AN: Woah, sorry this took so long. As an official fic writer, I have the right to slack off....well...kinda ^^;;;;

As another note: I went to Hawaii.

Warnings: Yaoi, language, angst.

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ Don't sue me.

He awoke in what seemed to be a quaint room. Laying in a soft bed with silky white sheets, puffy pillows and a rich, red canopy hanging over head, Goku sat up slowly. //Where the hell am I?//

His confused mind quickly tried to sort out previous events in order to draw a conclusion. He had been strapped up, nude, and beaten with some hot whip by the warden, and he had broken free. After that everything was a complete blur. He felt no pain, no guilt, no shame.

"Am I dead...?" Goku whispered quietly.

"Actually, you're in my bedroom." A thin shadow with wild, fiery hair sounded in the farthest corner of the room. His voice was resonant and dark and flowed smoothly like honey. "A wild rebellion you caused...Son Goku...or should I say...Kakarrot."

Carefully watching the enigma in the darkest reach of the room, Goku raised an eyebrow, "Who-Who are you? Why have you brought me here?" He shifted slightly in a defensive manner.

The other man laughed at this, "Rest assured sir, I have no intention of bringing you any harm. I merely wished to rescue a fellow comrade...one of my own kind. He stood from the chair and began to advance towards the bed, a fuzzy tail swishing back and forth.

Goku stuttered. "A-A tail? But that means you're a--"

"A saiyan." He finished as he stepped into the light to reveal his complete self. "Vegeta. Prince of the Saiyan race." The warm, glowing light from outside a large glass window shown brightly on the prince, highlighting his auburn, upswept mane. He was a bit shorter than Goku, but well-built and had a proud air about himself.

In utter shock, Goku said nothing as the prince openly invited himself to lay next to him on the luxurious mattress after pulling off his body armor. Instantly he felt warmth, surly heat take over his nerves. He felt the prince's hot gaze burn him through as he was ogled without shame and turned to face the opposite direction. Vegeta laughed again.

"What's wrong? Don't tell me your shy..." He scooted closer to the younger saiyan and reached out to touch his pale hand, examining, curious like a child.

Goku pulled it away and narrowed his eyes, becoming offended by Vegeta's disregard for personal space. "Where am I, and how did I get here?" He still refused to make eye contact with the prince.

Vegeta stretched out languidly while running thin fingers through his own hair. "At a secret base on planet Thymes. We rescued you during the huge revolt at the prison. I've had a few spies working there for years trying to gather information on that saiyan concentration camp. They had almost given up on finding a way to save our people...until you came along." Goku met the stone, coal eyes of the prince curiously.

"Me?"

Vegeta nodded in affirmation. "I had gotten word of a 'rambunctious saiyan stirring up trouble' within the walls and had to find out for myself. And when I got footage of you defying Ginyu, and outsmarting his torturous games, I had to get a hold of you. You had already passed out when the rest of the saiyans attacked Ginyu, I ordered a spy to secretly transport you out of the prison."

He sat there, trying to take in all that was said. Goku scratched his head and gave the prince a confused look. His surroundings told him he was free, however his gut feeling told him he wasn't. He then asked quietly, "If you know so much about me, then you know...I had a friend there...what happened to him?"

Vegeta faltered a bit. "You mean, Brolli?" The room grew silent. "I regret to inform you that...he was executed shortly after the uprising..." Goku's heart froze as his pupils dilated. "He was convicted of murdering Jeice and they...well..." The prince stared at his fist as it clenched tightly. "It was indeed a shame for such a great warrior to go to waste. All of us were convinced that he would be the one to successfully bring down that place."

*Plip...plip*

Tears splattered on Goku's hands which were bunching the bed sheets together in thick folds, gathering them together in tight ruffles. His face contorted into a mixture of fear, anger, and pain. Shaking his head in disbelief, Goku tried his hardest not to cry, but his eyes defied him that desire. He placed his hands deep in his face and cried.

Gently, Vegeta inched his hand on to the taller man's thigh and caressed it. "Come now, crying won't bring him back. And besides...," he lifted a thumb to wipe away the newly forming tears from the corners of his eyes, "tears don't suit such a gorgeous face..."

The sugared words slowly sank in Goku's mind as his crying fit gradually subsided into dry sobs. He pushed the prince's hand from his leg and reclined back down into a sleeping position, tugging the hefty comforter over his wild, chocolate locks.

"Please," he whispered, "I need to be alone."

Prince Vegeta sighed inaudibly and left the bed, donned his breast-plated armor and exited the room. Before he left though he said over his shoulder, "I'll be back in a few hours with dinner, if you wish."

And the door slid shut, leaving Goku with the painful information.

~~~

He sat alone by the roaring, crystalline water falls. It was the same paradise that he visited in his dreams, now all that was missing was--

"Hey Goku." Bulma moved to sit beside him while dipping her feet in the cool river. "It's been hard tapping into your sleep waves lately, I was getting worried about you." She looked up at his depressed expression and her blue eyes filled with concern. "...What happened?"

Goku remained quiet for ages until finally, his cracked voice muttered, "They took him from me..." He shivered violently. "They stole him from me, the bastards." The saiyan warrior balled his fists causing droplets of blood to drop onto the lime, dream-world grass.

The ghost gasped and covered her mouth in disbelief. Running a translucent hand over her former lover, she held back bitter tears of her own. "Oh Goku...I'm so sorry." Bulma took his quivering mass in her chalky, bright arms and held him while he sobbed his misery out.

His entire world had shut down, again. //Kami, why me? Can't you just leave me alone?//

Alone.

He was truly and utterly alone, save for Bulma in his dreams, but she was only in his dreams. Just a dream, while the life he lived in reality was a nightmare.

That sweet, cheerful laugh, that boyish smile, those long, violet locks of soft, thick hair, he was going to miss it all. They way he held him in his arms at night, the silly, simple conversations they had after dinner while waiting for a free stall in the showers, the mind-blowing love-making sessions...

Folding his hands numbly, Goku felt a warm breeze brush over him.

"I think I can help you Goku..." The broken saiyan looked up curiously with red, eyes. "I can go to the check-in station and ask Lord Enma about him, if you want me to. If he's in heaven, I can get him to contact you possibly. " A ghost of a smile tugged at Goku's lips as he nodded in affirmation.

"Would you? Please? The warrior begged as he wiped at his nose. At last, god, a ray of hope.

His phantom friend nodded and began to float toward the heavens. Her large, azul eyes filled with tears of compassion and hope for her young, childhood companion as she left. "Until next time..."

~~~

A subtle knock at the door before it slid open revealing a prince holding a medium-sized tray; a few plates were stacked on top with the evening's dinner and a cup of water. The younger saiyan's eyes fluttered open as he slowly roused from his slumber. He sat up and examined the prince, who had changed attire from his spandex and armor that he had seen other, higher ranked guards wearing, to a regular pair of gray, silky slacks and a red, button down shirt made of the same material.

The prince raised an eyebrow in disbelief, "You slept the entire time I was gone? You must have been quite exhausted." He spoke as placed the tray of food across Goku's lap and pulled up a chair nearby to seat himself. Goku eyed the meal warily, a little untrusting of what he was about to eat. A bowl of steaming hot liquid with a loaf of bread were neatly place on the serving dish next to the tall glass of water. The prince smiled. "What's the matter? Just some soup and bread. Are you not hungry? I'll take it back if you like."

Goku chewed the inside of his cheek in thought before answering. "...N-No. I am hungry. Thanks." The saiyan in bed replied before picking up the spoon that lay inside the bowl to taste the broth. Slurping the liquid out of the spoon and down his throat, he felt a sensation of warmth embrace his insides. Gods, it had been so long since he had tasted real food. A tiny smiled formed on his face as he eagerly took another sip of the soup.

Watching the other man eat intently, Vegeta's eyes roamed the comforter clad saiyan. "Ahem, after you're done eating, I'll have someone bring some clothes up for you..."

Goku looked under the sheet to realize that in fact he wasn't wearing a single thing! A tint of color rose to his cheeks as he tugged the comforter up a little, even though nothing sacred was showing anyway. Chuckling deeply, the wild-haired prince reached out with his thumb to wipe a dribble of soup from Goku's lips. "Don't worry, Kakarrot. We're both men here. Unless you have something that I don't." He joked while slyly licking his thumb clean. Goku frowned.

He finished his meal in silence under the watchful gaze of the prince of saiyans. He broke the soft bread in two and with once piece, began to soak the remaining droplets of soup up with the spongy food. His eyes kept nervously darting back and forth from his tray to the prince's intrigued stare. Finally the tension grew too much for Goku to stomach. "What?!" he snapped sharply.

Smirking ingenuously, Vegeta tilted his head and responded, "What do you mean, 'what?'"

"Why do you keep staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?" Goku wiped at his mouth again to make sure Vegeta wouldn't do it for him.

He leaned in closer, Vegeta did, and took Goku by the chin to inspect his features. Turning his head from side to side he stopped dead in the center, staring at him face to face. "I've never seen any saiyan like you before. There's something different about you, Kakarrot. Your eyes..."

Goku stuttered weakly, unable to blink while gaping in the eyes of the mysterious saiyan. "My eyes?" His hands lay limply on his lap as his heart pace gradually began to increase.

Vegeta licked his lips and inched his face closer and closer to the nervous man. "They aren't filled with anger, and malice, like the rest of our kind, and yet, I don't see any fear...a little sadness yes, definitely hurt, and the pain of loss...but strangely, there's no revenge behind it." He read him thoroughly, his lips less than a centimeter away from Goku's now. "Strange for a saiyan indeed." Both their eyes were half-lidded, and Goku shivered from the sensation of Vegeta's warm breath gracing over his cheeks.

"Goku! I love you!"

"If he's in heaven, I can get him to contact you possibly."

Like a flash of lightning, Goku shoved the prince and his advances away with more force than he intended, nearly sending Vegeta toppling to the floor. He stood abruptly and glared daggers at the man lying in the bed.

"S-Sorry," Goku mentally slapped himself. //Great you big oaf, just beat the man down after he rescued you and got you some food//

He rechecked himself, letting his glare drop into a concealed smile, breathing out deeply to return to reality. Vegeta laughed as he dusted himself off and turned to leave. "Not at all, it was my fault. After all, we don't know each other that well and you're going through some difficult times." As he turned to leave, he pointed to a small machine and said, "If you need anything, just press the button on that intercom."

And he exited yet again leaving Goku in the tranquil recesses of the room.

"Kami," he mumbled, "what have I gotten myself into now...?"

TBC

AN: Well Vegeta fans...he's finally here!! See, told ya I'd put him in here! ^_^

Vegeta: *growl* Bout time, baka-onna

Ging: *glare*