Krillin was over for dinner and gave me a questioning look. I knew I must have looked awful but I didn't care.
"May I go to my room?" I asked.
"But you haven't eaten a thing," ChiChi argued.
"I'm not hungry."
"Well, at least sit at the table with us. You're being rude to Krillin."
"It's ok, ChiChi," Krillin said hastily. "I need to go anyway. Walk me out, Ally?"
I nodded.
The night was cold and a steady wind blew in clouds across the stars. I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself.
"We broke it off, Krillin."
"I'm sorry."
I sank into a chair on the porch. "I was wrong about him. I- I thought I could change him, Krillin."
He laid a hand gently on my shoulder. "Vegeta will always be Vegeta."
"I know," I sniffed. "But Kami! I loved that man." I looked up at my friend who was trying his best to comfort me. "I still do."
"Then tell him."
"I can't do that! You should've seen his face when I asked him about us."
"Look, Ally," Krillin said, grasping both my hands. "We've known each other for almost a year now and it seems like forever and I know that you, more than any of us, deserve to be happy. Go and find Vegeta tomorrow and tell him what you've told me."
"And if it doesn't make a difference?"
He grinned lopsidedly. "Then you've still got me."
I smiled up at him through my tears, too overwhelmed to say anything. He gave me a hug and left to make it home before the dark clouds gave up their rain.
The screen door creaked and slammed shut. Gokou came and sat beside me, looking out into the darkness.
"Dad," I said, my face wet and probably red too. "Do you ever have flashbacks about . . . about what it was like to be a Saiya-jin . . . a real Saiya-jin?"
"Sometimes I think I do. I did on Namek a lot, when I spoke to Vegeta." He glanced at me, then continued. "And I've been told that's why I've managed to survive all these battles but I don't know. That's what King Kai said."
"Do you wish you could remember more?"
He thought for a moment. "Not if it would turn me into a younger version of my brother Radditz. I don't want to be like that. He was brutal and fought without honor. Now Vegeta, on the other hand, has a great pride for his heritage and I respect him for that."
"Too much pride . . . "
He stared long and hard at me. "You know, Vegeta's not used to people treating him like he's any other guy on the street or to people who express how they feel so openly." He shrugged. "Maybe he just needs a hug."
I snickered. "Don't tell him that or you might have a very angry Saiya-jin jumping down your throat."
Gokou grinned, striking his goofy pose with his hand behind his head. "Imagine that."
We laughed together; it felt good to laugh again. "I feel better now, Dad," I said, standing.
"Hey, Krillin's coming over tomorrow to help us prepare for the reunion in a few days."
I gasped. "I almost forgot about that! Who all is coming?"
"Oh, the whole gang, you know. Anyways, I thought you'd better help ChiChi and Krillin out, especially after what happened tonight."
"Right, well, goodnight, Dad."
"'Night, Ally."
The rain began to fall just as I stepped inside and lightning lit the path to my room. I entered and was immediately assaulted by bone-chilling wind and rain rushing through the window.
I don't remember having opened the window . . .
I closed the door and hurried shut the window with more than a little effort. Gosh, it's chilly in here, I thought, blowing on my frozen hands. I turned around to switch on some more light and cried out.
A figure stood in the corner shadows, dark eyes surveying me and took a small step toward me. I caught sight of a white boot.
"V-Vegeta?" My voice trembled, unsure. He was so quiet, barely breathing.
"I-" He struggled to speak and I moved closer. When the words wouldn't come, he took another step, the half-light of the lamp falling across him.
"Kami, Vegeta! What happened?"
He was soaked from head to toe, still dripping on the already wet carpet, his black hair matted and tangled. He could barely stand even using the wall for support; his entire body spoke of fatigue. But what tore at my soul the most was the extreme sadness I saw in his eyes. Those usually bright and scornful depths were now dull and unfocused and bloodshot as if he had spent a lifetime staring at something too hard. Suddenly, his legs gave out from underneath him and he crumpled to the floor. I rushed to his side, afraid to touch him at first.
He was deathly still and scaring the hell out of me. I had never seen him like this, not Vegeta who refused to let any weakness show. Finally I reached out and touched his cheek; it was icy cold. He shivered violently.
Hypothermia was my first thought. And to prevent that, I had to get him warm. Those wet clothes had to come off.
"Vegeta," I whispered. "Please, stay with me."
"Sleep . . . " The word was strained.
"No, no," I said urgently. "You can't go to sleep. Not now." You might not wake up. I pushed the ugly thought from my mind.
I took off his white gloves first, sliding them off his hands with meticulous care. There had only been a few times when I'd actually seen him without gloves on and now that those hands that had slaughtered hundreds of men were bare, I wished he'd never put the things back on. He had such nice hands, not rough like the other men I knew because of the protective gloves. I was a little taken aback by the scares I saw in the palms though. As if he'd clenched his hands into fists so tight, the nails had drawn blood.
I folded his hands over his chest and moved to pull off his boots, made in the same fashion as the gloves. Then I began to peel off the wet, sodden, tight fitting clothing he wore. He might kill me for it later, but this was the only way. He moaned softly once I had him out of it, shuddering again. Only his boxers were left and I let them stay. In one heave, I tore the comforter off my bed and threw it over him. His shivering calmed and satisfied he wasn't going to die on me, I sat near him and laid his head in my lap.
My vision blurred. He looked so helpless laying there with his eyes tightly shut and dried tears on his face.
Tears?
Oh, Vegeta, I cried silently. What happened to you?
I took a towel and carefully dried his black hair so it stuck up stiffly once again and then gently cleaned his face with warm water. I'd never hear the end of it if he found out how I was pampering him. Taking advantage of the situation, I studied his perfect features. I felt that longing tug on my heart again. If only he knew what he did to me.
I ran my finger across his temple as if I were memorizing what it felt like to touch the face of the most dangerous man in the Universe. His eyebrows were drawn together in a frown and I smoothed them out with my thumbs before tracing his cheekbones and nose to his lips. I paused, the times those lips had meshed with mine coming back to me. They were moist and soft though the corner of his bottom lip had split open and scabbed. Not able to resist, I leaned down to kiss him but at that moment, he stirred, barely opening an eye.
"Ally?" My name was lower than a whisper. "I am . . . I am alive . . . ?"
"Of course you're alive," I chided, tears streaming down my cheeks. I wiped them quickly away, knowing how he hated to see that sign of weakness.
"I am not supposed to be . . . I came here to die."
"But why, Vegeta, why?"
"I lost you. Didn't want to live . . . without your- your-"
"You never lost me, Vegeta," I sobbed. "Or my love."
"Love?"
I looked away. Tell him! Tell him! But I couldn't. I was afraid.
He closed his eyes again, shivering. "So cold . . . " His voice faded.
"Vegeta? Vegeta?!" I shook him, panicking, his body frigid again.
Don't leave me! No! I had to warm him up, but how? Then it hit me. Body heat. I could use my own body heat but to do that, I needed to get bare. Clothes would only trap the heat away from him. Not giving it a second thought, I whipped my shirt over my head, shimmed out of my pants, and slipped between the comforter and Vegeta. He groaned as I cocooned myself around his small body, thankful he was only a bit bigger than myself. It was hard to ignore just how incredibly soft his skin was . . .
Soon, his goosebumps disappeared and he was warm and breathing normally. I sighed, resting my cheek on his toned shoulder.
"I don't know if you can hear me," I whispered. "But I do love you, Vegeta . . . I do . . . "
I waited until I was sure he would be alright before letting my eyes close. I finally drifted into a light sleep, holding my Prince against me.
* * *
I half-expected Vegeta to be gone when I woke the morning and was surprised to find him still sleeping. I peered over at his peaceful face and quietly crawled out from underneath the blanket. He rolled over, mumbling something, and falling back to sleep. I smiled and tied a robe around me to go downstairs. I'd check up on his Highness later.
ChiChi was busy cleaning the house; dusting, vacuuming, and what not.
"Your room clean, dear?" she asked me brightly.
"Uh, yeah. It's fine. Don't bother vacuuming. I'll do it later."
"Ok," she chirped and went to do laundry.
"Mom?" I called into the other room, pouring a bowl of cereal. "When exactly is the reunion?"
"5:30, dear."
"5:30 tomorrow?"
"No, 5:30 today."
I froze, a spoonful of cereal halfway to my mouth. "Today?" I squeaked, then cleared my throat. "Um, Mom. I've already got other stuff to do today. I don't have time to help you get things ready."
ChiChi stuck her head into the kitchen, glaring, her cheery morning attitude gone in an instant. "You told Gokou you would help."
"Yeah, but-"
"No 'buts', young lady," she shouted. "Now Krillin will be here any minute and I expect you to help him with decorations! Got it?"
"Yes, mother," I said weakly. So much for spending time with Vegeta.
The doorbell rang and ChiChi rushed to open it. "Good morning, Krillin!" I heard her cry warmly. "Ally's in the kitchen. Let me finish this laundry before we get started." She plodded up the stairs.
"Sure, ChiChi," replied Krillin and walked over to me by the counter. "Good morning, Ally."
"Morning," I said drearily.
"What's eating you?" he asked, grabbing an apple and taking a bite.
"Oh, nothing, Krillin. Only the usual."
"Are you going to go talk to Vegeta today?"
"Well, actually-"
"EEEEEEKKKKKKKK!!!!!!"
Krillin and I cringed away from ChiChi's scream.
"What the-" he started, but a different yell followed. A much deeper yell.
"DAMMIT WOMAN!!!! STOP HITTING ME WITH THAT BROOM OR ELSE!!!"
Oh no.
I sprinted up the stairs, Krillin close on my heels. This was bad. This was really bad. As I feared, ChiChi was in my room. She had a now wide awake Vegeta backed up against the far wall who was vainly trying to hold the comforter around himself and fend off a hysterical ChiChi's attacks with a broom at the same time.
Vegeta caught sight of me in the doorway and barked, "Get this crazy beast of a woman away from me!"
"Oh, I'll show you a beast-" ChiChi began and started forward again.
I pushed between the two of them, standing in front of Vegeta. "Stop it, Mom!"
"Don't you tell me to stop, young lady! I want to know what this vicious monster-"
"ME?!" Vegeta yelled. "I'm not the one beating on people with a dust-sweeping broom!"
"You shut up!" ChiChi snapped, raising the weapon threateningly.
"Mom! Vegeta only the spent the night!"
Bad, bad, bad choice of words.
"Spend the night? Spent the NIGHT?!" she screamed. She glared at Vegeta, at me, and then back at the Saiya-jin.
"OUT!"
"But, Mom-"
"Out! Out! Out, OUT, OUT!"
"Mom!" I cried. "It's not what you think!"
Her voice began dangerously calm, which was more scarey than when she was yelling. "I walk up here and find this Saiya-jin in your room wearing nothing but his underwear and you try to tell me you didn't do anything with him?"
"We didn't do anything," I said desperately. I glanced at Vegeta who was staring at me reproachfully. I knew he didn't want anyone to know what had happened. "He just . . . I mean, we only, er, I-"
"If you don't give me a good explanation for all of this, Ally, I'm kicking you out of the house."
"But, Mom-" I protested.
"If you want to fool around then you can do it somewhere else."
"But, Mom-"
"We are getting married."
Three pairs of eyes were suddenly focused on the Saiya-jin who immediately turned slightly pink on the cheeks. He moved to me, trying to appear princely, and put his arm around my shoulders.
"We decided yesterday," he stated, lying right through those perfect teeth.
In shock, I opened my mouth to tell my speechless mother that he was only joking when Vegeta tightened his grip and shot me a warning look.
"Um, yeah," I agreed weakly, trying to smile. "We were going to surprise you, Mom."
ChiChi held a hand to her forehead, staggering a little before Krillin steadied her. She looked like she was going to be sick.
"Why don't you go lay down for a little while?" I told her gently.
She nodded and stumbled out of the room with Krillin's help. As soon as they were gone, I spun around to confront Vegeta.
"What in the name of Kami were you thinking?"
He ignored me, searching around the room while still holding the blanket. "Where are my clothes?"
"They're still wet," I said, crossing my arms. "I want some answers, Vegeta."
"And I want my clothes."
"Fine. I'll get you some of Gokou's."
A look of pure horror crossed his face.
"You don't have a choice," I retorted. "And don't look at me like that. He doesn't have some kind of awful disease." I stalked out of the room and came back with an armful of assorted clothing.
"No way. I am not wearing any of Kakarrot's clothes."
"Then you can walk around like you are."
He glanced down at his boxers, cursed, and picked up a red shirt with some disgust. I sat on the edge of the bed, waiting until he was dressed in a red T-shirt and faded blue jeans. He refused to wear any of Gokou's shoes which was fine by me.
"Are you crazy?" I asked him.
"I saved your hide."
"Yeah, but now everyone thinks we're getting married."
"So?"
"We're not!" I said, exasperated.
He just looked at me.
"Listen," I said slowly. "I'm going to go downstairs and tell my mother the truth."
"And how will you explain me?"
I caught the shadow of anxiety in his voice. I sighed. "I don't know."
He came and sat beside me, fiddling with the red shirt.
"What happened last night, Vegeta? I thought you were . . . I thought you were going to die."
"I wanted to." He seemed to search for the right words. "I... I've meant what I said in the past. I once asked you a question that you never answered and now I ask it again, in a different way. Can a lost Saiya-jin and a lost human learn to- to-"
"I'd like to think we could. When you collapsed on the floor last night and I thought you were going to . . . die, I began to realize . . . Vegeta, you mean a lot to me and . . . " I faltered, hating myself for not being able to tell him how I felt.
He took my hand, turning the palm up and kissing it lightly. "I heard what you said last night, just before we fell asleep."
I looked up at him, startled. "You . . . did?"
"Mmm hmm," he murmured, kissing each of my fingers in turn and grazing my palm with his teeth. "Though you did not hear me, I answered."
I trembled. "What did you say?"
"That I love you too."
I was crying. "Vegeta, I want to spend my whole life with you. If you'll have me."
"Silly woman," he scowled. "I won't have it any other way."