To Win A Royal Heart

by Kami Kaze

chapter 20

Vegeta’s eyes slowly opened to stare at the fuzzy strands of carpet below his cheek. He blinked softly, feeling a continuous soft breeze in his hair and was about to turn to see what it was when his memory decided to come back to him.

"Oh Kami…" He whispered, wincing as a burning pain radiated from his backside. He shifted slightly, making a face as he realized his ass and thighs were covered with sticky wetness, evidence from his and Goku’s lovemaking earlier. Vegeta snorted softly as he let his forehead fall back to the floor, his eyes closing.

"Shit." He muttered, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this situation and leave his pride somewhat intact; his thoughts were disrupted as Goku moaned softly behind him, a strong arm looping itself around his waist and pulling him close to Goku’s soft, warm flesh.

"You awake, Vegeta?" Goku’s soft whisper came, the man’s body shifting lightly to hover over Vegeta’s back, his face lowering to nuzzle into the vertical hair at the back of the prince’s head. Goku felt the other man sigh, his face still pressed to the carpet. "He…he doesn’t regret this, does he?" Goku asked himself, a feeling of dread building inside him.

"Yes, Baka, I’m awake." Came Vegeta’s muffled reply; he still didn’t have the balls to face Goku. But he would have to soon. What confused him was that he didn’t feel half as ashamed...emberassed…as he thought he should. He felt rather good actually, with a strange fuzzy warmth in his chest that had literally leaped at the sound of Goku’s voice. Something he thought he may have felt before, but couldn’t possibly think of anything that would have made him feel that way. As soon as the thought left his mind, memories that he had previously been enlightened of came flooding back to him. His body seemed to relax even more, his eyes opening to stare at the wall a few feet away. Yes. He had felt this before…before Goku had left him in the past. He had loved the man…."I still do love him. How could I not?" A frown passed over his features quickly.

"But…that wasn’t me! It was, but it wasn’t. Oh hell! That baka has fucked everything up!" He fumed slightly, but found that he couldn’t be mad at the taller man, who was probably now worried sick that something was wrong with him. The prince snorted and rolled his eyes lightly before pushing himself up from the carpet and turning onto his back. Pain burst through his lower backside, making him gasp lightly in pain.

"Vegeta?" Goku asked worriedly at the man’s soft cry, a painful grimace twisting the handsome prince’s features briefly.

"Do you think having a large cock shoved up my ass repeatedly would make it feel good, baka?" Vegeta growled, his face softening only slightly at Goku’s look of apologetic sorrow. "Baka." He muttered, ruffling Goku’s mane of wayward ebony spikes.

Goku was confused. He wasn’t sure exactly where he stood with Vegeta, and was afraid to ask. So instead, he simply stared dumbly at the man, waiting for him to speak again. Vegeta blinked at him, cocking his head to one side. Suddenly Vegeta burst out laughing, making Goku’s eyes widen with apprehensive surprise.

"Ka..Kakarott….you…have the stupidest facial expressions sometimes!" Vegeta laughed, wiping a stray tear from his eye.

Goku frowned. "Can I help it if you confuse the hell out of me, Vegeta?" Goku growled, rolling away from Vegeta and sitting up. He scowled as his eyes wandered the room in search of his clothing. Vegeta watched Goku closely, amusement shining in his eyes.

"My my…testy, aren’t we?" Vegeta taunted, poking a finger into Goku’s ribcage.

"Knock it off, Vegeta!" Goku muttered, pushing the offending digit away.

Vegeta grinned, sitting up, careful not to put too much pressure on his nether-regions. "Ooh, yes, we are testy. Wake up on the wrong side of the floor?" His voice asked sarcastically. "Hn. You’d think fucking a prince would put you in at least a half decent mood. After all, I was the one who had his ass reamed, and I’m in a pretty decent mood myself. Dispite the annoying GAPS in my MEMORY." Vegeta stressed. The gaps were beginning to annoy him; he figured that he and the younger Vegeta were pretty much integrated with each other now, and that’s why he was actually feeling the gaps - he knew there were memories missing; he just couldn’t seem to dig them up.

He was more than happy to finally feel like one person again, however; strange that it wasn’t until he and Goku had made love that he felt…complete. His eyebrows rose slightly at his silent realization. "Perhaps that was why I felt split in two…our…my…feelings weren’t on the same level because I hadn’t been intimate with him yet. Perhaps…perhaps I WAS jealous of my younger self." He admitted with a frown. He glanced up suddenly to find Goku staring at him. As their eyes met, Goku sighed and lowered his.

"I’m sorry, Vegeta. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I just….I don’t know…." He let his last sentence linger as if he didn’t know what to say.

Vegeta shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Whatever. You’re forgiven, I guess."

Goku blinked. He wasn’t expecting that to come from Vegeta’s mouth. He studied Vegeta for a second, then remembered something he had said a few minutes before. "You still don’t have all the memories, Vegeta?"

"No, Kakarotto, I don’t. There’s huge holes, like there’s things I know should be there, and they aren’t. As a matter of fact…" He paused, thinking. "I’d be willing to bet that I’m still missing at least half the memories." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Let it be known, Kakarotto, that if you EVER mess with my past again, I will kill you."

Goku nodded. "I know…I’m sorry, Vegeta. I had no right…"

"No, you didn’t, baka." Vegeta interrupted, his tone very matter-of-fact. "But you did, and there’s no undoing it."

Goku was silent for a few moments, then his mouth slowly opened to pose a question. "Ouji-sama…would…would you undo it if you could?" He asked softly, liquid eyes rising hesitantly to meet Vegeta’s.

Vegeta melted at Goku’s formal address, but focused on the question. He wanted to scream that of course he’d undo it, but Vegeta knew that wasn’t exactly true. He sighed, frowning. "Kakarotto…I don’t know. I truly don’t."

Goku’s eyes fell and he nodded softly, his shoulders slumping. "All right."

Vegeta continued frowning, his lips pursing somewhat. "For the record, Kakarotto, I don’t regret…making love with you. In the past or now. But it’s hard for me to really comprehend what’s happening, because it’s…these feelings…it’s never happened to me before, and quite frankly, I never recognized my feelings for you as…affectionate. Do you understand? I’m used to finding ways to insult you, not love you. I don’t know how else to explain…"

Goku seemed to brighten considerably at his words, his eyes narrowing slightly in thought. "I understand, Vegeta. I…I didn’t know if you had feelings for me before I went back or not. I didn’t even really realize my own feelings for you until I was in the past, and realized how much I missed you. I knew I always had…" Goku paused, a deep blush spreading over his cheeks. He was suddenly very uncomfortable, but he had said too much to turn back. Vegeta was waiting for him to continue, an amused smirk twitching at his lips. "I always had this obsession to please you." Goku continued, his gaze falling into his lap. "I didn’t want to disappoint you, but it seemed like that’s all I ever did."

Vegeta smirked, a low chuckle sounding from his chest. "You were trying to please me, Kakarotto? And here I thought you were just trying to annoy me…which you’ve always done well." Even Goku laughed at that. They fell into a companionable silence, both men slightly apprehensive and questioning about what the future now held for them.

"YATTA!" Goku exclaimed, startling Vegeta out of his thoughts. "I completely forgot!"

Vegeta frowned. "Forgot what, Kakarotto?"

Goku was already up and moving towards his clothes, digging around them as if looking for something. Vegeta frowned as he watched Goku freeze, lifting to look at something and sighing softly. He turned and walked back to Vegeta, kneeling in front of him.

"Ouji-sama?" Goku asked softly, his eyes glossy as if filled with unshed tears. Vegeta couldn’t help but look at him suspiciously.

"Yes, Kakarotto?" He said sarcastically, wishing the man would get to the point, and quickly. His curiosity was getting the best of him.

"Um…do you remember giving me something?" Goku asked, his eyebrows rising slightly.

Vegeta blinked at him, then threw his arms in the air. "Something…as in??? Don’t speak to me in riddles, BAKA!"

Goku nodded. Vegeta didn’t remember.

"Ok…well…I….um…oh hell…here." Goku extended his hand, noting with a flush of embaressment that his hand was shaking. Vegeta looked at him, then the hand. Slowly he lifted his own hand, palm up, to rest just under Goku’s. Goku placed the object in his hand and sat back, waiting for the prince’s reaction.

Vegeta felt the coolness of the object as it was laid on his palm and immediately brought it closer for inspection; he gasped, his hand halting in it’s journey, his eyes wide with shock.

"N…N…NANI?!?!" He whispered harshly, his eyes resting on what looked like a pendant; but he knew it was a brooch. His father’s brooch. The royal jewel of the house of Vegeta. Vegeta’s body began to shake, his eyes filling with tears as he stared, uncomprehending, at the jewel.

Goku watched with a certain amount of satisfaction, tears filling his own eyes and trailing down his cheeks. Vegeta lifted his eyes to look at Goku, his mouth moving with no sound emitted from it. Finally, with a small whimper, Vegeta spoke.

"Kakarotto…how…?" Vegeta asked as he wiped tears from his eyes on the back of his arm.

Goku was looking at something still nestled in his palm, a ghost of a smile lifting the corners of his mouth. Vegeta looked, seeing a corner of paper, and immediately lunged forward, ripping it from the other man’s grasp.

"V..Vegeta!" Goku gapsed, trying to grab it back without success.

Vegeta’s eyes read over the small piece of paper.

Kakarotto,

I refuse to make a huge fuss over your leaving, though it is killing me inside. My pride will not allow me to say to you everything that I wish to…I’ve said much more than I should have already, making a fool of myself in the process…baka…you have that affect on me, it seems.

You will be going back to your own time, and I will be forced to wait for you; I can only imagine what the other Vegeta will think about all this. Here is a gift to him, from me, as, I have the strangest feeling that if I don’t hand this over now, he, or…I, will never see it again. I stole it from my father’s rooms earlier today, and you can guarentee there will be a massive man-hunt for the thief! They will never find it though, because I will have it…in the future, that is. Give this to ‘your’ Vegeta; perhaps it will be the last thread in winning his royal heart, ne? The Gods know you’ve already won mine. Baka.

Ja ne.

Prince Vegeta

Vegeta stared at the paper in shock. He looked up slowly to watch as lazy tears still trailed down Goku’s cheeks, his eyes looking off to the side as if deep in thought. Vegeta blinked. As if a fog had been lifted from his mind, they were there. All the memories were there. His hand gripped the jewel tightly a chuckle escaping him.

Goku looked back at Vegeta just as he began to laugh lightly. He sniffed and frowned, wondering if Vegeta was laughing at the letter or something else.

The prince got on his knees, still looking at the letter, then folded it and handed it back to Goku. "This is yours, Kakarotto…I wrote it for you. I…I…wanted to tell you my feelings, but couldn’t." Goku took the letter and then paused at Vegeta’s words.

"You…you remember?" Goku asked, confused.

Vegeta nodded slowly and smirked. "Yes… I remember it all now."

"Oh…" Goku said softly, nodding and absently rubbing the paper between his thumb and index finger. He started as Vegeta’s hand brushed against his cheek. Goku’s eyes sprang to meet Vegeta’s in question, and what he found there made his heart nearly stop. Those black bottomless eyes that were usually relatively cold, if not frigid, held warmth.

"Kakarotto… " Vegeta said in a low whispery tone before pressing his lips against Goku’s softly. Goku sighed, his eyes closing as he moved his lips against Vegeta’s, returning the delicate kiss. Before long, the kiss was broken, and Vegeta eased back somewhat, but slid his hands up to rest on Goku’s shoulders, their bodies only inches apart.

"Kakarotto…" He started again, pausing to swallow hard. "Do you realize how long I’ve waited for you? Do you know what it was like to wait?" Vegeta asked, his eyes searching Goku’s. Goku shook his head.

"No, Vegeta…." Goku admitted, his breath hitching in his chest as Vegeta’s strong masculine scent filled his nostrils.

"It was hell. Hell waiting for you. But I would gladly face hell again if it meant that I would have the chance…to be with you again…to prove myself to you. I’m not sorry for everything I’ve done, Kakarotto…and I can’t apologize for who I am, nor will I ever apologize." Vegeta paused.

"Kakarotto, I am still the same man, with the same pride and arrogance that you are always bitching at me about; none of that has changed, nor will it ever. I have done many things to upset you, hurt you and others, and will probably do it again; that’s just me. But know this, Kakarotto." The hand swept itself across Goku’s cheek again, stroking it softly, lovingly. "I have always loved you, and always will, no matter what I say or do." Vegeta finished, his voice low and soft, his cheeks flushing crimson.

"Vegeta…." Goku said, his eyes wide. He didn’t know what to say. He was speechless. Vegeta smirked softly, then looked down at the floor, his blush deepening.

"I have to ask you something, Kakarotto, though it will make me look like a complete baka. Because of the…the past, I have to ask it…"

"Go ahead, Vegeta." Goku said with a nod. Vegeta looked up from the floor.

"….are you proud of me, Kakarotto?" He whispered softly, almost too quiet for Goku to hear. Goku blinked, wondering if he had heard that right, and wondered why he would ask such a question. Then it hit him.

Flashback

"I’ll wait for you, Gok…Kakarotto. I’ll work so hard…and make you proud of me. I want to be as strong as you when we meet next."

Goku smiled, his arms slipping around Vegeta’s waist. "Vegeta…I’ve always been proud of you. Not only when you are at the same level as me, but in everything you do, you make me proud. If only you knew how proud I was of you when you fought the androids…Buu…or when you wished all those people back that you killed while Majin. You are my prince, Vegeta-sama, that alone I am proud of. It has nothing to do with how strong you are, you know that it doesn’t matter to me."

Vegeta nodded and sighed, leaning forward to rest his forehead against Goku’s chest. "So how does it feel?"

Goku paused, looking down into the mass of dark spikes that were tickling his chin. "How does what feel, Vegeta?" Goku asked, confused.

Vegeta snorted. "Baka! How does it feel to win a royal heart?"

Goku smiled. "It’s like a dream, Vegeta. I just hope I don’t wake up from it."

Vegeta snorted again, his arms wrapping around Goku tightly, that eerie warmth spreading throughout his body. "Baka."

~ Owari ~