Disclaimer: I don't own the characters but I do like the torture them. Ignore those cries for help, will you?

Note: Might be wise to read Homeward Bound first so that you won't be confused. The same warnings apply (except for the violence one). Saiya is a small country in southern Africa that takes the place of Burundi (which never existed in the first place).

Women and Wine

Vegeta had gone in to work that morning, needing some time away from his son. He hadn't got much sleep, maybe an hour or so, so he had been extra crabby that morning. When Goku kissed him hello after driving all the way from Western Capital he just grunted and continued to stir sugar into his coffee.

There had been no clients so far and now, around lunch, he was about to call it a day. People just didn't need a private detective as much as they used to. Just as he grabbed his trench from the coat hook in the corner the phone finally rang.

"Tokyo Detective Agency, Vegeta speaking. How may I help you today?"

'Vegeta..." the voice whispered. Both of Vegeta's eyebrows rose as he heard him, it had been a long while.

"Father, how did you get this number?"

"Forget about how I got it, I need your help. Several of my aides have been knocked off within three weeks' time and I'm probably next."

"So your paranoia's finally valid?" He went back to his computer and started to set up a client file. "When did you start to notice that something was going on?"

"Three bodies turned up a week ago and the court doctor determined the time of death for them all. It took a while to locate a credible investigator but after I discovered that you had become one, I knew who to choose."

"Did you pick me because you felt that I could do the job or because you want to sternly lecture me for running off?"

The king exhaled in frustration. "Why don't you just come here to investigate? We'll work out everything else later."

The plane tickets were paid for by his client and he got another first-class ticket for "a friend". After finalizing everything and booking a flight out of Tokyo for nine that evening, he called Goku and asked him to find a sitter for Trunks.

"ChiChi could do it," he said. "You don't know her that well but she's capable of watching him for a week or so. She can't get a teaching position until September anyway. Is your country very different from Japan?"

"There isn't a lot of technology there, most of the things we have were created by many hours of labor. By the time a saiya-jin comes of age he must know at least one trade, mine was woodworking. Depending on your family's status there is a party to celebrate your adulthood. Mine was a very large affair and I hated every moment of it." He made a face. "I was supposed to be married off to the daughter of a neighboring country but I left before our wedding day."

Goku made the appropriate noise of surprise then said, "Is the king going to like me?"

"I ran off to Tokyo without anyone's knowledge to escape my society, knocked up a strange woman in a cheap motel, and got into a serious relationship with a person of the same sex." A pause. "He's going to love you."

"Vegeta!"

"Seriously, koi. You're a kind, intelligient, funny person. If father doesn't like you that's his problem. Meet you at our restaurant at six, I'm not about to ingest any of that disgusting crap on the airplane they call food."

"But we're going first class."

He rolled his eyes with a smile. "Fine then. I'm not about to go hungry while crossing the Indian Ocean. They couldn't possibly fit enough food on that plane to satiate me, you, and the rest of the passengers."

"You could always *eat* the passengers."

"Ningen meat is too tough," he said as he typed in a message onto the computer that would tell all those who called that he was "on assignment". "See you there and--" He checked for listeners out of habit. Some of the most embarrassing conversations had been held via cell on a crowded street corner. "--ai shiteru."

"I noticed that pause, Vegeta. You're alone in your office for Kami's sake!" But still he laughed. "Ai shiteru, koi. Ja."

Vegeta felt instantly lonely after he hung up the phone. After staring at it a moment and realizing that the damn thing wasn't going to ring any time soon, he decided to just go on home. After stopping by a store and picking up a little gift of course.

Okay, so it had to be *two* gifts. He couldn't allow Trunks to go without, could he?

***

"Saiya is divided into two main sections," Vegeta explained in a slightly nervous voice. He was actually trying very hard to keep his mind off the potentially disasterous meeting he and Goku were walking to. The worst thing that could happen, in his opinion, was his father openly insulting his life-bond. 'Wait a minute! The worst thing that could happen is father discovering that I *am* bonded! It's not supposed to happen to members of the royal bloodline.' He put the thought from his mind and went on. "The largest one is known as the nygno, or the traditional, and the other is ugno, or the un-traditional. My father is one-hundred percent behind nygno so don't even mention the other unless he does first."

"Why?" Goku asked as he picked at the strange clothes Vegeta had given him (the women wore two pieces of cloth or just a simple dress). It wasn't as if there was much to the outfit, only a leather loincloth made from antelope hide (he had been told by Vegeta to think of it as "a thick speedo") and a steel bracelet around each arm that both bore the royal mark so that everyone knew on sight that he was with the prince. He had to admit that Vegeta looked awfully good mostly naked but he kept his thoughts to himself.

"The ugno split from the nygno when I was a little boy. They live for technology and all of the benefits that come along with it. There are small cities, sort of like minature Tokyos, where the ugno live and work. They don't associate with the nygno and vice-versa. My father and all of the elders believe in the old ways of the Saiya-jin. The rest are split fifty-fifty."

He fell back a few paces and admired Vegeta from the rear. "Who do you side with?"

"I'm pulling Switzerland on this one." He smiled to himself, knowing where the other man's eyes were focused and not minding one bit. "By the way Goku, if you trail behind me like that people will treat you like a servant."

He grinned as they entered the square before the palace and moved up to walk side-by-side. "I'll serve you anytime."

The wide tree-lined path was complete with two large water-spewing fountains where several children were contentedly splashing. People were buying things from the vendors that had set up shop or going to-and-from the palace conducting business of some kind. Many a person stopped to say a few words to Vegeta and to get a good look at his companion. The few women that were around gave him smiles and more than a few men were making him blush by the leers on their faces. Vegeta saw the way everyone was making his koi feel and grabbed his hand.

"We have business with the king," he said with the strongest glare he could manage. The people around them immediately found something else to focus their attention on.

Goku had even been a tiny bit intimidated by the expression on Vegeta's face. "No one really deserved that homicidal look, you know."

"They deserved a lot more than just a look," he explained. "They were bothering you."

"You're just extremely possessive."

"I have a good reason to be! Goku, you're the most important person in my life. If I lose you to some second-class saiya-jin I-"

Goku placed a finger against his lips. "You won't lose me, ever. These strangers are meaningless to me."

He looked at him and sighed. "What about your ex-wife? When are you going to tell her that it's not going to work out?" Goku didn't respond. "I'm not going to wait forever, not matter how much it would hurt not to be with you."

No more was said as they entered the royal castle.

***

Vegeta-oui, a man that looked remarkably like his son only with a beard, was pacing back-and-forth in his study, periodically going to the east-facing window to check for the prince and his mysterious guest. He had confined himself to only the castle since the day the bodies turned up, not even leaving to oversee several large projects in the kingdom. 'Well, if they screw up I can always behead them.'

A knock on the door came right before Vegeta opened it and came inside. He nodded once to his father and then turned to his companion.

"This is Vegeta-oui, Goku. Father, this is my, um, *friend* Goku." He hoped that the other man wasn't hurt by his words. 'Father might have me killed if he knew that I was bonded. I can't let bonding-withdrawal happen to you.'

'I understand. For the duration of this trip we're just friends.'

Vegeta-oui's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you sure he isn't just some common third-class saiya-jin you picked up on the way here? He sure as hell looks like at least two of them."

"There are people who actually resemble me?" Goku asked with wonder on his face. "Can I meet them?"

"He grew up in Japan, Father, and wasn't aware that he was saiya-jin until just a week ago."

He waved his hand in dismissal of the subject. "Fine, fine let's get down to business. Here are pictures of the bodies after they were found." He handed the photos over. "The doctor's not sure whether or not they looked like that the day of their death or not."

The pictures made Vegeta's face pale and his turned his head away as he handed them over to Goku. The forms lying on the examining tables didn't even resemble saiya-jin. The flesh, what remained of it, hung loosely from pale white bones and scabbed over sores covered almost the entire visible area. Goku's face grew serious as he examined the photos from a doctor's point-of-view and explained what happened.

"Some of the decay took place after expiration but most of this happened before. Your advisors were hit with a bacterial infection known as caries morior or "flesh-rot". It eats away at your body like acid until it reaches the vital internal organs like your heart and lungs and destroys them too. Estimated time to live after infection is three or four days."

"There isn't a cure?" Vegeta-oui asked in fear. He didn't want to get that disease from whoever or wherever and die from incredible pain.

"It's a bacterial infection, sir, they're treatable by antibiotics. Is the cure readily available? I would have to say no." He turned to Vegeta. "I need you to show me where the bodies are. I want to check them out."

Below ground, underneath the castle, was where the bodies of all the royal family members lay in a ancient stone crypt. From the first years of the Saiya-jin Empire to the death of Vegeta's mother, they were all there. Before they were buried, however, the court doctor determined the cause of death in an adjacent room that eventually became the morgue.

Shishitou, a small man with weasel-like behavior, had been serving the current king for over fifteen years, learning the basic rules of survival within the court when he was just a child. His mother and father were common servants to the king, who had firmly believed at one point that their son would not be able to rise above the third class. When he displayed interest in the medical profession Shishitou was sent to a doctor in the lowlands, learning the art of traditional medicine before attending a formal college in Europe. After six intensive years of training he presented himself to the king for employment and was accepted almost instantly based on his qualifications. That and the fact that the last court doctor had been beheaded that morning after failing to diagnose the king's flu symptoms.

"How are you certain that caries morior is the cause of death?" he asked Goku once the other man had explained each and every mark on the bodies. Shishitou instantly didn't like a stranger doing his job better than he could and would try anything to get him suitably punished for even trying.

"I've taken a year of Rare Diseases in college, Doctor." Goku smiled plesantly. "Haven't you?"

Shishitou answered just as politely although he wanted to scream in rage. "Of course I have, Doctor Son. I was certain that caries morior was the reason behind the symptoms present on the victims' bodies."

"They why didn't you give them the cure before it killed them?"

Vegeta had to step in, then, before things got a little dangerous. Placed a hand on Goku's chest he looked at Shishitou until he took a step backward. "We don't have time for this, doctor. I'm wasting my time down here in Saiya investigating a potential murder when I could be back in Tokyo taking money from *real* clients. Don't tick me off any further."

Goku smiled over Vegeta's shoulder and a vein in Shishitou's face began to twitch uncontrollably. Vegeta felt the silent laughter in his body where he touched him and poked him to end it.

'Don't piss him off, koi. I know he's an incompetent baka but he saw the victims while they were still alive.'

"I need for you to tell us how long ago the symptoms began to show up," Vegeta said as the doctor pulled the sheet upward to cover the face of Serori, Vegeta-oui's chief advisor. He had been a husky man when alive and healthy but the disease had eventually wasted him away until he only vaguely resembled his former self. The other two advisors, Michishirube and Asuparagasu, were fairly average for saiya-jin. Both had been muscular and dark-haired, and both had been in their mid-thirties. Nothing linked the three men together besides their jobs and the way they had died.

"Five days ago I received complaints of fatigue, nausea, and muscle pain from all three men." He motioned to the files on his desk. "I had given them simple medication for treatment. Their conditions worsened two days after that."

"Was a formal ceremony or banquet held six days ago?" Goku asked while looking over the neat notes the other doctor had written. "That would narrow down the exact time they contracted caries morior."

"The day the tribes joined together to form a nation was the fourteenth of Spring. That's why there was a formal celebration." Vegeta pushed a pad and a pencil towards the doctor. "I know you were present as an official member of the court. Make a list of every single person that was there."

Shishitou was annoyed at the mere thought of the task. "Wouldn't your father already have a copy of the guest list?"

"You say that like he plans his own parties!" Vegeta laughed. Then he blinked. "Oh, you were serious."

"Of course I was serious!" he shouted before realizing just who he was talking to. Closing his mouth without another word he quickly wrote out the names of everyone that he remembered. After handing the list to the prince, he pointedly turned his back to signal that no more information would be volunteered by him. Vegeta and Goku exchanged amused glances and hit the streets.

"There are approximately one-point-two million Saiya-jin living within the boundaries of Saiya, but only ten-thousand live within the ugno cities. The hierarchy is divided into four social classes: the servants, the third-class, the second-class, and the royalty. The two lower classes won't tell me anything because I fall into the highest class, but they will speak to you."

Goku was taken aback. "I have to question Saiya-jin that I don't even know? What will *you* be doing?"

"Questioning aides that have probable cause to kill me."

"Ah, okay then."

Vegeta showed Goku around the villages and gave him a hastily drawn map. "The royal servants have relatives in the villages surrounding the castle. All you have to do is speak with them and everything'll be fine. That symbol on those bracelets will force any king-fearing person to speak with you. Whether they tell the truth or not is an entirely different story. See you in a little while." He stood on tip-toe kissed him on the cheek and started on his way back to the royal castle.

"I have to ask all these people about the deaths, eh?" He looked around the village square and found a shop nearby. "This might work."

It was quiet and cool inside, the thick walls of the small building keeping both noise and sunlight out. The wooden shelves bolted to the walls held jars and bottles of foodstuffs in their most basic forms. Behind the table that was being used as a counter there were smaller shelves that held tiny jars of spices. Goku had never been in a store were everything wasn't covered in brightly printed paper or plastic before.

"Are you looking for something or just taking up floor space?" A man asked as he came through doorway that had been covered with a large piece of woven fabric. He was of Goku's height with a scar on his left cheek that had almost taken out one eye and a green strip of cloth tied around his forehead. "Haven't seen you around here before."

"I have a few questions that I want to ask you." Goku gave the other man an interested look. "I'm new to the investigative game but do you know anyone that works in the castle as a servant?"

The man's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he caught sight of the marking on his jewelry. "You have ties to them, I'm not telling you a damn thing."

Goku correctly interpreted his words. "Then you know something, then? I'm not going to use the information against you, sir. I'm just looking for the truth."

He began to laugh. "You're definitely not from around here if you tryin' to find the truth! *No one* speaks the truth, they only give us lies. Now go on, get out of my shop. You ain't getting any information out of me."

Goku took a step backward and tried one more time. He was sure the man knew *something* about the murder. "Won't you answer just one question for me before I go?"

"Fine. What is it?"

"Have you ever worked in the castle?" His mouth opened but his answer was cut off by the arrival of another man. He had long dark hair that hung down his back almost to his knees and had a cruel look about him.

"Father, did Nappa deliever my package yet? They're getting kind of restless over there."

"Yeah Raditzu," he said as he went off into the back. "Wait just a minute."

Goku and the newcomer stared at each other for a moment before the shorter saiya-jin held out his hand. "I'm Son Goku, nice to meet you."

A single nod. "Raditzu. What are you doing in this country?"

"Excuse me?" he asked, a little surprised he could tell he wasn't a citizen of Saiya. There were over a million people, did he really know the faces of each and every one of them?

"I heard word from the border scouts that the prince and "a friend" were allowed inside Saiya." He smirked at him. "I guess that "friend" would be you. One word of advice, though. No one is going to answer any questions while you're wearing those bracelets but if you take them off the soldiers are going to arrest you."

His father came back into the room holding up a medium-sized square package. "Nappa told me to tell you that he was going to be at the castle until tomorrow. You're going to have to run things on your own tonight."

Raditzu grunted in annoyance. "That stupid, bald gorilla! He *knows* how hard it is for me to run things by myself and still he gives in to his parents all the time!"

"Maybe I can help," Goku said with a smile. "You and this Nappa run some kind of business together?"

"You could say that...." He ripped open the paper on the package and unfolded a length of brightly printed material that looked a lot like a banner. "We run the Games, it's what passes for entertainment in this country. We've recently moved to another building, the last one had gotten destroyed by ki blasts, and there's going to be a ceremony tonight. All you have to do is bounce the ones who cause trouble. Nappa's a big guy, that's why it's usually his job."

"Your first day in Saiya and already you're goin' to the Games," the man said with amusement. "Hope you can take it."

His words mildly alarmed Goku. "What do you mean "hope you can take it"? What happens in the Games?" In his mind was something like the Olympics, but he could be wrong.

Raditzu, hoping that he could save his temp help, threw a arm over his shoulders and guided him outside into the sunshine. "Don't listen to the old man, he's crazy."

"I *heard* that!" His father shouted from inside. "I can still kick your ass!"

"Oh yeah? Come down to the Games and prove that!"

There was a brief silence and then, "Um, my knee's acting up again so I don't think..."

He chuckled. "Thought so, loser."

"What is the big deal about the Games?" Goku wondered aloud. "Why is he so afraid to fight down there?"

"He used to fight down there years ago but now there's a lot of younger, stronger, faster fighters that can take him down." He looked at him to see Goku's reaction to his next words. "In the Games if you lose, you die."

"Why?" he asked. "What's the sense in that? You already won over them, do you need to kill them too?"

"Out there on the field when you win over your enemy can you just let them live?" he asked. "They'd probably get up and stab you in the back as you turn and walk away.

"I've never fought in a war so I wouldn't know."

"Yeah," he poked him in the bicep, "these muscles came from an air-conditioned gym workout not from manual labor or intensive training. I bet you don't even *know* how to fight."

Goku was starting to get a little annoyed with the entire Saiya-jin race (Vegeta excluded of course). "I trained for five years with Kamesennin Muten Roshi in almost every form of martial arts."

Raditzu rolled his eyes. "Oh wow, you were trained by a ningen. I'm *soooo* scared! Until you experience training by a Saiya-jin you don't know shit."

"You're not superior just because you kill without a conscience! If that was true then the sociopaths would be ruling this world."

"We're working on that, believe me," the other man said with a smirk. "The Saiya-jin are a warrior race, forged in the heat of battle and tempered by the blood of our enemies. We know nothing else besides battle, you should remember that."

They walked a little ways down the dry and dusty path that connected Raditzu's unnanmed village with the one that surrounded the castle. Goku had been fully aware of the looks he received from the other Saiya-jin but Raditzu's was the first one that ever put him on edge. He didn't want to fight him, but he was sensing that if it came down to a battle he would have no choice. Words would not work well on the larger Saiya-jin.

"What's your name anyway? Vegeta's "friend"," he made the quotation marks with his fingers, "has to have a name."

"It's Son Goku, *Doctor* Son Goku." He had never gotten so much satisfaction from saying his title.

"Professional man, huh? What are you doing hanging with a runaway prince?"

"Vegeta's a private investigator and I hired him a while ago. We became friends."

He gave him a look. "Friends. Riiiight."

"Look, believe what you want. It doesn't make any difference to me."

"It sure as hell will to Vegeta-ouji. If his father finds out you two are bonded," he moved his finger across his throat in a quick motion. "it's off with your heads. Better you go that way then let the withdrawal take you."

"What is so bad about being bonded, Raditzu? He told me that you people think it's the most horrible thing in the world."

The expression on his face obviously read, "I can't believe you had to ask!" "Look, Goku, the thing is Saiya-jin can't afford any weaknesses. That's what makes us excellent killing machines. If a soldier bonds to someone all the enemy has to do is kill his mate. Though that alone has its advantages."

"How is that an advantage? Don't you care at all about the grief that man is going through?"

"We're Saiya-jin, Goku. Grief doesn't concern us. Anyway, there's a fifty percent chance that he'll go berserk and kill every enemy soldier on the field. Bonding withdrawal does that to some people."

He just shook his head, refusing to deal with his words. "When am I supposed to help you at the Games and does bouncing people involve hurting them?"

"At full-dark tonight and maybe." He shrugged. "You've got a three-hundred pound bodybuilder harrassing a skinny weakling in the stands, taking attention away from the deathmatch going on below. The crowd is shouting encouragement and his stupidity level is going straight through the roof. Do you actually think asking him to leave nicely is going to work?"

He sighed. "I guess not but if I can stop him from beating the crap out of that other guy I'm still doing good."

"We're gonna work on your integrity later."

"WAIT!" They heard someone shout behind them. Raditzu's father was running up to meet them, waving something in his hand. He stopped in front of them, trying to catch his breath, and shoved the picture in Raditzu's face. "Look at it! Look good, boy!"

"It's a photo of Kakarotto when he was a baby, so what? You're still holdin' on to hope, old man?"

He took the picture from him and held it up next to Goku's face. "Now look at it, what do you see?"

Raditzu opened his mouth to speak but ended up closing in as the words suddenly flew from his brain. He stared from the photo, to Goku's face, and back again. "Well I'll be damned."

Goku was seriously confused. "What? What's up with the pho-" His words broke off when his breath was squeezed from him by the older man's still-strong grip. The other man realized what he was doing and was quick to release him. "-to?"

"Kakarotto! I've found you again!" He showed him the picture. "This is you as a little boy. Your brother and I went off to Japan on a.... trip."

"Father, we were running from a hit man, remember? You owed money to the government and they sent him after us when you wouldn't pay. Are you gettin' Alzheimer's Disease or somethin'?"

He glared at him. "Kakarotto didn't need to know that, he's the good one in the family. To make a long story short we went on the trip, you wandered off, no one could find you. I gave you up for dead years ago but now you come back to Saiya with Vegeta-ouji. Did whoever found you in the forest raise you well?"

"Yeah, grandpa was great but," his face grew sad, "one day I woke up and he was dead. The house and the surrounding woods were destroyed, too, I didn't know what happened."

His father and Raditzu exchanged glances. "Had to be a full moon."

"Yup. He doesn't have a tail now, though."

Goku looked up. "Tail? Full moon? My tail got removed a long time ago."

"That was probably a good thing," Raditzu told him. "Hasn't Vegeta-ouji told you all of this already? About what it truly means to be Saiya-jin? Or have you just been screwin' your lives away day and night?"

His father froze. "What did you just say?"

"Yeah, Father. Kakarotto here is bonded to the prince!"

Goku was offended. "We're bonded but we don't screw like rabbits! We, uh-" He blushed. "-never..."

"Why not?" his father asked. "Does he have something embarrassing underneath his loincloth? Is it *real* small?"

"Come on now! Why are we talking about the size of his-" His face took on a deeper red color. "-um, attribute?"

Raditzu laughed and gave him a thumbs up. "At least we're moving up the food chain! I think we're second-class now! Yeah!"

Goku just stared at him. "How is my being in love with Vegeta helping you two?"

"What you do is reflected upon your family, Kakarotto," his father said. "By becoming the prince's consort you joined him in the royal class."

"I'm not staying here forever. I'm a doctor back in Japan and I have a son who loves me." Valuable time was being lost while he stood there chatting with his newly discovered father and brother, a terrified king was counting on him. "If you have any information that you're willing to give up, come find me."

"The arena is a great place to hear gossip!" His father called to him as he walked away. "By the way, my name's Bardock!"

Goku nodded and continued on his way.

***

"What is wrong with everyone?" Vegeta asked himself as he made his back to the castle. "Is it something in our genetics that automatically makes us backstabbing, murderous people? Or does the element we're raised around make us into what we are?"

The castle was divided: the residences on the upper levels and the public offices on the lower. The day started early and lasted long, sometimes a person would spend as much as five hours in a meeting alone. Vegeta-oui had a habit of calling meetings and excusing himself from the room, only to remember that they were still waiting for him to return several hours later. There had always been talk of removing him from the throne but there had also never been anyone suitable enough to replace him with. It was foolish to replace a bad king with an even worse one but some were still willing to take their chances.

It was still fairly early in the day, just after noon, so the royal aides would still be in session with the king. Vegeta knew how long his father's meetings seemed, especially when the day was sunny and warm, so he knew that any aide he pulled from the meeting would have an eternally grateful look on his/her face.

He knocked on the door, lightly. "Father? May I have a word with you for a second?" Three brilliant smiles were given to him discreetly and Vegeta nodded in response.

Outside in the moss green carpeted hallway that clashed with the mauve and white striped wallpaper (the last decorator had been color blind) he led him to the side and explained the situation to him. "So I'm interrogating your aides one-by-one to see if they noticed any suspicious behavior among the classes lately."

"That's my boy!" Vegeta-oui said as he slapped him on the back. His son cringed; he had never liked it when he did that. "I knew you could save me!" He hit him again, even harder in his enthusiasm.

"Yeah, well if I don't get the feeling back in my right arm soon I'm not going to be helping *anyone*." He gave his father a look and backslapping ceased. "Send Daikon to me first and then Edamame. Sukasshu will be last."

He nodded. "Will do. I haven't had the chance to properly thank you. Who knew that running away from your marriage would be the best thing for you." He disappeared through the door and soon the first aide was being led to a small room with a table and two chairs.

Vegeta could tell that short-haired, skinny Daikon was more than a little nervous. The man continuously wiped his palms onto his elaborately made loin cloth and his face kept twitching. "I'm not going to kill you, Daikon. You can calm down now." The man stopped fidgeting but he was still afraid.

"This is about the dinner we had last week, isn't it? I didn't kill anyone you've got to believe me!"

"I wasn't even accusing you of murder, Daikon. Can you just shut up and let *me* ask the questions?" He nodded mutely. "Question number one: were there any servants at the party that you had never seen before?"

"Well, the king always hires extra help for those but..." He wracked his memory for the details and instantly paled.

The evening had started out boring, *extremely* boring. After the hors d'oeuvres and wine had been served and the guests had all small-talked themselves out the king announced that dinner would be soon served. He had taken a seat between the lovely Sukasshu and his not-so-lovely mate, Kabu. To that day he wondered what possessed the gods to Bond them together.

"Welcome everyone to this year's Feast of Joining. This day is a glorious one for our country, signifying the moment over two-thousand years ago that two powerful rival tribes joined together to fight a common enemy."

Every single year the speech seemed to become longer and longer. No one but the youngest noblemen and women even paid attention to it anymore. Daikon had focused on dulling the sound of the king's voice by drinking as much wine as he could hold.

At the moment in his speech that Vegeta-oui seemed the most into what he was saying, something warm placed itself onto his leg. In Daikon's drunken state he grabbed said hand and moved it upward so that it was resting on his groin. It was then he realized that Baku was sitting on his right, not his left. Besides, she hadn't done anything with him in over three years.

Daikon pulled up the tablecloth slightly and saw a slender hand with perfectly manicured nails (nail polish had been brought to the country a few months before by visiting dignitaries) gently squeezing him. He thought, 'Only Sukasshu's on my left but she doesn't even pay attention to me!' He looked at her face just as the king's speech ended and saw her lazy expression and hooded eyes. Well, as long as she was uninhibited he would take full advantage of the situation.

From there the night progressed and the only thing he could remember was making out with someone on a nearby balcony.... and vomiting over the side only a few moments later. The person had held him for a while until his stomach settled down and the next thing he knew it was daylight and he was lying on the floor in his bedroom with no one around.

'Well, that would definitely explain why Kabu hadn't said a word to me since that night.'

"Due to unforseen circumstances I am unable to give you that information at this time."

Vegeta gave him a look of disgust. "You were falling down drunk, weren't you?"

"That has nothing at all to do with it."

"Daikon you get drunk every damn year! Remember three years ago when you were found in the fountain naked with one of the servant boys? I had hoped that this year's dinner was the one you failed to drink at."

He gave him a sheepish smile. "Well, it was sure as hell the one when Kabu found out about my lack of faithfulness."

'And so one lead ends at a brick wall,' Vegeta grumbled to himself. "Just go back to your meeting and send Edamame to me."

"Kami," he sighed. "And no liquor to help me ignore him this time."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at the door after it had closed. "With aides like that no wonder this country is in ruins."

***

Dinner came and Vegeta had finally questioned everyone he needed to. In the diningroom, the very same room the murders (yes, he was calling it that now) had occurred the king played host to his son and his guest. Most of the Saiya-jin that served them were visually familiar to the prince but there were a couple he had never seen before. Usually a servant stayed with the castle until either he or she had moved up a class or died, whichever came first.

When the servants had gone back into the kitchen Vegeta lowered his voice so that only two other people could hear him. "When did the new servants begin?"

"The Day of Joining celebration needed a lot more work so I pulled more third-class down to the servant class. Three of the women were so good at the job I kept them on full-time."

"Was that wise?" Goku asked, then he quickly added, "No disrespect intended, sir, but Vegeta and I have reason to believe each of your aides were murdered by a servant."

He began to laugh, starting out low and almost inaudible to end in a booming sound that echoed in the large, empty room. "You're obviously insane. Vegeta, did you know of this?"

"Father be quiet and listen for once!" he shouted, causing the king to break off in mid-chuckle. "Someone is trying to weaken your government so that they can take over. Two of your aides are dead already and another is probably going to die today. Put the remaining three underneath twenty-four hour guard or there'll be no one left between you and the assassin." He wiped his hands off and threw the linen napkin down onto his plate. "You called me for help, Father, so you better start cooperating before I leave you here to die."

As he walked across the room and exited through the door that led to the main staircase, silence prevailed in the room. Goku politely excused himself.

"You should let the boy be," the king informed him. "When he gets mad like that no one should be around him."

He shook his head. "He'll want me around, I know of it."

"You act like his bond-mate!" Vegeta-oui laughed but it died when he saw the look on his face. "No... You two aren't-!" Goku refused to answer him as he followed his love but the silence was more than enough answer for the king. He stood up, rage clear on his face, and beat the other man to the place he knew his son had gone to by using several back passageways. Royal family members did not have the weakness the Bond gave to those who yielded to it. The few that did ceased to exist very soon after it happened. So what if his only heir was killed because of something he couldn't control. It wasn't as if the Book of Law stated that his heir had to be his biological child. All he had to do was adopt.

'I'm coming to save you from the pain, my son. You will not have to suffer any longer.'

***

His father had never been able to sneak up on anyone and today hadn't been an exception. Vegeta heard his heavy footsteps long before he had even rounded the corner and spotted him curled up in the windowseat on the third floor. He narrowly escaped and went down the main staircase that led him past Goku.

"Why is he so pissed? I didn't think my words had ticked him off *that* bad!" Vegeta grabbed his hand and led him through the royal garden, heading for the back gate that led to the streets of the small town.

"He's mad because he knows. I didn't say a word to him but he *knows*." The extra emphasis on the last word made something in Vegeta's mind click and he cast a quick look over his shoulder.

"Do I stay here and try to save the life of a man who wants to murder me? Or do I flee the country as calmly as possible?" He asked no one this, only himself but he eventually turned questioning eyes to his mate. "What should I do?"

Goku chose his words carefully. "I haven't been here long enough to be sure but I see that this country needs help. The overall morale alone could use some boosting. Everyone seems to walk around listlessly as if in a half-trance, always muttering about the government out to get them. I know that this is your homeland but surely you've seen this too."

"Hai, koi. I was born after my grandfather's reign but I've noticed that my father tends to leech the energy out of people, physically and emotionally. I had a nursemaid once, when I was six or seven years old, and she told me stories all the time about how much better things were when the old Vegeta-oui had been in charge. This country will be better off with my father dead but I have a feeling that his replacement, since I'm sure as hell not about to volunteer myself, will be a lot worse."

Goku saw that the sun was definitely close to sinking below the horizon and remembered his promise to his brother. "How would you like to go to the Games, Vegeta? Raditzu asked me to help him out tonight."

"The *Games*?!" he exclaimed. "How in the world did you-" He broke off with narrowed eyes. "Who's Raditzu?"

He laughed. Vegeta actually looked pretty cute in the midst of his jealousy. "He's just my brother, calm down. Nappa had to miss so I volunteered."

"My love, always helping out his fellow man even if he doesn't know them that well. Do you know what the Games are about? Seriously?" Vegeta had been taken to several when he was younger and would never forget them. The noise of the crowd, the scent of blood, the almost crazed looks in the competitors' eyes as they fought for survival. The participants in the events were always law-breakers and such but still it seemed like cruel and unusual punishment. How did his father know that the man who lost his life in the circle wasn't going to discover a cure for cancer one day in the future? The lives of young men that had hardly even reached maturity were wasted in an idiotic form of entertainment.

Yet another reason why he'd left.

"There's one thing I've been meaning to ask you for a while now," Goku said. "Why aren't there more women and girls around? The male-to-female ratio around here is odd. I actually estimate it as five-to-one."

He shrugged. "Boys are born more often than girls and female Saiya-jin tend not to last long around here. Some of them move out of the country, others die. The most common way for a female to go is during childbirth. Our medicine tends to center around a what ails a man, not a woman, so they just die."

"That's just stupid!" Goku shook his head. "There's no other word for it. How many intelligent women have died just by having kids?"

Vegeta placed a hand on his back. "Many, koi, but it's damn hard to change a mentality that's been in place for millennia." Then it hit him. "That might be what they're trying to do by killing all of the governing people. Maybe someone out there wants to rule and can do a good job of it."

"I hope so, Vegeta, for everyone's sakes."

The new arena was on the west side of town, built in an area that had many new buildings. The entire thing was made of stone that had been cemented in place and Goku winced at the abuse his poor rear was going to take on the hard benches. Even Vegeta thought they could do good by investing in some padding.

Raditzu found them, allowing them to cut in front of everyone else trying to get inside. The other Saiya-jin complained but when they figured out that the prince was there, the words died quickly. Inside there was a table set up where Raditzu had Bardock taking the entrance fee and stamping people's hands with black ink but he was the reason why the line was moving so slowly. First he was slow to hand back change for people who overpaid and then he was slow to figure out how the stamp worked. Raditzu sighed and told his father that he would be back to take over soon. Everyone still outside cheered.

"I need for you to walk the stands," he told Goku. "Vegeta-ouji, are you here to help? You wouldn't even have to hurt anybody to get them to sit down and shut up."

"Sure, I guess," he answered. The arena was one of the only places where people from all classes were free to gather at so there had to be someone out there who knew more about the murders. He only hoped that he could stop them before someone else lost their life.

By seven-fifteen all of the seats were filled with people and Raditzu signalled for the first match to start. All knew that the loser would be killed by his opponent but a new rule had been added: the winning convict received freedom. That ensured an almost endless stream of participants for the Games.

A man that was similar in appearance to Bardock stood up and waited for the chatter to die down before speaking. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls-" Goku raised his eyebrow when he realized that there *were* children in the audience. "-welcome to this week's Games in the brand-new Vegeta-oui Sports Arena!"

"Oh please," Vegeta rolled his eyes. "He didn't even come outside for the groundbreaking." Goku shushed him.

The first match went off without incident and Goku bowed his head as they carted away the dead body to be buried in the prison cemetary Vegeta continued to watch the crowd with sharp eyes, looking for the slightest disturbance. It was well into the second match before he found one.

One strong-looking woman was shouting at the man she was sitting beside though it was probably not her mate. At first Goku and Vegeta thought her tirade was over when she paused but it was, in fact, only getting started.

"That so-called 'great king' of yours took all the money we pay in taxes and built this stadium of death! Then you people are stupid enough to bring your children here!"

"Woman, why are *you* here if you hate this place so much?" he asked as he got to his feet. "Just like a female to do something that doesn't make sense!" The other men shouted their agreement and Goku rolled his eyes.

"Alright, what's going on here?" he asked as he and Vegeta made his way over. The entire thing had begun to catch the attention of other sections of the crowd and even the competitors themselves had stopped to watch. They stepped between the man and the woman so that they couldn't see each other.

"I'm about to beat the shit out of him, that's what's going on." The woman tried to shove Goku out of the way and found it a little difficult to do so. "Saiya has been run into the ground by the males around here! When is a woman going to get a turn?"

"What did I tell you?" Vegeta muttered so only he could hear. "There's gonna be a revolution."

Both the man and the woman were taken down to the main gate. The man, having finally recognized his prince in the dim light of a lamp in Raditzu's office, dropped to his knees and begged for forgiveness. Vegeta hated when people felt they had to do something like that but he told him that as long as it never happened again he could go back and watch the Games. The woman refused to even apologize.

Her name was Nattou and came from one of the ugno cities on the fringe. She was both mateless and childless so there wasn't much they could do to keep her out of trouble with the law. Two soldiers had shown up soon after the other man had departed and took her into custody. Instead of fighting the two men she went peacefully, but not without tossing a look of complete satisfaction over her shoulder at Goku and Vegeta.

"Something doesn't smell too good," Goku commented. "Change is coming. What does your father do with people who break the law?"

"The men he throws in prison for a while, the women..." He scratched his head. "I don't have a clue what he does with the women. I know they aren't executed because it would have been public. Father enjoys shaming their famlies."

"Your father is an evil man."

He sighed. "Don't I know it."

"You two can leave, Nappa showed up." Raditzu told them with a grin. "Go cuddle or something."

Goku rolled his eyes in response but two of them did exit the arena. It was time to receive some answers.

***

So, what *did* his father do with the female prisoners? Vegeta knew that the king had no excess love for women and that often made him wonder why he even mated with and had children with one. Still, being a misogynist did not necessarily mean that the misanthrope was also gay.

Vegeta-oui was still on the prowl and he knew it. The odds that he would try to kill him the next time Vegeta crossed his line-of-vision were very close to one-one.

'I'm strong and fearless around everyone else,' he muttered to himself. 'Why does that man put the fear of kami into me?'

'He's your father, Vegeta, and is supposed to love you and take care of you. When he failed to do so and instead chose to threaten you it scares you more than anything else in the world.'

'You're wrong,' he said after he got over the initial shock of hearing a response to his silent question. 'What scares me more than anything else in the world is losing you.'

Tears appeared in the corners of Goku's eyes but instead of kissing him he settled for a gentle pat on the shoulder. "C'mon," he said aloud after a moment. "Let's go find your father and clear this entire thing up. I'm sensing that there's something he's not telling us."

The king's office was empty though there was a giant stack of paperwork that hadn't been there earlier that day. Vegeta recalled that his father used to go to his suite on the fourth floor directly after dinner unless there had been paperwork to do.

Vegeta hadn't seen the suite since he was a very small child and his mother was still alive. There was a total of three rooms -- a bathroom, a bedroom, and a living room with a small balcony -- and all were carpeted in dark rose with matching wallpaper. The door to the living room was unlocked when they got there and no one was inside. The double doors that led to the balcony were open, a gentle breeze ruffling the white curtains on the windows and stirring the papers piled onto the coffee table.

"Father? Are you in here?" Vegeta asked loudly, peeking into the bedroom first. The bed was still made although there was a laptop computer directly in the middle of the bedspread. Since when could his father use a computer? He was barely capable of using a telephone!

"Vegeta!" Goku said loudly from the other side of the suite. "I found him!"

The sound of his voice sparked panic in Vegeta' mind. Was his father okay? Then he frowned. Why did he even care?

The lights were off in the bathroom and the only light came from the stars outside the single window and the overhead lights from the living room. It was a large room that held a huge sunken tub with a spout in the shape of a leaping dolphin, a standing shower, and double porcelain sinks in addition to the standard toilet.

In a corner of the tub on the edge of the light, huddled Vegeta-oui with a large dagger placed next to him on the cool white tile. He didn't look at either of them until Goku placed a hand on his shoulder.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" he screamed as he grabbed the hilt of his weapon. "I will not die like those other four fools! I will not!"

"Father please!" Vegeta knelt next to him, ignoring the discomfort from hardness of the porcelain tub. He took the blade away from him and was suddenly at a loss. How did you comfort your hysterical father when it was almost impossible to comfort your own life-mate? He placed his arm around his shoulders and it was then when his words fully hit him. "Did you say *four*?"

He nodded. "They found Daikon dead early this evening by the same illness that took the other three. The guards were sliced up by a sword. This time it killed him quicker than it did the other two, but Edamame is still suffering from the symptoms and is expected to die some time tomorrow."

"I had someone send the antidote here but I doubt Shishitou will know how to prepare it," Goku said. It was the perfect escape, he knew that only Vegeta could calm the king down. After giving them both a reassuring smile Goku departed for the castle morgue.

"I want you to go to bed, Father," Vegeta said quietly as he helped the older man to his feet. "Get some rest, I swear that you'll still be alive in the morning." He got a bottle of sleeping pills out of the cabinet and gave him several along with a glass of water. "I'll guard you."

He nodded mutely and retrieved his black silk pajamas from his dresser drawer. Before Vegeta departed the room to get comfortable on the sofa, he placed a hand on his arm. "I've never said how proud I am of you, Vegeta. Never change who you are."

"Thank you, Father," he said with carefully concealed emotion. Inwardly he was as happy as a small boy on his birthday. "I, um, love you."

Vegeta smiled to himself as he locked the outer door, pleased that finally his relationship with his father wasn't so strained. Maybe there was hope for his old man after all.

***

Goku had noticed how much the morgue looked like a dungeon and willed himself not to dwell on it for too long. He had spotted the tall, slender Sukasshu on an upper staircase and sent her on the task of collecting all the dishes that were half finished from both mens' rooms while he found Doctor Shishitou and retrieved the antidote he had left with him.

'I'm not completely sure if that was a good idea now that I think about it,' he said to himself. 'Shishitou doesn't seem to like me very much.'

The main examination room of the morgue was completely empty as he entered but there was a small room with an open door in the back. A dim, yellowish light shone from the office as Goku made his way over to it. He found Shishitou there, a briefcase on his desk, going through some papers in a file cabinet.

"Doctor," Goku said quietly so that he didn't startle him. The man jumped anyway and slammed the drawer shut before he spun around to face him.

"Don't you know how to knock?!" he asked him with an irritated expression on his face. Shishitou moved away from the now-locked cabinet and shut his briefcase. "Go away, I'm too busy to chat with you." When Goku didn't move an inch, he looked up and met his eyes.

"I need the cure I gave you for caries morior, another man has it.

He shook his head and grabbed his things. "I'm not giving you a damn thing. You're only some big shot doctor from Japan who came here with the prince trying to solve a mystery that's more complicated than all of us." He smirked. "Actually, let me rephrase that: It's more complicated than *you*. Now get out of my way so I can go home."

Goku still didn't move a move but his eyes narrowed. "Give me the cure, it wasn't a request."

"Even as we speak they're going upstairs to murder the king." He shrugged. "There isn't much you can do about it, really. Once the revolutionaries announce their intentions the royal family members, and all who support them, will be killed. Fortunately I don't fall into either category." He attempted to push past the man and was met with solid muscle. Goku grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him up so that they were eye-to-eye.

Every word he spoke came from between gritted teeth. "How. Do. You. Know. About. Their. Plans?" Quite a bit of trembling had to cease before Shishitou was capable of speech.

"The women speak of it all day, every day! Their voices float down the halls toward this room until I can hear them even in my dreams. 'The king will die and we shall rule. The king will die and we shall rule. The king will die and we shall rule!' "

Either the man was insane or the case of the missing women was solved. Goku placed him back onto his feet and covered his mouth. Sure enough he could hear faint voices coming from somewhere. "The king threw them into a dungeon?!" he asked in disbelief. "What the hell did they do wrong?"

"Voicing an opinion in a public place, going outside without the proper identification bracelets, not bearing enough children for Empire-- These are common things all women should be taught as little girls."

"You people still believe in that crap? How can you have the same view point for two millennia?" He left his office and went to one of the outer walls in the large room and pressed his hands to the cool stone. "Where's the entrance? You know where it is, I'm sure of it."

Shishitou shook his head and grabbed a sterilized knife from a table. "I won't tell you! The king's soliders scare me more than you ever will! I tell you where the entrance to the dungeon is and I'll get tortured by them!"

Goku turned to face him, all traces of kindness gone from his face. "What makes you think that you have nothing to fear from me? I'm trying to prevent something you fool! A war is *not* in this country's best interest! If you don't put that damn scalpel down right now I'm going to hurt-"

He suddenly wasn't in the morgue shouting at Shishitou but in the king's living room struggling to displace the fog that had consumed his brain. He yawned widely once, then twice and his eyelids were closed before he knew it. Goku came back to the morgue a moment later and dismissed the urge to harm Shishitou from his mind. There was only one thing there now.

The need to save Vegeta. To hold in his arms and make sure that everything was okay.

Sukasshu was just coming to the staircase pushing a small cart and he told her to wait for Shishitou to leave before taking everything downstairs. He ran on at top speed hoping that he could get there before something really horrible happened. A dark shadow was standing before the door to the king's suite and he ducked back around the corner to watch a moment before making his move.

Silent as a shadow the slim figure bent down and pushed something underneath the door that was releasing a white smoke. That must have been what made Vegeta panic when he saw what was going on through his eyes. Swiftly moving over and grabbing the person Goku tried to open the door and found that it was securely locked.

"DAMN IT!" He shouted in frustration before kicking the door with all of his strength. It shuddered and one more kick knocked it down. Goku grabbed the smoking object that lay on the floor and threw it out into the hallway.

"I can't believe you put him to sleep!" He yelled at the form who only glared back at him from underneath black robe and hood. The dark eyes spoke volumes that the mouth refused to say. 'I hate you for stopping me,' they said, 'and you will pay at the first available opportunity.'

Vegeta sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm not asleep, Goku. Stop acting like she killed me."

" 'She?' " he blinked. "How do you know this person's female?"

Vegeta made a motion with his hands and grinned. "She has curves."

"I will not be the last," she said in a surprisingly deep voice. "My sisters will come when I am gone."

Goku unmasked her and was surprised by the length of her long, and obviously manageable, hair. "You're not Saiya-jin."

"Not fully." She suddenly applied pressure to points on both sides of his wrist and he released her with a small cry of pain. "I come from a new generation of women who will not be pushed around and ignored any longer. Remember the name Akila for it will be the last thing you whisper in your dying breath." She bowed once and was gone.

"I have *never* seen a female assassin before," Vegeta commented as he checked on his father.

As Goku stood in the middle of the room he realized what he had experienced couldn't be called anything else but a vision. He had seen Vegeta fighting the sleepiness and made upstairs before the actual event had even happened. Surely it was only a side-effect of the Bond but there was always the slightest chance that he had foresight all along.

'If the latter was true then I would have stopped Gohan from running away and getting kidnapped.'

"You know what's going on, don't you? Women are killing off your government." The king responded in a drowsy voice and Goku couldn't understand his words. "You have an underground dungeon? When did you build that?!" He stuck his outside the bedroom. "Did you know-?"

"Hai," he nodded. "I heard their voices in the morgue."

"FATHER! It's no surprise that they want to kill you! I'm even tempted to let them do it!"

Goku went to stand in the doorway so that he could hear the king's responses to Vegeta's questions. The older man's words were slightly slurred by drowsiness but they were still distinguishable. "The laws are written in the Book, Vegeta. If a woman even develops a mind she's supposed to be killed. I'm not the one who came up with the "women are used for reproduction purposes only" law."

"Maybe not, but you're the one who enforces it." Vegeta gave him a look of disgust and shut the door behind him. "I don't know if I even want to stay up here and guard him now. I know he's my father and all but-"

Goku placed a finger to his lips. "I understand. Since I'm a neutral party in all of this I'll guard him. You need to go do to the dungeon and search for that Nattou woman. She looked a little too pleased when she was arrested."

"Do you think she was giving the other prisoners a message from the outside?"

"I'm almost sure of it. Maybe you should talk to Sukasshu as well. She's the only advisor that hasn't be poisoned yet and I don't think they have any intention of harming her. She's female."

After Goku explained how to test the food for traces of the caries morior bacteria (it was pretty simple because Vegeta had loved chemisty in college) he placed a chair outside the door to the suite to watch for strangers. No one was getting past him tonight.

***

Sukasshu knew of a feminist group that had chapters in several ugno cities and Vegeta reasoned that they were behind the murders. They called themselves The Liberationists and were completely against the current Saiya-jin government.

'Revolutions are never without great loss,' he said to himself sadly. 'I'm probably going to die along with my father just because I'm tied to the current government. Then Goku would grieve and the mere thought hurts me more than any physical pain ever could.' He purposely derailed his train of thought and went back to chemical testing. It would do more harm than good to think depressing thoughts.

"What are you looking for?" Sukasshu called to him as she looked for the entrance to the dungeon. The stairs from the first floor led to a corridor that ran directly to the examination room of the morgue. The hidden entrance had to be somewhere along one of the corridor's walls.

"Goku probably thinks that your fellow aides contracted that illness from their food or drink. You have nothing to worry about, though. The other women won't harm a hair on your head." He set the test tubes aside and joined her in the search. "How would you feel if a woman took over leadership of Saiya?"

She shrugged. "I haven't really thought about it, my prince. So far I think they're just exchanging one bad leader for another." Sukasshu covered her mouth after the words escaped and immediately began making apologies. "I meant no disrespect, my prince! Your father is a wonderful leader and an inspiration to us all!"

"My father is an idiot." He said blandly.

Sukasshu smiled. "Well, that too. It's not that he's a complete idiot, just out of touch with society. Vegeta-oui spends far too much time shut away in this castle." She leaned against the cool stone for a moment and was startled when her hand sank into the wall. A section of it slid awawy to reveal another corridor. "Wow!"

"Good job Sukasshu!" He congratulated as they both immediately started down the short hallway. Wavering light from several torches lit there way though at least two were guttering out. It was dusty along the way until the passage opened up into a round chamber that held small, almost claustrophobic cells along its sides on three levels.

Dark eyes full of bitterness and despair stared at Vegeta as if willing for some deity to intervene and strike him dead on the spot. Both he and Sukasshu were completely and utterly speechless for several moments as the women sized them up but the silence didn't last for very long. Voices cried out in anger at him, a noise so deafening that it momentarily overwhelmed them both.

"Has the old man sent you to mock us in his place?" one weary woman on the lowest level near the door asked, her low sorrow-filled voice catching his attention in a way few could. "We've only done what our sisters throughout the world have done yet we are arrested and confined." Her voice gained strength with every word that she spoke. "When will Saiya change in the positive way everyone else already has? When will we be able to go about our daily business without the fear of being beaten, raped, or executed? When will our daughters and grandaughters be able to look at us in pride instead of shame because we are too afraid to fight for our rights? When will *our* day come?"

The last healthy governmental aide stepped forward into the room so that everyone could see her. Some recognized her and sneered at her status, but most had no clue to her identity. Vegeta took the time to search for the keys to the cells as she spoke.

"My name is Sukasshu and I am one of the aides to Vegeta-oui. A lot of you may not know me but that's fine; my prestige isn't the issue here.

"No one but the king and a few of the soldiers knew that you were imprisoned underneath the castle but no longer will you be held in tiny cells for stupid reasons. My companion, the crowned prince of Saiya, will set you free so that hopefully you will able to resume your lives where you left off. That will not be only change to our society as long as there are people willing to stand up for their rights and not back down until they get them. I am behind you one-hundred percent as long as you use *peaceful* means to win the coming war."

"We're Saiya-jin for Kami's sake!" One woman said with rolled eyes. "We're not meant to be peaceful!"

As Vegeta began to unlock the lower and mid-level cages, Sukasshu went on. "If we all resort to violence then many people will die unnecessarily maybe including your loved ones. Our nation's children should not have to grow up wondering where their mothers and fathers have gone. Our nation's children should not have to watch the people they know disappear one-by-one never to be seen again. Our nation's children should not have to watch our beautiful land become scarred and the cemetaries become filled with the of casualties of war. If you deny a child a chance to grow up in peace you deny them the right to live without fear and that is something I refuse to let happen. Where will all the doctors that cure the sick, the teachers who bring knowledge, the inventors who make our lives easier, the artists and writers who share their hopes, dreams, and ideas, the farmers who grow and raise our food, and the parents who create the next generation come from if we are all dead?"

By the end of her speech all of the cages were free and Vegeta was moving the wooden ladder he had found leaning against a corner wall from upper cage to upper cage and helping the women down. They crowded around the suddenly embarrassed Sukasshu and told her how much they agreed with her words. One voice spoke up that she should be the one to lead them and soon all were chanting her name.

Nattou briefly inclined her head and made her way over to Vegeta. "Did Akila kill your father?"

"No," he shook his head. "He was stopped by Goku. Who leads The Liberationists? We need to stop them from waging war against the government."

Her eyes sparkled with mirth as she took a brief bow. "I am at your service, Vegeta-oui. So convinced was I of Sukasshu's speech I am willing to give your father a chance to turn himself and this country around. Everyone deserves a second chance."

The large group of women began making their way toward the upper level, some walking very slow to get their blood flowing in their legs again. The room cleared out and soon only Nattou and Vegeta were left.

"I observed the habits of all the male aides and discovered a few things about them." She smiled. "There is only one thing they love more than their status and that's-"

"-wine," they both finished in unison with identical laughs.

***

He got to leave the next day thankfully. Not only did he miss Trunks and alone time with Goku, but the underhanded politics of his father's court were driving him insane. Vegeta had known all of his life that they existed but he had hoped to never get a firsthand look.

Vegeta-oui actually came with them to the airport in Tanzania and stayed to see them off. The international airport there was packed full of people travelling throughout the world but none were in the traditional loincloth clothing that the Saiya-jin preferred in the humid region. Although both Goku and Vegeta knew each other had regular clothes, the king surprised them with a pair of jeans and a Nike t-shirt. He had even perched a baseball cap backwards on his head and placed white Adidas on his feet.

"I didn't even know you had normal clothes, Father," Vegeta had commented that morning. "You just keep surprising me more and more."

Security was tight in the airport and for some odd reason all three men continuously set the metal detectors off. After taking everything from their pockets and allowing a security guard run a hand wand down their bodies they were allowed to move on to the waiting room near their gate.

"Why the hell is security so tight now?" Vegeta asked. "It wasn't like this when we got off the plane."

"They probably assumed you had been checked thoroughly in Tokyo and didn't see the point of checking you again here." The king said this all absently because he was so interested in watching the people pass by. He had never been to an airport before and never realized how many different kinds of people there really were. It was educating.

Goku dialed his home and prayed that ChiChi wasn't there to answer. "Hi Gohan!"

"I didn't expect to hear from you, Tousan," the boy said. "Are you done helping Vegeta?"

"Hai, I'm almost on the flight coming home. How are you and Trunks doing?"

"I never knew how messy babies were." He winced as he baby grabbed a lock of his too-long hair and pulled sharply. "And how annoying."

Goku smiled as he remembered Gohan when he was an infant and a toddler. "It's all worth it in the long run. Guess who I met in Saiya?" He didn't even wait for his son to respond but continued on in an excited voice. "Your ojiisan!"

There was silence for a moment. "I have an ojiisan?!"

"I met him and my brother completely by accident in a village south of the capital city. We were investigating a murder case."

Gohan felt he had to tell his father about what his mother had doing every morning but he just couldn't bring himself to speak .The silence went on and it was then Goku realized how expensive international calls really are.

"I'll call you from the airport in Tokyo, Gohan. Vegeta and I both love you."

"I love you guys too but, um, I have something to tell you about kaasan."

Goku felt a sense of dread that he really couldn't describe. Vegeta felt the emotion wash over him and grew worried. "Is she alright?"

"Based on all of the library books I've read and the Internet sites I've visited..." Gohan took a deep breath. "I think she's pregnant. Kaasan's been having morning sickness since you've left and today she said that she was going to the doctor."

Goku's first thought was, 'Why the hell did I have to get drunk that night?!' but his second was, 'I'm going have another child!'

"Tousan? Are you still there?"

A brilliant smile spread across his face. "That's great news, Gohan!"

"Really? I thought you would be mad."

"Why? It's partially my fault." He chatted for a few moments before saying his farewells. Both Vegetas were staring at him.

"Uh, koi, your emotions were all over the place. What did Gohan tell you?"

He hugged him tightly, oblivious to some of the rude stares he was receiving. "I'm going to be a tousan again! Gohan's going to have a little brother or sister!" Then he realized what impregnating ChiChi again actually meant to Vegeta. "I don't know how to apologize to you, Veggie. Words can't even describe how I feel."

"It's okay," the slightly older man said with a cheerful façade. "I was hoping that it would last but sometimes things are just not meant to be."

Goku felt that he and Vegeta just weren't on the same page. "What are you talking about?"

"When we break up I promise that I'll still be your friend. You're a great guy to be around." He was about to go on but Goku covered up his mouth.

"Listen to me for a second, okay?" He received a nod. "I'm not breaking up with you, Vegeta. I was apologizing for having sex with ChiChi and dating you at the same time. Actually this is the perfect time to tell ChiChi I'm not going to stay with her. It's going to be even harder to leave after the second child's born. I could never leave you over something so easily solved."

Vegeta nodded and forced down his emotion. He was not going to cry in a very crowded airport in front of his father. A fear tears leaked out anyway and began to dig in his pocket for a tissue. "Aw hell."

Just when he was getting stopping his tears Goku said something else. "Even death won't be able to keep me away from you, Vegeta. I promise."

"I promise you the same thing," Vegeta said as he gave up and let the tears flow. The king looked on with a discreet smile and the flight to Tokyo was announced over the loudspeaker. It was time to go home.

~OWARI~

That's it for the "short story that took several side trips and ended up somewhere near novellaville". Stay tuned for volume 2: Fractured Souls. Coming soon to a monitor near you.