See? A few reviews and look what they do - inspire! 

Actually, the idea for this chapter was haunting my dreams last night 

and so this morning, instead of a final review for my quizz in 

Private Policing today, I wrote this out! ^_^  I hope it was worth it!

Chapter 1 – Welcome Home

Vegeta folded his arms and adjusted his stance for the third time in 

nearly an hour. Training was out of the question – he was too 

unfocused at the moment to train properly, and once again, his eyes 

scanned the horizon, brows drawn together in a perpetual scowl.

It didn't suit the Prince of Saiyajins to show worry or concern. His 

current state of emotion was completely unacceptable. He knew this, 

and told himself this repeatedly.

It didn't help. Vegeta shifted his stance again as he growled 

mentally. Sometime last night he had felt his son's ki drop 

dramatically. It had woken him out of a sound sleep after a hard day 

of training and an even harder session with his wife,  making him sit 

up in shock. The bond he had formed with his son at his birth, 

however reluctantly, allowed him a way to keep tabs on the boy's well-

being, much the same way as he did with his mate, and when his son's 

alarm had pierced his sub-consciousness like a high-voltage jolt that 

previous evening, he had almost been ready to fly out the window to 

see what the new threat was. 

Then his son's ki had returned, albeit a little more subdued then 

normal, and Vegeta had relaxed a bit, monitering the fluctuating 

levels absently. It was harder to do, the distance between him and 

son playing a key factor in his ability to judge his family's safety, 

and the fact that the level was so low. But everything seemed normal; 

if he stretched his senses, he could even sense Kakorrott's brat as 

well. The colliding auras told Vegeta that the two were sparring, and 

he had started drifting off again, thinking their levels were so low 

because once again they were pounding the holy hell out of each 

other. For that, he wasn't worried. They each had a small supply of 

senzu beans on them.

No, what had Vegeta unnerved was what appeared to be the aftermath of 

their sparring. A shock had jolted him awake – AGAIN – and after 

cursing a blue streak about bonds, brats and stupid human emotions, 

Vegeta had calmed down enough to feel what had woken him up. His 

son's aura was…different.

That was unusual. Everyone had an aura, an inner essence that you 

emitted from the day you were born. Strong, weak, able to manipulate 

to the point of throwing ki blasts – it didn't matter what species 

you were. Every living creature had a kind of `stamp' on them, and 

beings such as himself who had trained their whole lives to recognize 

and use their ki could easily `read' a person's essence and tell who 

it was, their power, etc cetera, et cetera. Vegeta could easily 

recognize any of the aura's of the Z fighters and their families, 

having been exposed to them for such a long time. Even his wife had a 

recognizable aura, puny as it was. His son's was usually easy to 

identify – strong, vibrant. A color was usually reflected by the 

aura, and while in Super Saiyajin form they all had golden colors, at 

rest or even at play, Trunks' aura was a deep royal purple. While 

Vegeta had always mocked his son for his hair color, he had secretly 

always thought the color of his son's aura fitting. After all, wasn't 

he too a Prince of the Saiyajin race? And the royal colors were 

black, purple and red. 

Last night, Trunks' aura had taken a dip in power – and stayed that 

way for some time. He seemed weaker, and his ki had a sort of taint 

to it that he couldn't identify. If he closed his eyes and searched 

for his son's aura, he could see the deep purple now had shots of 

violet, ad swirls of black roiling through it. Vegeta shifted once 

again. A person's aura just couldn't change that much, especially in 

one night. He thought back to his battle with Babbidi, and remembered 

a hushed Kakorrott telling him years later that he had been creeped 

out by the fact that Vegeta's normally royal blue aura had been 

streaked with black. A color change in aura usually signified some 

sort of possession. Was his son possessed?

Then there was the added enigma of Kakorrott's brat. While Vegeta 

didn't share a blood bond with the spawn, he nonetheless retained a 

sort of awareness about the other Saiyajins on earth. He didn't 

question it – it was a part of him. As his father before him had held 

a power over his entire race, being aware of them in the heart of his 

being, so to did Vegeta, the Crown Prince, share the same ability, 

born into it as a Royal Saiyajin. For better or for worse, he would 

always be able to tell if any of the other earth Saiyajins died. He 

had when his planet had been destroyed – the grief nearly unbearable –

 and it was no different here. The point was, that Goten's aura had 

changed too.

He closed his eyes and concentrated, noting absently that Kakorrott 

wasn't even awake. What kind of father was he? What kind of a 

Saiyajin? Vegeta dismissed it as being a third-class thing and 

decided if Kakorrott wouldn't check on his son, he might as well. 

Goten's aura was usually like that of his fathers, a deep rich red 

that flowed to golden in the throes of battle. But now, as Vegeta 

focused, he could see that, like his son, the spawn's aura had been 

somehow mutated slightly, with streaks of white, yellow and black 

lacing the red that had faded a bit, taking on an orange-ish tone. 

How bizarre.

Vegeta was snapped from his musings by the appearance of two energy 

levels approaching on the horizon, and his eyes opened. He instantly 

recognized the two aura's as being that of his son, and that of the 

spawn.  But the silhouettes were different – something wasn't right. 

The first he could tell was Goten, and he was racing towards him 

faster then any speed he had ever seen the boy capable of. But that 

wasn't what surprised the hell out of him – it was the fact that 

Goten was running on all fours…

Vegeta gave a surprised –and very undignified – squawk as a huge 

Siberian tiger lunged over the last hillcrest and landed on Capsule 

Corp property. Instinctively his hand rose, a ki blast forming a the 

tips of his fingers, ready to destroy the huge animal as it darted 

its head around in a near panic. The animal's eyes then settled on 

him, and Vegeta froze as the tiger's eyes widened to the size of 

dinner plates, collapsing to the ground instantly, and burying its 

head under its gigantic paws, whimpering pathetically. Still frozen, 

the shock allowed Vegeta's sense enough time to sneak out and 

identify the animal.

" GOTEN?!?"

" GET BACK HERE YOU MANGY, FLEA-BITTEN EXCUSE FOR A FUR COAT!!"

A piercing shriek jolted Vegeta from his trance and he turned in time 

to see shock number two: a slender young girl with long purple hair 

and flashing blue eyes, wearing his son's training gear and swinging 

his sword had just leapt onto his property. The tiger's head snapped 

up at the shriek, and Vegeta watched, stupefied, as the large animal, 

with razor-sharp claws and huge teeth, bounded to its feet and ran 

away from the screaming banshee who was hot on his heels.

" WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU I'M GONNA USE YOUR HIDE FOR A RUG! QUIT 

RUNNING AWAY YOU COWARD! TAKE YOUR PUNISHMENT LIKE A MAN!"

Each scream was punctuated by a furious swipe of the sword, and the 

tiger actually yelped as the girl came close to slicing off the tip 

of his tail. Vegeta's mind came back into his body with a thud, and 

he regained his voice.

" WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" He roared. The sheer volume, and the 

crackling of his ki got their attention in a hurry. The tiger 

screeched to a halt, and the girl slid into him, bouncing off and 

landing on the ground with a thump.

" Itai.."

Vegeta stared at the two who had come to a halt directly in front of 

him. He couldn't believe it but the auras of the two before him 

matched the auras he had assigned to his son and Goten in his mind 

the other night. The fact that the girl was dressed in Trunks' 

training gear and carrying his sword was also a dead giveaway, but 

his mind still refused to process what he was seeing. Had Bulma seen 

him just then, she would have marked the day down on her calendar as 

the day her husband was shocked speechless.

" You…"

" Um…." The girl flushed a bright red, scratching the back of her 

head in embarrassment. " Ohayo `tousan…"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Vegeta couldn't take his eyes off the spectacle even if he tried. His 

mind still in shock, all he could do was watch the bickering taking 

place. The girl – `Trunks' his mind whispered in confusion – was 

radiating with rage as she stood nose-to-snout with the huge animal, 

screaming. What boggled his mind even more, was that she seemed to 

understand the growls and snarls coming from the tiger – `Goten' his 

mind supplied helpfully – and that they seemed to be having an 

argument.

" THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT AND YOU KNOW IT GOTEN!"

Growl, snarl.

" WELL, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WANTED TO GO THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

Snarl, growl, small roar.

" WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DIDN'T ARGUE? "

Growl, whine, whimper.

" Oh you didn't mean to. Uh-huh – LIKE THAT MAKES IT BETTER? "

Whimper.

" THAT WON'T WORK WITH ME YOU STRIPED FURBALL! I'M A **GIRL**!"

" ENOUGH!" Vegeta roared, his head aching from all the shouting. " 

Silence, the both of you!"

The two froze, stiffening instantly, though Vegeta's anger didn't 

stop the girl from delivering one last, blistering stare at the poor 

Tiger who hung his head. Vegeta eyed the two of them, taking a deep 

breath. He addressed the girl.

" Trunks?" 

The girl flinched at the disbelieving tone in her father's voice. " 

Hai, `tousan."

Vegeta shook his head. He had a feeling he shouldn't have left the 

gravity room. He was about to say something else when a familiar 

voice called out from the house.

" Vegeta? Is Trunks back?"

Vegeta muffled a smirk as the girl's eyes widened in alarm, her face 

going ten shades of pale. It always both annoyed and amused him that 

Trunks had always been more afraid of his mother then of him, 

remembering an incident when Trunks was younger. The boy had told his 

friend Goten that at least, thanks to all the sparring they did, he 

was used to Vegeta's `training sessions' when he was bad, working 

until he collapsed of exhaustion. ` But kaasan,' Trunks said to Goten 

in a hushed whisper, ` takes stuff away. And she screams louder too.'

Although he was still in a stuporm he couldn't resist. His eyes took 

on a kind of sadistic gleam, and he raised his voice. " Yes woman, 

the brat is out here."

Trunks' panicked eyes looked at her father in a combination of 

comical terror and betrayal.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Bulma stomped through the kitchen, muttering angrily.

" When I get my hands on that son of mine…"

She had just gotten off the phone with the leader of the village that 

Trunks was supposed to have struck a deal with. The village elder had 

called, concerned that she may have changed her mind about the mining 

plans, and Bulma had spent the better part of an hour calming the 

woman down, saying that there had been an emergency that had come up 

and that Trunks had been unable to make it to their scheduled 

meeting. After rescheduling and reassuring the woman not to worry, 

that Capsule Corp was still interested, Bulma had hung up in a not-so-

good mood.

She opened the fridge door with a little more force then necessary 

and grabbed an apple that had miraculously survived the assault by 

her husband in search of breakfast that morning and tore into it 

savagely. Oh was Trunks gonna hear from her…

Suddenly, she heard the familiar baritone of her husband speaking in 

low tones outside the house, the sounds carrying through the open 

kitchen window. She heard her son's name and her eyes widened before 

narrowing.

" Vegeta? Is Trunks out there?

There was a brief pause and then she heard Vegeta's voice. " Yes 

woman, the brat is out here." 

He sounded different, she mused to herself absently as she stormed 

out the back door, senses keen for battle. Yes, she may not be a 

Saiyajin, but she could hold her own in a verbal fight. She grinned – 

Trunks never fought back against her.

She slowed her steps as she reached the gathering. Her husband stood 

there before a young girl and a huge tiger. Her initial instinct was 

to scream and run back to the house, but the rational part of her 

mind scolded her, reminding her that her husband was right there and 

wouldn't let anything happen to her. Her heartbeat still sped up 

though, as she approached, going right to her husband's side and 

latching on to his right arm – being right handed, that was the arm 

that threw the first ki ball…

She cleared her throat. " I-I thought you said Trunks was out here." 

Her eyes fell upon the young girl who was blushing furiously. She was 

quite the pretty one. Bulma had that quick moment of jealousy that 

all women felt when they saw their guy with another woman but the 

bond she had with her husband beat that train of thought firmly into 

the ground. " Who's this—"

She stopped, and then really took a good look at the girl. Long 

violet hair. Trunks' clothes. His sword. She swallowed hard. " 

Vegeta…"

" Yes?" Vegeta was enjoying this.

She let go of her husband. Keeping a wary eye on the tiger that had a 

suspiciously sheepish expression on its face, she approached the 

girl, eyeing her up and down. The girl blushed even harder, fidgeting 

under the scrutiny.

" Ohayo `kaasan," she said, her voice small. Bulma blinked.

" Trunks…" she said faintly, questioningly. The girl nodded 

timidly. " Trunks?" Another nod. Bulma remembered who her son was 

supposed to be travelling with and her jaw dropped even further. She 

turned slowly and faced the tiger, finally placing that sheepish 

expression. " G-Goten?"

The tiger mewled and nodded its huge head.

Vegeta waited to see what his wife would do, not at all surprised 

that she had figured it out so quickly. Physically strong, she may 

not be, but no one could ever say that she wasn't intelligent. Bulma 

took a step back.

" I…see."

Trunks shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the 

other. " `Kaasan?"

" Trunks…"

" `Kaasan!" A little more forcefully and Bulma snapped out of her 

daze.

" Trunks – WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?" Bulma circled her son, staring at 

his amazing new physique, noting almost jealously that he had a 

better figure then her. " And Goten! Explain! Now!"

" It's kind of a long story, `kaasan," Trunks muttered, glancing at 

the tiger in irritation who shrugged and licked his chops. " Maybe we 

should get Goten's family over here before we start – I don't want to 

explain everything over and over again."

Bulma was about to argue when she pressed her lips together firmly 

and nodded slowly. " Very well." She turned to go and do just that. 

Her son's voice stopped her.

" `Kaasan?"

" Yes?"

" Could we have some hot water?"  A low growl accompanied that 

sentiment. Bulma nodded again.

" Okay…"

" C'mon Goten," the girl growled. " You can grab a spare set of 

clothes from my room. Then I can kick your ass from here back to 

China."

The tiger whimpered as he followed his friend into the house. Vegeta 

blinked again, before shaking his head and going inside.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

End Chapter 1

You may have noticed that when I write from Trunks' POV, he refers to 

himself as a she but when Bulma saw him, he was still a he. That was 

intentional - bulma is in sock, and only thinks of him as male, even 

with his decidely un-male attributes. ^_^

C&C please!

Stormy