(A/N: Hello! Alright, exams have finally come and gone, and as long as I haven't majorly fucked up any of them, I'll pass with good enough grades to get the offer that was specially offered to me by my college. Overall there was only two that I'm a bit uncomfortable about, and I'm sure I did fine in those ones anyway. Also, as much as I want to talk about the very quick pregnancy thing, I don't want to spoil any of the story, so my lips are sealed, and here is the next chapter. I know that the wait for this chapter was long, so I've tried to compensate making this chapter about 6k words, but I can't reiterate enough that these exams were truly very important and that I haven't had much time for updating the story recently. I'm truly sorry for the absence, but hopefully you understand that these exams are imperative to my future career. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the latest installment of the story! Something cool happens this time, going against something I said before, and the explanation for it is something that I don't think anyone else has mentioned before. Also, someone mentioned that Goten is 13 at this time, and damn that's crazy to think considering that his appearance is unchanged. However, I'll keep him younger in this story because I've already given him childlike innocence.)

Chapter 17: An Unexpected Resolve

Goku held Caulifla as she cried, trying to console her by rubbing circles rhythmically into the tense areas on her back. He had no idea what was going on or what incited something he had never expected to happen with the normally fierce girl, but he suppressed the anger he felt, in order to try his best at calming the broken angel laying on him. This was a huge surprise; while everyone had their down moments, Goku was caught completely by surprise when Caulifla of all people showed a side of herself that he doubted she'd revealed to anyone else before.

By the time her crying had been reduced to quiet sobbing, Goku's gi had become sodden with tears, and Saiyan himself observed the damp area, getting angrier for every second that he looked at it. He wanted to fly down to Capsule Corp and beat whatever it was that had upset her out of Vegeta, or yell it out of Bulma. Nobody was allowed to hurt his Caulifla like that, not even himself. He was stopped by doing just that when all sounds that his new mate was emitting ceased, and she raised her head to look at him. He was greeted by the many emotions that were swimming in her head, the most dominant of them all being….pain?

It seemed that Caulifla had sensed Goku's own distress, as she gave her very best attempt at a smile. "S-sorry," she whispered, teary remnants of her breakdown sparkling on her face. "I haven't lost control like that in years. Maybe it's a m-mating thing." The girl still found some difficulty in acknowledging this new situation, and much less the even newer one.

Unfortunately for her, Goku wasn't buying it. "What did they say to you?" he asked softly, his voice not matching his strained frown. "Chi Chi crying I could understand because she was always an overly emotional wreck, but you…..I wouldn't have thought something like a conversation with that prideful git could break you. It must have been something about this mating thing, right?"

Caulifla was silent. Bulma and Prince Asshole seemed to think that Goku's knowledge of what she had been told needed to be withheld from him, so she held her tongue, even if she didn't like it. Then again, both of them had seemed shocked to no end when he deconstructed his thought process when they arrived, so clearly they had no idea who he truly was.

Impatient, though more out of concern than actual frustration, Goku broke her from her thoughts by moving his hands around her waist and pulling her to him, bringing her closer so he could revel in this newly discovered intimacy that had previously been withheld from him. She obliged, and allowed him to press his lips to hers, and they initiated what was a more emotional, intimate connection than before. No lust, no animalistic desire fuelled by the moon, just the two of them quietly making out with one another, both out of earshot and out of sight. Or so they thought.

Kale had done a double take when she heard the crying of her soul sister from the other room. Caulifla hadn't cried in years! Whatever had happened must've been serious. Moving down the corridor quietly, she noticed that the sobbing had been replaced with quiet murmuring, and then all sounds stopped together. Kale's eyes widened as she caught a firsthand glimpse of the newly mated pair engaging in another consummation of what, their genetic passion?

Whilst Goku continued his ministrations with her, Caulifla inwardly relaxed, happily, previous predicament momentarily forgotten. While she wasn't yet ready to accept what her life would become with her new mate, she silently decided that it wouldn't be so bad if Goku showed her this much care and affection. Caulifla had never been an emotional Saiyan as she hadn't had either of her parents during her childhood, but this…..she could get used to the bubbly feeling in her stomach, the overwhelming sensation of being appreciated, and she could most certainly get used to these moments. Caulifla from two weeks ago would burn these thoughts at the stake, and she found herself questioning whether this was something at all Saiyans went through: a phase as it were. It would take time, but eventually Caulifla could accept this new form of companionship that she had yet to experience.

Kale felt her face burn up at the sight in front of her. Hopefully last night's occurrence would not become a routinely thing, though Kale's suspicion was likely to be true, given the little that she'd learn of bonding in her years of being an outcast. Wanting nothing more than to avoid the embarrassed cries of the two should she interrupt, Kale slowly crept away, wondering how just a short amount of time could make such a difference.

Once the girl was completely out of earshot, Goku silently exhaled. Seriously, was it so hard to get any privacy with nosy, ki-sensing, telepathic beings keeping track of him constantly?

A moment or three passed by before the finally-alone duo separated, shards of tears still reflecting light from Caulifla's cheeks; translucent memories that indeed reminded Goku of why Caulifla was seeking comfort to begin with. He looked up at Caulifla, who was now sat on his waist and leaning into him, legs either side.

Goku wanted to ask her again, but the slightly wavering look on her face advised him against it, telling him that potentially upsetting her again was probably not the best idea. Instead he opted for trying to lift her spirits, by conveniently forgetting about the training rule he imposed after Caulifla's injury.

"What do you say I show you the Kaioken, as long as you don't immediately try to reciprocate the technique?" he asked, searching tentatively in her eyes for the answer. The mouth could lie, but the eyes weren't capable of hiding emotions, and from the result Goku was presented with, Caulifla definitely seemed invigorated by the idea.

Goku lifted Caulifla from him and got up, before promptly leading her outside to train, given that a certain chamber had been destroyed recently. His sodden gi and Caulifla's sodden mood were left forgotten.

Goku yawned, and began his morning routine. It consisted of running his hand through his mate's black spiky hair until she too rose from the land of the sleeping, at which point he'd bring her in for a quick moment of intimacy after the previous night's slightly more physical one. This would be followed by a pout and a drowsy moan from her at not going further, and then they'd both actually get up, give a quick greeting to Kale, and steal their breakfast outside to quickly begin the day's training.

Over the course of the last week, the Legendary Super Saiyan had slowly begun to warm up to Goku. While she'd previously hidden it well, Kale clearly held some kind of resentment towards the man, and Goku was glad that it was starting to fade.

Not only that, but whatever had been bothering Caulifla had begun to fade also, and Goku had come to the conclusion that it was all due to the realisation of her situation kicking in. Speaking of, the reality of being mated to her didn't seem bad in the slightest. Caulifla was amazing, and not just in the ways of her strength. Her charisma, her battle smarts, her spunky personality, and the sex….Kami the sex was incredible. Even after recognising the immaturity, Goku would occasionally scoff at Vegeta in his head; for he had a Saiyan mate, who was much, much better than a human in almost every regard. And he'd been with both so was able to compare.

It was almost a little odd that the two were becoming so infatuated with one another, but they had both individually assumed that eventually it would calm down a bit. It was probably some sort of Saiyan thing. That didn't mean that it was convenient however; often the two would need to do things separately, but whenever they were apart for more than a couple of hours they grew agitated and quick to temper. Goku was always the more open one though, he didn't seem to mind saying that he missed Caulifla, and unfortunately for the girl he also didn't seem to mind showing his affection when there were other people present, and naturally her ape brain always responded to his ministrations by acting in kind, something that Caulifla looked back on in embarrassment every time it happened. Luckily the only two that were ever around were Kale, obviously, and Cabba for some reason.

That said, Vegeta and Bulma had visited one time, a couple of days ago, presumably just to see how the bond between the two Saiyans was progressing, though albeit for different reasons. Bulma had, much to her joy, discovered lots of ammunition to fire at Vegeta when he was being distant and blamed it on how 'that's just how Saiyans are, woman', and almost felt jealous that Vegeta would rarely show her the passion and care that her long time friend showed Caulifla. It was almost intoxicating to be around, though admittedly Bulma had gotten hearts in her eyes when she saw Goku catch Caulifla by surprise by grabbing her waist from behind and murmuring into her ear that reddened the girl's features considerably. Vegeta though, had been less than pleased.

Speaking of Vegeta, while he was hiding under the pretence that he had been forced to go with Bulma, was likely also there to just assess the interaction between two full blooded Saiyans. Goku found it amusing that Vegeta was trying to learn more about his species after they had been eradicated, although it had served useful when the elite was begrudgingly explaining to him how he expected their mating to go. That said, Goku couldn't shake the feeling that something was being hidden from him by the other pair, and he made his concerns clear at their visit, which they had answered to with amusement and dismissal.

Either way, now that Goku wasn't being held back by Chi Chi and was able to do many more things in his spare time, he found himself not only yearning for the source of said freedom that he was currently sparring with, but he also felt compelled to explore, to go out and do things. This created complications because if he went out without Caulifla, he would eventually grow desperate for her company and come running back to her to seek….comfort, which she was just as willing to provide after being left for a few hours. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if they would become destructive if they were forcibly kept away from each other. Not that anyone could keep him restrained anyway, besides maybe Vegeta, who was probably the one that might understand his position.

With this complication, Goku had thought up ways to bring Caulifla along while not boring her half to death at the same time, and he had come to a rather exciting conclusion. He waved off his mate and descended to the ground as he garnered her attention.

"Hold it Cauli, I have a preposition for you. Did you see the glowing orange orb I brought in last week?" he asked, his eyes set on the sweat-laced figure. Man he sure felt lucky to have such a beautiful mate; his lower waist was tightening as he spoke.

Caulifla looked down at the man questioningly before descending herself. "The one with the little red marks in the middle right? Yeah I think so, you brought it in with all the food. Why, what is it?"

"It's a Dragon Ball," Goku replied. "Like the ones in the tournament, except they aren't as large as a planet. I don't think that Earth was ever supposed to have them, but I guess that the Kai's don't care, and Beerus enjoys the laziness that comes with a wish-granting dragon."

Caulifla's eyes widened. "A dragon? I suppose that gives the name some sense, and I'd already guessed the whole wish thing. So what, you wanna get the other ones?"

"Hole in one," Goku smiled. "There are seven lurking around on Earth, and that's the four-star ball inside. I'm also getting bored of this scenery, I don't need to be reminded of Vegeta every time I walk outside. So, I think that we should gather them all."

Walking towards him, Caulifla wore a look of intrigue. "How are we supposed to find them on a huge planet? Are they always in the same place?" She was oddly eager to find such trivial information, and Goku chuckled lightly at her. "So," he began, "you're just as bored as I am aren't you?"

Before Caulifla could, Goku yelled something and a yellow…..thing appeared almost out of nowhere, and he gestured to it before jumping onto it and widening his arms. "Hop on and you can explain on the way." Caulifla did so, and for some reason Goku's visage relaxed a bit. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin lightly on her abundant hair, and Caulifla felt a wave of comfort rush over her. She nestled herself closely into her Saiyan lover and purred into him, while Goku himself told Nimbus telepathically to head to Bulma's. The cloud sped off with the two, and if it were possible it would've rolled eyes at the pair.

A moment passed before Caulifla sighed and scratched her forehead. "I don't know why, but over the past few days, training has sort of…...lost it's novelty I guess." She shook her head in frustration. "I'm still pumped for a good fight, but I can't get my blood boiling for a training session. Maybe it's because we've been doing the same thing for too long."

Goku frowned. "I doubt it. It's because we don't have a need to get stronger right now; I only grow in strength by a lot when there's some kind of threat, and think that's because the desperation makes Saiyans prioritise fighting over our other two principles."

Having not heard of this before, Caulifla's forehead creased in confusion. "Principles? The hell are you on about?"

"Oh right, you're from a different universe, I forgot." Goku laughed before continuing. "Vegeta used to always harper on about how Saiyans lived for the three f's: food, fighting and fucking. Now that I think about it, there's evidence to prove it. I mean, when there's a big threat, I've always trained vigorously in anticipation for a fight, and eaten less food to give me more time. If I'm starved for even a day, I get angry and forget about training to hunt for food myself. And….." he trailed off.

Caulifla finished for him: "And when she would refuse you all the time,you'd get antsy until she let you hit it, yes, I get it." The bluntness in her tone was made up for by a soft smile of amusement.

Still not used to said blunt nature that directly opposed Chi Chi's hushed up provocativeness, Goku scratched his head in embarrassment. "That's what I was going for, yes. I guess we really are a simple species, aren't we?"

"Simple in our basic needs I suppose. But you said your Sadala, or Vegeta or whatever it was, got blown up by your Frost, so you wouldn't have seen the way our societies were. Ours back on Sadala is a little more black-and-white than what I've seen of these pathetic human ones, but everyone's roles are still quite complex. It's quite odd really, that both of the Saiyan colonies in the multiverse were ruled over by overgrown lizards against their rule." Caulifla sighed, thinking back to when Frost still had control over Sadala, under the pretence of being generous leader.

Goku sensed his mate's discomfort and ruffled her hair with a reassuring gaze aimed at her. "Well, at least they don't rule us any more, though Frieza destroyed my planet before he lost his grip on the universe. Hey, I never asked you, what do you actually do on your planet? And I mean you personally."

"That's hard to answer," Caulifla began."I'm not exactly a positive contribution to our society, and you seem like you'd be upset by what exactly it is." She looked down in uncharacteristic shame, though not for what she actually does on Sadala, rather that it was almost the opposite of what Goku does.

Oddly to her, Goku seemed undeterred. "I don't care what it is. You could be pillaging royals for all I care, though if you're killing innocents for no reason like Frieza then I'd be a tiny bit upset."

Caulifla huffed and folded her arms, inadvertently accentuating her breasts and drawing Goku's attention even more. "I'm not that bad. I only kill people if I have a really good reason to. No, I run….well, I ran a gang, and while I only really sat reaping the rewards that my men pillaged and never gave them orders, I never set any boundaries for them either. Half the time I'll come down and find out that they almost started a coup d'etat against the defense forces."

Goku laughed. "Despite what everyone thinks, I'm not really that righteous," he admitted. "While I do care about saving the world when a threat comes along, it mostly coincides with getting a good fight. That doesn't mean that I condone what people like Frieza, Cell and Majin Buu did, but unfortunately most strong people go drunk with their own power and start doing shitty things."

Caulifla, having unconsciously tensed up before, relaxed for a moment, before a devilish grin appeared on her face as she turned her body around to face Goku, despite the disorienting idea of sitting against the direction of Nimbus' travelling. "Say…..remember the third principle you talked about?"

Goku's eyes widened in a comical reaction between deviousness and doubt. He was clearly incensed by her insinuations. "Cauli, are you sure you want to in broad daylight? We're heading to-"

"We're on a cloud in the sky," she grinned, pressing a finger over his lips. "Nobody will know…"Caulifla wasn't taking no for an answer here, and eventually Goku gave in to her lustful gaze. How could he say no to those alluring eyes?

"For the love of gods, Kakarot! Do you have an ounce of self-control?! You're purposely flying right fucking here, and you still wish to burden me with that?!" Vegeta yelled up at the fluctuating ki signatures that, luckily, he couldn't see just yet. He was beginning to regret telling them to keep up their mushy shit, despite how they would be acting otherwise. Perhaps he should have threatened them to keep it behind closed doors, but then again, Kakarot would've just sneered at him in overconfidence. Vegeta smirked despite his frustration. Nobody messes with a defensive, post-mated Saiyan, even if that Saiyan was his mortal rival.

Luckily for the Saiyan elite though, the yellow cloud descended to reveal two other, very flustered Saiyans with bright red cheeks, however they were fully clothed. Vegeta simply glared at them when they stumbled off the cloud, which rapidly shook it's entire…..body(?) when they did so.

Bulma chose that moment to stumble out of the Capsule Corp's main building, muttering to herself about loud Saiyan husbands and rambunctious children. That was until she spotted Vegeta stood confrontationally in front of two other Saiyans, one that towered over him and wore an embarrassed yet daring face, and another that was similar in height and stared back at him, equally confrontational. "What's going on over here?" she exclaimed, walking over.

Vegeta opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when a light bulb went off in his head. He smirked, and motioned to Bulma by nodding at her. Clearly this was some sort of agreement they had come to previously, as the bluenette's eyes widened before she nodded back. Goku's eyes narrowed. He didn't like being kept in the dark. Something fishy was going on in the background and he did not appreciate it, so he decided to cut to the chase.

"Hello….Bulma," he greeted, an uncommon edge to his tone that made the woman in question shiver. "May we borrow the Dragon radar? We've grown bored of our same, repeating schedule and want a change a change of pace."

Bulma hesitated. "S-sure." She took one look at Vegeta before going back into the building. It was only a minute to wait, and she came out just as quickly as she had gone in, now with the Dragon Radar in hand. Bulma walked up to Goku and handed it to him. Unnerved, she looked away from the Saiyan, who seemed privy to her ulterior motive. Bulma sighed. She missed the days when Goku's naivety knew no bounds, and wondered where that childish nature went. She nodded at Vegeta, who turned to face Goku, and the man responded by scowling at him.

"The woman and I wish to discuss a topic of importance with your mate, a conversation that you cannot be present in." Vegeta stated bluntly, getting it out of the way quickly before interpretation allowed Goku to misconstrue what he wanted, or get it bang on, which was equally as dangerous. The orange-clad Saiyan growled in frustration, his patience with Bulma and Vegeta having worn thin over the past week. In his opinion the initial spying was bad enough.

He made as much known: "What makes you think that I'll just let you make my mate cry again? Whatever information is so groundbreaking that it previously made the toughest exterior on the planet crack, can be told to me too," he growled, and Bulma sighed. It was never going to be that easy, was it? She supposed it was fair considering that the girl had actually cried before, and that in of itself was shocking. She had never known of a Saiyan crying, but then again she had been reduced to hysterics after mating with Vegeta for a while, so it could have been a hormone thing.

"Look Goku, it's something that you can't know about yet, okay? It's important, and besides, you could go off and collect the first dragon ball while you wait for us to finish."

Goku's glare remained. 'How long is it going to take for just a simple conversation?' he thought. "I don't like this, but you're not gonna let this go, are you?" The Saiyan sighed. "Fine, do what you wish, but don't keep me waiting long."

A breath that Bulma didn't know she was holding was released in relief as Goku flew off on a reinvigorated Nimbus. Something about that sight awakened nostalgic memories within her, as Bulma found herself missing the days in which Goku wasn't as perceptive and privy to his surroundings. Perhaps none of this would have happened if Chi Chi had realised that her husband was impossible to contain without consequence. Oh well, at least she was eventually going to get a new godchild out of this, and while the bluenette tried to find sympathy in her heart for Chi Chi, the voice in her head condemned the Ox Princess' actions.

Unfortunately for her and Vegeta, they now had to delicately handle their next move. Bulma nodded at her mate, who had been eyeing the silent Caulifla before turning to face her. "Right then, now that he's gone for a while, if you'd follow me into the building Caulifla, then we can be in a more private area."

Caulifla obliged without a word, though a suspicious frown laced her featured as she followed. Something seemed off about forcing Goku away. He would need to find out eventually, right? He'd probably end up killing Vegeta if he was kept in the dark until it was born

Caulifla tried to pry her mind away from that subject, though it proved fruitless. It was a considerably pressing matter; this whole pregnancy thing itself. It wasn't uncommon for Saiyans to have children early into matehood, in fact it was almost a given, but Caulifla hadn't seen herself even searching for a mate for at least a couple more years, let alone have kids this early! How would her gang react when she returned with a child in her arms? How would the Saiyan Elites, who had begun to abandon their old hatred for respect after the Tournament, react to the hard-as-nails gangleader softening up like this? What about Kale when she inevitably found out?

And most importantly, how would Goku react? How would the man who had, in such a short time, become a lifeline for her (not that she'd ever admit it to anyone explicitly), feel about having a third child? How old was Goku, anyway? Caulifla would say he only looked a few, maybe 5 years older than her, but due to Saiyan aging he could be up to 40 years older and she'd never know. Hopefully the former was true rather than the latter.

Her musings were interrupted when Bulma opened the door to an oddly large room, a box shaped one with curious padding on the walls. Then again, Caulifla was new to the city-esque infrastructure on Earth, so anything new initially seemed out of the ordinary. Sitting down on the comfortable-looking couch, Bulma gestured for Caulifla to do the same. She wasted no time on getting to the subject at hand.

"Look," she began, "I can only sympathise with you in this; I had the same thing happen with Vegeta and he never told me until now that this was almost guaranteed to happen after mating. I suppose I owe you an explanation. We can't tell Goku yet because we fear-" she was cut off by a snort from Vegeta, "well, I fear that it would be too much for him to take, especially after the whole Chi Chi fiasco last week. He's irresponsible enough as it is. Hell, he hasn't even spoken to Goten since the incident, and the kid's dead scared because he can't feel his mother's ki anywhere near as bright as he could before, getting lower every day. In fact, this morning he told me that he couldn't feel it at all."

Caulifla wouldn't have found even a drop of pity if she had tried her hardest. "Serves the bitch right! She not only fucked up the mental state of her fake-mate, but also scared him away from his son!"

Shocked, Bulma was unable to conceal her surprise at the statement. "What do you mean?" The bluenette struggled to understand why Goku would be scared to go near poor Goten.

"Well, it's obvious isn't it? I'm no martyr for knowledge of your inferior human relationships," Caulifla started, eliciting an obnoxious chuckle from the Saiyan Prince, "but I can clearly see that he thinks that it's his fault that the kid no longer has a functioning family."

To say the stark turn in attitude wasn't surprising was a lie. Even Vegeta raised an eyebrow from the corner at Caulifla's change from silence to protest. "Well when you put it like that…."

Caulifla wasn't giving the woman much time before laying into her again. "And you're calling him irresponsible? I wouldn't call choosing to save 8 entire universes irresponsible, and certainly wouldn't call staying in a terrible relationship solely to keep his family together irresponsible either."

Not amused, Bulma rolled her eyes. "It can't have been that bad. I'm sure you're just exaggerating." Caulifla snorted and crossed her arms. "I resent that. I can see that nobody here can actually see past his act," she began, "and that you wouldn't think that he was actually smarter than you had him pegged to be, because from the little I've seen, everyone seems to treat him like a little kid. I bet that you've never thought about how he might not be as innocent as he appears. How do you think he had kids? He's a Saiyan! Sex is one of the only things he's supposed to crave!"

Under his breath, Vegeta muttered an amused "Food, fighting and fucking" with a smirk. "Obviously I know that the fool is at least a little like the rest of us Saiyans on the inside, but as his superior I am obligated to assert dominance over him. As third class he is below me."

Caulifla scowled. "Tch. As if the garbage you've fed him over the years is credible. How likely is it that you neglected to mention how a Saiyan's class is determined by his strength as it grows, not at birth? That would make him an elite, or they'd probably come up with a new title just for him. In fact, over on Sadala, you could challenge the ruler for leadership, in a battle to the death for the challenger, or to a yield for the monarch. I doubt you would've told him that if it was the same on your planet."

An odd sense of confusion filled the air as something happened that hadn't before. Vegeta was shocked to silence. Vegeta believed that he knew everything about Saiyan traditions and rites, even if he had only been young when his source of that knowledge was ripped from him.

"My father never divulged such information," he replied. "Sadala is likely a different story to Planet Vegeta."

Caulifla snorted. "Your father was king, wasn't he? Then he would never have told you because he wanted to keep his subjects from knowing about it. Perhaps there were a group of Saiyans that would've opposed him."

"Kakarot's father," Vegeta muttered, the epiphany striking him suddenly. "I heard from Dodoria that he was the only one to fend off Frieza when our planet was destroyed. Bardock, if I remember correctly. Kakarot only survived because somehow Bardock knew what was going to happen, and he sent him to this mudball."

A moment of silence passed in the room before Vegeta spoke again, this time with a little less vitriol in his tone. "Word has it that he may have been stronger than my father, which would explain why my father didn't obliterate him when he suggested that the Saiyans rebel against Frieza."

Caulifla took in this new information with intrigue, as Goku hadn't told her anything about his father. Not that he would have remembered though. "In that case, you of all people should have gotten the drift that maybe leadership isn't only inherited," she exclaimed, shutting the Prince up for the moment. "But that's not the point. In fact, what is the point?" Caulifla mused. "Why did you bring me in here anyway? Unless you want to tell me that you've scanned my body without telling me and that I actually have 2 or 3 kids instead of one? Or maybe that something else is gonna keep me confined to this planet? Well, any more surprises?!"

The female Saiyan's patience was wavering, and Bulma looked to Vegeta nervously. In response, Vegeta just grunted at her. "Don't get your knickers in a twist, girl," he started, earning a look of confusion from said girl who clearly hadn't heard the odd phrase before. "You'll find out soon enough, and you'll know about it before we do."

Unsatisfied to say the least, Caulifla growled and sat back down from the seat she had unconsciously risen from in her rant. "I don't like it, but seeing as I can't talk telepathically with Goku I guess I'll have to wait here until he gets back."

Bulma wiped her brow with an unsteady forearm. This was going to be a long and arduous few hours.

Goku wasn't enjoying himself as much as he had hoped. This pastime was supposed to be something he and Caulifla were to do together; he wanted to show her at least one Eternal Dragon, even if it wasn't the golden one with the size of a galaxy. He preferred the Earth's Shenron anyway. Not only that, but the whole reason he wanted to come out here was so that the two could take a break from training and experience something together that didn't involve punching each other until they were sore…...or doing other things until they were sore.

Instead, Goku was out here gathering the Dragon Balls himself, which was a monotonous task on his own as he'd done it many times before, whilst his poor mate was subjected to the incessant ramblings of Vegeta. Goku snorted. As if he cared about any of the Saiyan's old rites; Vegeta was a prince, and would have had access to the best quality of life that their race offered. If he were to be a third class then he wouldn't have had anywhere near enough food. Apparently his appetite was still huge for even a Saiyan, as Caulifla, who told him that she was one of the most voracious eaters on their planet, struggled to keep up with him on a good day.

With the knowledge of his mate's absence in mind, Goku was taking this trip as slowly as possible. He'd been out here for maybe an hour or two by now, and was still only on his way to his old house, where he guessed a ball must have been left there by himself that he had forgotten about. Perhaps he was also being slower because he didn't want to face his ex-wife after everything that had happened. While Caulifla had long since convinced Goku that the whole ordeal was not his fault, the Saiyan warrior couldn't help but feel remorse at Chi Chi's newfound situation. She was now on her own, what with him leaving and Goten staying at Bulma's until it calmed down enough to return home (which Goku thought should be any day now, not that he wanted to face his innocent son either), and Goku felt responsible, despite the fact that Chi Chi had been the one to commit adultery in the first place.

More minutes passed by, and Goku only grew more and more bored, and more and more frustrated. He wasn't sure why he couldn't lock on to Caulifla's ki too; he knew where it was and yet for some reason he couldn't get a complete lock on it. This made him nervous, as he wouldn't be able to use Instant Transmission to get to her if something happened, though fortunately there were no brainwashed Super Saiyans or tyrannical megalomaniac lizards on the planet today.

Finally deciding that this trip would be much more enjoyable if he went to fetch Caulifla, he started on his way back to Bulma's, still wary of the of masking of Caulifla's energy.

"I don't see why you can't let me leave," Caulifla exclaimed, now bored out of her mind. She had been waiting in this Kami forsaken room for maybe 3 hours now, and there had been no light shed onto why exactly she was here. Vegeta, for some reason, had just abandoned his spot on the wall to place his hand on some sort of pad on said wall. Now that she thought about it, this room was pretty odd itself; it looked like some sort of metal box, and the door was extremely heavy-duty.

Not a moment later, Caulifla's heart raced as she felt Goku's ki speeding towards her location. 'Finally!' she thought. 'I can finally leave this hellhole!'

Something seemed off about his ki, though. Caulifla thought that he was agitated, a bit more aggressive than usual. What had happened this time?

An impatient knock sounded on the door, and a muffled voice followed. "Bulma? Vegeta? What's going on!? Why are your ki signatures all distorted? Let me in!"

Caulifla wore a look of shock when Vegeta merely smirked and responded in jest. "No Kakarot, piss off, we're doing something important here," he cruelly remarked, loud enough for Goku to hear. Unfortunately for the building though, Goku would do no such thing. "Vegeta, if you don't let me in to check that you aren't performing surgery on my mate or something equally as violating," he began, pausing for a moment to allow Bulma to revel in the shock that Goku knew what surgery was, "then so help me I will blow this entire building to the ground!" Caulifla grew slightly concerned because she knew that he wasn't bluffing; the whole 'growing temper from not seeing your mate' thing was no joke, and she herself began heating up in frustration now that hers was right outside and yet still so far away.

One would think that even Vegeta would be slightly unnerved at a threat by the strongest mortal in the multiverse ('well, he would be if he could obtain Ultra Instinct again' Caulifla thought to herself), but Vegeta only seemed to be even more enthusiastic about keeping the angry Saiyan away from them. "Oh? I'd like to see you try," he replied. "In fact, you'd be interested to know that we are in fact purposefully keeping your mate away from you."

With a smirk, the prince's energy spiked, and suddenly the room they were in was now surrounded in a wall of what Caulifla surmised as ki. The pad his hand was placed on, it must be some kind of ki conductor!

This served to anger Goku, even further, and Vegeta's snide comment sent him into a fit of rage. "What the fuck is your problem you bastard!? All I want is to go and hunt the Dragon Balls and keep out of everyone's way, and what do you do!? You kidnap my mate for some kind of sick fucking experiment on a Saiyan from Universe 6!"

As Goku grew even angrier and continued ranting, Caulifla turned to Vegeta, a full scowl now adorned on her otherwise pretty face. "What the hell are you doing!?" she snarled. "Tempting fate like this; you aren't doing anything to me besides bore me to death! So why feed him lies that make him angry!?"

Vegeta simply shrugged. "It's simple," he replied nonchalantly. "You should be aware of how you and that clown will, for the first month or so, be compelled to stick around one another, mostly to protect each other because the Saiyans of old used to die when their mates did. Well, woman, I want to push your precious Kakarot as far as he will go, to see what lengths a Saiyan will go to protect their full-blooded mate."

Choosing to ignore being referred to as 'woman' and instead focusing on the more pressing matter at hand, Caulifla began to shout at the prince in fury. "Seriously? You are a sick fuck, you know that? Manipulating an already unstable Saiyan to your own ends! You're just like Frost!"

Vegeta's glare hardened; it would seem that Caulifla had hit a nerve, and if she was honest with herself the man deserved it. Seriously, what level of fucked-up does it take to do something like this? Nevertheless, the man continued to fuel the barrier, and it seemed as though he had started pumping even more energy into it.

A thick sheet of ki-infused steel away, Goku had finished shouting about how he was being screwed over, and he had begun attempting to breach the building. Said attempts proved unsuccessful however, and his prising was met with failure. Struggling to maintain composure, the enraged Saiyan started punching the wall, with more and more ferocity with each strike.

What Goku didn't know, was that Piccolo was actually outside with him, though observing from a distance. Bulma had contacted the Namekian, requesting his assistance in Vegeta's little scheme. While Piccolo had tried to convince the two to hold off from it, given Gohan's concern for his father and all, he had been unsuccessful, and he had decided that the most help he could be to the man would be watching him and forcing Vegeta and Bulma to stop if he went too far.

Currently, Piccolo was uncomfortable; Goku had powered up to beyond what his base form should have been capable of, and it looked as though he was about to transform into a Super Saiyan.

Goku did indeed transform, and something seemed off about the form. It was a slightly more dulled-down hue of yellow that enveloped his body, and the Saiyan's rapid movements looked almost sporadic, fuelled by desperation. Piccolo's eyes narrowed. Any more and he would call it off.

Back inside the protected building, Vegeta had decided to jump to Super Saiyan Blue, rather than slowly climb up as Goku had. Caulifla was enraged by this, and even more so at how she would be helpless to fight against the godly power if she tried. "Call it off you maniac!" she hollered. "He beat the shit out of you last time when you weren't even his primary target, he'll kill you for sure this time, especially considering that to him, you're endangering his real mate!"

Truthfully, Caulifla was more concerned about Goku's state. She was desperate enough for his company as it was (though she'd never admit it), so it was a wonder as to how the man himself hadn't blown a crater in the land yet, given that he was the one that didn't know what was going on.

All of a sudden, the source of her concerns let out a strangled cry, similar to what she heard last time he flipped up, yet this time it was deeper, more guttural. If she could've left right then, she would have. As if that wasn't confusing enough, a foreign voice filled the room, presumably directed at the prince and his mate.

"Vegeta! Call this off now! This has gone much too far! Goku will kill himself out of overexertion if you continue this madness for even another minute!" Piccolo yelled, though his words fell on deaf ears as the prince merely scowled.

By now Caulifla had grown genuinely scared. He could die?! Not if she had anything to do with it! In a moment of desperation after hearing another roar from Goku, which was even worse than the last, Caulifla made a move that even Vegeta could not have anticipated. Running up to the Saiyan Prince, she screamed as loud as possible, with her hands on either side of her face.

"SOLAR FLARE!"

That was enough to startled Vegeta; he stumbled backwards whilst hissing in pain, and Caulifla capitalised on the moment by facing the odd energy panel and ripping it from the wall. Immediately, the energy surrounding the room could be felt dissipating into the atmosphere, and just as quickly stopping Goku from attacking the building any further. At least, for a few seconds.

The building shook as a huge energy pulse rippled through it, blasting the now screeching door from it's handles, ad the sight that greeted Caulifla was one that would be etched in her mind forever.

On the ground in front of her was the figure of Goku, passed out on the ground from burning too much energy in one go, though otherwise completely fine.

Except of course, for his long, spiky green hair.

(A/N: Phew! That was a long one! I felt a bit off with this one, and I rewrote parts of it a few times because I really don't want to make Caulifla a lovey-dovey, starry-eyed character, because it just doesn't suit her. She's still the fiercest Saiyan on her planet, regardless of her mating status. I think that the LSSJ turn was one that not many were suspecting, but I assure you that it will be explained in the next chapter; Goku isn't just suddenly a legendary prodigy. In fact, I have my own unique take on the form that I think is pretty cool. Either way, I just want to get this chapter done and uploaded. I hope this was good enough return to the story, and again I'm truly sorry that I had to leave for so long, but needs must. See ya next time!)