I don't own any of the Dragon Ball universe. All I own is my tiny twisted imagination. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. This is a Yaoi. It does have male x male things going on. If you don't want to think about or read such things, just close the window.

Vacation

Chapter 12

The Morning After

Goku didn't even bother walking up the stairs; the second they hit the door he ITd into his usual bedroom and didn't bother to remove his clothing, only sparing a few seconds to kick his boots off before falling into a comatose state of sleep. Vegeta on the other hand did not go to his bed chamber. Instead, he headed for the bio dome at the center of Capsule Corp.

He couldn't take any more "human-ness"; he had to get away from the stresses human life was piling on him. He could just leave the planet for a while, but that would be running away. It was not something he'd have had a problem with when he was younger, hell he'd even left Bluma here pregnant and alone before the androids showed up; that wasn't totally true, she had a family with her. He wasn't the hot head he was then and he sure as hell wasn't ever going to run away from any problems, especially if they were only human ones. He just need time away from human things; television, video games, soda, loud cities, and obnoxious Earth heroes.

He went out into the bio dome a lot when he felt stressed and couldn't really leave the compound. It reminded him of some of the planets he'd been too that had no people on them, just animals. It was what he needed just now. His eyes were red and bloodshot from lack of sleep, his mind was sludgy, and all he wanted to do was curl up on the green grass next to the little stream and sleep. He drifted over the grass too tired to walk and dropped himself in a heap when he found a spot he was happy with.

Piccolo went to the Prince's bedchamber and grabbed anything he thought would make him more comfortable; blankets definitely, pillows, lots of pillows, and then hit the kitchen for food he knew his beautiful little prince would want. 'this should do it' he thought to himself. He entered the bio dome and found his love asleep on the grass. He lifted his head gently so he could place a pillow under him, Vegeta growled softly in his sleep. Piccolo smiled and chuckled quietly. "It's alright Baby, nobody's going to bother you as long as you want to sleep today." He covered him with his soft fuzzy blanket and then lay next to him.

He watched him for some time, sweeping his long, clawed fingers through the prince's silky black locks and thinking to himself. He was just so beautiful, and yet so powerful; almost as powerful as Goku and much more so than himself. He couldn't believe he was so lucky to have such a beautiful creature laying here next to him. The prince's face twitched along with his fingers. 'I wonder what he's dreaming about?',the Namekian pondered.

Inside Vegeta's dream he was home. The sky was a beautiful pinkish red; their home star was huge and high in the sky. It was a beautiful day today, there was no cloud cover, and he could see the palace off in the distance. He looked back at the river and watched Goku and their boys playing in the shallows on a spoil bank. He was happy for once and smiled at the feel of it.

His father walked up behind him, "You realize, we deliberately hid the boy's power level when he was born, and then sent him away to a back water planet Frieza wouldn't care about."

The sudden voice startled him. He knew it instantly however and turned beaming to look into a face which looked like an older version of himself. "Hello father, and are you referring to Kakarot?"

The older Vegeta nodded, "I am. The seers took one look at the child, even before Bardok had a chance to see and hold him. They foretold he was the strongest Saiyan ever born, and would be the one to end Frieza's life." He frowned a bit, "They also said, the boy was tied to your destiny and that both of you would save the entire universe from total destruction."

Vegeta looked at his father in shock, "You mean, you knew how strong he was from the start?! Kakarot was never a third class at all?!"

Vegeta Sr. laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "No, son; Kakarot was never a third class. He was always the highest of the elites. We hid the truth from Frieza to give the boy a chance to grow up and eventually destroy him."

Vegeta was completely floored by what his father had said. He swung his head around and looked at the big idiot; his arch master guardian. "He was meant to be stronger than me from day one." He half mumbled.

Vegeta Sr. spun his son back to face him. "That does not diminish my pride in you. You have overcome every difficulty thrown at you, boy; and yet you are not even completely grown yet. When I was your age, I hadn't even left the planet yet; my father would not allow it. But, look at everything you have become, a king in your own sense."

"I…" he looked down at the rusty red soil, "have no home." Vegeta said "We have no home. Frieza destroyed it. This is only a memory plucked from some hidden spot in my mind. Kakarot, never even knew this place, my boys will never, his boys will never." His voice cracked.

King Vegeta's heart ached for his son. "Listen to me, son. It is why we sent Kakarot away instead of binding him as your guardian right away. He knows your new home, he is the strongest warrior in the universe, who better to look after you. You have a woman who is much like a princess on her planet, you are mated to the strongest Namakian warrior to ever exist, who is also an estranged prince, what more could a father ask for." He beamed with pride.

Vegeta looked at his own son from a different place in the multiverse, and then he looked at Gohan, Kakarot's oldest brat and suddenly realized they were not a mismatch. Mirai had mated the eldest son of a high ranked nobleman.

He looked back at his father, who was smiling at his sudden epiphany. "Yes; one day, they will make a grand ruling pair. Mirai is now irreversibly mated to his master guardian."

Vegeta's mouth dropped. "I don't know what to do father." It just came out now that his father was here beside him and he was given the chance to speak to the dead man come to be with him from the after world.

His father sat down on the blanket spread upon the rusty colored grass and picked up a bowl of what looked like huge blackberries and began to eat them. "Sit, and we will talk as we should have been able to do in life, before you were stolen from us." He looked up, "Ah, we have a bit of company I see!" He smiled as he watched the tall green warrior approach their position.

Vegeta looked the direction his father was looking. He jumped up and almost ran to him forgetting himself for the moment; this was home, and his father was really here, and now his lover was here with them. This was a dream, but at the same time it was not. For whatever reason, the gods had made this place for them, perhaps because they knew Vegeta needed it desperately. "Piccolo!" He jumped up to hug his lover as if he were a giddy schoolboy with a huge crush on the star quarterback of the high school ball team.

Piccolo grinned and hugged him back lifting him from the ground. "You look and feel so much better, Little Prince." He looked up the hill to the seated figure, then wrapping an arm around his tiny mate's waist he walked up to greet him. Before Vegeta could say anything Piccolo spoke to him, "Since you look so much like Vegeta, only older, I must assume you are his father, King Vegeta."

King Vegeta stood up, with a happy heart that his son was so in love with a man who apparently loved him just as much. "You would be correct. I assume, judging from my son's reaction, that you are indeed his Namekian mate?"

Piccolo nodded, "I am."

"Please sit with us and partake of the food of our home." The elder and king gestured to their spread upon the ground.

"Thank you, I am honored" Piccolo said with a smile. 'So, this is your actual father?' he thought to his mate.

Vegeta beamed with almost a glow around him and responded 'Yes Green Man, it is really him sent to this dream from other world.'

Down at the river Gohan jumped at Mirai sending them down into the ruddy waters of a large river they really knew nothing about. Mirai laughed and flipped himself over pinning Gohan beneath him and laughing as he did.

"Trying a sneak attack will get you nowhere, ha ha ha…" he said laughing in a mock evil tone. He tickled his slightly smaller mate who laughed hysterically and squirmed trying to get away with no success.

Goten on the other hand was quieter than normal, he took his dad's massive hand in his and looked across the water asking, "Dad, where are we at? I never saw this place before."

"This was planet Vegeta." He looked down at his youngest and smiled a tiny bit, "I don't really remember it, but for some reason I do."

"Are we in one of Vegeta's memories then?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah, is this one of my dad's memories, Goku? Is he tryin' to show us where we came from?" Trunks asked.

"I'm not sure what is going on here kids. I don't think this is coming from Vegeta though. Maybe the Kais are creating this for us." Goku answered. He truly didn't fully understand what was going on around them, but he was enjoying it, and it just all felt so right, like he was finally home.

Trunks sat down on the bank of the river and looked at his older brother, "You guys are lame." He smiled and picked up a small green stone and threw it at his brother's head. It bounced off harmlessly.

Mirai stopped and smiled at his little brother, "You just wait, in about ten years, you're gonna be all kissy kissy with somebody." He laughed at his brother's scrunched up nose.

"I'm not gonna be all dumb and lame and lovey dovey!" Trunks protested.

"You never know, maybe you'll want to kiss Marron, or maybe even Goten." He smiled, either way was possible.

This time it was Goten who protested, "Ewww… I can't kiss the king, that'd be gross!"

Trunks laughed, "The only one I wanna ever kiss is my woman!"

"Ha!" Gohan smiled at them, "I thought you said you weren't gonna be all lovey dovey?"

Trunks turned a light shade of red mumbling, "…not being lovey dovey."

"Well who am I gonna kiss then, dad?" Goten asked inquisitively. "If Gohan and Mirai kiss each other, and Trunks is gonna kiss Marron who am I sposed to kiss?"

Goku smiled looking at his son who had sat himself down on the river bank and was dangling his toes in the water, "When the time comes, son, you'll know who you're going to kiss." He chuckled lightly, "In the mean time you can always kiss your mom."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." He went back to focusing his attention on the little animal swimming through the water. It looked like a tiny lemon with eyes and a mouth and four tentacles for a tail. It wrapped them gently around his left big toe and looked like it stuck its tongue out into the water. Goten laughed. "What is that thing?"

Everyone crowed around to look at it, "Aww… it's so cute!" Gohan cooed.

Mirai chuckled softly at him, "You would think so."

Gohan blushed, "Well, it is cute. Just look at it. It looks like somebody bred a lemon with an octopus." He smiled fascinated by the little creature.

Goten took his foot out of the water and pulled it easily off his toe without hurting it. He lifted it up to look at it but it decided to squirt water all over his surprised face. He dropped it back in the water with everyone laughing at him. "I guess he got scared." He blinked watching it swim under a rock for safety.

Goku couldn't help but laugh. "I guess he did!" He wiped the water off of Goten's face. About that time his stomach growled. They all laughed.

"I'm kinda hungry too!" Goten jumped up saying.

"Yeah, we are too." Mirai added with his arm wrapped around Gohan's waist.

"So am I." Trunks gave his voice to the hunger issue

Goku swung his head up and looked straight at Vegeta, who looked right into his eyes from far atop the hill. Vegeta nodded to him, understanding what the unspoken question was. Goku looked back to the kids who were anxiously waiting to see if they could finally go and fill their bottomless stomachs. "Well then, let's go have a picnic!"

The kids didn't need urging, they ran up the hill racing each other to get there first. Goku walked a bit more slowly, keeping the air of a relaxed warrior aware of everything around him and not in a rush. He smiled as he came up to the spread upon the ground and then duly kneeled down and bowed his head addressing the elder man, "My king," Then he nodded to Vegeta, "My, Prince". The boys looked at Goku and copied everything he had done, not exactly sure what they should be doing.

The elder Vegeta chuckled and smiled, "No, man. Don't kneel to me. You saved my son's life, and killed that monster who stole him away from us. It is I who should bow to you." He bowed slightly to the younger man. He looked at all of them pleased at the sight. "I am proud of all of you. You keep the hope of our species alive in you. Now come embrace your old grandfather; my Grandchildren!" He beamed at them hugging them close as Mirai and Trunks rushed forward into his arms.

"Are you really my grandpa?" Trunks asked questioningly.

"Yes boy. This man is my father and King, Vegeta II." Vegeta smiled beaming with pride and shining with happiness.

"Cool, I got two grandpas now!" Trunks hugged him tighter.

"I always wondered what you were like. I never thought I would ever get to find out." Mirai side with a restrained smile; he didn't want to appear incompetent.

"I am glad I have the opportunity to meet both of you in person before I got to meet you the natural way." He let them both go, "Now that that is done; let's all have a good eat together and get to know one another. That goes for you as well, Gohan and Goten; arch master guardians to my beloved grandchildren." He gestured to the food awaiting them. "Please eat your fill."

The elder Vegeta watched as they dug into the food in true Sayian style. The King gave a hearty deep laugh watching them. He turned as a man with spiky hair and a deep scar on his left cheek walked up from behind. He clasped the man on the shoulder with a large smile, "Bardock, our houses have at last merged." Bardock looked at his King in confusion not quite understanding. King Vegeta laughed and pointed to Mirai and Gohan. "Look man, two of this universe's most powerful have bonded in mating; my grandson has a mate bond with your grandson!" He grinned wider. It looked a bit strange since Vegeta didn't do much smiling himself.

Bardock's eyes widened slightly before returning to the cool, composed, ever on the alert guard that he was. He mumbled, "I wonder how that happened."

"The same way any mating bond does I would expect," The King chuckled, it wasn't often Bardock left himself open to jabs, "I believe they bonded while having sex." He laughed once again at the shocked expression on his Arch Master's face.

Bardock ignored it and sat down with the others right next to Goku. He was hungry too. He smiled a bit as Goku realized who had taken a place next to him.

"DAD?!" Goku blinked and then he flung himself almost childlike at the man who looked like an older more scared version of himself. He knocked the man over before letting him go. "I have missed you so much!"

"I have missed you as well boy. I cannot begin to say how proud I am of you; you, my son, the strongest, most powerful, being in the universe and at such a young age." He smiled at his long lost son; the one they had all placed so much hope in all those years ago.

They sat back up and Goku handed his dad a plate and grabbed a haunch of meat to put on it before giving his father his trade mark smile and scratched the back of his head, "Ah, it's nothing. Vegeta's pretty strong too and so is Piccolo. I don't know how I'd get out of a lot of scrapes without them backing me."

Vegeta looked over the top of the bowl of noodle-like food he was eating. "Don't be modest Kakarot, we all know the truth." He went back to shoving food into his mouth. Goku just laughed nervously.

King Vegeta sat beside his guard and watched his son and grandsons wondering why they had all been given this time together. He leaned against Bardock slightly. The two had been lovers for years; it was only because of circumstances they had never actually bonded. That no longer mattered; their grandsons had somehow managed to do so. He beamed at them, though Gohan was obviously the more powerful of the pair, it was Mirai who dominated.

Suddenly Gohan stopped mid bite and dropped what he was eating. He jumped up and ran as fast as he could at the person who was walking up the hill from below. Everyone was shocked enough to stop eating as well as they followed Gohan with their eyes at who was coming. Mirai mumbled "Oh wow." He stood up and calmly followed his mate with a smile on his face.

Gohan tackled the man, " Kabito Kai! Oh my god I have missed you so much! How are?! You don't look any different at all! Where have you been? What have you been doing?! And, why are you here?!" It all came out of his mouth in the rushed excitement that was a happy Gohan.

Kabito laughed at his friend as Mirai helped him up. "Well Gohan, I have something very special to tell you," He smiled looking up the hill at all of them, "and your whole family. Shall we?" He gestured toward the hill. He felt happy inside at what he was about to do for all of these special people. After all, each one of them had done so much for the entire universe at one time or another and they deserved it.

Gohan blinked and smiled, "Of course!" He took Mirai's hand in his as they walked up the hill where the others waited.

King Vegeta bowed to him as he approached, "Highest of Kais, we are honored at your presence."

"King Vegeta, it's me who is humbled and honored to be standing among such great men here in this place." He bowed slightly to the tall man in front of him. He nodded at Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo.

"Hey Kabito Kai, what brings you here?" Goku said with his famous casual flare causing Vegeta to just roll his eyes. He was long used to the man's irritating lack of diplomacy.

Kabito smiled looking at all of them before speaking, "It has been decided among the Kais, to give you all a very special gift for your unwavering service to the whole universe, for all the selfless acts you have performed, for all your self-sacrifice without hesitation, and for the great debt we all owe to you handful of Saiyans who are left out of your entire species."

It was Bardock who spoke first after bowing deeply to the being before him, "Greatest of all Kais, we do as we do and did as we did because everything we have done was the right thing to do. It is a Saiyan's honor to do such without thought of our own self."

King Vegeta smiled. His lover always had a way of saying things so to humble a man. "Bardock is right. We need no gifts to come with your presence." He gestured to their now somewhat messy picnic, "Please, will you not join us?"

Kabito smiled hugely at the offer of food. "Thank you, King Vegeta." He sat down next to Miari and Gohan and picked up a piece of fruit. "Now, as I was saying; we Kais have decided to give all of you a very special gift." He waved his hands to put off any further protests and smiled even more. "Goku, without you the universe simply wouldn't have existed because of Buu." He looked at Vegeta, "And Vegeta, in honor of the sacrifice you made and unwavering support given by you to Goku during the battle with Buu…" He smiled looking around at all of their curious faces and chuckled quietly, "And because we see what all of you desire most and we see the truth of what you all really need; it is really so small a thing for us to do in lieu of everything you have done for us." He snapped his fingers, smiled to himself and took a large bite from the fruit in his hand.

King Vegeta and Bardock gasped inhaling deeply, stumbling for a second before righting themselves. Bardock protectively shoved the King behind him. "What did you do?"

Kabito laughed deep and loud pointing above their heads. Everyone looked up at them and gasped frozen with shock. King Vegeta had a genuine frightened expression. "What happened?" No one said anything still staring at them in silence. He grabbed Bardock looking directly in his face "Bardock, what has he done to us?!" Bardock just blinked shocked himself as he looked at the top of his king and lover's head. At about the same time King Vegeta noticed Bardock's halo was no longer there and it finally struck him what the Kai had done. He spun slightly as he fainted, overwhelmed by the notion that they were alive again. Bardock, ever steadfast and at his side, caught him.