Vegeta\'s Romance

Discailmer: Don\'t own dbz and never will



Vegeta clutches his stomach, trying to slow the blood pouring out of him. Nappa\'s anger turns into nervousness. Sweat covers Vegeta\'s face and he starts to turn pale. He struggles to pretend the wound is nothing. \"I shouldn\'t have gone so easy on you Nappa!\" Vegeta doesn\'t wait for a reply. He goes to his spacepod and speeds back to Freiza\'s ship. His life force is slipping away. -Interesting feeling.... But I must focus on getting to a rejuvenation chamber.- Nappa follows, stupidly convinced that Vegeta\'s wound isn\'t serious. Vegeta\'s plan is to step out in front of death. A Saiyan\'s power level will rise dramatically the closer he gets to death - as long as he gets back. Vegeta manages to get into the chamber. It closes on him and he falls into a healing sleep. Later on when Stephanie awakens she trys to sense Vegeta\'s energy. Stephanie feels a powerful ki of 12 000 on the ship.

Not as strong as Freiza, but too strong for Vegeta - or so she thought. But it must be Vegeta. Stephanie contemplates going to find him. She decides against it. Instead she sits in front of a computer, staring at random planet information, and sulk. It doesn\'t take long for Vegeta to make a full recovery. When he emerges from the chamber, Raditz is waiting for him. \"What do you want?\" Says Vegeta callously. \"It\'s about the girl. She\'s young and immature. I don\'t think we should allow her to get much stronger. Nappa and myself have been your faithful servants since your birth, my Prince, but I suspect that she does not share the same sense of loyalty to you!\" Vegeta waves Raditz off. \"Nonsense. She is my mate. She is loyal to me.\"

The tone of Raditz\'s voice changes as he tries to convince Vegeta otherwise. \"She will betray you! She has already asked me to share her bed in your place while you are away!\" Vegeta snaps and backfists Raditz in the jaw. \"Don\'t tell lies about her you Bastard! You\'re a coward. If you want her you should fight for her like a man.\" Vegeta smirks at Raditz mockingly, his raised power level in mind. \"But you wouldn\'t stand a chance.\" \"Do you really expect me to believe you Raditz? I see how you look at her, and I can tell you she wouldn\'t even bother to look back.\" Raditz\'s temper flares, and he taunts Vegeta: \"She was your first, wasn\'t she? So you think she\'s special? Well you know nothing! I\'ve been with many women who were probably better than her.\" Vegeta\'s face twinges with disgust.

\"That\'s enough. Stephanie is mine. This is your only warning: If you dare to touch her I will kill you.\" The last words leave an icy silence in the room. Raditz is left alone. Vegeta laughs as he walks down the hall. -What an idiot. I\'m surprised how much men become effected by women. But Raditz poses no threat to me. It would be too easy to kill him. Stephanie will probably do that anyway if he annoys her.- He goes to train for a while, revelling in his new power. Testing it on the next mission will be fun, and when the Ginyu force comes to play they will find Vegeta a much more formidable warrior. It\'s late when Vegeta finishes his training. Soon he will have to tell Stephanie about his plan of escape, but not tonight. He trusts her because she\'s open to him and he can read her easily. Slowly he has come to realize it could be hard for Stephanie to trust him in return. She\'s never had anyone to trust. Vegeta finds Stephanie in her room.

He sits by her bed and watches her sleep. Stephanie\'s peaceful face is illuminated in the dim light. The sight of her, safe from impending harm lulls his usual surliness. Vegeta gets into bed beside Stephanie, and she wakes up. \"Mn... Vegeta?\" Stephanie rolls onto her side and faces him. Vegeta kisses her lips, just once, then picks up the covers to see if she\'s wearing anything. Stephanie blushes and laughs. \"Oh-ho, is that why you\'re here?\" Vegeta moves closer, taking Stephanie in his arms. She feels his warmth surround her. \"Can\'t I come here for other reasons than just /that/?\" Vegeta said.

\"Maybe... Did you miss me?\" Stephanie asks cutely, but she\'s not really sure if he did. He pulls her head to his chest. \"I always miss you when I\'m away from you.\" Few words seem appropriate in the moment. It would be a bad idea to shower the Prince with verbal affection since his own is so rare, but Stephanie longs for confirmation of his feelings. The silence is cut short when Vegeta peeks down the covers again. \"How convenient for me that the last surviving Saiyan woman is so young and attractive.\" Stephanie laughs again.

\"So is that why you\'re with me? I\'m the last Saiyan woman.\" His reply is quick, but difficult. \"I love you. No reason is more important than that.\" His eyes focus in another direction so he doesn\'t have to see her surprised expression. \"Don\'t look at me like that, woman! Those words aren\'t thrown around lightly.\" Stephanie squeezes him and sighs heavily. \"I love you too...\" She whispers and pulls herself to him tighter. For a long time she lays with him, warm and silent before they both fall asleep.

Stephanie wakes up perpendicular to Vegeta; the covers are strewn on the floor. She sits up and yawns, stretching her arms. Vegeta stirs and opens an eye. He looks groggy. \"You move around a lot when you sleep Stephanie...\" He says. She smiles apologetically. \"Sorry... I didn\'t know. Is that why you haven\'t spent the night with me since that first time?\" Vegeta sits up and rubs his forehead, obviously fatigued from lack of sleep. \"The fist time you were too tired to move around anymore.\" He smirks. \"I don\'t usually stay with you because I don\'t want to wake you up when I go to train.\" Vegeta doesn\'t mention that she talked in her sleep.
He knows what has been disturbing Stephanie is the dreams, but at the moment there is nothing that can be done about it. The Saiyans are scheduled to go to a new planet today, so Stephanie decided to get dressed and start early. Vegeta grabs her hand before she leaves the bed. \"Wait. I have to talk to you.\" Considering that Vegeta took long enough to tell Stephanie his plan, he is rather direct. \"When you conceive my child we are leaving Freiza\'s ship. I will destroy Freiza someday, but while I train to do so you\'re coming with me - so don\'t argue.\" It annoys Stephanie that Vegeta has decided her future without consulting her.

She\'d like nothing better than to discontinue her job as Freiza\'s henchwoman and live with Vegeta, but she\'s not happy about being told what to do. -Is being his mate like belonging to him?- Stephanie wonders. She\'ve never known another life, so Stephanie is scared at the thought of it. And she knows she won\'t benefit from it if she doesn\'t have Vegeta\'s respect. Again, the reality of her situation hits her. Vegeta is nearly 10 years older than her, now 6 times more powerful. Stephanie\'s always been weak compared to him. At first she refused him, but now Stephanie\'s given into him.

How can he possibly respect her? Bored by her silence and seriousness, Vegeta leaves the room. Stephanie\'s mind wanders beyond Vegeta. Pride and rebellion surface within her. - a Saiyan Warrior, have known nothing but a life or servitude to Freiza. This life Stephanie lives is not about love. Even though she is stronger than Nappa and Raditz, Stephanie has always been an inferior. Their ranks are above hers. Raditz respects Stephanie less now that she is Vegeta\'s mate. Freiza and Nappa must as well. Stephanie feels the need to prove herself. She will not lose fate because she has been taken as the Prince\'s mate. That day, Vegeta goes stoic again while fighting. Sure enough, Stephanie notices that Raditz and Nappa are always in her way, \'protecting\' their Prince\'s mate.

As servants of the late King Vegeta, they are interested in protecting a possible Saiyan heir. Raditz too, even though his intentions are conflicted. Stephanie is even more frustrated at the end of the day. Her suspicion is correct. She is looked down upon as a fighter. Everyone knows Stephanie has been distracted lately. She goes to bed early in order to sleep off her depression. That night, the three Saiyan males stay up late, reminiscing about the old days. Freiza is away from the ship. He has gone to meet the Ginyu force early while some of his other henchmen are still on the Ginyu Ship. They contacted him while the four Saiyans were away. It seems that they have run into some difficulties. His absence is a welcome change.

No one likes being in the same vicinity as Freiza all the time. Since their confrontation, Raditz is careful about what he says around Vegeta, who acts the same as always. Animosity exists between them under a compromising front. After talking for some time about life of the Saiyan Planet, Vegeta suggests the possibility of other Saiyans being alive. \"I guess there could still be Saiyans around...\" Says Nappa nostalgically. \"Babies were always being sent away to other planets.\" Vegeta nods. \"Hundreds of thousands could have survived. But the vastness of the universe makes in unlikely for us to find them without a Planet Vegeta to return to. If we could track them somehow... we could rebuild the Saiyan Empire under me.\" Nappa looks interested, but doubtful. \"It would be great if we could. I will do what I can if you decide that is what you want to do, Prince Vegeta. But what about Freiza? Won\'t he just destroy us if we try?\"

\"I will crush him myself in time. He will not employ the Prince of Saiyans forever!\" Vegeta concludes. Raditz keeps his plethora of opinions to himself. The idea of resurrecting the Saiyan Empire appeals to all of them. The males go to bed soon, and forget the prospect of a new Empire while they sleep. In Stephanie\'s dreams, images of the future blur through her. She wakes with a pounding headache. From the state of her sheets she can tell she\'ve been moving again tonight. A chill crawls up Stephanie\'s spine.

Some life force is reaching for her in the dark. Fleeting voices come from all directions and the room is blurred from her vision. An attack is being made on her mind. -I can\'t lose control!- Stephanie screams at herself internally. Whoever is behind this is trying to push her consciousness into a dormant state and shut Stephanie out. Stephanie doesn\'t know what will happen after that, but she\'s not planning on finding out. \'Fuck off...\' Stephanie hisses out loud, clenching her fists. \'Get out of my head!\' Stephanie trys to ignore the pulsating sensations in her temples, concentrating on regaining control. The pain subsides, and Stephanie\'s panic lessens. But anger remains.

This is the furthest her attacker has been able to reach into her mind. -This is it,- Stephanie decides. One way or another I\'m going to beat this. -I will drive the dream-sickness away and prove my strength.- It doesn\'t matter if she\'s someone\'s mate, or if the Mirfans are giving her bad dreams. It\'s time Stephanie will make everyone remember that she\'s one of the most powerful warriors in the universe, and she won\'t be controlled by anyone!