CHAPTER NINE: Newborns and Crybabies

Liena flicked her dark gaze to Kakarott. Her mouth turned up slightly as she looked back down at the genetics report she was working on.

"Hungry?" he asked without returning her gaze.

She shook her head smiling. "Not yet.... soon though"

He nodded "Tell me when." His brows drew together as he typed. Typing wasn’t his high point, neither was working with too many peices of machinery. When it came to those sorts of things, Liena knew her mate had some trouble.

But she also knew that he was working on a proposal that the King just might like, that had to do with a subject he overly excelled in : battle strategy. It had taken some getting used to, but he had decided to ask for the army to wear weighted armor, expecially in training. The King had recruited a good sized elite batallion, and they were already training in the few completed gravity rooms. Kakarott himself had been there on scheduled times, cursing because he missed Chatsu by a few minutes each time.

He would soon recruit second and third class groups and begin their training. Kakarott wanted to be sure everyone reached their highest potential, and he needed to get the armor on them before they began training. He had already missed the elites.

Liena’s stomach audibly protested. She sneered to herself, and looked up as her mate glanced at her and stood, moving out into the doorway.

"Ka-chan where.."

"You’re hungry...and you’re eating for two now. I’m going to get you food." He said, and left before she could protest.

Liena smiled the un-Saiyan smile she was famous for as she continued to type. She had no idea he’d step into the role of future-father so easily.

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She punched once, twice, and a third time. A huge grin spread across her face.

"Ohhh thank Kami" Kijah sighed.

She shifted her torso into her red lined armor and smoothed her hands over the flattened stomach. Her offspring had been put in the tank, and now she wanted to work on the muscles that were almost sore from being ignored over the past few months.

Chatsu smirked. "Now she can fight the back line with the elites!"

Kijah shook her head and looked into her mate’s hazel eyes. Grr... they still affected her, even after all this time. "I’ll be on the queen’s guard still... we’ll be sidelines. Probably won’t fight... but if they’re going to do this genetic flare-up, I'll be green eyed with the rest of you" she smirked proudly.

Chatsu nodded. He didn't doubt for a second that she'd be one of the first in line for the Super Saiyan Gene Project. The thought suddenly vanished from his mind with the thought of his newborn daughter. "Kijah..."

She looked to him, noticing the look on his face "What?" she said, for the mere purpose of letting him know she was listening.

"What will we name her?"

She immediately smiled. "I've had a name for weeks, baka." Kijah grinned and folded her arms.

Chatsu's tail flicked. "What, you won't tell me? Come off it Ki-chan!" his mouth turned up slightly as her tail fluffed, but she made no move to speak. He took this as a challenge.

Chatsu narrowed his hazel eyes, focusing them directly onto the back of his mate's head. 'Kaliako' he caught the name in a mirage of thoughts floating around inside of her mind. "That's cute! we can call her Kali"

Kijah growled and turned to her mate, mentally shutting him out. "Damn you!"

She hissed and watched as he ducked away from her kick.

He grinned and lay back on the bed. "It's a beautiful name..... now c'mon Ki.. you've got to be tired."

his tail snaked on the soft blankets below him.

She snorted, slipped back out of the armor top, and curled up quickly on the other end of the bed. Oddly enough, she didn't protest when he slowly pulled her back against his warm skin, and drifted off into a needed sleep.

Chatsu barely slept, keeping an eye on his mate instinctively. He knew the operation had taken alot out of her.

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The night sky was still working it's way to the final blackened color that he knew it would eventually reach.

He flicked his dark gaze down to the woman clinging to him. She didn't hold on tight, but insisted that her arm be on him. He shook his head as he realized that his tail was the same, strewn across her back in a similar way. Her breaths were long and barely audible, proving that she was sleeping soundly.

Vegeta let his gaze drift to their son, the heir to his throne. He'd been "born" a few hours before, and lay resting quietly (for the first time in many hours). The tuft of hair remained the purple he'd dreaded once the child had been dried off. He sighed, making sure to thank the gods that he at least had a very strong birth ki.

Years ago, he knew that he might have killed a child for looking so strange. He hadn't really had any time to consider it before Freeza had shown up. But since his reaching super Saiyan, Vegeta had inwardly calmed. He still held the icy Saiyan core that was chisled by his childhood, but he now knew that he was one the most, if not the most powerful being in the universe. This had an effect on his soul that not many other things could.

The reason he'd reached that level lay on his chest, her blue hair curtained over the arm that 'protected' him. He took a slow deep breath, inhaling the scent that she gave off. It was her normal one, mixed slightly with the scent of the son she'd been nursing a few hours before.

He shifted his hips slightly, smirking to himself as he felt his body react to his mate's scent. The tiny smile grew as she moved slightly as well, motivating that section even more. His tail jerked slightly, and Vegeta looked back to the boy.

To Trunks. Gah... he hated that name. He despised it. He remembered the days when he had called his mate 'woman' almost constantly, only to evade having to pronounce such an oddball human name like "Bulma". Now he'd have two to pronounce. They just sounded so utterly strange to him. He knew he could go years with calling the boy 'brat', just as he was. That would have to do.

Trunks..

He sneered and focused on his mate once again, finally letting the onset of sleep take over. He hated to think too much anyway.

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Shoveling. What utter baka had thought to invent shoveling. It did nothing but strain otherwise useful back muscles.

"What are you sneering about. Too weak for a little work?"

Radditz shot a glare to the female, 'Sukiya', for the tenth time that morning. "This is not work, you jajauma !(*means bitch*). Work is meant to be done in a way that both worker and job benefit."

She laughed. Outright. And he fluffed up in response, which only feuled her laughter. "This is PRISON you moron! it's not supposed to benefit us! It's supposed to keep us busy, and in some cases, punish us!" she continued to laugh, her black eyes flashing as they began to tear up from laughter.

Radditz growled and continued to shovel. He blinked, stupified. This was one of the first beings he knew that could leave him without a hot comeback.

He couldn't wait to put the call in to his father later on that evening. He knew paging him would probably earn a good beating, but anything to get him away from his place, and this annoying female.

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"How much is it to ask to mate with a female!?"

Shinto growled.

"Your sist.."

"YES KAASAN!... My SISTER has a an heir to our family! I know...ok? You don't think Raleiko and I are trying? With this damned war coming, I'm an ELITE! I have to train and when the king calls us, I have to go to meetings!"

The elder female glared through the message screen, and he inwardly sighed. Once in a full moon does he out-yell his own mother.

"Fine brat. Fine. But only because you, for once, have a good excuse. And don't even think of blaming that mate of yours! I will call again in a few lunar cycles. " she glared one more time, proving her status over him as his mother.

She always had to have the last word.

Hands folded over his shoulders and he felt hot breath in his ear. "She likes me, ne?"

He snorted and turned to face Raleiko. "Just because she tells us doesn't mean we have to produce. You're as good as I am and I won't have you out of the war on maternal leave." he glared and stalked to the steam room.

She smiled "Feh... you just want to defy her."

He barely missed meeting her eye in a glance back, but she noticed the small smirk on his face.

"She's right.. he is a brat."

"I heard that baka!" he said from behind the hissing sound of the steam.

She laughed and pulled off her boots, laying back and waiting for the call to lunch.

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Kijah laughed as she watched her friend eat.

Liena looked up, noting that Kijah rarely laughed outloud like that. "Wuh?" she said, mouth full of food.

Kijah smirked. "eh, that child of yours is going to be born overweight."

Liena snorted. "You ate twice this much! You were just too lazy to come to the meal hall to eat it!.

Kijah swiped at Liena half heartedly, and then at Chatsu as he nodded, remembering the days when he went on food runs for her.

"Speaking of which, I have yet to meet your new addition Kij." Liena protested. "I haven't seen a brat in the tank since my brother was born, but I was only 5 then"

Kijah rolled her eyes. "She's in the chamber with the other few. And anyway, if there's a brat you'll want to see, its the heir."

Liena's eyes lightened up and Kakarott immediately piped in as he sat with the other three. "You've seen him then?" he asked

Kijah nodded, while Liena slapped him "Of course, she's basically the Queen's attendant." he sneered at his mate and they both turned to Kijah, waiting for a story. If there was one things Saiyan's could focus on other than food, sex, and battle, it was a well told story.

She swallowed and began. "Well, after I had the operation, the Queen gave me some time off, and during that time, the heir was taken out of the tank. So by the time I was called back to duty, he was beathing air."

"Was he ok with it?" Liena piped in. They turned to look at her oddly. "No no.. remember when the Queen first got here? She had to stay in an airlock chamber until she got used to our air...."

Kijah remembered and nodded. "No Li... he was fine." she held back a comment and continued.

"Anyway, I went in on my first call, and as soon as I came in my ears nearly popped. The brat's got a set of pipes. Let's just say that." she seemed to pull energy off of their interest in the story, and went on.

"She called me over and let me hold him! Apparently, she's named him 'Trunks'" the others looked back as if she'd sneezed. She just grinned. "yeah, the King thinks so too....So he looked up at me, and I tell you I've never seen something quite like it. He's got this purple-ish hair on his head first of all.."

"Goes well with that name I guess." Chatsu smirked.

"Well no... then he opened his eyes. You know his mother's famous for her gaze, well this child's got the split image of it. Just this perfect bright blue. The Queen says that's the color of water and the sky on her home planet."

The three looked at her in awe. "I can't wait until they present him in the ceremony. I just hope I can get good seat." Liena said, her mate nodding in agreement.

Kijah shrugged. "Well I think the ceremony is going to be pushed back with this war coming. The King won't let her out of his sight, much less the brat. So he might be a little older than usual at his ceremony." she said.

"Wow... well it's better that way. I wonder if that Freeza guy even noticed he was messing with the Queen. At least he hasn't gotten word of the heir." Liena continued.

"Yeah," Kijah said "That would cause a little more trouble than we need right now."

They smirked and all turned around as the tone sounded, indicating that training would start soon. Kakarott rose with Kijah and Chastu, saying goodbye to Liena, and earning a good luck from her. He'd present his report to the King today.

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"Oh what a wonderful way to start the day" a high, nasal voice sounded, and a well lined-up army of beasts saluted in unison.

The nasal voice laughed. "You're all prepared. This will be a royal tournament, and hopefully the royalty will be the main attraction. " he grinned, the sunlight glinting off of his metallic horns. 'Now, I've invited my father, so you all are ordered to act like an elite army. No more of those stupid acrobatics." he pointfully glared at one of the attendents in the front line who, in turn, lowered his gaze.

"Zarbon"

The well groomed greenish alien stepped up at his master's command.

"The uniforms are complete?" Freeza asked.

Zarbon nodded. "Yes sire" He lifted a gloved hand to shift a section of his soft hair.

"Alright, take Dodoria and have them dressed. Plan a training session for tonight, and I'll hold a meeting afterwards. We leave tomorrow."

Zarbon nodded, seeming slighly perturbed about having to take Dodoria along, but turned to follow the instructions given.

Freeza let his gaze drift over the large army. "We wouldn't want to be late for our appointment." he said in a lower tone laced with malice.