The Bond

Rilan lay in the grass, his face upturned to the sky, the warmth of the sun kissing his face. The estate was just to his left, and he was lounging in the backyard of it, well away from everyone else. He liked some alone time to reflect the past few months and how much he had changed. There was a time that he wanted Frieza's seat of power, when he wanted to look down upon the universe and have its inhabitants at his disposal. But now, now that he had lived on Earth for a good while with its people and animals, and that he had made some friends other than Lercron, he found that he no longer needed that.

He was shockingly content to settle down, to enjoy the relaxing peace and serenity of this planet. Rilan sighed happily and closed his eyes, wondering about what he had seen earlier that day, of Vegeta with his arm around Katima. It was something that he had never thought possible, for Vegeta to show even a scrap of affection, but he knew that Katima felt very strongly toward the prince and found himself glad that Vegeta seemed to feel the same way, if grudgingly.

Thinking of this reminded him of his own internal struggle with his own emotions… Ever since he had seen her, he had felt something inside him that was different… and now that he had gotten to know her so well, that feeling had swelled to something tangible.

Bulma…

It was strange, the way his heart pounded when he thought of her, how his palms grew icy. When she was around, Rilan found that he could truly be himself, that he could talk to her about his life and all his adventures, of how long he had lived. She was beautiful, her blue hair and eyes shining in sunlight, her laugh tickling his ears, her smile making his stomach flutter in a way he had never experienced.

Perhaps it was her that made his hunger for power cease, her that made him content just to live on this planet and blend in with its society.

And just as if his thoughts had summoned her, he felt someone sit down beside him, and he opened his eyes to see her smiling face.

"What are you doing?" she asked, a laugh in her voice.

Rilan grinned at her, propping himself up on his elbows, "It's been a long time since I've been on a planet with a sun and could enjoy it," he said, "How did you know where to find me?"

"I know you stay out here a lot," said Bulma, smirking, "Lercron told me."

"That oaf can't keep anything to himself," Rilan sighed, "Not that I'm mad you found me."

Bulma beamed, "I was wondering if you wanted to come into town with me! It's time to stock the fridge- those Namekians only live off water, but Vegeta and Katima eat just like Goku! It must be a Saiyan thing."

"I would assume," said Rilan and sat up fully, "I'm guessing you need a pair of strong arms to assist you. Why not ask Lercron?"

"I know he can go into the city now, but you're much better company," said Bulma, standing and offering her hand.

Though perfectly capable of getting himself up, Rilan took it and let her help him to his feet, enjoying the touch of her soft skin, "Well then, I guess I can't say no to that face," he said, "Let's go then."

Bulma drove, as Rilan wasn't quite skilled at working vehicles yet, and he relished in the wind bowing through his hair, one arm leaning on the door. As they entered the city limits, he glanced at all the people, happy and enjoying their lives as they wandered through the streets. It was good to know that he helped ensure that Frieza never reached this planet.

"Where are we headed first?" Rilan asked.

"The market," said Bulma pulling into a parking space, "It's a walk through only, so we have to leave the car."

"Right," Rilan waited for the hovering vehicle to land before hopping out.

"Mm, it looks pretty crowded," said Bulma, frowning at the troves of people swamping through the market shops, "Come on, I know a way around to get to the store we want," she took his hand and led him into an network of ally ways behind the market.

"Nice," said Rilan as they slowed down and she released his hand, "I suppose you must have this entire city mapped out."

"In a manner of speaking," Bulma winked at him.

"Does anyone else know about these allies?" asked Rilan.

"Only the shop workers," said Bulma, "They use them to take out their trash and such."

The two of them went on for a bit further, rounding a few corners here and there. It was very narrow in these passages, and it cut out most of the sunlight, giving the impression of twilight.

Slowly, Bulma began to shorten her pace, looking around with a tight frown.

"What?" Rilan asked.

Bulma stopped and looked back at him, rubbing the back of her neck, "Er, I think we're lost," she said with a laugh.

Rilan chuckled, pressing a hand to his forehead, "You're kidding me," he laughed, "That's okay, I can just-"

"Lost, are we?"

Rilan turned to see a group of men come around the corner toward them, two of them brandishing bats and the other had a knife. Rilan heard more footsteps and twisted around to see two more heading from the other direction.

Rilan pulled Bulma close to him, narrowing his eyes, "Now boys, waiting around for helpless victims isn't exactly the smartest thing to do. Who you find might not be so helpless."

"Enough tough talk, pal, we have you outnumbered and out-gunned," snapped the one with the knife, the obvious leader.

"We just want you personal effects," said another, "What's with those tattoos on your face anyway?"

Rilan chuckled, "Listen, I'll give you all once chance to run along. If you can find it in yourself to be merciful, it may save your lives."

"You can't kill them, Rilan, you know how much trouble that could get you in here?" Bulma snapped.

Rilan rolled his eyes, "Fine, then it will save your legs-"

"Rilan!" Bulma growled.

"Okay, okay, I'll just knock them out, jeez," sighed Rilan, "Ruin my fun…"

"Trying to act all tough won't get you out of this," snapped one behind Bulma, "In fact, we might just take this girl for a spin to make you understand just who we are."

That made something in Rilan click. He turned and slammed a fist in the man's face, feeling bones shatter under the hit, making him slam into the ground. There was a collective gasp around them.

"Lucky shot!" crowed the man next to the one that had been knocked out, and swung out his club. Rilan caught it easily in his fist, yanke dit out of the man's hands and slammed it into his gut, then slamming it down into the back of the man's head, smacking him into the ground.

The man with the knife was running at Bulma, and again, that fire lit up inside of him and he shot out a small blast from his hand that slammed the man into the wall. The last two with their bats dropped them and ran, yelping like injured dogs. Rilan smiled in his success, turning to Bulma and opened an arm out to her, "Let's not take the back routes any more, okay?" he said.

Bulma laughed and looked around at all the downed men, "I wasn't worried. With you with me, I was pretty sure nothing could have happened."

"Right," said Rilan, "Now, I'll just fly us up and out of here, yes? We can be discreet where we land."

Bulma giggled and went to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders while he laced her hips with his own, "A strong, handsome guy like you, carry me to safety? How could I possibly say no?"

*scene change*

Katima wandered through the forest room, her mind rather numb. It had been a week since Vegeta kissed her, and she had only caught glimpses of him since. He was avoiding her, that much she knew, but the emotions coming through the bond were too scrambled to make out. It was maddening. He had kissed her- HE had done it, not her, so why was he acting like this?

A meadowlark came down and landed on her shoulder. Katima smiled lightly, feeling cheered by the little bird's presence. It was like it knew she was troubled. Katima offered her finger and the bird hopped up on it. Katima held it close to her face, smiling.

"It must be nice to be a bird," she told it, "Where the boys do nothing but show off for the ladies, where the girls get to be the shy ones…" she sighed and the bird chirped at her, which made her giggle, "Yes, you know what I mean, don't you, little one? How about we trade for a while? I promise I'll keep your eggs safe."

"Katima!"

The bird let out a startled tweet and flew away into the branches. Katima frowned and turned, anger bubbling in her, "Why did you go and scare the- oh…" he voice trailed off when she saw Vegeta duck into view through the low hanging branches.

"Gohan told me I'd find you in here," he said.

"What do you want?" Katima demanded, folding her arms.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her tone, "I wanted to make something clear," he said sharply, "What happened the other day was nothing. Understand?"

Katima gaped at him, more shocked than anything else. Why was he lying to her? She could feel it coming through the bond like fire that he didn't mean that. That kiss meant a whole lot more than nothing to him. Katima felt rage flood her and she opened her mouth to yell at him, but then remembered something.

That look of fear in his eyes before he ran from her…

Of course.

Vegeta couldn't comprehend the feelings he was having after a life that was so dark and merciless. Affection was alien to him. He was scared of it, scared to feel anything toward Katima because he thought it made him weak.

Katima sighed and let her arms drop, "Okay," she said.

"Okay?" Vegeta blinked, a whole new cascade of strange emotions flooding him.

Katima looked him in the eyes and smiled, "Let's just pretend it never happened."

Vegeta stared at her, brows furrowed. Slowly, he took a step back, eyeing her as if she might pounce on him. He couldn't get how he was getting off so easy.

"Just stop acting like I don't exist, got it?" Katima said as she walked by him, grabbing his shoulder for a moment, which made him wince.

She left the forest room, very intently not looking back. She knew he needed time, knew that this was an entire new world to him. Katima could see his heart beating, see it right through his chest, and even though Vegeta was terrified, the fact that he wasn't leaving meant something. Whatever they had would bloom eventually, but Katima was going to have to be patient.

Two weeks leaked by, and Katima was glad as things between her and Vegeta returned to normal. She realized that she was trying to ignore her true feelings for him as much as he was. She longed for that intense kiss again, of his sweet scent flooding her nostrils, yet she had to restrain herself for his sake.

There were several things to keep her distracted, luckily. She was secretly training Gohan whenever his mother wasn't looking, and tutoring him in English when she was. Roshi didn't try anything else with her when Vegeta was in the room, and it seemed that whenever she was near Roshi, the prince was there like a watchful hawk. Katima often spent days with Bulma's father as he was working on another space shuttle like he had made for Goku. She found that she was interested in the workings of such high tech things. Soon, it was time for them to summon the Dragon.

Perunga stretched up into the sky which had darkened to black for his arrival. Katima glanced back at Vegeta, who was leaning against the building. He was back in his old armor, refusing to be in Earthling's clothing when Goku returned. His pride made Katima smile a bit, the worse and best thing about him to her. She returned her attention forefront again as Dende shouted up their wish to bring Krillin and Goku to the check out station in other world.

"I can not grant that wish," Perunga's mighty voice declared, slow and deep.

Dende winced, "What, why?" he cried.

"Sending the one called Goku there would kill him," Perunga answered.

Katima felt shock rocket through not only her, but Vegeta as well.

"Wh-what?" gasped Gohan, "You mean- you mean my dad's alive?"

"Yes," said Peruga, as if it were obvious.

"Well then, just wish for him to be returned here!" said Bulma, smiling down at Dende.

Dende translated this wish into Namekian, but again, the Dragon said, "I can not grant that wish."

"What is it this time?" Dende wailed.

"The one called Goku does not wish to return," said Perunga, "And I do not have the power to force him to."

"B-but," Katima shook her head in aw, "Then where is he?"

She became aware of distance between herself and Vegeta and turned to see him running away from the group. Katima frowned at his retreating figure, and then saw what he was running toward.

The new Capsule Corp Shuttle.

*scene change*

Vegeta had no clue how to work the ship he just entered. He darted toward what he assumed to be the control panel, looking down at it with an irritated scowl, but then, to his delight, he noticed the similarities of these controls to the controls of his old pod when he still worked for Frieza. Of course, the old man must have taken the same concept of the pod and put it into this ship, thus the round shape.

The prince quickly typed in coordinates, not sure where it would land him, as he wasn't too familiar with this solar system. There was only one thought in his mind.

If Kakarot was alive, he had to get to him, to find him and discover how to become a Super Saiyan. The hatch to the ship closed, and Vegeta held on tightly as it rocketed upward. This ship was certainly well built, and Vegeta soon felt the lack of pull in the room. He was already in orbit.

Letting out a soft chuckle, he took a moment to be pleased with getting away with the shuttle with no interference. However, with a jolt, he remembered her.

Katima.

With tentative prods, he checked their bond, to feel for her surprise or anger at his departure. But to his confusion, she was strangely calm. He stood fully, wondering why she wasn't reacting like he expected, and found a small part of him slightly angry that she didn't care that he left. As soon as he felt this emotion his stuffed it away just like all the other strange thoughts he had about the woman.

It didn't matter. He was away from her, and those thoughts would, in turn, fade to nothing. Without her beautiful face to intrude upon him, surely those foolish feelings he had toward her would go away. He hated how she made him, hated that when he looked at her that his heart seem to soften. Why he couldn't keep control of himself when she was around him was perhaps worse than the fact that Kakarot beat him to becoming a Super Saiyan. He should be hard as a rock, cold as ice, he was a warrior, the Prince of all Saiyans!

One stupid woman shouldn't make him so ridiculously soft…

With a steadying sigh, Vegeta looked out the window at the stars rushing by. He wasn't sure where he was heading. Perhaps he would go back to Namek's solar system and search the surrounding planets. That seemed like the best plan… How far was he from Katima now? Could he already be out of her galaxy?

Why was he thinking about her?

Vegeta let out a small hiss of annoyance, but then suddenly froze, as he truly took in how far he was from Katima. The distance hadn't changed since he left the planet. That meant-

"Did you really think you could sneak off?"

Vegeta froze, his heart kicking up pace, as he felt her presence for the first time. She had been sitting behind the machine in the center of the ship. He hadn't even notice her getting aboard, so intent on finding Kakarot.

"Your heart's beating like a drum," Katima's voice was suddenly very close, it made his spine cease up as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down or you'll give both of us a heart attack."

How could she be so damn calm? Vegeta let out an irritated grunt and turned to face her, eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

Katima smirked at him, and rage poured into his veins, making him clench his fists.

"Calm down, prince," Katima said, turning from him and going to the controls, "I want to find Goku as bad as you. He is my brother after all. But you could have waited until the rest of the wishes were made, I wanted to say hi to Krillin."

Vegeta watched in dumbfounded silence as she fiddled with the controls.

"Jeez, Vegeta, you want us to crash into Jupiter? That's were these coordinates are set to," she hit a final button and turned around, leaning back against the panel and smiling at him, "There, now we're on track to Namek's solar system. That's where you want to start, right?"

Vegeta's mouth opened slightly in shock, "Can you read my mind now, or something? Has the bond changed again?" he demanded.

Katima laughed, "No, Vegeta. You're just incredibly easy for me to read now," she stretched and wandered around the room, "Good thing that the Professor already has this place stocked, other wise we would have starved," she went to the staircase that led into the bowls of the ship and looked at Vegeta before she descended, "I call the bed."

Vegeta gaped at the spot where she disappeared, not quite sure if he was extremely angry, or overjoyed.