Epilogue

A new wind was coming from the mountains, cooler with the first hints of winter's frost. Vegeta lay back in the grass, supposedly keeping an eye on the children but really watching the clouds go by. Jalen was five today, and he'd rather let the brat run around with the other children than spend the whole day inside studying. He'd accepted long ago that Kigeta had a wicked sense of humor and had only put those history books there to torment the princes.

On his right, Trunks had fallen asleep curled up in a patch of what might have passed for clover back on Earth. His purple hair spread over the tiny violet flowers as he slept, and his tail tip flicked once in awhile over his stomach. Vegeta studied him for a moment. He was only a few months into his pregnancy now, but even so he'd been ordered to stay on Vegetasei. The instant transmissions across the galaxy had to wait until he gave birth, but Trunks hadn't seemed to mind so much. It gave him time to study and plan out the new Saiyan spaceport. And sleep. The exotic prince slept more now than Vegeta and Gohan had during their pregnancies combined.

There was a scream from the field, and Vegeta rose up on his elbows to see what was wrong. He laughed despite himself. Raditz, having been roped into babysitting, was covered in five year olds, two of them glowing gold already. As the royal bodyguard fell over under their weight, Vegeta glanced to his left at Piccolo, meditating a foot off the ground, his cape unfurled behind him.

At first his meditations had been seen as odd by the other Saiyans, but after Gohan had explained what it was, Piccolo had been inundated with Saiyans wanting to learn how it was done. While one part of the populace either watched the brats, drilled with Bardock, or trained with the ones who had turned super, dozens of others could be found behind Piccolo, mimicking his posture and trying not to fall over as they hovered over the ground. Vegeta chuckled, remembering the first time Piccolo had turned around and found a handful of Saiyans mirroring him. At first he'd acted put upon, but then he'd walked among them, correcting their positions and generally teaching them the way he'd taught Gohan. What had really surprised everyone was how Turles had turned super in the middle of meditating. Then his classes had tripled in size.

"What are you laughing about, short shit?" Piccolo said, not bothering to open his eyes.

"Remembering the look on your face when half your class suddenly went gold." The thought made Vegeta laugh a little harder.

"Like a bunch of popcorn," Piccolo said. "Makes sense, though, if they're working through memories of hell while they meditate."

"Mm."

Piccolo let out a sigh and settled on the grass, watching the newest generation play and squash Raditz. His own child ran around with them, Jalen's constant companion. His hair was spiky like Gohan's and he had all the facial features of a Saiyan, but his hair was a dark moss green, his skin was a light jade and his ears were slightly pointed. At first he thought the boy would be ostracized, but the worst that had happened was that his brat couldn't get away with anything. He'd raid the orchards or skip his lessons with the heir, but he just couldn't blend with the other children. All the victim had to say was "he's green" and they knew who was the culprit.

"I think Pike and Jalen are trying to sneak off again," he said.

Vegeta frowned and followed Piccolo's look. Sure enough, the two princes were making their way off the field, heading towards the swamps. With a shake of his head, Vegeta raised his hand and shot a tiny blast into the dirt at Jalen's feet. The boy froze and glanced at his teza, who motioned back with the rest of the children. With a growl Vegeta could almost hear, Jalen and Pike both stomped back and took out their frustration on Raditz.

"Pike's such a bad influence," Vegeta sighed.

"My brat's not the one with your attitude."

"It's not Pike's fault. He's just not ripe yet."

The sudden appearance of their mates just a few feet away saved Vegeta from an angry Namek. Gohan plopped right into Piccolo's lap while Goten set down an armload of capsules. Goku smiled at his mate and stretched, groaning as he flexed sore muscles.

"You were longer this time," Vegeta said, watching as Goku settled beside him. "Were there problems?"

"Not really, Bulma just had a bunch of new compadres…companions…"

"Components," Gohan said.

"Yeah, those, and then she wouldn't let us go until she had run another batch of tests on our tails." He frowned and reached back for his tail, bringing it between them so Vegeta could see the spots where Bulma's medical equipment had pressed. "She matted my fur."

"Oh, poor baby." Vegeta took it between his fingers and gently ruffled the fur before smoothing it down again. Goku made a rumbling noise deep in his chest and lay his head on his mate's shoulder, closing his eyes. "Be glad you don't have to spend half a year in a spaceship just to get back and forth."

"Well, once I knew where I was going, I could handle the transmission." Goku's voice softened and slurred as he drowsed, half awake and half asleep. "Doesn't feel so far anymore. I wouldn't leave otherwise."

Next to them, Goten heaved Trunks into his lap and plucked one of the flowers, setting it in his mate's hair. Trunks mumbled something and his eyes fluttered open. When he spotted his mate's tail waving near his face, he smiled and caught it, rubbing it against his cheek.

"Missed you," he whispered.

Goten grinned. "I was only gone a couple hours."

"Too long." He closed his eyes again. "You make him stop kicking."

"Huh?" Goten put his hand on Trunks' stomach, only slightly distended. A soft thump landed in his palm. "Hey, I felt him."

"Not as hard as usual," Trunks said, and he pushed his face into Goten's shirt so that his voice was muffled. "Why's he gotta kick so much, and so hard?"

"It's to be expected," Vegeta said. "He's a Vegeta, and we all kicked our teza's black and blue on the inside."

Wrapped firmly in his larger mate's arms, Gohan gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm so glad I only had to pull an egg out. I don't think I could've handled being kicked all day. Don't you have anymore nuda?"

Trunks groaned and his tail lashed about, whapping Goten's head. "No! I'm sick of it. If I have to drink any more, I'll throw up." Another kick, stronger this time, and he wrapped his arms around himself. "I swear to God I'll remind the brat of this every day. He's not even out yet and he's already causing problems."

It was a damn shame he couldn't just smack him and make him shut up, Piccolo told himself. All of the princes whined and carried on like having a brat was the end of the world. "If you hate it so much, why don't you just sit in the nursery's hot spring? Wouldn't it make the kid relax a bit? Or just make the pain go away?"

"Makes sense," Vegeta said. "He's out here in the suns for the same reason."

"That does sound good," Trunks mumbled. He leaned his head on Goten's shoulder. "Take me there, will you?"

"Man, you are getting so spoiled." Rising, Goten picked his mate up and cradled him. "You gonna want dinner in there, too?"

"Well, now that you mention it…" his voice trailed off as he fell asleep again. Once he was sure Trunks wouldn't hear, Goten looked at Vegeta.

"Has he been asleep this whole time? I'm starting to get worried."

"He'll be fine, it's not much more than usual. And remember, that brat's a mix of you two. Imagine all the trouble both of you got into wrapped up into one child." He laughed as Goten turned pale. "That's right, Trunks is the smart one. He's resting up before that brat comes out."

"Serves you two right," Piccolo said, "after what you put all of us through. You'll be lucky if you get one night's rest."

Trunks shifted and cracked one eye open. "Jus' ignore them, 'ten. They're jus' jealous 'cause their kids are such brats."

With a decisive nod, Goten flew into the air and took his mate back to the palace, disappearing into one of the windows. Gohan laughed and shook his head.

"You guys shouldn't pick on them so much."

"What's the point of having kids then," Vegeta said, "if you can't pick on them?"

"Have they been practicing since we left?" Gohan asked, pointing towards the field.

They all looked up and spotted Jalen and Pike a good distance away from the rest of the children, play sparring. Pike did well in backing his prince up with several fast punches and high spin kicks, but Jalen knocked him off his feet with a sweep kick and landed on top of him, pinning his hands beside his head. Before he had a good hold, though, Pike managed to plant his foot in Jalen's chest and kick him off, following after him through the air.

"They keep this up," Gohan said, "and they'll be having kids of their own."

"They're the strongest ones," Vegeta said, "it makes sense they'd pair off. And Pike's strong enough to rule with Jalen, if it comes to that. And speaking of ruling, what did you bring back from Earth?"

"The schematics and layouts for the spaceport and blueprints for deep space ships. Once Trunks is wide awake for more than a few hours a day, we'll be able to look around for the raw materials." Gohan glanced at his prince. "It'll still be awhile before we can even begin processing that to start building."

"Good that we're starting, though. When the rest of the galaxy realizes we're here, we'd damn well better be ready to fight." As his mind wandered with all the possible problems, his hand stopped working on Goku's tail. Goku looked over at him.

"I thought you said we weren't gonna go empire building again?" he asked.

"And I meant it. Such a headache, going to all that work and you don't get all that much in return."

"Then why build up for war?"

"We destroyed a lot of worlds in the past, Kakarrot, myself especially. And even if they didn't remember and hate us for that, we still have a perfect, unspoiled planet. We have to be ready to defend ourselves from invaders and outside threats, and that might include traveling to another planet and stopping them before they can hurt us."

"Or they might call us insane," Gohan said, picking a flower and twirling it in his fingers. "For believing in a dragon god that destroyed a divine order they didn't even know about."

"In any case, we should be prepared," Vegeta said, "and that means being ready for a fight."

They watched the children clobber Raditz for awhile, hanging on his arms and hair and bowling him over with their weight. Gohan watched his uncle, still remembering how much he'd been afraid of him, but over the years it had become easier not only to talk to him, but to let him watch over Pike. Or let him be pummeled by Pike, as his son accidentally plowed into him as he chased Jalen. When they both got up, Raditz swatted at him and intentionally missed. Smiling, Gohan yawned and settled in his mate's arms. Trunks wasn't the only one that needed rest. Just before he fell asleep, he felt the flutter of Piccolo's cape that meant he was meditating again.

Vegeta found himself drawn into his mate's arms, and he let Goku turn him slightly so that he could work on his back and arms, rubbing them under his hands and relieving the knots and twinges that usually came up. The prince glanced back at him. "How do you always know?"

"I can feel it through the bond," Goku said. "You're still in pain, aren't you?"

"Just old battle wounds flaring up. Kigeta only healed me, he didn't give me a free pass. Besides, it's not that bad. Better than it used to be." He smiled and sighed in pleasure as Goku worked on his right arm. "It's odd. I should be restless, looking for another fight. Instead I…I mean…I've never been able to just rest."

"I don't think you realized how tired you were."

"It's not just that. All my anger is gone. I still feel echoes of it from time to time, old hurts and memories. But then I wake up next to you…" He leaned back against Goku's chest, watching as his thumb rubbed circles on his slightly smaller hand. "I'm so afraid I'll wake up and this will be a dream, and I'll be on Frieza's ship again."

"No dream. You're really here with me," he nuzzled his throat, "on Vegetasei," he kissed him, pushing the bangs from his face, "with the biggest brat in the galaxy for a son."

A laugh slipped out of Vegeta, and they both watched as Jalen and Pike's sparring brought them closer until the two were tumbling over each other near their feet. Jalen pinned Pike, and then Pike pinned Jalen, and then they both spotted a blue caterpillar crawling over some of the flowers, and they stopped to stare and poke at it. After a few seconds they got bored with it and flopped on their backs to watch the clouds go by.

Several minutes went by before the prince noticed how quite his mate had become, and he glanced at him, noticing Goku's unusually inward expression. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just something Raditz said before. He said you'd move heaven and hell before you'd let Jalen die. And you did."

He shook his head. "I hardly did anything. I had a lot of help. But it's good, knowing I have someone I can lean on forever and ever."

"Hey," Goku protested, "you had me before all this, even if you didn't trust me completely."

"Actually, I meant Kigeta, but it's good to have you as well." He smiled at his mate's expression. "You, and father, and other Saiyans, and our brats, and soon enough their brats."

"What do you think Trunks' son will look like?"

"Probably a good mix, Trunk's features and Goten's hair. Maybe dark purple hair, but at least it will be spiky like everyone else's."

"Or dark and loose."

"Maybe." Vegeta looked around himself, sensing with his ki as well as his eyes. The world was a buzz of activity, Saiyans training with Bardock and several of the ones who'd turned super, Saiyans gathering food, children playing, his father in the palace overseeing everything, two princes in the nursery, the Namek and Gohan nestled together, and farther out, flocks of birds turning broad circles in the sky, strong hums of energy from inside the swamps and the mountains and the forests, and farther away, faint on his senses, ocean giants he'd rarely if ever seen. Five years was nowhere near enough to see the entire world, and he doubted he would ever see all it had to offer. Especially when he was content to settle back on his mate and watch it all move around him, warm and alive and comforting, so that he would never be alone again. In the hum of the world, even the stones murmured and the wind was a passing touch.

"Now what are you thinking about?" Goku asked.

"I think…" Vegeta smiled and looked back up at the clouds, passing overhead so that they trailed shade behind them. "I think that it's going to be a very nice day."

The End

For inquiring minds, Pike comes from the Pequeno chile, just like Jalen comes from Jalapeno.

This fic is ultimately dedicated to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as the key inspiration for the story and themes.

This fic is also dedicated to my friend Misha, aka fireicedragonrules, for enjoying my fic, letting me know that she wanted more chapters as soon as I could put them out, and telling me to stick to my guns. Sometimes the guns can be hard to stick to.