Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Dragonball, Dragonball Z or any of the characters associated with it.

Authors Note: I wrote both chapters in one night. I'm really on a roll with this story. It has been in my head for as long as I can remember begging to be written down. I never found the time until now. For those who may worry about unfinished stories, don't. This one will be finished.

Ages and heights (as if anyone cares):

Vegeta was born in the year 732 and is 5 feet 5 inches tall.

Bulma was born in 733 and is 5 feet 4 inches tall.

Goku and Chichi both were born in 737.

Goku is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Chichi is 5 feet 4 inches tall.

Gohan was born in 757 and is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Trunks was born in 766 and is 5 feet 7 inches tall.

Goten was born in 767 and is 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Bra was born in 772 and is 5 feet tall.

Red String of Fate

Chapter One

Planet Vegeta; Year 772...

Two terrors roamed the halls of the royal wing in the castle. Anyone who got in their way was immediately sorry. When servants saw them, they would stop and bow, then briskly walk away, hoping to be spared the punishment they would receive if they didn't get away quickly enough. One terror had lavender hair, the other had black hair that stood in all directions in gravity defying spikes. One was of royal blood. The other, his constant companion, was of elite blood (though rumors circulated that his grandfather had been born third class).

The boys were both extremely strong, but that is not necessarily what intimidated anyone who crossed their paths. No, what the boys really were was pranksters. No one was safe and no one could do anything about it. If the little Prince said one word to his father, anyone who defied him was as good as dead. Prince Trunks was six years old. His best friend Goten was 5. Even at their young ages, the boys were feared and rightfully so. Today was no different.

The boys were on their way to the royals private medical wing. Normally, even elites were not allowed but Goten was the ever constant exception. Prince Trunks went no where without his friend. Today, the boys had learned, was the day Prince Trunks mother gave birth. The boys hadn't understood much about Queen Bulma's pregnancy. They were just told that Trunks would be getting a little brother or sister. Trunks personally didn't care much about it until today when his father had sent for him saying that his mother was giving birth. Now his curiosity was peaked. Goten, of course, accompanied him.

As the two entered the medical wing, they spotted Trunks grandfather, the former King, and ran over to him. He held up a finger to tell them to be quiet and patted Trunks on the head. "Your father is with your mother, boy." He told Trunks. "Be good for once and go in quietly. The baby is sleeping."

Trunks nodded in response and the boys started to walk into the room. Just before the door closed behind him, Goten felt a hand on his shoulder. He paused and looked back at the old King with a puzzled look on his face and the former King of Vegeta gave him a stern look, "That goes double for you, brat. Be good." and then the older man released his shoulder and he continued to follow his friend into the room.

The boys stopped when they were about half way in. They felt awkward and weren't sure what to do. Trunks father, Vegeta, looked up and motioned for them to come to him. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest by the bed that Bulma was in. She wasn't looking at the boys. She was smiling peacefully down at something in her arms.

Trunks and Goten slowly made their way over to the bedside and peered at the little bundle Bulma was holding. Bulma looked up at Trunks and gave him a huge smile. "Trunks, this is your baby sister." She spoke softly, "Her name is Bra."

Trunks looked at the baby for a moment but she was asleep so he quickly lost interest. 'Boring!' He thought to himself. 'She cant even talk yet.'

Goten, on the other hand, could not take his eyes off of her. The top of her head was covered in lavender fuzz, the same hair color that her mother and brother shared. Her eyes were closed but he already had a feeling that they were the same blue that her mother and brother shared as well. She was so cute, he decided she looked like a little angel. Goten smiled sheepishly and looked up at Bulma. "Umm, Queen Bulma?" he asked, "Can I touch her hair?" Bulma smiled and was going to tell him yes, but before she got the chance Vegeta responded with a glare and a "No." He then grabbed Goten's shoulder and turned him towards the door. "Scram, boy." Goten sighed and did as he was told. He could not defy the King.

Trunks, who had long since lost interest in this whole thing was glad that Goten had to leave because that meant he could use that as an excuse to go too. "I'm going with him." He shot his mom a smile and waved to his dad before following Goten out the door.

"Why did you do that, Vegeta?" Bulma asked, sending him an unamused look. Vegeta grunted in response. After a minute, when Bulma thought he wasn't going to respond any further, he said, "Because, woman. I didn't like the way he was looking at her." Bulma just sighed. She got the feeling that Vegeta was going to be extremely over protective of this little Princess...

Sixteen years later...

Princess Bra pulled on her royal blue spandex body suit and placed her gold and red armor over it. On her breastplate, the royal crest of Vegeta was engraved in a dark shade of crimson. She tied her long, silky, lavender hair in a messy bun on top of her head. She was going to spar with her brother and Goten. The two of them were generally the only males who were allowed to spar with her, besides her father of course. Occasionally she would train with old man Bardock or Goten's father, Goku. Both were excellent with battle tactics though she was pretty sure Bardock was half crazy and her father liked to say that Goku, or Kakarot (as most Saiyans called him) was brain damaged.

Bra smirked at the thought and headed out of her personal chambers. After the age of ten she and her brother were given their own chambers, separate from the ones they used to share with their parents. They were still in the royal wing, but it was so large it felt like they were all on opposite corners of the castle. Bra liked it that way. She liked feeling like she had privacy. Vegeta liked it that way as well. He didn't have to deal with the 'brats' all the time; 'brats' mainly referring to Trunks and his constant shadow Goten.

Bra passed the lab that she and her mother often occupied as she walked through the corridors. She spotted Goten's older brother, Gohan, working on some invention and held two fingers up to him in a small salute when he looked up. He shot her a wave and went back to work. While his grandfather, father and younger brother all had a lust for fighting, Gohan much preferred science. Not to say that he wasn't strong as well, because he was, he just preferred being in the lab. Bra couldn't blame him. She loved working on things too. She inherited that trait from her mother although it seemed to have skipped her brother.

Bra finally saw her destination and quickly entered the room. These training grounds were private, meant for the royal family and their most trusted elites only. Before she could register what was going on, Bra was ambushed. Someone grabbed her from behind and had her arms pulled in an uncomfortable position behind her back. "What the hell?" She screamed, ready to murder her brother or Goten, whomever her attacker may be. She heard a deep chuckle in her ear and his breath on her neck and instantly she knew- It was Goten. She felt her heart rate speed up.

"Goten." Her voice took on a deadly tone, "I'm going to kill you." She was glad her voice didn't betray what she really felt. He made her blood boil. He made her heart skip beats. He made her want to ravage him.

"Dude, you better let her go. She's turning red. She must be getting really mad." Trunks quipped from the ground. Bra thanked her ancestors that Trunks didn't know the real reason she was turning red. Goten sighed, once again causing his breath to tickle the back of her neck and loosened his grip. Bra mentally cursed him for getting her so riled up and turned to give him a glare that would make her father proud as she pulled herself out of his grip. He knew what he was doing to her and right in front of her brother to boot. He had a death wish. She was certain of it. 'Thankfully Trunks is as dense as a rock when it comes to these things.' She thought.

"Oh, come on, Princess. I was just playing." Goten winked. Bra was ready to kill him and be done with it. Trunks, who missed the wink, laughed at Bra while she fumed. He and Goten had always been the best at pulling pranks and Bra, after she was born, got picked on a lot by the two of them which pissed King Vegeta off pretty badly but it was still worth it to Trunks.

"You'd think you'd be used to this stuff by now, Bra. Why do you get so mad?" Trunks asked, causing his sister to sigh. She was just glad he was so clueless.

"Whatever. Let's just spar already. I have better things to do with my time than spend it being harassed by you two clowns." She sent them each a glare for good measure and then walked to the middle of the room to get into fighting stance. Trunks was the first to attack.

It seemed like they had been sparring forever when Bra finally held her hand up to signal she had enough. All three were drenched in sweat. Bra had a bloody lip, Goten had a black eye and Trunks looked like he had been dragged through a bed of sharp rocks by the way his armor was dented and torn. All three wore big grins on their faces. Fighting was in their blood and nothing seemed better than a good spar. Even Bra, who was tiny in comparison to her brother and Goten, could fight and hold her own with the best of them. She was not fragile, to say the least.

Goten sent her a hungry look when Trunks wasn't looking and she winked at him in return. The three of them started their post spar stretches and Bra caught Goten watching her as she was bent over. She would have to reprimand him later for getting careless in front of her brother, she decided.

Goten was the first to stop. "I've got to get going. I'll see you a little while later, Trunks." He said, walking over to the other man to pat him on the back. While he did sometimes call Bra 'Princess' (especially in front of her father), he never referred to Trunks as 'Prince Trunks' or 'Your Highness' or any other honorific. They were so close, they should be brothers. They'd been best friends since before he could remember. He walked to the door and gave a small salute, before disappearing through it.

"I'm going too." Bra said as she looked over at her brother. "I'm going to shower. My armor is sticking to me and it's gross." Trunks nodded and gave her a small wave bye as she headed out the door. She was halfway down the hall when she was suddenly grabbed and jerked into a dark room. She didn't have the chance to make any surprised noises before a mouth suddenly crushed against her own. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss full force.

They broke apart for a moment to get some air. "Goten." She quietly sighed his name. Their eyes locked, sky blue and deep chocolate, and Goten pulled her against himself to kiss her again. After a moment, Bra broke the kiss and lightly pecked his lips again before laying her head against his chest. She fit perfectly in his arms.

Goten reached out and pulled the tie from her hair letting it fall loose all around her and then proceeded to softly stroke it while holding her close to him with his other arm. They stayed that way for a few minutes, neither wanting to speak, both just enjoying being in each others arms. Bra lifted her head and looked up at him.

"We can't keep doing this." She whispered. Goten just grunted in response. "You know we can't, Goten. When they catch us-" Goten interrupted her with a snort, "You know they will eventually. And when they do, I don't know what they will do but we both know it won't be good." Goten just gave her a blank look and shook his head.

"I love you, though." He whispered back. Bra's heart sunk. She loved this man with every fiber in her and yet they couldn't just openly be together. There was a law that stated that the second born should be sent away. It had always been that way- her uncle Tarble was a good example of that. Her father had chosen not to send her away because he loved her so much and because her mother, who is human, could not bear the thought of that either. That left Bra in a predicament though. Technically, she was not allowed to find a mate because she was not to produce offspring that could threaten the rightful heir's right to the throne.

These laws were ancient but Bra suspected that it went further than that. Her father had been over protective of her since the day she was born. She knew deep down that a huge part of the problem was that her father felt like no one was good enough for her. On her sixteenth birthday she had asked her father about her future and he told her that it was his right to choose and it was none of her concern. Bra sighed.

"I love you too. I can never explain how much. I just don't want you to get hurt." Goten shot her a sad smile. Two other issues were her grandfather and her brother. Her grandfather was old school. He was furious when her father fell in love with her mother. She was not a Saiyan. That is the royal families biggest kept secret even to this day. He was even more furious when her father refused to send her away when she was born. That was tradition. A second child is a threat to the heir. Bra was afraid of what he would do if he found out about her and Goten. Not to mention Goten's blood was still technically tainted by being low class. He was born into the elite class, but Bardock had originally been third class.

Her brother was another story all together. Goten was his best friend, his brother, as he liked to say. Trunks would be furious if he found out they had been keeping this a secret from him. He would feel betrayed. He would be torn about what to do. He is the Prince, the next in line to the throne. His duty would be to do whatever the King wanted. His heart would tell him different. Bra felt like crying.

Goten reached down and gently lifted her chin so that she was looking into his eyes. "Bra, I don't care about the consequences. I've thought this through a billion times. Anything that happens will be worth it to spend whatever time with you that I can." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips and wrapped his arms around her once again pulling her into a tight hug. A few minutes later he let go, stroked her hair one time, kissed her on the forehead and walked out the door...

...

Authors Note: Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed! If so, please review!