Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

Okay, so this one-shot idea came to me after seeing Grown Ups 2, and I have no idea why, seeing as it's not a comedy whatsoever XD Anyways, hope you enjoy it :)

"Congratulations Trunks!" Trunks laughed when he heard the greeting, looking over to his father who had taken him out for the day. The eighteen year old hadn't understood why his father was going out of the way for "bonding time," but now he knew.

"Seriously, dad?" he chortled. "You helped mom with a surprise party?" The Saiyan prince shrugged and then nodded his head to the direction of the party. "That's awesome!"

Trunks eagerly raced into the chaos that would be another one of his mother's parties. Vegeta watched as his son went to greet Goten, his best friend and Kakarot's spawn all mixed into one. Rolling his eyes, he made his way to his wife. Despite learning to adapt to Bulma's parties, he still didn't enjoy the crowd, even if he was celebrating his son's upcoming graduation.

"Hey, thanks," Bulma whispered into his ear, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "You didn't have to keep him busy all day, you know, but I'm kind of glad you did."

Vegeta grunted a response before shrugging. When he saw his wife's hopeful eyes, he narrowed his. "What?" he asked almost snappishly.

"You can admit that you wanted to spend time with our son, you know."

Vegeta shook his head. Lately, he had been trying to make up for lost time. Despite having a second chance with his daughter, he still felt like he had quite a bit to make up for with Trunks, but he would never tell Bulma that. "Soon he'll have no time to train while he's running that damn company of yours."

Bulma chuckled and looked over to their children mingling with her friends. Then she frowned a bit and looked back at her husband. He was already looking at the staircase. Sighing, the blue-haired woman whispered, "I take it you're going to you usual spot." Vegeta nodded. She hadn't expected anything less. During these parties, he always disappeared for the first few hours where everyone socialized and told or retold stories of past fights. She hadn't figured out why yet, since it was the perfect time for the man to brag about his fighting abilities, but he stayed away. "Can you at least promise you'll come down for dinner and stay for the rest of the party?" He nodded again and walked past her, making his way to their room upstairs.

On the balcony was where he ended up, and it was usually the place he always ended up. It was the only place in the city where there were no lights since the Briefs decided not to light their backyard. It was the perfect place to simply look up and see the stars. It was a habit Vegeta picked up ever since returning to the planet he now affectionately called "mudball." Back then, though, he wanted off the planet, annoyed by its people and customs. He had only been there because there was nowhere else to go, and now it had become his home, talk about irony.

Out of nowhere, a wave of familiarity passed over him, the wind picking up after a new presence appeared. The prince snickered quietly. "Kakarot," he said, "been a long time. Done with your desert training?"

"Nah," Goku replied. "But you know I wouldn't miss this party for the world, right?" They both knew that wasn't true. Goku always seemed to miss his childhood friend's parties, whether it be training or rescuing wildlife. The Saiyan fighter had the tendency to show up later than "fashionably late." It was just one of those things. "So what's up?"

"Please, Kakarot," Vegeta growled. "I am not the type for small talk. Just go inside and leave me be."

Goku blinked a few times, but he was not deterred. Instead he walked over to his friend and looked up at the sky along with him, a hand over his eyes. "Man, you can't see the stars like you can back home, but at least it's better than the city."

"Hn," Vegeta replied, attempting to ignore his rival's presence and return to his meditative state.

The two stood in silence, Vegeta thinking about the things he always thought of when he stood out there and Goku silently watching him. Vegeta, though his eyes were closed, knew Goku was staring at him. It was growing increasingly annoying. He sensed it since the spiky-haired Saiyan had shown up on the balcony and not in the middle of the party or kitchen. The younger Saiyan had sought out his energy to go to; he knew he was alone. "Is there any particular reason you're finding me so fascinating, Kakarot?" he grumbled. "You're not one to stare."

Vegeta calling him out startled Goku a little bit, but the cheerful Saiyan played it off. "No reason," he said. "I was just thinking about the reason you always come out here. I know, you know."

Vegeta scoffed. "If my wife can't figure it out, Kakarot, then you cannot figure it out. Haven't you heard? She's a genius, after all."

Goku smiled slightly, looking out into the darkened yard. "Well, yeah, I know that," he replied, "but she never shared a body with you."

Vegeta's mouth gaped open like a fish a few times before he started yelling. "Kakarot, you idiot!" he exclaimed. "What the hell kind of remark was that? It's ludicrous!"

"Haha," Goku laughed, holding his hands up. "Sorry, that did sound weird."

"Idiot," Vegeta huffed again. He crossed his arms and glared out into the yard, not having grasped what his rival had just said.

"What I meant was," Goku tried again, "you and I shared a body before, as Vegito. We shared a mind too, remember?"

"Don't remind me." Vegeta started to think about that time ten years prior, a time when he was at his worst, but then turned it all around and finally gave into the idea of family togetherness and saving a world instead of destroying one. He had swallowed his pride for his family then, and chose to accept fusing with the spiky-haired Saiyan to save their home. "I still think I'm going to need therapy for that one. I still hear your ridiculous comebacks from time to time. I still pray your stupidity didn't rub off on me."

"Hey, be nice," Goku joked. "Your arrogance wasn't fun to deal with either. But seriously…we did share a mind."

Vegeta sighed in frustration and uncrossed his arms. "So, what did the brilliant mind of Kakarot come up with? How can you be sure you understand why I come out here?"

"Two reasons, actually," Goku stated, completely sure that he had the prince all figured out. "One is because you feel you don't deserve it, and two is that you're scared."

No one would have been able to define the look on Vegeta's face as it was wide-eyed with anger, annoyance, shock, and even a little fear. "You can't be serious," he said, his mouth set in a straight line. "Take it back."

"Why?"

"Take it back, Kakarot!"

Goku continued to watch Vegeta as he frowned and looked back up to the sky. The Saiyan prince's heart rate was elevated, blood rushing through his veins. He began to tap his finger on the banister, reflecting on the reality of Goku's words. The younger Saiyan didn't expect Vegeta to say anything. He just continued to talk while Vegeta listened.

"Vegeta, we fused after you let Babidi take control over you," he started. "That means I know everything that happened after our fight."

"Kakarot," Vegeta breathed out. "Shut up."

"You thought Gohan had died like the rest of us did," he continued. "You apologized, Vegeta. Never would I have thought you'd ever say those words, but you did, and you felt guilty."

"Shut up," Vegeta said a little louder.

"When we fused, I saw all of your thoughts, about the past and that day, and even why you decided to give in and fuse," Kakarot said with a smile on his face. "It was kind of weird, you know, having those kinds of feelings about Bulma and Trunks, but when we separated, it was kind of nice knowing you cared. You know all that stuff that happened was just a poor lapse in judgment."

"Shut up!" Vegeta shouted before scowling and turning away from his rival. "I'm starting to think this whole fusion thing was a 'poor lapse in judgment.'"

"Aw, c'mon," Goku teased. "You know you had fun."

"Whatever," Vegeta muttered. "So what if I felt 'guilty?' What does that have to do with anything? And how dare you say that I, the Prince of All Saiyans, am afraid? There's nothing to be afraid of."

"Always gotta play the tough guy," Goku chuckled. "And well, you're afraid of it happening again. It's why you feel you don't deserve them."

"And what about you?" Vegeta snapped. "While you stand there prattling on about me, you seem to be forgetting that you're in the same boat, or do you not remember how you felt when you saw Gohan after seven years or Goten for the first time? Or how you let our sons and your ally die along with the planet!"

"Hey, hold on, we weren't fused at that last part," Goku pondered. "How did you know?"

"I…I could just…tell," Vegeta admitted. Then he pointed at his rival and said, "Don't talk about my guilt when you have your own guilt to process."

Goku rubbed the back of his head nervously and frowned. "Well, this wasn't what I was trying to do, but okay. If it'll get you to let me talk, fine. Yeah, I feel bad. I didn't know my decision was going to cause so many problems. I missed really important moments in Gohan's life, and I didn't even know about Goten. What I'm trying to say is I made a mistake and I have to live with it. The only way to do that is to let go of whatever it was and move on. We can't change the past, but if we hang onto it, we won't be able to move on with our families."

"Hmph," came the Saiyan prince's response. Again he said nothing; he simply moved to face the compound, leaning against the banister. "What do you want me to say, Kakarot?"

"Absolutely nothing," the cheery Saiyan spoke. "Like I said, I already know what bothers you." Goku walked over to him and joined him in leaning against the banister. "It's not going to happen again, Vegeta."

"I chose to abandon them before," Vegeta murmured. "What's to stop me from doing it again?"

"You're a good guy now, remember?" Goku stated sincerely, elbowing Vegeta in the side. "Porunga even thinks so. You won't make the same mistake. It's time to put what happened behind us. It's been a decade after all."

"Hmph, idiot," Vegeta said, though this time with a small chuckle. "Leave it to you to take ten years to bring this up."

"Eh, there was never a time to bring it up," Kakarot countered. "So?"

"So…"

"We should probably go in there. Chi Chi will kill me if I don't even visit her."

"Planning to stick around for a while?" Vegeta questioned as he kicked himself off the wall.

"Oh, yeah, I am," Goku chimed happily. "I thought it would be good to be here for a little while. Uub'll be okay for a little while."

Vegeta chuckled and shook his head, smirking at his rival and friend. "You never cease to amaze me, old friend. Seems you've actually had some sense knocked into you."

"Oh haha," Goku retorted before flashing Vegeta his classic Son grin. He gave him a slapping pat to the back. "Now c'mon already. I'm starved."

"You never change," Vegeta muttered smiling slightly. Goku returned the smile as the two of them entered the compound. A round of laughter could be heard from their family and friends downstairs. "Better make your grand entrance."

"Right," Goku agreed. He started to leave the bedroom, but paused in the doorway when Vegeta stopped dead-center in the room. "You coming?"

"In a minute," Vegeta responded.

Goku heaved a heavy sigh, thinking he hadn't gotten through to Vegeta in the way he hoped. The young Saiyan would never know how much his words had affected the older prince. After years of troubled rivalry and unresolved tension between the two, Vegeta finally accepted him as a friend. He was too dense to realize the exact moment Vegeta stopped seeing him as the untalented third-class, for he could only admit it to himself after they had fused and split, after they were Vegito.

Fusing again would be the only way Goku would ever realize in the future that Vegeta accepted his advice, but that was never going to happen. The past was dead and buried, over for the longest time. Vegito was the past as well, the accumulation of all of their mistakes. Vegeta agreed with the young Saiyan. Perhaps the mistakes ended with him, he pondered his final thought on the matter.