Thinking of You  By:  *Ponytail Goddess*

Disclaimers: I do not own DBZ so please don't sue me.

    Vegeta flew through the skies as they rained soft, white fluff.  It was cold, but nothing that the Prince of Saiya-jins could not handle.

He flew aimlessly around at his leisurely pace.

    Kakarott was on his mind again.  Damn that Kakarott.

    Vegeta hadn't been able to sleep because of this.  For hours he had tossed and turned restlessly in bed.  However, sleep did not come.

    He had then gotten up and tried to make himself tired by training in the gravity chamber.  He had no success with this method either.  Giving up on the notion of sleep, he jumped into the air to take a night flight.

    The night had started our nicely.  He had gotten a huge feast for dinner in honor of it being the night before Christmas, some weird Earthling holiday.  It was a celebration about friends and family, or something like that.

    'These Earthlings have really stupid celebrations,' he thought as he flew on through the dark sky.

    He dropped down out of the sky and looked towards the city.  It was eerily lit up with lights of the holiday season.  It was another one of those dumb human traditions.  However, the lights were kind of pretty from high up.  He sat down and looked at them.

    "This human life, it really isn't as bad as I had thought it would be", he said to himself, remembering how he had once hated this very planet.  Now, however, he had a family here, and at one time, he had even once had a friend.

    'That is what it is!', he thought, 'I'm thinking of Kakarott because of this stupid holiday!'

    He looked down at the lights again, thinking.  A sudden movement caught Vegeta's eye.  He turned his head and saw the shadow of a figure looming on the top of a nearby mountain.

    'What kind of crazy old bastard is out here alone on Christmas Eve night?'

    Curiously, Vegeta quietly flew over to see who it was.  He soundlessly landed behind a white-glazed rock and peeked over it.  To his utter surprise, he saw Gohan.

    'What the hell is Kakarott's brat doing out here at this time of night?!?'

    When Vegeta looked at him closer, he noticed that tears were streaming down the pale boy's face.

    'What is wrong with him?'

    Cold night air blew over Vegeta's head as he crouched back down behind the large, snow-covered boulder.

    'Why doesn't the boy go and tell someone about this?', Vegeta thought, 'Why does he suffer alone on this holiday of joy and togetherness?'

    Then it hit Vegeta.  'He has nobody to tell.'

    This was surely the truth of the matter.  The brat's father was dead.  His mother was a bitch that worried too much.  His brother was too naive to understand anything.  Of coarse, he had that girlfriend of his, Mr. Satan's daughter.  However, she was probably with her family and unavailable at this time of year.

    'He sort of reminds me of......myself'

    Standing up, Vegeta silently approached him.  He laid his hand on Gohan's shoulder.  Gohan jumped out of surprise and almost fell of the cliff.

    "Why the hell are you out so late brat?", he asked calmly.

    "Vegeta-san!  You caught me off guard there!", he said, quickly wiping the tears from his eyes and covering up his sadness with a smile.

    "What's wrong brat?", he asked, a little harsher this time.

    "Oh...I was just thinking about some stuff, that's all."

    There was a moment of awkward silence.

    "Why are you out here Vegeta-san?", he asked cautiously.

    Vegeta thought for a second, then replied, "I was thinking about your father."

    Gohan now stared at Vegeta, a bit startled with this new information, "Really, my dad?"

    "Yeah, I think this holiday, this...this Christmas thing, reminds me of him.  Probably because it's such a joyful time of year."

    "Yeah, Christmas was dad's favorite holiday."

    "I would have guessed as much.  The joyful idiot would have enjoyed this stupid holiday."

    Gohan sat down in the cold snow and leaned against the rock behind him, and sighed.  "This is the time that I miss him the most."

    Gohan shut his eyes and a single tear dripped down his cheek.

    "I...I...", Vegeta stuttered, then gathered his courage, swallowed his enormous pride, and said, "I know how it is for you Gohan."

    Gohan turned towards him, "How could you possibly know how I feel Vegeta?"

    "I...I didn't have a father while growing up either."

    Gohan's eyes grew wide, "Vegeta-san, I...I didn't know..."

    "I know you didn't", he simply replied while gazing up at the stars.

    "He-he used to eat all the Christmas cookies that mom would bake all in one shot.  Mom would always yell at him for it but she was always really glad that he liked her cooking, so she always made more for us."

    Vegeta chuckled, "That's definantly Kakarott; he was a bottomless pit!"

    Yeah, and then we'd decorate the tree.  He loved to go and get the Christmas tree.  He always made sure we got the perfect one.  Then me and mom would help him decorate it up.  We'd all sit back and watch it's elegant glow on Christmas Eve and dad would tell me stories of him as a child.  Those were the days........"

    Silence.

    "I'm sure that Kakarott wouldn't want you to be out here on this night all cold and alone during the holiday."

    "Just being in the house makes me think of him though!  And poor Goten, he didn't even get to have a Christmas with dad!"

    "Which is why you should be home with your family!  Don't you see that?!?  You can't hide for the memories, don't hide from them, they are what you have left of your father!"

    Gohan just stared at Vegeta in shock of what he had just said.

    "You'll mess him even more if you forget......"

    The wind blew the men's hair making it thrash in different directions.  They stared at each other silently.

    "You know Vegeta, I think for once in your life you have actually given me good advice."

    Vegeta snarled.  "You smart-mouthed brat; expect nothing less from your prince!"

    The first rays of morning were showing up over the horizon.  The colors sinned on the new fallen snow down below in the city.   It glistened as if it knew what a special day it was.

    "Now you boy, hurry and get home before your brother and mother wake up.  They'll be worried if they wake and you're not there."

    "Ok, thanks for the talk Vegeta-san!"

    Gohan started to fly away, but suddenly stopped and turned back, facing Vegeta.

    "Have a Merry Christmas Vegeta-san!"

    Vegeta smirked as the young man waved at him and quickly flew off.

    "And you", he said looking up towards the sky, "You Kakarott, you had better have a Merry Christmas too."

    Vegeta flew off, being at peace with Kakarott once again.

Way up above, in a very far away place:

    "Yeah Vegeta, you have a good Christmas too", Goku said, watching him fly off to his own family.

                             The End.

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