Chapter One : The Need To Train

She jumped out of bed, nearly falling over a mass of jumbled up armor that was strewn across the floor. She looked onto the message screen, and clicked the button.

It came up as flashing symbols, an order from the queen to report to her quarters.

She slipped on her warm up outfit, and stepped out as quietly as possible. At the last second she heard a voice from the bed

"Kij... what now?" a rasy male voice spoke.

She sighed and turned. "Urgent order from the queen, its likely the brat again"

He laughed "You've taken to calling the heir a brat? You and the Queen ARE close now eh?"

Kijah was out the door before he could finish. She knew it was likely a simple false alarm, but with the Queen's life, and the heir's life at stake in any measure, Kijah's instincts pushed her to hurry.

She passed the few night guards who saluted nonchalantly; used to her 'midnight runs'.

She stopped outside the Royal quarters and knocked once, waiting for that same leave

"C'mon in Kijah" the Queen's soft voice said, rather than ordered.

Kijah did as she was told, and entered to see the Queen in one of her night garments, sitting uncomfotably in a seemingly comfortable chair. Her stomach area had grown slightly in size in the past few months. She saw the king sitting in another chair in the shadows. He pulled on his last glove and strode past her without a word.

Kijah was used to his attitude, as she knew he hated having someone else come to watch over his mate. And had gone to train in private while she looked over Bulma. She was absolutely giddy with the fact that the King actually left her alone with his mate, and the implication told her that she was trusted.

Bulma waved her over with a weary smile.

"What is it ?" Kijah asked, not accompanying the question with the usual 'my queen'.

The Queen rolled her eyes softly. " This baby, he's kicking hard!! here.. " She took Kijah's hand and placed it over her abdomen.

At first, she felt a bit odd, but had gotten used to the heir being called, "the baby". Also the Queen's tendancy for grabbing her hand out of nowhere to show her somewhere or something. She waited, and sure enough, Kijah felt the kicking, which would keep even the toughest warrior awake. That is precisely why they used gestation tanks.

Kijah smirked "Strong one. Very strong."

Bulma raise both brows "Well if i don't get any sleep I'll never have the energy to work on this tournament! And I'm SURE this little guy has to sleep sometime! I'm just trying to figure out when!"

Kijah smiled, even with the pregnancy, she knew how important the tournaments were to the citizens. How could anyone have a bias towards her?.. Kijah broke her own thoughts to speak "The tournaments usually take care of themselves."

Bulma sighed and let her eyelids fall for a second in between the kicks.

Kijah prepared to stay the rest of the night and get the Queen food, and keep her company. This had become a usual thing, and Kijah had actually come to enjoy it.

All the while, she made sure to keep her duties as aguard in mind. The Queen's life was basically in her hands

~~~~~~~~

Vegeta kicked at the wall, and then spun, punching at speeds that couldn't be seen by the keenest eye.

He stopped and sat down for a second. Realizing that it may be better to 'think things out' like Bulma always tried to get him to.

He scowled. Every evening she'd insisted on calling her only female guard in to help her out, knowing that he hated being around the guards, as he couldn't make 'small talk' as she could. The woman would not break down and let the heir be put in a gestation tank, and calling on the Saiyan female every night was her way of coping with the kicking.

She had yet to experience the scratching and such that may ensue, as every Saiyan child was born with an attitude that promised warrior's instincts.

He quirked his brows. Maybe the child's attitude would be watered down by her human genes.

Vegeta scowled and stood. He erupted into a barrage of kicks and punches, and decided that thinking things out was defiantely NOT the right way to get rid of irked nerves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She slowly rolled her way out of his grip and slid off of the bed, but before she could get her first foot on the floor, his arm had pulled her back against him again.

Not that she minded that.

"Where you going Li..?" He was half asleep and she could hear it. Mainly because he'd said it right into her ear.

"I want to train before duties" she said in a tired voice also.

Kakarott smiled to himself and only pulled her closer "I'll get you out of duties to train tomorrow Li chan... just sleep for now, the sun hasn't even peaked yet"

Liena sighed. He'd 'relieved her of her duties' 3 times in the past few months..her mind began to oppose, but as he bit her neck lightly, any and all thinking faded out.

One more day couldn't hurt.

Their tails intertwined as she settled back in and relaxed.

Nope.. not one bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She watched the stars fly by, knowing she'd be there in a matter of hours. The planet was in sight, and looking as beautiful as ever.

It had been a long time.

She couldn't wait to see Kijah's face when she showed up at her quarters, and smirked, wondering if her friend had found a mate as quickly as she had.

At the thought of her mate, Golkor coincidentally chimed in on her scouter.

"Miaka chan... have you reached the outer sector yet?" He sounded as formal as ever. This made her smile ferally.

"Yes, yes I have. The palace is in sight. The sun hasn't risen there yet, but it is as gorgeous as ever. Don't you just WISH you were here?" she drawled to her mate.

He snorted into the scouter. "Stop the teasing! I'll be there before the brat is put in the tank, and you know it! Until then, you'll just have to live without me!"

"Eh, you'll be here before then. The tournaments are coming up... and don't think its so hard to live without you. Miaka off."

The scouter obeyed as she scowled. He knew how much she depended on him, and how much she hated to admit it.

She placed a hand on her stomach, and waited for the ship to descend into the atmosphere of her home planet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shinto's eyes rolled back into his head, and then he snapped to attention.

These night shifts were definately getting to him. He smirked as he thought of his sister who was likely up more often than he. The queen's pregnancy was the big deal around the palace, and the entire planet.

His face contorted as he rethought. His sister spending more time with the queen could only prove her status, and none could find one higher than hers.

Shinto scowled. Just what he needed, more competition. He looked down the hall at his guards. Half of them, including his best officer, Ranku, were half asleep.

How had he been forced into such a rank.

Then he sighed again. He had no right to complain, as he could just as easily be stuck on the outer council, or worse, the field workers.

He sighed and kept guard as he was supposed to, vowing right then and there to show them all what he could do at the tournament.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miaka stepped into the seemingly dead palace. She'd checked in with the guards, and was on maternal leave for the time being.

As she walked down the coridoors, Miaka wondered what Kijah was up to, and instantly decided that she'd pay her a visit, whether it was the middle of the night or not.

She stopped at the door she knew to be Kijah's, and remmebered that Liena's was right next door. Miaka recalled their friendship, and how jealous she'd been when she was younger.

She smirked, and shook the memories off as she stuck her fingers in the code box. It took awhile to compute her status, but the door slid open, revealing a very dark room.

So dark in fact, that even Miaka's Saiyan eyes were having trouble.

She heard a stirring from the bed. "Good morning sunshine" She drawled.

Nothing. Damn, the girl was still a heavy sleeper. "HEY KIJAH! The PALACE is burning down!!!"

The figure sat up, and Miaka smirked.

"Kijah's with the queen..... what do you mean its burning down?" a male voice spoke from the bed.

Miaka's usually smug look dropped to one of pure surprize. Kijah must have switched quarters. "I was joking. Have Kijah's quarters been relocated?" She asked, totally forgetting about what he'd just said.

" No these are her quarters, I just said, she's with the queen. Who are you? and WHY are you here in the middle of the night?" the male spoke.

Miaka gaped, stumbling backwards, feeling for the lightswitch. He just said... "She's with the QUEEN?" she asked.

She'd heard about the human queen, but had no idea why Kijah would be WITH her. Only very very high ranked guards had such a privaledge. PLUS WHO was this male in Kijah's room and why..

she found the switch and turned on the light, the entire place illuminated. This gave her a chance to asses this male, in every way, considering he had no armor...or even clothes on.

Chatsu sat up, squinting, not even caring about his 'attire' "SHES with the QUEEN. Thats the last time I'll say it. WHO are YOU?" he said, agitated.

Miaka's mind was racing, and she immediately focused her eyes on his, trying to stay away from gaping.

Another mistake. This guy's eyes were amazing! Her warrior's mindset snapped, as did her form. Miaka stood up straight and scowled. "I am Miaka, off world soldier, and ruler of Ginosei. I'm on maternal leave, and decided to vist my BEST FRIEND Kijah, only to find that she's with the Queen, and there is a nude male sleeping in her quarters."

Chatsu smirked, sat there for another second, and finally pulled some cloth over himself and sat up more. His light brown eyes awakened as he did, looking even more intricate as he did so. "She got promoted Miaka, she's a Queen's guard now. I am her mate, my name is Chatsu, former off world troop, now Royal Guard Trainer." he said simply, never removing that smug look from his face.

"Quite the catch Kij" Miaka thought. "Queen's guard?..I'll have to do some MAJOR talking with that sly little warrior." Miaka smirked again.

Chatsu shrugged. "She's usually back by sunrise, and since you've already done the wonderful deed of waking me up, I ought to be off to train for the tournament" He proceeded to get up and slip into the armor that had been strewn across the floor.

Miaka shrugged. " I'll stay here then. They have yet to issue me a place. The order around here hasn't changed a bit" she said as she sat down, inspecting the room, and Kijah's mate when she got the chance.

Chatsu flicked a sly gaze to her. "Oh it's changed much more than you think. You'll see." he waved goodbye and walked out, his tail raised high behind him.

Miaka sat there scowling, her own tail lashed a bit behind her. Pompus jerk. No wonder Kijah bonded with him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kijah flicked a dark gaze over to Bulma, who again had her head in that book, or computer. Whatever it was. she sighed "Is there anything i can get you?..." Kijah asked, standing and walking over, more out of curiosity than anything else.

Bulma smiled into her book, as it turned out to be. She looked up at Kijah, noticing her interest. "No I'm fine" she smiled "I'm working on a gravity machine concept."

Kijah raised a brow "a wha..??"

Bulma grinned and turned, placing a hand over her swollen middle, and began the explanation, which was likely her favorite part. "Well I figure, you'r training arenas have heightened gravity levels, proving that someone must have known training under weight increases muscle structure, speed, etc." Bulma began, and Kijah had a feeling she'd been speaking with the King about this.

" Once you've reached a certain level, many get used to the gravity, and do not advance in power. I figure if I can make a machine to control the level of gravity; the user can adjust it to his or her level, and slowly work up, all the time advancing in power." She finished with a proud smile

Kijah raised both brows, taking a moment to compile. "So... in other words...we can make more gravity in the training room, and then once we get used to it, we can heighten it manually?" she asked

Bulma's brows went up "EXACTLY! I'll have a bit more trouble explaining that to Vegeta, but I think he'll like it" She spun around in her chair and shoved her head back in the book again, drawing strange things and symbols on pages.

Kijah thought... this was a brilliant idea. The race would get stronger and stronger as they trained. Maybe the gravity was the reason some off world troops returned as more powerful warriors.

She smiled to herself and then stood to an attention stance as Bulma flicked a tired blue gaze to her. "You can go now." she smiled wearily, making Kijah a bit nervous for her health "The sun is about up, and I'll be awake for awhile. Plus you'll need to practice, I'll just have a messanger get you if need be"

Kijah nodded "I'll will return shortly my Queen"

Bulma smiled, waved and turned back to her book.

Kijah made her way out, and passed the king as he walked by, ignoring her presence as usual, and entered the royal quarters

She walked to her quarters, hoping to get a little sleep before training.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liena gripped her arm. It throbbed worse today. Kakarott had caught a hole in her defenses, and hadn't given in to show her where it was also.

Kakarott looked at her from the side of the arena, where he was getting some water. 4 hours worth of training could make one thirsty, especially that one.

She put on a smug face and let go of her arm, not willing to show he'd done any harm.

But he narrowed his eyes in turn, knowing that she was in pain and wondering if he should still push her.

The tournaments were coming, and she stood up straight, forgot about any pain, and stalked over to him.

Liena grabbed his arm, making him get water all over his face "Come on, we have to get a few hours in before duties."

He scowled, yanked his arm back, and followed. He ignored the stares also, as some were still getting used to the two of them being bonded.

Kakarott had been considered a very good 'catch' by many, and jealousy ran through many females as they saw Liena dragging him around.

The tables were turned also, as many males considered Liena's looks, and fighting skills an attractive pair. She'd had quite a few suitors in the past few years

Neither of the two had any idea of the controversies they'd caused.

Liena turned and dropped to a fighting stance. "Is there any heavier armor i can wear? I'm getting used to these."

Kakarott smiled, shook his head a bit and dropped also. "I'll see what I can do..."

They sparred heavily with the time they had left, Liena getting better and better. Kakarott, she knew, was still above her, as no usual warrior fought with such an enchanted gaze on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Vegeta scowled and folded his arms. He absolutely hated not being able to understand her projects, but he wouldn't let her know this. In fact, he could care less.

"Vegeta... are you paying attention?" Bulma asked and turned to look at him. Her eyes were heavy from sleepless nights.

He snorted "Woman! I could care less, as long as the engineers can do it, and it can work. And get some sleep, or I'll put the brat in the gestation tank myself."

Bulma's lip quivered as she turned around. She mumbled something and continued writing.

Vegeta sighed and sat across the room, checking with the guards that the arena was being properly prepared. For Bulma not to erupt into yells was a miracle in it's own. Humans could be so moody, and he had a feeling this gestation wouldn't be one he'd appreciate.

Once he was done the overall check, he retreated to some dark corner to watch his mate, and wait for any other idiotic obligations.

She, on the other hand, shut everything out (one of her perfected skills) and continued working. She'd show him just how much of a genius she really was.