Status: Daily Updates

The Bond

Pink is Great

"Get up."

Katima groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. She had just been having a great dream about being back in the forest she grew up in. She had been asking Lily for advice about Vegeta, pouring her heart out to her adoptive mother about how irritating it was to be in love with a man who couldn't show it back.

"I taught you that patience is the key to keeping your cool, Katima," said Lily, smiling at her as she rinsed some clothing in the river, "You mustn't let you temper get the best of you."

"My temper isn't an issue anymore, Lily," Katima assured, sitting on the bank beside her and sticking her bare feet in the water, "I have pretty good self control. But when I'm around him… I know he cares about me, Lily, I do, it wouldn't kill him to just say it!"

Lily chuckled, "You don't know that, maybe it would kill him."

"Don't be ridiculous," sighed Katima, laying back, "I guess I already know he isn't anywhere close to ready. He's never experienced anything like this. It must be a drastic change for him."

"A change for you both," said Lily, "You yourself are not all that comfortable with affection, being raised in the forest your whole life. Your new family is the only ones you can handle touching you."

"I guess you're right on that," said Katima, "But it seems-"

"Get up!"

Katima flinched at the harsh voice and the boot that hit her in the back.

"OW!" she shouted, "That was NOT necessary, Vegeta!"

Vegeta snorted and Katima heard his feet going up the staircase, "Get dressed. We've landed on a planet."

"Wait!" Katima shouted as he disappeared, "Does it have oxygen? We made need suits!"

She heard the hatch open and smelled fresh air flood into the ship. Damn it, did he open it without knowing or had he checked the signs on the monitors? She doubted the latter.

With an irritated sigh, Katima got out of bed and went over to pull on some clothes. It was black tight pants and a yellow vest and boots, the same outfit that Bulma wore most of their stay on Namek. She didn't exactly feel safe in it like she did in her armor, but she hadn't been wearing it when she boarded.

Katima rushed up the steps and hurried down the hatch onto the new planet. It looked a lot like she was on Earth's moon, barren gray landscape stretching along as far as she could see. Vegeta was waiting for her on a small hill, his arms crossed.

"About time," he snapped, "Who knew that you sleep like a rock."

"Oh shut up," Katima rasped, reaching his side and looking down upon a large round building, several towers around it. It looked like some alien castle, "What's that?"

"This is where I came to recuperate after my first time meeting you," said Vegeta, narrowing his eyes down upon the small civilization, "These are all Frieza's men, so don't expect them to be welcoming."

"Why are we here?" Katima asked, "You think my brother could be here?"

"It's possible," said Vegeta, beginning to trek down the mountain, "He could have been captured after escaping Namek- but that's not very likely. First off he's a Super Saiyan, secondly, if he had been imprisoned, he would have wanted to be wished back to Earth, I would assume."

"So…" Katima followed him closely, a frown on her face, "Why are we really here?"

"These men could have information of a ship leaving Namek before the explosion," said Vegeta, "They would have been searching for any signs of Frieza's escape."

"I see," said Katima, "Hey, maybe they still think that you're on their-"

Before she could finish, Vegeta raised a hand and sent down a blast at the building, making a mighty explosion that made Katima's hair blast back.

"…side…" she finished with a sigh, "So much for sneaking in."

"I figured you knew that wasn't my style," Vegeta said as the first few groups of men came rushing toward them, barking orders for them to freeze.

"It's a shame I left my sword at home," said Katima with a wistful tone, "It doesn't really feel right fighting without it."

"You shouldn't have such crutches anyway," Vegeta commented.

"It wasn't a crutch!" cried Katima, turning to face him with a scowl, "It was a tool to make my fighting better-"

"Crutch," Vegeta smirked.

"I swear, sometimes I have no idea why I put up with you," Katima muttered, returning her gaze to their oncoming enemies.

She'll show him that she didn't need her sword to fight.

The first few that approached received a nasty welcome from the Saiyan girl, who shot a strong blast out at them, reducing them into dust. The army behind them seemed to hesitate at seeing their comrades so easily bested.

"Hey!" cried one, "That's Vegeta!"

"Vegeta!" one of the men stepped forward, "Why are you attacking us? You must know better than to go against the mighty Frieza!"

"Your mighty Frieza is dead," Vegeta declared, folding his arms and glaring down at them.

"Impossible!"

"He's lying!"

"Enough!" Vegeta shouted, making them fall into a uncomfortable silence, "I suggest you make this easy on yourselves. Swear your allegiance to me, and you will all get to live."

"We don't believe you!" shouted the man at the front, "You're lying! Frieza can't be defeated!"

Vegeta hissed in anger, "Fine then! Let me show you a taste of the power that helped end Frieza's pathetic life!"

He held out a hand, his thumb turned into his palm, and from it shot out a massive white blast, screaming, "BIG BANG ATTACK!"

Nearly all the men before them was enveloped in the blow, and a good chunk of the building ahead of them was blown apart as well. When the light faded, there was nothing left but a deep crater and several piles of ash.

"Well," said Katima, "You know if you destroy the entire planet there will be nothing left to search."

Vegeta grunted in reply and hopped up into the air and began to fly toward the building and the retreating survivors of his attack. Katima rolled her eyes and followed him. How she ended up falling in love with this guy she had yet to figure out.

*scene change*

"So…"

Rilan opened one eye to look up at the figure looming over him. He was in the backyard again, sunning himself, and had thought that only Bulma knew where to find him here.

"Yamcha?" Rilan sat up, frowning at the man.

It had been a week since the Dragon had risen and granted their wished, a week since Vegeta and Katima hijacked the space shuttle and left to God knows where. Krillin and Yamcha had both been brought back to life, the Namekians being kind enough to wait another hundred and thirty days to wish themselves to a new planet to make new homes.

"I don't get it," said Yamcha, walking around him and examining him closely as Rilan got to his feet.

"What?" asked Rilan, crossing his arms, "If you like I could pose for pictures and you could look at those while I get back to my nap."

Yamcha stopped and shook his head, smiling, "I can't see why she likes you so much! I mean, I could obviously beat you in a fight, so it can't be your strength."

"What did you say?" snapped Rilan, letting his arms drop and clenching his fists.

Yamcha laughed, rubbing the back of his head. He had recently trimmed his mane of black hair short, and the sunlight reflected on the scars on his face, "I mean, I guess you're kind of good looking, but it still isn't enough- not like me!"

Rilan scowled, "Are you trying to piss me off? If you want to get knocked out, you could just ask."

Yamcha laughed again, "Yeah! Ha, I'd like to see that!" he waved a finger at Rilan, as if scolding a small child, "I've been training with King Kai the entire time I've been dead! I bet I could beat you with my eyes closed!"

Rilan was just about ready to rip Yamcha's head form his shoulders, but stopped himself. He had to control his temper. He wasn't on this planet to fight, he was here to actually live a life now. He sat back down and laid back.

"Go away," he said, "I don't care about whatever you're trying to get at."

"Bulma, of course!"

That made Rilan sit back up.

"What about her?" he asked.

"What she sees in you," said Yamcha, chuckling, "I just don't see it!"

"Why do you care?" asked Rilan.

"Didn't she tell you?" asked Yamcha, "Me and her have a thing! Have for years. It's been a little on and off, but…"

"She never said anything about you to me," said Rilan, "I just thought you were one her friends that got killed by Vegeta."

"She never said anything about me?" Yamcha seemed a bit disappointed for a moment, but then brightened, "She probably didn't want to make you jealous is all!"

Rilan laid back again, "Jealous… right…" he mumbled.

"Hay, pal what are you trying to say, that you're better than me?" Yamcha snapped.

Rilan opened one eye, "Not necessarily. Maybe at fighting. And better-looking."

"Hey!" Yamcha turned red in the face, "Then let's go right now, come on, get up and give it your best shot!"

"I promised Bulma I wouldn't kill any humans," said Rilan, closing his eye again.

Something slammed into his side and Rilan opened his eyes to see Yamcha had kicked him.

"Get up and fight, you coward!" he crowed.

Rilan sighed and stood up, "You're starting to piss me off, bud."

"You're just scared Bulma will get back with the guy she really wants to be with!" Yamcha declared, smirking.

Rilan seriously contemplated smacking him across the yard, but took a deep breath to calm himself.

"Look," he said, "If you need to prove your worth to Bulma against me, doesn't that make you the one that's scared to lose her?"

Leaving Yamcha speechless, he walked past him and headed back inside. There was a slight smirk on his lips. It seemed that Bulma truly was fond of Rilan to make it obvious to everyone. Why that made him so happy he had yet to figure out.

*scene change*

Katima stared out the window, her eyes dropping with exhaustion. It had been months since they left Earth, and they had made no progress in finding Goku or even any leads on where he could be. Their first stop had been for naught, as she and Vegeta ended up just tearing the entire place apart to kill all the soldiers there. Katima was irritated with how she got when around Vegeta while he was fighting. It made her get so out of control.

Now, she was staring out at the stars with frustration. Down stairs, she was letting Vegeta have the bed to rest on, and she couldn't make herself sleep on the hard ground beside it like he could. With a heavy sigh, she glanced back at the monitors to see that they were still pretty far from the next planet that they were going to search.

She honestly couldn't figure out why they bothered. They weren't going to find him if Goku didn't want to be found.

Katima stood and went to look down the stairs to see that Vegeta was still sleeping, sprawled out like a child, the sheets only half on him. She went back to the controls, thought for a moment, and then set the coordinates. There was a shudder as the ship changed course and Katima smiled lightly as she went to sit down beside the machine in the center of the room. Just as she leaned back and thought she could actually get some sleep, she heard Vegeta come up the stairs.

"I felt the ship shake, are we landing?"

Katima looked over and nearly fell over. He was only in his boxers. By God… his body was so toned, so beautiful. Katima liked thinking that it was carved by angels. She had seen him in his boxers several times, but it didn't make it any easier to function when he was before her, no matter how much her eyes feasted upon him.

"What?" Vegeta demanded.

Katima blushed, and coughed, looking away, "Er, no, we're not landing."

"Then why did the ship shake?" Vegeta went to a window and looked out, "Are we in a asteroid belt?"

"No," Katima slowly stood, "We're going back to Earth."

Vegeta whirled to face her, anger bubbling forth, "What? Why?"

"Because," sighted Katima, walking toward him, "We're not going to find Goku out here, we're just wasting our time. So, we're going to a place that we know he will eventually show up at."

Vegeta opened his mouth to argue, but Katima placed a delicate hand on his chest, "You know I'm right," she murmured to him as he looked down at her touch with his face softening, "Let's just go home."

Vegeta grabbed her wrist, and for one hopeful moment, Katima thought he was going to kiss her again. There was that ferocity in his eyes, that struggle so obvious through the bond. But he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Go rest," he said, "You look like you're going to pass out."

Katima wondered if she should kiss him this time, to take that step, to make her feelings obvious. But she knew that if she were the one to push, Vegeta would just withdraw from her. She had to let him bloom to her, had to be patient, no matter how difficult it was.

"You promise you won't change the coordinates?" she asked with a smirk.

Vegeta opened his eyes and let go of her wrist, "Yes, whatever…" he mumbled, turning away.

Katima chuckled and headed for the steps. His attitude repeatedly made her stomach flutter for reasons she couldn't understand. She saw that the bed was still a mess from Vegeta, but collapsed upon it, not caring. To her delight, the sheets and pillow still smelt like him, and she grinned as she snuggled in and fell into a deep sleep.

Her dreams were rather scattered. There was a moment when she was running through a forest, chasing after a shadow that she knew to be Vegeta. She ran and ran, but for some reason could never catch up to him. Katima tried to call for his name, astounded at how broken her voice sounded in her desperation, but he never stopped. When she rounded a corner, she screamed as she ran into a giant bug- green and beetle like. Katima hated most bugs, they made her skin crawl for hours.

This bug loomed over her, with pincers clicking as it morphed from being a beetle to a great spider. Katima wailed in her disgust and terror, finding with frustration that her powers did not work in this realm, no flying, no strength.

Someone grabbed her, however, yanking her away from the spider, carrying her over a shoulder, and Katima watched the spider give chase, smashing down the trees in its path like they were nothing but twigs. Twisting to see who had her, Katima saw it was Goku.

"Goku!" she cried, "Goku, have you seen Vegeta? We can't leave him in this forest! Not with that thing!"

"Vegeta's dead," said Goku, his face extremely serious, slight pity in his eyes as he looked at her.

Katima screamed, pain enlacing her, not again! She couldn't lose him again! She wailed and wailed, unable to stop, withering in Goku's arms.

"Katima!" Goku shouted, trying to make her stop, "Katima, stop! Katima! Katima, wake up! Wake up!"

The voice slowly changed to someone else's, and the forest was swallowed in darkness, Katima floating in its center, suspended in nothing. This made her scream even harder, now not knowing where Goku was.

"Wake up! Damn it, Katima, stop screaming! WAKE UP!"

Katima flinched wildly, her eyes snapping open to see Vegeta's face above her. She let out a soft cry of relief and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly, her hear racing. Vegeta was very still, astonished by her random hug. As Katima slowly caught her breath, she slowly released Vegeta, and looked into his eyes, trying to calm herself down.

"Sorry," she said softly, "B-bad dream."

Vegeta looked at her with curious eyes as he stood and backed up. He was in his armor now, and Katima was aware that the ship wasn't moving.

"We've landed," Vegeta said, "Just when we touched down I heard you screaming. What in the world were you shouting about?"

Katima looked away from him, "It was just a bad dream, Vegeta, don't worry about it."

Vegeta shrugged and began to head up the stairs, "Will you hurry? If I step out without you I promise you they'll think I killed you or something."

"I doubt that," Katima laughed, getting to her feet, shaking slightly.

What a vivid dream! But now she was back on Earth, back home. That was enough to calm her down and make her smile. She hurried up the stairs and saw Vegeta waiting beside the hatch, gesturing for her to go first. Katima chuckled and hurried down, while he followed more slowly.

"Hello?" Katima saw that they had landed exactly where they had launched from. The Capsule Corp estate was ahead of them, blotting out most of the horizon.

There was movement to her right, and Katima turned to see Krillin running toward them.

"Katima!" he called, smiling widely and waving.

"Krillin!" Katima shook his hand when he got to them. She was glad he understood how touching wasn't really her thing.

"I thought you guys were gone for good!" said Krillin, smiling.

"No," Katima glanced back at Vegeta and beckoned him to come closer, her rolled his eyes and obeyed.

"Turns out that Goku is impossible to track," Katima told Krillin as they headed for the home, "We decided our best bet was to head back here. We know he'll come back at some point."

"Yeah," said Krillin, laughing, "Gohan and Chichi are back at their house, I was just here visiting with Master Roshi. I bet your nephew will be excited that you're back!"

"Hey!"

Katima looked forward again and saw Bulma running toward them, a big smile on her face. Her hair was longer than ever, back in a braid today, streaming behind her. Katima allowed Bulma to hug her, knowing there was no way past it.

"It took you guys long enough!" Bulma scolded, "My dad said that that ship was close to running out of fuel!"

"Good thing we came home then," Katima glanced back at Vegeta.

Bulma's face suddenly cringed, "Man, how long has it been since you two showered?"

Katima laughed, "Yeah, we broke the shower our first week out," she rubbed the back of her neck, "Don't suppose we could get a decent change of clothes and a hot wash?"

"If you didn't, I wouldn't let you inside!" Bulma laughed, "Come on, Rilan and Lercron will be excited to see you!"

"Rilan's still here?" asked Katima as they headed for the building again.

"Sure," Bulma looked back and winked at her, "Where else could he be?"

Katima sighed and shook her head, smiling lightly. Of course Rilan was still here, he was far too smitten to leave.

Once inside, Bulma showed them to a washroom with several shower stalls and changing rooms. It was close to a balcony where several of their friends were gathered. Katima smiled as she recognized Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu. It had been a long time since she had seen them.

"Where's the Namekians?" Katima asked.

"They went to their new planet," said Chiaotzu, running up to greet her, "It's good to see you again, Katima! We followed everything while we were with King Kai!"

"Yes, you're quite the fighter," said Tien, smiling, "Definitely worthy of being called Goku's sister."

Vegeta snorted and left, heading into the wash room.

Katima rolled her eyes, "Don't mind him," she said, "He's just tired."

"No, he's just Vegeta," muttered Krillin.

"I heard that!" Vegeta's voice called.

Krillin flinched and everyone else laughed.

"Well," Katima stretched and looked over her shoulder, "I'll go get cleaned up. Bulma, would you mind washing Vegeta's armor? It's the only suit he has."

"Sure, but it will be a while to get THAT stink out," Bulma laughed.

"Katima?"

Katima turned to see Rilan appear in the doorway. He smiled, looking very strange in a hoody and sweatpants, "I was just in the gym. By the way, Bulma, I sort of broke the treadmill again."

"Goddamn it, Rilan," sighed Bulma, "I swear, I'll just have my dad make you a custom one. You can't run at fifty miles per hour for that long on the standard ones!"

"Yeah, well, I can't run anywhere around here that fast, people will freak out," he went to her and patter her shoulder before looking back at Katima, "Good to see you again."

"You too," said Katima, smiling.

She went past him and went into the washroom. There was already steam thick in the room, Vegeta already in one of the stalls. Katima resisted the urge of peeking and shed her clothes, tossing them in the corner with Vegeta's armor and stepping into her own stall. There was an area for changing, and then a closed off glass stall for the shower itself. She stepped inside and turned on the water, relishing in the hot water rolling across her shoulders. She wet her hair and ended up using the entire shampoo bottle to wash it.

"Your clothes are on the counter in your changing stall, Katima!" Bulma's voice called, "Yours too, Vegeta."

"And a drying cloth?" Vegeta demanded.

"What am I, your servant? They're on the wall, your highness!" Bulma made no effort to hide the sarcasm in her voice and Katima laughed.

She shut off her water and stepped into her changing stall, drying her hair and looking over to see that Bulma had brought her a little summer dress. She frowned a bit, didn't Bulma know enough about her by now to know that she wasn't into the girly girl look? But she shrugged it off and slipped it on. It was pink, with a fluttery skirt, layers of lacey material making it puff out. The short sleeves were slightly poofy as well, and Katima was just glad it wasn't scratchy.

Katima stepped out into the small hallway between the washroom and the balcony. Bulma looked back and smiled widely, "You look adorable!"

Katima blushed and rubbed the back of her neck, "Bulma… you know this isn't my style… don't you have something like what Rilan's wearing?"

"I just wanted you to match Vegeta," said Bulma with a wink.

Katima frowned, "What is that supposed to mean?"

However it was Vegeta who answered her.

There was a disgusted yowl from the washroom and Katima heard the prince exclaim, "What is this?"

"What?" Bulma called innocently.

"These clothes!" Vegeta cried, "Are they for a man or a woman?"

"What do you mean?" Katima asked.

"It's pink!" Vegeta shouted.

"That's the style here!" Bulma laughed.

"Men in pink, how bizarre…" Vegeta mumbled.

Katima waited until she saw Vegeta step out of the washroom. She burst out laughing, having to hang on to the wall to keep her standing. Vegeta was in tight bright yellow pants and a light pink button down shirt.

"This is absurd!" Vegeta snarled, "I'm a warrior! Not some… dress up doll!"

The entire balcony crowd was laughing. Katima had tears in her eyes and Vegeta stamped past her, obviously pissed. However, when Katima saw the word Badman written across the back of the pink shirt, her fit of laughing grew even louder. She stumbled over to Bulma and clung to her, chuckling, "I love you so much, Bulma. I really do."

Vegeta let out an irritated huff and stomped to the edge of the balcony and sat on the railing, folding his arms and looking away from them.

"So what all did you guys see out there?" Yamcha asked when the laughing died down, "Any aliens?"

"Tons," said Katima, sitting at the table, making sure to cross her legs so that Roshi wouldn't "accidentally" drop his staff and be peering from under the table, "Mainly Frieza's men though, so we had to kill them,"

"You say that so easily," said Tien, frowning, "From what I watched of you from other world you weren't the violent type."

"Well, Frieza's men tried to kill us everywhere we popped up," said Katima, "So we sort of had to kill them."

"Oh yeah," Yamcha reached under the table, "Sorry, but I was checking out your sword, I hope you don't mind."

Katima felt a spark of irritation, but shrugged it off. There was no point in getting angry now. She knew Bulma wouldn't have let just anyone mess with her sword. Yamcha passed it across the table and without hesitation, Katima strapped it across her back. It felt good to have it back.

"Whoa," Rilan suddenly stiffened, and looked up at the sky, "What… what the hell?"

"What?" asked Bulma.

"Do you feel that?" asked Rilan, looking at the others.

Katima widened her senses and her spine tightened. Yes, she felt it- one- no, two- two huge power sources heading straight for Earth.

Vegeta went to Katima's shoulder, looking up at the sky, as slowly all the fighters at the table looked up as well.

"I recognize that power," Katima whispered.

"Is it Goku?" asked Bulma, her face brightening.

"No," said Katima looking at her friend with dread settling in her gut like a rock, "It's Frieza."
♠ ♠ ♠
I want every one to keep in mind, my Yamcha is much more based off of TFS Yamcha than the original show, because I find him much more hilarious this way. :D
Song for this Chapter: The Water is Wide by Orla Fallon