Part 2

I awoke some time later with a tremendous pounding in my brain. "Oh, Kami,” I groaned. It felt like someone had smashed my head into a brick wall. A brick wall named Vegeta. What had I been thinking, challenging the Ouji? I opened my eyes, reluctantly. The sun was still out, I hadn't been unconscious for terribly long. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen...

I was in the same spot where I had fallen earlier. The land surrounding me was pitted and scarred from the intense energy that had been released during my battle with Vegeta. I tried to sit up, but the severe pain in my head kept me from staying upright. I fell back against the ground. I hadn't eaten in days, despite Piccolo harassing me, very dangerous for a Saiyjin. My energy level had dropped severely, and as far as I knew, there wasn't a senzu bean for miles; Vegeta never carried them and I had not expected to need them.

I couldn't believe that Vegeta would leave me out on this field to die. No matter what had occurred between us, he was still my Prince...My brain was still fuzzy from the harsh blows that Vegeta's heavy fists had landed. I drifted in and out of consciousness. At times, I thought I could hear his imperious voice. Then it would fade away into nothingness.

"Vegeta, what have you done with Gohan?" Piccolo's voice.

"Not a damn thing that didn't need doing." Vegeta, "You should never have let it go this far, Namek. This is on your head."

"He's just a child..."

Vegeta cuts him off. "Bullshit. He's NOT a child. He has far surpassed nearly every fighter in the universe."

"I'm not talking about his power level. He's...innocent...like Son was."

Vegeta snorted, "Hardly. He's nothing like Kakkarott. You insist upon thinking of him as the boy that you trained. He's 13 years old, nearly 14. A man grown on Vegetasei."

"I want to see him, Vegeta; I'm not going to leave until I see him."

"Piccolo..."Vegeta growls.”Gohan is MY concern now."

"At least give him a senzu bean. He's in pain...what kind of monster are you?"

"Well, Namek, I would give him a senzu bean, but considering that I gave you my last one..."

"VEGETA! How dare you put this off on me?" Piccolo screams.

Vegeta answers him evenly, "I told you to move out of my damn way. You forced me to kick your green ass."

Darkness bleeds away to light. I try to rise again, but the pain is so fierce that I moan in agony. "Help...help me..."

Vegeta's voice, nearer this time. "Damnit, Piccolo, get the fuck out of here. No one needs YOU to lend a hand."

I'm desperate; the grinding pain in my head is frightening. I feel disconnected from my body...Oh Kami; I'm dying...."VEGETA!!"

He reaches my side in a flash. "Enough. That's enough. You'll be fine. We just need to get you some senzu."

"I don't want..."

"Don't fight me. Not on this. "

"You left me,” I said accusingly.

"Of course not. I merely stepped away for a moment. Didn't want to move you until I could see how badly you were injured. Your friend, the Namek, is the one who held me up."

"Piccolo?" I say his name hesitantly.

"Gohan. I'm here. What do you need?"

"I need to talk to Vegeta. Alone."

"What?!? Gohan...are you sure?"

I answer softly, "I'll be alright. Ouji will take care of me. I'll...I'll talk to you when I'm feeling better."

Piccolo stares first at me, then Vegeta. "What is going on?"

"Namek, I told you, Gohan is my concern now. Nothing more will happen. He's in no danger from me."

Piccolo doesn't want to leave my side, but in the end he respects my wishes. He wrings a promise from me that I will get in touch with him as soon as I'm able.

Then, finally, we're alone.

"Gohan. Can you stand?" He's never spoken my name to me before. It was always boy, or brat, or whelp, never Gohan…and never in that tone of voice.

"I don't know. I haven't eaten...I think I'm hurt too badly." His usually stern features look stricken. "Come along now. Try." I take his arm, and a bolt like lightning flows through me.

I look into his eyes and suddenly I realize that he felt it, too. His breathing is uneven, ragged. When he speaks again, his voice is pitched so low I can barely hear.

"Gohan..." his voice breaks.

I don't understand...yet, in some deep, primitive way, I do. He shakes his head as if to clear it. "No more. We'll speak later. Our first priority is to get you home."

"Vegeta, I can't go home. Mother will have a fit."

Vegeta turns his dusky eyes toward me, "She has no say. In anything. I am your Ouji. Do you recognize me as such?" A pivotal moment, though I didn't know it at the time.

"I...I...what?"

"Am I your prince? Or do you wish to fight me again?"

"I don't want...no, I don't want to fight you. I recognize you...you are my Ouji." And following some deeply buried instinct, I slowly bow my head, bones grinding in a shatteringly painful protest, in submission to my Prince.

Vegeta nods his head slightly. "You will answer to no one but me. I will manage your baka kassan. In the meantime, you will come stay with me." I start to voice my protest, and he raises a hand to my lips.

"We don't have time for this. We'll talk, I swear it. Just come with me, Gohan."

I answer him softly, "I will."

He kneels down beside me, encompassing me in his strong arms. We're nearly the same height, I note, but he carries me as if I were nothing more than a small kitten. He powers up and we fly together towards Capsule Corporation.

I lean against his chest and shiver slightly from the cold. Vegeta pulls me closer to him, saying, "We'll be there soon” Once again, I sink into oblivion. But it’s different than before. This time I'm not alone.

I didn't wake again until we were inside Vegeta's quarters at the Capsule Corporation. As soon as my head touched the pillow, my eyes snapped open. "Vegeta?" I was groggy, and all I knew for certain was that I needed Vegeta.

"I'm here. I have to go downstairs to get some things. I'll be back."

"No. Please don't...please don' t leave me."

Vegeta looks at me from his place by the door and says, "I must leave, but I'll return."

I believe him. I settle back down my throbbing head on the pillow. I look around with great curiosity. I have never before been in Vegeta's bedroom. It is a spartan room, the bed and a set of dresser drawers are the only furniture. No decorations, no curtains, nothing. Even on the bed there is only the one pillow. I'm truly surprised there IS a bed that he doesn't just sleep on the cold, hard floor. An odd man, my Ouji.

I hear Vegeta's light footsteps making their way up the stairs. I attempt to sit up, to meet my Prince on somewhat even footing, but my muscles refuse to cooperate. Vegeta enters the doorway, carrying some food on a tray, along with a stunning array of medical tape and gauze. He sets the tray down on the dresser, and moves to sit down beside me. "There isn't a single senzu bean in this house. I'm sure cue-ball has some, but I can't seem to get in touch with him. Until I do, we'll need to tape up your ribs. I can feel at least two that are broken, if not more. The last thing I need is for you to have a damn punctured lung."

I nod slowly. "Okay. Can I eat first, though?"

"I suppose so. Hell if I know if you even should. I'm no doctor, but if you eat then at least you'll have some energy."

"I'm starving."

"I'm hardly surprised. How long has it been since you've eaten?"

"I dunno." I answer.

He stares at me, through me, "Your death cannot bring your father back. You do realize that, don't you?"

"I never said I wanted to die!" I react defensively.

His voice softens, "Bullshit. I've been where you are now."

"You don't understand, how could you?" I'm whining, but I'm so tired and everything hurts. I don't want to talk about this right now.

"I understand better than you know. Do you realize that when your father died, I became the last full-blooded Saiyjin? There are no others, and there will be no others."

I stared at him, wide eyed at the blunt emotion in that simple statement. I hadn’t thought…why hadn’t I thought? He continued.

"I lost my father at a young age, a little younger than you are now."

"I'm sorry Vegeta," I whisper. "I forgot"

I had forgotten, he had not only lost his father, but his entire planet, and the vast majority of his race, leaving only him, my father, my father's brother Radditz, Nappa and a renegade cousin of my father's family Turles. And now they were all gone.

He brushed away my apology, as though it were as insubstantial as a cobweb, "Never mind. It was a long time ago. You are better off than I was. You aren't alone."

I sit up, wincing in pain. He grimaces at my discomfort. "You should eat...we can talk when you're feeling stronger."

That's a good idea, I think...but part of me wants to talk now. I open my mouth to say so, but he shushes me and busies himself with the gauze and tape on the tray.

"Eat." An imperial order that I have some trouble following.

My hands shake uncontrollably as I attempt to feed myself, dropping more food in my lap than I manage to get into my mouth. I find it almost unbearably difficult to chew, not so much because of any pain in my face, but even my jaw muscles feel so damned weak. There's a glass of milk on the tray that I would like to have, but I am afraid to even attempt to hold it, let alone actually get it to my mouth and drink it without dropping it or spilling it everywhere.

I'm not sure exactly how, but Vegeta notices my longing gaze at the tall, cold slippery glass of milk. Before I can blink, he is there, holding it for me, and helping me drink it. Kami, I swear nothing ever tasted so good.

He grimaces. "I should have thought to bring a straw. You haven't eaten in Kami knows how long and you just got the shit beat out of you, of course you can't manage your own damn food." I try to stammer my thanks, but he ignores it.

"Are you feeling any stronger now?"

To my surprise, I am. The milk sits comfortingly in my formerly empty stomach, promising me energy and filling part of the gaping hole inside me. I finish off the tray, and move as if to hand it to him.

"Sit back" he orders. Vegeta takes the tray from my weak grasp and sets it outside the door. "Take off your shirt." A shiver runs through me and I make every effort to comply, struggling to remove the remains of my shirt. I can barely sit up, much less use my arms. Vegeta's elegant fingers stop me.

"Here. I'll do it."

His hands brush against my shoulders and my stomach lurches with excitement. He's forced to lean in close in order to pull my shirt from my pants. Suddenly, I look up and I find myself looking directly in the stormy eyes of the Ouji. We're so close; I can feel his breath on my face.

Time stops.

Vegeta tears his gaze from mine abruptly. Is it my imagination, or is his breathing as uneven as mine?

He tapes my bruised and broken ribs in silence. There's so much I want to say...I'm so very confused. I've never felt this way before. His movements are precise, meticulous, but something is not right. I gasp as I notice the horrible burns he sustained from my Kamehameha wave.

"Vegeta. You're hurt."

"It's nothing. I'll be fine." His voice is clipped, not from anger, but from pain. Guilt floods my heart as he works over my wounds, instead of tending to his own.

He finishes taping my ribs, and turns to look at some of my other wounds, when I catch his wrist, gently, painfully aware of the burns I caused. "Please Vegeta; I can't stand to see you in pain." Tears fill my eyes unbidden as the truth of the statement stomps its way into the center of my heart, like a rabid Oozaruu on a moonlit night.

"I told you it's nothing Gohan," he begins.

"It's NOT nothing Vegeta." It's not. I swear I can feel pain radiating from the burns on his forearms to mine. The intensity of it very nearly matches that of the grinding agony in my head. I am amazed he has managed this long without tending to them.

"Please Vegeta," I say again.

He doesn't reply, but leaves the room. Before I have time to wonder what it was that I did wrong, he is back with a small jar of salve. He sits back on the side of the bed, and deftly applies the greenish sweet smelling salve to his burns. I sigh in relief as the pain is lessened, almost eradicated. His eyes aren't on the gauze he is winding around his arms with the ease of long practice, but on mine, as though looking for...what...approval?

I smile tremulously at him. "Thanks Vegeta," my voice is barely more than a whisper. "I just can't stand to see you in pain." I gulp and lower my eyes. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I never wanted to cause you pain, my Ouji.”

He says nothing. Is he angry with me? My brain races in frantic circles. Oh please don't let him be angry with me, please....there are soft fingers on my chin, tilting my head ever so slightly. My eyes are open, and I see Vegeta, MY Prince looking at me, softly. Infinitely softly And then swiftly, so swiftly that I am never sure when it is that his head dips from looking into my eyes to that wonderful new position, his warm satin lips are upon mine.

He breaks the kiss tenderly and gathers me carefully into his arms, pulling me onto his lap. "Mine," he whispers, a trace of a growl in his voice. "My Gohan." And he kisses me again. The kiss is more forceful this time, and I feel his...Kami...is that his tongue… licking at my lips. I gasp slightly in surprise, and before I know what is happening, that warm, sweet organ is exploring my mouth with breathtaking slowness and care. Shivers run through my body as the split on his lower lip begins to bleed sluggishly and the delectable iron-tanged sweetness seeps into my mouth. My body is hot, burning, and still my Ouji tastes me. Every injury I sustained today may as well have been healed by a senzu because I feel nothing but ecstasy. I wish...I wish this kiss could last forever.

"Gohan," his breath is hot in my ear.

"Vegeta," I moan into his neck. I can smell a strong spicy smell, like cinnamon in the sun, with a noticeable trace of fire laced all through it. My Ouji's scent...Kami, it is arousing me...fast.

"Please Vegeta..." I'll be damned if I know what it is that I'm pleading for, but Vegeta seems to know. His fingers carefully caress the back of my neck, bringing me in close for another soul-wringing kiss; his other hand firm on my uninjured lower back He turns me gently, slowly so that I am straddling his thighs, and his hands both move to clasp my rear. I gasp into his mouth as the most incredible sensations flood me. He merely pulls me tighter to him, closing the gap between us to absolutely nothing.

Impulsively I wrap my legs around his middle and return his kiss about a thousand times harder. I can feel his solid length against my backside, mere millimeters from where his wonderful hands currently rest. Well not rest exactly...his fingers are squeezing, massaging, stroking expertly, and I moan wetly, breaking our lip-lock and burying my face into his neck.

"Gohan..." With some difficulty I push his shirt up, smiling slightly goofily at the heat rolling off of his beautiful tanned skin. I try to lift it off of him, but sadly, I only FEEL like I am fully recovered; in truth I am still extremely weak. But that's ok...I know my Ouji is strong enough for both of us; a point that is driven home as he rips his shirt over his head and tosses it away before resuming his exploration of my body. I close my eyes as his lips caress my jaw line, stopping to nibble at one of my ears, traveling down my neck, leaving a steaming trail that to this day I can follow with my mind.

I want to reciprocate, but I am helpless. Vegeta doesn't seem to mind. Every moan, every breathless utterance of his name causes him to redouble his efforts until I am so much putty in his lap. He's back at my mouth again, and oh Kami, he tastes so good! I lift a hand to his upswept flame of hair and do something I have wanted to do since I was eight years old. I run trembling fingers through it, then clench them, fisting his hair. It feels...right; the stiff silky softness of his Saiyjin mane feels entirely RIGHT in my hand. He groans into my mouth. "Vegeta," I whisper. "Need you...always...please?"

There is that lightening sensation again as he pulls away and looks into my eyes. Those jet pools of blackest midnight are the loveliest things I have ever seen.

"Gohan, as long as I live you will be mine, as I will be yours."

My brain for once did not fail to grasp the significance of his words, and I replied, "As long as I live Vegeta I will be yours and only yours, my Ouji."

I'm not sure exactly how he manages it without dumping me from his lap, but soon my pants are gone, and so are his and we are locked together, heated skin rubbing against heated skin. His head dips from my neck to nuzzle my chest and lick, then bite at my one exposed nipple...the other one being covered by gauze and tape. I am trembling in his firmly gentle grasp.

I can feel his arousal nearly nestled between my nether cheeks, its hardness and heat serving to excite me further as my own length is sandwiched between our muscled stomachs. He brings one of his hands to my mouth, and presses two fingers against my swollen lips. Having some idea of what he wanted, I take them into my mouth, sucking, nibbling and covering them with a generous coating of my saliva.

"That's good Gohan, oh, that's very good," he whispers in my ear as he removes his fingers. "Try and relax; I don't want to hurt you."

I gaze into his eyes, and say with complete trust..."I know you won't hurt me Vegeta." He smiles and bends to kiss me once again, and I feel one of his fingers slowly circle my entrance.

I arch into him as he presses it slowly into me, whimpering slightly, not in pain, but in need. Vegeta seems to understand as he kisses and suckles at my neck, his other hand is sliding around my hips and searching, probing...OH KAMI!!!! FINDING my tail spot. I see stars, I swear it. As I writhe under the dual ministrations of his fingers I don't even notice as he slips a second digit into me. I do notice however as one of those Kami-sent fingers brushes up against a particular spot inside of me. Of their own accord, my hips thrust backwards onto his fingers, and I hear him chuckle low in his chest.

His fingers tease my tailspot again as he stretches me, preparing me for...him. I can't wait. "Vegeta," I moan..."please...now?"

He doesn't ask me if I am sure, he merely removes his fingers and lifts me as easily as though I weighed nothing at all, settling me carefully as the head of his member presses against my entrance. One of my hands is still fisted in his hair, and he moves the other one, guessing correctly that I hadn’t the strength, to his neck. I wrap my arm around, trying to brace myself against him, as he lowers me onto his rigid shaft. It DOES hurt...but only a little, and only for a second. I melt again as talented fingers caress my tailspot, and he slips in, unhindered. An incredible sense of fullness sates me briefly. Then he is withdrawing and thrusting back, brushing that spot inside me with something so much more satisfying than a finger.

I was right, my Ouji does have strength enough for both of us. As he thrusts deeply into my more than willing body, one of his hands finds my hidden length and strokes it in time with his delicious thrusts. I know I won't last long, I haven't the strength, but I try anyway. A few seconds later, and I cry out his name as my seed splatters between us. I collapse, and he supports me, never ceasing his thrusting. I come back to myself quickly, already hard again as my member is embraced in the warm slickness of my sated need. Oh Kami, his hand is at my tailspot again, and I wish I could move my arms enough to return the favor. He must have sensed me tensing, because he kissed me sweetly and said softly, "Just let me Gohan, this time." I obeyed.

His breath catches in his throat as he increases his thrusting, angling so that with every thrust I see different colored stars behind my eyes. Combined with his skillful manipulation of my tailspot, it isn't surprising that as he roars his release, I come again with a soft moan. My Prince's thrusting slows, then stops and he collapses backwards on the bed, with me still straddling him.

As we drift off to sleep, I wonder faintly what exactly there is to talk about.