Chapter Text
Four months later…
This was too easy. Compared to his last target who provided Vegeta some sort of mental challenge, these two bounties were unimaginative, predictable and boring. He hoped for a fight of some kind, any kind of fight. But the moment these two fugitives turned their guns on him and realized none of their bullets pierced his skin, they fell to their knees and begged for mercy.
If they weren’t worth fifty thousand zeni, Vegeta would’ve blown them to dust. But neither Goku nor ChiChi wouldn’t have liked that—Goku because all life was precious, ChiChi because of the money. Snatching up the collars of their shirts in each hand, Vegeta flew the three of them over to West City. Once there, he found his usual contact standing on the front steps of the local jail, hands in his pocket.
The bail bondsman nodded to Vegeta as he hovered a foot off the ground. “How long did it take this time?”
“Three hours.” Vegeta dropped the two fugitives right in front of the bondsman’s feet. “Give me a better bounty next time.”
“You’ve practically captured all the hard ones, V.”
“Hmph!” Crossing his arms over his chest, Vegeta snapped, “Transfer that zeni into my account pronto. I got three mouths to feed.”
“Already on it.” The bondsman tipped his hat to Vegeta. “Thanks, V. We’ll take it from here.”
“See that you do.” Vegeta pointed down to the two cowering fugitives below him. “And you two!” He smirked at the way they jumped in place and cringed to each other, trembling all over. “Behave.”
With a blast of ki, Vegeta zoomed up into the sky, heading in the direction of Mount Paozu. He went over his mental checklist of the day as he flew beyond the clouds—sold off the latest produce at their usual farmers market buyers, bought more cleaning essentials and baby items, dropped those off with ChiChi…
He came to a dead stop mid-air, slapping his forehead. “Goddamn it, the fucking milk.”
If there was one thing Vegeta hated the most on this forsaken planet, it was grocery shopping. While Goku really didn’t enjoy farming, Vegeta liked that he didn’t have to go into the city all the time for daily things like meat, vegetables, fresh water, or any of that. With the plentiful animals and wild fruit throughout Mount Paozu, the vegetables cultivated by Goku, and the clothes sewed and knitted by ChiChi, they wanted for nothing. It was only when ChiChi or Goku needed something Vegeta deemed absolutely essential, like cleaning supplies or dairy products, that he ventured out to West City.
Like now. With the stupid three boxes of milk that he held in his two arms, standing in a long, long line with the rest of the dumb humans, listening to inane pop music on the PA system, while a cashier argued with a customer about expired coupons that couldn’t be used.
It took every ounce of Vegeta’s patience not to fly out of the supermarket with the boxes. Goku would’ve understood he tried, but not ChiChi. The last thing Vegeta needed to hear was another lecture about following the rules, not drawing attention to himself and being a good ‘citizen.’
The thought amazed him sometimes, how he wasn’t out there in the universe blowing up planets and decimating entire races for Frieza anymore. The threat of that tyrant still haunted him. Any day now, Dodoria or Zarbon—or Tor forbid, the Ginyu Force—could show up, kill him and his pashika, blow up this planet and move on. Or worse: use the Dragonballs for their own nefarious wants.
But it had been years. With Bulma’s help, she was able to analyze Raditz’s old pod and discover the transmission from his pod died off a few minutes after the system changed trajectory for Earth. There was little to no chance of Frieza finding him. Same with Nappa and Raditz. As much as it pained Vegeta that the last two Saiyans out in the universe were stuck serving Frieza, he couldn’t go out searching for them. Not when neither he nor Goku were strong enough to take on Frieza on their own. Not when ChiChi was expecting with the pashika’s first born cub. Goku’s cub. As long as Raditz and Nappa couldn’t find him, neither could Frieza.
Vegeta wasn’t going to stay passive though. Once the cub reached an age, and a power level, that he and Goku felt comfortable with, they would leave this planet and go find Nappa and Raditz themselves. ChiChi wouldn’t like it, but it had to be done. His past self wouldn’t have given the two of them another thought. Not now. Vegeta wasn’t going to abandon them. Neither was Goku. Bulma was close to cracking the code to space travel, thanks to Raditz’s old pod. Sooner rather than later, she’ll figure it out. She had all of Vegeta’s trust.
At the sight of the only two buildings in Mount Paozu, he descended from the sky, landing softly on the grass. Grandpa Gohan’s rebuilt old shrine glistened in the bright sunlight, he and Goku’s main residence. He headed towards the large dome Capsule building Bulma built for the three of them, where he registered ChiChi’s ki as well as the unborn cub.
He pushed the unlocked front door open with his shoulder, stepping inside. “I’m back!”
ChiChi poked her head around the corner of the kitchen, smiling from ear-to-ear. “Vegeta! You remembered!”
“Halfway back here, but yes.” He dropped the boxes on top of the kitchen wooden table. “Kakarot still harvesting?”
“Oh, he finished a while ago.” She went onto her tip-toes to pick up the top box. “I think he said he was off swimming.”
“Sounds like him. Do you need any help?”
“I’m fine, thank you,” ChiChi said, placing the box next to the fridge. “You shouldn’t worry so much. I’m only three months along.” She patted her slightly swollen belly.
“Not worried,” he grumbled.
“Mhm.” She waved him off, opening the fridge door. “Scoot scoot, I have work to do! I’ll see you two later for dinner.”
“Flare up your ki if you need either of us.”
“You know it!”
Vegeta closed the front door behind him before he flew into the sky in the direction of Goku’s ki. He found his mate lounging on the grass near the local river, naked from the waist up, with his eyes closed and his arms folded behind his head.
The second he touched down, Goku said, “How was work?”
“Boring. You?”
“Boring.”
“Yours is essential.”
“Yours is fun.”
“Only because I get to fight at some capacity.” He flopped down next to Goku, one leg bent, the other out straight. “Maybe we should change professions.”
Goku poked open one mischievous eye at Vegeta. “You’d burn up the fields within the first thirty minutes and you know it.”
“And you’d let go of every single person you catch.”
“Hmph.” Vegeta snickered at Goku’s pout. “Why do you gotta call me out like that?”
He leaned over and down towards Goku, nudging their noses side to side. “Because I know you, mah’kha.” Vegeta pressed their lips together in a soft kiss. “Just like you know me.”
Goku smiled up at him, wrapping his wet arms around Vegeta’s neck. “Yeah. I do.”
A gentle tug to his body, and Vegeta took the invitation, climbing over Goku’s body to nestle between his spread legs. He framed his forearms around Goku’s head, leaned in and kissed him again—a kiss that his mate controlled and he followed, the world around him fading away for a blissful moment.
When he pulled away, Goku murmured, “Y’know, we have a few hours to kill...”
“Mhm.” Vegeta cupped the side of Goku’s cheek and leaned in for another kiss. “That we do.”
He expected Goku to kiss him back. He did not anticipate Goku zooming away from under him up into the sky, leaving him to plant his lips into wet grass.
Vegeta glared at Goku giggling above him. Any retort he had in mind disappeared at the sight of Goku’s beautiful face, all boyish charm and endless enthusiasm.
“Gotcha!” Goku winked, his tail waving playfully behind him.
He came to his feet, smirking up at him. “Oh I’ll get you for that.”
His blood burned and his heart flipped at Goku’s grin and gleeful shout of, “Bring it on!”
They zoomed into the sky and the clouds, Goku pulling ahead of Vegeta—two blurs laughing and chasing each other throughout Mount Paozu. Two Saiyans who found each other and created a home together on a pale blue planet with a strange name called ‘Earth.’