought not. Sure ya ain't scared of this rival for you? What if Kaia – that's her name – tries to steal me from you?"

"I am Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, I am intimidated by no-one and welcome all challengers." He folds his arms and confidently states his fearlessness.

To act out against this Kaia over this would showcase him being unsure of his position with Ryoko – which he truthfully is after all that has happened. Him becoming possessive and jealous would mean he is frightened of Ryoko leaving him, being taken from him. That fear in him being caused by a weakling with a disability is something that Vegeta will not allow. He is confident and he is strong. Kaia is no threat to him. Not even with Yamcha did he lift a finger to try and chase him off from around Bulma. He did not need to.

Rosy red is on Ryoko's cheeks. All is said and done this is a very personal conversation which she took risks in divulging. She likes those words of Vegeta. He did not react to her bisexuality. He calmly spoke of not believing Kaia to be someone he is threatened by which she takes to mean he has complete faith in her and her love. Ryo-Ohki is raised again. The cabbit does not want to nuzzle against Vegeta's cheeks as her wet nose is pressed against him. She meows in protest and clutches tighter at the shiny metal she is holding.

"Fight for me, my prince." She smiles at him, wishes him the best and teleports away.

A hard night passes for both Saiyans. The dark hours are long. Trials and tribulations test them both. For one the morning Sun brings limited relief.

Sheets are damp, perspiration glistens from her skin and she takes tired pants with her chest sharply rising and falling. A bear of a man towers within the room, his head scraping against the ceiling, and he looks down on his daughter. The curtains are still drawn even as the Sun rises. In the gloom he watches her with concern and listens to her groans of discomfort. He strokes her damp fringe from her face. She reaches out and grabs his wrist.

"When will Goku return?"

Cold water pours from the sink into a bucket. Saiyan hands splash the refreshing liquid on his face. He is exhausted. His night was sleepless and none of it for the romance that occupied him the night before. Sleep deprived, Goku stretches whilst he leaves the tap running. The fur of his tail is messed up and several bruises dot his bared chest. He splashes a second load of water on himself and begins to drink.

The door to the bathroom quakes from a ham sized fist knocking on it. As Goku turns the door opens and the Ox-King lets himself into the bathroom, stooping in through the door. Goku absently waves at him and looks to the filling bucket in the sink. The Ox-King firmly places a hand on his son-in-law's shoulder. He asks if Goku is training today, the Saiyan nods. The grip on him tightens, not that Goku can feel that level of strength.

"My boy, do you know what Chichi just said to me?"

Goku is tired. He can read minds but only when in contact with their head so he does not know and says as much. He fails to pick up on the stern tone of the Ox-King. Goku's feet then stop touching the ground. Turned around in the air he faces the serious expression of his father-in-law.

" Two times she has asked me before. 'When will Goku return?' Years ago when she was a little girl, she was watching your fight against Tien-Shinhan at the tournament and wanted to know when you would come back to marry her. I couldn't answer her then, you were a free spirit, and she then set her mind to spending her youth training so she could meet you in the next tournament. After that … when she discovered that she was pregnant with Goten, that was the next time she asked. Again, I could not give my daughter an answer since you were dead. I am not letting her down again this third time." He says in a grave tone.

"Hey, I got multi-form now, I only left the room for a second. Train and see what's wrong with her." Goku is not abandoning his wife. His priorities no longer need be divided with multi-form. He yawns. The Ox-King lowers him back to the ground. He scratches at his stomach and reassures his father in law that he is somewhat responsible. "She's insisting that it was all the take-away she ate last night, upset her stomach n' all. I'm gonna sneak out to see Gohan and Washu."

Ox-King gives him a strong pat on the shoulder. No intervention is necessary here. He does trust Goku but those words from his ill daughter triggered this response within him. Chichi did eat an especially large amount of takeaway and so her aching stomach and symptoms could well be some form of food poisoning, except he also ate the takeaway and feels fine. Goku at the very least has some form of proactive plan to deal with this, as worn out as this Saiyan appears.

"Why sneak? If her health's in danger and she's getting weak then take her to see this Washu."

" … That's the weird thing. She's not weak, not weaker at all. Her ki is bigger, stronger. You think these bruises are from training? I can't take her there anyway. She's puttin' up a fuss any time I mention it and Gohan said there's a woman there really sensitive to ki. I can control and suppress mine, Chichi can't." At the moment Chichi's illness is not a matter of life and death and so putting another in grave danger by forcefully taking Chichi against her will back to that laboratory is not a decision Goku will make. It does not feel to him like a normal kind of sickness. Her ki is not correct for that. She has symptoms and yet no internal weakness. A lot has changed with his wife, there are several possibilities it could be.

"Well, so long as you ain't leaving her to train. I'll get some breakfast ready. Is she up to eating?"

"Yep. She's hungry. It's scary, she's almost as hungry as me. Though, I got this bucket 'cos she wants the food but the food don't want her." Goku jokes about the fun he has been having in the night cleaning up.

Ox-King grimaces and leaves this matter in the capable hands of Goku whilst he goes off to cook and see if Goten is awake. Goku lazily waves as his father-in-law leaves. He pokes at one of the bruises and winces. His energy lowers when sleeping, his wife has never been this strong before and even if she has got a younger body this is quite an odd boost in power. The bucket looks clean now, swilled out of his wife's expelled food, and he turns off the tap. Sending out a feeler with his ki sense he still finds no hint of Vegeta – for his ki to be lowered this much for almost a day is unheard of though remembering of this ki sensitive person it makes sense. His wife is ill. Thinking on Vegeta is not a place Goku wants his mind to linger. He pours out the bucket.

Walking back into his bedroom he leaves the light off and places the bucket down at the side of the bed. Chichi reaches out a hand and places it on him to pull him close. Goku is not asleep, he has power now and can resist. She mumbles something and smiles. He feels her temperature. It is not high despite her sweating. Goku kneels down properly next to her and quietly asks her if she can sit up. Chichi is not feeling up to putting the effort in to moving, she tries and manages. Her head swims and she sways. Goku's arm keeps her upright. She leans heavily on him, trying to cuddle in.

"Hey, pops is gonna make some breakfast. Are ya up to eating?"

Chichi nods. She is starving. She wants food since her stomach is now empty. Goku reaches out another hand and gently presses on his wife's stomach. She complains and winces, it is hurting as it was during the night.

"Since when did I marry someone this responsible? If you start spoiling me like this Goku I'm gonna have higher expectations for you that you're going to have to keep to." She is ill and feeling horrid, Chichi is enjoying that her husband is here and is not training instead. "You're worrying. Why? This isn't anything serious, I'll be better in a day or so."

"... Why wouldn't I? Think what happened to Bulma." That thought he cannot escape. Humans are not as strong as Saiyans, his wife could be ripped from him as quick as Bulma was from Vegeta.

"Silly. Dying is your hobby not mine. I said I'm fine." Chichi slurs out the words of the fear she is not entertaining. Goku finds them hard to accept yet she is abstinent in her opinion.

"You pushed so hard for us to have a doctor in the family so I think it'd be a waste not to use his education to look after his mom."

"No. Don't bother Gohan with this, he's busy with work."

"Now I know something's up. Gohan's never been too busy for you. And whilst he's here he can do a bit of training on the side as you get better."

" … Fine. Teleport and fly, not like I can stop you. Goku, I need the toilet."

She readily puts an arm around her husband in preparation. Sitting up unaided is beyond her so Chichi is not feeling up to the quest of standing and walking. Her stomach aches and is nauseous, her head feels like it is filled with a thick fog and her bladder is not letting her stay put for any length of time. Goku nods, this is not the first trip of him carrying her. He warns her that he is going to let go of her once there and not stay like she has pleaded for him to do prior. Chichi pouts. She still abnormally yearns for his company and extreme proximity. She leans in close to kiss him to tempt him otherwise and he pulls his head back. Her breath stinks due to her sickness and Goku would rather not. Thankfully right now her fist is slow and lethargic so no more bruises are added to his collection.