This fic is rated M for a reason. It contains mention of rape (don't worry, I did NOT go into detail, yall), is pretty dark for something coming from me, and deals with a little torture, at least in this chapter. Nothing too insane, though. You have been warned.

If there was truly such a thing as Hell, they had found it.

Ami jumped awake when the all too familiar sound of standard issue boots echoed into the small holding room. She'd been taking a catnap; even strung up by her arms, it was something she'd taught herself to do over the previous two weeks. From a medical standpoint, it made sense; the body could acclimate itself to just about any circumstances, and even if it couldn't, it could only go without sleep for so long before it gave out and the person fell unconscious.

Like Mina or Rei, for example.

She blinked when a small group of warriors walked into the room, surprised to finally see upper brass for once. The only warriors they'd even laid eyes on, other than the crown prince, were third and second class warriors. There weren't that many differences in Saiyan armor, but being well-versed in their culture and language, Ami could spot the subtle variances. These guys were definitely part of the upper echelon.

She accidentally locked eyes with the very first one that looked at her, and her stomach did a flip-flop just before she had the sense to look away, and tried her hardest not to cringe in anticipation of the beating she knew was coming for having looked a general in the eye.

When a pair of boots stopped right in front of her and the beating didn't come, she risked a nervous glance up to find a pair of obsidian eyes staring at her intently. The man they were attached to grunted. "This one's mine," he said flatly, his tone offering no room for argument.

At that, Ami simply glared at him in response, daring him to hit her. If he did, he was going to get one hell of a surprise. However, she turned her head when she heard another voice mutter the word "broken," followed by Jupiter screaming in rage. Looking around the general that was still staring at her, she saw another warrior building a small ki ball in his hand, standing over a pile of blonde hair on the floor. "NO!" Ami screamed, "NO NO NO NO! PLEASE DON'T!"

That seemed to give the spikey-haired warrior pause, and he turned to glare daggers at her. "Nappa, explain that this is an act of mercy. The blonde is broken."

The general in front of her turned his head. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I've seen my share of broken captives, and this is definitely one of them."

When the general turned back to her and they locked gazes, she blinked at the funny feeling in her stomach. Oh, shit. I'm totally not even dealing with that right now. "Please," she whispered in the language of her system, Sol. "Please don't let him kill my sister."

"She's broken," Nappa replied in heavily accented Solarian. "He's doing the woman a kindness."

"She's not broken; she was badly hurt, and requires time to heal, both physically and mentally. I'm a doctor, I know what I'm talking about." Ami flinched when his hand suddenly moved, fully expecting to be struck, but his hand only reached up to brush her dirty blue hair from her face. That totally unexpected act of kindness decided her, and she turned her head to address the warrior that clearly didn't speak Solarian. "She was a goddess of lust and sex, you know. With a little kindness and patience, she'd definitely be worth the effort of nursing her back to health. I've heard that there's this thing she does with her tongue…" Ami shrugged, letting them put two and two together.

All of the males in the room immediately stared at her in surprise. "You never said you spoke Saiyan," Nappa said flatly.

"You never asked," Ami replied matter-of-factly.

"The warriors on the transport said that none of you spoke Saiyan."

"They didn't ask either," Ami deadpanned. "They were too busy beating us and trying like hell to rape us, too. That's what happened to Minako," she added, nodding at the blonde.

"And this one?" A long-haired warrior asked, nodding at the red-fuku'd woman, also lying unconscious on the floor.

"Burnout, trying to defend Mina. She wields fire, so the guards learned awfully fast not to fuck with her," Ami added bitterly.

"And you?" Nappa asked.

"Ask the four guards that got their balls frozen solid," she answered with a dark smile and a hint of violence in her eyes. "They found it a little difficult to get it up when I was finished with them."

"And her?" The fourth warrior asked. He had to be related to the man standing over Minako; other than the scar on his cheek, they were both identical.

"Lightning and thunder."

The warrior smirked and nodded. "Not easy to get laid when you're dead from a heart attack."

"Exactly."

"The broken one?" The warrior standing over Mina asked, kneeling down to check her pulse.

"Minako is gifted with powers over light and the heart. They don't do much good against ki shields; we tried to defend her, but they eventually managed to separate us for a few days before Rei—" She nodded at the dark-haired woman. "—staged a revolt and broke her out. Rei needs medical attention too, or she'll die in a few hours." Ami sighed when the long-haired Saiyan muttered a few curses and began to build a ki ball in his hand. "NO!" She shouted again. "She doesn't need a ton of—look," she said quickly, when all four of them glared at her for trying to give orders. "Rei can easily be saved, she's just suffering from burnout. It's common for Martian warriors when they've blown all their energy. She's cold and clammy, and her pulse is fast and thready, right?"

The man nodded after checking her. "Yes."

"Let me down, and I'll show you what to do." When they all glared at her again, she sighed. "Fine, then." Taking a chance, she simply used her powers to freeze the chain binding her hands, gave it a sharp jerk, and fell to her knees when it shattered. She was unable to bite back a whimper when the blood rushed painfully into her arms.

"No," she heard the general bark, "she's mine, damn it. Any of you touch her, and you'll fucking regret it." And then in her ear, in accented Solarian, "you'd better start making sense fast, woman, or I'm going to let one of them blow you to Hell."

"No you won't," she dared, just as quietly. "Because you felt that stupid pull, just the same as I did." Ami smirked with pleasure when she heard him swear under his breath. "Help me up, please. Just so I can get my balance." She breathed a sigh of relief when his strong arms easily hefted her, doing one better and scooping her up to carry her to Rei and set her down with a gentleness that she would have never expected from a Saiyan general. Apparently her surprise showed, because he gave her an easy smirk and what could have been a chuckle.

"Here," Ami said, turning to the task at hand, "put your hand over her heart, and just give her a little bit of your ki. Ki is similar enough to fire, or even lightning, that it should substitute nicely."

"And why would I save her?" The long-haired warrior grunted.

"You wanted her, didn't you? I'm not stupid," she added, when he huffed and looked away. "I know how this whole spoils of war thing works. Saiyans take pretty female captives for sex, sometimes as mates, due to the poor ratio of women to men on Vegeta-sai. And the higher-ranking captives tend to go to the higher-ranking warriors. I'd bet my money you're all Elite."

Ami would have normally smiled in satisfaction when they all grunted an affirmative, but there was too much at stake to get caught up in her own damned pride. "Well? Are you going to give her a bit of your ki, or am I going to have to let Makoto down to save her? Because if I do, she'll likely electrocute the lot of you in the process." She exchanged a look with Mako, who then snarled at the Saiyan beside her when he growled at her.

"Fine," the long-haired warrior huffed, kneeling down at Rei's side. He easily pulsed some of his ki into her, and she immediately opened her eyes and glared daggers at him while flames erupted around her hands.

"No, Rei! No! He saved your life, and if you try and light his ass on fire, you're going to die from the burnout if one of them doesn't kill you first," Ami said quickly.

Rei blinked and turned her head to look at her sister-in-arms. "Ami-chan?" She asked softly in Japanese. "Where are we?"

"A holding cell. These men are laying claim to us; it's a Saiyan thing. But… I don't think they're going to hurt us." Ami looked back up at the warrior. "You're not going to hurt her, right?"

"No."

"Your name?"

"Raditz."

"Thank you. Rei," Ami continued in their birth language, "this warrior's name is Raditz, and he's promised not to hurt you," she said gently, smoothing back her dark hair. "So don't give him any trouble, ok?"

Rei huffed and managed a ghost of a smile. "Never thought I'd see the day when you became the leader, Ami. Why shouldn't I just fry his ass and die honorably in battle?"

"You know why. We have to live, damn it. So don't give him any trouble. And as hard as I know it'll be for you to submit to a man, you may have to, but something tells me that he won't force you. So just cooperate with him, and we'll figure out some way of us getting back together and finding Serenity."

Rei looked up at Raditz and gave him a slow, exhausted nod. "Alright." She closed her eyes for a moment and detransformed into her princess gown, unable to keep her Senshi uniform for another moment; it was simply using too much power.

"She'll go with you without a fight," Ami said in Saiyan, "and she'll need to eat soon if you don't want her to pass out for a solid week from the physical strain of rebuilding her power." Positive that Mars would be fine, she looked across the small room to Minako. "Is there anything I can say that will convince you not to kill her?"

"Not much," he replied, "I was merely waiting for you to convince that one—" he nodded at Makoto, "—not to electrocute my father in retaliation."

"Please," Ami whispered in Solarian to the general, "please tell him not to kill her. I know you're in charge, you can order him not to."

Nappa managed not to groan; damn it, this woman was pushy, and if he hadn't felt the pull for her, he would have cuffed her upside the head for her insolence. "What do I get, damn it?" He smirked when she looked taken aback at that statement. "You want me to convince a warrior of mine to play nursemaid to a captive, then I want something in exchange, woman."

"And what do you want?" Ami asked in defeat. She'd give anything for one of her sisters, and she knew that he knew it.

"What do you think, woman?" Nappa was slightly surprised to see her nod without hesitation; a man his size was an intimidating prospect to just about any woman, but this one was so tiny!

"I can promise that I won't fight you," Ami finally replied, unable to keep the trembling out of her voice. "I swear it on the ice peaks of Mercury." She heard Nappa switch to a language she didn't understand, and by the heated tone coming from the other warrior, he wasn't pleased by whatever Nappa was telling him. Finally, the general picked her up and set her next to Sailor Venus, who was staring at the wall blankly, her pupils dilated in shock.

"Minako-chan," Ami whispered, shaking her gently. "Please wake up, you have to wake up and listen to me. Serenity's life depends on it." At the mention of their queen, Mina blinked rapidly and focused on the blue-haired Senshi. "That's it, Mina. Say something, please."

"I… I saw them…" Mina licked her lips and her eyes filled up with tears. "The starseeds."

"I know, sweetheart, I know. We all did. They're with Serenity now, they're safe. I saw them in the crystal stasis with my own eyes." Ami ran her fingers through the lanky, filthy blonde hair in an effort to soothe her. "We'll find Serenity and rebuild Crystal Tokyo, Minako. But for now, the mission's changed. We just need to survive until we can find a way home, alright? And for you to do that, you need to go with this warrior."

Ami didn't know where she found the sudden strength, but she lifted Mina into her arms and hugged her tightly when the Senshi of love shook at the mention of a male. "What's your name?" She asked in Saiyan.

"Turles," he grunted unhappily. "Tell her that I swear I won't hurt her." Hopefully that would get her to stop that shaking before she hurt herself further; the last thing he wanted was playing maid to a further-injured pampered little princess.

"He says that he's not going to hurt you, Minako. His name is Turles, and he's going to get you healthy again, ok? Frankly, he seems like a total asshole," she added, "but a Saiyan keeps his word if it's given. You know that. Can you go with him for me, and try to keep it together?"

Minako managed the barest of nods before detransforming; her fuku had practically been in shreds anyway. "I'll try," she whispered, "for Usagi, if nothing else."

"Don't fight him, either; I don't think he'll hesitate to take you out if you do." Another nod from Mina, and Ami turned back to Turles. "I saw you react to a few words in Solarian, so I assume you speak a little. Here." Ami pulled a book out of her subspace and handed it over. "A dictionary, in case you get stuck on a word."

Turles nodded, a bit grateful for the book, and tucked it into the tail wrapped around his waist before scooping up his prize, who started trembling again once she was in his arms. He handled her carefully though, in hopes that it would cease the tears welling up in her eyes.

Ami sighed as she watched him march out with Minako, and turned to Raditz. "I'm assuming you don't speak any Solarian at all."

"Not a word. My brother was stationed on the moon," he replied, nodding towards the door where Turles had just exited, "but I wasn't."

Pulling her computer from her subspace, Ami quickly gave it orders in Japanese before handing it over. "This will act as a translator. Just tell it to translate Saiyan into Solarian and vice-versa. Rei can access it as well. And… that computer is very dear to me, so please try not to destroy it. I expect it back once one of you stubborn asses learns the other's language."

"Are we done yet?" Nappa grunted.

Ami held up her hand, making the gesture to hang on a second, before looking to Sailor Jupiter. "Do we even have to have this conversation?" She asked tiredly.

"I'll behave," she snapped, "so long as he keeps his hands to himself."

With a touch of humor she couldn't conceal, Ami translated. "He says he wouldn't risk you killing him, even though he knows you felt the pull as well."

"Pull?" Mako asked in confusion.

"A tug just below your sternum, when you first saw each other. Look him in the eye, you'll feel it. It means you're his mate." She waited for Mako to look over, and wasn't surprised to see her jump and hear her swear eloquently. "Your name?" She asked the warrior.

"Bardock. Can she cook?" He asked. "I'll be happy enough right now with a cook, at least until she gets settled in."

Ami laughed and nodded. "She's the goddess of nature, and just about anything domestic. She could turn any three ingredients into something edible."

"Good." Bardock uncoupled the chain that bound his mate and caught her before she hit the ground. "She speak any Saiyan?"

"All of the swear words."

"Good," he grunted, "we'll understand each other just fine, then."

"Well?" Nappa eyed her hungrily when she looked up at him with those captivating blue orbs, and wanted nothing more than to just go right ahead and pounce on her. When she nodded wordlessly, he scooped her up and marched right out the door, leaving Raditz and Bardock behind to tend to their mates, and shot into the air away from the city. "Cold?" He asked, when his future mate began to shiver.

Ami relaxed when she felt his ki warm her. "Thank you. And thank you as well, for letting me save my sisters." When he merely grunted in response, Ami let herself doze back off for the rest of the flight, and was jarred awake when Nappa landed. It was pitch black, but she sensed that they were in front of a house, which was confirmed when he pushed open a door and ordered the lights to come on.

She wasn't surprised to see that the place was hardly furnished, but what furniture there was was of good quality and clearly expensive. Ami swallowed when he carried her into a large bedroom, and tried to cease the trembling in her hands. A deal was a deal, and she wouldn't break it.

"Can you stand?" Nappa asked. He was inwardly grumbling at her sudden, expected fear, despite the fact that he'd known it was coming, and when she nodded, he carefully placed her on her feet. "The bathroom is over there; I'm sure you'd probably like to clean up and relax for a few minutes."

Ami nodded and finally detransformed, then jumped when he tipped her chin up to make her look at him. "I—I won't fight you," she whispered nervously. "I keep my word."

"Go wash up, woman," Nappa huffed in exasperation, and plopped down on the edge of the bed to remove his armor.

Not about to refuse the chance to take her first bath in over a week, Ami darted into the bathroom, closed the door behind her, and quickly disrobed, hanging her gown on the doorknob.

The feel of the hot water in the shower was so wonderful that she actually cried, and it was a full five minutes before she could pull herself together long enough to reach into her subspace to retrieve soap, shampoo, and a razor.

Never had she thought that something as simple as washing her hair or shaving her legs and underarms could feel so good; she'd felt like she had a colony of bacteria and God knew what else growing on her body for days. The water around her feet seemed to agree; the moment she'd gotten under the water, it had turned brown from the filth and blood in her hair and on her skin. "I'm glad I avoided looking in the mirror," she muttered to herself, "I probably would have thrown up."

"Eh, I've seen worse," Nappa's voice rumbled from outside the curtain. "Are you about finished? I'd like to wash up as well."

"Oh, sorry," Ami said in embarrassment. "Just finishing, hang on." She yelped when he pulled the curtain back and stepped in, and tried her best to cover herself.

Nappa chuckled and pulled her to him before she had the chance to slip and fall on her face. "Woman, I'm going to see all of you in just a little while anyway. No point in being shy."

Ami couldn't stop herself from shaking nervously when he tugged her tightly against him and she felt his bare skin sliding over hers. Not to mention the feeling of something pressing against her stomach; that something was quickly becoming long and firm with every passing second.

"I won't hurt you, woman. You know just as well as I do that I pretty much can't. Here," he added, pushing her wet hair out of her face, "let me help you relax a little."

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt something wet and fuzzy snake between her legs and stroke her intimately, but when she tried to scramble backwards she found herself firmly pinned in place. "You—you don't—I'll just—"

"Shh, woman. Relax." Nappa's chest rumbled in a soft purr as his tail slipped between her folds and began to brush over the bundle of nerves between her legs, making her gasp in surprise. He felt her press against him after several moments of that treatment, whimpering something in the language she'd spoken earlier, the one he didn't understand. "Does that feel good?"

"Yeah," she answered breathily, unable to stop her fingertips from brushing against his slick, bare chest. She couldn't stop the little moan that escaped her mouth when he began to press and rub a little harder, making her hips move in time with his tail. "That… that feels…"

"Come for me, woman," he whispered, bending his head to run his mouth over her shoulder. When he heard her whimper again, and her hands clutched at him, he clamped his teeth down on her shoulder and sucked on the bite, relishing in her immediate cry of pleasure and the way her hands moved to cradle his head to her in response.

When she cried out softly once more as she peaked and shook in his arms, he switched his hand for his tail in order to snake the fuzzy appendage inside of her, thrusting forward with it before she could react to the invasion.

Crying out once more, this time in a mixture of pain and pleasure, Ami could hardly compute that he'd just taken her virginity with his tail, let alone the fact that he had so easily made her submit to his attentions and had effortlessly made her orgasm. "Why—why did you just…"

"Shh, woman. Now I won't hurt you as badly when I claim you," he explained, while he used his tail to soap a cloth and carefully wash her of her virgin's blood. "It's common practice, when a warrior's laying claim to a female that's so much smaller than him. My tail's not nearly as wide as I am," he added with a smirk.

Ami didn't even have to look down to know that he was right, and nodded. So much for losing her virginity under silk sheets, making love with a man she actually cared for. This warrior was not that man, but beggars couldn't be choosers, either. At least he'd felt the pull, which would ensure her safety, and the safety of her sisters. She jumped when she felt his tail move inside of her again, but fought to relax against him when it moved slowly, turning and twisting in an obvious effort to stretch her out a little before the main event.

It was at that moment that she felt oddly grateful towards him; he'd been absolutely right to take her innocence in that manner in order to spare her more pain, and he was still obviously trying to prepare her for what was about to come.

Nappa let his hands roam, now that she was clearly relaxing into him, letting him do what he wanted, and fought the urge to claim her right there and then. No, it was her first time, he'd at least give her the luxury of a bed. If she'd been some random fuck, he wouldn't have been so kind, but this woman was going to be his mate, and deserved what little kindness he was capable of. "Ready for the bed, Blue?" He purred into her ear. "I think you are."

As hard as she tried, she couldn't help but want what was coming; he was being a lot more considerate and gentle than she'd expected from a Saiyan warrior, especially one his size. "Ok," she barely managed, and before she could utter another word, he was cutting off the shower, drying them with his ki, and had her in the bed before she could even blink.

But as he rolled her beneath him, it was her turn to make him jump when she pulled him down to her for a kiss. "What in the hell was that?" Nappa asked in surprise, licking his lips.

"Why am I not stunned to discover that Saiyans don't kiss?" She huffed, also unfazed to discover that she didn't have a word that translated for 'kiss' into Saiyan.

"Kiss," Nappa said softly, bending his head to press his mouth to hers once more. "It's not unpleasant." He pulled back in surprise when her lips parted and her tongue flicked over his mouth. "What kind of whore's trick is that?" He gasped.

Ami couldn't help herself, she clung to him as she laughed at his reaction, burying her face in his chest. This was just downright absurd, compared to what she'd expected when the transport had landed and they'd strung the four of them up in chains.

Once she'd regained her composure, she pulled him back down to her and slowly began to explore his mouth with her own, occasionally running her tongue over the crease of his lips. "Open your mouth a little," she whispered.

Entranced by this new and exotic action, Nappa did as she requested, and was pleased at the sensation of her tongue stroking his softly.

"You don't like it?" Ami asked, unable to hide her disappointment. When he grunted and shook his head, she was merely perplexed. "Then why aren't you kissing me back?"

"Oh. I didn't know that I was supposed to." Nappa tilted his head for a better angle when he pressed his mouth to hers and immediately slid his tongue inside to explore, making her moan with pleasure. He was pleased to feel her move her hips in invitation when she took control of the kiss, slowly teaching him how it was done while she offered herself up at the same time.

Not one to ignore such a blatant offer, Nappa pressed into her, groaning at her tightness as he slowly filled her. "Not yet," he groaned, when her teeth grazed over his shoulder. "Not unless you want me to hurt you."

She mumbled an apology before moving her mouth to his throat, licking and kissing her way down to his chest, where she fastened her lips around a flat, masculine nipple.

Nappa gasped at the foreign sensation as he kept his movements inside of her slow. "For a virgin, you sure seem to have experience, Blue."

"Doctor," she replied breathlessly, arching slightly into him at a wave of unexpected pleasure. "I know plenty about male anatomy."

"Lucky me," he groaned, burying his face in her breasts when she stroked the base of his tail. He moved just a little harder when she began to move in time with him, gasping softly in pleasure. "That's it, Blue. Come for me," he purred, lifting her hips for a better angle. When he felt her beginning to tighten and heard her moan something in her native language, he bent down to her and offered his shoulder. "Bite me, woman. You're mine," he added with a delighted whisper. "All mine."

"Yours," she barely managed, and as she spiraled up and peaked, whimpering in surrender as she tightened around him, she clamped her teeth down as hard as she could, moaning at the taste of his blood in her mouth. Ami had expected to be disgusted by the taste, but something about the bond made him taste wonderful, and she couldn't help but suck a little on it, pleased with the way she was making such a quiet man moan with pleasure.

"Not yet," he whispered, more to himself than to her, "come for me again, woman."

Ami nodded helplessly, clutching at his back. "A little harder, Nappa," she moaned, a hitch on the last syllable of his name as he did as she asked. And then she lost herself in him again, taking him with her as she found rapture once more.

"You alright, woman?" Nappa smirked when she nodded into his shoulder weakly, still trembling from the aftermath, her skin flushed and sweaty. "I should call Raditz now, and tell that bastard that he's wrong as usual," he chuckled. "He's always going on about how I've lost my touch with the ladies."

Ami couldn't help it; either from her own mood, or from his pouring through the bond, she chuckled along with him. "He was definitely wrong."

"As he put it, 'use it or lose it,' if I remember correctly. I made it clear that a Saiyan warrior doesn't have to be a slut to know how to get a woman off." Nappa grinned when she laughed; the sound was music to his ears. "So… I suppose I could use the bond to find out for myself, but it would seem rude."

"Hm?" Ami blinked as she looked up at him, to find his face unexpectedly soft… almost a little tender.

"Your name? I should have gotten it before, but Saiyan urges tend to get out of hand."

"Out of hand?" She snorted incredulously. "Um… I apologize for arguing, but you were quite the opposite of out of hand." The genius smiled shyly and looked away when he just continued to gaze at her like she was the only thing in the world, his hand idly stroking over her cheek and through her hair. She knew it was just the effect of the mating bond, but it was nice, just for a moment, to think that the way he was looking at her was real. "Ami. Princess of Mercury, goddess of wisdom."

"Nappa. General of the Saiyan Armada." He frowned when she stiffened beneath him and looked away again, her eyes shifting from warm water to a pair of ice chips. "What, woman?"

"I know who you are," she whispered coldly. "We all do."

Nappa blinked at the sudden chill in the air and shivered, but he could tell through their bond that she wasn't doing it on purpose, it was merely a physical reaction to her mood. Rolling to his side, he took her with him and bent his head to kiss her; she'd seemed to enjoyed that a lot before the mating, and as his mate, he simply wanted her happy. "And if I was merely a rank and file soldier, would you be as pissed off at me?"

Ami weighed his question, thought for a moment about lying, but finally shook her head. "Knowing who you are and what you've done is what makes me angry. You led the siege on the crystal palace. You killed my sisters," she added with a choked sob, drawing away from him as that fact dawned on her.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. Nappa sighed and tried to draw her back into his arms to give her some comfort, but didn't force her into his embrace when she shoved at him. "Ami, if you must know what really happened… yes, I had a hand in their deaths. But it's not as if I was going to lie there and meet my own, either. The blonde in particular… that one fought like a fucking Saiyan warrior. I honestly have nothing but admiration for her and the other princess. They fought and died honorably."

Rolling out of the bed, Ami simply yanked some clothes from her subspace and dressed quickly, her mouth set in a hard line as she left the bedroom and located the couch she'd seen on her arrival. When she felt his mind draw closer to her, she made it a point not to even look at him as he sat down on the end and drew her feet in his lap. The tears came when he began to rub them gently, offering not so much as an excuse, and she knew through the bond that he was only trying to comfort his mate. "Just leave me alone," she whispered thickly.

"Can't," he grunted. "And you know I can't, Blue. You're my mate, and you're unhappy. You're even on the verge of hating me." He wasn't going to voice how much that hurt, though. "I don't blame you. I'd probably hate me a little, too, if I were you."

When she didn't answer him, either out of anger or a lack of anything to say, he continued. "You're mine now, Ami. I won't hurt you anymore. Even Vegeta can't order a Saiyan to do something that would harm his mate; it's the only loophole for defying orders in the Saiyan army. You're smart, woman. You know Saiyan culture, and you know what I'm saying is true." Nappa heaved a frustrated sigh when her unhappiness and cold anger only continued to pour through the bond, making his stomach hurt and his mark ache. Damn it, and foot rubs were the act of contrition, according to Raditz.

Ami went rigid when she felt his hands brushing away the tears that just kept coming, and shoved at him ineffectually. "It's just the bond," she said icily. "If we weren't pair bonded, you wouldn't give a shit, Nappa."

"Feh, woman, you're making this awfully difficult. But you're right, if that makes you feel better. I wouldn't care. But we are mated, whether you like it or not, therefore I do care." With another sigh, he ran his fingers through her hair. "We're going in circles, Blue. Tell me what you want me to do… and please don't say 'jump off a cliff,' either. You're rational and intelligent, so come up with something."

"Where's my queen?" She asked flatly, unable to keep the growl of anger out of her voice.

"At the palace, still surrounded by that damnable crystal coffin thing. I don't suppose you'd tell me how to remove it?" He added with a grumble. "Can't blame me for asking," he snorted, when she just glared at him coldly.

"And the crown princess?"

Nappa blinked and shook his head, but caught an image from her mind of a teenage, pink-haired woman that was the spitting image of her mother. "Is that who she was… she's alive, but missing. She escaped from the transport that was carrying her mother. She refused to speak the entire time on board. Stubborn little thing," he snorted. Nappa shook his head when he heard her next thought. "No, she wasn't harmed, under Prince Vegeta's orders."

"And Saturn?" Ami looked up at him when he didn't answer, and found him scowling, a wave of frustration and anger coming from him through the bond. She couldn't help but smirk with dark satisfaction. "How many did she take out before she gave you the slip?" Her smirk turnedturning into a full-fledged smile when he didn't answer, but she could clearly see the answer in his mind.

Hundreds. Saturn had reaped hundreds of warriors before she'd made her escape. "At least that's one goddess that you all have learned not to fuck with," she said nastily.

"Blue… you're dangerously close to pushing the wrong buttons right now."

Reflecting back on it later, Ami was amazed at her own level of quiet rage as she sat up and stared him down. "How does it feel then, Nappa? Did you know any of those warriors? Were any of them family? Brothers perhaps? I hope so… then, maybe then, you'll be able to understand on some level what you've done to me, what you've done to my people. All because a spoiled little prince didn't get his dick wet."

When he made a motion to tell her to be quiet, she smacked his hand back down. "Oh no, you're going to fucking listen to me, whether you like it or not!" Ami yelled, wiping furiously at the tears running down her face. "YOU KILLED MY SISTERS! My queen refuses a proposal of marriage, and the Saiyan Armada somehow finds it acceptable to destroy a peaceful nation!? Did it ever fucking occur to any of you dim-witted monkeys to tell your beloved prince to take a flying fucking leap? Or to maybe school him in how to court a woman!? Serenity just lost Endymion, and I know all about Saiyan courtship and respecting the mourning of a prospective mate!"

"We tried, woman. You don't think we didn't try to convince him to wait?" Nappa asked patiently, trying his hardest to think through the anguish, grief, and justified fury directed at him through the bond. "Raditz tried the hardest, tried to explain to him the protocol for a period of mourning. But he'd felt the pull, and what Vegeta wants, Vegeta gets. No," he groaned, when she opened her mouth to scream at him for allowing the prince to go right ahead and destroy her home. "I take responsibility, woman, more than most. I helped raise the boy from an infant, I was responsible for his training. I was more of a father to him than the king, so it's my fault for not educating him better in respect and understanding."

Ami felt the truth of those words and shut her mouth as she sensed the blame that Nappa placed on himself. He'd followed his prince into battle, just as any other Saiyan would have, but he hadn't donedidn't do it without question. It didn't erase the fact that he'd done it, but he'd had reservations. And now she could hear him wishing that he'd never done it, that he'd faced the Execution Beam for defying orders, now that he knew the harm that he'd caused his mate.

Her anger faded at that, just enough for her not to truly hate him, and she felt the bond open wide on his end as he offered to let her see anything she wanted to see. Ami was tempted to really look, but after viewing his surface memories of the war and the secret guilt he harbored for indirectly causing it, she retreated from his mind. "This is going to get us nowhere," Ami whispered, feeling utterly defeated and suddenly exhausted both physically and mentally.

The princess didn't pull away when he reached out and gently tugged her into his arms; she simply didn't have the will to fight with him any longer, it had completely left her. Ami couldn't help but weep into his chest when he spoke again. "Blue… I'm sorry," he whispered into her hair. "If there was a way to go back and change it, even if it meant my own death, I'd do it for you. I would have never done it if I'd known that it would cause this kind of harm to my mate."

Ami could have said so many things about the morality of harming everyone in her kingdom and not just her, but she only nodded wearily; the fight had totally gone out of her. He was Saiyan, and that was how Saiyans thought and processed. Fight, eat, sleep. Fuck if there's time. The only thing that finally overrode that primitive drive was the pull, and the completion of a pair bond with a female. Then the warrior calmed down a little and began to think more like a rational human being. And even then it still wasn't quite the same as the way other people thought about the well-being of others.

"Come on, Blue," Nappa sighed, gently scooping her up. "You're exhausted, and I'm getting there myself."

"I'd rather sleep out here," she protested weakly. The last thing she wanted was to be comforted by his scent, to smell the evidence in that bedroom of the very real pleasure she'd found in the arms of the enemy.

"I'm not your enemy, Blue," Nappa sighed unhappily, still wishing there was some way to erase her pain. He carried her to the bed despite another mumbled protest, and laid down with her, tucking her securely to his chest with his arms and tail as he tried in vain to purr comfort to his mate.

#################

Nappa was angry, hurt, and beyond sad to find his mate gone in the morning, but frankly, he wasn't the least bit surprised. "The search begins," he sighed. It was early, at least, she couldn't have gotten far, and she hopefully had the common sense to stay the fuck out of the city. She was smart as hell, the smartest woman he'd ever met, but he was pretty sure that her heart overrode her sense on a regular basis.

"Please gods, please let her be unharmed," he whispered to himself as he exited the house and took to the sky, focusing on the bond and the direction it was pulling him in. Stupid woman, she'd gone into the city. Of course, why was he not surprised? And her path was taking her straight to the palace, too.

Nappa poured on the speed when he spied a strange fog in an alley, and somehow knew without a doubt that she had something to do with it. He found quite the sight when he landed; a squad of warriors, frozen solid, and the silhouettes of a few others fighting a small figure, who was surprisingly holding her own. "STAND DOWN!" He barked in Saiyan, flaring his ki to give the exact same order to any who hadn't heard it.

Without fear, he strode right into the fog, and despite her effort to conceal herself, he found her easily through the bond. Ami was panting, sweating, bloody, and wearing the most blood-thirsty look he'd ever seen on a female.

Nappa immediately wanted to throw her down and take her… after he'd smacked her around and strangled her for being so damned stupid and reckless.

"Do it," she snarled, sounding more like the goddess of war than the goddess of wisdom, "go ahead and do it, Nappa, show me your true colors."

Unable to strike her despite the desire to do so, Nappa grabbed her by the front of her fuku, ripped off the cloth covering her shoulder, and bit down savagely on her mating mark. He growled possessively at the sound of her sharp cry of pain and pleasure, and sucked on the bite as he felt the pair bond strengthen, and felt her pleasure, despite her efforts not to enjoy his teeth buried in her shoulder. "Stay put," he snarled at her, mentally daring her to argue with him in front of his men.

Ami kept her mouth shut and sagged against the wall of the nearest building, quivering with a mix of need for him and the after-effects of the battle, while her mate barked orders to the men she hadn't killed. She was still shaking uncontrollably when he came back and threw her over his shoulder before he shot into the sky towards his home.

She didn't even have time to word an explanation or a biting remark before he had her on the floor in front of the small foyer, tearing at her clothes like a man inspired—or a man gone insane with need, thrusting into her the moment he was free of his fatigues.

Ami cried out in pain at his sudden invasion as tears leapt to her eyes, and began to shove at him until he bit down on her mark once more, flooding her with pleasure and a lust for him that she didn't have the strength to fight. "Nappa, please, it hurts," she whimpered, when even the bite wasn't enough to override the fact that he was a lot bigger than her, and she was still newly deflowered.

Shaking from the strain, Nappa immediately stopped and rolled off of her, leaving them both unsatisfied. "You could have been killed!" He snarled at her, covering his face with his hands as he tried to get the unfamiliar mix of emotions under control. "I nearly slaughtered my own fucking men for laying hands on you!" He raged, brushing her hand away when she sighed and laid it on his arm. "No, Blue, don't fucking touch me right now, I have zero control, and I don't want to accidentally hurt you."

He climbed up from the floor, fixing his pants as he stormed out, leaving her naked in the foyer. "Eat something and clean up!" He ordered from the bedroom. "I'll deal with you later!"

Shaking like a newborn colt, Ami climbed to her feet and washed up in the kitchen, detransforming as soon as she was finished into the clothes she'd been wearing that morning. It was as if the water cutting off was a signal that she was finished, because she heard Nappa storming back in.

She was stunned when he embraced her tightly at first, and she could feel his fear for her pouring through the bond. Then he pulled away and shook her as if she were a disobedient child. "Swear to me that you'll never do anything like that again," he whispered intensely. When she opened her mouth and closed it again, he shook her a little harder. "Swear it, Ami! Because if you do something like that again, I won't be able to call my men off, and I'll go down defending you against the Elite, branded a traitor even in death."

Ami knew all too well how horrifying that would be for any Saiyan, and with a sob, she nodded.

"Say it, woman. I want to hear you swear to me that you'll never leave the house without me again, and that you'll never fight a Saiyan warrior again. You can defend yourself if you're attacked," he amended. "Now swear it."

"I… I swear it," she choked through the tears pouring down her face. "On—on the—ice peaks of—Mer—Mercury." The princess of Mercury lost what little composure she had left when he immediately tugged her to him and held her tightly, whispering Saiyan words of comfort and devotion into her hair. She knew he genuinely wasn't trying to harm her or scare her before, he'd just been terrified of losing her; the very notion had made him more than a little crazy.

It was well over an hour of just letting him hold her like that before he finally spoke, his face still buried in her hair. "Ami… you could have just asked me to take you to the palace," he sighed. "I would have asked you last night if you wanted to go, but you were so tired, I was going to save it for today."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, fresh tears spilling onto his bare chest.

Not sure what else to say or how to say it, Nappa lifted her as she was, straddling his waist, and took her to the bed, but didn't lay down beside her. "Sleep a little. I have damage control to take care of," he sputtered; the last thing he wanted to do was speak with the king or the prince about the brawl in the alley, and the fact that his mate had put an entire squad of Saiyan Elite six feet under.

There were already seven messages from the king on his scouter the moment he donned it and stepped outside, and another call was incoming. "Majesty," Nappa grunted, unable to suppress the heavy sigh that immediately followed.

"Before I ask what the fuck happened this morning, I want to know how you're going to handle this, Nappa. And you'd better word your response carefully," King Vegeta growled dangerously. "Word has it that the woman in the alley is your mate?"

"Yes, sire, she is. She's the princess of Mercury, one of Queen Serenity's sisters. I felt the pull for her last night and brought her home. I apologize for not informing you right away, but—"

"I'm not concerned about that, Nappa. I know very well how the pull works. You were more concerned with claiming your mate than calling an old man," Vegeta snorted. The king rubbed his temples as if fighting a migraine. "You'll make reparations, Nappa."

"Yes, sire." That wasn't even a problem; Nappa made plenty of money as a general, and rarely ever spent any of it. "I have her solemn vow that she'll never raise a hand to a Saiyan warrior again unless she's defending herself, and she won't even leave the house without myself as an escort.

"She was heading to the palace," he continued, "to see her queen, since she thought I wouldn't let her go, and she was confronted by several Elite, who didn't believe that she was my mate. The Elite struck first, but she actually had a few chances to just get away when she used that fog power she has. Instead, she was overcome by anger for her fallen sisters, and she transformed into her fighting form. She quickly dispatched an entire squad by freezing them all solid. She was fighting some reinforcements when I arrived, and had been about to kill them all, too."

"She told you this?"

"No, sire, I saw it through the mating bond over the last hour. She was too distraught to really speak, so I looked into her mind, knowing you'd want her side of it," Nappa answered carefully. "Sire… if I may…?"

Vegeta sighed and nodded. "Go ahead, Nappa. Over a century of loyal service gives you the right to speak freely."

"Ami wasn't like this before the war. She was a creature of peace, and a goddess of wisdom. A medical doctor as well, over a thousand years ago. This kind of rage… it's very Saiyan, and she doesn't know how to handle it. She doesn't know how to handle being mated to a warrior who killed her sisters."

King Vegeta blinked at that. "You mean, those two hellcats at the palace…?"

"Yes, sire. The princesses of Uranus and Neptune."

"Shit." King Vegeta knew all too well what kinds of problems Nappa was going to have with a mate that both hated and longed for him at the same time, and almost felt sorry for the both of them. "Bring her tomorrow, let her see her queen. I'll keep my son away from her; it would probably be best."

Nappa heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you, sire. I know it will bring her great comfort to see her sister." He went back in the house to find his mate fast asleep, and tucked his scouter away after deleting all of the messages from the king; he already knew what the old man wanted to say, anyway. After eating breakfast, he fixed Ami something as well, delving into her memories to find out what she liked, and set the tray on the nightstand.

"Ami, wake up," Nappa said, shaking her gently. He brushed her hair out of her eyes when they opened before running his fingertips over the outline of her heart-shaped face. "Are you alright? Did I hurt you?"

"No," she whispered sleepily, "I'm fine." Ami didn't even have the will to fight him when he slid in beside her and tugged her nightshirt over her head before pulling her pants and underwear off. She sighed in defeat when he kissed her, and while she didn't return it, she didn't fight it, either.

Nappa sighed just as heavily; he didn't even have to delve into the bond to know she didn't want him, so he settled for holding her. "Tell me what to do, Blue," Nappa whispered, feeling nearly helpless at the depression taking over his mate. "I'll do it."

"I want to go home," she replied tearfully. "I want to go home with my sisters and rebuild, and I never want to see another Saiyan warrior ever again." Ami felt his pain at her words through the bond; it was so strong between them after his repeated biting that she couldn't even block him out, and her mark was aching fiercely in response to his unhappiness. She could sense that his was as well, and had been since the night before.

"You'll see your queen tomorrow," he said hoarsely, releasing her as he sat up. "Eat," he ordered, resorting to that wooden mask that all Saiyans used to hide strong emotion. "I'll—I'll speak with the king tomorrow about sending you back to Earth," he added in a shaky whisper.

That statement completely floored Ami, and she looked up at him through a haze of tears, seeing the turmoil on his face despite his efforts to hide it from her. "You'd let me go home." It wasn't a question, she could feel his resolve to actually… beg the king for that favor when they arrived at the palace.

"If it makes you stop hurting," he answered simply. "I won't keep you bound to me only for you to hate me," he continued, refusing to look at her. "I'll ask the king tomorrow… there's an ancient way to… to reverse the bond… if… if…"

Ami's stared at him in shock as he bit down on his lip and his eyes actually welled up with tears, his hand clenching into a fist in an effort to keep it from shaking. He cared for her. He truly cared for her, loved her even, as much as a man like him was capable. And the thought of giving her up was tearing him apart… but he'd do it. Just to have her truly happy.