The Bond

"… since it was like that. It was quite the battle, no one is denying that, but now… their power could rival Gohan's."

"That's if they can control it more steadily than this. I mean, they've been out for days."

"Their vitals are fine, they're just exhausted."

"I don't think their bodies are used to exerting that much power, though."

"And that's why they passed out?"

"It must be, I mean, Katima would be out every time after she used it before."

"That makes sense, I suppose…"

Katima could hear the muffled voices. She felt warm, and shifted, burying her face in softness. Her entire body ached, the pain slowly coming to her as her mind became more and more aware.

"V… Vegeta…" she mumbled, her hand reaching out to her side, and she felt the warmth of a muscular chest, and the thud of a familiar heartbeat.

A hand closed around hers and she smiled, slowly opening her eyes.

"Vegeta…"

"How are you feeling?" Vegeta was laying on his back and she on her stomach, not too far from each other.

She grinned at him and he smiled lightly. He looked as exhausted as she was.

"Sore."

Vegeta chuckled, "Yeah. Me too."

The voices continued, and Katima looked around to see that they were in their bed on the Capsule Corp ship. There was a soft hum of the engine- they were in space. Katima dragged herself closer to Vegeta, groaning in pain slightly. Vegeta pulled her closer, wincing a bit and she laid her head on his chest.

"Thank you…" Katima whispered.

"For what?" asked Vegeta, confused.

"For loving me," said Katima softly, looking up at him.

Vegeta sighed heavily, smiling a bit, "How can I not?"

Katima kissed his neck, and settled back against him. They were both just in under garments and clean. She guessed the others had cleaned them up. Vegeta wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"So. We did it."

"We did," Katima agreed.

"Without Kakarot."

Katima winced a bit, looking up at him, "Vegeta…"

Vegeta shook his head, "I'm sorry," he muttered, "I just wish I could test out my new strength on him."

"You'd think you'd be over it…" sighed Katima.

"I won't be until I fight him again."

"He's dead, Vegeta…"

"I know."

"Hey!"

Krillin's head appeared from the door on the ceiling, "You two are up!"

Katima smiled up at him, trying to ignore the annoyance she was feeling. She supposed only one milestone could be met at a time. It was possible that Vegeta would never get over his rivalry with Goku.

"Where are we Krillin?" she asked.

"Just left Namek not long ago," said Krillin, "We had to drop off Sol and Hez. They say goodbye."

"It's a shame we missed saying goodbye," said Katima.

Krillin hopped down, smiling, his hands in his pockets. It looked like he had finally gotten out of his wedding outfit, a hoody and jeans were on him.

"Do they need anything?" Rilan's voice called.

Krillin looked at them.

"Water maybe?" Katima laughed.

"Forget the water, I demand food," said Vegeta, back in his old authority heavy voice.

Krillin rolled his eyes, "Guess I couldn't expect everything to change," he sighed.

Katima chuckled and leaned back against her prince. What a journey it had been…

*scene change*

Their return to Earth was welcomed by a large party, all excited to see Krillin returned safely and his rescuers victorious. It was good to see Gohan again, who had grown nearly half a foot in just a month. Along with them, was Katima's second nephew. Only three days old, Goten looked like a miniature Goku, havng his exact hair and all. He wasn't born with a tail, however, but Chichi seemed pleased about that. With Dengen defeated, and Vegeta and Katima's relationship once again firm, life went on as before, but with vigorous training.

Wanting to perfect the Bond's powers, Vegeta had demanded that they train in order to make it far less draining, however, no matter how they tried, they could not make it to the point that they had been at when facing Dengen. It slowly became apparent to them that they had to be fighting a truly dangerous and threatening foe in order to really unlock the potential. Vegeta was frustrated with this for several months, but he eventually went back to his regular training in the gravity room, determined to make up for this set back with making his normal self stronger.

In a way, Katima knew he wanted to be strong enough without the crutch of the Bond. He wanted to prove that he was good enough without it. Katima didn't mind this aspect, and trained as well. Of course, they never fought as well apart than when they were together, but they slowly became a force to be reckoned with even away from one another.

Soon enough, Katima became pregnant again, and nine months later, their son, Makoto, was born. Katima had looked upon him when he was passed to her the first time, seeing his black eyes, just like his father's, and remembered the dream she had received while on Xeknos, about Lily holding a bundle, and dark eyes peering up at her.

Being a full blooded Saiyan, Makoto was born with a tail, but Vegeta had refused to have it removed, vowing to train their son the way that he was in order to control his ape form and to resist the weakness of when the tail was grabbed.

Five years past, and Makoto grew up with Trunks and his cousin, Goten. The three became like brothers, bickering and playing, and of course, breaking nearly everything they rough housed near. All three of them were extremely strong, managing to smash even the most resilient of Mr. Briefs inventions.

Makoto and Trunks were training in the Gravity room since they could walk, and Katima guessed Goten was getting training of his own back home, since he kept up with them just as well when he came to visit. Gohan, meanwhile, was actually attending high school for once, a public one. Today was supposed to be his first day, and Katima wondered how he was doing as she headed down the hall toward the gravity room.

She saw Trunks leaving it, his lavender hair in a short bob hair style, his blue eyes narrowed. He had a towel around his shoulders.

"Trunks, what's with the long face?" asked Katima as she approached.

The seven year old looked up at her, "Oh, Katima," he said, blinking, "I didn't see you," he sighed, looking back, "Vegeta won't let me in right now, he's doin' some kind of 'special' training with Makoto."

Katima sighed, "That man… Don't worry Trunks, I'll make him let you in. Where's your father?"

Trunks shrugged, "I think he went out to town for groceries or something."

"Hm, well, just wait here," Katima patted his head and headed toward the room. She paused at the door when she heard arguing.

"But I wanna train with Trunks too, why can't he come in?"

"Because Trunks doesn't have a tail, and can't help with this!" Vegeta's voice snapped.

Katima sighed and stepped inside, the fifty times gravity not even fazing her. She spotted Vegeta looking down at their son with angry eyes, hands on his hips. Makoto, who had his father's eyes and body structure, but his hair was wavy and thick, raven black, and not as spiky as Vegeta's. A brown furred tail twirled idly behind him, slipping out from a hole in his pants. Every pair of Makoto's pants had a specially crafted hole for his tail.

"But dad-"

"No but's!" Vegeta barked, making Makoto flinch, "Now turn around."

Makoto turned and spotted Katima. He rushed to her, "Mommy!" he wailed, "Dad won't let Trunks play with me."

"Stop your whining!" Vegeta growled, "You're a Saiyan prince, not some sniveling human brat!"

Makoto looked back at his father with wide, sad eyes, "I'm not sniveling!" he said, straightening, "I'm a warrior!"

"Then come over here and prove it!" Vegeta snapped.

"You could go easier on him, Vegeta," sighed Katima, ruffling her son's hair.

"Going 'easy' on him won't make him the warrior he's meant to be," growled Vegeta, "This is why I'm training him, you'd be far too soft."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katima asked indignantly.

Vegeta snorted, "You weren't raised like I was. You don't understand the training a real Saiyan child was put through to become the top class warrior I am today. I will make sure Makoto is as good as I am one day, now get over here!"

Makoto pouted and went over to his father. Katima sighed and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"Turn around," Vegeta ordered sharply.

Makoto turned, looking at the ground angrily. Katima nearly laughed at how much her son's mad face looked like Vegeta's. Vegeta reached down and grabbed Makoto's tail. Makoto yelped and fell on all fours, his limbs shaking.

"Get on your feet!" Vegeta barked.

Makoto shakily pushed himself up, standing on two feet for a heartbeat before falling flat on his stomach.

"I can't!" he wailed.

"You can and you will!" Vegeta snarled harshly, "Get up!"

Katima felt a pang as her son pushed himself to all fours again, his arms shaking like leaves. She looked at him as he met her eyes, his teeth grit in effort.

"Come on, Makoto," she encouraged, "You can do it, I know you can."

Makoto clenched his little fists and pushed himself onto his feet. He was able to do this well enough in regular gravity, just barely wobbly on his feet, but the fifty times gravity was making it difficult on him. He stood there, his body threatening to collapse every so often, but finally he stood as tall as his five year old body could, and powered up, a white aura surrounding him.

"Good," said Vegeta, a look of satisfaction in his eyes, but he was still unsmiling, "Now walk. All the way to your mother."

"Wh-what?" Makoto looked back at him, "Dad, you can't be serious-"

"I am!" barked Vegeta, "Walk!"

Katima sighed as Makoto flinched and looked at her with wide eyes. She nodded. However harsh Vegeta's training was, it was making Makoto stronger.

Makoto seemed to steel himself and began walking slowly toward Katima. His legs were extremely wobbly, and it looked more like he was limping his way to her, each step seeming to take great effort. Katima was reminded of when Makoto actually took his first real steps. She held out her arms and smiled encouragingly, just like she had that day.

The young Saiyan pushed forward, Vegeta following along slowly after him, the boy's tail still tight in his grip. Makoto stumbled and fell to one knee, but before his father could yell at him to get up he pushed himself back to his feet and kept going. The determination in his eyes was fierce, so much like Vegeta's. Katima felt pride well in her when he finally reached her and collapsed into her arms.

Vegeta released the boy's tail and smiled a little, "There. Now was that so difficult?"

"Yes," Makoto mumbled as Katima picked him up and he twitched his tail around.

"Can I come in now?"

Katima turned to see Trunks frowning in the doorway. He was in his training gear and everything.

"Sure, Trunks," said Katima.

She saw Vegeta open his mouth to argue, but she cut him off, "Let them train together. Here, I even have an exercise for them that will help Makoto's training. Trunks, I want you to do your best to grab Makoto's tail, and if you do, don't let go until he makes you."

"What?" wailed Makoto, "But when I train with Trunks and Goten, they know my tail is off limits, it's cheating!"

"Well, it won't have to be off limits once you master it," said Katima, setting him down, "Now go on!"

Trunks smirked at Makoto as he walked in, "Your mom said I could!"

"No fair!" Makoto ran to the other side of the room, and Trunks gave chase.

Vegeta came over next to Katima and leaned against the wall with her, watching the boys begin to run around the room, Makoto bouncing around madly, keeping his back away from Trunks.

"He's getting better," Katima noted, "Both of them are. I think Makoto is ready for flying lessons. And I want to do them, he doesn't need someone yelling at him for that."

"It's for his own good," Vegeta retorted, "How else will he become a strong warrior? It's how it was done when I was a child."

"Lily was always stern, but she knew when to give me a break," said Katima, "If you push him too hard, it could end badly."

"There's no such thing as pushing too hard for a Saiyan," growled Vegeta.

Katima sighed. There was no arguing with him, even after all these years.

Returning her attention to the boys, she saw Trunks had Makoto corner. Her son was side stepping left and right, but Trunks was matching him step for step. Makoto made to bail right but Trunks darted forward and snagged his tail.

"Ha!" Trunks cried, holding on with both hands.

Makoto staggered, but he kept on his feet. He sluggishly punched backward, but Trunks easily dodged it, still holding on to his tail.

"This isn't fair!" Makoto whined.

"Come on!" snapped Vegeta, "Make him let go!"

Makoto steeled himself and shot an energy blast back at Trunks. The seven year old yelped in shock as it hit him in the face. He fell backward, wailing, "OOOWW! NO FAIR!"

Makoto scrambled away, laughing, "That's what you get!"

"Alright, that's enough for today," said Vegeta, "You can go play, Makoto. But Trunks."

Trunks sat up, his lavender hair on end, his face covered in what resembled soot.

"You can tell Kakarot's son, Goten, that you are both allowed to grab his tail while you play. Even if he says you can't."

"What?" cried Makoto, "Dad! That's not fair! It's cheating!"

"Then you better get better at resisting it then," said Vegeta dismissively, walking into the changing room.

"Haha!" Trunks crowed, "You're dad said it's okay!"

"It's not, that's no fair," said Makoto, pouting a bit.

"It will help your training Makoto," said Katima, "What if you were in a real fight? Do you think everyone plays fair?"

Makoto sighed, "Fine…" he muttered.

Trunks went to him and tossed an arm around his shoulders, "Chin up, Makoto! It'll be fun!"

"Yeah maybe for you and Goten," mumbled Makoto.

Katima laughed, "Go get dressed and you two can go play outside before it gets dark."

"C'mon!" Trunks called, running toward the changing room, "I bet I can get Dad to let us play with the robots again!"

"Even after we broke the other one?" Makoto asked, running after him.

Katima chuckled, and walked outside, not bothering to go to the women's changing room. She hadn't dressed out and hadn't trained, so there was no point. However as she exited, to her surprise she saw Gohan in the hall, walking toward her.

"Gohan?" she said, surprised.

He was about six foot tall now, and his hair was shortly cropped. He smiled down at her, since he was now effectively nearly a foot taller than her. He was in school clothes, a button on his shirt with his new high school's symbol on it.

"Hi Katima!" she still wasn't used to how deep his voice was now.

Katima grinned and hugged him, "Hey! How was your first day of school?"

Gohan frowned a little, "Well… kind of awkward. I sorta came across a robbery on my way this morning and stopped it. I thought going Super Saiyan would make it to where no one would recognize me, but this one girl in my class realized that I was wearing the same clothes as the 'Gold Fighter' on the news…"

"Oh that's right, you have to act human…" said Katima, frowning a bit, "This is why I'm not putting Makoto in public school until he's older. I don't think he knows how to restrain himself at this age."

"Five? Yeah, a bit young to understand that it's best not to tell everyone you can shoot energy blasts," Gohan chuckled.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Katima, placing a hand on her hip.

Gohan grinned, "Well I'm having Bulma make me a disguise, so that my classmates don't know it's me. See, since I live so far out, I have to fly to school, and if I see some trouble on my way, I can't just NOT help, you know?"

Katima nodded, "It's why I stay out of the city," she said, "Too much shit happens in there for me to ignore as I pass by, but revealing that I'm not exactly human would bring a lot of unwanted attention. I'm still pleased that everyone thinks Hercule Satan defeated Cell. All that attention would drive me crazy, and who knows what it would do to Vegeta," she laughed.

"Where is Vegeta? Bulma said you guys were all in the gravity room," said Gohan.

"He's changing, so is Makoto and Trunks. We were doing more training on how to get Makoto to resist someone grabbing his tail."

"I still don't see why you just don't take it off," said Gohan, "I mean, he hasn't seen the full moon yet, has he?"

"No, we make sure he's inside before dark, he knows what will happen if he looks, Vegeta didn't bother making anything up. 'You'll become a giant ape and kill everyone'. He had nightmares all that night."

"How are you going to go about training him to control that form?" asked Gohan.

Katima shrugged, "Vegeta knows a way, I'm sure. He was taught how to control his ape form, after all."

"Gohan!"

Makoto came tearing out of the changing room, wearing jeans and a Capsule Corp jacket. His little bare feet pattered across the floor, Trunks was just behind him.

"Hey guys!" Gohan grinned as the boys stopped in front of him.

"You went to school today right?" asked Trunks.

"Sure did," said Gohan, smiling.

"With humans?" Makoto's eyes were wide.

"Yeah, you have to remember, I'm half human, and so is Trunks and Goten," said Gohan.

Makoto frowned, "Dad says that humans are weaklings, but you don't seem half weakling."

"Makoto!" Katima hissed.

He looked up at her innocently, "What? That's what Dad said."

"Well, humans are a little weaker than us," said Gohan, "But they're still people, just like we are. Some of them are strong, like Krillin!"

Makoto looked thoughtful, "But Dad says Krillin is a weakling too."

Katima covered her face with her hand. What was Vegeta filling this kid with?

Trunks laughed, however, "My Dad says Krillin may not be as strong as our parents but he's really brave!"

The door slid open behind them and Vegeta stepped out. He was in a tank top and jeans now, and he looked at Gohan with slight distain as he approached.

"Hey V-Vegeta, long time no see!" Gohan stammered.

"Well, well, well," scoffed Vegeta, pausing as he walked past, "Don't you look dull. A true warrior is always ready, even in times of peace." He stomped off, hands in his pockets.

Katima rolled her eyes, "Don't mind him," said Katima, looking after her husband, "At least you're actually helping out in the city."

"Ooh, Gohan, are you fighting crime?" asked Trunks excitedly, "I wanna help!"

"Me too!" said Makoto, punching the air, "Those stupid bad guys won't stand a chance!"

Gohan laughed, "You guys will have to wait until you're older."

Heading outside, Katima sat back with her nephew, watching the boys rough house in the grass.

"I'm thinking about training Makoto how to fly soon," she said, "Trunks' has already learned, and I know Makoto wants to really bad."

"It shouldn't be too hard, since he knows how to do energy blasts already," noted Gohan.

Katima looked him over. He looked a little scrawny, but she could still tell his power level hadn't changed since he defeated Cell.

"You haven't been training all that much have you?" she asked.

Gohan shrugged, "Now that things are peaceful, mom's had me studying a lot. It was actually my idea to go to public school to try and live a normal life. I've never known was it was like."

Katima nodded, "Living so secluded was rather torturous for me when I was your age. That's why when Makoto is old enough, I'll enroll him in high school. It'll be good for him."

"Hopefully by then, he won't still have his mindset on how humans are," Gohan chuckled.

Katima sighed, "I'll talk to Vegeta about putting those ideas in his head. I doubt he'll listen to me though."

Gohan shrugged, "He'll listen to you over anyone else."

"WAH! No fair!"

Looking forward, Katima saw Trunks had grabbed Makoto's tail. Makoto, now in normal gravity, was able to stand up shakily and punch Trunks away. They began brawling again, tumbling across the lawn.

"He's getting better," said Gohan.

Katima nodded.

"Come on, Gohan!" Trunks called as the two boys broke apart for a moment, "Show us some of your moves! Please?"

Gohan sighed and walked toward them, smiling a little.

"Go Super Saiyan!" Makoto begged.

"Guys, come on now, I just got in some trouble for going Super Saiyan in the city…" Gohan said.

"No one will see!" said Trunks, bouncing up and down, "Come on, Gohan!"

Katima resisted laughing as her nephew sighed heavily. With a flash, he powered into Super Saiyan, his hair leaping to gold.

Makoto and Trunks cheered.

"I can't wait till I can go Super Saiyan!" Makoto said, looking up at his cousin in awe.

"Well, I didn't manage it until I was eleven," said Gohan.

Makoto flexed, "I bet I can do it before then! Just you wait!"

Gohan laughed and powered down, "Come on, it's getting dark," he cast a knowing look at Katima.

She nodded, "Alright boys, let's get inside."

"Aw, but Katima!" Trunks whined, "Just a little longer?"

"No, Trunks, you know the rules," said Katima.

Trunks pouted and looked at Makoto, "I've never seen you turn into a giant ape. How do we even know it'll happen?"

"Because it happened to both me and his father when we still had our tails, and Gohan, AND Goku," said Katima, going to them and shooing them toward the house, "Let's go!"

Both the boys whined, but went inside. She led them to the living room, Gohan following, just in time for Bulma to come walking in with a wrist watch.

"There you are," she said.

The last five years had been good to Bulma. Her hair was short, in a cute bob cut not unlike her son's. She didn't look a day older than when Katima met her. Her blue eyes shone as she handed the watch to Gohan.

"Bulma, I kind of need more of a disguise than just a watch," said Gohan.

Bulma rolled her eyes, "That IS the disguise, you moron. Put it on, and press the red button to equip it, and the green button to take it off. It works similarly to a capsule."

"Oh!" Gohan strapped it on, "Just the red button?"

Bulma nodded.

Gohan pressed it, and his new outfit flickered over him. Katima nearly giggled. What had Bulma put him in? He was in a green tunic over a black jumpsuit, white boots, a long red cape, and a strange helmet with what looked like antennas on it. Gohan looked at himself in the full size mirror, holding the cape out.

"Wow!" he exclaimed.

"Wow, Mom, can I have one?" Trunks asked.

"Does it fit?" Bulma asked.

"Sure, why, it's a SUPER fit!" Gohan flexed.

Trunks blanched, "Er… never mind Mom. I don't need one."

Katima face-palmed. What had Bulma created?

Pressing the green button, Gohan returned to normal, and he beamed, "Thanks Bulma! Now I can stop all the crooks I want without worrying about my classmates thinking I'm weird."

"Why would they think you're weird?" asked Makoto, his tail swishing back and forth.

Gohan chuckled and ruffled his little cousin's hair, "Well, it's like you said earlier, humans aren't as strong as we are, and they don't really know we exist. So for them to see us shooting energy blasts and flying around and transforming, it might make them a little scared."

Makoto frowned, "I won't hide my powers just cause it makes some weakling humans scared," he declared boldly.

Katima sighed heavily, "I really have to talk to Vegeta about what he's feeding into this kid…" she muttered.

Bulma seemed more amused than anything, "Makoto, I'm a human, remember?"

Makoto looked at her, "Well, you're different Miss Bulma," he said, grinning, "You can make awesome machines and stuff like the gravity room!"

"Hey, Mom, can Makoto and I go play with the prototype robots again?" asked Trunks, "We promise we'll be really careful!"

"You guys can play with the combat drones that Grandpa's been testing," said Bulma, "He won't mind if those get broken."

"So we are allowed to break them?" asked Makoto, mystified.

Bulma nodded.

The boys cheered and ran out of the room, their voices still being heard as they bolted down the hall, "Bet I can beat you there!" "No way!" "HEY! Flying's CHEATING!"

"I hope they don't make too much of a mess," sighed Bulma.

"I better be getting home," said Gohan, "My Mom will be worried enough since I'm late already."

"Tell her and Goten I said hi," said Katima, hugging him again, "And tell them to come visit some time!"

"You know you CAN come see us," said Gohan.

Katima grinned as she let him go, "I'm trying to get her out of the house! She needs a night on the town while the guys watch the kids, wouldn't you agree?"

Gohan laughed, "Yeah, well, maybe."

"Be careful, alright?" Katima called, as he headed for the door, "Don't destroy the city while you're fighting crime."

"You don't have to worry about me," said Gohan, waving, "I think you should concentrate more on those trouble makers you have running around here!"

Katima laughed. Wasn't that the truth.

A story appeared on the news a few days later of a mysterious man saving a bus full of senior citizens from doom, catching it as it fell from a cliff side and flying it back to safety. The man had called himself Saiyaman, a name that make Katima groan when she heard it. Couldn't her nephew have thought of something better than that?

But still, Gohan was doing his best to help the world stay peaceful, and the thugs he dealt with were nothing compared to Cell. He deserved to have fun. All the while, he was doing his best to fit in with his new high school, and Katima wondered if her own son would someday know what it was like to have a normal life.