The Grinch's Heart

by Kakkarot

It was a cold December day at Capsule Corporation. Outside, 2 robots strung Christmas lights across a giant tree in front of the building. They went well with the lights that spiraled around the building, which, like most of the city, was covered in a blanket of snow. Outside, Trunks and Goten threw snowballs at each other while their mothers sat inside, talking and playing with baby Bra. Goku was making a snow angel. Everyone seemed at peace, that is, but one person.

Vegeta sat under a tree not too far away from the main compound, quietly sulking and watching the snowball fight. He was dressed in his usual armor, using his ki to warm himself. Bulma had shut down the gravity machine for the holidays, insisting Vegeta would spend some time out of the machine with his family.

Vegeta almost laughed as Trunks hit Goku upside the head with a snowball. He thought about interrupting their foolish games and starting a fight. He smirked as he gathered a wad of cold, white snow. This would surely start something. He carefully took aim at Goku's head and let the ball go. Sure enough, it landed square in the back of Goku's skull. Goku lifted his head and looked at Vegeta and waved. Goten spattered his dad with a snowball before Goku could further involve him in the fight. He turned around and screamed wildly, immediately returning to his battle with Goten and Trunks. This was hopeless. Vegeta would never get a good spar out of this group of idiots. He got up and brushed the snow off his suit. As he began to lift off the ground, something grabbed him by the ankle.

"Just where do you think you're going?" It was Bulma. She had on a bulky Capsule Corp. jacket and a stocking cap. She didn't look too happy either.

"I'm going off to train. Not that it's any of your concern, woman."

"For the last time! I have a name! BULMA! And you are NOT going off to the middle of nowhere and beating yourself up! You're staying here and spending some time with your family."

"Well, Woman, I'm going and that's final. Now let go of my leg before I decide to bring you along with me."

Bulma reluctantly let go of his ankle as he levitated higher. "Fine, then! Go beat yourself up, I don't care!And while you're at it, don't bother coming back, either!"

"Have it your way." Vegeta smirked as his ki erupted, creating a blinding flash of light as he flew off over the horizon.

"You stupid ape! I hope you break your arm again!" Realizing there was no reason to continue cursing the cold, morning air, she turned her head and began to walk back inside.
She flashed a dirty look at the 3 gaping Saiyans, who had stopped their snowball fight to watch the arguement. Trunks was on the verge of tears while Goku and Goten shared a vacant expression. Bulma's dirty look vanished as she reassured Trunks that he was coming back and she took back the comment about Vegeta breaking his arm. They walked inside together, Goku and Goten not far behind.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Vegeta flew over the forest, not exactly sure where it was that he was going. All he cared about at that moment was getting away from Christmas. In previous years, he had managed to lock himself in the gravity room and wait out the holiday. This year, Bulma was prepared.

In addition to shutting the machine down, she removed and hid a vital part of the machine while Vegeta was asleep. He had tried to turn the machine on, but couldn't. When he confronted Bulma, she gave him a long, drawn out speech that ended with Bulma shoving him out the door. Of course, all he did was sit and sulk under a tree. Then the unthinkable happened. A small, red car pulled up in the driveway and out popped the Sons. With the exception of Gohan, who, according to Goku, was at the Kame House. He dragged Piccolo along with him to Master Roshi's Christmas party.

Vegeta lowered himself to the ground in the middle of a familiar clearing of the snow-covered forest. He and Goku had fought many times here. It wasn't too far away from the Son house. Vegeta had to admit, all those times he sparred with Goku had
their advantage. Every time he had lost to Goku. He was helped back inside and treated to some of Chi-Chi's cooking. Vegeta loved her cooking, but would never admit to it. She cooked way better than Bulma or the Capsule Corp. chef drones. Just another reason to envy Goku.

He grunted as he began stretching. He had already lost some valuable training time arguing with Bulma. He continued limbering up, trying his best to push Bulma back into the recesses of his mind.

Once he finished his warm-ups, he concentrated hard on the empty space before him. He imagined Goku standing in front of him in a fighting stance. Vegeta powered up to Super Saiyan 1 and attacked the imaginary figure. He started off with a series of punches to 'Goku's' midriff. He then delivered a roundhouse kick to the 'chin.' Vegeta wasn't terribly fond of shadow-sparring, but it served it's purpose. He began using various combos he saw Goku use in their last spar, which was nearly 3 weeks ago. He hoped that the holidays would give him some sort of advantage over a rusty Goku.

A couple of hours later, Vegeta again sat under a tree, tired from the 'fight'. He closed his eyes, ready for a well-deserved rest.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Vegeta............."

Vegeta stood in a dark room, unable to see a thing.

"W-who's there?"

"..........................."

"Answer me!"

A bright light filled the room, forcing Vegeta to shield his eyes. After a few seconds, Vegeta lowered his arms as the room dimmed. In the center of the room was Goku, powered up to Super Saiyan 3, arms crossed and smirking.

"Kakkarot?"

"How ever did you guess?" There was a sarcasm in his voice that Vegeta didn't like.

"H-how.........?"

"What's wrong Vegeta, cat got your tongue?"

Vegeta scowled..

"I didn't really expect you to be in a talking mood. You're probably too busy envying my power, trying to find some way to obtain it yourself. Well, I've got news for you: it ain't gonna happen."

Vegeta raised his jaw and returned the smirk. "How can you be so sure? I'm not the one whose been so busy playing with snow over the past few weeks that I've neglected
my training completely and allowed the Saiyan prince time to catch up with, and maybe even pass me."

"You simple fool! You'll never surpass me! You're too weak."

"I am NOT too weak! You're the weakling! You're nothing more than a low class soldier!"

"I'm also the legendary Super Saiyan. That's something you'll never be."

"Liar! I AM the legendary Super Saiyan! You're just a fluke! A mistake!"

"Maybe so, but I'm not the one who used a machine to go beyond Super Saiyan."

"Why you..."

"Temper, temper, Vegeta. That vein's popping out of your head again. You know Bulma hates that."

"Leave her out of it! This is between us!"

"You know I can't do that. After all, she's the only reason you can go Super Saiyan 2. You know, she's also the reason you first made it to level one."

"Whaaat!?"

"You heard me. If she wasn't so nice and let you stay at Capsule Corp., Dr. Breifs never would have built you that gravity chamber that you trained in. And you didn't even say 'thank you.' I should've let Krillin run you through, you selfish, arrogant fool. I'll bet you wouldn't lift a finger for her, Trunks, or even little Bra. You care for only yourself."

"No! That's not true! I do care! I do!!!!!"

Vegeta woke up in a cold sweat, panting heavily.

"Just a dream......."
_____________________________________________________________________________________

He smelled a strange scent in the air. Smoke. He opened his eyes and looked around. He hadn't caught any trees on fire while training. After taking a closer look, he noticed a small cloud of black smoke over the horizon. In the direction of the Son house. The cloud was quite larger than that which usually floated out of the chimney. Curious, Vegeta flew off to investigate, not realizing fully what had happened.

As he neared the house, Vegeta surveyed the scene. The building was black and barely visible among the flames. As far as he could tell, the house's supports were still in tact, but would give way in a matter of minutes. He landed a few yards away from the inferno and, without thinking twice, he ran straight into the burning building.

"Kakkarot!! Woman!! Brats!! Can anyone hear me?! Answer!" He only heard the crackling of the flames around him. Then he noticed the TV. Sparks flew from behind the black melting box. Evidently a power surge had shorted it out, easily catching fire to the wooden wall behind it, which was now completely gone. He walked through the living room, using his already-depleted ki as a shield from falling debris. He walked up the stairs, still shouting the names of the Sons.

At the top of the staircase, Vegeta's ki shield gave out. He cursed and kicked in the door nearest to him. Goten's room. The bed had collapsed and some of the toys were melted. Assorted junk that Goten left lying around was also burning. As Vegeta turned to leave and hunt for the others, It hit him.

"Of course! How could I be so stupid?!"

Bulma had said they would have company spending the night. It was, after all, 2 days until Christmas and she wanted some company that she could talk to. Of course this had confused Vegeta. After all, he was the Saiyan prince and he considered his company "perfect". He thought Bulma liked to argue.

Vegeta flew out the window and started off to break the bad news to Goku. After all, he barely had enough ki to fly back home and there was no way he could put out the fire.
Then Vegeta's mind returned to his dream, one phrase echoing through his mind.

"....You care only for yourself........"

Vegeta looked back into the burning building. He didn't think twice. He dove back into the inferno once more. Sweat poured from his brow. The room seemed much hotter without his ki shield. As he walked back down the stairs, he noticed the Son's Christmas tree. Unlike previous years, Chi-Chi had accepted Bulma's Capsule Tree gift in place of the live one Goku brought home. Good thing, too. The tree, and the gifts under it, were virtually untouched by the flames. Then he noticed a beam above the tree. It was about to collapse. Vegeta picked the pile of presents up and headed for the door, just as the beam fell on the tree. Just as he made it to the door, he heard a loud rumble and ,just like the beam above the tree, the house collapsed on him.
__________________________________________________________________________________

"Bulma! Bulma are you listening?"

Bulma stared up out of her trance. "Huh? Sorry, Chi-Chi, What were you saying?"

"Bulma, are you OK? You look worried."

"Oh, it's nothing, really. I just had the strangest feeling there was something wrong with Vegeta."

"Don't worry. I get those feelings about Goku all the time. Most of the time, the only thing wrong with him is an empty stomach. Besides, why worry about that arrogant baka, anyway? I know if Goku acted as rude as Vegeta, he'd spend the night in a cardboard box."

Bulma's face reddened at Chi-Chi's insult. Just as she opened her mouth to return fire, Goku burst through the door, panting heavily.

"C-chi-chi, Bulma...it's Vegeta. Something's wrong....."

"What is it, Goku?" Bulma demanded, nearly dropping Bra.

"It's his ki...I can't find it anywhere. One minute, it's at his usual post-training level, then poof! Gone..."

"Serves him right. If he had stayed here and played with you and the boys, nothing would be wrong with him." Chi-chi said sternly. They all looked at each other strangely after what Chi-chi said. Somehow, 'Vegeta' and 'play' didn't seem to go that well together.

"Where?" Bulma asked.

"In a clearing not too far from our house. We spar there almost every day."

Bulma called Trunks and Goten inside from their snowball fight to look after Bra. Bulma and Chi-chi ran outside, hopped into a Capsule Car and took off, Goku flying next to them.

As they neared the clearing, they all noticed a strange scent in the air.

"Is that smoke?" Goku said.

The two women ignored him. They both hated it when he questioned the obvious. Then they saw it. The Son house was now only a heap of burnt wood and ash. They couldn't believe their eyes. The car landed and the two women climbed over the doors. Goku landed close by.

"Oh Kami, no...." Chi-chi said, bursting into tears. Goku clutched her in his arms, trying his best to hold back tears of his own.

"W-w-why u-us...."

"I don't know, Chi-chi, but we'll make do... in a few weeks, the Dragon balls will recharge and we'll ask the dragon for a new one......only this time with a bigger kitchen."
Goku lifted her head gently, flashing her a weak smile. Chi-chi tried to return it, but thrust her head back to Goku's chest and continued weeping.

Bulma watched helplessly as her 2 friends held each other. " I promise you, Vegeta, if this is your fault....." Bulma whispered, her teeth clenched. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a sparkle of light through the ash. She slowly approached it, her mind rushed with ideas of what it might be. She stood next to it, then cautiously turned over the piece of rubble that hid it.

At first, all she saw was a senged white glove.It didn't move.

"Vegeta!!" she shrieked. She frantically began digging through the rubble and ash, only able to lift a few pieces by herself.

"Goku! Give me a hand! Vegeta's under here!"

"Vegeta?! What was he doing in there? I know! He started it, didn't he?"

"Shut up, Chi-chi!" Bulma screamed.

Goku walked up to the rubble and began to lift. As he turned it over, they noticed a pile of glowing boxes that he layed on.

"What are those?" Chi-chi asked as she came closer, keeping away from Bulma.

"Nevermind the boxes, Chi-chi, Vegeta's injured." Goku said. Chi-chi was shocked at Goku using that tone of voice. Nobody ever heard him use that tone of voice, and lived.

"How bad is it?" Bulma asked anxiously as Goku pulled off the charred remnants of the armor and put his hand to Vegeta's bare, bloody chest.

"He's weak. I can barely feel his ki even at this distance. He used a good part of his energy to create the shield for those boxes. If we don't do something soon, King Kai's gonna have some company."

"Well, what're you waiting for?! Lock on to Trunks' ki and teleport us to Capsule Corp.!"

"Why? There aren't any doctors there."

"Just do it!"

"OK."

Without another word, Bulma grabbed his arm and her injured husband. Goku lifted his fingers to his forehead and disappeared before Chi-chi knew what was going on.

"Bulma? Goku? Where'd everybody go? And what's this?" She bent down to one of the boxes. They were all covered in a thick, black layer of soot, except the one she stood over. As the wind began to blow, some of the black soot brushed off.

"Wrapping paper?" She brushed the rest of it off the box, then began to unwrap it. Once she removed the paper, she stared down in disbelief.

"Goten's Playstation?"
__________________________________________________________________________________

Trunks and Goten stood over Bra, each wearing a sneer and pinching their noses. Bra sat on the couch, screaming like crazy.

"Trunks, your sister stinks."

"Don't look at me! It's not my fault! You're the one who gave her the bean-flavored baby food."

"Hey! Your mom said that was the only kind she liked. So don't blame me." Trunks scowled and folded his arms. "I'm not doing it."

"Well........well, so I fed her, now you gotta change her!"

"No way! Clean up your own messes!"

Just then, Goku, Bulma and Vegeta appeared next to them, Goku was standing over Bulma, who was cradling a badly injured Vegeta. Goku picked Vegeta up carefully, trying not to injure him further.

"Mom! What's going on? What happened to Dad?"

"Never mind that! We need to get him downstairs to the chamber. Goten! Help us get him downstairs! Trunks..........change your sister. She stinks."

Trunks nodded in disgust and went to his task. Goten ran over to help his dad and Bulma carry Vegeta downstairs.

"Dad, what happened?"

Goku painfully looked down at his son. Goten could tell something was a miss. "Its long story. I'll tell you after we help Vegeta."

"OK."

They all took hold on part of Vegeta and carefully moved him downstairs. They stopped at a door and Bulma used a voice-activation code to open it. As they walked in, the two Sons stared in awe. It was a full-blown infirmary: equipped with all sorts
of medicines, instruments, .........and a restoration tank. Goku shuddered at the resemblance to a doctor's office.

"Vegeta helped me build this in case we ever ran out of senzu." Bulma informed the clueless father and son.

They carefully loaded Vegeta into the tank and hooked him up to the instruments. Bulma pressed a couple of buttons on a nearby control panel. The door automatically shut and the chamber filled with a strange, blue liquid. Bulma stood in front of the tank, a look of deep concern on her face. Goku and Goten stood on the other side of the room,
leaving Bulma to look after Vegeta.

"Dad, what was that you were wanting to tell me upstairs?"

Goku looked down at Goten's anxious face. If only he knew what he was waiting to hear. It would break his son's heart to tell him of the day's occurrences. Goku's happy-go-lucky smile was gone. This worried Goten. In the short time he had known his
father, he had always seen him smiling. Everything seemed out of place without that smile.

A long silence passed, father and son quietly staring at each other. Goku took a deep breath and sighed. He had to tell him some time.

"..........Well....Goten,.............I.............Chi-chi?"

Chi-chi stood at the door, still wearing her look of shock.

"I think I can explain it better, Goku."

"What are you talking about?!" Goten shouted at the top of his lungs.

Chi-chi slowly walked over to Goten and sat down beside him. "Well, Goten, you see......we had a little accident at the house this afternoon...."

"What kind of accident?"

"Earlier this afternoon, .................the house sort of, well, ..........there was ...a fire..and-"

"Nooooooooooooo!!!!! It's not true!!!!! It can't be!!!" Goten burst into tears and dove into his mother's lap.

"Our house.......my toys........"

Chi-chi gently patted him on the back. "I know, ...I know....But that's what I was wanting to talk to you about.... you see,.Vegeta was there... and-"

Goten's aura flared as he exploded out of his mother's lap and into Super Saiyan. Before anyone knew what was going on, he was over at the regeneration tank, pounding it furiously.

"You monster!! You burned down my house!!! You ruined my life!!" Goku rushed over to Goten and put him in a half nelson.

"Let me go!!! I'll kill him!!! I'll-"

"Goten!!!!!!"

The half-heartbroken, half-crazed child stared angrily at his mother from across the room.

"Goten, I know how you must feel right now, but you have to listen to me,....OK?"
Goten nodded, his shirt soaked with tears.

"Alright. The reason Vegeta was there was, well..... you should see it for yourself."
She motioned for him to follow her. Goku and Bulma reluctantly tagged along. As they made their way upstairs, Bulma saw Trunks at the top of the staircase, cradling a clean baby Bra. Goten's screaming had caused her, too, to go into a screaming fit. Bulma walked over and took her daughter from Trunks' arms, allowing him to follow the others outside.

"What's going on?" Trunks asked curiously. Goten looked back at him, dropping out of Super Saiyan. Goten's face said it all.

Chi-chi led him out to where she had parked the Capsule Car. They all gathered around the trunk as Chi-chi inserted the key and lifted the lid.

"These are all that made it out of the fire. When we found Vegeta, he was using a ki shield to protect them from the blaze."

"My..........Christmas gifts?" Goten's face fell.

"Mr. Vegeta.............saved........my presents?"

Chi-chi nodded.

"My Dad's a Hero?" Trunks said in disbelief.

"Yeah,"Goku agreed," But he didn't just rescue a few gifts, he saved our Christmas, at his own expense. When he tried to get them out of harm's way, the house collapsed on him. And he did everything he could to protect them." Everyone looked at each other, wondering if they were talking about the same rude, arrogant Saiyan.

"Lets go inside and have lunch."Chi-chi said. She thought it was strange that she had suggested food before any of the 3 Saiyans. They all nodded and went inside to join Bulma.

Lunch was quiet, nobody seemed too hungry. Goku barely made it past thirds and the two children picked at their food. Bulma and Chi-chi ate lightly as well.

After lunch, Bulma showed Goku and Chi-chi to their room. Trunks said he'd share his room with Goten.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

The next day and a half went by as normal. Goku continued his snowy assault on the boys, when he wasn't eating, that is. Bulma was glad. She was the richest woman in the world. Instead of feeding one Saiyan, two half-Saiyans, and one human, she now fed a much-hungrier Saiyan, three half-Saiyans and two humans. And, as usual, Chi-chi insisted on cooking for them all.

She and Bulma had more time to talk and pamper Bra. But Bulma did spend more time in the infirmary. For hours on end, she silently sat and gazed at Vegeta's scowling face. She still found it hard to believe that this cruel, arrogant person had shown such compassion toward the family that he despised so much. Would he be any different after he recovered? Only time would tell. Yet nothing could prepare them for what surprise awaited them on Christmas morning.

Considering the circumstances, everything was normal. Goku, Goten, and Trunks woke up at 5:30 AM to open the presents. Bulma and Chi-chi woke up shortly after, due to the loud screams of joy.

"They forget so quickly the bad things. To them, it's just a bad dream that they expect to wake up from any minute. If only I could forget so fast...."

After breakfast, she made her way down to the infirmary to check on Vegeta. As the door opened, she received a huge shock. The chamber was empty. Bulma panicked. She ran upstairs.

"Everybody, quick! Vegeta's gone!"

Goku and the others looked up in shock.

"How?"

"I don't know, he was there a few hours ago. Just please, help me find him!"

They all nodded and left for the search. Bulma and Chi-chi left to search the city. Trunks and Goten went to go see if Gohan or Piccolo had seen him. Goku searched the forest.

Two hours later, Goten, Trunks, Chi-chi, and Bulma reconvened back at Capsule Corporation.

"Anyone see him? Me and Goten didn't have any luck."

"We didn't either. For someone who was so badly injured a few days ago, he sure did recover fast."

"Saiyan healing factor. They heal three times as fast as we do. They also grow stronger after recovering from a near-fatal injury.

*sigh* Knowing Vegeta, he's probably off testing his new power."

"Some people never change." Chi-chi agreed.

"I hate to interupt, but where's Dad? Wasn't he supposed to check the woods?"

"Yeah, where is Goku, Anyway?"

"I guess he might've found something. Trunks, can you lock on to his ki?"

At saying that, Bulma slapped her forehead. "Of course! I'll bet Goku locked on to Vegeta's ki and found him.Why didn't I think of that?!"

Trunks scanned the direction of the forest. "I found him! That way!"

Trunks and Goten leapt into the air while Bulma and Chi-chi jumped into the Capsule Car and followed the two boys over the woods.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Goku flew over the woods towards Vegeta's ki signature. It was considerably higher than the last time they sparred, but Vegeta wasn't fully powered up. In fact, it seemed as if he wasn't training at all. Goku wondered what he was doing. If it wasn't training, what was it? Then he came to a huge clearing. There were stumps everywhere. It looked like a task that would take a large team of lumberjacks a few months to complete. Or take a Saiyan a few minutes. Goku's curiosity grew as he flew over the clearing. Then he saw it. Right where his old house was, in the middle of the clearing, a huge stack of wooden planks. Next to it was Vegeta, dressed in his blue workout suit, his usual white gloves and boots, and with the addition of a brown tool belt. On his other side was the wooden frame of a building, which he was working on. Goku smiled. Vegeta was working
at a pace that would put Bob Villa to shame. He decided to fly in for a closer look. Surprisingly, it looked a lot like the old house he himself had built so many years ago.

"You know, Vegeta, you don't have to do this."

Vegeta looked up from his task, surprised at not having noticed Goku when he had arrived. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that we can use the dragonballs to restore it. You don't have to go through all this trouble."

Vegeta looked back down to his work and continued hammering. "Yes, I do."

"Why? It's-"

"It's my fault. When I was training, a stray big bang hit the house and it caught on fire. I burnt it down, now I'm going to fix it."

"But Vegeta, if it was a ki blast, why didn't it catch fire to the trees? Not to mention the fact that the house would've blown up instead of burning down. You don't have to take the blame for an accident."

"Kakkarot, sometimes you amaze me."

"Likewise. Oh, and.... if you don't mind.............can I help?"

Vegeta stared up at Goku, who was displaying his favorite grin. He let out a long sigh.
"Hmph.................do as you please."

"Thanks Vegeta."

"Thank me after we put this shack together." Vegeta handed him a spare tool belt and they went to work.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

"Trunks, how bad do you think it is?" Goten said, pain and curiosity mingling in his voice.

"From what Mom said, it was pretty bad. But, hey, don't worry. You guys are welcome at Capsule Corporation until the dragon balls recharge."

Goten suddenly face vaulted, stopping dead in his tracks. "Uh..........Trunks?"

"Yeah?"

"About those dragon balls. I don't think we're gonna need 'em."

"Huh? Whadda ya mean?"

"Look."

Goten pointed to the clearing ahead. Trunks turned around and looked ahead. What he saw stopped him in his tracks , as well as the hover car behind them.

"Vegeta's been busy..........." Chi-chi said in awe as she and her friend stared at the clearing. The car landed and the two boys flew in for a closer look.

"Hey, Goten, your dad's here, too."

The two adult Saiyans were too busy to notice the arrival of the others. Instead, they continued to work feverishly on the task at hand. Trunks and Goten stood together in front of the massive structure. Meanwhile, the car landed a few meters behind them. Chi-chi, along with Bulma, (who still had Bra with her) stepped out of the car and stood by their sons, marveling at the speed and craftsmanship of both the Saiyan carpenters.

"I didn't know Vegeta could do that...." Bulma said as she attempted to keep track of her husband's movements.

"Yeah..........really......." Chi-chi echoed.

Vegeta stopped in midair to wipe the sweat from his brow. It wasn't until then that he noticed his small group of admirers. Goku flew up to him, wondering why he stopped. Vegeta didn't need to say anything. Goku looked at him blankly, then followed Vegeta's gaze. He, too, saw their families standing in front of their formerly-secret project.

"Bust-ed........" was all Goku could manage.

"Well............?" Bulma said, still looking at the house.

"Well what?" Vegeta answered after a long pause.

Bulma shifted the focus of her gaze from the house to her husband. And smiled.
"Well....are you going to just float there like a dummy, or are you going to invite us to help?"

Vegeta smirked slyly.

"I'll tell you like I told Kakkarot. Just do as you please."

Bulma returned the smirk. "OK. I will."

"There are spare tools over there, if you need them" Vegeta said as he returned to the task at hand. Bulma laughed softly to herself and gave Bra to Chi-chi, who had volunteered to look after her. Then Trunks, Goten, and Bulma picked up some tools and went to work.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

After sundown, the crew returned to Capsule Corporation for a nice, large supper, courtesy of Chi-chi. After the meal, everyone went to bed, except for Trunks and Goten, who decided to stay up and watch a Christmas cartoon marathon.

A while later, Vegeta sat awake in bed, unable to sleep. He silently stared up at the ceiling, listening to the cartoons downstairs.

"Can't sleep?" Bulma asked drowsily.

"Huh?"

Bulma quietly laughed to herself and rolled over toward Vegeta, now laying her head on his chest. "You know, Vegeta, I'm proud of you for what you did today."

"For what? Burning down someone's house?"

"No, baka, for protecting those presents and building that house. By the way, Goku said that he read your mind. I know it wasn't you that caused the fire."

Vegeta smirked.

"Don't let that get out. It might ruin my reputation."

Bulma playfully whacked him with her pillow.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"For being so stubborn."

"It's what us Saiyans are best at."

"Just shut up." she said jokingly.

"...................................."

Bulma looked up at his face from her headrest and sighed. "It was a sweet thing to do for Goku and his family. I'm sure they appreciate it."

"They'd better."

"I think it was the best Christmas gift they ever had."

"...................Bulma?"

"Yeah?"

"My Christmas gift was better than Kakkarot's."

"Really? What was that?"

"A stubborn, ugly, loud-mouthed woman with stupid looking hair. But you know what?"

"What?" she said angrily.

"I wouldn't trade her for anything in the galaxy."

"What about the ability to go Super Saiyan level three?"

"I'll have to think about that one."

She smacked him with the pillow again and closed her eyes to go to sleep. The last thing she remembered hearing was the sound of the TV downstairs. It was the voice of the narrator from Dr. Suess's "How The Grinch Stole Christmas." He was saying.........

"..........some people say, the Grinch's heart grew not one, not two,

but three sizes that day..............."

The End