DBZ: The Princess Saga (Vegeta x Reader)

Ch. 30: Learning to Live Again

    It was late when Vegeta picked up the scouter again, the darkness of space helping to lull him into a relaxed state. Yet, he was still awake. They'd been in space for two days, which was two days he had gone without rest. He turned over on his pillow to look at the ceiling, feeling a lump beneath his head. He shoved his hand under it and pulled out a scouter; your scouter, forgetting he had put it there. He slipped it on and hit the button three times, listening as it began to play back another audio loop.

"Woman, are you getting this?" His voice. He rolled his eyes at it and shifted around on his pillow, tail curling tightly around his waist.

"Of course I am! It's my job after all," you teased. Once more at the sound of your voice it felt as though his chest was constricting. There were a few loud taps, no doubt from you poking at the scouter. "Plus someone gave me this new scouter that will take the notes for me."

"Tch, whatever. Maybe now you'll be somewhat decent at your job."

"Hey! You choose to keep me around, you know! If you think I'm that bad you could always have me fire-" Vegeta turned the voice memo off, not needing the sound of your voice to be heard any longer. The scene was already called forth to his mind, and it was as if he was transported back in time along . He had been giving you training lessons when you started goofing off, messing with his tail and agitating him to all hell. You had crossed your arms and stared at him, calling his bluff on the fact you were right; he couldn't fire you. He needed you. And now you were gone.

He felt a sob rise up in his throat but pushed it back down. Surely Namek wouldn't be too far away. Soon you would be back in his arms again. If not, then-

He swallowed roughly, his body tensing as a cold sweat broke out along his body. He shifted beneath his covers, staring at the ceiling once more as he tried to empty his mind. Then, he clicked the scouter four times before it beeped at him and started recording.

"Nappa said this might help me in some sort of way. I can't believe I'm even listening to that dumbass in the first place and yet here I sit, scouter on, talking to myself in my dimly lit room on the ship. If you can even call it a room, the damn thing is as small as they come. We left Planet Vegeta behind two days ago and-" The prince suddenly stopped talking, realizing what he was actually doing. "Gods this is so stupid why am I even doing this-" He shut the scouter off, placing it on his bedside table before turning off his lamp and going to sleep.

—

A month. They'd been flying around space for a month, stopping from planet to planet looking for anyone who could possibly know where the hell Namek was. The two simply got a lot of "sorry, no clue"'s, a select few even laughed at them before carrying on. With each day, Vegeta had felt worse and worse. Perhaps there was no Namek, no way of finding it. Most locals said it was an old legend anyway. Kakarot reassured him of course, but that could only work so many times before the prince began to think they were on a wild goose chase. The next planet was two days away, and the two spent their time sparring together when they weren't resting or eating.

The king called once every week or so, reminding Vegeta that he was a prince and had duties to attend to, not that Vegeta necessarily gave a fuck to begin with. Nappa called every other day along with Raditz, asking how the two were faring or giving updates on Fish. Vegeta very rarely spoke his true feelings, unless he and Nappa were alone. There had even been a select few nights Vegeta was the one to make the call, which startled Nappa out of his sleep so suddenly the first time that he had fallen out of bed.

Vegeta hated to admit it, but it was nice to have someone to... talk to, to vent his frustrations to; someone he trusted. This night was no different, but he didn't want to talk to Nappa this time. He placed the scouter to his ear, the quiet hum of the ship around him doing nothing to ease his nerves. From somewhere on the ship, he could hear Kakarot snoring and he sighed. Finally, he pressed the button four times as the scouter began to record.