Yaoi Warning: If you are under the age of 18 or are offended by same sex relationships, do not read any further. Just a small warning.

Angel of the Morning By Diane Smith.
"Come on, Vegeta-sama," the voice belonged to Bulma, his wife of nearly 20 years, "We have dinner reservations for eight, you know, and in case you've forgotten, you promised to take Chi-chi and I shopping for Goten and Bra's school clothes before we go."
"Allright," the Saiyajin prince yelled back down the stairs, "I'm coming."

The sky had darkened with clouds by the time they got outside, harbingers of an oncoming storm.
"Are you sure you should let Chi-chi drive in this?" came Vegeta's snide coment. "She isn't exactly the best driver, even in good weather."
"Is my Ouji afraid of a woman's driving?" Bulma teased.
"Not every woman's driving, just Chi-chi's."

Chi-chi pulled up, for once smiling. "Hello, Bulma," she greeted her friend. "are we ready to go?"
"Of course,' Bulma smiled back.

They arrived at the mall. Vegeta growled under his breath as his 7 year old daughter dragged him into every clothing store she saw. Of course, getting the clothes took forever, as Bra would find something she liked and Bulma would say that the skirts were too short or the shirts were cut too low in the front. But, finally, Bra managed to find a small wardrobe that Bulma approved of.
"Let's go," Vegeta grumbled impatiently, "We have to drop the brats off before we go, you know." They stepped into the aircar, Bulma sensing a tenseness in her mate which had become unusual.
"What is it?"
"I don't know," he answered honestly. "I just feel like somethig bad is about to happen, but I just can't put my finger on it."
"I'm sure things will be fine," Bulma reassured him as Chi-chi pulled out.

About fifteen minutes later, halfway back to Chi-chi's, Goku's wife screamed in panic. A large vehicle full of vegetables crossed the yellow line, right into their path.
"Chi-chi," Bulma screamed, "look out!"
The last thing Vegeta remembered before the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him was the metallic tearing sound caused by the roof being sheared off of Chi-chi's aircar and Bra's terrified scream just before the roof silenced she and Bulma forever. Then, he heard voices, unfamiliar voices, speaking in hushed tones of concern. All but two.
"Krillen?" the question was a low moan, but understandable nonetheless.
"I think he's coming around," he heard the bald little ex-monk tell the doctors. "You had me and Goku worried half to death for a while there," Krillen told him.
"What happened," was the only question he could think to ask.

Krillen's face went pale with concern. "There was an accident. Chi-chi's aircar was hit by a produce truck. You've been comatose for nearly a week."
"And Bulma?" Vegeta's eyes were bleak, almost as if he knew before Krillen answered.
"I'm so sorry," Krillen gulped, "you were the only survivor."

A cry of utter bleak sorrow rended the air of the room. Vegeta, normally so cocksure and strong, had had the scream wrenched from him by the shock of news he'd not been prepared for. "Where's Kakkorot?"
"Outside talking to Trunks. Your son has been beside himself for the past week. Grieving for his mother, and worrying about you. For the first couple of days, it looked like you weren't gonna make it, either."
"Me not make it? Why?" Krillen gulped again. "You don't know how Chi-chi, Bulma and Bra died, do you? The roof caved in and was ripped off. Bulma and Bra were decapitated. Chi-chi's head was crushed. If the rescue workers hadn't gotten there when they did, the weight of the roof would have either crushed your skull as well, or broken your neck. You were very, very lucky."
"I would consider myself luckier had I died with them." He groaned. "Oh, my head."
Goku walked in. Vegeta could tell that Chi-chi's death had been hard on the younger warrior by the absence of his almost-constant smile and the dark smudges under his eyes that indicated a severe lack of sleep.
"How's Trunks?" Vegeta's first concern, as it had been for twenty years, was his family.
"Taking it pretty hard. I'm sorry you got hurt, too and had to miss the funeral. Funerals are a way to get past the urge you feel to deny it, you know? It's hard enough for me, losing Chi-Chi and Bulma like that, even with the service. I can't even imagine how it must be for you."
"I don't need any sympathy, Kakkarot," he snarled, "especially not yours."
"Come on, Vegeta, let's just cut through all the bullshit," Goku took a tack he never had with Vegeta before, but one he felt he had to. If he didn't come from a position of strength, he knew the prince would never listen to what he had to say. "I know you're hurting, even if you won't admit it. I mean, shimatta, man, you watched your wife and daughter get their heads torn off, then nearly died yourself. Anyone would be hurting if that happened to them. So don't try to act all 'tough guy' with me. I know you better than that."

Vegeta's face registered shock for a moment, then the anguish washed over him. "Temme, it was the worst thing I'd ever witnessed in my life. I remember before I passed out Bulma's head, lying in my lap. Those eyes, the blue eyes I'd always thought were so beautiful, even before we destroyed Frieza, were all glassy and lifeless." He shivered.

"I'm sorry, but you have to remember it, all of it, and get past it, or you're never gonna heal."
"How did you get so smart?"
"I watched Grandpa Gohan die years ago. Once you've learned how grief tastes, you never forget its flavor."

Vegeta's hands shook as everything came flooding back. "Kakkarot. . .I. . ." He trailed off, unable to articulate what it was that he wanted to say.
Goku smiled sadly. "I know what you're trying to say, Ouji. And I understand. It's gonna take us *all* some time to adjust to what's happened. You don't have to just leap right back into your life. I'll help you with Trunks until you feel like you're up to taking things on by yourself."
"You don't understand!" Vegeta shouted. "It was too soon! It should have been me, Dammit. I've lived, tasted of every fruit life has to offer. Bulma had barely tasted life! And Bra! By Kami, she was just a baby! Only seven. It's not fair!!!!!" His head sank down as he gathered his kness against his chest. "It's not fair." he repeated, his throat catching on a sob as he spoke. "W-what am I s-suppose to t-tell her m-mother and f-father?" He looked up at Goku, dark eyes swimming. "T-they loved h-her. K-kami, what am I going to d-do without them?"
"We're going to gather the dragonballs, and though we can't wish Chi-chi or Bulma back because they've already been wished back with them once, I can bring Bra back for you."
"You would do that?" Vegeta's voice filled with renewed hope. "After all i've done to you?"
"You saved my world, Vegeta," Goku smiled again, gently this time, "and made it your own. I owe you that, and much more." He set a hand on the older Saiyajin's shoulder. "We'll make it through this, I promise. We'll do it together."

Vegeta tilted his head up a bit to peer into the dark eyes of the Saiyajin warrior whose hand rested on his shoulder. There was somthing in those eyes, not something definate, but that something was there nonetheless. It was indefinable, this thing he saw in Kakkarot's eyes.
Goku, sensing that Vegeta was staring at him with an almost wide-eyed expression, blushed and averted his gaze.
WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE? the Saiyajin No Ouji asked himself. THIS TENSION BETWEEN KAKKARROT AND I IS SIMILER TO THE WAY BULMA AND I WERE BEFORE TRUNKS WAS CONCEIVED, BUT IT'S DIFFERENT, SOMEHOW. WHAT IS IT? WHY IS IT THAT HIS TOUCH SHOULD FEEL SIMILAR TO MY BULMA'S, YET SO DIFFERENT? AND WHY IS IT THAT, AS DIFFICULT AS IT IS TO ADMIT, I FIND MYSELF WANTING THAT TOUCH MORE? But instead of saying these things, Vegeta turned away. "Please, just go," the words were spoken quickly, but without the usual heat.
"Okay," Goku's smile became sad again, "but if you need me, you know where to find me."

"Goku?" Trunks asked quietly. "what's going on between you and Otousan? I sense it, but I don't understand it."
Goku sighed. "I don't think he or I do, either, Trunks. It's just, well, wierd all of the sudden between your dad and I. I know your mom dying hurt him. Hell, Chi-chi dying nearly tore me apart. But he lost Bra, too, and she was just as much a centering point in his life as your mother was. So now he's grasping at straws."
Trunks sighed, too. "I want to help Dad, but I don't know how anymore. Mom could always get around him with just a look or a touch. I wish I understood how she managed it." A sudden beeping noise diverted their attention from the conversation. "Kuso," Trunks swore, "that's coming from Dad's room!"

Goku beat out Trunks to the room's doorway. Doctors and nurses were packed so tightly into the room and around Vegeta's bed that there was no chance of even Goku's Saiyjin strength clearing a path. One of the nurses saw the two standing there and ushered them out.
"What's going on in there?" Trunks demanded, "Shimatta, Tell me! That's my father in there, the only family I have left. Tell me!" His need to know what was going on was so urgent that he shook the nurse hard enough to knock her brown hair out of its tightly braided coil.
"Your father's heart stopped, we're not sure why. Doctor Toma thinks it's a previously undiscovered closed-head injury."
Dr Toma, a greying oriental woman in her middle forties, exited the room. "I am so sorry."
Goku squeezed into the space the doctor had previously been in. He took Vegeta's still hand in his as the nurses prepared to draw the sheet over his head. "Don't you dare die!" he shouted. "Dammit, Vegeta, your son has no one else in this universe besides you now. He needs you." Goku choked back a sob as the threat of losing Vegeta crystallized all he'd sensed in the previous few days. "Temme, Vegeta, Trunks needs you! but most of all," and the last was whispered, right into the prince's ear, "I need you."

The silence in the room was suddenly shattered by the sound of a gasping, ragged breath, the heart monitor stopping its shrill screech as the Saiyajin no Ouji fought and clawed his way back towards life, settling into a steady, reassuring beep.
"He will probably remain unconscious for several days," Toma told them, "meanwhile, I will order some X-rays, just to rule out a head injury that we may have overlooked."
Goku's entire body shook with aftermath, but the nod was discernable. PLEASE, he begged mentally, SHOW ALL OF US JUST HOW STRONG THE PRINCE OF SAIYAJINS IS BY COMING BACK TO ME.

Goku did not move from the prince's side for two days, not even to eat. Trunks would bring him sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria, which he would absent-mindedly eat half of, then throw the rest away.
A groan echoed in the still room as Vegeta clawed his way back towards awareness as he had clawed his way back towards life. His eyes flickered open, though only for a few seconds. But Goku would later swear that the smile all who knew that Saiyajin prince knew so well, the cocksure grin of one who knows he will not be beaten, was still on his face when the darkness claimed him once more.
"Dr. Toma!" Goku yelled, "Come quick." The little oriental woman bustled into the room. "He woke up. It was only for a few seconds, but I thought you should know."
She smiled. "Thank you." she moved around the figure in the bed in the same bustling manner. "His vitals are much stronger than yesterday's. It's a miracle that your friend has survived all that he has been through. I wish I knew how, so I could bottle it and use it as medicine for all my critically-ill patients."
"Don't underestimate the power of a Saiyajin warrior," Goku smiled through the tears of strain and worry, "especially not *that* Saiyajin warrior." KNOWING HE'S STILL NEEDED HERE, HELPS, TOO, Goku thought, THOUGH HE'D NEVER ADMIT IT.

Another day passed, and Vegeta stirred once more. But this time he stayed conscious. "Kakkarot. . ." his voice was a bare whisper, but Goku still heard the calling out of his Saiyajin name. "what happened?"
"Your brain swelled up inside your skull because of a burst blood vessel. The doctors drained off the fluid and fixed the vessels. You almost died, anyway. Shimatta, Vegeta, you scared me half to death. Your heart stopped, and they were about to pull the sheet up over you when you started breathing again. Do you remember anything at all?"
"All I remember is you telling me you needed me. When I heard that, I knew I couldn't die, if only because I had to disabuse you of that notion." Vegeta smiled again, the grin holding a teasing element to it. Then, the smile fled as the confusing feelings snared both of them again.
Goku decided to be the first to act on what he felt, as he had a feeling it would be the only time he *ever* got to act on anything first again. He seized Vegeta's mouth with his own, claiming it, and him.
Strangely, Vegeta did not feel he urge to push the third-class away. Instead, he wanted to get even *closer*.
COME ON, VEGETA, OPEN UP TO ME. He swept the prince's sealed lips with his tounge; once, twice; then, as the luscious lips parted just a little, shoved it all the way in.
For Vegeta, the need sweeping over him as the tongue invaded his mouth and joined with his was overwhelming, like a fire in his blood.
"Whoa," Goku whispered as he felt Vegeta begin to pant softly, "I think we should take this slowly. You may not be physically up to this yet. I wouldn't want to be the one responsible for your dying."

"But, oh, what a glorious death it would be," he got out between harsh breaths, "I would most certainly die with a smile on my face."
Goku grinned. "I know you would. Come on, let's get you tucked back into bed with some lunch. Corrine's supposed to be bringing some senzu beans later today, so we won't have to wait too long for desert." and he licked his lips.
"I'm looking forward to it."

Goku watched over Vegeta as he slept, a tender smile gracing his face. I'M TO BE HIS *LOVER*, the wonder of it sent chills through him, IF SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME FIVE YEARS AGO THAT THIS WAS TO HAPPEN, I'D HAVE THOUGHT THEM MAD. TRUNKS AND GOHAN ARE GOING TO THINK *ME* MAD WHEN THEY FIND OUT. BUT, THEN AGAIN, TRUNKS IS HIGHLY PROTECTIVE OF HIS FATHER, AND GOHAN TENDS TO BE LESS THAN FORGIVING.
"Hello, Goku," Corrin looked like nothing so much as an oversized white housecat. He was, but he was not by any means your average feline, "I've brought the senzu beans you requested."
"Shh," Goku whispered, "he's sleeping."
Corrin smiled. "I see," he said. In sleep, Vegeta lost the arrogant manner with which he normally protected himself from the universe's harsher realities. Peace settled over his features, making him seem almost angelic. Almost beautiful. "Huh?" Goku asked as he dimly heard Corrin say something to him. "I'm sorry, Corrin, I seem to be a bit distracted."
"I think you're falling in love with him, Goku. Be careful. If you fall too hard, you may get hurt."
"I will, I promise."

Vegeta's sleep was not restful. In fact, he was caught in the grip of a nightmare so vivid it seemed as if it were real. In it, images of his father were mixed in with memmories, still too fresh, of the day Bulma had died. He awakened with a start, cold sweat pouring off his body as he sat bolt-upright in the bed. KUSO, WHAT A NIGHTMARE. MY HEART'S BEATING LIKE A RABBIT'S.
Goku heard the other man's heavy breathing and awakened fully. "You allright, Vegeta?"
"NO," he admitted, too shaken to remember who and what he was. "I had a whopper of a nightmare." He shivered as details of the dream became clearer. "It was a mix of some stuff about my father and the day Bulma died."
"Oh, here. Corrin brought the senzu beans. Catch." Vegeta missed the bag by about a quarter of an inch. "You missed that? That dream must *really* have shaken you up." Goku retrieved the beans and handed him one, feeling the shaking in the hands as he closed the fingers around the vital little seed. "Hey, you're trembling. Allright, confession time. After you swallow that bean. I don't want you to end up having a heart attack on me because your body couldn't take the strain of being emotionally overwrought."
As soon as the seed had gone down, Vegeta catalouged for Goku every abuse he'd suffered at the hands of his father. Except one.
"Damn," Goku's face contorted with the typical Saiyajin scowl. "If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him."
"That's not all, is it?" Goku's face set into stubborn lines."He did more than physically abuse you, admit it."
Vegeta nodded wordlessly, hoping Goku would question no further.

Goku, of course, did question further, as Vegeta had known he would. "Please, Kakkarot," his voice held an element of desperation, "I can't tell you."
Suddenly, it struck Goku. Physical and emotional abuse were common on Vegetasai among those children raised there, mostly because Saiyajin parents had no healthy examples of what a *real* chld-parent relationship should be. But there had been another custom on Vegetasai, one it turned Goku's stomach to even contemplate. They called it 'conditioning the warrior', making them hate touch and giving them no outlet for their passions but the fight. But it was sexual abuse, plain and simple. "You were 'conditioned', too."
An ironic smile lifted the corners of Vegeta's mouth. "It was uncommon to be conditioned by the king. They said I should feel honored."
"It's not an honor." Goku shivered. "I was lucky to be sent away. Grandpa Gohan was good to me, a lot better than my real parents would have been."
BETTER THAN MINE WERE, the thought echoed in Vegeta's mind, unspoken.
"Come on," Goku laid a gentle hand on his arm, "we can talk more about this at home."

The nurses did not argue when Vegeta walked out of the room and signed himself out. They'd been through this with Goku, and knew arguement was useless against these Saiyajin men.
They ended up at Goku's cabin, neither one of them quite sure where they were goning to end up when they'd started out.
Goku lead him into the bedroom he and Chi-chi had shared, sitting the shorter man down.
Vegeta did not weep, which did not surprise Goku too much. Tears were so alien to the Saiyajin race that one would gave to be in severe physical or emotional straits to shed them.
And the Saiyjin no Ouji, despite all he had endured, was not in that bad a shape now. Kakkarot was here, willing to try and understand, and that wsa all that mattered. SO SUDDEN, he thought, THIS SWIFT CHANGE IN MY FEELINGS TOWARD KAKKAROT. SCARY, A BIT, BUT WONDERFUL, TOO. HOW COULD I HAVE EVER KNOWN HE'D BE THIS PERCEPTIVE? He let himself be drawn down into the shelter of Goku's waiting arms.
The third-class warrior reached over and turned on the radio. Chi-chi's favorite, a country-western station, played softly. The lyrics of the song were so perfect.
***If I had to run, if I had to crawl. If I had to swim a hundred rivers, just to climb a thousand walls. Always know that I would find a way to get to where you are.There's no place that far. Baby, there's no place that far.***
Goku sang it into his skin, every touch, every kiss a cleansing, the song a vow stronger and more binding than any ever sworn.
It was then that he wept, the tears, too, cleansing him of all that had gone before, healing without a trace the scars his father had left on his soul in a way even Bulma had been unable to do.

***Kakkarot, I. . . *** This time the cry was mental.
*** sh, Love, everything is going to be allright.***
The joining was glorious, just as Vegeta had predicted it would be. But it was Goku who took control, Goku who patiently made sure his lover was ready. Vegeta made a soft and contented sound in his throat as his new lover slid himself to the hilt into him. This was not abuse, as it had been with his father. No, instead it was a testemant to Kakkrot's love for him. That made the experience all that much more earth-shattering, the sensations all that much sharper.

Goku moved gently at first, watching Vegeta's face carefully for any sign of fear or distress. Seeing none, he let the passion take them where it would.
A tide rose in Vegeta's blood, flooding through his entire body. He wanted more of this, more of the gentleness that Kakkarot was the only one to show him, the sweetness that so much a part of the other's nature. Then, the river overflowed its banks, causing him to cry out with a pleasure so intense he passed out from the force of it.
Goku called out his name in concern at first, then heard the steady, rythmic breathing of his partner. "That good, huh?" Goku smiled. "We'll have to do that again when you're stronger."

Vegeta woke the next morning to find Goku still spooned around him. For the first time he could remember, he felt truly safe. He knew it wouldn't last long, as he and Goku still had to tell their children what had happened. Goten would probably take it in stride, he suspected, simply because that was the younger Son's way. Gohan, however, was another matter.
Goku mumbled in his sleep for a moment, then awakened himself. "You feeling better this morning, Vegeta-sama?"
Vegeta grinned. "I haven't slept that well in years." The grin faded. "But I'm not looking forward to telling Gohan, Trunks, and Goten of the new developements."
"I know," Goku ducked his head. "Goten won't mind, I know that. In fact, he'll probably think it's cool, me and his best friend's dad being together. It's Gohan I'm worried about. He's gonna flip when we tell him."
"Before or after he tells you you're crazy?" Vegeta pulled Goku back down next to him. "Let's worry about that later, Kakkarot, okay? For now, I just want to enjoy a few momments away fom the rest of the world."
Goku's mouth lifted at the corners in a teasing smile. "So, we're feeling frisky this morning, are we?"
"You remember that other song we heard last night? Not the one while we were making love, but the one that was playing just as I was fallng asleep later on, after I came to. There's a line that fits the way I feel right now. 'Trembling hands,or nerves of steel, Someone tell me what to feel'. I don't really understand this. It happened so fast, and I'm not quite sure what to make of it."
"I know," Goku sighed, "but we'll figure it out."

Goten, as Vegeta had predicted, took the news with great equanimity, merely shrugging his shoulders after Goku recounted the events that had transpired over the past several weeks.

Gohan, however, was another matter entirely. "What?" Gohan's mouth dropped when Goku told him. "Tousan, are you nuts!? Kaasan's body is barely cold, and you've been fucking Vegeta. Kaasan always said you were an airhead, but I never realized until now how right she was. I mean, why him? He tried to KILL you not so many years ago, for Kami's sake."
Goku's mouth thinned into a grimly determined line. "I do believe, Gohan, that that is for Vegeta and I to decide, not you."
Vegeta, face set in a shocked, stone-like pose, turned and stormed out. Goku turned to his son with an expression that clearly said "now look what you've done" and called, "Vegeta, wait!"
Vegeta was sitting against a tree at the edge of the small clearing on the borders of the Son property when Goku finally found him, his head in his hands, his elbows propped against his knees. It was the most dejected posture the Earth-raised Saiyajin had ever seen him assume.
"Kami," Goku said, "the nerve of that guy. I almost can't believe that's the same child Chi-chi and I raised. I'm going to have a stern talk with Gohan when I get back, you can be sure of that."
"Maybe he's right," Vegeta's voice was muffled as it floated up from behind his raised knees, "Maybe we're both insane for thinking a relationship between us would ever work."
"No!" Goku's tone as he replied was fierce. "I can't believe that, and I won't let you believe it, either." He lifted Vegeta's head from its perch on his knees, gently cupping the prince's chin in the palm of his hand and peering deep into those worried and weary obsidian eyes. "Listen, things will get better, wait and see. It's just going to take time for Gohan to adjust to what's happened, that's all. I mean, he was fiercely attached to his mother. It wouldn't matter if it was PICCILO's brains I were screwing out."
Vegeta looked up at Goku sadly. "It does matter, Kakkarot, and you and I both know it. That half-Saiyajin brat of yours has hated me since he was 6 years old. With good reason, assuredly, but all that is water under the bridge. I have forgiven him the way he feels about me long ago. I just want to go on and live my life as well as I am able. But he won't let me do that if you just happen to be part of that life. I love you, Kakkarot, but I couldn't bear it if my being with you tore apart your family. I almost made that mistake once with Bulma. I won't do it again."
"I'll talk to him, Vegeta, just have a little more patience."
"No," the voice was soft, high in pitch and as airy as a hummingbird's wing-feathers. "I will talk to him. He is, after all, my husband and the father of my daughter. I am glad that you and Vegeta have settled your differences, Esteemed Father. It was so sad for me, watching two who should by rights be great friends fighting." With that, Videl Son, wife of Son Gohan and mother of Son Pan, strode back inside.
"She is a wonderful woman, isn't she?" Goku smiled, "It's hard to believe Mr. Satan is her father. They are so different."
Vegeta returned the smile with one that was shaky, but held much relief. If Videl was going to talk to Gohan, things were likely to be settled quickly.Then, his face fell. They had to tell Trunks yet.
"Kuso," he swore, "what am I going to do? We haven't told Trunks yet. How am I going to do this? BULMA always handled this sort of thing. I don't know what to tell him, Kakkarot, about what I feel about you. I do know what his reaction will be, though. One much like Gohan's. He'll ask me if I'm crazy, then if I know what I'm getting myself into. Which, of course, I am not. and I do know. I, Vegeta, am not someone who walks into ANYTHING blind, as both of our offspring should know quite well by now."
"I love you, Vegeta, and I'm not going to let you go. Gohan and Trunks both are just going to have to learn to deal with it." He cupped the other man's face gently. "It will work out, I promise you."
It was the first time Vegeta had heard such a determined tone to Kakkarot's voice without someone having pissed the Super Saiyajin off. Kakkarot's easy-going nature was one of his most endearing, if sometimes annoying, traits. The other trait of the younger Saiyajin that Vegeta loved and needed desperatly was the other man's steadiness and loyalty. Bardock's son was one you KNEW you could lean on, for he would never let go until you were strong enough to stand on your own. That was something Vegeta needed at this time, which was shaping up to be the most emotionally confusing and tumultous times of his life.
Goku lent a hand to Vegeta and helped him to his feet. "I won't let anythng happen to you, I promise." He slung his arm over the other's shoulder in a gesture of affection. One which, to his surprise, the other returned. So they walked back inside, Arm-in-arm.