— Vegeta —

"You're too slow, it's mine, Vegeta!"

"No the fuck, it's not, I'll fucking kill you, Nappa!" I growled, pointing my opened palm at him with a twinkle of ki dancing in front of it.

"I'll die for it, Vegeta!" Nappa grinned, licking the large cooked dinosaur leg.

The ki continued to dance in my hands until I closed my palm and clenched it hard into a fist.

"God damn it, Nappa!" I nearly slammed my fists on the table, but I held myself back upon remembering how much food would end up on the floor.

"Don't worry, Vegeta, I understand." Kakarot nodded sagely. "Chi-Chi's cooking is the best; nothing comes close!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Goku!" Chi-Chi glared at her husband with fire-filled eyes.

"...A-Ahaha." Goku laughed nervously.

"First, you go off and have our son kidnapped, then you die, then you let him get kidnapped again, then you come back after a year, and the first thing you do when you see me is talk about some strong lizard alien monster in space! You're lucky you get any food at all!"

"...I-I see your point, Chi-Chi," Goku said while nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Your woman…she reminds me of our mother when she was angry, Kakarot." Raditz shivered from the memory of Gine, a woman I could recall meeting briefly—or rather, Vegeta could recall meeting.

Goku blinked at Raditz's words momentarily, seemingly considering continuing that conversation before Chi-Chi slammed her hands on the table, scaring him.

"Are you listening to me, Goku?! Do you have anything to say for yourself?!"

"Well…Raditz was the one who kidnapped Gohan-"

"Oh, I am well aware of that, trust me. I will deal with him later." Chi-Chi said—no, promised menacingly. "But as his father, you're responsible for his safety!"

"I know…I messed up Chi-Chi," Kakarot admitted, looking down. I could see the anger and shame in his eyes.

"You sure did." She nodded. "And?"

"And it won't happen again."

"Good!" Chi-Chi nodded once more. "To ensure this never happens again, Gohan, we're gonna get that tracking chip installed inside your body by the end of the week!"

"...Um, mom?"

"No buts or um's, Gohan." Chi-Chi hummed while cooking more food.

I smartly shut my fucking mouth and kept eating her delicious cooking. Even Nappa wasn't talking, which must be a record since he hit his head.

We were all currently still at Kame House.

Once my stomach put on that embarrassing display, Bulma went with Launch to have a girl talk while also contacting Chi-Chi to come over.

Kakarot recommended we get some food for Chi-Chi to cook, and we did just that, heading off and slaughtering a dinosaur for a feast.

Of course, when we returned, Chi-Chi was tearing into Kakarot while hugging Gohan as if he'd die if she let go. However, once her initial anger dissipated, she got to cooking.

All the Z Fighters were also present, with the exception of Piccolo, who left shortly after Chi-Chi arrived.

Smart guy.

I was on my fourth plate, though that's going by a Saiyan's definition of a plate.

In Earth terms, I had just finished my twentieth, and I was heading in for twenty-five.

"Isn't she just the cutest thing in the world?" Bulma asked, gently rocking Raditz and Launch's baby, Raunch, back and forth soothingly.

"She really is a little angel." Launch agreed. Apparently, sometime while she and Bulma were talking, she sneezed and was now blonde-haired violent Launch.

"I still can't believe you had a kid with Raditz, of all people." Krillin groaned under his breath, only to get his cheek pinched.

"You got something you wanna say, midget?" Launch questioned with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

I gulped down my cup of water and slammed it down on the table, taking deep breaths and letting the salty ocean air hit my lungs.

I glanced over to Raditz, who had stopped eating some time ago. I was watching Bulma hold his child with an intense gaze.

"Raditz," I said, earning his and everyone else's attention. "Follow me."

He blinked rapidly, and a bead of sweat fell down the side of his forehead, but he obeyed my order. I stood up, and he followed me out of the door.

We walked to the island's edge, and I stared off across the vast ocean.

"You had one job."

I didn't need to look at him to know he winced at those four words.

"Get Kakarot and bring him to us. Yet you failed, and not only did you fail, you managed to get him killed."

"They were…more crafty than I expected," Raditz said with great anger. "I hadn't expected-"

"Ah yes, expectations." I hummed, shutting him up. "Why don't we talk about those? When I arrived on this planet, I didn't expect to see a woman in your arms and a child in hers."

Raditz blinked slowly at me, bringing up his family.

"Is there something wrong with that, Prince Vegeta?"

I frowned and closed my eyes. If we're gonna be close-minded, then technically, there isn't anything wrong with what he did…but if we're looking beyond this dimension, then a lot is wrong with what he did.

Starting with the everlasting threat, the Time Breakers. The birth of Raunch isn't a canon event, and if anything would move them to action, it's an anomaly like her existence. Though, they likely wouldn't move in until she's much older.

Regardless, her birth would definitely change a lot, which means no matter what I do, they're gonna take notice.

I let out a deep sigh. I couldn't even entirely blame him for that. I tried to keep changes to a minimum, yet Raditz is alive. There were bound to be changes down the line, regardless.

Now, all I can do is live with them.

"Prince Vegeta?"

"No." I shook my head. "There's nothing wrong with you having a family. What is wrong is that you, someone who should have been ten times stronger than the two strongest people on this planet, somehow failed in beating them and managed to get your little brother, the very person you came to this planet for, killed."

Raditz remained silent at my words, his gaze locked on the wet sand of the island where the waves crashed into our feet.

"I'm sorry, Vegeta. I messed up, but I don't regret doing so."

I turned around and looked him in the eyes. What I saw was a man full of resolve.

"Because of my mistakes, I met Launch, and together, we created the greatest blessing this life has to offer me. So I cannot begin to regret messing up, even if that angers you, Prince Vegeta."

I couldn't believe my eyes. The amount of pride and will behind his eyes…it was like I was looking at a whole different man—not the same scared, weak Saiyan I'd known for years.

I closed my eyes and let a smile tug on my lips. "This planet. It has done good for you, Raditz."

With those words, I walked back inside of Kame House, leaving behind a quiet and stunned Raditz.

— Bulma —

She tickled the belly of the baby in her arms and smiled brightly as Raunch cooed. In all her life, she had never seen anything more precious than this baby.

Which got her thinking about her own situation.

Bulma Briefs, in her late twenties, has no kids and no husband and has been in a stagnant relationship for the past twelve years.

Looking back on her life, she couldn't believe how little progress she'd made, even after all this time.

Even Goku had married a woman and had a five-year-old child with her!

It was so unfair!

Yet, the way things were going, things were unlikely to change.

And Bulma couldn't accept that.

She went on that first adventure to gather the dragon balls to get the perfect boyfriend, one she could enjoy all the simplicities that a woman should enjoy.

Yet, none of her dreams had come true.

Bulma handed off the baby to her mother and let out a sigh.

"I know that look, even if it's been a while since I've seen it." Launch frowned, placing her baby in her lap. "What's wrong, Bulma?"

Bulma looked at Launch silently for a while. Should she let her know? This was Launch; they used to talk about everything years ago, but now Launch was happy. She has a man she loves and a child to love even more.

Could she really burden Launch with her own problems?

"It's…it's just I feel like I haven't made enough progress," Bulma said quietly.

"Mmm." Launch hummed and nodded. "You're still young, you know that, right?"

"I know." Bulma frowned. "But…I feel like I've wasted years of my life chasing a love that just wasn't gonna work."

"Has he really not changed?" The blonde-haired mother asked with concern.

"Not one bit, and I don't know what to do."

Launch placed a hand on Bulma's and let out a sigh. "I think we both know what you need to do."

Bulma looked at Launch with wide eyes for a few seconds before looking away and out of a nearby window.

Her eyes caught the two Saiyans outside, Vegeta and Raditz, with the former walking toward the house.

A tired and anguished noise escaped Bulma's lips as she curled into a ball on her chair.

"Whatever you do, know I'll be around; you just need to call." Launch stood up and hugged her from behind before leaving the room.

Bulma sat in the room, using the silence to speak to herself within her mind.

Launch…she was right. She knew what she needed to do but didn't know what would come next.

— Chapter End —

Author's Note: I've been struggling with some shit in my personal life, and it has affected my output. I apologize for that and I will try to pick up the pace again.

Join me on my Discord server /urPdbMCtQM

Beta Reader: It is I, the great Basilisk! and LuluViBritania (FF.N, SB, WN and QQ)/-LuluViB|99th Britannian Emperor(Discord)

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