An Unlikely Pair

Chapter 1: New Year's Eve Party

Author’s Note — Before anyone starts or tries to call me out; yes I know Goku and Chichi ONLY have two children which is Gohan and Goten, their sons. I know they never had a third child much less a daughter but it’s fanfiction for a reason. I thought of this while doing something else and wanted to try making it out as an actual story so I’m giving it a shot. As for my other fanfiction on here, I haven’t gotten around to finishing the next chapter to publish so I apologize for that but I’ve been going through a really rough time and have been busy so this is the first thing I’ve been able to write for awhile.

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything Dbz. Dbz and the characters belong to their rightful owners. The only character that is mine is Elena.

Early morning the Son household was waking up to get ready for the day ahead. In particular room in the rebuilt home, lay a half awake young woman who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her tail that hadn’t been removed by her father or mother, or anyone for that matter. About 20 years earlier, Chichi had fallen pregnant for the third time so her and Goku despite her not wanting another Saiyan hybrid to raise — she had the child since she was against abortion and didn’t think any unborn baby deserved to be gotten rid of since they were all a blessing no matter what. Oddly enough though, this time around Chichi had given birth to a little girl instead of a little boy like she expected to. This surprised her and Goku but nonetheless they were happy to have a daughter even if she was the only daughter in the house given they already had two sons. The boys were delighted to have a younger sister and she had been born about 5 months after Gohan’s one and only child Pan, and they had named their third child Elena. Though Chichi being Chichi had tried to force her youngest to study and get an education as she had with her two oldest children but unfortunately for her, her only daughter was more interested in fighting than being a successful career woman. Despite this displeasing her, it absolutely delighted her full-blooded Saiyan husband since now he had a child that loved fighting as much as he did and actually wanted to train. She held that fighting spirit that her oldest brother Gohan didn’t have and her other older brother Goten trained but he wasn’t as into it anymore like when he was a kid, he was more interested in dating than training or sparring though he did on occasion. The youngest child of the Son household had finally woken up fully and sat up, stretching until she heard a satisfying popping sound from her back. She got up from the bed and grabbed some clothes before going into her own private bathroom then shut the door. She looked herself over in the mirror with a hint of disgust because she needed a shower but also held an unknown deep hatred towards her body and appearance. Elena held the perfect and feminine body of a young female Saiyan, she wasn’t too visibly built but she was definitely a lot stronger than she looked. She was pretty short too compared to her father and brothers. She stood at slightly a bit over her mother’s height. Her skin was a nice porcelain color, holding no blemishes or anything on her skin despite her training and sparring sessions with her father. Her face was nicely shaped as well and her eyebrows were perfectly thin, and evenly apart. Her eyes were coal black like her parents’ and siblings’ eyes but her hair wasn’t entirely straight. Her jet black hair held some spikiness to it though was straight otherwise, at least in her base form. A ‘tch’ sound left her lips as she turned her gaze away from the mirror and went about turning the water on for a shower. Even though she looked good, she felt disgusted with herself and it grew over time especially from getting picked on at school when she did start going to public school anyway. She didn’t feel cute or adorable or pretty or gorgeous, she felt as though none of that stuff described her despite her mother trying to reassure her of such and even her father and brothers tried to as well when they noticed she was acting off. With the water a scalding hot, she stripped off her clothes and stepped under the shower head to begin her shower. She shuddered as the scalding water hit her back but otherwise had no movement.

‘I should probably be quick about my shower, I don’t want to miss breakfast and have dad finish everything before I have a chance to eat’ as she thought that to herself, she grabbed a washcloth and squeezed soap onto it before scrubbing her body down then moving to wash her tail. Once that was done, she grabbed the shampoo bottle and squeezed some into her hand before lathering it into her silky soft hair. With her hair lathered in shampoo she then washed it out and repeated the process with the conditioner, and washed it out of her hair as well. Having relatively finished her morning shower, she turned the water off and stepped out — grabbing a towel to dry her hair then tossing it aside to the hamper and using her ki to dry herself off completely. She grabbed her undergarments and slipped them on then her blue jeans and red shirt she randomly grabbed from her closet.

With all of that stuff done, she brushed her hair out before she opened her bathroom door and proceeded to leave her room. Heading downstairs where she already felt her parents were since they were awake and she could smell breakfast downstairs. She was practically bounding down the stairs as her stomach growled, she turned the slight corner and was greeted by something hard. She almost fell over but was steadied to her feet before she did.

Rubbing her face slightly, she looked to see what or who she had smacked into. But to her dismay instead of it being her father or from one of her brothers visiting, it was Trunks. The oldest son of Bulma and Vegeta, and heir to Capsule Corporation. Elena looked up at the lavender haired man and pushed down the scowl that threatened to grace her features. He was smiling at her apologetically as he released her arms and took a step back. He had been asked by her mother to see if she was awake since she hadn’t come down for breakfast yet and although he had wanted to object to her request, he went to check anyway despite not wanting to.

Trunks and Elena weren’t exactly on the best of terms especially after everyone found out including Pan, that he had been cheating on Gohan’s daughter. Elena had almost ripped him a new one in a literal sense, had it not been for her father holding her back from tearing into the older hybrid then there’d most likely be more problems. Goku hadn’t been happy about what happened but he wasn’t going to beat Trunks for it and with that, he wasn’t going to let his children do that either even if they’d wished to do so.

The silence was finally broken as she spoke his name “Trunks.” It was evident in her voice that she wasn’t the least bit happy to see him. But she had the right to be angry, he had hurt her niece after they ‘d been dating for almost 2 years. He hurt her in the worst possible way imaginable and didn’t even apologize for it till it was already too late.

Trunks looked at her and slightly winced at her unhappy tone of voice towards him. He averted his gaze away from her and stepped aside so she could walk downstairs to the kitchen but not before silently mumbling a greeting “hey Elena..”

Ignoring him now, she got downstairs into the kitchen just to be greeted by the grinning face of her father. She returned the signature grin then rushed into him the rest of the way into the kitchen and wrapped her arms around her father’s waist in a tight hug. “Good morning, daddy” she chirped a bit happily and more so when he returned her tight embrace with his own, a soft playful chuckle escaping his lips at his daughter’s actions.

“Good morning, kiddo. You slept in kind of late, huh?” asked her father as he pulled out of the hug and looked down at her with her nuzzling her cheek against him before looking up at him. “Late? Daddy, you call 8am late?” she questioned her father then continued before he could speak “I was really exhausted yesterday and since I’ve taken time off work plus finished college already, I thought I’d try to get some more sleep than usual.” She said as she removed her arms from his waist then went over and hugged her mother from the side “good morning, mama.”

“Good morning, sweetie” Chichi smiled warmly at her one and only daughter then shooed her away to the table. “Go sit down and I’ll give you your breakfast since it’s ready” of course, doing as she was told to do. Elena sat down and was given her breakfast though she didn’t start eating immediately which was odd for anyone in their household. “So how come Trunks is here?” she asked not sounding too pleased as she hadn’t forgotten the lavender haired man she smacked into on her way down for breakfast, that was now standing in the doorframe of the kitchen so it was hard to ignore his presence entirely. A sigh left Chichi’s lips as she was about to address her daughter’s question but it was answered before she could say anything. “I came over to let your parents know when mom wants all of you to come over today for the New Year’s Eve party”

‘New Year’s Eve party?’ she silently cursed under her breath as realization dawned on her. She’d completely and utterly forgotten about New Year’s, she had especially forgotten that they always spend their New Year’s with the Briefs and their other friends at Capsule Corp. Her gaze went to her father’s and he held a look of ‘if your mother heard that then you’d be in huge trouble.’ Goku was surprisingly not that bothered by the fact his daughter swore but he knew Chichi would flip about it. She frowned slightly before giving him an apologetic look and he nodded his head a little bit in approval of her silent apology. Though he wasn’t too big on discipline especially when it came to his little girl, he avoided it as much as he possibly could. Mostly after the many times of seeing her upset from discipline by Chichi albeit not physical discipline, it had shattered the poor man’s heart so he barely ever disciplined her for her behavior unless he had to on Chichi’s behalf and insistence that he do so.

“Don’t tell me you forgot” said her mother who was now turned around and looking at her for an answer with a hand on her hip. “No, it just slipped my mind for a moment..” the young Saiyan female slightly lowered her head and turned her gaze to her uneaten food then quietly asked a question “what time do we need to be there?”

“6pm today” said her father when he heard her almost silent question. She nodded her head at the answer and got up from the table, leaving her food uneaten. “And where do you think you’re going young lady!? You haven’t even eaten breakfast yet!” asked/yelled her now worried mother. Elena only looked over her shoulder for a moment before leaving the kitchen, a quick Capsule Corp and I’m not hungry anymore was the only response her mother received. Going back upstairs, Elen changed her outfit then retrieved her phone before lifting her window and flying out of it.

The young female Saiyan had sat out to fly to Capsule Corp and stay there till the party. She had made it a habit to always go there hours prior to the actual party which confused her family minus her father but she didn’t mind.

Couple hours later at Capsule Corp



Elena arrived at Capsule Corp albeit with unwanted company since Trunks had caught up to her and flown back with her. It just caused her to fly faster than she originally had been but once there, they parted ways to her clear relief. She couldn’t sense Bulla’s ki or Pan’s much less Bulma’s so she figured it was most likely just Vegeta and Trunks until she’d gotten there. She went to open the front door to go inside but it opened before she could open it. There in the doorway stood the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta himself. The typical scowl on his face though it seemed a bit different than usual and she couldn’t put her finger on what it was that seemed different to her.

Nevertheless she was snapped out of her slight trance by the sound of Vegeta’s husky and grumpy slightly rough voice that gained an unnoticeable shutter from the young girl. “What do you want brat? Bulla isn’t here. She’s out with her mother to get things for this damn New Year’s Eve party” said the Prince as he eyed the girl standing in front of him.

Vegeta hadn’t actually seen Kakarot’s daughter for more than a few seconds at best. The last time he’d seen her for a decent amount of time was at the last New Year’s Eve party that Bulma held and that’d been a long time ago. Whenever she came over it was normally to see his daughter Bulla so the Prince never saw her for long.

He continued to eye her as she stood there, still not having answered him. Vegeta was slightly gazing up and down the female Saiyan’s body, noting how feminine she looked and small compared to him but also reminding himself that she was stronger than she looked. He was still surprised that they had even allowed the girl to keep her tail as his gaze fell on the brown furry appendage wrapped securely around her waist. His gaze then returned to her face and took note of how long her hair was now, the few times he saw her it had been short though it was at least a bit below shoulder length now.


“I uh.. was just going to stay here until the party started” said Elena as Vegeta was snapped out of whatever it was he was doing. He grunted a response to her and stepped aside, rather he moved away from the door and began silently walking off. She looked on as he moved and didn’t move from her place at the door outside till he was out of sight.

She went inside and shut the door, taking deep calming breaths to steady her quickly beating heart. Truth be told; the young Saiyan had developed a crush on Vegeta when she was much younger. Always having favored the male over his son. That was back when she was about 7 years old. She was 20 years old now and she still held that childhood crush for her best friend’s father. There was just something about the Prince that had sparked her interest and overtime as she grew up, that crush of hers that she developed had turned into her having real feelings for the Saiyan Prince.

Elena had always thought Vegeta was good looking and strong. She admired his will and determination to never give up because a Saiyan never did, if they did then they didn’t deserve to be known as a Saiyan.

She wasn’t entirely sure about how she felt about his attitude, ego, and personality but she was still attracted to it. When she got older and had turned 18, she really started to take in the Prince’s body and looks as well as how he acted and his personality. Unfortunately, Vegeta had always been unattainable until he and Bulma had separated. Though she had never made a move on him, she had wanted to but decided against it. Thinking there was still no chance for her with him so she stuck to imagining and dreaming about what it’d be like to be Vegeta’s mate.

She finally went off upstairs to Bulla’s room to stay there for awhile. Unfortunately, she once again smacked right into something hard and this time had to balance herself so she wouldn’t fall flat on her ass.


Once Elena steadied herself, she growled lowly as the tip of her tail began to lash around “if this keeps happening today, I can’t guarantee that I won’t enjoy kicking your ass”

But the person who was standing there wasn’t who she thought it was. It wasn’t Trunks, it was Vegeta she had talked to like that. He grunted in response as his arms crossed over his bare chest “is that right, brat?” he said questioningly as he slightly narrowed his eyes at the girl.

Elena’s eyes widened a bit at the sound of Vegeta’s voice. She genuinely thought it was Trunks again and it wasn’t, it was his father instead. She unnoticeably lifted her gaze a little bit but once she noticed the towel, her gaze immediately went to the floor. She slightly stuttered as she spoke with heat slowly rising in her cheeks and the faintest amount of pink showing “V-Vegeta..?” she shook her head mentally and calmed herself. Not daring to look at the older male as she tried hiding the fact she was slightly blushing along with the surprised look on her face.


“I-I’m so sorry, Vegeta! I thought you were —” she was cut off by the older male into silence before she could finish “you thought I was who? Trunks?”

She kept her head lowered in shame as she nodded at what Vegeta said. It wasn’t really hidden that she didn’t like Trunks because of what he did but she usually never said anything. “Well I’m not my brat, child” he rolled his eyes and kept his arms crossed over his bare chest though he did partially notice the obvious faint pink on her cheeks which made him a little curious.

‘Is she blushing or am I just seeing things?’ he mentally questioned himself and kept said thoughts to himself. “And I’m not a child, I'm a grown woman” she retorted back towards his statement of her being one thus making her finally look up at him with a slight glare. They kept their gazes locked on each other as they stood there, neither one of them making a move to leave or say another word. Vegeta had only come out of his room with a towel around his waist because he hadn’t realized that he didn’t have any clothes to put on after the shower he still had not taken yet. He had assumed Kakarot’s brat would’ve been in his daughter’s room and not in the hallway so he wouldn’t bump into her. But unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened and here they were staring each other down. He didn’t necessarily mind, she was the only female Saiyan not related to him and he did subconsciously find her attractive even if she was the daughter of his greatest rival, comrade, and best friend despite the fact he would never admit that out loud to anyone.


With the staring contest with Vegeta, Elena had completely forgotten he was practically naked in front of her. Until she was reminded about it by the thought crossing her mind. It wasn’t like she’d never seen him without a shirt before but this was different, this time the only thing he was wearing was a towel and she had hidden feelings for him. She felt the heat beginning to rise in her cheeks again though thankfully someone interrupted their little staring contest.

“Father, have you seen…” Trunks didn’t even finish his sentence before he noticed the pair together just staring at each other. He remarked how his father was almost completely naked in front of his ex-girlfriend’s aunt and that she was just standing there seemingly unfazed by it.

Elena’s head snapped in Trunks’ direction, if she hadn’t been growling before at Vegeta then she was definitely growling now and more visibly so. She had no time to respond to the lavender haired man when Vegeta started to figuratively bark at him “what is it now, brat!?” he held a slight growl to his tone as he eyed his son.

She silently snickered to herself now, she’d been finding it amusing with how Vegeta acted towards him ever since Trunks hurt Pan even if that hasn't why Vegeta acted the way he did, Elena still found it amusing regardless. “I was wondering if you’d seen Elena but she’s obviously with you though I don’t see why she would be, especially when I’m here” he grumbled that last part but it was clearly heard by the other two Saiyans.

“Why in the name of Kami would you be looking for me? And like hell I’d be around you even if you are here. I’d much rather be around Vegeta at that point since SOMEONE decided it was okay to cheat on my niece despite how long they’d been dating” this gained a snarl from the young woman as she was now giving the lavender haired man a death glare. Her fists were clenched by now and she was about ready to rip into him especially given the fact her parents weren’t around to stop her, and she was a lot faster than Vegeta was.

Vegeta mentally raised a brow at the girl’s declaration of her basically preferring to being near or around him rather than his own son. This intrigued the older male further though he said nothing about it for now. “I was just.. why can’t you accept my apology and us be friends again?” asked the older hybrid, he really couldn’t stand the fact that everyone had been angry with him and especially her since they’d been close before the incident of all of them finding out about his affair.


Cocking her head to the side, an amused smirk tugged at the corner of Elena’s lips as she fought the urge to chuckle in amusement “there’s nothing to forgive and why would I want to be friends with a cheater? A man that had an affair with a woman while with my niece. I don’t think it deserves to be forgiven” after that she quickly walked passed Vegeta then Trunks and went off to Bulla’s room finally.

Trunks sighed as she moved by him then looked at his father once she was out of earshot “what the fuck was going on between YOU TWO?” he was obviously angry now while looking at Vegeta. His father merely grunted at this and at his son’s behavior. Vegeta considered it to be none of the brat’s business whatsoever since he was no longer with his mother, he was free to let his eyes wander if he so pleased. “I suggest you lose the attitude with me, boy. I’m not above teaching you manners and a lesson if you don’t change it” his tone was deadly and a clear warning, indicating that he would make due on what he said if his son decided not to heed his warning.

Gritting his teeth together, Trunks growled lowly for a moment then let it go. “Goku and Chichi would kill you if you done anything to their daughter, just saying father” was the last thing Trunks said before he left leaving his father in the hallway by himself. Of course, Vegeta disregarded the boy since it wasn’t like he’d been touching the girl or making a move on her. Even if he had been attempting to make a move on the young woman, it was none of his son's concern about what he did and didn't do. He soon turned on his heel though after the interaction with his son and went to the washroom then began to return to his room after grabbing all of his clean clothes.


Meanwhile, Elena had reached Bulla’s room and shut the door. Flopping down on her bed then grabbing a pillow and screaming into it as loud as she possibly could since the pillow was muffling her scream. Unfortunately, her muffled scream of frustration didn’t go unnoticed by the Prince as he was walking by his daughter’s bedroom door.


‘The hell is wrong with that brat today?’ he asked himself mentally as he stood there. He just didn’t get it. Something was up and he could tell that much but otherwise he was relatively clueless. He stood there a moment longer to notice the screaming had stopped. Was he really curious and intrigued enough to see if she said anything? Vegeta didn’t entirely have a choice when he heard her voice.

“What is it about him? I seriously don’t get it. It’s HIM for Kami’s sake..” she was talking quietly to herself but to Saiyan ears, it was as plain as day. Vegeta cocked his head a bit in confusion, who was the ‘him’ she was referring to? He continued to listen though as he wondered if she’d reveal who the ‘he’ was.

She sighed and looked up at the ceiling, her tail no longer around her waist as it slowly thumped against Bulla’s bed. “It’s wrong, right? Because it’s him and the age gap is considerably big, my parents wouldn’t approve. But still.. I just can’t seem to shake these feelings that I have for him” the end of her tail drooped as a frown formed on her features. Her ki was lowering as well and beginning to emit how she was feeling, she was starting to feel upset and a bit hurt but more pained than anything.

Outside the door, Vegeta was even more confused as he stood there. ‘An older male? It sounds like whoever this male is, he must be important for her to be saying that it’s wrong. But she doesn’t feel that way towards it?’ his brows were furrowed as he thought to himself while continuing to stand there and listen quietly to the girl inside the room who seemed to be oblivious to his presence.

She shook her head a little bit then continued to stare at the ceiling above her, the frown not leaving her features “what would it really be like to be his mate..?” she mumbled the question quieter than she had already been before, as if the question was too sacred to really be spoken. “No.. I shouldn’t be thinking that way. He’s way out of my league and he probably only sees me as a child anyway. There’s no way I’d ever have a chance” as those words rolled off her tongue, tears had formed in the corners of her eyes and fell.

It really did upset her that she might never have a chance with Vegeta but she’d never admit that to herself, at least not now and the fact it pained her to even say it to herself — she really didn’t want to admit it yet. She wiped away the few tears that had fallen and mentally berated herself for being so weak as to shed tears over a male that she knew she’d never have, one that didn’t even know how she felt towards him.

Vegeta’s expression slowly turned to one of anger. Though why was he angry? It wasn’t like it concerned him and he wasn’t concerned about what she was saying but he still felt his blood boiling. But who had the girl this upset? He’d never heard or seen her that way before. He paused a moment when he smelled salt in the air. He had just been about to burst through the door when that smell hit his nose. ‘Child? Mate? Is she crying?’ he still couldn’t figure it out. This male was out of her league and she’d never have a chance but who was ‘he’? Was the better question in all of this.

He dropped his hand from the doorknob and left to go take a shower. No longer interested in hearing anything else, at least for the time being. Elena continued to lay there and look at the ceiling until she decided to just sleep it off.

Several Hours later

After Vegeta showered and Elena was sound asleep, he would check on her at random from the balcony that led to his daughter’s room whenever he’d be outside or coming inside from the Gravity Chamber. The Prince done this a few times over the course of those few hours and he made sure no one notice him doing it either. The last time he checked, his daughter and Bulma could’ve caught him though since they were home he returned to his usual behavior.

At the sound of noise coming from downstairs, it stirred Elena awake and she sat up reluctantly. Looking over at Bulla’s alarm clock, her eyes slightly widened at the fact it was now 4pm and that she’d slept so long. She’d never slept like that but she hurriedly got off the bed and rushed into the bathroom and used the toothpaste Bulla always let her use along with an extra toothbrush. She brushed her teeth quickly and rinsed her mouth out with mouthwash then water a few times before she wiped her mouth.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she was at least glad that her hair wasn’t all over the place. It was how it usually was so she sighed in relief as she left the bathroom. Leaving the room of the Saiyan princess, she headed downstairs and into the kitchen. When she reached the bottom floor, she found Bulla and Bulma in the kitchen, busying themselves with capsules of stuff that they’d brought back home.

“Anything I can help you with?” asked the younger hybrid as she entered the kitchen and successfully startling the other two women. Bulla went over and playfully punched her shoulder for startling them, causing Elena to pretend to be in pain till she couldn’t anymore and giggled to herself. “I’m sorry for startling you both, I hadn’t really meant to” she apologized to the two of them and grinned apologetically with a hand rubbing the back of her head.

“Typical Son” remarked Bulla as she shook her head and went back to helping her mother. “You’re just like Goku, if I didn’t know any better then I’d say you’re his clone but a girl” said the old scientist as she looked up at the young woman, being reminded of how Goku usually is made her chuckle.

“But no dear, you just relax until everyone’s here. Maybe you can find Vegeta and spar till then?” suggested Bulma but the look Elena gave her thankfully went unnoticed by her. She fidgeted a bit before she even answered her “I’m good.. I think I’ll pass on sparring today” she muttered it but it was still loud enough to be heard even by Bulma.

“Are you sick or something Lele? You’re usually ALWAYS up to sparring with daddy to see if you can beat him. It’s not like you to turn down a spar especially with how much you’re like your dad” Bulla looked over at her friend in concern as she said that. It really was unlike her to say such a thing so something must’ve been wrong with one of her closest friends. “A Saiyan who doesn’t want to spar? Have they finally rubbed off on you, brat” said Vegeta from the doorway that leads to the kitchen.

He had come inside to grab a bottle of water when he heard Elena say she would pass up on a spar with him. Now Vegeta knew something was definitely up since she was passing on sparring with him. She was the only one of Goku’s kids that actually liked and enjoyed sparring as well as training so her declining was a surprise to him.


Elena’s body stiffened up momentarily at Vegeta’s presence but relaxed a second later. “I’m just… not feeling it today, that’s all. Besides, there’s only a couple hours till everyone’s supposed to be here and I can’t spar. Mom would kill me and I don’t have any clothes here to change into for the party so there’s that too” grumbled the female Saiyan.

In all honesty, she didn’t care that much but she wanted to avoid Vegeta so if that meant passing up on a good spar then she’d gladly pass it up. He was about to move forward and grab her arm to drag her away to spar when Bulla done what he was about to do. “Well if you’re not going to spar with daddy then you can help me get ready and let me dress you for the party too!” Bulla squealed in delight while dragging Elena with her to go back upstairs to her room.

“Wait, what!?” being dragged along by the other female hybrid, she had no choice but to go with her. When they passed by Vegeta, Elena’s gaze locked with his for a moment and the look she had was almost a silent plea to him. However, they were gone upstairs so their gazes weren’t locked for long thus leaving the older male with a questioning expression and Bulma too busy to notice anything.

Upstairs

“Bee, hold on” whined the youngest child of Goku. She had went downstairs to grab a drink and snack but to also see what her best friend and Bulma were doing. She halted her movements and refused to move another inch until Bulla turned around to look at her “what? You always help me out, Lele” said the youngest Briefs. Elena grumbled slightly and removed her arm from her friend’s grasp before responding “at least let me get a snack and a drink first, I haven’t had anything the entire day” that said, her best friend shook her head and started walking in the direction of her room again as she called over her shoulder “make it quick though.”

Back downstairs, Vegeta had grabbed a bottle of water and was about to head back outside again to resume his training but Bulma had other ideas. Since her and Vegeta’s separation, she had went back to dating Yamcha — her ex-boyfriend that she had been on and off with before she and Vegeta had happened. They’d had another fight as usual given that’s a bit of what their relationship previously consisted of and Bulma wanted a male companion right now. So with Vegeta there, she figured she could maybe seek his companionship for a bit until things smoothed over with Yamcha.

Elena had gotten to the stairs and was going down them when she noticed something going on. She stopped her movements and stayed silent as she looked on at what was happening or about to happen.

Since the girls were no longer downstairs, Bulma walked over and stopped Vegeta from returning outside. This caused the Saiyan male to turn around and look at his ex-wife with a scowl on his features. “What do you want, woman? Can’t you see that I’m busy” grunted Vegeta in clear annoyance at the bluenette deciding that it was okay for her to prevent him from training.

She stepped closer to him so there was hardly any space left between them if any at all and ignored the annoyance in his tone as well as the look he was giving her. With her cleavage slightly pressing against his chest, she looked up at him with a seductive gaze and ran a finger along his chest “you seem really tense, Vegeta. How about you let me fix that for you?” said Bulma in a seductive tone as she leaned up and whispered it into his ear.

Watching the interaction from afar on the stairs, Elena could feel her Saiyan blood beginning to boil at the scene unfolding in front of her. ‘I thought Vegeta and Bulma were separated? That’s what they told everyone. Was it just a lie?’ with those thoughts plaguing her mind, she unintentionally let out a low snarl as her tail started to unravel from her waist and lash around in irritation.

When she realized that she had made a sound, she immediately stopped and covered her mouth — hoping that she hadn’t been heard. She knew Bulma would most likely be unaware of her presence and the snarl she’d released but Vegeta was a different story. There was a high chance that he heard her and knew she was there which wasn’t the best situation.

“Woman, what the hell are you doing?” growled Vegeta as he pushed Bulma away from his body. Though he paused when he heard a snarl yet there was no one downstairs with them then it clicked that whoever had made the sound was using the stairs to hide. He decided to maybe deal with it later as he returned his attention to Bulma, who was now pouting and glaring at him “ugh! You’re no fun Vegeta and you’re such an ass. I just wanted to help you not be so tense. But no one wants me anymore” whined the bluenette as she looked at her ex-husband.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Bulma and was clearly uninterested, he knew that she’d most likely fought with the weak earthling given her behavior but he wasn’t going to satisfy her needs just because she couldn’t keep the dog on a leash.

Before either of them could say another word, Elena finally left the stairs and walked in. Causing Bulma to try to quickly act as normal as possible since she had come back downstairs. She was still angry though from what she’d seen but she tried her best to hide it as she walked over to grab a snack and a drink. Her tail was twitching in irritation as she tried to keep her cool about it and that it didn’t bother her when in actuality, it bothered her beyond belief “so I thought you two had separated?” asked Elena out loud and though her voice sounded calm, anger was hidden behind her tone.

“What you might have caught was nothing so make no mistake brat, we STILL ARE separated as far as I’m concerned” said Vegeta who was still visibly annoyed by the whole thing. He could still hear the hidden anger in the girl’s tone despite her best efforts to hide it and her tail twitching was unfortunately a dead give away that she was angry yet trying to seem calm. ’Was she the one who snarled? If she did then why is she angry about it. It’s not like what I do is of any of her concern or business’ thought Vegeta as he looked over her.

Bulma fidgeted with her thumbs a moment and kind of looked down “well yes dear, we’re still separated.. I just thought I’d help him not be so tense” she hadn’t caught the hidden anger behind Elena’s tone, unaware that the young woman was angry in the first place and she knew nothing about their tails so she didn’t realize the twitching held a meaning behind it.

A part of her wanted to make a scene about it, make her feelings for the Prince clear. She didn’t entirely like the fact that Bulma had tried to make a move on him despite the fact they’d previously been together for years and Elena had no say in what they done, it wasn’t like he was hers. He didn’t belong to her anyway but she still didn’t like it and she knew she wouldn’t get over it quickly “didn’t look like nothing to me..” muttered the young Saiyan woman, her grasp on her bottle of water increased until the bottle itself exploded causing water to go practically everywhere.

Vegeta could sense something was going on even more so when her water bottle exploded, it just made her anger more apparent to the Saiyan Prince. She decided to forget about the drink so with snack in hand, she began to head for the stairs and go to Bulla’s room where her best friend was most likely impatiently waiting for her.

“O-Oh, you and Bulla have fun! Don’t come down too late for when everyone gets here!” called Bulma as she watched the girl return to the stairs. Relief washed over her and she hoped that she hadn’t suspected anything further. It was then that Vegeta moved so fast that neither of the women noticed until he was next to Elena, having reached his hand out and grabbed her wrist to prevent her from going up the stairs.

His sudden touch seemed to cause fire to ignite on her skin when he grabbed her wrist and halted her movement. But this didn’t falter the anger that she felt, her Saiyan blood was still boiling and Vegeta could sense it — it was basically radiating off her body in waves now. He locked his gaze with hers and noticed different emotions flash in her eyes; anger was the most prominent right now but pain, hurt, longing, and uncertainty were also there in plain sight.

Neither one of them said a word and just simply stood there in silence until Elena could take his touch no longer. His touch was driving her crazy, it was making her want to cry again because she felt that she would never have what Bulma had prior to the separation. It just caused her heart unbearable pain and made the longing she felt for him worse. Hiding her emotions behind a neutral expression, she made him release her wrist then rushed upstairs to get away from him. She didn’t want him to know and she knew if she stayed like that any longer then she wouldn’t be able to stop herself from doing something she might regret.

Vegeta stood there and watched her leave, completely forgetting about his ex-wife being in the room at this point. ‘What was that longing behind her eyes? And for who is it towards?’ he furrowed his brows and crossed his arms over his chest. He was beginning to piece things together but he couldn’t be certain that his thoughts on the matter were correct until he had further proof.

Vegeta and Bulma went separate ways again as he moved from the stairs to go outside especially because he was uninterested in being her temporary plaything. In the hallway upstairs, Elena was quickly making her way back and had dropped her snack on the way to Bulla’s room though didn’t care enough to go back and pick it up.

She entered Bulla’s room and shut the door, thankfully having completely calmed herself down before reaching the room of her best friend.

When Bulla asked Elena what took her so long, the other Saiyan merely said she had trouble deciding on a snack and apologized for making her friend wait. She accepted the apology as well as her reasoning for taking longer than expected. Now with Elena back upstairs in the room with her, Bulla could finally get started on their outfits and everything.

The shopping obsessed bluenette had her best friend help her out with picking an outfit which took awhile until they both settled on a nice turquoise colored dress. It came just below the knees and fit perfectly to Bulla’s curves though showed a bit of cleavage. There was no sleeves or anything so she had to get Elena to zip up her dress then she started doing her own hair. Curling her blue hair into small curls and fluffing it up before applying her makeup which wasn’t much since she already looked quite gorgeous and had flawless skin. This took about an hour though so by the time Bulla was done getting herself ready, they had an hour left before people started to arrive.

Elena groaned as she and Bulla went through outfits, trying to pick one out that suited her best friend since she was already dressed to impress. It took probably 20 to 30 minutes before she reluctantly agreed on a crimson red dress, Bulla handed it over and made her go to the bathroom to put it on. She took the dress and done as instructed by the Princess so she could get this over with as quickly as possible. She slipped the dress on and fixed the straps before grabbing the back of the dress then using her tail to zip it up. The dress fit tightly to her form and she really felt uncomfortable wearing it but Bulla had insisted that she wear a dress not regular clothes.

Coming out of the bathroom in the crimson red dress that came down to her ankles, Elena gave Bulla a weak smile before being dragged to sit on a bench to have her hair fixed. Her hair was straightened then fixed so it looked wavy as it flowed down her shoulders, some of it was in her face but her bangs were swept to the side and styled in a way that they wouldn’t get in her face. Next Bulla put a tail hole in the dress from Elena protesting about having it underneath the dress because she couldn’t stand it being under her clothing. Thankfully Bulla knew how to fix it properly to look as though that was the way the dress had been made and it still looked good.

Knowing her best friend didn’t like makeup at all, she only put the smallest amount of blush on her and gave her a slight smoky eye. With that done, Bulla grabbed a pair of earrings for herself and put them in before going over to her closet then bringing back a pair of heels for Elena to wear that matched her dress while Bulla slipped into hers.

This entire process took a bit over another hour so they were downstairs when two hours had already passed but it was fine as long as they didn’t stay upstairs the entire time.

About two hours and 30 minutes later

It was the usual New Year’s Eve party but it was a bit different. Bulma and Vegeta had separated some months prior to Christmas then officially announced their divorce on Christmas day. They still lived together though they weren’t together anymore. It still really surprised everyone that they had separated when they were such a power couple but everyone supported their decision to separate.

It was only the Briefs, the Son family, Z-Fighters, and whoever Bulla invited over that were celebrating together since it was only for friends and family mainly. There was tons of food to feed the multiple Saiyans there as well as drinks and snacks. Everyone was having a blast and chatting away with whoever they were talking to but there was one Saiyan who wasn’t having fun at all.

Elena had of course greeted her family and suffered through their compliments at how she was dressed for the event. Her brothers were immensely happy to see her and were surprised to see that Bulla had gotten her into a dress this time around though they knew their little sister was incredibly uncomfortable in the clothing. Her mother Chichi was rather delighted to see that her daughter had dressed more feminine this time and couldn’t stop admiring how beautiful her daughter truly was. But Goku could sense his daughter’s high discomfort when he saw what she was wearing and although he thought she looked gorgeous and told her as such, he knew it was way out of her comfort zone so he tried his best to soothe her when she had stayed around him for a good bit of the party.

Another Saiyan that wasn’t too pleased at this party was Vegeta though his displeasure with it was normal so no one bothered to acknowledge it. He had never liked these gatherings and would much rather not partake in them but upon his daughter’s insistence he always did even after he and Bulma separated, and that his presence wasn’t really necessary. He stayed in his corner for the most part with his arms crossed and deciding not to socialize. He’d threw on a black under shirt with a maroon blazer along with a red tie and black dress pants and dress shoes. Even if he didn’t like these things, he still dressed nice for the occasion even though he was mainly keeping to himself.

Vegeta hadn’t seen Kakarot’s daughter since everyone arrived, he had sensed her ki near her family but didn’t see her and when he did unnoticeably scan around for her — she was no where to be found which puzzled him surprisingly. After she had greeted her family, socialized a bit, and stayed around her father, Elena had decided to disappear from their little get together and went off to a room.

The room she was in was specifically her room, a room that had been made for her upon Bulla’s request that her two best friends Elena and Pan have their own private rooms at Capsule Corp instead of just using the guest-rooms. Unknowingly to Elena, Vegeta was the one who had fixed up the room for her instead of letting any of the workers at Capsule Corp do it. He had wanted it to be special and fit her so he took it upon himself to fix the room up for her in his spare time which no one had any knowledge of him doing this, they all figured the workers done it not the Prince. What compelled him to fix up the room was unknown but it looked great and that’s all that mattered.

She was out on her balcony, her arms resting on the railing as she was leaning over and looked out at the stars. It was a new moon so there wasn’t a moon for her to look at which was necessarily a good thing since she hadn’t been trained to control her Ōzaru form whatsoever. Her tail was wrapped securely around her waist as she stood there and admired the night sky. She simply wanted tonight to be over with so she could go home and forget about the day.

Downstairs Vegeta finally moved from the corner he had been in and going unnoticed by anyone he headed upstairs. Once upstairs he walked down the hallway until coming across Elena’s room, the door was open a few inches and he could sense that’s where her ki was. He quietly opened the door then shut it behind him and silently walked over to the balcony doors, and there she was standing there alone on the balcony.

He leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and stayed quiet a moment longer before he finally said something “so skipping out on the party, are we?” asked Vegeta as he slowly moved from the doorframe and onto the balcony itself. Elena jumped from being startled from his sudden presence and having not even sensed that he was there in the first place but he had suppressed his ki so she wouldn’t sense his presence to begin with.

She turned her head to look at him since she didn’t need to move her entire body with him now standing beside her, at least a foot of space between them. She looked at him with a scowl on her features since he startled her and she didn’t appreciate it at all “I’m not skipping out on the party, I just needed some time alone to myself” she turned her gaze away and resumed looking out at the stars. “That doesn’t explain why you’re out here with me instead of inside with everyone else” was her slight retort towards him since technically they were both skipping out on the party at this point.

Vegeta stood there with his arms still crossed over his chest and looking out at the stars as well. He didn’t answer what she said to him and just stayed quiet, he himself wasn’t entirely certain of why he’d even come up here in search of her. Not that he was going to let her know that he had come up in search of her anyway.

“Silent treatment as usual huh?” she slightly shook her head, knowing that she probably wouldn’t get a conversation out of Vegeta “I guess expecting a conversation is unrealistic even though it looks like you’ve decided to stay and grace me with your presence.” Although a part of her was happy to have his company, she still felt hurt from earlier that day with the scene she saw between him and Bulma.

Vegeta grunted in response, he wasn’t that much of a talker but he was still listening. He subconsciously wanted to know what that was about earlier when she saw him with Bulma but he wasn’t sure if prying it out of her was the best idea. “Well if you’ll at least listen… I want to apologize for my behavior today” the tone of her voice considerably dulled and grew a bit sad as her gaze shifted downwards “how I was earlier, it was unnecessary and I’m sorry.. you have every right to do whatever you want. I was just angry about something else and was almost going to take it off on you and Bulma.” That was her excuse for being angry, that she was angry about something else and was about to unintentionally let off steam on them even if that wasn’t really true.

He raised a brow at this and looked at her from the corner of his eye, he could tell she wasn’t telling him the truth. Her excuse for how she acted was rather poor but he had nothing else to go on for her behavior so he pretended to believe her without responding to her.

No one noticed that Elena and Vegeta were missing from the party, everyone else was too busy enjoying themselves to notice the pair’s absence except Goku. He had noticed his daughter leave sometime ago and knew she was upstairs but he’d also noticed when Vegeta snuck off to go upstairs while thinking he had gone unnoticed. He didn’t say anything though and continued to enjoy himself despite worrying over his daughter as well as why Vegeta went upstairs too.

Elena had continued to talk to Vegeta since he stayed out on the balcony with her even if she got no response from him except the occasional grunt to confirm that he was indeed still listening to her speak. They stayed upstairs until it was at least a couple minutes until the clock would tick to midnight. “You know with hardly any response out of you, I wonder if you even consider me a friend? Probably not an equal but probably not a friend either. You probably only see me as a child especially the child of your rival and that’s it” the words just flowed out of her mouth like she hadn’t even really thought about them and she hadn’t.

Elena had no clue that Vegeta had listened to everything she said when she was in Bulla’s room and thought no one was listening. This caused him to finally look at her as the pieces fell into place, things finally clicking to the Prince that the male she had been talking about was in fact him just by the sheer fact that she said he probably only saw her as a child. He furrowed his brows as he looked at her though otherwise his expression was unreadable ‘the girl was talking about me that entire time? I knew she held what the humans called a “crush” on me but that was when she was an actual child’ he was rather confused on why she would still feel that way towards him as an adult since as far as he knew these ‘childhood crushes’ never lasted.

‘Am I to believe that the girl still has feelings for me?’ he mentally questioned himself and was about to say something when cheering erupted from downstairs. Everyone was yelling ‘Happy New Year’ but he and the girl were the only two who hadn’t said a word.

’Well you only live once...’ was the last thought Elena had before she closed the distance between herself and Vegeta. Instead of saying ‘Happy New Year’ like everyone downstairs had, she decided to do the one thing she didn’t think she was really able to do. She was leaned up a little bit with her hands on his arms and pressed her lips against his, thoroughly catching the Prince completely off guard by her sudden kiss.

This however had confirmed his unspoken question the moment she closed the distance and decided to take the chance, to risk it and kiss him. His eyes were a bit wide at the unexpectedness so he didn’t reciprocate her kiss nor was he given enough time to process everything and return it if he even wanted to that is, before she pulled away from him. The look on her face was one of a deer caught in headlights as if she had just realized what exactly she’d done.

‘Fuck, fuck, fuck… what have I done’ she mentally screamed at herself in a panic once she realized that she had in fact actually kissed Vegeta when she thought she was just imagining that as a scenario in her head. No words were spoken between them as she quickly exited the balcony and left her bedroom, heading down the hallway to go downstairs where everyone else was while leaving him upstairs alone and still stunned from what had occurred between them.

When she got downstairs she was caught by Bulla who had a guy with her and a bright smile on her face “there you are, Lele! I’ve been looking everywhere for you” exclaimed her best friend as she released the other Saiyan’s arm. Elena returned her smile albeit it was faked then turned her attention to the guy that Bulla had with her “why were you looking for me, Bee?”

“Wellll.. I wanted to introduce you to Ryan. A cute guy that I became friends with at college and we’ve kept in touch. So thought I’d introduce you two” she said rather innocently but it then dawned on Elena of why she was being introduced to this guy. She said and rubbed the back of her neck “it’s.. it’s nice to meet you, Ryan” she said a bit shyly even though she really wasn’t shy. “Pleasures all mine, Bulla’s told me a lot about you” he gave Elena a smile as he spoke and noted how great she looked “you look even better in person than how she described you to me and the pictures she showed.” Elena froze at this and her gaze shifted to her best friend that she was now glaring daggers at “oh really? You think so?”

“Yeah, I know so. Would you maybe want to go take a walk with me?” asked Ryan as he held his hand out to her. She hesitantly nodded her head and place her hand in his outstretched one then walked outside with him. She mainly only wanted to get away so she took the opportunity to leave with Ryan even though she wasn’t interested in getting to know him better or interested in dating him. She knew who her heart already belonged to and that was Vegeta, no other man could capture her heart quite like he could.

Just then as Elena disappeared outside with the guy Bulla had introduced her to, did Vegeta appear downstairs and he seemed to be looking for someone. Rather more specifically he was looking for Elena and he could sense her outside but she had company, and something in him didn’t like it. After she had left him upstairs, he sorted out his own thoughts and feelings for the most part  — only to then realize how much he was drawn to her and wanted her.

Vegeta’s primal Saiyan instincts were to claim her and permanently make her his but she didn’t know that he also wanted her just as much as she wanted him. He moved passed people to get outside though was stopped by Bulma who reeked of alcohol, thus making Vegeta scrunch his nose up at the smell “what is it now, woman. Shouldn’t you be with your dog and not bothering me” he grunted and pushed her aside then continued on his way outside.

Elena had gotten a good distance away with Ryan when she stopped walking and caused him to halt as well. She removed her hand from him then looked at him with an apologetic expression even if she wasn’t actually sorry “listen Ryan.. you’re a really attractive guy and everything though I’m just not into this. I don’t know what Bulla told you but I’m really not interested and I wouldn’t want to date you or get to know you better unless it’s as a friend only” she gave him a faint smile then continued “plus my heart already belongs to someone else.. someone that I know won’t return my feelings but I’m okay with that. I hope you can understand and that the rest of your night goes well, I’m gonna go home.”

Elena kissed his cheek lightly then walked away, throwing a capsule on the ground after clicking the button at the top and having a car poof into existence. Even though she didn’t need the hoover car since she could fly, she couldn’t exactly just do that in front of an earthling at random. She got into the car and started it up before driving off in it, leaving Capsule Corp behind her.

Meanwhile, Vegeta had overheard her one-sided conversation with the male his daughter had introduced to her and was pleased to find that she wasn’t the slight bit interested in him since her heart belonged to him. Though he did have a slight frown on his features when she said that he wouldn’t return her feelings but she didn’t really know that and the fact she kissed the earthling’s cheek displeased Vegeta further.

Ryan slightly hung his head after she left and turned to go back inside when he bumped into someone, that someone being Vegeta who wasn’t the slightest bit amused. “O-oh, I’m sorry I didn’t see you there sir” he bowed his head when apologizing before returning to leave. Fortunately for him, Elena had already parted ways with him so there was no need for Vegeta to kick his ass for touching what he considered to belong to him.

Though this didn’t stop Vegeta from growling at the other male then promptly moving at a fast enough speed that the guy who went by Ryan didn’t see it coming when the Prince’s fist had collided with his stomach, knocking the other male completely unconscious within a matter of seconds from being hit by Vegeta. Now with no earthlings to watch him fly off and being relatively pleased with himself, he took off into the sky to follow after the girl he desired more than anything else. Said girl had re-capsulated her car after getting a few miles away and began flying back home but Vegeta’s presence didn’t go unnoticed by her. She could sense his ki heading in her direction which caused her to fly much quicker until she was at home.

Elena floated in front of her home then went in through her window and shut it back after opening it. She locked her window and closed the curtains, she didn’t need to worry about whether the doors and other windows were locked because they always were every time her and her parents weren’t home. She could sense his ki getting closer and suppressed her ki entirely till he was there at her home so she quickly jumped into bed and covered herself up in hopes of him leaving soon.

He could’ve sworn he felt her ki moments earlier but now he couldn’t. Was she hiding from him now? After what she had done and what he’d overheard from her, now she wanted to hide from him? Vegeta scanned the area and found no trace of her except her scent. He then floated to where he smelt her scent was more concentrated and assumed the window led to her bedroom. He tried looking in but the curtains were closed as well as too thick and blacked out for him to see anything.

She stayed quiet the entire time especially when his silhouette was visible inside her room. There was no mistaking that upswept flame like hair but she already knew he was there before seeing his shadow. She hoped to Kami that he would leave soon so she could relax and get out of the dress she was wearing, she just couldn’t face him now after what she had done and she was afraid of what he might do to her for it or if he was angry with her for kissing him out of nowhere.

Vegeta stayed for about an hour in hopes of her coming out of hiding and showing herself but that never ended up happening. She stayed hidden until he gave up on seeing her and reciprocating how she felt towards him. With reluctance, he eventually left and flew back to Capsule Corp — he felt rather defeated that night and couldn’t wrap his head around why she’d kiss him then go into hiding instead of facing him. He knew that the worse thing he could do is reject her but if he was going to do that then he would’ve immediately pushed her away and denied her what she wanted. When he returned to Capsule Corp, people were leaving and going home which included the Son family. When he landed on the lawn, he was asked by Kakarot if he’d seen his daughter so being Vegeta — he grunted in response to his rival and said he hadn’t seen her, why the hell would he have anyway? Thus leaving Kakarot confused but he already knew Vegeta had seen her and wasn’t telling him the truth. Goku wasn’t sure why his best friend was hiding things from him especially when it involved his daughter though decided he wouldn’t pry Vegeta about it and end up letting him know that he knew he had also disappeared upstairs where his daughter had been.

Back inside the Son household, Elena had finally relaxed and taken a well needed shower after ridding herself of the clothes provided to her by Bulla. Feeling refreshed from her shower and now no longer having to hide from Vegeta, she slipped into bed after throwing on some clothes to sleep in. Her mind was stuck on their kiss as she laid down, rather her kissing Vegeta and surprisingly how soft his lips felt against hers. She hadn’t meant to be bold tonight and act on her feelings but she couldn’t help feeling the way she did towards the Prince.

With that thought in mind and the kiss playing out in her head, she drifted off into a semi peaceful slumber after curling up in her sheets. Not long after she had passed out, her parents returned home via Instant Transmission and Chichi was quick to check upstairs for her with Goku behind her trying to get his wife to not bother their daughter right now. Despite his best efforts however, Chichi still went to their daughter’s room and barraged in just to find that she was sound asleep in bed already.

Given their daughter was at home and asleep, Chichi sighed in relief as she shut the door. Goku was happy she was at least home but he could smell Vegeta’s faint scent on his daughter which he was grateful that Chichi was a human now or she’d be rushing back to Capsule Corp to chew Vegeta out for being anywhere that close to their daughter. He had a feeling that he knew what was going on but wouldn’t jump to conclusions yet. Soon the couple retired to their bedroom and went to sleep not long after as silence fell upon the Son household.

Vegeta was in his room at Capsule Corp, the one he used to share with Bulma until she moved out of their room a bit before they finally separated. He had removed his suit and taken a shower when he returned home and gotten upstairs, he’d needed to clear his head so he decided that a shower may help. He was currently standing outside on his balcony shirtless in a pair of boxers and thinking back on her unexpectedly kissing him once it hit midnight.

He couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to feel her lips on his again and he was torn on how to go about things. He wasn’t expecting her to have feelings for him if she even did and the last thing he thought she would do is be so bold as to kiss him. A sigh escaped his lips as he turned from his balcony and went back inside his room then shut the doors behind him. He decided he would deal with the entire thing later on but for now he was going to sleep and hope that he had a solution the next day.

For once though, Vegeta’s bed felt completely empty without another body in it and he was subconsciously wishing that the other body was Elena’s next to his. He turned over onto his stomach and pushed that thought away as he got comfortable then passed out as she began to invade in his every thought.