He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, Goku thought with silent wonder, easing the creased brow of the Saiyan prince with the back of his hand. The Saiyan no Ouji relaxed visibly, even going so far as to move toward his touch. It was then that Goku came to the stunning epiphany--I've never touched Vegeta before now. Well, except in battle. I wonder if anyone has...

Goku shook his head, removing his hand reluctantly. That kid from the future claimed to be his son, which means he and Bulma must have...Goku blushed as his thoughts took him further down that road. He decided he had to shower when his rebellious imagination taunted him with visions of the Saiyan prince naked. He growled softly as he stood, looking down at his hardened state in annoyance. He couldn't begin to understand why, but the Saiyan wanted the prince with an intensity that drove him to fight with a passion he didn't know he possessed, to violently subdue the very man he desired, and to almost attack his own son...

Gohan.

"Damn," Goku muttered, irritated with himself. "Now I'll have to deal with Chichi and the others even sooner than I thought."

His sense of smell was the first to begin functioning again.

Smoke.

Then sound, the easily recognizable pop and crack of a thriving fire.

Oh, Kami, I'm dead and now I'm in hell. The thought that followed was a product of the sudden flood of memories that seeped into his consciousness. Where I belong.

He groaned, squeezing his eyes tighter, gripping the soft cotton of the sheets beneath him in his shaking fists. Oh, Kami, I've finally killed Kakarott and I'm in hell because of it...Nani! Sheets?

Vegeta's eyes snapped open at the sudden realization that he was not dead, that no where in hell would there be a bed with his name on it. As the dim light assaulted his eyes, the prince closed them with a painful moan, one sweaty hand releasing the crumpled sheet to press against his eyes, blinking back spots that danced sadistically in his vision. That single movement caused another spasm of pain from the muscles in his chest and he set loose a colourful string of frustrated curses in his native tongue.

A chuckle from his right gave him pause in his blue streak. Swallowing was painful, like he had been screaming, and he was tempted to ask the faceless man, even if he was a demon, for something cool to whet it.

The light came less harshly to his eyes this time, though it took a moment to adjust to the flickering black and crimson shadows that framed the figure sitting next to him. The Saiyan's eyes widened considerably.

"Kakarott?"

Vegeta shrugged off the hand Kakarott was using to help him into a more comfortable sitting position, determined not to let the larger man see the pain each individual movement was causing him.

"Vegeta..."

"Leave me alone, baka. I don't need your pity," the last word hissed bitterly from his clenched teeth.

Kakarott growled deeply, his fingers digging harshly into the tender healing skin of Vegeta's back. The prince gave a sharp involuntary cry, automatically becoming more malleable in his hands and allowing the taller Saiyan to place him as he wished.

The prince glared over his shoulder at the irritating Saiyan as though he had suddenly begun to mimic Tien and grown a third eye. His gaze was met evenly.

"Nani." Kakarott's voice held none of the usual apologetic carelessness that Vegeta associated with the taller man.

"That's the most Saiyan thing you've ever done, baka," Vegeta stated, turning to face forward once more, crossing his arms over his chest and allowing Kakarott to adjust the pillows comfortably behind him. He didn't have the strength to fight him again. As it was, his body was struggling to heal the extensive damage taken in the earlier battle.

"I hate you, Kakarott," Vegeta whispered tightly. "I will beat you."

"I know, Vegeta...I know."

"Go ahead and change. I knew you would be hungry when you woke, so I made us something to eat." Well, make isn't really the right word...most of it's pre-cooked. Thank Kami for microwaves... Goku entered the room from the adjoining kitchen holding a platter literally fit for a prince. He thanked Kami for the foresight of always packing the Capsule house he used for his long training trips with Gohan as a "just in case". He had himself changed into an extra pair of gi pants he'd stashed in the closet--it was always good to have a backup set. Chichi complained a lot less about things she never knew about. Like ruined clothing. Both he and Vegeta had survived their dual in little less than colourful tatters.

Setting the stacked food on the table at the foot of the bed, Goku turned to face the prince.

He thanked Kami more profusely for his loose fitting pants as he blushed to the roots of his raven hair.

"I...see Gohan's shorts...umm...fit." He cleared his throat, searching for the words, his mind sending him naughty little images of Vegeta that had everything to do with the scanty red boxers the prince had donned.

"What the fuck are you staring at? Never seen a man in boxers?"

Goku willed himself to cast down his eyes. Oh, Kami-sama, I knew they were going to be a tight fit, but this is torture. What the hell is wrong with me? Why does he keep having this effect on me? This is Vegeta! The man has tried to kill me more times than I can count.

"Gomen, Vegeta." Goku swallowed hard, turning back to the food, his throat suddenly drier than a desert wind. The sight of Vegeta in his son's small red boxers was wreaking absolute havoc on his system. He had to stop shaking, had to breathe. Oh, Kami, this was going to be a long night.

The rich aroma of the food Kakarott had prepared tickled the inside of Vegeta's nose and teased his stomach. He didn't want the other Saiyan's sympathy, but he also knew that he needed the sustenance to promote his healing. As it stood, his Saiyan chemistry had mended his broken bones and was making quick work of his various marks and bruises. Vegeta briefly closed his eyes.

I'm going to be sick. It isn't bad enough that he beat me. Again. But now he seeks to humiliate me by wearing these idiotic shorts.

He saw the look on Goku's face when he had turned around to see the Saiyan no Ouji in red boxers that barely contained all his assets. He's making a mockery of me!

Goku sat down at the food-laden table, careful to keep his eyes on his plate. It wasn't going well. The usually taciturn prince had ceased talking to him altogether, forcing him to either speak or eat in silence. He chanced a look at the smaller Saiyan out of the corner of his eye and was startled to find the ebony eyes of the prince staring back. Flashing what he hoped to be a convincing smile, Goku shoved his face back into his food.

Something was wrong with Kakarott. The Saiyan that had been known to eat entire restaurants out of business had hardly taken a bite.

And he looks at me as though he's never seen me before.

Vegeta set down his fork forcefully and crossed his arms and legs, leaning back in the chair. He had very nearly been killed today, and now the man he hated most in the world was making him dinner.

He couldn't stand it any longer. The whole world had gone positively mad and he was about to find out why.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Kakarott?"

Goku choked at the question that shattered the silence into tiny incomprehensible fragments. He grasped at the water glass to his left, downing it in a single draught.

"Nani? Nothing's wrong, Vegeta." He set the glass back on the table. He stared in amazement as it cracked in his grip, smashing into clear, jagged pieces. The Saiyan swallowed, stunned. He usually had a better handle on his strength. Damn.

The Saiyan no Ouji was speechless.

Maybe I am in hell and this is what the demons consider sport. He watched as the taller Saiyan mumbled an apology and began to pick up the crushed remains. It was what he saw next that blew any retort he'd had on his lips right out the window.

Kakarott's hands were shaking.

Get a hold on yourself, Goku thought as he bent to pick up the shards that had fallen on the floor. He's just a man...But what an incredible body. And that voice...The way he looks at me sometimes...

The Saiyan shook his head. The prince had never looked at him like that. Respect, maybe. Instinctual understanding, yes. But desire...no. Never.

The unfortunate Saiyan took that moment to look up--his eyes coming in contact with the prince's sculpted thighs, trailing up the tight material that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

"Kakarott?"

Goku jerked, his head slamming into the hard underside of the wooden table.

That was it. He couldn't take it anymore--the man was acting like he had cotton balls for brains. In one swift motion, Vegeta was on his feet. With a snarl, he reached down, grabbing the large Saiyan by the arm and hoisting him unceremoniously to his feet. Another growl and a well-placed hand to the chest sent the taller Saiyan stumbling back into the wall behind him. The prince covered the distance between them easily, before the man could recover what remained of his wits.

"Now," the Saiyan prince hissed, the reign on his patience slipping away from his straining grasp, "you're going to tell me what the fuck is going on, Kakarott, and you're going to tell me now."

He was so close Goku could feel the heat radiating off his small, compact body. And he could smell the strong, musky scent of Vegeta's skin, only inches from his own. He heard the words, but they didn't make any sense. The movement of his lips mesmerized him. The fire in his belly smoldered, snaking its way through his veins. His lips were still moving...Was that danger in his voice? He was probably going to die, but he didn't care. At least he would die having tasted those lips...

Oh, Kami, he was going to...

...Kiss me. The bastard is kissing me! Any other thought the Saiyan no Ouji had was abruptly disposed of at the feeling of Kakarott's heated lips. To put it simply, he was in shock. A part of his mind wondered at the fact that the tall Saiyan was still standing and not pulverized into dust at his feet, but it never formed into a coherent thought.

Soft. The warrior prince's lips were daisy petal soft. Goku couldn't stop the purr that vibrated in his chest as he pressed more firmly into the Saiyan's mouth, his tongue seeking entrance to a temple he had silently, subconsciously been worshipping for months.

Kakarott's tongue was doing amazing things to his senses, and the purr that rumbled forth from his barrel chest was inducing shivers in all the right places.

Kill me, Vegeta. Pound me into the ground, but grant me this one last wish. You are my desire. To deny me is to kill me anyway, but if I am to die, then let it be you.

Vegeta started at the words that came into his mind, a thought that he knew not to be his own.

Nani?...Oh, Kami, it can't be...no, not him. Not him!

With a silent scream of heartfelt denial, Vegeta broke the kiss.

Goku stood panting with his eyes closed and his back pressed against the wall.

Here it comes. He'll kill me now...

He waited. But nothing happened. With a puzzled frown, the Saiyan opened his eyes.

Vegeta stood unmoving before him, his face stricken with a look of complete terror.

Goku didn't know which was more unsettling, the fact that he was still alive or the unreadable look on Vegeta's face. Was it...oh, Kami, it was fear that painted the prince's features white...and then red.

Uh oh...I think he's pissed. "Ve...Vegeta?"

Fuck! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! The prince's hands curled into quaking fists at his sides, his face distorted into an expression of pure wrath. He should have seen it, should have felt it happening. The Saiyan had never thought to question the time they had spent sparring together, though it had begun to become more and more extended...

Oh, Kami, no...I can't be bonding to this low class baka. It isn't possible. I am a prince, dammit! A prince! How in the name of all hell did this happen? And why didn't I sense it?

Vegeta shrieked, directing his fury toward the Saiyan before him. "Damn you, Kakarott! Didn't you ever bond with that sadistic mate of yours?"

"Nani?" Of all the words he expected to come out of the prince's mouth, those took the cake on awkward and strange.

"Bonding, you imbecile!" The Saiyan no Ouji was quivering with rage, his small body visibly tense under the confused gaze of the taller man.

"Well, I suppose so, Vegeta. I mean, we spend time together and get along well enough..."

"You are pathetic, Kakarott! How the hell did you end up with a child? You have bitten her, haven't you?"

Goku was confused beyond words. Was Vegeta concerned that this would interfere with him and Chichi? The Saiyan's brow furrowed in thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about the black haired woman. He loved her...he supposed. But, then, he loved everyone. His eyes flickered up to Vegeta.

But you...I feel connected to you, Vegeta. I desire you, need you, feel you like a second heartbeat in my chest.

Vegeta put his hands to the sides of his head, gripping fistfuls of ebony hair.

"Get out of my head!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Vegeta? And why would I bite Chichi--I like her, I would never hurt her."

"Oh, Kami, you haven't bitten her...haven't completed the bond..." the prince muttered, closing his eyes and shaking his head, taking a step backward.

Goku was alarmed at the other Saiyan's actions, not to mention his questions.

"Vegeta, what do you mean? Why should I have bitten her? And what about you and Bulma?"

My life is a mockery. A complete and utter comedy of ironies... The prince did a double take. He hadn't thought the bitch would tell the others so soon.

"How the fuck do you know about that, Kakarott?"

The larger Saiyan swallowed and cursed himself for carelessness. Shit, how do I tell him--'Hey, Vegeta, remember the other Super Saiyan, you know, the one that looked almost exactly like you that you probably resent with a passion for single handedly robbing you of the second chance to destroy the bastard that ruined your life? Well, that was the son you and Bulma are going to have...'

Somehow he didn't think so.

The Saiyan no Ouji shook his head. It didn't matter that he knew. He had to be sure that he wasn't over reacting, that this was more than simply telepathy between Saiyans.

Vegeta looked up into the turbulent eyes of the man he thought he hated.

Hate involves passion.

The prince winced at the thought. The bond that never should have existed was already beginning to strengthen.

Goku couldn't tell what the small man was thinking. His eyes were unreadable and he tried desperately not to flinch under the severe scrutiny he was currently receiving.

When at last the prince spoke, the Saiyan released a heavy breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.

"Kakarott--" Vegeta's voice faltered. There was conflict in the prince's gaze, a tightness to his tone. He seemed to come to some kind of mental decision, for he nodded once to himself and turned to occupy the chair that he had sat in earlier. The Saiyan folded his arms across his bare chest, which Goku noted fleetingly, was remarkably free from any indication of its previous abuse.

"Sit." This wasn't an invitation. This was the tone of the Saiyan prince, the man who was use to being obeyed without hesitation. Goku sat down opposite, drawing one leg up against his breast. He marveled at the change that had come over the man. The natural dignity that Vegeta wore like a second skin appeared to intensify and Goku got a glimpse of the royal heritage that the prince protected so adamantly.

The former prince of Vegeta-sei was studying him--Goku shivered involuntarily. It's like he can see right through me.

I can.

Vegeta smirked at the shocked expression on Kakarott's face when he realized the voice in his head was connected to the person sitting across from him.

"Nan--" The prince cut his questioning off with a sharp look.

"I ask the questions. You respond. Understand?" The tall Saiyan nodded dumbly and waited for Vegeta to continue.

"Do you know anything about Saiyan mating?"

Goku felt his face flush and burn. Just like Vegeta to say the hell with tact and tackle the situation head-on.

It was suddenly getting very hard to breathe.

The prince could tell by the embarrassed expression that the man had no idea how to answer the question.

Kami, your sense of humor is going to get you killed.

"You have one brat." It was a statement, a fact. "You must have done something right."

Goku blushed again, looking away from the prince's penetrating gaze. He shook his head. He was about to confirm the Saiyan's constant definition of him as a complete baka.

"I don't really remember."

He spoke so low only a Saiyan could have heard it. Vegeta nodded absently to himself.

Just as I thought.

"You were in heat, baka."

"Heat?" Goku didn't understand the term in the slightest. The whole conversation was making him nervous and the man he desired was eyeing him with a mixture of hatred and disgust.

"Yes, you idiot. Heat."

Goku narrowed his eyes, suddenly irritated by the prince's condescending attitude.

"Repeating the word doesn't help me understand it."

The Saiyan no Ouji snorted and when he spoke again, Goku felt as though he were five years old and having the "where do babies come from" discussion he'd always meant to have with Gohan.

Vegeta relaxed against the back of the chair, allowing the silence to loom heavily in the air. With a shrug, he decided to speak. "It is uncommon for Saiyans to bond for procreation. Often times Saiyans mate and bond with the same sex." The tall Saiyan turned multiple shades of scarlet at the words and their implications. He could feel Vegeta pause, those obsidian eyes watching him, before he continued in the same bored, explanatory tone.

"A Saiyan goes into heat when he knows it's time to mate--to produce an heir and carry on the bloodline. It's the undeniable urge to have sex." Vegeta emphasized the last word for his own amusement, grinning sadistically at the rainbow effect it created on Kakarott's face. "Once the seed is planted, he then finds himself a suitable partner to bond with--one that is worthy of his strength and skill. After he is bonded, he no longer needs to be concerned with going into heat. You don't remember doing it because when it happens a man ceases to think with his mind." The prince's eyes held the other man's for an instant before flickering down to his lap. "And gives into his primal instincts."

Oh, Kami...I've got to stop looking into his eyes... It took a moment for the blood to stop pounding in his ears and even longer for words to form out of the fragmented mesh that had once been his brain.

"Wha...What is bonding?"

Can he really not know? Every Saiyan knows the bonding rites. Is it a trick?

Vegeta sighed. The man wasn't capable of such cunning.

He didn't know it was happening either. His ignorance and his instincts allowed him to pursue me. Kami, he was probably hunting me tonight without even realizing it...

Vegeta's breath left his body and he forgot to draw another.

Oh, K'so. If he was hunting me...We fought. And damn him, he won. And...If I explain to him the bonding rites...

The prince shuddered and groaned. Despite all his efforts, he had already lost the battle to Kakarott. The large Saiyan just didn't know enough to claim his prize.

Vegeta had ceased speaking minutes ago and the other Saiyan debated silently on whether to ask his question again or leave him to his thoughts. The prince's dark, glittering eyes were glazed and unfocused, his perpetually taunt body still and unmoving.

"Bonding..." The Saiyan let the word trail as though reluctant to release it and continue. Goku heard him take a breath, saw his chest rise with the effort it caused him. The prince, for all his snide comments and bravado, was still in a weakened state, made all the more apparent by the raging conflict in his eyes.

He looks almost fragile--if I blew hard enough I wonder if he would crack and crumble like the sandcastles Krillin and I used to build at Master Roshi's...

"Bonding is the union between Saiyans. When one desires another as a mate," Vegeta paused, considering his words. "When one desires a mate to bond with there are certain rites that both must uphold. The first is forming a mental link." The proud Saiyan no Ouji cringed, his next words thrust tightly from his lips.

"Forging the mental link is the most difficult; in order for it to even exist, both parties must admit that there is something between them. It makes no difference if one is unaware of the other's interest or not, he will either instinctually accept the proposed link or reject it. Once this is done, even in death it is virtually impossible to break."

The small Saiyan was in agony. His hard muscles were tense and though the pain of his fingernails biting into his callused palm was a welcome sensation, it could not take the truthful sting off his words.

I hate him, have always hated him. I don't know how this happened.

Yes you do. Vegeta growled at the mental voice of reason. He loathed it, usually suppressed it, and never listened to it. You two are the last of your kind, both worthy of each other's attention. One, last in the royal line, the other, the first Super Saiyan. It was natural that this occurred. Instinct binds you to him. And even from the first you respected his ability as a fighter. Of how many can you say the same?

None. Kakarott fought with a passion matched only by his own, and as much as he despised him for his superior strength, he had always silently admired his will and determination in battle.

And I've been encouraging his Saiyan side in all of our sparring matches. Damn me. Damn him.

These random bouts of silence were taking their toll on his nerves. Vegeta held the unsettling look of the warrior that knows defeat is imminent. An insightful part of Goku's mind knew not to press the quiet Saiyan. But his patience was slipping.

Just tell him. You said it yourself, once the bond is established, there's no hope to break it...Fuck...here goes the world.

"After you know the mental link is in place, you fight and you fight to win, to prove yourself worthy of the other's attention. The victor then takes his prize and..." Claims him. He couldn't say the words, simply could not make his mouth form the hateful phrase.

I'll be damned if I'm going to admit he's conquered me. If he wants this, he'll have to fight me again.

Goku's heart was galloping in his chest. The Saiyan no Ouji had not finished, the unspoken words hanging in the heavy air between them.

The Victor.

Me. I beat him. And the mental aspect...I didn't imagine that--I did hear Vegeta's voice in my head...which means...

The knowledge sank in slowly and the realization hit him a moment later with all the force of a fast moving freight train.

A slow, primal smile turned up the corners of the Saiyan's mouth.

Vegeta is mine.

Vegeta saw the blank stare and then the smile, understood the reason behind it. He finally knew what the look was--the one that had intrigued him in last night's battle, infuriated him on a daily basis. The prince was convinced that hell would have to become a solid sheet of ice before he ever saw this look on Kakarott's face.

It was lust.