A/N: A two chapter one-shot I've been wanting to do for awhile after learning about the Oath of the Horatii in my art history class :-) sometimes, being a nerd pays off lmao. I hope you guys enjoy! I had so much fun with this. I'll be working on my two other DBZ stories in the meantime, and don't worry; Vegeta's dream is totally non-canon. Hahah.

Enjoy!

"But Daaaad!" The whining of the young lavender-haired boy could be heard all throughout the large estate known as Capsule Corp. He was stamping his foot in protest against his father's rejections. What was his problem, anyway? He was the main star of the school's first play of the year. His father should be proud of him! Glancing over his dad's agitated features, Trunks spoke again. "It's one night, only! And then I'm dropping out of the drama club!"

Vegeta's agitation grew. He felt deep remorse for the first time from having his son away from school to help defeat Buu. Due to all of the absences, his principal gave Trunks an ultimatum so he'd be able to move on to middle school: join a club, or repeat the sixth grade. "It's your own damn fault. Could have joined a sports team or something, but you threw away your pride for... that damn musical."

Trunks face was red, a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "Dad, I told you there were no spots open for the teams. It was either this, or the mathletes." He shuddered at the word. He then stuck up his chest, trying to show his father that even though they both felt disgust for the activites Trunks has been involved in, he still had pride in himself. "Still, I'm better than all those other losers. That's exactly why I'm the star!"

Vegeta looked over his son, a slight sigh escaping his lips. He rubbed his temple, trying to soothe the headache that his family always provided him. "What play is it?"

The young boy was shocked by his father's question, not quite expecting it. He cleared his throat. "Oath of the Horatii."

The prince searched his mind, trying to see if he had heard of this Oath thing before. Since everything on Earth was finally at peace, the Saiyan found there was so many hours in a day. He decided to give reading the massive collection of books Dr. Brief had in his study to pass the time, amused at some of the concepts he was beginning to learn. There had been a few plays, but this one had no familiarity. "What's it about, boy?"

Trunks was grinning from ear to ear at his father's questions. This was a sign of interest. "It's a Roman legend! Ancient!"

Vegeta's eyes suddenly sparked of interest when he heard his son's opening sentence. He was fond of the Roman empire, they reminded him of a weaker version of the Saiyans. They had pride, honor, dignity. Something Vegeta realized the 'strong men' of earth today were completely lacking. "Continue."

"Well, there are three brothers from Rome, who are the Horatii. There has been a war going on between Rome and Alba Longa, another Italian city where the three Curiatti brothers are from. They decide to end war by fighting each other; these two sets of three brothers!" Trunks was nearly jumping up and down, not able to hold his excitement. "The Horatii brothers promise their father that they'll only return if they have killed the Curiatti brothers! Only one Horatii brother survives, having killed all three Curiatti!"

Vegeta smirked, taking in all of the words his son spoke. "You play the superior warrior that returns home, correct?"

Trunks was glowing with pride, and he stuck a finger to his chest. "Yes! Yes. I. Am!"

The Saiyan prince leaned back in his chair. The two were sitting in the Vegeta's room after training together. That training was ended abruptly however, when Trunks would not give up on trying to get his father to come see his performance tonight. However, after hearing that summary, Vegeta was interested. "Sounds gory for a play with child actors."

"I guess it does," Trunks laughed and scratched the back of his head. "But we adjusted a lot so it won't traumatize anyone or nothing."

Vegeta frowned, disappointed. "So no bloodshed?"

"No!" Trunks laughed harder, looking at his father's face. "I hope you're still convinced, though. I'm going to start getting ready. I have to be there two hours before the audience arrives."

With a hopeful kick in his step, Trunks ran to his room to put on the handmade Roman soldier uniform. He stopped mid-step when he remembered some vital information. "Oh, Dad?"

A grunt was heard from the room down the hall.

"Goten is one of the Curiatti brothers," he said sneakily. "And he gets killed first."

That sealed the deal.

Vegeta's eye twitched at the number of people who came to attend the event held at the school's auditorium. He wasn't sure if he was more angry about having to sit next to Goku, or at the outfit his wife had forced him to wear. He looked over the Saiyan beside him in disgust. "So, your woman made you wear this horrendous garment, as well?"

Goku laughed. "Aw, come on, Vegeta. Tuxedos aren't that bad. Plus, we are doing it for our boys, not ourselves."

Vegeta mumbled under his breath, looking to his left side now at his wife. "Woman," he announced, gaining her attention. "How long will this ridiculous outing last?"

Bulma shot her ill-mannered husband a deadly sapphire glare, fuming. "It's not ridiculous, Vegeta, and I've had it up to here with your complaining! Your son has worked so hard for this just to get through school, and you're not even supportive of him!"

Vegeta returned the glare. "Don't be stupid, woman. I came here, that obviously means something!" He saw Bulma's anger begin to fade, making him continue. "All I asked was how long this blasted thing is."

"Two and a half hours." Bulma's words were spoken bluntly.

"Shit!"

Her husband's profanity caused the woman in front of them to turn around and give him a disapproving look. "For goodness sake's, this is a children's play!"

Not able to conceal his anger at the moment but not wanting to start a brawl, he simply showed the stranger his middle finger. A gasp escaped from the mouths of the Son family sitting on the right of him, all of whom were watching the ordeal unfold. A pregnant Videl stretched her head up to get a glimpse of Bulma, silently offering her help. The blue-haired woman gave her a smile of assurance, and Videl went back to her previous position.

Bulma looked at the woman apologetically while lowering down her husband's hand, squeezing it tightly as she placed it hard on his leg. "My husband has Napoleon complex. I'll make sure he watches his mouth the rest of the night."

The woman nodded approvingly, but sent one last glare to Vegeta before she turned back around. Bulma's smile went to a scowl. She was still holding her husband's hand, but tightly, hoping it might hurt but knew there was no chance. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she whispered. "What if she's a mother to one of our son's friends, and you just embarrassed him?"

Vegeta shrugged, but his eyes held confusion. "What the hell is Napoleon complex?"

"Don't worry about it, husband."

"Woman!" Vegeta broke the grip of her hand on his easily. "If I have a disease, it is my right to know the truth!"

Gohan, Videl, and ChiChi tried stifling their laughter, but were unable to hold it in. Goku looked at them, then at Vegeta, then back at them. "Hey, what's so funny?" When they didn't answer, Goku frowned. "HEY!"

His loud voice caused the laughter to cease, and Chi Chi looked at him with pure confusion. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Vegeta has a disease. It's not nice to laugh at him." Goku crossed his arms angrily, looking exactly like the Saiyan beside him. Gohan, who was in the seat beside ChiChi, slapped himself in the face. His father didn't know what Napoleon complex was, either.

"There's nothing wrong with him, Dad!" Gohan chuckled, and then a little too loudly announced: "It just means that the reason he is so angry all of the time, is because he's short."

Everyone could feel Vegeta's anger flare up, but Goku's eruption of laughs distracted them.

"That is NOT why I am angry!" Vegeta yelled, almost everyone around them were now staring, causing Bulma to melt in her seat. Vegeta's intense glare didn't help. "I am angry because the way your son described this play, I thought it would be done in five minutes. It's the only reason I came to this blasted thing- AND SHUT THE FUCK UP, KAKAROT!" He caught the woman from before turning around to face him once again, but seeing his threatening expression, she turned right back around.

Bulma rolled her eyes. Her husband was almost as naive as Goku, sometimes. "Trunks just gave you a summary. There is so much more to the plot than that."

Vegeta groaned, slouching deep in his seat. After a couple of minutes of the embarrassing display that unfolded, Goku and ChiChi changed the subject and began talking to Videl and Gohan about names for their grandchild. All he could hear was the sound of innate chatter from all the people scattering in the auditorium to find the last remaining seats before the show began.

He opened an eye when he felt the dainty hand of his wife touch his shoulder, squeezing it. "Is that the problem? You're just exhausted, huh?"

Vegeta sighed, allowing the hand to remain since it felt so good at that moment. "I didn't mean to let that escalate... You're the reason I'm like this in the first place."

Bulma flashed him a brilliant smile, and giggled. "You're the one who wanted to keep it going all night-" She felt his strong hand cup her mouth in an instant, his face a light hue of red.

"Vulgar woman," he hissed. "Have you forgotten the idiotic company you allowed to sit with us?"

Bulma's smile never left her face as she removed her husband's hand from her mouth, and kissed it. "Well, Mr. Super Saiyan. Just stay awake for a few more hours for your son, and you'll be able to sleep peacefully tonight."

There was something in her eyes that made the prince believe she telling the truth. "Fine," he grumbled, sitting up a little as the auditorium began to darken.

"Hey, guys!" Goku elbowed Vegeta excitedly as the lights dimmed. "It's time!"

Vegeta looked at the people around, boredom showing in his eyes. He could not for the life of him understand what people found so amusing about the chubby child acting like a narrator on the stage before them, explaining the same story Trunks had told him earlier that day. He still couldn't believe that happened today. It's been such a long, long day...

"Keep your eyes open, prince!"

He shot his wife an annoyed look, but his gaze went immediately back to the stage as he watched his son march across it, two small boys following behind, a spotlight chasing them every inch. He suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart watching Trunks in his Roman soldier outfit, all eyes focused on him. The helmet had his hair hidden, and if it weren't for the lavender eyebrows, he looked exactly like a mini-Vegeta.

"Oh, Trunks!" The woman beside him quietly whispered, her eyes watering and lips quivering. Her pride for him was impossible to contain. Her little boy was growing into a man.

"Man," Goku whistled, and elbowed Vegeta a second time, much to his chagrin. "Trunks sure looks good up there!"

Vegeta nodded in agreement. "He'd look much better in Saiyan armor, though."

Goku chuckled, and the two Saiyans brought their full attention back to the stage. Standing before Trunks was a taller boy holding three swords, and behind that boy were four girls, all kneeling down.

"My sons," the tall boy announced, doing his best to sound like a king. Vegeta laughed outloud at the fail, getting a smack from his wife to silence him. "The time has come for you to defend and sacrifice yourself for your country."

The boy's speech went on and on, and Vegeta's vision was becoming blurred.

The tall boy was now a spec.

A dot.

And then, the whole room turned black.

Vegeta reopened his eyes after taking in every single word his father had spoken to him. The day had come for him and his two brothers to defeat the Frieza army of three. His older brother, Raditz, was trying his best to look as brave as him. However, his younger brother, Kakarot, was slightly shaking causing Vegeta to roll his eyes.

He would be the first to die.

The three young men saluted to their father, who held out their three swords for them to take. As Vegeta grabbed his, his eyes focused in on the woman holding back tears behind his father. Her hair was blue; eyes even bluer. If there was one thing he was jealous of when it came to his brother, was that he got such a beautiful woman to marry him.

"Please Kakarot," Bulma cried out, finally letting the tears flow. "You don't have to do this! Either you'll defeat my brother, or he'll defeat you!" There was so much pain coming from her plea, that Vegeta almost forgot that one of Frieza's people, Zarbon, was her brother. Either way, she was going to lose someone.

Vegeta looked away from her in disgust, now only seeing a pathetic and weak woman instead of the beautiful one had seen just moments ago. Suddenly, he didn't feel so jealous. "You've chosen a weak mate, Kakarot. She'll pay for that in due time."

The messy-haired Saiyan warrior forced himself to keep his eyes off Bulma. "It's my duty to fight alongside my brothers. And if that means killing your brother... Well..." Kakarot reached up for the sword, not finishing his sentence.

The king sent his three sons on their way, leaving himself and the women emotionless, even Bulma, who was now hard as stone.

The Saiyan warriors traveled their way through the war-torn cities, half of the villagers fearing the sight of them while the other half silently cheered them on. They trudged their way up the hill and to the field where they were scheduled to meet once the sun rose. As they made their way to the burnt and bloody grass from previous battles, they noticed the three figures standing fifty feet away from them.

The three black-haired men raised their swords high with pride, and got into the traditional Saiyan fighting stance. Before Kakarot could even move, a knife quickly found its way through his heart, killing him immediately. The culprit was none other than his brother in law, Zarbon.

Vegeta showed no mercy as he decapitated the creature in seconds, not shedding a tear for his younger brother's foolishness. He picked up his bloody sword and let out a war cry before charging to his next victim.

"K-Kakarot..."

Goku looked over at the unconscious Vegeta, hearing his Saiyan name. He smiled brightly. "Isn't that sweet? The little guy is dreaming about me!"

"You're finally dead!"

Goku's smile quickly vanished, and he was going to open his mouth to speak before he felt his wife punch his arms. "Honey! Look! It's our baby boy!"

The younger Saiyan decided to ignore the sleeping one beside him, and looked at the stage to his son stabbing another boy with a wooden sword, ketchup squirting out of the fallen one's armpits.

Trunks had no lines to speak, thanks to the narrator speaking to the audience from behind the stage, so his main focus was completely on making the fight believable. His drama teacher had told him to take it easy though, knowing he could probably kill any one of his costars. The kid playing his brother was just killed by best friend, signaling his next action to murder Goten.

"Hey, Trunks!" Goten whispered, being discrete as possible. The narrator was talking loud enough and slow enough to buy them a few seconds. "Did you see your dad? He's knocked out! I wondered what happened!"

Trunks looked in confusion at the short half-blood before him, and in the corner of his eye spotted his father, in all his spiky haired glory, snoring in his seat with drool sneaking out of the corners of his mouth. The boy scowled. His father, the only one he wanted to be watching him, was asleep with boredom. Without a word, Trunks knocked Goten hard on the matted stage, the wooden sword tightly stuck in his armpit.

"OW! Whaddya do that for, Trunks!?" Goten cried out, and then froze when he noticed all eyes on him. He face was bright red, and then loudly announced: "OH, I AM SLAIN!" The mini Goku collapsed dramatically, sticking his tongue out as the audience erupted in laughter.

The second part will be up tonight, guys! This will be a one shot split into two chapters, I don't want to make long stories when I have so many to finish lol. I hope you're not tired of seeing me everywhere :p But, like I said before, quality is better than quantity, so my writing isn't the best yet and would love advice to help me grow.

Thank you guys so much - have patience, if you truly enjoyed this, and the next part will be up either later tonight (my time lol) or tomorrow morning!