The day dawned like any other and Vegeta met it with reluctance. His training the night before had yielded a higher power level. Though there was no amazing alteration, it was still worthy of being noticed. He sighed as he powered down the gravity machine. Reaching for a towel he felt an all to familiar ki.

Vegeta didn’t even look up when Goku emerged in front of him. The happy Saiyan presented himself with the same orange gi, spiky hair and innocent smile he always wore. That alone made Vegeta sick.

"Well, Kakarott," he began. "Just what the hell do you want?"

"What I always want!" Goku replied brightly. Vegeta looked up in uncertainty.

"Food?" Goku laughed.

"No!" He said, giving Vegeta a friendly jolt to the shoulder. The older Saiyan growled. Goku, oblivious to his response, smiled wide. "I wanna spar!" Vegeta smirked.

"Very well, but be warned you’ll get hurt!" Goku put a hand behind his head, his perpetual grin beaming.

"I’ll take my chances! So where do you want to go?" Vegeta contemplated the question for a time. He needed to consider somewhere away from civilization. However, he was tired of open plains and vast deserts. What he needed what something that offered more of a challenge. Looking up he smirked as the ideal spot came to mind.

"Follow me." With that he was off, with Goku at his heel.

****

The old man smiled in the darkness. His white mustache twitched excitedly as he beheld his creation.

Within a large test tube, connected to ceiling and floor, existed one tiny life form. A miniscule object no bigger than his thumb. It twitched in small convulsions as the plastic tubes interacted with it, sending off signals to its membrane.

Gero shook his head and examined his command module. Sometimes, his genius inflamed a feeling of awe within him. As of now, he was amazed with himself. He looked back to the little being immersed in water.

"You’ll be perfect soon!" Gero proclaimed. Stretching out one purple-veined hand, it came into contact with the glass surface and lingered there. "My beloved Cell."

****

He landed upon the cliff once again. It seemed so much different in the daytime. The sunlight reflected off the water in dappled hues of white and silver. Waves lapped upon the shore in rolling wakes of seawater. That familiar salt smell arose from below and welcomed both Saiyan warriors. The forest that bordered it seemed beckoning.

"Wow!" Goku exclaimed, landing beside Vegeta. "This place is beautiful! How’d you find it?"

"I don’t know, I just came upon it one night." Goku chuckled.

"Gee, Vegeta, you could be a travel agent!" The prince rolled his eyes.

"Kakarott, I have no time for your foolishness, we fight or we don’t! Either way, do not waste my time!" Goku put his hands up and smiled.

"Sure thing Vegeta! But you have to catch me first!" Vegeta’s eyes widened as he watched a blur of orange swoosh down to the forest. He sighed and shook his head. Was this one of the elite remainders of the Saiyan race? A man who wanted to play tag? Looking down, Vegeta found the humor in such a situation but would not smile. Instead he powered up and followed Goku’s figure.

****

Time sped by as fast as their flight. Dodging through trees the two combed through the entire wood. As the day went by, Vegeta would come upon Goku, only to lose him again. However, the Saiyan prince would not admit defeat and so he persevered.

Amazingly, he found this little chase was giving him quite a good workout. The only problem with the situation was the sound of Goku’s childish laughter ringing through the leaves. The younger Saiyan loved his adolescent game. Vegeta, however, was only filled with a determination to beat him.

Only when the sun began to set did the two realize just how long they had been at it. Vegeta centered in on Goku’s singular ki and went to where he sat. The young man was grinning, and panting hard while sitting perched on a big stump. Moving his big hand up to his brow, Goku wiped away the sweat that had accumulated. Vegeta walked up to him, pausing only a foot away. Crossing his arms, he smirked.

"Tired Kakarott?" He asked, praying that his heart wasn’t beating too loudly. Vegeta himself was exhausted, but he wouldn’t let anyone other than himself know that.

"Heck yeah!" Goku replied. "Gosh, that was so much fun! What a great day!" On further speculation, Vegeta found that it had been a good day. However, he kept that thought to himself.

"Maybe we can do it again, Kakarott," he offered casually. Goku smiled and nodded.

"That’d be fun!" Looking up to the sky he realized how dark it had become. When his gaze became level once more his face was filled with a very foreign emotion to Goku.

Fear.

The young warrior put both hands in his hair, tearing at his scalp in horror.

"Oh no!" He shouted in dismay. "ChiChi’s gonna kill me! I’m late, I’m late!" Standing up, the big man jumped around in agitation. Finally he sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. Quickly, he turned to Vegeta. "Heheh... Guess I’ll be seeing you later, Vegeta!" As he turned to teleport away, he added in a meek voice, "Hopefully."

Vegeta shook his head. He still couldn’t understand it. How could a pathetic woman control one of the strongest men in the universe?

To cool down from his long exercise, Vegeta walked through the woods. In the dark and quiet, he allowed his thoughts to roam free.

The entire aspect of the females on Earth vexed him. They seemed to control the very substance of whatever male they mated to. Vegeta had met ChiChi and he knew the woman’s vigor. However, she possessed such a primitive ki. True it was strong considering most women, but still her ki was nothing that was close to being feared. And yet Kakarott and the other Zed warriors trembled at the mention of her name.

He ran a hand through his hair and stepped over a felled tree trunk. It all seemed so idiotic. On Vegetasei, a woman like ChiChi would have been killed at birth.

There was a crunch of leaves and Vegeta turned around quickly. A bright ki emerged from behind the trees.

"Who’s there?" He demanded, surveying his surroundings. There was the pummel of footfall as the creature he had sensed took off. Vegeta narrowed his eyes and sped after the ki. It didn’t take him long to center in on the power level. The being who possessed it was running rather slow compared to his standards. He noted the direction the ki was going and flew around in order to intercept its flight. Lowering himself upon a log, Vegeta crossed his arms and awaited the creature’s arrival. It didn’t take long.

The sound of its running became louder until the shadow of its form emerged from the trees. Vegeta gasped as he made out the form. It was a woman.

Soon she came to where he was and Vegeta found it was a very familiar woman. In fact, it was the one he had thought committed suicide the night before.

She ran like a dear, leaping from crevice to log gracefully. He found himself entranced by her sight. He recognized her by the eyes, those royal blue eyes that shimmered in the night. Now that she was so close, he could make out the rest of her. When he did he nearly fell off the log.

Never had he seen anything as beautiful as the girl that ran before him. In his sudden rush of emotions, he found it impossible to remain still. He had to get closer.

Swooping off of the log he landed in front of her. The woman, upon seeing him, gasped and tried to slow down. However, she had been going too fast and she fell upon him in her momento.

Vegeta unconsciously reached out and steadied her. The girl trembled at his touch and looked up at him, blue eyes ablaze.

"Who are you?" He asked, maintaining a firm hold on her waist. She hissed and pounded her small fists upon his chest. He raised an eyebrow. "Can you not speak, woman?" She growled in contempt and threw her head forth. Vegeta suddenly felt the brush of her small teeth on his neck. He growled and pushed her down. The girl’s small frame crumpled to the ground and he fell upon her. Holding her hands above her head, Vegeta brought his face near her own. "What is wrong with you?" He demanded, pinning her to the forest floor.

Her angry eyes sparkled their intensity. From her mouth she released wild, animalistic sounds. Growls and moans all spat out at venomous decibels. Vegeta smirked and shook his head.

"So," he said. "You’re crazy aren’t you?" She stopped and looked up at him.

"I’m not!" A clear voice rang out. Its sing song luster startled the prince. Vegeta’s eyes widened.

"You can speak!" She snarled up at him.

"Yes I can speak! Now let go of me!" He cocked his head to the side in question.

"Just why didn’t you say anything earlier?"

"Because!" She said. "You attacked me!" Vegeta scoffed.

"I did not attack you, woman! I merely wanted to find out what the hell you were doing, running around naked in a forest in the middle of the night!" The girl sighed and looked away. Her silence annoyed him and so he pressed on. "At least tell me your name!"

"My name is Bulma," she replied. Vegeta smirked, well there was one question answered.

"I’m Vegeta, Prince of Vegetasei." She rolled her eyes and looked up to him.

"Should I bow down to you, your highness?" He growled and shook her frame roughly. She only smiled up at him knowingly. "You can’t break me, Prince Vegeta! So don’t even try!" He stared down at her sinisterly.

"Oh, don’t you make me try!" He warned. "Because if I want to break you, woman, I will!" She frowned and looked away.

"Let me go!"

"No!"

"Why?"

"Because you’ll run away!"

"And why can’t I?"

"Because..." Vegeta found himself at a loss of words. And that was when it hit him. He, the Prince of all Saiyans, was lying on top of a Chikyuu native who was completely naked, in the middle of the woods. Not to mention the fact she had disrespected him greatly and he hadn’t killed her. Why in Kami’s sake was he doing this? She laughed underneath him and he looked down in surprise.

"So it’s true!" She said. "Humans really don’t know anything!"

"I’m not human!" She raised an eyebrow.

"Then what are you?"

"I’m Saiyan!" He said with menace. Her eyes widened.

"I’m Mer!" She allowed.

"Mer?" He asked. She smiled and nodded.

Suddenly, a small ray of sunlight fell down through the leaves. Bulma gasped at the sight. Her eyes suddenly filled with terror. Squirming under his grasp she began to scream.

"Let me go! Please let me go!" Her frantic movement startled him and Vegeta released her immediately. She arose in haste and hesitated not a minute before she ran through the trees. Vegeta watched as her figure diminished into the rapidly diminishing darkness.

Rubbing a hand over his face he questioned whether the whole incident had been created out of his mind. However, he was too tired to ponder the subject. Tomorrow he’d think about it. Looking at the spot where the Mer had last been, Vegeta turned and flew away.

He flew dazedly through the clouds as the sun rose behind him. The wind licked at his face but he did not notice it.

The only thing he saw was her face.

****

She hastened to the water and watched in horror as the sun rose in the horizon. Finally she gained the shore and soon felt her feet lapping in the liquid. Wading out deeper still, she made it knee high when her fin reappeared. Sighing in relief, she swam out to the deep.

This time, the darkness of the ocean did not seem so grim. Her thoughts were not on her unhappy life, but of the events preceding. The Saiyan, Vegeta, lingered on her mind.

She didn’t mind the thought of him as she swam into the water’s depths.

* * * * *