Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

                Dear gods, he desperately wanted her to stop crying, but Nappa was at a total loss. He hated the sound of women crying. It was just so… weak. Give him a good ol’ Saiyan woman any day, one that sneered in the face of danger and never cried for anything in the universe, one that—who was he kidding? They were all dead, why even bother wanting one around? It only pissed him off to think about it anyway.

 Nappa sighed as he regarded the bruised and bleeding captive sitting on the floor nearby and couldn’t help but roll his eyes a little. Dear gods, he’d treated her black eye so that it wouldn’t swell and he’d put some numbing cream on her cuts and bruises, so why was she still crying? He knew they hadn’t raped her—oh no, that would be tomorrow or the next day if she didn’t talk—so what in the gods’ names could possibly be wrong now?

He just wanted her to shut up. He could slap her, but the mere thought of leaving a mark on her already bruised face made him sick to his stomach. Sure, he’d hit women plenty of times when they got on his nerves, but this one was just pitiful. Hitting her would be wrong. He didn’t have many morals, but there was still a certain line he could never bring himself to cross, and hitting something so fucking helpless and sorry was part of that line. “Blue, Blue! Stop crying!” he hissed out urgently. “You need to keep it down. Oh goddamnit just shut up; if a guard hears you—“

                “I don’t care!” She sobbed, shaking her head, the room spinning from the concussion that she knew she had. “I don’t care anymore! Just let them come and kill me! I thought I was strong, I thought I could bear the torture, but I can’t!”

                “Then give them what they want and they’ll leave you be. They’ll just make you a servant on the ship. You keep your head down and no one will fuck with you, Blue,” Nappa advised calmly, even though she’d returned to sobbing and that scary note to it was making a comeback. “Listen to me,” he growled, giving her a little shake. “Do you know what they’ll do to you if you don’t give them what they want, Blue!? This was just the beginning! You’re a beautiful woman and they’re going to rip you apart! Today was just the beginning,” he repeated urgently. “Do you know what happens to beautiful women when they’re tortured by Frieza and his men? Do you?”

                Ami could only shake her head at that and cry harder even when he wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.

                Oh goddamnit why was he hugging her? To shut her up. Yeah, that was it. “I’m sure you can guess, Ami. They’re going to rape you. It won’t be quick, either. When it happens—and it will if you don’t tell them what they want to know—they’re not going to gang up on you. They’ll take turns the first time… I’ve seen it happen before. They’ll hurt you, they’ll smack you around. And when you won’t talk, they’ll leave you be for a day. Maybe two. Just enough time for the bruises and the tearing between your thighs to heal a little bit. Then the next day they’ll gang up on you. They’ll all take you at once. They’ll fuck your cunt and your ass whether or not you’re dry as a bone. One of them will fuck your mouth, and if you bite down, they’ll knock your teeth out. Ami, look at me. You need to listen to me. I don’t like watching that happen and I’d rather it not happen to you. Never, ever again. So just tell them what they want to know.”

                “I… I… I c—can’t,” she whimpered, shaking uncontrollably, on the verge of a total nervous breakdown. “P—Please…”

                “Come on, you’re cold,” Nappa rumbled sympathetically, his heart aching for her and the absolutely terrified look in her eyes. Gods damn it all, he was getting soft, but her staunch loyalty to her queen had earned a little of his admiration. And the thought of what they would do to her in a day or two didn’t sit well with him at all. She was so tiny that she probably wouldn’t survive the first rape session. She definitely wouldn’t survive the gangbang—Nappa had seen bigger and tougher women killed as a result of it, and Ami was half their size.

                “Let’s warm you up, woman,” he rumbled as he entered his quarters, pausing in the doorway for a moment, wondering why in the hell he’d brought her there at all. Damn it, what would he do with her after a hot bath? Let her sleep in his bed? No woman shared his bed and the bitches on Frieza’s ship knew it—hell, no woman came to his bed, period. Not even for a fuck. That sort of thing was reserved for a woman’s room, since he held to the traditions concerning females in a Saiyan warrior’s bedroom.

                Only mates fucked in the male’s room or slept in his bed. Fuck it, no one has to know, and it’s not like you can take her somewhere else for a bath without someone seeing and thinking you’ve gone soft. She’ll be dead tomorrow, anyway… this is just giving the dead due respect. My good deed for the century, he thought with only a touch of amusement. “You can crash on my couch afterwards,” he decided aloud. “It’s small, but for you, it’s probably huge.”

She didn’t reply, she only continued to weep hopelessly into his chest, and even when he stripped her down and put her in a hot bath, she didn’t question where they’d gone, why he was taking off her ragged, torn clothing, or his motives for being so very unexpectedly kind to her.

                She only cried. Cried for her sisters and her queen, cried because she knew she’d break under the torture Nappa had described. She’d sing for them the moment they even threatened rape and she knew it—she’d crack and tell them everything they wanted to know, where to find her queen, what she probably looked like even with the disguise pen, where her sisters were holed up and—

                “Ami!”

                The queen of Mercury jumped a little at that, emitting a short scream and cowering immediately, and instead of responding, she sobbed harder. “P—Please…”

                “I only said your name four times, woman. I was just trying to get your attention,” Nappa sighed guiltily as he finished rinsing her, running his fingers over the soft skin of her back as platonically as possible to get the rest of the suds off of her, even if his cock wasn’t agreeing with the platonic part of it. Goddamned thing had a mind of his own, and even with her crying her eyes out, his body had decided to respond by way of a rogue boner. Sure, she was one of the most gorgeous women he’d ever seen, but sobbing had never exactly been one of his turn-ons. “You keep saying ‘please’ but you won’t tell me what you want,” he continued as he rinsed her hair, trying his best to ignore his erection, half-tempted to smack it hard in frustration. That would get it down for sure.

                At that, Ami dared to look up, but she flinched when his hand came towards her face, expecting a blow that never came. Instead, his fingers were caressing her black and blue cheek, his expression grim even if his eyes seemed soft and worried. Why did he even care? That was beyond her at the moment, but maybe if cared, he’d care enough to…

“Kill me?” She choked out. “P—please… kill me. I… I only ask that you make it quick. Please, you’d be doing me a kindness,” she sobbed when his eyes hardened and he shook his head. “Please! Please don’t let them hurt me anymore, I’m begging you! I can take a beating, but… but what you… what you told me… please,” she pleaded, unable to add anymore, her throat constricting as she began to cry again.

                “I can’t kill you, Ami,” Nappa whispered brokenly, gritting his teeth at the sound of his own voice. Damn it, why did he even give a shit!? “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

                “Please… please just make it all go away,” she implored desperately. “Please! I just want it to go away! I just want to go home!”

                Her crying was taking on that scary note again, and as she began to shake once more, her eyes rolled wildly as he gripped her chin to make her look at him. She was going to break, he knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt, and while he’d seen plenty of slave girls and prisoners of war break before and hadn’t cared much, something about watching this young queen’s inner light snuffing itself out deeply bothered him.

                There wasn’t much he could do about it, though. She’d asked him to kill her and that was impossible. The moment Frieza found out he’d ended her misery, he’d lose his head, and Nappa’s kindness definitely didn’t extend into the realm of self-sacrifice. Not for a slave that he’d just met and had only been nice to because he pitied her. And there was no way he could take her home, either. But the other thing she’d asked for—making it go away—he could do that. He could give her a distraction to take her mind off of it all. Yes, he could do that for her, even if it was only for a few hours.

                Ami wasn’t sure what got her attention first—the hand fisted in her hair, tugging on the blue strands to the point of pain, or the soft, warm lips pressing to hers, moving gently in an odd contrast to the slight discomfort in her scalp, his equally soft, moist tongue slipping inside of her mouth when she gasped in reaction.

                It was beyond her reasoning why, but Ami was returning the kiss without a single thought for her virginity or for this general’s motives for suddenly kissing her, but she knew that she didn’t want to be scared anymore. Being this scared was as bad as the pain that Frieza and his men had inflicted on her, and much more of that would make her crumble into a mindless, broken shell of her former self.

                So out of some primal sense of self-preservation, she latched onto the kiss with everything she had, returning it wholeheartedly, gasping and arching into the calloused palm suddenly groping her breast beneath the water in the tub, uttering a soft, surprised moan when the hand in her hair eased up and stroked soothingly along the minor hurt it had left.

                Then she was being lifted and dried with his ki, and when she felt herself being laid down on a soft bed, she knew on some level that it was his bed, that he’d brought her to the safety of his quarters to clean her up instead of hauling her to the slave pens and the public bath.

He was taking care of her with no obvious motive that would gain him anything but her thanks. Maybe he’d planned this, maybe this had been his goal all along, to get the innocent queen and goddess of wisdom into his bed, to earn her trust and then take his pleasure on her, maybe even make her talk… but something told her that that wasn’t the case. She didn’t know how, but Ami knew that this had been spontaneous, that he was trying to comfort her somehow, that he was offering her a distraction, some solace amidst all of the hatred and ugliness she’d been surrounded by since she’d been captured.

Knowing this, she took his offer gratefully, returning his gentle kisses with her own, trembling with something besides fear for once as he touched and squeezed and caressed her, wrapping a leg around his waist and rocking against him in a silent, carnal offering.

She’d never been with a man before, but Ami didn’t care about the pain that she knew would come. Gods, it would seem like a sweet ache compared to the torture and the beatings she’d endured since she’d been captured by the Ginyu Force.

Apparently Nappa didn’t feel the same way, though, because as soon as his fingers stroked her and pushed inside, he stopped and withdrew them, growling softly in frustration, his comforting, arousing purr all but vanishing. “No,” he whispered as he drew away, only to be pulled back down and kissed desperately. “No,” he repeated between kisses, torn between wanting her, wanting to comfort her in the only way he knew how, and not wanting to give her anymore pain. “Ami… no… don’t want… hurt you…”

“I don’t care,” she whimpered when he broke the kiss again to gaze down at her seriously. “Please… please just make it all go away. Please, general. I don’t mind a little pain. I… I just want to forget. Please,” she insisted, fresh tears spilling over onto her cheeks when he shook his head slightly, his eyes full of sympathy for her, as well as his confusion regarding why he was even feeling that sympathy in the first place. Clearly, he wasn’t used to being nice or showing kindness to people, and beneath all of her fear and her desire to forget, Ami was genuinely touched by his compassion and hoped that he’d understand what she was about to say. “At… at least don’t make me give my innocence to them. I don’t have much control or choice in anything, but this… I can choose this. I can choose who I give that to, general. It’s the only thing I have left.”

That line of reasoning was what did him in, and Nappa sighed in defeat as he kissed her once more, keeping it brief in favor of warning her in advance. “I’m not exactly a gentle fuck, Blue. I can try, but—“

“It doesn’t matter,” she whispered. “You care. You’re the only one that does,” she added with a barely suppressed sob. “Please, general—“

“Nappa,” he corrected her, his voice sharper than he’d intended, an apologetic huff leaving him as he caressed her trimmed mound and kissed her gently. “Just Nappa in my bed,” he added, his tone infinitely kinder as he reminded himself that this wasn’t one of those bitches on the ship looking to climb the social ladder by fucking him, those simpering twats that called him ‘general’ as he fucked them raw. He had more eyes and ears on Frieza’s ships than most people realized, and when one of those status-seeking cunts sought him out, he usually knew their motives beforehand. He always gave them more pain than pleasure and they left him walking bowlegged, only to find out quickly that they’d gained nothing for their efforts.

He hated being used like that more than anything, but this woman… this prisoner… she wanted none of that. She just wanted a distraction. She wanted someone that cared, even if he only cared a little. Dear gods, how hopeless she must feel if she was willing to give her virginity to him just so she could lose herself for a few hours. And just so she could choose who she gave herself to her first time.

He couldn’t give her much in the way of skillful lovemaking, but he could do his best to make it pleasant, so Nappa finally just kissed her again, taking great pains to make sure that his hands were as gentle as possible as he began to touch and explore her again.

Her arousal was soon perfuming the air of his spacious quarters, her soft moans echoing into his mouth as he devoured her slowly, his purr filling the room as his beast really came to the surface for the first time in years. It liked her smell, it liked her honesty and her innocence, and it admired her loyalty to her queen and the staunch bravery he’d witnessed when the Ginyu Force had beaten her for her silence. It had stirred within him as he’d watched—not because he’d wanted to watch, but because it as expected of him—trying not to flinch as she’d silently cried and trembled, only whimpering with pain when they’d blackened her eye and bruised her cheek and jaw.

Nappa broke the kiss at that thought and nuzzled her throat before kissing those bruises, tasting her tears in the process, glad that he’d treated them with some salve once Ginyu had left her alone with him and ordered him to clean her up. That eye would have surely swollen shut already if he hadn’t. “Don’t cry,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek and her jaw as well and then moved on to her silky throat to nibble and lick at her pulse as he pushed his fingers into her damp entrance once more. “Makes me think I’m hurting you.”

“You’re not,” Ami answered, her voice still choked, but from arousal rather than terror. Her fear was fleeing her with every gentle touch of his hands and every deep, soothing kiss he gave her, and as he began to suck at her neck she started to pull at his armor, finally finding the clasps in the dim lighting and unfastening them blindly.

She was actually crying out of pure emotional gratitude; Ami had expected him to be rough with her after he’d warned her about what kind of a lover he was, but he was surprisingly gentle and it moved her like nothing ever had before. To find such kindness amongst such cruelty, it was more than she’d dared to hope for, and Ami couldn’t help but reflect that Usagi had been right all along. There really was goodness in everyone, even if only a little. “Feels good,” she told him once his armor and shirt was on the floor and he was moving his fingers carefully inside of her again, the discomfort of being stretched fading into a sweet, building pleasure.

“Good. Tell me if I hurt you,” he rasped out, fighting for control as her delicate hands traced the scars on his chest. That was such a turn-on for him, and Nappa found himself kissing her ravenously despite his efforts to keep it slow and easy. After all, it was her first time and she was freely offering herself, so that was the least he could do, but when he broke the kiss to take a lovely pink nipple in his mouth and her lips travelled over his shoulder, he froze in place and visibly trembled in a mixture of the greatest lust he’d ever known and raw anger. “Don’t,” he ground out. “Don’t put your mouth anywhere near my shoulder, do you understand me, woman?”

Nappa was overwhelmed by guilt immediately; that fear was in her eyes again and she had gone completely still except for a slight trembling in her hands, and when he sighed and tried to kiss her by way of apology, she flinched and squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m sorry,” he rumbled, nuzzling her throat and kissing her chin, not even fully aware that he’d expressed the deepest apology possible for a Saiyan male to any female. “Don’t kiss my shoulder, atti,” he repeated, his tone gentle again. “Only mates do that.” Her hot blush told him that she definitely hadn’t known better, so he was placated with the knowledge that she hadn’t been trying to trap him.

“I didn’t know,” Ami murmured nervously. “I… I’m sorry, gen—I’m sorry. Nappa,” she corrected herself. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“I’m not, Blue. I’m not. I’ve just had bitches try to bite me there before and try to force me into mating them,” he explained, pumping his fingers inside of her once more when there was a flicker of anger in her eyes on his behalf.

“What did you do?” She asked curiously even as the pleasure began to build between her thighs again.

“I killed them and then tossed their bodies in the hallway. You don’t force a mating bond on anyone, period. Or sex. I’m not a good man, but even I draw a line somewhere,” he huffed as he moved his fingers a little deeper and massaged her g-spot, his lips twitching up in a smirk when her eyes fluttered shut and she moaned. “That’s better. Now where were we?”

“I… I was… learning how n—not to d—die,” Ami whimpered as she felt her first orgasm in a long time building and she clutched him close, savoring his warmth, her mouth exploring his throat and staying clear of his shoulder.

Nappa couldn’t help but chuckle at that as he captured her lips with his again and began to stroke her clit with his thumb to add to the building fire in her belly. So, she had a sense of humor when she wasn’t terrified; he liked that. “Come for me,” he rasped between kisses, growling and purring once more as those kisses became demanding and she matched his voracity, no longer timid, her tongue dueling with his as her sex coated his fingers in her desire.

A loud growl of approval met her ears as she began to tighten, and trying to keep herself from being heard outside of his quarters, Ami kissed him fiercely, raking her nails down his back and moaning into his mouth as she crested long and hard. “Gods,” she breathed once he broke the kiss and smirked down at her in satisfaction, clearly pleased by how flushed and sated she looked. “Nappa… thank you…”

“Thank me when I’ve managed not to break you in half,” he chuckled, cracking the first real smile of the evening.

Feeling a little brave, Ami couldn’t help a little giggle and shook her head in amusement. “Well, if you do, then I shall thank you in advance for putting forth such a good effort.”

She was undeniably gorgeous when she smiled and her laugh was lovely, so Nappa found himself washed in guilt yet again at the thought of what they were going to do to her if she didn’t give up her queen’s location. He nearly mentioned it, too, but managed to abstain as he unfastened his pants and kicked them off, deciding to save it for after.

For now, he’d give her what she’d begged him for. A distraction… and some pleasure to wash away the pain. Yeah, he wasn’t the greatest lover in the remains of the Saiyan race, but she’d responded well to him, had come for him easily, so surely it wouldn’t take a lot of effort to get her off again? He’d only been planning on that single orgasm before he fucked her, but that lingering guilt was doing a funny thing to him, turning his stomach, making him want to just erase all the bad things that had happened to her so far. He even wanted to prevent more bad things from happening to her. Damn it, his beast really liked her, that was the only explanation for this whole one-eighty to his personality.

“Not yet,” he murmured when she took in his length and girth with wide, disbelieving eyes. “You’re definitely not ready for that. Not yet,” he repeated as he covered her again and held her tightly, momentarily reflecting and very nearly balking away from her at the thought that he’d never held a woman so close in bed before. It was almost too intimate for him, but he brushed off the awkwardness he was feeling in favor of continuing the slow, passionate kiss they were sharing, her whimpers and moans making him shiver with pleasure.

While Nappa was inwardly recoiling from the intimacy of holding her so closely, Ami was so moved by it that she felt tears in her eyes again even as she returned his kiss heatedly, her blood catching fire once more even though he’d just made her come. Such tenderness and consideration from an enemy was something she wouldn’t have hoped to know in a million years, and as she drowned in the way he was cleansing her mind and body of the memory of being beaten only an hour ago, Ami was also trying to think of some way to please him, to repay him for his kindness. “It’s alright, Nappa… if you just want to…”

“No,” he mumbled into her throat as he left another lovebite amongst the half-dozen that already lined that side of her neck, then moved down to pay ample attention to her breasts once more. They were a little small for his tastes, but they were firm and perfectly proportioned for her frame, so he allowed himself to secretly enjoy cupping and suckling them alternately. He’d always liked breasts more than any other feature on a woman, and he had to admit that hers were rather nice. Even if they were small.

His tone had left her no room for argument, so Ami just arched into his mouth and whimpered at the warmth building again between her thighs, making her squirm in a quest for friction, and when he unexpectedly trailed his lips down her stomach and nuzzled the trimmed hair concealing her folds, she froze and opened her eyes to stare down at him in shock. “N—Nappa, you don’t have t—oh gods,” she squeaked out, her eyes rolling back when he found her clit quickly and latched on without any fanfare, sucking down on it. “Oh… oh gods… N—Nappa…”

The general chuckled into her heat at her reaction and just continued without voicing the fact that he didn’t do anything he didn’t want to. He hadn’t gone down on a woman in over a century, but she smelled good and the scent had drawn him in, and he definitely didn’t regret getting a taste of her. Hell, if she felt half as good as she tasted, he’d have to see about getting a second round after the first if she wasn’t too sore for it, even though he knew she was probably so grateful that she’d let him without question even if he’d hurt her.

Speaking of hurting her, Nappa realized that his cock was too wide to break her hymen without doing some extra collateral damage, so as he continued to suck he pushed his tail against her entrance, gripping her hips to keep her from jerking away from him. He was just in time to hold her still, too, because Ami’s thighs were tightening around his face and she was moaning his name and bucking into his mouth, coming hard and loud.

A quick thrust of his tail tore her hymen at the peak of her climax, and even though she flinched at it, she was still too overcome by pleasure for it to really hurt, huffing for air as he continued to suck to ride out her orgasm and his tail moved deep and began to twist and stretch her.

The feeling of being filled was foreign to her, and once she came down and felt him pressing tightly to her again, Ami cracked her lust-glazed eyes open to find him smirking in satisfaction as his tail continued to move and work out some of her virginal tightness. “You’re the worst liar ever,” she mumbled disjointedly.

“Huh?” Of all the things she could have said, this was unexpected… and didn’t make a bit of sense. Maybe he’d made her crazy? That thought made him inwardly laugh—if he had in fact made her insane with pleasure, he’d definitely have something to brag about to Raditz in the morning.

“Said you weren’t a gentle fuck,” she giggled, blushing at the sound of ‘fuck’ coming out of her own mouth. “I think you were either lying or seriously selling yourself short, Nappa.”

“Woman, I haven’t even started fucking you yet, so don’t come to any conclusions,” he snorted as he withdrew his blood-streaked tail and leaned over to open the bedside table, hunting for a bottle his masseuse had left and he’d forgotten to return to her. As he coated his rigid cock in oil to ease his first thrust, he found her studying him with a soft look in her eyes. Gods damn it, she was starting to get sweet on him, wasn’t she? Any moment now, something stupid and sappy was going to leave her mouth and—

“You lied about not being a good man, too,” she whispered, her voice thick with fresh tears. “You are, Nappa. I just don’t think you know it.”

“And there it is,” he mumbled, his smirk becoming a sardonic smile when she lifted a brow in confusion. “I knew you were about to say something stupid. I’ll let it go, though, since I probably just made you crazy with pleasure… and because you’re letting me fuck you. You are still letting me, right?” He added seriously.

Even as he denied her words about him being good, he was still making sure that she was alright with proceeding. After slicking himself down to make sure he wouldn’t hurt her. The irony wasn’t lost on Ami, but instead of pointing it out and possibly angering him, she only blushed and nodded. “Yes, of course… and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that and I didn’t mean to upset you, Nappa.”

She didn’t flinch away from his kiss, but Nappa still felt guilty for letting her think he was mad. “You’re fine, atti. If you’d upset me, you would have definitely known. Like with my shoulder.”

“Oh, ok,” Ami said softly, managing a smile for him, grateful that he wasn’t angry with her. Her smile faded when she felt the wide head of his cock pressing to her entrance, and when he eased forward, aided by the oil, she gasped at the sensation of being stretched so wide.

“Hurting you?” He asked, stilling his hips as he fought the urge to thrust deep and hard and ignored the intense pleasure of having the head of his cock squeezed so tightly. Dear gods, she was tight!

“No, it’s just—“ Ami choked on her next words when he slid deeper, her walls fluttering around him as he basically impaled her, stretching her channel so wide that it bordered on painful. “Ow,” she hissed, only to be surprised by a gentle, tender kiss, his massive hand cupping her cheek and caressing her jawline. He even held still for her as he continued to kiss her, letting her body adjust to him as he soothed her with sweet kisses and easy touches, his purr adding to the relaxing effect that he was aiming for.

Relaxing her eased some of the tightness, but she was still the tightest woman he’d ever been with and Nappa couldn’t help but laugh quietly as he remembered his thoughts while he’d been going down on her. “You feel even better than you taste,” he chuckled, moving his hips experimentally to give her even more of his length.

“Is that all of you?” Ami asked, too overwhelmed by his size to even inquire about what was funny. “Gods, please tell me that’s all of you,” she added with a whimper.

Looking down, Nappa’s chuckle became a genuine laugh as he shook his head. “Only about three quarters of it, baby. Why, too much for you?”

“I feel like a turkey that’s been over-stuffed,” she admitted. “It doesn’t hurt, it’s just—oh!”

Nappa wasn’t sure if that surprised moan was out of pain or pleasure, so he stopped, looking down to find them fully joined, his cock buried in her to the hilt. He’d only meant to give her another inch, but her hips had bucked up as she’d clutched at him suddenly, and she’d taken all of him. Thank the gods for the oil he’d used; if he hadn’t, she would have likely been hurt by that quick movement. “You alright?”

“Th—that… that felt so good,” Ami stammered out in astonishment. “Even better than your mouth. Is… is it supposed to…?”

Thankful that he hadn’t hurt her, Nappa just chuckled in relief and nodded as he withdrew a little and slid home carefully, testing her out, shivering at the pleasure rolling through him as a result. “I am totally fucking you again after we’ve cleaned up the blood,” he murmured even as she gasped and arched into him slightly, allowing her to pull him close and hold him to her intimately like before.

Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, Nappa admitted to himself that he was starting to like it, and he definitely had a newfound appreciation for holding a woman like this while fucking her. It felt nice, and when he fucked her a second time, he’d let her do it again. Not those ladder-climbing bitches on the ship, though. No, he’d only fuck them from behind and—no, he didn’t want to think about them right now, not when he was fucking a beautiful woman face to face and she was actually enjoying his slow, careful movements inside of her, kissing him softly and murmuring sweet nonsense that he’d never before heard in bed.

“Yes, Nappa… oh… oh yes, that feels so nice,” Ami whispered as she tentatively moved her hips in time with his and fought to breathe through the pleasure that was unexpectedly swamping all of her senses. She’d thought to experience only pain, or maybe just a little bit of pleasure, but this… this was amazing, and more than she could have ever hoped for. “I’m gonna come,” she breathed between kisses, moaning into his mouth when he immediately moved harder, his arms and tail winding around her so that she was engulfed in his warmth.

He wanted to hear and watch her come, so Nappa released her lips as she began to tighten around him, groaning from his own pleasure when she cried out and gripped at his back, digging her nails in and drawing blood, her sheathe suddenly so tight that he could hardly move and had to really work to continue thrusting. “That’s it, atti, feels so good, doesn’t it?” He purred as he watched her, smirking at the starry-eyed look she was giving him as she came back down from her climax, his ego swelling at the knowledge that he could be a gentle fuck if he really wanted to put forth the effort.

“Nappa…” That was all Ami could manage to say as she leaned up to claim his mouth, kissing him roughly, moaning into it as she pulled him back down to the bed to hold him close, her body moving in a request for him not to stop. “Gods, yes… please, Nappa,” she whimpered between kisses when he moved harder, testing her out.

Much to their mutual surprise, he wasn’t hurting her, and while Ami still felt that too-full sensation, the immense pleasure she was experiencing with every roll of his hips was washing the mild discomfort away. “Gonna come,” Nappa warned her as she began to tighten, breaking the kiss in order to breathe, panting as he crushed her to his chest and thrust into her hard and deep, his pace quickening as he stiffened inside of her. “Do… do you want… pull out?”

“No, come inside of me, I want to feel it,” Ami answered rapidly as she clung to him, no longer trying to keep pace and simply letting him ride her as hard as he liked, her nails raking down his back again as she came. “Coming! Nappa, I—Nappa, yes!”

With a loud growl of pleasure that was barely heard over his purr, Nappa continued to move, that growl becoming a groan as her body milked him for every drop until he finally couldn’t take it anymore and he collapsed on top of her, totally spent. “God…goddamn, woman… keep you… if I could…”

“You would?”

The raw hope in her eyes nearly broke him, and Nappa sighed and shook his head in an effort to put up an apathetic front. “I just came harder than I have in years,” he sputtered, “so don’t read too much into it.” He withdrew from her then, but it wasn’t without noticing the way she momentarily tried to hold him to her or the way her hope turned into hurt when he rolled off the bed in search of a washcloth for the mess.

She was very obviously trying not to cry when he returned, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears, and Nappa felt that unfamiliar emotion overtaking him again. For never having really felt it before, guilt sure seemed to be a bitch of a plague once it made an appearance. “Hold still and I’ll get the blood,” he ordered gruffly, even though his touch was borderline tender as he eased her thighs open and gently cleaned her up before going back to the bathroom to take care of the blood on his tail.

Ami was still laying there silently when he came back, wiping at her face, looking away from him when he noticed that she was crying. Fuck, not this shit again. With a heavy sigh, Nappa sat on the bed and tugged her up to him, kissing her in an effort to comfort her, only drawing away with an annoyed glare at the door when he heard a knock.

“Fuck, it’s Zarbon,” he huffed, only to realize what kind of picture they painted and how bad it would look if Frieza’s secondhand man saw Ami’s lack of fear for him. “You need to look absolutely fucking terrified of me,” he suddenly ordered, his voice firm and he pinned her to the spot with his gaze. “Do you understand me? I just finished raping the life out of you, you’re terrified. So much that you’re damned near broken. Got it? Clutch that sheet around you—good. Now tremble a bit and cry, think of the way they beat you downstairs. Good. Now… do me a favor… and forgive me for this, Ami,” he ground through his teeth before slapping her in the face just hard enough to leave a red mark, cringing when she didn’t even cry out and only clutched at her cheek, fresh tears spilling over. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, running his fingers through her hair before kissing her, relieved when she didn’t shy away from it.

“No, it’s… it’s ok, I know why you did it,” she sobbed. “Just… just go, I won’t talk.”

“Let him see that handprint or there’s no point in me giving it to you,” Nappa murmured, regretting the slap even if it was necessary. He’d already cleaned up all the blood, so they needed something to convince Zarbon that he’d taken her by force. Giving the emblem on her forehead a kiss, Nappa left the bed and stalked to the door, radiating anger as he swung it open, his body language harsh even as he glared at the shorter, more powerful warrior. “What!?”

Zarbon just smiled at that and looked around the Saiyan general, lifting a curious, well-plucked eyebrow in mild surprise. “I never thought you were the type, Nappa. You’ve never joined in with us downstairs when we were interrogating the captives.”

“I fuck in private,” Nappa huffed. “I don’t like hearing people going on and on about how huge my dick is, or the pillowbiters drooling all over it. I like pussy and tits, not cock and balls, damn it. No offense to you,” he added, knowing very well that Zarbon batted for the home tea but had been polite enough not to proposition anyone that wasn’t gay. “Now what do you want?”

“Fair enough,” Zarbon chuckled as he looked down to discover that Nappa really was as hung as he’d heard. “I just came to retrieve the little queen, that’s all. Are you through with her?”

“Actually, no. That pussy’s like a warm vice and I want a few more rounds with it. You all left her to me so I’m just taking my reward for it. She’ll be ready for interrogation again tomorrow.”

“You cleaned her up,” Zarbon observed with a keen eye as he looked her over, noting the ugly red mark on her face and the ample amount of tears leaving dark spots on the white sheet she was clutching around her like a shield. “And you didn’t have to work her over as much as I thought you might. I really thought that one would put up more of a fight.”

“I was trying not to mark her face, but then the cunt did this to my back,” he complained, turning to show the claw marks Ami had left and Nappa had thoroughly enjoyed. “I like them pretty and your goons marked her up badly enough as it is, but when she did that…” Nappa just shrugged. “As for cleaning her up… well, you don’t have my sense of smell,” he finished, wrinkling his nose in feigned disgust. “Bitch smelled like a sewer. Not easy to get my cock hard when I want to throw up.”

“Hm… point taken. She did smell rotten,” Zarbon agreed, relaxing as he noticed a few small blood stains on Nappa’s tail. “You used your tail?”

Nappa thought fast as he nodded, affecting an evil, satisfied grin as he jerked his head back towards Ami. “She was scared shitless of my tail when I unwound it, so I popped her cherry with it. She screamed like a banshee and it was funny as hell! Even with the soundproofed room, I thought for sure that someone had heard her crying and carrying on! She fought me like a wer’kha when I fucked her, too… in fact…” Nappa licked his lips as he looked over his shoulder, then back at Zarbon for a second before letting his eyes return to Ami. “You done? I’d really like to start a second round with her. Maybe I’ll even get some info for Lord Frieza.”

He didn’t miss the way the queen cowered and scooted back as if she could actually escape, and noted that apparently Nappa really had come over to the dark side. Good. If he could be convinced to join in on interrogations in the future, that humongous cock of his would put the fear of God in their captured enemies. He could certainly be useful in getting information out of them faster than they already did. “If you do, you’re to stop immediately and reward her with rest,” he instructed nonchalantly.

“Heh… in that case, maybe I won’t,” Nappa chuckled. “I’ll leave that for Ginyu and Jeice and just enjoy myself for the rest of the night. It’s been years since I’ve had a woman that isn’t a backstabbing bitch.” He moved to close the door then, but stopped and turned back to Zarbon. “I don’t want her fainting before I’m done with her. Is it alright to feed her?”

“Yeah, sure. She’ll need her strength if she’s taking that monster all night,” the long-haired warrior chuckled. “I’ll inform Lord Frieza that she’s enjoying your company as her punishment for not cooperating this afternoon, and I’ll come to retrieve her between eight and nine in the morning.”

The moment the door was closed, Nappa slumped down onto the floor, leaning against it wearily, scrubbing a hand over his bald head. “Gods damn it all, I should have never, ever done this,” he whispered to himself, feeling a touch of genuine fear. “Now they’re going to want me to fuck anyone they want to get information out of, and all because I had to be fucking nice to you!”

Ami had been fake cringing and cowering as she’d been instructed when Zarbon had been watching her, but now there was nothing fake about it and she sobbed as she pulled the sheet around her tighter. Nappa was angry, and now he was probably going to hurt her and rape her for real, to get back at her for bringing out the little bit of good in him and getting him into a mess with Frieza’s lieutenant. “Please, general, I’m so sorry… please don’t hurt me,” she cried when she felt him sit on the bed and loom over her, not daring to look up at him. His eyes had been so compassionate and kind before, and Ami knew if she looked up now, she’d only see anger and cruelty. “I… I d—didn’t mean to…”

“Just hand me my scouter,” Nappa huffed, too angry to try and comfort her even though he knew it wasn’t actually her fault. Once it was in his hands he put it on, but waited to hit a button that would call the kitchen. “What do you want to eat, woman?”

“I… I d—don’t—“

“Fine, then you’ll have whatever I’m having,” Nappa snapped, effectively silencing her as he pushed the right buttons to make his call. “Yeah, it’s Nappa. I have a guest, so I’ll want two jam’eht steaks instead of one and—yeah, all the fixings. And…” Glancing down at Ami, the general felt that horrible emotion that he was really beginning to hate welling up in him again. Goddamned guilt. He shouldn’t have yelled at her. She hadn’t deserved it, even if she had been the cause of his troubles. It wasn’t like she’d done it on purpose.

“General Nappa?” The cook asked him. “You alright?”

Running his fingers lightly through Ami’s hair and trailing them slowly down and back up her spine, Nappa tried his best to remember what Solarians ate. They ate meat and carbs, too, but didn’t they also eat that nasty green stuff that he, Raditz and Vegeta tried to avoid? “A plate of cooked vegetables and a bowl of fresh fruit, too. And two desserts. You got any of that chocolate cake left from last night? That shit was delicious.”

“Thank you, general, I made it myself,” the cook said proudly. “I’ll send up a couple extra-large slices. Is that all for you and your guest? Anything to drink?”

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I’ll have some of that homebrewed beer. My guest’ll have wine. Send a carafe of juice, too,” he added when he realized that she might not even like wine. If she didn’t like juice either, then she could just drink water; he’d tried, damn it.

“Got it. It’ll be up in a half-hour, general.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He hung up then and reached across Ami to set his scouter on the nightstand, and once he’d sat back down he resumed running his fingers over her back, making slow, soothing circles when she whimpered in fear and wouldn’t look up at him. “Ami…”

“I’m sorry,” she whispered fearfully, only looking up when he gripped her chin and forced her to.

He’d expected those expressive, deep blue eyes to be filled with tears, but the terror in them didn’t sit well with him at all. Why was beyond him, so yet again he just blamed his beast as he gently wiped her face with the edge of the sheet, his fingertips lingering on the handprint he’d left on her cheek. “Hang on and I’ll get some salve to clear that up. I think I might have something to heal the bruises, too.”

“N—no,” Ami choked out, flinching when he glared at her refusal. “It could get you in trouble,” she explained quickly, not wanting him to get angry for thinking that she was refusing out of stubbornness or anger with him. “I… I don’t want you to get in trouble, general.”

“Nappa,” he corrected her firmly. “And I already told Zarbon that I didn’t like your face marked up. I wasn’t lying about that, and if Ginyu has a problem with it in the morning, then he can suck my balls. Stay put,” he ordered before leaving the bed again and going to the bathroom, rummaging around in the medicine cabinet and all of its various pots of salves before finding a half full pot of stuff made from the medical tank goo.

“Here, hold still,” he told her when he came back and gripped her chin again, trying his best but failing to ignore the fear that was still in her eyes. “I won’t hit you if that’s what you’re wondering, woman. Not unless you’re into that sort of thing, anyway,” he added with a smirk, trying to get her to relax again.

She did relax a bit at that, but Ami kept her eyes downcast as he began to apply the stuff in the pot, ignorant to the fact that it was ridiculously expensive and that he wouldn’t even share his stash with Raditz. It was somehow cold and warm at the same time, and the moment he gently spread it over her bruises, Ami felt the swelling recede and the pain disappear, and she wondered if the black and blue mark had vanished altogether. Next, she closed her eyes for him to treat her shiner, unable to keep a sigh of relief to herself when the faint throbbing faded to nothing and was replaced with that warm-cold feeling and the soothing sensation of his fingertips tracing the ridge of her eyebrow.

Her right cheek came last, but before Nappa took care of it, he bent his head and kissed her, letting his beast purr in comfort as he coaxed her lips open and stroked his tongue over hers.

There was more than just simmering lust in this kiss and Ami could feel it. It was like he wasn’t accustomed to apologizing for anything, like he barely even knew how, and she sensed that that was exactly what he was trying to do as he kissed her slowly and gently, his hands running up and down her back, trailing through her hair, his touch soothing her despite her lingering fear.

Nappa followed that kiss up with a chaste peck and a nuzzle to her shoulder that slightly colored his cheeks, and when he realized that his beast was the culprit he silently shoved it back down before treating the mark he’d left on her face.

“Alright, now for the rest of them,” he rumbled once he was finished.

“But… but how will you explain that, Nappa?” Ami whispered. “I… I’m sorry, I don’t mean to argue,” she added quickly. “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

She was right; Frieza would definitely question why he’d wasted such expensive medicine on a captive’s bruises the night before she was supposed to be brutally raped. It was utterly pointless and didn’t serve a purpose. “Just lay down,” he sighed, scooping up some more ointment from the pot and parting her thighs the moment she complied.

“Nappa… thank you,” Ami said as he treated the small tear he’d left when he’d fucked her, slipping his fingers inside of her to rub some medicine around her entrance and heal her where her hymen had been.

He finally dared to look at her again when that was done—really look at her and not just the bruises he’d been treating—and Nappa’s breath caught in his throat at the sight of her beauty. He hadn’t seen her until after Ginyu and his men had worked her over, but he’d seen enough beaten slaves to know how to tell if they were pretty or not beneath the bruises.

Ami wasn’t just pretty, though. She was the most stunningly beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on. “You’re welcome,” he managed, his voice strangled as he wondered if they had time for that second round before the food arrived.

No, probably not. He suddenly wanted to take his time again instead of giving her a hard, genuine fuck like he’d planned for right after supper. That was how he liked his sex. Hard, fast and rough, and she’d stood up to that roughness admirably towards the end, even taking pleasure in it and urging him with her hips to go faster before she’d given up trying to keep time with him. “Gods, I am going soft,” he sputtered to himself aloud as he looked away from those understanding, kind eyes that seemed to be peering right into his soul. “Or I’ve gone batshit,” he added with a shake of his head as he rubbed some of the ointment into the first of the hand-shaped bruises lining both of her arms.

“No, Nappa,” Ami dared, sitting up and bravely cupping his face in her hand to make him look at her again. “There’s nothing wrong with being kind. It doesn’t mean you’re going soft.”

“Just shut up,” he sighed wearily. “I’d yell and rant at you normally for spewing such bullshit, but then you’ll cry or think I’m going to hurt you and I’ll just feel fucking guilty. Again. But no more talk like that, understand me? I’m a Saiyan warrior, one of only three Elites remaining after the genocide. Gah… fuck,” he spat out, “don’t even mention that in front of Frieza or he’ll know that I know that the comet story’s bullshit. Fucking goddamned woman, loosening my tongue with good sex and making me feel guilty every five fucking minutes. This is the exact kind of shit that gets Raditz’s ass kicked, you know. Fucking pillow talk. Just fuck ‘em and leave quickly, that’s what I do; it’s better that way. Safer that way.”

“I won’t say anything,” Ami promised timidly. “And I’m sorry. I’ll um… I’ll go if you want. I don’t want to be any trouble for you after… you know.” After he’d been so nice to her, but she wouldn’t say that, not when he was annoyed with her for saying he was kind.

“No, you’re going to stay,” Nappa said firmly as he finished treating one arm and moved to the other, noting the way she winced when he touched her wrist. “That hurt bad?” A nod confirmed that it did, and he examined it briefly before coating it in salve. “It was either cracked or sprained. Better now?”

“Yes, thank you,” Ami said, remaining polite while keeping her words to a minimum, not wanting to upset him further by saying anything else. Thank the gods that Usagi or Mina wasn’t in her place or—

A sudden giggle from her stopped Nappa, and he lifted an eyebrow in surprise as he looked up from her arm. “What’s funny?”

“I’m sorry,” Ami said quickly, smiling and ruffling her fingers through her hair self-consciously, completely unaware of the effect her smile was having on him and his beast, especially now that her face was healed up. “I was only thinking that my talking annoyed you, then I thought that you were very lucky that I wasn’t Usa or Mina. You would have probably beaten the hell out of them by now and thrown them in the hallway.”

“Heh… I’ve heard about how much your queen talks. You’re probably right,” Nappa agreed with a tiny grin even as his beast urged him to say something to make her smile like that again. “I’d probably just gag the other one, though. She’s that lust goddess, right?”

“Phhht… are you kidding me?” Ami giggled. “Mina would use her powers on you and you’d be a drooling puddle on the bed! I’ve seen her do it before! The moment you kiss her or make love to her, you’re her slave for life if she wants you to be.”

“Well, I could avoid kissing, and I definitely don’t make love,” Nappa countered with an amused smile.

After the way he’d taken her so gently, Ami wanted to tell him he was so full of shit that his eyes were turning brown, but she decided that she didn’t want to piss him off. Instead, she just shook her head and shifted slightly for him to rub the ointment into a fist-sized bruise on her shoulder, where Guldo had punched her. “You’d also want to avoid kissing her between her thighs,” she added once she’d settled back into her spot. “Which… by the way… um…” Ami was blushing now and couldn’t meet his eyes, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

“You liked it and you want me to do it again,” Nappa guessed, surprised that she was making requests.

“Oh. No—I mean, if you want to? I definitely won’t complain if you want to,” she said hurriedly. “I was um… trying to think of a way to offer… you know. To do the same?” She asked shyly.

“Oh.” That surprised him even more, but Nappa was struck with a hilariously true observation and laughed. “Wait, are you part snake or something? Can you unhinge your jaw? Because I think your mouth might be too small to even take the head.”

Well, she certainly couldn’t deny that that was likely true. “I was just offering,” Ami answered meekly. “I never tried it before and I thought that you might like it.”

The fact that she’d even thought to offer was cute, but Nappa just shrugged as a knock came at the door. “I’d like it, sure, but I’d rather just bury myself in your cunt, to be honest. At least that can take all of me. Your mouth would just be a major tease,” he chuckled as he climbed out of bed and went to the door, looking back to make sure that Ami was properly cowering and wrapped up in the sheet before he opened it.

“Your supper, General Nappa,” the servant informed him, only to be stopped when he tried to wheel the food cart into the room.

“I’ve got it,” Nappa grunted. “Give the cook my thanks and add five credits to my tab for your tip, boy.”

“Oh… thank you, general,” the servant said quickly, turning over control of the cart before turning to go back down the hall.

Once she’d untangled herself from the sheet again, Ami couldn’t help but crawl over to the edge of the bed, eager for food. The last time she’d eaten had been on Mercury over two days ago, but she’d learned quickly not to bother complaining about how hungry she was—that had only gotten her a nasty remark and a punch to the stomach or the jaw.

But now there was food and she was brimming with anticipation, her face lit up as brightly as the Lunarian palace. Nappa saw that, too, and when he brought the cart over, he uncovered her steak, warming at the way she beamed and the happy tears that filled her eyes, unaware of the way he was purring softly at the sight.

“Thank you so much,” Ami choked out emotionally as she took the napkin-wrapped silverware he offered her and extracted a fork. “I… I haven’t eaten in almost three days.”

Nappa’s smile fell at that. “Why in the fuck didn’t you say something, woman? I have shit lying around here that you could have eaten.”

“I didn’t want to be a bother,” she whispered, her own smile vanishing as he set her fork on the plate, hesitating to eat while he was staring at her angrily. “Can you really blame me for being afraid, Nappa?”

“No,” he answered, the word leaving him in a guilty whoosh of air. “I can’t. I’m an asshole, I know it, so I can’t blame you for thinking I would have gotten mad. But if you’d asked, I would have fed you, Ami. I’m Saiyan,” he added as he sat beside her, picked up her fork and handed it to her. “And Saiyans eat a lot, so the thought of starving someone is pretty much horrifying. It’s one of the worst types of torture there is for us. Now eat. And don’t think for a second that you’re being rude, either. You eat your fill, and don’t hesitate to eat if you get hungry again later on.”

“Thank you,” Ami whispered with pure gratitude, blushing as she rose up on her knees, hesitating for only a fraction of a second before sweetly pressing her lips to his. “Thank you for everything, Nappa. If… no, when. When I die tomorrow, I want you to know that my time with you has been one of the best nights of my life. I mean that. You gave me the strength I needed to refuse them tomorrow. Before, I was going to tell them everything the moment they even threatened rape. But now… now I think I can endure whatever I have to. So thank you. Thank you for saving my sisters and my queen. I know you didn’t mean to do it, but you’re responsible for it.”

Nappa didn’t have it in him to make a sarcastic remark at her sappy words, her sincerity moving him like nothing else had. Forget his good deed of the century, this was apparently his good deed of the millennium. “You’re very welcome, atti,” he breathed against her lips before kissing her once more. “Now eat. And then afterwards, if you’re not too tired—“

“I’m not,” she said softly, smiling up at him as she took her fork and began to cut up her steak. “Nappa, if you want to stay up having sex with me until dawn, that’s what we’ll do. Any way I can repay you, I’ll do it. You may not see this as kindness, but I do, alright? And in my culture, good deeds are rewarded. So whatever you want from me, name it.”

“Eat,” Nappa grunted, having reached his threshold of tolerance for that line of conversation, deeply bothered by the thought of her dying in less than twelve hours… and death by rape, at that. “Just eat, Blue. Then sex. Then sleep. You’ll need your rest if you’re serious about tomorrow,” he said grimly.

Chapter Text

Ami slept soundly until morning, waking first and looking around in confusion for a moment before remembering where she was and how she’d gotten there, relaxing against the massive, rock-hard body that was holding her tightly.

He’d made love to her fiercely not once, but twice before they’d finally bedded down for the night, starting out gentle the first time before pounding into her relentlessly, taking her up over and over and over again until she’d been begging him to come for her.

The second time, though… it had been much, much different. It had started out rough, but after several minutes, Nappa had gentled his thrusts, his kisses ravenous in contrast to the rest of his body, and he had loved her sweetly for an hour before spilling himself inside of her. His tenderness had brought tears to her eyes, but when she’d opened her mouth to comment on how beautiful it had been, he’d given her a troubled look before kissing her once more and telling her to go to sleep.

So she had, not wanting to spoil the fragile thing building between them, afraid that she’d shatter it with so much as a word. And now she was awake, and he was holding her like it was the last time he’d ever do it.

Because it was.

Whatever had happened between her and Nappa last night had been real, and both of them knew it, but to voice it would be pointless. Maybe… maybe in another life, it could have been more.

“Ami…”

Looking up from where he was cradling her to his chest, Ami managed a smile for him, though it was sad. “Morning,” she whispered, only to frown when she saw that same troubled look in his eyes that he’d had before she’d fallen asleep in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

“Besides the obvious? Nothing,” he replied, pushing her hair out of her eyes before dipping down for a kiss, sighing into it when she returned it wholeheartedly, grinding his morning wood against her even as he ran his fingers through her hair and tried to memorize her with his hands. Because when she was gone, he’d want to remember this. Gods, yes, he would.

For the first time in years, he had woken up with something bordering on happiness, and even after that bizarre dream with the fire and the raven-haired woman, he had slept better than he had since the genocide. “Can I fuck you again?” He breathed against her neck once he’d broken the kiss, running kisses up and down it and listening to the little sounds of approval she was making.

“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t,” Ami giggled, surprisingly light-hearted even though she knew she going to face her death soon. She was still giggling when he rolled on top of her and kissed her again hungrily, pressing into her and working himself deep before withdrawing and thrusting home again, his motions hard and steady once he heard her moan with pleasure and he knew for sure that he wasn’t hurting her.

It was after she’d come for him the first time that he stopped at the sound of a sob and he broke the kiss to find her crying, her blue eyes sad and hopeless. And it broke his heart. “Ami, I… I wish there was some way… I really do.”

“I know,” she whimpered, wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his throat. “I… I could have loved you, Nappa. You’re not a bad man, you’re really not. So don’t believe them when they tell you that you are. Remember me, and remember that you were good to me.”

He simply didn’t have it in him to get angry or even slightly annoyed by her talk of him being good, he was just too sad, so he simply nodded into her hair and kissed her temple before trying to separate from her.

“No,” Ami said, her voice strangled by her tears. “Please, Nappa… would you…”

“What, Blue?” He asked gently, more than willing to fulfill a last request from the best thing that had ever walked into his life.

“Would you make love to me?” She asked shyly, expecting him to yell at her. “I… I just want…”

What she expected was his very first instinct, but Nappa bit it back and just buried his face in her hair again, drawing in the sweet scent of mint for a minute before nodding slightly and beginning to move again, his thrusts shallow and gentle, his hands wandering her tenderly. “You feel good like this, zua m’yo,” he murmured in her ear when she gasped with pleasure and kissed his neck, her fingers brushing and tracing the scars on his back. “I want you to come for me, Ami… I want to feel it. Rad’ir, atti,” he sighed before dragging his lips over to hers again and kissing her with everything he had in him.

Every soft emotion she’d made him feel since yesterday went into that kiss, and even when she came for him after another minute of that slow, gentle lovemaking, Nappa continued, whispering tender encouragements between kisses, nipping at her shoulder several times and trembling against her when she cradled his head to the creamy skin in silent permission for him to take all of her.

Gods help him, he wanted to. He’d never wanted to take a mate before, but after less than a day with her he wanted more. He didn’t want it to end, he didn’t want them to come and take her from him. He wanted to rage and kill them all and somehow escape the flagship with her, Raditz and Vegeta in tow and take her somewhere that they could be happy and safe.

Where he could learn to be good. For her. With her.

“Don’t let me bite you, sweetheart,” he gasped as the urge to overtook him again stronger than ever, his beast coming to the surface and purring enticingly in a pattern that Nappa had never heard before. A pattern meant for his mate. “Gods… Ami… I want you,” he whispered, feeling helpless for the first time in his life even as she breathed his name in ecstasy and kissed him lovingly.

“I want you, too, Nappa,” she eventually answered, cracking her eyes open to find his full of tortured shame. “Don’t,” Ami said, cupping his face and pulling it back down to hers, moving against him as she drew close to another climax. “Nothing… nothing you can… do about… I’m coming Nappa… gods, please yes, Nappa, don’t stop…”

He thought he could hold out for her longer, but the sound of her repeating his name like a prayer in his ear did him in, and Nappa quaked from the force of emotional and physical pleasure as he came with her, holding her so tightly to him that he was afraid he’d break her. “Ami… Ami m’yo…”

“That was so beautiful, Nappa,” Ami sighed in his ear, smiling in the afterglow.

He was too overcome by what had just happened to disagree with her, so Nappa rested there on top of her, his body like some sort of shield against whoever might come through his door to take her. I called her mine, he realized with a touch of fear sprinkled over a mess of awe. I said I wanted her… and I meant it. I wanted to keep her. I still do.

“I must be fucking crazy,” he whispered to himself, uncaring that she could hear, though he paused to kiss her one more time before giving her the most determined, decisive look of his life. It was the kind of look that all men knew—the kind of look they got in their eyes before they rode off to war…

…or before doing something completely and utterly stupid.

“Stay put. And when they come for you…” Nappa swallowed hard at that as he slid out of the bed and went to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, coming out with a small vial in his hand. “…when they come for you, Ami… you drink this,” he whispered shakily, his hand trembling as he extended it to her. “It’s painless. Take it.”

“But Nappa… they’ll kill you,” she replied just as quietly, even though she took the vial from him and clutched it to her chest. “They’ll kill you.”

“I know. But maybe I’ll be able to take a few of them with me first. I’ll go out like I should have when that fucker destroyed my home. I didn’t have the courage then to do it. Partly because of my duty to my prince, but a lot of it was just cowardice. I won’t be a coward today,” he grunted. “They’re not taking you from this room.”

Ami didn’t even know what to say to that, so she just nodded and pulled him down to her for a kiss, her lips lingering against his for a long time as she stroked her fingers lightly over his bare scalp. “A few more days,” she whispered sadly, “and I would have been in love with you. You’re a very good man, Nappa.”

“No more of that kind of talk,” he said, meaning for it to come out harshly, only for it to sound like a sob. “No more, Ami. Just stay in the bed and drink it when they come.”

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He made love to her again after that, longer and sweeter than before, his teeth grazing her shoulder multiple times and even locking around the soft flesh once, just short of breaking the skin as she moaned his name and came harder than ever for him.

It was like some kind of dream for him, he thought as he just held her afterward, both of them silent as they just laid there covered in a fine sheen of sweat, clinging to each other like it was the last thing they would do.

In all fairness, it probably was.

The thought of this all being a dream reminded him of the odd dream he’d had in the night, and Nappa was the first one to break the silence as he tried to puzzle it out aloud. “Black hair and fire in her eyes…”

“Rei?” Ami asked after a minute, looking up at him in pure puzzlement.

“Hm?”

“Rei. My sister, Rei. The queen of Mars. Black hair. And fire. Fire’s her gift, just like mine’s ice. She’s psychic, too. Sometimes I wish I had that gift, but then again… I’m pretty sure there are things I would rather not know,” Ami admitted wryly.

“Psychic…” No way… was it possible that her sister had been trying to contact him as he’d slept? What was it that she’d said in the dream!? “Stay… safe. She said ‘stay.’ And ‘safe,’” Nappa whispered, tingling uncomfortably at the thought of someone being in his head as he slept.

Ami sat up at that and just stared at him critically for several moments, studying his shocked, violated expression. The latter of the two was what did it for her. “Rei contacted you. She did, didn’t she? And she said to ‘stay safe?’”

“No,” Nappa grunted firmly, “she said ‘stay.’ Then she glared at me and… honestly, Blue, it scared the fucking shit out of me. That look was something else… and then she said ‘safe.’ Then I was in another dream about—“ he stopped at that and colored slightly. “Never you fucking mind about that one. I think… I think she was telling us to stay put,” Nappa dared to venture.

“Wait, what time is it?” Ami asked. Gods only knew how long he’d made love to her that second time, and then they’d been lying in bed and waiting for someone to come for what felt like better than an hour.

Snagging his scouter, Nappa cut it on, only to take it off and shake it, his eyes wide. “That can’t be right.” He put it on again, turned it off and back on again, and blinked at the glyphs reading out the time on the ship. “It’s… it’s past noon, Blue.” As if it wanted to agree with him, his stomach rumbled just as he was rebooting his scouter for a second time. “The time’s correct,” he finally decided before narrowing his eyes at the door for several moments, waiting for someone to knock or come crashing through it.

No one came, though, so Nappa did the only thing a Saiyan could do when his stomach was protesting for food. He rolled out of bed and warmed their supper leftovers with his ki, scrubbing his hands over his head as he cast another paranoid look to the door. “I keep waiting for them to bust in here at any moment,” he admitted.

“Me too,” Ami agreed as she joined him on the edge of the bed, curling up against him and staring at the door as if she could see right through it and expose anyone lying in wait to pounce on them, the vial he’d given her clutched in her hand.

“We’ll eat in the meantime, but I don’t think there’s enough here for both of us. I’ll call for another tray.” Nappa did just that, searching the cook’s face on his screen for any signs that he knew what was going on, but there weren’t any. It was just like last night as he ordered brunch for him and Ami, taking care to make sure that there were vegetables and fruit for her to eat.

They finished the supper leftovers in silence as they waited for the fresh tray, and when the knock on the door came twenty minutes later, Ami jumped and sucked in a sharp, terrified breath, shaking as she looked up at him in horror.

“It’s just the tray,” Nappa murmured as he tapped the scouter still on his face. “I can see the delivery boy’s ki outside the door, and no one else is there. Sit tight.” Sure enough, it was just the same boy from supper, ready to roll the cart into the room, peeking around Nappa for a moment to smile at the gorgeous woman sitting on the bed.

“Hi,” Ami said shyly, covering herself even though the kid obviously had seen enough nudity to last a lifetime and didn’t have a problem with it. Hell, Nappa had answered the door in the nude twice, now, and the delivery guy hadn’t even batted an eyelash.

“Quiet,” Nappa grunted over his shoulder at her as he tipped the boy a nod and took the cart. “Ten credit tip if you keep your mouth shut.”

“About what?” The kid asked with wide eyes, having never been tipped quite so much.

“Exactly. About what,” Nappa grunted. “Not a word about her. To anyone. Or I’ll break your neck, kid.”

“Yes, general,” he replied calmly, having been threatened by more powerful people than him. Maybe not bigger, but definitely more powerful.

“Good lad. Bring our supper at six. Same as last night, same ten credit tip. Save me the trouble of ordering,” Nappa said before tugging the new cart in and snagging the old one with his tail to hand it over before shutting the door. “What?” He asked when turned to find Ami frowning slightly, gnawing on her lower lip in a clear effort to keep her mouth shut.

He had been so kind to her that she didn’t want to anger him, but his treatment of the delivery boy didn’t sit well with her. “Did you have to threaten him?” She finally asked, her tone timid as she looked up at him.

“Oh. That. Seriously, Blue?” Nappa snorted in amusement. “That boy probably gets a death threat every five minutes from the cook. One from me is serious, sure, and he knows that. But he also knows that the heavy tipping is a message. I’m willing to be generous if he doesn’t talk. He’s simple, but he’s not completely stupid; he’ll keep quiet, and I’ll keep tipping him way more money than he usually gets for delivering trays. Most only tip a credit or two. Some don’t tip at all. Three tenners a day buys not only silence, but loyalty.”

Things on Frieza’s flagship were definitely nothing like her kingdom back home, so Ami just nodded. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have—“

“Blue, I think we’ve already established that I’m not going to hurt you,” Nappa sighed wearily as he pulled the cart in front of the bed and uncovered the trays, scrubbing his hands over his face as he took a seat. Hell, the last two times he’d fucked her like a lover and not a quick lay had proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. “Just eat. I need some quiet for a while.”

She was pretty sure that he wasn’t much of a deep thinker and needed the quiet in order to do that, so Ami did as she was told, getting up to do her business in the bathroom, taking her time as she washed her hands before coming back to eat. She hadn’t looked at the tray before—she’d been too busy worrying—so when she returned she was pleasantly surprised to find a bowl of various fruits for her, as well as what looked to be some sort of omelet with bacon on the side. Apparently bacon was always universal.

She ate wrapped up in the blanket from the bed, noting that Nappa was barely picking at his food, but she didn’t want to ask him if he was ok. Ami knew better than that; Nappa was just as paranoid as she was and just as confused as to why no one had come for her at the appointed time.

“There’s no reason for them to screw with me,” Nappa finally said, still staring at the door like a hawk. “I think they’re screwing with you. That dream completely aside, I think they’re trying to give you hope. They’re giving you hope so that when they break you, it’ll be that much more fun for them. That’s what I think.”

A full two minutes passed before he looked over at her and frowned. “Well? You’re the goddess of fucking wisdom, right? Lay some wisdom on me, woman!”

Recoiling at his tone, Ami stared at her bare feet. “You told me you wanted me to be quiet,” she whispered. “I… I was just…”

“Oh fuck, Blue, I’m not mad at you, I’m just freaking myself out. Zarbon said he’d be back in the morning. Frieza is his direct superior. The only reason Zarbon isn’t here is because Frieza ordered him not to come, don’t you see that!? I’m asking you, the goddess of wisdom, for your fucking input, that’s all! And I’m yelling because I don’t like it when people fuck with my head!” Nappa finished hotly. “And don’t cry!” He added sharply when she looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “By Dra himself, I have never been around a woman that cries so damned much!”

“I—I’m sorry,” Ami whimpered, trying her best to hold back her tears, still staring at the blue paint on her toenails that Minako had put there only four days ago. The polish on her big toe was chipped, she noticed. Mina would…

Mina wasn’t there. But if she were, she’d probably yell at Nappa for yelling at her and tell him not to be an asshole. Ami couldn’t and wouldn’t do that—it just wasn’t in her nature—but she could…

“Please don’t yell at me, Nappa. I—I’m scared. If you haven’t noticed. I’m sorry for speaking out of turn, but if you want me to not cry, yelling at me for it isn’t the way to stop it,” Ami added with as much bravery as she could muster, half-expecting him to smack her around for talking back.

Nappa didn’t miss that flinch when he turned towards her and gripped her chin to make her look at him, but he didn’t hit her. Instead, he apologized in his own fashion. “I’m sorry if I scared you, Ami, but I yell a lot and you’re just going to have to get used to it. Especially since no one’s coming for you. At least for a while. Now make with the fucking wisdom. Please,” he added for good measure.

That was as the best she was going to get and she knew it, so Ami did as she was told. “If you discount the dream, you’re probably right. But I won’t discount it. I’ve learned over the years to never, ever ignore a dream. Especially if it seems to be from Rei… and yours was. You’d never seen her before and you didn’t even know that fire was her power, Nappa. There’s no chance that it could have come from your own mind. Was the woman wearing a white and red robe?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “With funny looking light-brown shoes.”

“It was Rei, without a doubt. She told you ‘stay’ and ‘safe,’ and I’m sure that she meant that if we stayed put, we would be safe. So… that’s me making with the wisdom,” she finished. “And you should eat. Just in case they do show up,” she added as she looked towards the door fearfully.

“Why didn’t she just send the dream to you?” Nappa asked skeptically. “It makes no damned sense for her to send it to a Saiyan general.”

Blushing hotly, Ami explained. “Rei or Michiru… one of them must have seen us… um, together. And they must have seen enough to know that you wouldn’t hurt me,” she added, feeling warm all over from embarrassment. “So they sent you the dream. Because if Rei had sent it to me, I would have second-guessed it. I would have thought it was my own subconscious trying to give me false hope.”

“Heh… so they saw us fucking. I wonder which part,” Nappa chuckled. “Hope we put on a good show for them.” Her shocked look only made him laugh harder, and he just waggled his eyebrows at her for a moment before looking between his legs, already half hard at the thought of having an audience. “Hey, you can’t blame me for wanting to impress them, since they obviously trusted me enough to send that message to me. Well… ok. I’ll admit they did it because they probably felt like they didn’t have a choice. So what do we do? Just sit and wait in this comfortable prison until something happens?” He asked, immediately serious as he started in on his meal. “That doesn’t sit too well with me. I’m used to getting up and doing something about things that bother me. And this really fucking bothers me.”

“It bothers me, too, but if Rei says to stay, that’s what we should do,” Ami offered quietly. “If it’s alright with you… I’m going to go shower. The water helps me think.”

“Yeah, go on ahead. I’ll join you in a few.” Nappa couldn’t help but admire her body as she went to the bathroom, sighing to himself as he thought about those sappy, pointless words she constantly had to bring up whenever he was feeling vulnerable. “If she only knew how wrong she was,” he muttered as he heard the shower cut on. “I’m not even fucking close to being good. I just didn’t want her to get killed in a gangbang. That’s all, and it’s a far cry from being good.”

He entertained the thought of going in there to tell her just that, to wrap his hands around her throat and ask her just how fucking good she thought he was now, but Nappa just discarded them when he imagined the pain, fear and betrayal that would surely be in her eyes if he did such a thing. Those blue eyes staring up at him, bugging out as he cut off her air, full of hurt and accusation… or worse yet, full of more of that tender, understanding light that he’d seen in them more than once. Yeah, that would definitely destroy him… watching her forgive him even as he killed her.

He couldn’t do it. He simply just couldn’t, but he could put the fear of God in her.

With the full intention of doing just that, Nappa set down his fork after cleaning his plate—breakfast sure was tastier than usual and he’d have to remember to tell the cook that—and strode into the bathroom, only to find her sitting on the tub floor with the water beating down on her, crying her eyes out, her arms wrapped around her knees and her head resting on them.

All thoughts of scaring her went right out the window as Nappa felt that new-found enemy—guilt—welling up in his chest again, making him climb into the shower, forcing him to wrap his arms around her comfortingly. “I’m sorry I yelled, Blue,” he sighed into her sopping wet hair.

“I’m scared, Nappa,” Ami choked out. “I’m so scared that I feel like the world’s caving in on me.”

“I’ll hold it up if it does,” he sighed, cringing at more sappy drivel leaving his own mouth again. “Come here.” He’d only meant for the kiss to be brief and chaste, but he was surprisingly aroused by it when she returned it desperately. She wanted another distraction, he surmised, and he was more than happy to supply it again, so he lifted her into his lap and let her straddle him and ride him, even though the pace was slower than what he would have normally liked.

It wasn’t that Ami wanted a distraction, but she was more than happy to take one when it was offered, and she wasn’t about to deny him her body after he’d been so kind to her. And when he finally came inside of her with a soft groan, clutching her to him tightly, Ami felt better about the whole situation. That fact that he’d made her come repeatedly hadn’t hurt, but the closeness of holding him had done far more good than anything else. “Thank you, Nappa,” she murmured as she leaned into him, their bodies still joined and their arms wrapped around one another.

He didn’t feel like standing up just yet, so he used his tail to shut off the shower and switch on the faucets, slipping his semi-aroused cock from her only once the tub was full, immediately missing her warm embrace. “Come on, let’s get cleaned up, then I’m going to try and call Raditz. Figure out what the fuck’s going on. Nothing happens on this fucking ship that Raditz doesn’t know about ten minutes beforehand. The kid’s fucking psychic or something when it comes to gossip.”

Just thinking about getting some information made Nappa antsy, so the bath was short, but once he was back in the bedroom and had his scouter on, he was ready to smash it against the wall. “I’m cut off!” He yelled furiously just as Ami came in, wrapped in a towel. “What the serious fuck is going on, here!?”

“What do you mean, cut off?” She asked softly.

“I called Raditz, but the call wouldn’t go through, and then I called Vegeta and it did the same thing! Here, you try!” He offered, handing the scouter over.

“I can’t read these glyphs,” Ami admitted. “But…” Her mini-computer was in her hand next, pulled from her subspace, and she hooked it up to the scouter to translate the symbols on the screen, setting the computer to diagnose what was wrong with the transmitter. “Oh. They’re jamming it,” she finally said, looking up to find him watching her, his eyes fixated on her face. “What?”

Watching her in her element had been interesting, and Nappa had to admit that it had been a bit of a turn-on as well. She’d completely relaxed the moment her computer was running, and he realized that she hadn’t done that once since entering his quarters except for when she’d been sleeping. She’d been totally at ease for once, and seeing her like that did something funny to his stomach. “Nothing. Can you un-jam it?”

“Not without alerting Frieza’s security, no. I’m good, but I’m not that good when I’m only armed with my mini-computer and not my full base back home. Back home, I could have not only unjammed your scouter, but I could have fried Frieza’s entire computing system. But maybe I can…” She was fixated on the screen of the scouter once more as she reached in her subspace and started pulling out various electronic parts and tools, and in a few minutes she was working on something, sitting down on the plush carpet of Nappa’s quarters, oblivious to everything but her work.

“What are you making?” Nappa finally asked as he picked at the remnants of breakfast, watching her curiously even though he hadn’t a clue what she was doing. Electronics and computers in general definitely weren’t his strong suit. “Something to unjam the block?”

“Yes and no. I’m making a re-router. It’ll bounce your scouter signal around so that they won’t be able to trace the source, using other people’s transmissions to mask your signal. Bounce it around enough and they can’t figure out where it’s coming from, and you can just piggyback off of a dozen or so people. We should be able to listen in on other people’s calls, too, with this extra little bit that I’m adding, which means that we can get to the bottom of what’s going on,” she replied automatically, not once looking up at him as she screwed pieces into place and even soldered a few.

“Wait. You’re saying that we can even listen in on Frieza’s calls?” Nappa rumbled. He’d barely understood a word of all of that technical mumbo jumbo, but he had comprehended the last sentence loud and clear. “Fuck yeah,” he said when she nodded, getting down on the floor with her to watch more closely but careful not to get in her way. “Woman, you’re a fucking genius,” he whispered after a few minutes of watching her assemble something that looked like one of the devices in the security sector of the ship.

“So I’ve been told,” Ami whispered shyly, her cheeks red when she finally looked up to find his eyes darkening with lust. Was he seriously turned on by watching her work!?

“It’s hot,” he confirmed, assuming what she was thinking by her wide, confused eyes. “I guess I like a woman with a brain in her head… who would’ve thought,” he chuckled. “Might have something to do with the fact that you’re only wearing a towel, too.”

“I’m almost done,” she informed him, still blushing as she went back to what she was doing, a smile playing on her lips when she flipped a switch and a green light came on. “Now… let’s see,” she mumbled as she began to play with the scouter, found Raditz’s frequency, and gave it a call. “It’s ringing. Here, take it,” she said hurriedly as she handed it over.

Raditz’s face was on the screen the moment Nappa put the scouter on, and the much younger Saiyan had a deeply troubled look on his face. “Raditz, are you alone?” Nappa asked quietly.

“Yeah, actually. Why has it been impossible to call your scouter all day?”

“I don’t know,” Nappa answered quickly. “Look, something funny’s going on here, but you can’t breathe a word of it to anyone, alright? I know about that mouth of yours, boy, but I swear to the fucking gods if you say anything, you’re going to get me killed.”

“Alright…?” Raditz asked hesitantly, knowing full well that if it would get Nappa killed, he’d be the very next in line for execution.

“I’ve got the queen of Mercury in my room. Nevermind how she got here, it’s a long fucking story. Zarbon was supposed to come back for her between eight and nine but never showed up. And now my scouter’s jammed, but she unjammed it so I could call out. What have you heard? Anything at all?” Nappa asked worriedly.

“Are you locked in?” Raditz asked carefully, making a face that Nappa knew all too well. He knew something, but he wasn’t telling, and there was also an accusing look in his eyes that the general didn’t like.

“I never thought to even check the door,” Nappa sputtered. “Gods, I’m a fucking idiot. Hang on.” Climbing to his feet, Nappa rushed over to it, but the knob wouldn’t even turn. Not even a little bit. “Fucking fuck!” He shouted.

“Then it’s not a vacation,” Raditz said worriedly. “What did you do to piss Frieza off? Is he leaving you in there for her to freeze solid after… after you raped her?”

So that was the reason for that cold accusation in his eyes. “Raditz,” Nappa sighed. “Are you really going to believe them over what you know about me? How many years have you known me?”

“Since I could walk and they put me in your training squad. But every rapist has to start somewhere; Zarbon was just as surprised as I was,” Raditz countered hotly.

“When have I ever told the truth to Zarbon, for that matter!?” Nappa shot back. “I fuck in private, you know this. What I do in my bed is none of that little pretty-boy pillow biter’s business, and if you believe whatever it is that he told you, then you can go fuck yourself, too, Raditz!”

“He didn’t rape me,” Ami chimed in just loud enough for Raditz to hear her on the other end. “Whatever you may have heard, he didn’t rape me, Raditz. Please, just tell us what you know.”

“The vacation thing’s really all I know,” Raditz replied honestly. “You really didn’t do it, Nappa? Gods, I want to believe it’s true,” he sighed when Nappa nodded silently. “My advice is to stay put for the time being, and I’ll see if I hear anything else. I’m assuming that I still won’t be able to call you, so you call me sometime really late tonight. I’ll try to fuck one of the girls or boys from the kitchen since they know everything that goes on in the ship and—what?”

“The boy that serves our meals. Blonde hair, kind of wiry. He’s about sixteen or seventeen and smiles a lot. Tok… Toka… I can’t remember what exactly his name is, but try him and see if you can’t get some information. He serves food to the generals and even Zarbon, so he must have heard something. I’ll call you at about two or three, sound good?” Nappa asked.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. If he’s not asleep by then, I’ll drug him up. And stay in your room, don’t try to beat the door down. You know as well as I do that a locked door is a subtle order from Frieza not to leave,” Raditz added warningly.

“Good point. Watch out for Vegeta for me, and I’ll call you back tonight,” Nappa replied, hanging up as he admitted to himself that he’d been thinking about breaking the door down just to prove a point. “Damn it, I fucking hate being boxed in like this,” he muttered to himself as he handed Ami the scouter. “You think you can call your people, maybe?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he felt fiercely jealous and conflicted; yeah, he wanted her safe, but… at the same time he didn’t want her to leave him. And he knew it would be hard enough to get her off the ship, let alone himself, Raditz and Vegeta. And he definitely wasn’t leaving without them.

“Yes, but… they’d know. All of the transmissions leaving the ship are monitored closely, according to my computer. I’d get through, but Frieza would know I’d called Usagi. He’d probably even be able to trace her location since he’s got a lot of the most up-to-date equipment available. Like I said before,” Ami sighed as she tinkered with the scouter, “if I was back home I’d be able to totally fry his systems. I’m afraid that what I’ve just done is the extent of my abilities with such limited resources.”

The fact that she was annoyed by it all made Nappa chuckle, and he knelt behind her to watch, pressing close as she simply worked, feeling how relaxed she was against him thanks to her mind being well-occupied by her task. “You know, I was serious about all this brainy shit being kind of sexy,” Nappa purred as he nibbled at the back of her throat. “You want to go to bed and talk nerdy to me? I could put my hard drive in your CPU.”

“Nappa, I don’t have a CPU,” Ami sighed, “I told you, I left that at—oooh,” she giggled as he shoved up the towel she was wrapped in and pressed his arousal against her lower back.

“I like you like this,” he admitted, forgoing the bed to pull her out of range of knocking over her work before bending her over and mounting her from behind. “Relaxed,” he explained as he pushed inside of her. “You weren’t stressed out while you were working.”

“Working with electronics calms me down,” Ami admitted as she thought of something else that made it impossible for her to think of anything else—he was giving it to her right then, shoving deep, driving all thought from her mind except for how good and warm and right he felt, even in that odd, untried position.

“Might as well make the best of being locked in together, don’t you think?” Nappa breathed in her ear from behind, grinning when she moaned and pushed back against him. “My voice turns you on, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ami whimpered, unable to lie when she was already spiraling up into an orgasm.

“Good… I’ll definitely make more use of that in the future, atti. Now come for me.”

She was coming even as he said it, and Ami could only grip the carpet as he pounded into her, the feeling a sweet mix of pleasure and discomfort, his voice constantly right in her ear, alternating between talking dirty and purring in Saiyan, spurring her into climax after climax until he finally finished with a happy growl.

“N—Nappa…” Ami gasped out as she slumped to the carpet the moment he released her. “That… that was definitely… something else…”

He couldn’t see her little smile because her face was buried in the flooring, so Nappa only felt worried by how still she was. “Did I hurt you?” He rumbled as he turned her over, only to sigh in relief when she giggled.

“No, it was fun,” she assured him breathlessly. “Did I hurt you?”

Nappa roared with laughter at that, nipping at her shoulder before he could think better of it, his canine nicking her skin and making her moan. Fuck it, it was only a little nick, and he wasn’t going to let it ruin his good humor. “You’d have to try a lot harder to hurt me, atti… hm… do you want to try?”

“Let me get my breath back and I’d be happy to.”

Chapter Text

The boy that delivered supper wasn’t Tok. Or Toka. Or whatever his name was.

It was a deafmute that made it very clear when Nappa spoke that he couldn’t hear a word, covering her ears and shaking his head, then doing the same with his mouth. Nappa wrote the tip on a piece of paper the boy provided, tempted to ask where the regular boy was, but too afraid of the answer to try.

“They killed him, didn’t they?” Ami asked softly once Nappa had returned with the new cart and shoved the old one out the door, hearing the lock click the moment it was closed.

“Could be,” he admitted. “Could also be that Raditz snagged him early and he’s just laying out of work for a fuck. Or he just got reassigned. I don’t see them wasting a good servant that’s been trained in protocol with higher ranking officers, so it’s very possible that he’s just working another sector of the ship. I’ll call Raditz at two and find out,” Nappa assured her as he uncovered their trays.

Ami was ravenous from the copious amount of sex they’d had between brunch and supper, so she dug right into her meal, giving a soft, appreciate moan at the first taste of steak. It tasted even better than the one last night, and while hunger was the best spice, she’d been twice as hungry last night. “Gods… it’s as good as Mako’s cooking,” she commented with a full mouth, forgetting her manners.

“You ain’t joking,” Nappa agreed as he tore into his, distracted momentarily between bites as he watched her eat with gusto. “Good to see a woman really throw down on a meal,” he chuckled.

“I’m normally more polite,” Ami admitted, “but something tells me that you don’t really care about polite. You want some of my vegetables?”

“Gods, no, I hate green stuff,” Nappa snorted. “I don’t much care for fruit, either, unless it’s cooked into a dessert. Saiyan bodies aren’t really made to process roughage, you know.”

“No, actually, I didn’t. Though I’ve heard that you can withstand eating things that would make me sick as a dog,” Ami said conversationally. “I even learned some of your language right after the genocide, before the war in our system started. I didn’t want the language to completely die,” she added shyly when he just stared at her in abject surprise, afraid to ask what he’d been saying in bed to her. One word in particular had sounded like a term of endearment, and well… she’d definitely understood when he’d called her his, but she definitely wasn’t going to broach that subject. “Zua means blue, right?”

“Yeah,” Nappa answered, deflating in total relief that she had asked a neutral question, his cheeks coloring as he thought of everything he’d said while he’d been inside of her. Surely she knew what m’yo meant, and he was grateful that she hadn’t mentioned it, even though she was giving him a soft, knowing look out of the corner of her eye as she continued to eat.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad. She definitely didn’t seem like the type to press him for anything he wasn’t willing to give, so if he kept quiet about it, he knew she would, too. But… but what if he was? All he had to do was recall that morning and remember how ready he’d been willing to die for her—he was still willing, in fact, something that surprised him to no end—and it seemed that maybe he really was ready to take a mate. But only her, not one of those ladder-climbing bitches.

Nappa was surprised by how comfortable he was with the idea, and he fiddled with his fork as he imagined what it would be like to come back to his quarters to a hot dinner ready and waiting for him, followed by a slow, leisurely roll between the sheets. Maybe even a hot, hard fuck instead if she was feeling up to it. Had she really meant that part about falling in love with him if they’d only had more time? He’d like that, he realized. A woman that loved him, a woman that actually cared. A woman that didn’t judge him because of his past or because of the job he did for Frieza. A woman that only judged how he treated her and ignored the rest because it didn’t have any bearing on their relationship. “Blue…”

“Hm?”

“Eh, never mind,” he muttered into a bite of his steak.

Licking her lips nervously, Ami dared to pry, reaching over to squeeze his hand, smiling gently up at him. “Nappa, if something’s bothering you, I’ll listen,” she offered.

“Nah, nothing like that,” he half-lied. It wasn’t so much that the thought of mating her bothered him, it was just that he felt unbelievably embarrassed about it. To even mention it would be admitting that he felt something for her, that he wanted more than just this temporary… whatever it was. “Blue, you still got that vial?” He asked suddenly. “Just in case, since we haven’t a fucking clue what’s going on here.”

Oh, so that’s what was bothering him. For just a second, Ami had thought that maybe… just maybe he… “Yes, it’s in my subspace. No worries. But the more I think about it, the more I don’t think they’re going to kill me. It doesn’t make any sense to let me build up hope for this long. A few hours, maybe, but the information that Frieza wanted from me was time-sensitive. It would have been in his best interests to get it from me as quickly as possible.”

“Time-sensitive, how?” Nappa asked curiously.

“We move Usagi often. But since I’ve been captured… I don’t know. They may have moved her, they might have not. It depends on the Outers,” Ami said slowly, making sure not to divulge too much information. “Sorry, but I can’t go into detail, Nappa.”

“S’alright. You’ve got a point, though… so the real question is, what is Frieza’s angle? If I were really being punished for something, then there wouldn’t be food. His favorite method of punishing Saiyans is denying them food. Next in line is squeezing our tails. The only honest-to-gods thing that I can think of is that I’m being rewarded. That he’s forcing me to take a vacation since I never do. I’d wondered if he was doing something to Vegeta, but Raditz would have mentioned that, so no, that’s not it, either.” Finishing his steak, Nappa wiped his hands on a napkin and found that Ami had finished hers as well. “Any ideas?”

“It could be as you say. A reward… and my punishment. Maybe he found out that Usa’s been moved, so he didn’t have a use for me anymore. The locked door is a means to keep me from escaping you, and he really does believe that you’re repeatedly raping me,” Ami deduced. “I just wish we knew for sure.”

“You and me both, Blue. You gonna eat that cheesecake? The cook’s cheesecake is the best in the quadrant,” Nappa informed her. “Here, take a bite.”

Ami couldn’t think of a way to gracefully refuse, so when Nappa held his fork to her lips, she parted them and accepted the offering. Hadn’t there been something in her books about Saiyans only feeding mates…? “It is rather good. I think I’ll save it for later if you don’t mind, though. I’m rather full.”

“Hm… I am, too, actually.” Taking in her continued lack of clothing, Nappa felt another kind of hunger rising and trailed his fingers over her bare thigh. “A different type of dessert, maybe? I definitely wouldn’t mind eating something soft and sweet.”

Oh, was he offering to…? “Only if you want to,” Ami murmured shyly, looking up at him through her lashes, her face turning red as she heard that same purr from this morning coming to life and rolling through the room.

Not much for words in general, Nappa just smirked and shoved her down, chuckling at the sound of her squealing as he scooped her up to get her right in the middle of the bed, diving between her thighs and laughing as she squealed some more for him.

Unlike last time, Nappa didn’t go right for the kill and suckle her to oblivion; he licked and kissed and nuzzled until Ami was a squirming mass of desperation, moaning and sighing his name, begging him urgently to finish her.

He couldn’t deny her any longer, so Nappa gladly did as she asked, suckling her gently, gripping her thighs to hold her close, the sound of her completion like music to his ears as his thoughts returned to his previous realizations.

She could be his mate. He could have her. All of her.

“Ami,” he groaned, beyond coherent conversation as he covered her and kissed her fiercely, pushing himself inside of her when she offered herself eagerly and clung to him. She was tighter than earlier thanks to his amorous efforts, and Nappa could only pant for air as he began to move before he was even locked deep inside of her, taking her with an emotional zeal that was equal to that morning. “I want you,” he rasped out as he lost his head and the soft look in her eyes loosened his tongue. “M’eh t’uh au, Ami m’yo.”

The word ‘yours’ was on her lips, but he kissed her before she could speak it, and she somehow managed to think better of it between then and the time he broke the kiss to run his hungry mouth down her throat, his teeth grazing her warm flesh all the way to her shoulder, where he bit down possessively. “N—Nappa…” Her nails drug down his spine as he left a bruise, but rather than cry out in pain, she reveled in it, moaning with pleasure and coming hard for him, holding on tightly as his motions became rough and frantic.

“S—Sorry,” he stammered, breathing hard as he stopped to get ahold of himself, resting his forehead to hers. “I didn’t mean to, Ami.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” she promised, smiling when he sighed in relief and nuzzled her nose with his, touched by the tender gesture. Part of her was floored by this sudden change in him and wanted to question it, but the rest of her told her to just go with it, to enjoy the closeness and intimacy. She went with her latter instinct and kissed him gently, running her hands lightly over his scars, her hips nudging his in a request to continue. “Don’t stop, Nappa. I want you, too,” Ami confessed, knowing that he meant exactly what she meant by it. Not just the physical, no… she wanted it all, even if only for a few days. “I love the way you feel inside of me… don’t stop.”

“Ami… fuck, atti… I… I want…”

“It’s alright, Nappa… I know,” she whispered understandingly as he rolled his hips at an agonizingly slow pace, taking her so gently that their lovemaking that morning paled in comparison. “Just don’t stop… it’s alright, I promise…”

He didn’t—he couldn’t have if he’d wanted to—and Nappa felt as if her light was seeping into his very soul, wondering briefly if the nick he’d left on her shoulder was the culprit of it all. Her goodness was bleeding into him, making him soft, making him care, making him want her to love him. And as he kissed her with everything he had, he could have sworn that he felt it and groaned, his hands caressing and memorizing her as he moved deep and felt her come for him again. “Ami… my Ami…”

“Yes… Nappa…” Ami only paused for a moment before giving in to the rising tide of feeling that was overwhelming the both of them, her eyes locked with his as she spoke. “…I’m yours.”

###############################

Raditz picked up on the first ring, and he did not look happy in the slightest. “Nappa, don’t call me again,” he said shortly, his eyes darting around to make sure no one was listening in. “The kid that delivers your food was moved to the other side of the ship, so I’m pretty sure they’re listening in on the calls to my scouter. Which means…”

“Fuck,” Nappa swore as he glanced over at Ami, who was sleeping deeply, curled into him trustingly, her lips curled up in a tiny, satisfied smile. “They know I didn’t rape her. Gods damn it… if that’s the case then Zarbon knows I lied to him, but no one’s shown up to punish me for it.” He was going to have to see if Ami could build something to scramble his calls as well; knowing her, it would be as easy as the Tuffle War had been for him and King Vegeta.

“I don’t know, Nappa, and I don’t want to know,” Raditz said quickly, looking around again in paranoia. “My advice? Just sit tight and wait. Lord Frieza’s bound to show up eventually and tell you what’s going on. And Vegeta’s fine, before you even ask. I’ve been sparring with him while you’ve been gone and he’s asked about you a few times. He said that your lazy ass doesn’t need a vacation,” Raditz chuckled.

“Thanks, Raddy. Hopefully I’ll talk to you once all of this is over.” Nappa hung up then and sighed heavily, setting his scouter aside and snuggling up against Ami, momentarily thinking of waking her but discarding the idea just as quickly. She needed her sleep just in case Zarbon or Frieza showed up the next morning.

He shouldn’t have said it. He knew he shouldn’t have, but it had felt so undeniably right that Nappa just couldn’t bring himself to feel bad about staking a claim on her and for her replying in kind. He hadn’t bitten her at least, that was the silver lining. In the morning he could pretend that he hadn’t said it at all, that he hadn’t called her his… and that she hadn’t agreed to it with her heart in her eyes.

A few more days and I would have been in love with you.

Apparently it had only taken two, and as Nappa kissed her shoulder and purred in contentment; wrapped around his mate, he just couldn’t bring himself to care what anyone thought, least of all his better sense.

####################################

Ami definitely noticed his quiet and semi-foul mood and correctly guessed the reason for it, giving him only a single, longing look and a lingering kiss before leaving him be, silently wishing that he wasn’t so upset. After all, it wasn’t her fault—he’d said it, not her, and she’d been content to keep her mouth shut about her rapidly developing feelings for him. But in the heat of the moment he’d verbally claimed her, so what was she supposed to have done? Deny him when he’d spoken so earnestly?

At least he wasn’t yelling at her, which is what she’d feared all morning. He was definitely in an even fouler mood when he ordered breakfast only to be told that it was already on its way, and only a softly spoken word from her had kept Nappa from smashing his scouter against the wall.

He seemed to have worked it all out by the time they’d finished eating, though, because he was wordlessly kissing her again and coaxing her back into bed with his hands and mouth, purring ardently as he loved her roughly.

On and off, he fucked her all day long, pausing only to bathe, eat and relieve themselves, stopping only at bedtime, when he suddenly gentled in the dark and took her twice as he had the night before, slow and easy, claiming her yet again, whispering in her ear in Saiyan as she surrendered herself to him body and soul.

It seemed safer to give in to his feelings in the dark, to surrender to that closeness he was beginning to crave. But only in the dark.

The next day was much the same, and the days after until they’d been cohabitating for a solid week, with Ami more relaxed in his presence than ever, laughing and joking with him when he was in a good mood, knowing to stay silent whenever he became thoughtful and brooding. He was moody less and less, though, which lightened hers.

At least until Nappa’s scouter rang in the evening of the seventh day, sending shivers down her spine. “Should I get it?” Ami asked softly when Nappa seemed frozen to his spot, his eyes wide and filled with what could only be terror.

“No,” he tried to say, only for it to come out as an inaudible rasp. He swallowed and tried again, scooping up the armor that had laid on the floor for something like five days, digging in his dresser for a shirt on his way to the scouter lying neglected and forgotten on the floor where he’d dropped it in his fury. “No, Ami,” he repeated, his voice only marginally stronger. “You get dressed. And get the vial.”

“You can’t be sure that it’s—“

“I am. The only person that has that call tone on my scouter is Frieza.”

Ami suddenly felt ice cold and sat down hard on the floor, staring up at Nappa in naked dread when he tugged his shirt over his head, then his armor, donning his scouter next and cutting it on while he turned to search for pants.

“Nappa, I trust you’ve enjoyed yourself over the past week?” Frieza asked pleasantly while Nappa’s eyes darted to a frozen Ami and he motioned for her to snap out of it and get dressed. Gods damn it, they would not die naked and helpless! “Judging by how long it took you to answer, I can only hope that you were enjoying yourself when I called. Sorry for the interruption.”

“There was no interruption, Lord Frieza,” Nappa replied gruffly. “Though I’ll admit that I’m confused about being locked in my own quarters without even an order from you.”

“Ah, yes. I’m quite sorry about that, but I thought you might need some time… oh, I’ll just explain it in person, how very rude of me to call to ask a favor.” There was a knock at the door then, and Nappa’s eyes locked on Ami yet again, who was shaking and staring at the door, her eyes filled with tears, still sitting on the carpet.

“Lord Frieza, please pardon the wait, but the lady isn’t decent. Would you—“

“Of course, general, take your time… but not too much of it, understand?”

“Five minutes, my lord.”

“I’ll hold you to it,” Frieza chuckled before hanging up.

Nappa’s scouter was tossed carelessly on the bed then, and he hurried to Ami and jerked her to her feet, shaking her when she only let out a wordless cry of fear, followed by a sound kiss to her lips. It worked, it distracted her from what was happening, and when he pulled away to look at her, he could see that she was coming out of whatever spell she’d been having. “Ami, you need to listen to me. Frieza is outside the door. Dress. Now. Unless you want him and the entire Ginyu Force looking at you tits.”

There was a flash of blue light, and suddenly she was fully clothed for the first time that week in something other than a towel, still trembling against him. And the vial was in her hand, ready and waiting just in case they were going to take her away for more torture. “I… Nappa, I… if they…”

“I don’t think they will, Ami. Just don’t let them see that you’re scared, alright? Frieza will definitely take advantage of that, so you need to act like you don’t care. You can have a meltdown or whatever once they’re gone, and I swear to Dra himself that I will let you cry your eyes out without bitching about it once. But you have to wait until they’re gone, alright?”

“Alright,” Ami choked out, forcing herself to stop shaking, thankful that Nappa was holding her tightly and securely, somehow lending her his strength. “I think I’m ready,” she finally said, her voice much calmer than she felt. Three minutes had passed since his call with Frieza, and she knew that they needed to open the door, and soon.

“You’ll be fine, Ami. I won’t let anyone hurt you, that’s a promise I’ll keep. I… I swear it on my tail,” Nappa told her sincerely. He hadn’t sworn on his tail since he’d promised King Vegeta that he’d watch the prince’s back, and that had been thirteen years past. “I’ll protect you. I’ll die for you. So hold onto that vial, and the moment they say they’re taking you, drink it. We’ll go down together.”

Nodding silently, Ami pulled him down for one more kiss, putting everything into it, knowing full well that it could be their last. “Nappa, I—“

“I know. Ami, don’t say it. Just… just don’t, ok?” He kissed her once more to soothe the hurt in her eyes, trying his best to explain what he meant with one long look, wanting her to understand that he didn’t want any goodbyes. It was bad luck, and they needed all of the good luck they could possibly get right then. Telling him what he already knew wouldn’t serve a purpose if it meant that it would jinx them. “Stay behind me, and don’t offer anything up unless you’re addressed. I don’t want them paying attention to you,” he advised her as he tugged her to the door, pausing for only a moment before opening it. “My apologies for making you wait, Lord Frieza.”

“Oh, it’s not necessary in the slightest, Nappa,” the most powerful being in the universe replied pleasantly, peeking around him to smile brightly at Ami. “My, my… you’re looking quite radiant, Your Majesty. There’s a lovely glow about you.”

Ami had meant to speak calmly, but when she did, her words came out as cold as ice. “Thank you.”

“No need for that tone, Majesty, I’m not here to do you any harm… so long as you both cooperate, that is. You won’t be taken back downstairs, you won’t be beaten or raped, and you’ll be allowed to stay right here in your little love nest. I believe in letting bygones be bygones, don’t you?” Frieza asked agreeably before turning to Nappa. “Did you enjoy your vacation, general?”

“Yes, thank you. But like I said, I’m confused—“

“Yes, yes. Of course. You see, I was up in the security tower exactly a week ago, right down to the hour,” Frieza chuckled, “and I saw the most curious thing, Nappa. I saw you. Being nice. Forgive me for taking liberties, but I assumed that you liked the little queen, so I decided to reward you for your years of service with a mate…” He frowned then, gesturing casually towards Ami’s bruised shoulder. “…so you can only imagine my insult when I see that you’ve rejected my gracious offer. Would you care to explain, General Nappa?”

There was only a moment’s silence while Nappa tried his very best not to tremble under Frieza’s sinister stare, and he somehow succeeded, nodding stoically. “My lord, you didn’t give me the order to.”

Frieza’s annoyed frown did a complete one-eighty at that. “My dear general, I’m pleasantly surprised! What a good little soldier you are! With that said, I’m absolutely positive that you won’t hesitate to mate her… especially since I’m now giving that order.”

While outwardly calm, Nappa was fighting for air inside, fighting the urge to look at Ami to gauge her reaction, fighting to refuse when his beast took offense at the order—as if he needed to be ordered to mate the woman he’d verbally claimed? “Yes, my lord. Of course I will, without hesitation.”

“Well then?” Frieza asked when Nappa made no move to do so. “Get on with it, general. I was very lenient in waiting for you two to open the door, so surely you wouldn’t want to waste anymore of my time. It’s very precious, of which I know you’re well aware.”

Nappa’s face immediately heated up at the very notion of mating her in the corridor, and despite his best efforts, he even shuffled his feet nervously, feeling Frieza’s pleased grin even as he forced himself to stare at a wall. Yes, Frieza was always pleased when he made someone uncomfortable as hell. “Um… uh…” Oh goddamnit, now he had a stutter! “Um, my lord, I… there’s just… you see…”

“Spit it out, Nappa,” Frieza tittered, clearly amused by how unnerved Nappa had become so quickly. “Oh, wait, I get it. Of course, you’d like the lady’s agreement, correct? How very gentlemanly of you! Your Majesty,” he continued, turning that smile on Ami, “I’m sure you wouldn’t have a problem with marrying the general, would you? I know he’s large and brutish and can be dreadfully dull at times, but he’s a brilliant tactician and comes from a noble family. Or rather, he did. Before the so very sad destruction of his entire race, that is.”

“Seeing as I don’t have any choice—“

“You don’t,” Frieza finished for her pleasantly. “Quite astute, as always, Your Majesty. So, is that a yes?”

Ami was afraid, but at the same time, she felt an anger rising in her like never before, and she used it to ground her, to stare Frieza right in the face. She’d faint or throw up later is she survived this, but for the moment she wasn’t going to back down from him like a coward. “Lord Frieza, I might be more agreeable if you allowed me to finish my sentences.” That frown was back, but after a moment, it became a sardonic smirk. He knew exactly what she was doing and he was entertained by it, but right then Ami couldn’t be bothered to care. “I was going to say yes. But I was also going to inform you that the general is embarrassed because mating is a private matter for Saiyans.”

“Oh. Is it really?” Frieza asked with a chuckle. “And here I thought they were just a bunch of wild monkeys. My, my… apparently even Saiyans have a thin veneer of propriety. Very well, you two lovebirds are dismissed to your quarters. I’ll have more food sent at the appropriate times, as well as some new towels and linens. Zarbon, what would be an appropriate length of time for a honeymoon?” He asked, clearly happy about it all, though Nappa and Ami couldn’t figure out why for the life of them.

“Oh, I don’t know, Lord Frieza. Another week, maybe? Though the general’s been sorely missed in the training ring. Light duty, perhaps?” Zarbon drawled nonchalantly.

Frieza seemed to consider this for a moment before waving a dismissive hand. “Yes, of course. We wouldn’t want the maggots losing their edge in the middle of a war, would we? Oh, and speaking of which! Nappa, the moment you two are finished with whatever private monkey mating rite you’re about to perform, I want you to call me and give me the location of her queen.”

Ami wasn’t the only one that paled at that—Nappa also went white, glancing down at her and instinctively steadying her with his tail when she wobbled in place. “Lord Frieza, the mating bond—“

“Is a very useful tool, wouldn’t you say, general? It’s just beautiful how it all works out, you know. You get a mate, Lady Ami gets to keep her life, and I get my information. Everybody’s happy. And if you lie to me about Neo Queen Serenity’s location, I’ll kill you,” Frieza continued pleasantly. “I’ll make your mate a widow before your seed’s even cooled on your nuptial sheets.”

She didn’t know how she knew, but something in Nappa’s stance told her that he would do just that. She had studied enough about Saiyans to know that they were fiercely loyal to their mates, and that he would lie to Frieza before ever betraying her once he’d bitten and bedded her. “V—Venus,” Ami choked out, her eyes stinging as she felt tears welling up, only slightly comforted by the way Nappa subtly leaned into her and tightened his tail in a brief squeeze. “Usagi… she’s on Venus.”

“Oh, how romantic!” Frieza laughed. “She knows he’ll lie for her, Zarbon, so she just sold out her queen to save his life!”

“Usagi would have wanted it that way,” Ami whispered, deflating even as she spoke. Yes, Usagi would have wanted it, but that was why they protected her… because Usagi thought with only her heart and rarely with her head.

“May we be dismissed, my lord?” Nappa interjected, his tone cold, rather than his usual monotone when addressing Frieza.

“Don’t sound so displeased, Nappa, I’d only meant to make one of my favorites happy with such a very fine gift,” Frieza said with a little pout. “Aren’t you happy with her?”

“Yes, my lord, very happy,” Nappa replied as he managed to control his tone again. “And if there’s ever a way I can repay you for such a thoughtful gift, I will.”

“Oh, now that you mention it, Nappa, there is something that I need from you.” Frieza’s bright smile was broader than ever. “Just a little thing. From both of you, if we’re being technical, even though it’s really only those Saiyan fighting genes I’m interested in. But since Her Majesty will be hampered with the burden of carrying those genes for nine months— it is nine months, right?” He asked, turning to one of the three med techs that had tagged along.

“Yes, Lord Frieza,” one of them replied immediately.

Ami’s hand clenched around the vial in her hand then, but she was frozen in horror by what Frieza was implying, too frozen to uncap it and drink it to spare herself what was surely to come over the next year. “Y—You w—want—“

“Babies, yes,” Frieza cooed. “I want a Saiyan army again, ready at my beck and call. And if you want to continue to live, Lady Ami, you’ll be a good girl and give me what I want. After all, it’s a small thing to give. You just grow my warriors inside of you, and then I’ll take care of the rest. You won’t even need to change a diaper.”

Nappa caught her before she fell to the floor and he clutched her tightly to his chest, looming over her protectively as a low growl escaped him. He was about to lose it, he was about to get them both killed, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t do that unless Ami drank the vial first. He wouldn’t see her die violently. “Frieza—“

“Lord Frieza,” the little tyrant reminded him coldly. “But I’ll forgive your error this time, Nappa. Let’s just call it a lapse in judgment.”

“Lord Frieza. Ami’s people aren’t Saiyan. They don’t just give up their young at birth like we do. I don’t know much about Mercurians, but something like this might even kill her. Maybe even the child.”

“Hm… good point. A dead child would be of little use to me. I’ll tell you what, Nappa, I’ll call in a couple of days and we can discuss this matter further. Go calm your mate down… and be sure that she rests often, since she’s likely pregnant already.” Frieza’s thoughtful expression became a smile again when Nappa looked surprised and Ami only whimpered and clutched at him, shaking in fear. “What, you didn’t notice the hormones and the fertility drugs in your food? Awfully tasty, from what I hear, and I thought for sure you’d realize that you were getting it up a lot easier than usual. After all, Nappa, you’re no longer a spring chicken. Come along, Zarbon, let’s give the lovebirds some time to think it over.”

Nappa couldn’t get Ami back in the room fast enough, using his tail to slam the door behind him, wincing when the knob smacked it hard enough to really smart. He didn’t bother nursing it, though, he was too worried about the way Ami was trembling silently, not even crying due to her level of absolute terror. “Ami, look at me. Ami!”

He was so freaked out that he didn’t even realize that he’d slapped her until after he felt the sting in his palm, but it had snapped her eyes open and now the tears were finally coming, pouring down her face in rivers as she dove into his arms and hugged him, sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m sorry, Blue… I… I didn’t mean to… gods, you scared the fucking shit out of me, baby.”

It was over an hour before either of them even moved from that spot on the floor, and Nappa did as he’d promised earlier, holding her and purring as she cried her eyes out, never once admonishing her for it. He couldn’t blame her either; the thought of giving up a child to the likes of Frieza horrified him. Just simply fucking horrified him. “Ami,” he whispered into her hair, “we’ll figure a way out of this. I promise it to you now, I swear it on my tail. No child of mine—of ours—will ever go to Frieza. I’ll kill the baby with my own hands before I ever let that crazy piece of shit touch it, even if it damns me for eternity.”

“It… it would be kinder,” Ami sobbed. “It would be, I know that.”

Scooping her up, Nappa took her to the bed and stripped his armor before laying down with her, nuzzling her shoulder as he used the sheet to wipe away her tears. “Don’t worry,” he said when she flinched away from his teeth, “I’m not going to mark you. I wanted to the last few nights, but doing it on that bastard’s orders… I won’t. Not right now.”

“Nappa… he’ll kill us,” Ami whispered in defeat, feeling all of the fight going out of her at the idea of Frieza killing Nappa just because he refused to do something he’d nearly done on his own over the last few days. Something that would have happened anyway if they’d continued as they had without interruption. “It’s alright, just do it.”

“No,” Nappa said flatly. “Go to sleep. I’m not mating you, Ami. Not like this. No,” he repeated, albeit more gently when tears filled her eyes again and she shook her head in protest. “No, Ami. I’m not good like you say, but even I draw the line somewhere. Later.”

“You are good,” she whispered weakly, but that was the most she could manage before simply clutching him to her and closing her eyes.

Chapter Text

“They’re asleep, Lord Frieza—no, they’re fully clothed and—“

“Get out,” Nappa growled, aiming a ki blast at the little peon standing in the open doorway with a food cart. “Get out now or I swear to Dra I’ll blow your fucking head off.”

“He’s awake, my lord,” the servant said even as he pulled the cart out of the room and stood in the hallway, leaving the door open. He was following orders to the letter, and those orders didn’t involve closing the door. “Yes, my lord, I’ll tell him.” He hung up his scouter then and pointed at Nappa’s. “Lord Frieza requests that you call him, General Nappa. And for the record, I was only entering your room on his orders.”

“Whatever. Take the old cart, leave the new one, and get the fuck out before I snap your skinny neck,” Nappa replied as he grabbed his scouter and put it on, then dialed Frieza. “I was told you wanted to speak with me, Lord Frieza.”

“Something tells me you’ve disobeyed my orders, Nappa,” Frieza said in clear annoyance. “And I do not like it when my orders are disobeyed.”

“I wasn’t going to fuck her while she was shaking from head to toe,” Nappa stated blandly. “I was more concerned with getting her calmed down, and if she is pregnant already, that should have been my first priority.”

“Point taken. You know what, Nappa? The whole prospect of finally breeding you makes me very happy. And when I’m happy, I’m generous. I’m feeling oh so very generous right now, in fact, generous enough to give you and your pretty mate a day’s extension. But if you haven’t marked her by tomorrow night, Nappa… I don’t think I’ll be feeling quite as generous as I am now. Do you understand, Nappa?”

“I understand.”

“Oh, and Nappa? If she doesn’t eat the food I’ve sent, I’m going to take it as an insult.”

“What’s in it?” Nappa asked before Frieza could hang up.

“While I don’t like the fact that you’re questioning me, Nappa, I can’t fault you for taking an interest in your mate’s well-being. But tread lightly,” Frieza warned him softly. “There’s nothing in her food that I haven’t put there all week. It’s the exact same fertility formula. Now get to work.”

The first thing Nappa did was lock his door from the inside, and the irony wasn’t lost on him as he went back to the bed and fantasized about smashing his scouter for the millionth time that week. Only now, as he was trying to keep people out of his quarters, he now just wanted people to not call him and—“oh goddamnit,” he muttered as his scouter started going off again, the tone just as familiar to him as Frieza’s, though it didn’t have a paralyzing effect like the little tyrant’s did.

“Yeah, Raddy,” Nappa sighed, weary even though he’d been awake all of five minutes.

“You’re breeding,” he hissed out furiously. “What the fuck is wrong with you!? I thought we were a united front, Nappa!? Now Frieza’s going to expect me to start—“

“I don’t have a fucking choice, Raditz,” Nappa stated as calmly as possible. “I… I really don’t. It’s either that or kill ourselves and… I don’t know. I’m going to talk to Ami when she’s awake. She’s still sleeping, so keep it down, alright? She… she’s had a hard week, and this afternoon… it nearly broke her, Raddy.”

Raditz was silent for a long minute as he took in the dark circles under Nappa’s eyes and his ragged expression, and he realized that his mentor and father-figure of the last several years had never looked quite so old. “You really care about her,” he whispered in surprise. “Holy shit, Nappa.”

“I… I guess I do,” he murmured, feeling a weight lift from him at the admission. “I wanted to mate her for several days, too, Raddy… so I guess breeding would have happened anyway, with or without Frieza’s order. I don’t know. The little prick implied that she was pregnant already, and he’s been putting fertility drugs and shit in the food for the last week.” The expression on Raditz’s face was priceless, and Nappa could tell he was holding back out of fear of his line being tapped, so the general managed a chuckle before informing him of Ami’s modifications. “Just let it out, boy. No one will overhear as long as the call’s to me—Blue really knows her way around computers.”

“Fucking motherfucking little goddamned twat waffle! I knew he was evil and heartless and—“ Raditz went silent at that and just shook his head, out of adjectives and insults for the moment. “Gods… he could do this to me, too. Just wait for me to show real affection to any female at all and then pounce. Oh gods, I feel sick, Nappa.”

“He expects Ami to give him the baby the moment it’s born, too,” Nappa rasped.

“Oh dear go—no,” Raditz said suddenly, cutting himself off. “No, we can’t let that happen. Nappa, whatever happens, whatever you two decide… even if it includes mutiny, I’m in. No more Saiyans will go to Frieza to be raised. Shit, just look at Vegeta. He was a mean, snotty, entitled little shit to begin with, but now… now he’s just a cruel little douchebag.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Nappa sighed.

“Rei?”

“That your woman I hear?” Raditz asked curiously.

If Nappa had had hair, it would have been standing on end; apparently Ami was talking to her sister! “Yeah. Let me let you go, Raddy. Keep me posted if anything happens or if you hear anything of use.”

“Will do.”

“Rei…” This time it came out as a sob, and as Nappa set his scouter to the side and turned to his sleeping mate, he found her crying. There was nothing he could do, though, and since he didn’t want to wake her until the queen of Mars was done giving her message, he merely curled up around her once more and purred in comfort.

########################################

“Rei!?”

“Dear gods, finally! I thought I’d never get through to you! I tried talking to your beau again, but his skull’s too thick for my abilities or something,” Rei exclaimed as she hugged Ami tight. “I don’t have long, so I need to hurry!”

“Rei… gods, I’ve missed you so much! Please, PLEASE tell me you’re coming for me!”

As Ami sobbed into her robe, Rei sighed and shook her head even as she answered in the affirmative. “Yes, but not for a few months. Ami… we need you to endure. I’ve consulted the fire, and they all give me the same answers—that if we try to free you now, we’ll all die. A new friend of ours has said the exact same thing, too, and his ability’s even stronger than mine.”

“Friend…? Who?” Ami asked as she sniffled and tried not to cry more than she already had.

“I can’t tell you, Ami. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you any information—“

“No, no… of course not. Frieza would use Nappa to try get it out of me and I’d tell him one way or another. Oh gods… if Usagi’s still on Venus, you need to move her NOW! Nappa wasn’t going to tell him so I did to save his life. I’m sorry, but I didn’t have a choice!”

“Our friend saw it coming, no worries. He also said that we’ll save you before the baby’s born. Guaranteed. And the fire told me that you must NOT lose hope, Ami. If hope dies, so will you and your daughter.”

“Daughter? So it’s… am I even pregnant yet?”

“For four days,” Rei said with a gentle smile. “Usagi sensed the new life when she was trying to locate you. She said to give you this, too,” the miko added, taking Ami’s hand in hers as she kissed her forehead. “It’s not much, but it’ll give you the hope that you need and the strength to endure when Nappa can’t. By Ares, I hope it’s enough. We love you, Ami. We all love you and we’ll come for you. Don’t forget it. Trust in us. Trust in Usagi. Don’t lose hope.”

##########################################

Ami awoke with a start and sat up straight, panting hard, her hands clutching her chest… and a smile on her face. “Nappa,” she breathed.

“I heard bits and pieces,” Nappa replied quickly, pulling her to him to let her rest and catch her breath. “What did your sister say?”

“They’ll come before the baby does!” She exclaimed brightly, springing up from her knees to half-tackle him to the bed. “They’re coming, they really are, and they have someone that has Rei’s powers too and he confirmed the same vision! They’re coming to save us!”

Nappa had yet to see her so ecstatic, and he had to admit that she was absolutely dazzling like this, beaming brightly, her eyes shining with hope, so he just laid there and smiled up at her. “Good. Then we don’t have to worry about anything. What else did she say?”

“She told me to endure, and not to lose hope. She said that the fire told her that I would die if I did,” Ami added, her smile faltering for a moment before rekindling. “But the important thing is, they’re coming for us!”

“Gods, I really hope so. I’ll trust your judgment and believe it even if I am a little skeptical, but you can’t blame me for putting little stock in dreams and psychic powers, Blue,” Nappa chuckled. “Even though she was right about us staying in the room. If we’d left, I don’t think we’d still be alive. Hm…” He unclasped her hands at the sight of something shiny in them, lifting a curious brow as he found a locket on a chain. “What’s this?”

“Dear Hermes,” Ami whispered in total awe as she brushed her fingers over the face of Usagi’s star locket. “I… I haven’t seen this is a hundred and eighty years… Nappa, if she gave this to me, then… then she’s really coming. Not even a shadow of a doubt. Usagi would never let this go unless she was planning on getting it back. It means the world to her.”

“Really? This little thing? But it’s just a piece of fucking jewel…” He touched it then and blinked in surprise when it started playing. “…ry…” And judging by Ami’s bright red face, that meant something?

Quickly placing it in Nappa’s hands, Ami withdrew hers and the music immediately stopped, only to start again when she gingerly reached out a single digit to touch the chain. Unsurprisingly, it started up again. “Oh… oh my,” she whispered. “It um… it means that, well…”

From the way she was fidgeting and refusing to look him in the eyes, Nappa could only guess and huffed. “It means something sappy and stupid that’ll only annoy me,” he growled, half-joking as he put it back in her hands and took his away to stop the too-pretty-for-his-tastes music.

“Nappa… it might be sappy to you, but… it’s not stupid,” Ami replied softly, locking eyes with him determinedly. “What I feel for you… it’s… it’s far from stupid.” She relaxed a bit when he sighed and shrugged in surrender, cupping his face in her hand. “What I said about a few days? I meant it. And Nappa… it’s been a few days.”

He knew all too well why she hadn’t said the actual word, and his old friend, guilt, was back and plaguing him, reminding him that she wouldn’t say it because she was afraid of angering him. “Yeah, atti. I know… and that’s ok. I think I can live with that. Fuck, I’ll have to,” he added with a little chuckle even as he tried his best to mask his pleasure at the thought, recalling how he’d felt before as he’d imagined having a mate that loved him unconditionally.

“Good,” Ami said even though she wasn’t smiling. Yes, they’d been ordered to do this, but would he be upset with her if she told him. It didn’t matter, she realized. It would be wrong not to tell him, and it would have been inevitable, anyway. “Because… I’m pregnant. Rei said Usagi felt the new life four days ago. It’s a girl.”

“Huh? You’re fucking shitting me, right!? Really!?”

His complete astonishment floored her, and Ami just stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “He’s been feeding me fertility drugs and we’ve been having unprotected sex for a week, Nappa. What did you think would happen?”

“No no no, not that!” Nappa exclaimed as he held his hand over her belly and tried to detect a discernable ki. Nope, nothing yet, but that was totally normal. It’d likely take a couple weeks to feel its ki, and even then, it was only a half-breed. And honestly, not much was known about half-breeds since they were very few and far between, so it could be months before he felt his daughter’s presence. “Not that,” he repeated in an awestruck whisper. “It’s a girl, Ami. Do you know how rare those are? Hell, I had eight brothers! Not a single sister amongst us. The last female born in my family was something like three generations back. A girl,” he breathed, narrowing his eyes as if he could see into her womb, “good gods… we can’t let Frieza get ahold of her. Period. He’ll breed her with Vegeta, and while I think there’s still hope for the little asshole, he’s a mean son of a bitch.”

“Wait… but we’re taking Vegeta with us anyway?”

“Yeah, of course. I made a vow, baby. I don’t break promises, especially when I swear on my tail, and I swore on the day that brat was born that I’d guard his back for the rest of my life. Don’t forget that I also said there’s hope for him. There is, but only if we get him away from Frieza. I mean… I’m horrible. So’s Raditz. But the boy? He’s fucking brutal and he gives zero fucks for anyone but himself,” Nappa finished wearily. “Me and Raditz, we won’t cross a certain line… but Vegeta’s line fades more and more every day. He’ll be a monster in a few more years. The product of an even bigger monster that constantly puffs him up and makes him think he’s a whole lot stronger that he is. He lets Vegeta think that he’s the strongest in the universe, that he can take on anything… all so Frieza can one day defeat him with a flick of his finger, just to crush his soul.”

That was arguably the most that Nappa had ever said to her at once, and Ami could only kiss him briefly and lay down on top of him, smiling as he purred softly and wrapped his arms around her. “Nine months at the most, Nappa, and we’ll get him out. We’ll all get out, and we can go somewhere where we don’t have to be afraid ever again.”

“I honestly wouldn’t know what the fuck to do with myself in a place like that,” he mumbled, “but I’ll figure it out.” He began running his fingers through her hair idly then, mulling over the idea of living in a peaceful kingdom after seeing war for nearly two hundred years, and while it scared him a bit, he was pretty sure he’d be able to adapt. After all, Usagi had warriors and Ami was one of them, so maybe she’d want a few more? He could hire himself out as paid muscle or something and watch his daughter grow up without needing to live in fear.

“Fuck me running,” he mumbled into her hair, “I’m actually going to be a fucking father… really never thought that’d happen. I was sure I’d be the last of my House.”

“Not anymore,” Ami replied just as quietly, her breathing deep and even as his purr relaxed her completely. “And Nappa… if you’d like to mate me?” She asked carefully. “Only if you want to. But if you’re not, I’m alright with it.”

Nappa worried his lower lip with his teeth for a moment before nodding. “Just so you understand, Ami… I’m not mating you because I was ordered to.” Gods damn it all, now he was going to sound sappy, but he didn’t want her to ever think that he’d only done this on orders. “If I didn’t want you, I would’ve snapped your neck in the hallway, hit Zarbon with all I had as fast as possible before Frieza could intervene, and then died. Hopefully fast. Probably slowly, though, knowing that little asshole. I even considered it when Frieza told us he wanted our child, but… I couldn’t do it. If you’re going to die, I don’t want it to be violent or painful.”

“Neither do I,” Ami admitted softly, moving to kiss him only to find herself quickly flipped onto her back with him on top of her. “And Nappa…? I’m not going along with this just because I was ordered, either. I want this.”

“Good. I don’t want an unwilling mate,” he murmured, already kissing her shoulder and hardening at the thought of actually marking her. He was finally letting his beast loose and giving it free rein for the first time since he’d met her, and Nappa’s lips twitched up when that soft purr meant only for her immediately came to life.

When Nappa tugged at the gauzy straps of her dress only to burst out laughing, Ami blinked in surprise. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Heh… hahaha… first time I’ve ever actually undressed you,” he snickered. “Not counting that shredded fuku of yours, since I’d had no intentions of fucking you then.”

The hilarity wasn’t lost on Ami and she giggled as she sat up to help him remove her gown, her fingers working at the buttons of his fatigues when he tossed the dress to the floor and immediately began laying heated, open-mouthed kisses along her throat. She couldn’t get the last two buttons unfastened but it didn’t matter; Nappa was clearly getting impatient as his beast hammered away at him to take her, so the buttons popped off and flew when he shucked them off and threw them across the room. “I have to admit,” he mumbled as he drug his mouth down to a nipple, “as against taking a mate as I was for years, I’m awfully eager now.”

Ami really couldn’t reply other than to whimper a wordless agreement, cradling his head to her and wrapping her legs around him to hold him close as he alternated suckling each of her breasts, his warm hands exploring her slowly just as they had the very first night. “N—Nappa, please… you can have me now,” she finally choked out when he slid lower and began to lick and kiss her wet folds.

He couldn’t help but chuckle again at that as he delicately traced her entrance with the tip of his tongue before shoving it in to get a full taste of her arousal. When he withdrew enough to talk, he grinned at the sight of how hazy her eyes had become, proud to see his mate so submissive and pleased with him. “You’re the one that always likes it slow, atti,” he purred before giving her a single gentle suck, sighing with pleasure when she arched into it and moaned. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind.”

“Nappa, I… I… oh gods,” Ami breathed when he let out a growl that she felt along with the vibration of his purr and he sucked her clit a few more times just to make her curl her toes.

“Have you, woman?” He teased as he gripped her hips to hold her still and grazed his teeth over her inner thigh. “Do you want me to fuck you blind instead? I’d be more than happy to mate you the Saiyan way if you’d like.”

“The… the… Nappa I can’t think when you do that,” Ami practically sobbed when he buried his face in her heat and began to suck again.

Nappa couldn’t stop himself from laughing at that, overcome by another wave of pride as he paused and looked up at her. “High praise, indeed.” To distract the goddess of wisdom was one thing, but to render her completely unable to think? That was a true accomplishment. Heh, he’d have to brag about it to Raditz later.

“Just get up here,” Ami giggled, sagging into the bed now that he wasn’t making her crazy with his tongue anymore.

“That’s cute, zua… you think you can order me around?” Nappa asked with false solemnity before diving back in to make her suffer some more, his kisses agonizingly slow and thorough while he just listened to her moan and felt her writhe ineffectually against his firm grip in an attempt to get away from him, to relieve some of the mounting pressure. “Come for me, baby,” he finally purred when she begged him to finish her, sliding back up to push into her, kissing her roughly when she moaned into his mouth and dug her nails into his shoulder blades as if she was afraid of him trying to return to the sweet torture he’d forced her to endure.

With his fingers sliding between them to finish what he’d started with his mouth, Ami could only cling to him and tremble when he thrust deep and pinched her clit simultaneously, flinging her headlong into an explosive orgasm, setting every nerve ending on fire and wrenching a loud cry of his name from her. She didn’t expect the fierce mix of pain and pleasure at her shoulder that came just after he’d released her mouth, either, and when it was followed by a sucking sensation, Ami saw stars a second time, another climax rolling through her before the first had even ebbed.

“You’re mine now,” Nappa panted once he’d finally released her shoulder, his eyes rolling back when Ami’s fingers slid from his back to his unmarked shoulder and caressed the skin there, her thoughts starting to filter through the half-bond, wondering if she was supposed to—“yes,” he groaned as he continued to move inside of her, a hand fisting in her hair to drag her mouth to his tanned skin. “Do it… gods… do it… I think I’ll go fucking crazy if you don’t, baby…”

Ami couldn’t help it when she hesitantly kissed his shoulder and he instantly clutched her to him fiercely, his hand tightening in her hair—she felt powerful suddenly, truly in control of something for the first time since her capture, and she also couldn’t help but smile knowingly when she kissed his scar-riddled skin once more and he growled and purred, his movements slowing.

“Mark me, beautiful,” he breathed in her ear, “be mine… I want this…” I want this with everything I am, he thought, unable to voice it when she grazed her teeth over his skin, the words catching in his throat. “Please, Ami…”

Gods… I love him, she thought as he genuinely began to make love to her as he usually only did at night, when it was safe, when she couldn’t see the soft look in his eyes, when he could pretend that she couldn’t tell how very much he enjoyed her refreshing sweetness in a world where everyone was hard, brutal and merciless. And he might not return it, but even if it isn’t the same as my love for him, it’s the closest he’s capable to feeling love for anything.

She could be content with that, she realized. Content to love him even if it might feel one-sided sometimes. He’d try for her always, he’d give her everything he had to give her if she asked for it… she could feel that through the bond already, a curious little window in her mind that she could look through if she wanted to see into his heart. Right now the window was open, and she could hear him wanting her, needing her, every soft feeling he was capable of keeping his motions slow and his lips gentle as he kissed and sucked at her mark and hoped to the gods that she’d bite him and complete the bond.

“I need you, Ami… please,” he rasped as he turned her head with the hand bunched in her hair and kissed her, his tongue stroking over hers and his heart melting as he felt her love for him pouring through the steadily growing half-bond. He wasn’t worthy of it; he wasn’t worthy of anyone’s love, but this woman had inexplicably and irrevocably given him her heart and loved him with every cell in her petite body, all because he’d simply been decent to her when everyone else had meant her harm. He wasn’t worthy of it or her, no… but he wasn’t going to question it or turn her down. He wouldn’t have refused her even if Frieza hadn’t given him the order to mate her. “Fuck, I definitely would have mated you tonight or tomorrow anyway,” he confessed as he broke the kiss, his eyes tender as his hand palmed the back of her head and slowly drew her back to his shoulder.

Ami bit him then without warning, her teeth sinking as deep as his had when he’d marked her, tears in her eyes as she immediately felt the thread joining their minds and souls strengthening and widening until it was a rope, then a sturdy cable. So this was what it was like… it was simply— “beautiful,” she whispered before cleaning his mark, just as he had hers.

It had taken everything not to come when she’d returned the mark, but Nappa was teetering on the edge and wanted to share that ultimate pleasure with her, so he bent his head to her shoulder again and bit down, letting out a rough groan when her core immediately squeezed him and she cried out, her voice muffled by his shoulder. Bite down, baby, he rumbled as he continued to thrust, his teeth still lodged in her flesh.

Ami complied and was instantly overwhelmed by the surge of ecstasy running through both of them as a result, her toes curling and her back bowing due to the enormity of pleasure, her nails digging hard into his shoulders. She was coming again, coming with him, both of their shouts of rapture muted by the mutual biting and the purest ecstasy either of them had ever felt rolling through the bond as they shared the experience on more than just a physical level.

It was a holy experience for both of them, but more so for Nappa, who knew far more about Saiyan mating than Ami did, and when he finally released her shoulder and slumped down on top of her, he only just barely convinced himself to roll to his side to keep from crushing her. He took her with him though, unwilling to relinquish his mate so soon, still pulsing inside of her as he claimed her lips gently, purring loudly at the taste of his blood on her sweet little mouth. “Mine,” he finally breathed, his voice shaking slightly as he rested his forehead to hers and felt a rush of unexpected nervousness overcome him.

He was mated, now. He was fully responsible for another being’s life other than his prince’s… and truth be told, his responsibility to her trumped his vow to King Vegeta all those years ago. He would fight for her, die for her, and while he would have done so before the marking, he now knew he would also choose her over his prince and Raditz.

She wasn’t just his, as that single spoken word implicated; oh no, the word ‘mine’ suddenly meant ‘yours’ as well. He was her sword and shield now. He would protect her with everything he was, he would put her first, he would give her everything he was, body and soul.

That might not have been the romantic type of love that he could feel coming from her—the kind of love she hoped that he might feel for her one day—but in a way it was a much better kind of love, all things considered, while she was surrounded by enemies and afraid for her life every waking moment. She didn’t need a sweet man bearing flowers and love poetry, she needed a goddamned guard dog, a vicious fucking animal that would rip the hand off of anyone that even looked at her wrong, let alone dared to touch her. A guard dog that wouldn’t suffer the love and attention of anyone but his mistress.

“I don’t need flowers and poetry,” Ami whispered, a flicker of fear in her eyes when his jaw tightened and she felt his annoyance over having his thoughts heard. “Sorry, I only—“

“No,” Nappa grunted, his anger fleeing just as quickly as it had come, “you’re my mate, and mates share everything. I just need some time to adjust to the change.”

She didn’t need to read his thoughts to know that something was still bothering him a minute later, his jaw was tightening again, and she knew just from her time with him over the last week that he was hesitating to speak out of worry for her, concerned that he’d scare her or make her cry. “What, Nappa? You can tell me, it’s alright… if you want me to stay out for a while, then I’ll try my very best.”

“No. That’d only hurt both of us, since the bond involves each of us at least feeling each other’s emotions unless we totally shut the other out.” She was waiting patiently then, waiting for him to speak his mind and voice his worry, and he couldn’t help but appreciate how tuned into him she was even without using the bond to read him like a book. The woman really was made for him, wasn’t she? “I just… I just wanted to ask you not to delve too deep,” Nappa rumbled worriedly as his old friend, guilt, rolled through him at the idea of Ami digging into old memories, seeing his participation in purges—gods, he’d need to make double sure to bury memories of any new purges as deep as possible—witnessing the countless millions of people he’d slaughtered on Frieza’s and the Planet Trade’s orders. “There’s a lot of bad shit I’ve done, and I’d rather you not have to look at it. You’re too good and pure for that.” Not to mention, he was secretly terrified that she’d hate him forever if she saw the scores of women and children he’d slaughtered just because it was his job. He could see her eyes now, dark and full of tears as she condemned him forever, as she turned him away and abjured him, as she ripped out his hear—

“I wouldn’t do that, Nappa,” Ami murmured sincerely, though there was pain in her eyes as she tried not to follow all of his surface thoughts but heard them anyway. Intellectually, she knew that he purged planets, that he killed for a living, but to have it shoved right into her face in the glaring light of day was a different matter. The one thing that really bothered her more than anything though, was the thought of him continuing to do so.

“I will if you want to keep breathing,” Nappa answered stonily before she could even voice the question. “And… you can hate me for it all you want, baby, but I’ll kill them all without batting an eyelash. Men, women, children… even pregnant mothers, though I’ll admit that that bothers me some, knowing that I’m destroying one pregnant woman while my own’s lying at home in our bed. I’ll do it, though. I’ll do it because if I don’t do it, Frieza will kill you.”

She was sobbing silently even as she nodded, knowing that he would do it whether or not she agreed with it. She could feel that through the bond—his determination and unshakable resolve to protect her no matter what, even if it meant she shunned him, even if it meant the deaths of countless innocents. He’d do it anyway, even if she begged him on hands and knees not to because she felt her life wasn’t worth the slaughter of so many, let alone one other person in the universe. Because with or without her in his life, Frieza would have ordered it anyway.

“I’m not telling you this to hurt you,” Nappa informed her, his eyes gentling in sympathy even though his tone was still hard. “I’m telling you this so that there aren’t any surprises later on. I won’t have any untruths between us, and not saying anything about it at all is just as bad as lying to your face. So I’m warning you now to stay out of my head if you don’t want to see some really horrible shit, Ami. Sorry,” he added, surprised even as he said it that he did feel genuinely sorry for making her cry. He’d felt bad about that before, sure, but this was different. This time, he felt sorry about something he had no say in, something he couldn’t change at all. He’d never felt sorry before when it came to something like that, but then again, this was his mate and he didn’t want her to cry about anything. He wanted her happy.

“When your friends come… I won’t do those things anymore, Blue. So take some comfort in that. I’ll do whatever it is I have to do to make sure that I don’t hurt you anymore. Fuck, I’ll even farm,” he added with dripping disdain, “and I can’t possibly express how much I hate fucking farming.”

That drug Ami out of her silent anguish, and she looked up at him with a tear-streaked face, sniffling as she tried not to think of Nappa mowing down schools full of children and hospital wards packed with laboring mothers. “You… you’d do that?”

“If it makes you not hate me, yeah. But don’t expect me to like it,” Nappa sighed as he used the edge of the sheet to clean her face up for the millionth time since she’d crash landed into his life. “I’m not a good man, but… I’ll be good to you. Like you said.” That was the extent of it, though, he thought grimly, hoping that she could accept that. The kind of woman he’d imagined having—one that loved him despite how horrible he was to everyone but her—wasn’t something he deserved, but if Ami was willing to try and be that for him, then he was willing to do what he had to to make her happy once they were out from under Frieza’s nasty little thumb. To learn to be good for her. With her.

“I do, Nappa. In spite of it all, I do,” Ami sighed in acceptance.

“I’m starting to think you’re insane,” Nappa half-joked in an attempt to make her smile. It didn’t work, so he decided to comfort her in the only way he really knew so far, nipping at her lower lip and rolling on top of her once more. “Let me take your mind off of it,” he offered for once instead of just taking her.

It wasn’t lost on her that he’d actually asked, and that little gesture of compassion warmed her as she nodded. She wouldn’t have refused him, but to be asked was nice. “Slow?” She requested hopefully.

“Anything you want,” Nappa replied after a moment. “After all, it’s our wedding night.” Or at least as close to one as they’d come. He couldn’t give her the ceremony that he could see flickering through her thoughts, but he could make love to her again if she specifically wanted that, even with the lights on where she could see the tenderness in his eyes. She could feel it now so it shouldn’t have mattered, but the thought of her seeing him soft and vulnerable still bothered him. He’d get used to it though, he was sure of that. Hell, he’d have to now that they were mated… and especially since he was sure he’d be the only source of comfort for his mate during the next few months while they waited on her sisters to save her.

The kiss he gave her was as gentle and soothing as he could make it, but Nappa was surprised when he drew back to find more tears in her eyes and a little smile on her face. She was focused on something entirely different than their most recent discussion, but what it was was beyond him unless she voiced it since he was trying to be polite and give her some small semblance of intellectual privacy. “What, k’sha?” He asked worriedly, even as he colored slightly at the use of that word for the first time. Sure, it wasn’t a tender or emotional word for Saiyans to use, but it was the first time he’d ever used it in reference to a woman he was bedding and it felt foreign on his tongue.

“Would you really have mated me, Nappa?” Ami asked even as she felt him gradually hardening inside of her and his hands absently stroked her.

“Yeah. The morning after we woke up… when you gave me that last request?” Nappa asked, suddenly feeling a little shy. “I damn near did it then and I’ve been fighting the urge since. My beast’s been rearing its ugly head over the matter too, a bit more every night. It would’ve happened tonight, probably. The more I think about it, tomorrow for sure. I don’t think I could have fought the wanting past tomorrow morning,” he confessed. “I like you,” he added, his cheeks now red. “I like you a lot, Ami. I enjoy your company, and not just for the fucking.”

She was funny when she wasn’t terrified, she was so smart that it staggered him, and her heart was bigger than the ship itself. Her capacity to care for him, to worry about him getting in trouble when he’d brought her to his quarters had been the first thing that had really hooked him. Any other woman in Frieza’s employ would have used that rare act of kindness without giving a fuck for whatever happened to him as a result, and if Ami had done the same, he wouldn’t have blamed her. If you put yourself out there like that, it was on your ass, but Ami had even suggested taking her back for more torture just so he wouldn’t be punished for helping her.

After that, her beauty was just a plus, and he’d actually been happy to give her pleasure even as he’d fulfilled her tearful request for him to be her first fuck. She could’ve been ugly and he would have still done it the same, simply because she actually gave a shit about him, even without knowing him. Then as the days had worn on, he’d observed everything else he liked so much about her and had wanted to mate her even more. He could chalk that first morning up as instinct because it had been the first time he’d ever made soft love to a woman, but after that it had been a primal urge to claim her for himself, and not just verbally, to be able to keep that big heart and infectious laugh around and have it all to himself. To enjoy her company and treat her well in hopes that she really would grow to love him.

He couldn’t say all of that aloud, but he hoped Ami understood it through the bond as he kissed her again and began to move, eventually trailing his lips to her throat to kiss and nip at her pulse before suckling each of her breasts as she came repeatedly in response to his sudden gentleness and the soft tidal waves of emotion she could feel coming from him. “I love you,” she blurted out in an passionate, shaky whisper, arching even as she expected to feel his annoyance at the admission but too caught up in how true her confession was in that moment.

His instant shiver of pleasure surprised both of them as well as his low groan as he moved deeper, suddenly kissing her with everything he had as he tried to keep his thrusts gentle and slow even if they were no longer shallow. Nappa had never heard those words directed at him in his entire life, and he’d wondered how he would feel and react if she ever said them to him, but he hadn’t expected to feel so goddamned good, so happy, so fulfilled. He also hadn’t expected to want to hear it again, to want to savor the words as he brought her to climax, as he rewarded her love for him with his own version of it in the only way he knew how.

Locking eyes with him as he broke the kiss, Ami gave him exactly what he wanted, her hazy blues making him feel like he was staring into his very soul. “I love you, Nappa,” she repeated with all of her heart. “I love you.”

Chapter Text

Ami was the first to wake, and she did so with a smile as she opened her eyes to see Nappa’s upturned face, his mouth hanging open as he snored lightly, his head pillowed on her breast and his arms encircling her tightly as if he was a small child snuggling a much-loved stuffed animal in his sleep.

He really did remind her of a child right then—an extremely huge, balding, mustachioed child, sure—his face relaxed and even sweet and innocent-looking in slumber, a hundred percent contrast to his ever-present frown when he was conscious. “I love you,” she whispered as she bent her lips to his bald head and kissed him lightly, truly content and happy for the first time since her capture, feeling totally and completely safe in his arms. “You’re an island of kindness is a sea of cruelty, Nappa.”

“Dun ruin mah reputation, baby,” he mumbled as his tail tugged her back down and he slid his head off of her firm breast to pull her flush to him, letting sleep draw him back under until he felt her lips on his. “Mmm… wan some?” He murmured, still slurring and half-asleep. “nah complainin’…”

Ami didn’t even need to take him in hand to find out he was hard for her; she could feel him against her stomach, pulsing there as he smiled into her neck. “I’m not complaining either.” His constant arousal was likely because of the hormones in their food, but Ami banished her anger over being drugged—there was nothing they could do about it, and while her computer had informed her that Nappa’s food contained enough aphrodisiac and testosterone to bowl over a human male, nothing in either of their meals would harm the baby. She’d decided that that was all she needed to be concerned about, that refusing to eat would only get Nappa in trouble and hurt their daughter in the long run.

At least the drugs in their food had an upside to them; after eating, Nappa had loved her without stopping for hours on end, giving her quite the wedding night, stopping only to use the bathroom and eat some more. Technically, they didn’t even stop to bathe, since the moment they were in the tub, Nappa was all over her again and fucking her slowly against the shower stall, then again as they settled into the water and she rode him into oblivion.

“Come ‘ere then,” he murmured against the skin of her marked shoulder as he grasped her thigh and settled it around his waist. “Mmm… fuckin’ love morning sex, baby,” he slurred tiredly in Saiyan, having just enough sense about him to check her to make sure she was wet enough before thrusting into her repeatedly until he was buried to the root. “A week of me and you’re still so fuckin’ tight,” Nappa sighed happily, rocking his hips slowly, leisurely, drawing it out since he knew she liked it best when he took his time.

Ami wound up topping him before it was over, giggling when he claimed that he was just going to go back to sleep and let her use him for the remainder of the day, but she surprised him by riding him hard at the very end, surprising him and his beast.

“Damn, baby,” he chuckled once she’d finished him, “you gotta do that more often.”

“I didn’t know I could, or I would have last night!” She laughed, only to frown at a mood-killing knock on the door.

“It’s Frieza,” Nappa breathed the moment he had his scouter on. Only one being in the universe had a power level that fucking high. “Take your clothes into the bathroom and dress there,” he instructed her firmly, kissing her once before grabbing a pillow to cover his finer assets and rushing to the door, opening it only once Ami was in the bathroom and out of sight.

“Yes, Lord Frieza,” he rumbled, making sure he had his usual non-expressive wooden mask in place before even cracking the door, taking note that the little tyrant seemed to be in a good mood.

“Ah, your shoulder, general! Most excellent! Yes, very excellent indeed! Primitive,” he added with a chuckle, “but I wouldn’t expect anything less from you monkeys, after all. I am very pleased, however. How’s your lovely bride? Recovering from a vigorous night of lovemaking? Heh, that’s what I thought... Nappa, you dog, you!” Frieza said cheerfully. “Well, I’ll be running along now that I know my orders have been followed to the letter, and you’re allowed to return to training if you wish. Light duty, of course, until we’ve confirmed that your sweetheart has a bun in her oven. You understand, I’m sure.”

It took everything he had not to smack the greedy look from Frieza’s face right then, but Nappa somehow managed thanks to Ami’s soft voice in his head, urging him to remain calm. “Yes, Lord Frieza. I’ll go in the afternoon for a couple hours, but that’s all.”

“Good to know you won’t be slacking off, general. In fact… I was planning on my little surprise taking place tomorrow, but since you’ll be hitting the ring today, bring your delightful mate along, will you? The surprise is for her, too, and I think she’ll be very pleased by it!” Frieza said cheerily, his smile the first genuine smile that Nappa had ever seen him wear.

It honestly scared him so deeply that he felt a cramp in his intestines and immediately prayed to Dra not to let him shit himself in front of the purple freak. “Yes. Of course, Lord Frieza. I’ll inform Ami if she hasn’t already heard through the bond.”

He closed the door then and made tracks for the bathroom, and thanks to the bond he didn’t even need to say a word to Ami before she vacated and shut the door to give him some privacy, her eyes filling with tears of sympathy for him as she blocked out the sounds of him getting sick. It wasn’t until fifteen minutes later that she finally knocked, her voice soft and comforting as she called through the door. “Nappa, is there anything I can do to help?”

“I just need a minute,” he groaned in response as he reached over from the toilet and started the shower. “Let me clean up. You go eat something and just wait for me.”

Of course, she whispered through the bond, trying it out and sending him love and comfort through it as she went to the tray that had been brought while he’d been on the commode and simultaneously throwing up in the trashcan. And Nappa… I’m sorry.

Don’t blame yourself for one minute, he growled in reply as he cleaned up his mess, rinsing the trashcan and dumping the contents into the toilet along with the results of what happened to anyone when their bowels were turned to water out of fear. Dear gods… that smile on Frieza’s face would have given anyone the same reaction. This is not your fault, Ami. Better or worse, we’re in this together. Equally.

I love you, Ami reminded him gently, meaning every syllable and feeling a wave of tender emotion from him as a result. That was the last thought that they exchanged as he climbed in the shower, and she gave him his privacy, sensing that he needed some alone time to collect his thoughts.

Once he was out of the shower, though, she opened the door and pulled him to her for a kiss, her eyes soulful and understanding when he trembled and embraced her tightly. Whatever had happened between him and Frieza had scared the life out of him. She couldn’t see it since he’d buried it in the section of his memories that he didn’t want her delving into, but she didn’t need to see it to know that it had been horrible. “It’s alright, Nappa. I’m with you,” she said as she hugged him to her tightly, ignoring the fact that he hadn’t even dried off yet and was soaking her clothes through with the water dripping off of him.

The wet clothes didn’t matter anyway since he stripped her of them quickly, his lips melding with hers slowly between each piece that hit the floor, his strong arms lifting her and carrying her to their bed as he continued to kiss the life out of her.

There was a hint of desperation to his kiss and the way he immediately took her against the rumpled sheets that made Ami simply submit to him, but when the steady pounding she was taking suddenly stopped and he trembled against her, she took charge, rolling him onto his back. “It’s alright,” she breathed as she pressed tightly to him and began to move at the same pace he’d already set. “I’ve got you, Nappa. I’ve got you.”

Her words meant infinitely more than what they might have seemed to a third party, and the tenderness in her voice and in the bond made him grip her hips and stop her, his cock pulsing inside of her as he fisted a hand in her hair and kissed her lovingly. “Slow,” he breathed between kisses, rolling his hips lazily, setting a new pace with the hand that was still clutching her. “Yeah… just like that, baby… I know you like it like this.”

“But you—“ He caught her off with another kiss, moving deep, making her shiver with pleasure. He was absolutely right; she loved it when he loved her like this, but she also wanted him to be happy with the sex, especially since he was still unsure about their hurriedly formed relationship.

“Stop thinking, beautiful,” he murmured as he enjoyed the way she was riding him slowly, the love he could feel through the bond smoothing over the edges of his ragged nerves and washing over him like a healing balm. Yes, he liked his fucking rough and hard, but after a week with her he was really developing an appreciation for this slow, gentle fucking that always seemed to make her come even harder than anything else. And he really liked it when she came hard, her wet sex tightening around him like a vice, just as it was doing now, her moan of completion echoing into his mouth. You feel so good like this, Ami, he whispered in her mind as his hands began to move over her gently, worshipping her how he’d always known he’d worship his mate if he took one.

He’d always envisioned a combination of hard, rough, and soft and gentle with a mate, but Ami had showed him that just soft and gentle could be very, very good. Even better than what he’d imagined during his younger, more romantic days, when there had still been Saiyan women alive and things had been different. When it hadn’t been impossible to dream of having someone to spend his life with, someone to love him unconditionally. Does it feel good for you, too? Do you like it when I fuck you like this, baby?

Yes, she sighed, melting into him and the unhurried movements of his hips. I love how you love me, Nappa… I love you most of all. Gods, she loved the bond and how she could feel his emotions rolling through her as beautifully as his body was moving inside of hers, and even though he hadn’t spoken through it often, he was doing it more and more and she absolutely loved the way his voice echoed softly in her mind.

I’ll do it more… just takes time getting used to it, Nappa rumbled, still kissing her heatedly, his tail sneaking between them to massage her clit. Come for me again, baby… love feeling you come for me.

More than happy to just surrender to the pleasure mounting inside of her once more, Ami moaned as he broke the kiss and took a nipple in his mouth, suckling her gently, spurring on her orgasm with the sweet little tugs of his lips. “I love you,” she whimpered as she clutched at him during her peak. “Gods… I love you so much, honey…”

“My mate,” he sighed as he gazed up at her, his eyes hazy with pleasure and a level of desire and happiness that he hadn’t felt since he’d been a teenager. “Mine… all mine…”

“Yours…” Her cheeks reddened as she made eye contact with him and held it as she felt him quickening inside of her. “…my husband. My consort… my prince… love you…”

“Mmm… my wife,” he purred in response, loving the ring to ‘Prince Nappa,’ even if she was a queen in captivity and he wasn’t even close to royal material. It was still nice to know that if they ever got to Mercury, she’d announce him as her prince consort without hesitation. She fully accepted him for everything he was, and he was quickly falling for her.

Gods damn it, she wasn’t just making him soft, she was well on her way to making him hers. “My lady… my queen.”

###############################

Nappa gratefully accepted an anti-acid and a heavy sedative from Ami’s subspace after that and was immensely grateful that she was already pregnant—if she hadn’t been, he was fairly sure he wouldn’t have been able to perform as ordered.

He had known intellectually what was in store for his new mate and for his daughter, but when Frieza had smiled that radiant, thrilled smile, it had hit home for him.

Really and truly hit home.

“Swear to me,” he whispered after he’d fitfully dozed in her arms, her scent and presence barely even a comfort for him while his emotions were in such turmoil. “Please, Ami… swear it.”

“I swear,” she whispered, tugging the covers around his naked body when he shivered, her shirt still slightly damp. “It would be a kindness, Nappa. I know this… and I won’t let him take my—our baby— alive.”

The raw truth in her voice and in her heart gave him peace, and he shut his eyes and slept a dreamless, deep sleep, just as Ami had promised when she’d given him the shot to calm his nerves. Even soul-searing sex like the kind they’d just had hadn’t been enough to completely settle him down after whatever Frieza had told him, and while it deeply worried her, she hadn’t pressed him for answers.

“Thank the gods,” the queen of Mercury sighed once she felt him fully under, staying with him a couple more minutes before extracting herself from his arms and kissing him once. She went to the bathroom then to clean up as well, grateful for the superior ventilation system which had cleansed the smell of sick from air.

She was also thankful for her solo shower and the respite it gave her to think and plan ahead for whatever Frieza might be plotting for that afternoon. That part of the conversation hadn’t been buried in the no-go zone of Nappa’s brain, so it hadn’t been what had terrified him… but something told her that they should be wary when they headed down to the training ring.

Her shower was an hour long, and when she finally finished up, Nappa was still out cold. Still hungry, Ami called down to the kitchen for more food since she couldn’t eat the untouched testosterone-laden meal that had been prepared for him.

She wasn’t surprised when it came quickly, either, and she ignored the deafmute delivery boy’s look of surprise when she answered the door instead of Nappa, jotting down a five credit tip for him on the slip he offered her.

It wasn’t until the scouter rang that she realized she’d sent back Nappa’s plate—his full plate—and Ami felt a bit nauseous as she tried to decide what to do about it. Did she answer his scouter, or did she let it ring and risk another visit from Frieza? An angry Frieza, at that.

There was only one obvious answer, and Ami tried to seem as nonchalant as possible when she took the call, chewing a bite of steak that she’d shoved in her mouth. “Yes?” She wasn’t surprised at all to see the insane purple alien flicker onto the viewfinder, but she was pleased when he frowned at her nonplussed expression. “How may I help you, Lord Frieza?”

“You may explain to me, Your Majesty, just why the general’s breakfast wasn’t even touched,” he stated tersely. “I gave specific orders to—“

“The general is exhausted,” Ami said with just enough bite to cut him off, “and worried enough as it is about your orders to continue consummating our union that he didn’t want to go to sleep. I gave him a sedative to knock him out for a few hours… and since stress is known to interfere with performance and lower sperm count, I thought you wouldn’t mind,” she finished as she forced herself to take another bite of her meal, surprisingly hungry despite the high-stress situation she was currently in. Not just hungry, either. Downright ravenous.

“It’s rude to eat while engaged in conversation,” Frieza reminded her with a tiny smirk that his men knew all too well… it was the one he usually wore before vaporizing someone.

Luckily for Ami, she wasn’t one of his men and was simply too exasperated with him to care at the moment. “It’s also rude to call during a meal, Lord Frieza,” she countered coldly. “It’s also extremely rude to call someone while they’re in the middle of their honeymoon.”

Clearly amused by the backtalk, he visibly relaxed onscreen and chuckled. “I suppose you have me dead to rights, Your Majesty, and I’ll let you go back to your meal shortly. Speaking of which… you’re eating quite a lot for a lady of your size. I don’t suppose you’re eating for two?”

“Considering all of the shit you slipped into our food, I wouldn’t doubt it,” Ami snapped. “And for the record, I don’t appreciate being drugged! It wouldn’t have been necessary anyway and it’s not necessary anymore!”

Ami realized a moment too late that she’d revealed their secret, but as she shoved a piece of strawberry-like fruit in her mouth and chewed, she huffed at Frieza’s happy chuckle and decided it didn’t matter. The little twat would have known in another day or two anyway, for sure, when he predictably hauled her to a medical lab for an exam.

“You can confirm this, Ami?” Frieza finally asked her.

“I have my Senshi visor, Frieza,” she countered with a false bravado that actually worked in her favor and filled her with satisfaction when he lost that happy look and frowned.

“Lord Frieza,” he reminded her sweetly.

“If you’re insisting on formalities, good sir, then I shall insist on them as well,” she stated seriously. “You can’t have it both ways.”

“I would remind you, Queen Ami, that while I’m happily allowing you more free reign than any subordinate I’ve ever known, you are still my subordinate and I require a certain level of respect from you. You might be untouchable right now because you’ve got something I want in your belly, but in nine months…”

“I’m not stupid, Lord Frieza, so please don’t patronize me. I’ll be dead in nine months and we both know it,” Ami replied with little emotion, secretly amazed at her own ability to seem unaffected by him.

“On the contrary, dearest!” He answered brightly. “I actually meant it when I said I wanted to keep you around to breed me an army! So long as you produce a Saiyan every year or two—I’ll of course allow for some recovery time before I expect you to breed again and I’ll also allow double the average number of miscarriages for your race since we have Nappa’s size to consider—you and the dear general will remain unharmed. Cross me, however,” he continued, no longer smiling, “and you’ll regret it. I’ve heard many things about the Saiyan mating bond, you know… including the overwhelming grief that a mate feels when the other dies. I’ve heard that it’s quite agonizing and almost always results in suicide for the survivor. It would be an awful shame for me to get too curious about what happens when the bond is severed, don’t you think?”

“Yes, it would be,” Ami answered, paler than before despite how calm her voice sounded.

“Yes… I think it would be a shame, too. Fortunately for you, Lady Ami, I only seem to get overly curious when I’m dreadfully displeased. So let’s make sure that you don’t displease me. I’d hate to satisfy my curiosity and then mate you to Raditz in order to continue building my army… especially since Nappa is a much finer breeding specimen.”

That pleasant smile was back, but it did nothing to make Ami feel at ease, so she just nodded.

“There’s a good girl. And don’t worry, Lady Ami, I have faith in you. You’re as smart as you are beautiful, and I’m sure you’ll take my happiness into consideration in everything you do. I tell you what… I’ll give you a day to think all of this over, and we’ll continue our conversation in person tomorrow over lunch. I’ll see you this afternoon, of course, in the training room with your mate. Oh, and make sure you dress nicely.”

He signed off before Ami could reply, a triumphant smile on his face.

#####################################

                “I think I’m overdressed,” Ami said as she stood in front of the full-length mirror tucked behind Nappa’s desk, reaching into her subspace for a different dress for the dozenth time, her face pale and her hands trembling nervously.

                “Bluuuue, pleeeease,” Nappa groaned comically, a chuckle escaping him despite his annoyance. Apparently Raditz had been right about women taking forever and a day to dress, and now that Ami was wearing clothes for the first day since they’d met, he was discovering that the kid had been correct. “You’re fucking beautiful in rags, let’s just go before Frieza thinks we’re stalling.”

                “I don’t care about him!” Ami fussed as she held a simpler garment in front of her and studied her reflection, tears filling her eyes as she realized that her clothing would only fit her right for the next few weeks. After that, her breasts would be too large for them and she’d be practically spilling out of the bodices, and then her belly would be too big for the cut of her gowns to accommodate it. She’d need a whole new wardrobe, and here she was, among enemies, without any resources to make those kinds of purchases.

                And she’d be damned if she took a single fucking thing from Frieza, let alone asked him for it.

                “Blue, I have money,” Nappa sighed as he sat up from where he’d flopped back on the bed during her second change of clothing, standing when he smelled hers tears and going to her, wrapping himself around her comfortingly. “Don’t worry about shit like that. You’re my mate and I’ll take care of you. I might not be able to buy you things like this,” he added as he fingered the ridiculously expensive silk of the gown she was wearing, “but I can afford better than most can.”

                “Thank you,” Ami sighed, turning in his arms and sagging into his embrace. “I don’t care about silk and jewels, Nappa, I’m just worried about having things that fit. I’d be so embarrassed if my breasts starting popping out of my dresses!”

                “Oh, I don’t know,” he murmured, reflecting that she was the only person he could ever remember teasing in his life. At least good-naturedly. “I, for one, would certainly enjoy the view.”

                “Phhht… I’m sure you would,” she giggled, feeling his pleasure the moment she laughed, revealing not for the first time that he liked it when she was happy. “I bet you’ll also enjoy what’s called the ‘honeymoon trimester’ when it starts, too. When I’m not throwing up—if I do at all—the hormones will make me want sex all the time, and everything is super sensitive, too,” she explained with a blush, her eyes suddenly shy.

                “Sensitive, huh? Well, looks like I’ll have to dial it back when I’m fucking you, but it sounds like it’ll be fun for the both of us,” Nappa mused as he dipped his face to hers and kissed her. “Now… do me a favor and pick something to wear, already? I liked the third dress the best, but I’d be happy if you just fucking decided, already.”

                “He said to dress nice,” Ami sighed, “and for you that means your formal armor. It’s not that easy for me when I don’t know how nice I should dress. Did he mean semi-formal, or full-formal? Should I wear my tiara?” When Nappa just shrugged she turned back to the mirror, her lips twitching up at the sight of them together in the long mirror. They made a really nice image, she thought, and Nappa looked especially striking in his formal armor. “The third dress, you said?”

                “Doesn’t matter what you wear, Blue. Just pick something,” Nappa rumbled in mild annoyance even though he couldn’t help but feel pleased that she suddenly wanted to wear the dress that he’d liked, stepping back to give her room to change when she drew out the lovely, simple gown that complemented her petite frame. “Yeah, that one,” he confirmed when he heard her wondering if that was the one he’d meant.

                It was on in a moment and the other was put away, and Ami shyly turned to wait for his approval, her cheeks heating up. “Well?”

                “You look good,” he said with a shrug. The dress was actually pretty conservative, but the cut of the dress made the white, blue-edged silk cling to her curves in a way that heated his blood and tempted him to trace those curves with his hands.

                With that in mind, he was suddenly unsure about letting her wear that particular dress in the presence of other males, but he banished the thought. Anyone that touched her would lose their fucking hand… and probably more. Let them look all they want. Let them admire his mate’s beauty. Let them fill the training room with the scent of their jealousy, he thought with evil glee, only for his smile to vanish when she sat on the bed with a jewelry box in hand and started digging through it. “Oh, come on! Seriously, Blue!? You’re fucking gorgeous!” He yelled loudly as he gestured wildly at the door. “You’d look fucking gorgeous in a fucking potato sack so let’s just fucking go already! Dear fucking gods, woman, how fucking long does it fucking take you to get ready!?”

                Ami couldn’t help herself—at first she’d cringed from the volume of his voice and half-expected out of habit for him to strike her, but when he only continued to swear and cuss and finally plopped down in the chair behind his desk, she giggled. “You’re really funny, you know that?”

                “Now I’ve seen it all,” he muttered, glaring at her silently. No woman had ever laughed at him before, not when he was annoyed with her. And here she was, giggling as she found several sets of pearl earrings and a matching rope of them for her neck, her eyes glittering with good-natured amusement whenever she glanced up at him. “You’re lucky I like you, woman.”

                “Yes,” she replied genuinely as she removed a lovely silver-and-pearl tiara from her subspace, “I am.”

                The love in her eyes melted his ire, and Nappa sighed as he bit back a mean remark, choosing instead to go to her to help with the necklace when he heard her through the bond, debating whether or not to ask him to fasten it for her. “I got you, zua m’yo,” he murmured as he took the pearls from her and draped the long string in several loops around her porcelain throat before fixing the clasp.

                “Thank you…” Ami hesitated, but after several heartbeats, she looked him in the eyes and gave him a soft smile. “…r’sha.”

                Goddamnit, she was making him soft. A week ago, he would have snapped a woman’s neck for uttering that word, but here he was, kneeling in front of her and kissing her, his chest aching at the sound of that word being directed at him. “We’d better go now,” Nappa finally said once he’d pulled away just far enough to speak, his forehead resting to hers. “Frieza doesn’t like being kept waiting.”

                With a little nod and another gentle peck to his lips, Ami allowed him to help her stand and set her last bit of royal finery in place, fixing the tiara in her hair so it wouldn’t slip out of place. “Do you think I should forgo the crown?”

                “No. You’re a queen. Even Zarbon freely wears his royal jewels and Vegeta wears his royal armor, so I don’t think Frieza will say anything about you doing the same,” Nappa assured her. “Now can we please go?”

                “Yeah, yeah,” Ami teased, giggling when he rolled his eyes at her flippant tone and her poorly veiled attempt to lighten their dark moods. It at least gave her some comfort to feel how uneasy he was through the bond—just as wary as her, and itching to bolt just as badly as she was. Only there was nowhere to bolt to. If they ran, they were dead, so they would have to just take whatever Frieza had in store for them and hope that it wasn’t anything horrible. “I think we’ll be fine,” she murmured as he held the door open for her and she took his offered arm once they were in the hallway. “If he wanted us dead, he would have done it already.”

                “Probably,” Nappa agreed, relieved that the hall was empty as they steadily made their way towards the training dome on the ship. “My best guess is humiliation. He’s going to embarrass you,” he clarified when Ami looked up at him and he felt her fear. “Just hold your head high and do what you did yesterday, Blue. He seemed amused by your sass, so try and toe the line. Show guts but don’t be disrespectful, understand?”

                “Yes,” she stated firmly, “but I’m sure that I’m going to need a pass on crying my eyes out once we’re back in the room.”

                With a heavy sigh, Nappa looped his tail around her waist and gave her a comforting squeeze even as his free hand covered the smaller one that was settled in the crook of his arm. “You have a permanent pass to cry whenever Frieza upsets you, Ami. I’ll try my best not to be a total ass about it too, especially when the pregnancy hormones kick in.”

                He wanted to ask how long they had before that, along with a few other questions about the baby’s development, but they were already at the double doors to the training sector of the ship. It was time to put their hardest game faces on and steel themselves for whatever might come, not for him to ask questions that he could ask once they were safe in their room again. “Speak when spoken to,” he reminded her softly, giving her another squeeze with his tail as the automatic doors slid open and revealed a packed dome.

                Whatever was going on, this wasn’t normal, not in the least. Frieza had planned something big… and possibly awful.

Chapter Text

                Yes, judging by the size of the crowd in the training room, Frieza had definitely planned something and Nappa’s suspicion was probably right. He was going to do something to embarrass her, to humiliate her in front of Nappa’s comrades. She’d be the laughingstock of the entire ship after this, most likely.

                It doesn’t matter, she told herself, unaware that Nappa was listening through the bond and swelling with pride at her train of thought. The only opinion that matters is Nappa’s… and he respects me. As much as I’d like it if everyone here was my friend, that’s not the case and I can’t change it. I’ll be alright as long as I have Nappa.

                Once she’d glanced around the massive room, Ami kept her eyes cast down, informing Nappa through the bond that everyone there seemed too amused for this to be an execution… unless, of course, everyone on the ship collectively hated him, which she correctly assumed was not the case. If he had any friends at all—even a few people that only respected him—then there would surely be a few unhappy faces there if they were about to be killed.

                Nappa couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride for his mate’s deductive reasoning, and as he admired her intelligence he led her to where Frieza was waiting, sitting in a gilded chair that had clearly been brought in just for this occasion. “My Lord,” he said calmly, bowing deeply, keeping his tail possessively wrapped around Ami’s waist even as she curtsied and it stretched the brown appendage uncomfortably.

                “Ah, General Nappa and Queen Ami. So good of you to join us, even if you are late for your own wedding. Oh, don’t worry, I won’t hold your tardiness against you!” Frieza said pleasantly. “After all, it was supposed to be a surprise, so I can’t very well expect you to show up right when I wanted you here when I never gave Lady Ami a specific time to arrive. I’m sure you dawdled getting dressed; you are a woman after all, but I must add that you look absolutely radiant, my dear! The wasted time was well worth it, in my most humble opinion.”

                Her mind was reeling from the news that they were about to be legally wed, but Ami somehow managed a “thank you, my lord,” the words coming out numbly.

                Ami was the real brains between her and Nappa, but Nappa had had far more experience in dealing with the little asshole, so he was the first to recover and the first to speak up. “I appreciate the gesture of a wedding, Lord Frieza, but as you can see, I’ve already followed your orders. Your time is valuable, sir, and I wouldn’t want to waste even more of it on something that isn’t necessary.”

                “On the contrary, general, I gave it some thought last night and decided that I didn’t particularly like the idea of someone as well-bred as Lady Ami being pseudo-married in some sort of primitive monkey sex rite. A lady of her social standing and good breeding deserves a real wedding, one that is as legally binding to her people as your mating ritual is to yours—to all two of your fellow monkeys, at any rate.” Frieza rose from his chair then and came down the steps that had also been constructed just for this occasion, a broad smile on his face as he motioned for Ami and Nappa to face each other.

                The gravity of it all finally hit Ami, and even as she turned to face her mate, her eyes locked on Frieza’s and she gave him a slightly panicked look. “But… but… rings! I… I have my father’s but…”

                “Too small for his meaty knuckles?” Frieza guessed with a tiny frown. “I hadn’t thought of the rings,” he admitted with a huff of annoyance.

                Nappa surprised them both by coming up with a solution. “You had a chain in your jewelry box, atti,” he reminded her, his voice still calm and unemotional even though his thoughts were racing and his ire was rising at the thought of how embarrassing this was for Ami.

He could hear her thoughts even though she was trying to shield them from him—she wanted to marry him and would do so willingly, but to be married by her greatest enemy in this mockery of a ceremony was as insulting to her as it was mortifying. It should have been Usagi there in her royal finery, not Frieza! It should have been her sisters standing witness, not a bunch of warriors that would have happily beaten her to death if they were given the order! This was wrong on so many levels! Wrong! Wrong! WRONG!

Pretend they aren’t here, he found himself whispering through the bond, surprising himself by the tender wave of comfort he was successfully sending her even though he was still figuring out how to use the bond to send emotions. It’s just you and me. That’s all. And I guess Raditz and Vegeta can be here, too. But that’s it. Just block everyone else out and look at me. Only me.

Alright… I’ll try, Ami replied hesitantly as she fished the long silver chain from the box in her subspace, followed by her father’s and mother’s rings.

“Good, now we can get started!” Frieza cheered. “Oh, I just love weddings! Don’t you, Zarbon?”

“Yes, Lord Frieza,” Zarbon replied with a smile. “And might I add that the bride is quite lovely? A pity she’s being married to such an ugly brute. You should have married her to Raditz; at least he’s pretty.”

 “Believe me, Zarbon, her taste in men baffles me as well, but to each their own.” He turned back to Ami then, his smile never fading. “But she is most definitely lovely, as you said. We’ll start with you, Your Majesty, since you outrank your darling general. Shall I give you the vows that I know, or do you have some sort of traditional Mercurian vows you’d like to speak?”

It was only her and Nappa, just her and Nappa, and the more she repeated that mantra, the more she believed it and finally joined hands with him. “I’ll speak the vows I would have spoken in Mariner Castle,” she replied softly, ignoring Frieza completely as she craned her neck to meet Nappa’s eyes. “I, Ami, Queen of Mercury, choose this man, Nappa—“A flicker of thought from him made her pause, and she smiled shakily before continuing. “—of House Nappa as my prince consort and the sire of my heirs. I swear to honor you, Nappa. My wisdom, my power, and my heart are yours. I swear to forsake all but you. I swear that I love you, and that I shall love only you until my dying day. So sworn this day, and so witnessed by all who have heard my oath.”

“So witnessed,” Raditz chimed in from nearby, his interjection clearly unexpected by Frieza when the tyrant turned his head to glare at him. “It’s Saiyan tradition, my lord,” he quickly explained, his face unreadable. “Please forgive the disruption.”

“Stupid monkey,” Frieza chuckled. “Fine, keep with your traditions, so long as Nappa doesn’t mind. It’s his wedding, after all. And yours too, of course, Lady Ami,” he added with a saccharine smile.

A far cry from stupid, Ami knew he didn’t give a shit about her opinion and only continued to concentrate on Nappa, giving him a gentle smile and a nudge through the bond. “Your turn,” she whispered.

“Well?” Frieza asked when Nappa just stared at her silently for thirty seconds, totally speechless by not only her public declaration of love—had she seriously just said she loved him in front of everyone!? Out loud!?—but shocked dumb by the fact that he was expected to speak a similar vow… in public, of all places!

It was official; Frieza was doing this to embarrass him, not Ami. Nappa had had it wrong all along. Sweet fucking gods, he was going to be the laughingstock of the entire army!

 “General Nappa, I thought you would be pleased by this peace offering. I have never before held a wedding on this ship for anyone, but here I am, taking time from my precious schedule to make you and your mate happy. You are happy with my olive branch, aren’t you?”

Frieza’s dangerously annoyed tone of voice—even mildly annoyed was dangerous—snapped Nappa out of it, and he turned his head slightly towards the little asshole with the full intention of cussing a blue streak and telling him just where he could shove his stupid fucking olive branch and that he hoped it was prickly as fuck… but his mate squeezed his hands tightly in warning and Nappa caught himself just in time. It didn’t keep the edge of fury out of his voice, however. “Yes, my lord. I only… I can’t think of what to say. Saiyans don’t make marriage vows.”

“It’s alright, I don’t need any,” Ami spoke up bravely. “I’m fine with it if you want to move on to the rings, Nappa.”

“But I’m not fine with it, Your Majesty. He isn’t bound to you if he doesn’t speak an oath. Are you refusing my peace offering, Lady Ami?” Frieza asked carefully. “Refusing it would upset me… and we all know how disagreeable I can be when I’m upset.”

While she didn’t want to earn Frieza’s ire, Ami also didn’t want to force Nappa to swear to anything he wasn’t willing to promise and looked up at him beseechingly, begging him through the bond to think of something.

Luckily for them both, Nappa had a stroke of genius and locked eyes with her, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze. “K’sha m’yo. M’eh ji’ta ih au. M’eh tar au sh m’yo. M’eh tar au nava m’yo.” Nappa paused then, trying to think of what else he could say as he powered through the overwhelming embarrassment of saying this kind of sappy, useless shit aloud.

“General, in the common tongue, please,” Frieza stated with mild annoyance. “How will the lady know what you’re saying?”

“It doesn’t mean jack shit to me if it’s not in Saiyan,” Nappa replied flatly. “My lord,” he added when Frieza’s eyes narrowed. “If you want me to speak vows that aren’t hollow and meaningless,then you’ll allow me to speak them in my native language. If whether Ami can understand me or not is your concern, you needn’t worry; she can understand me because of the mating bond.”

“No worries, my lord, I speak it fluently. I’ll tell you if he’s bullshitting or not,” Zarbon offered with a shrug and a smile. “So far he’s been quite romantic… by Saiyan standards. He said ‘My mate, I will fight to the death for you. I offer you my life. I offer you my tail.’”

“His tail?” Frieza asked with obvious amusement. “What in the devil’s name would she want with that filthy thing? Don’t tell me that they do some sort of sexually deviant act with it when they’re mated.”

“Besides the obvious sexual perks, my lord, I do believe the general meant it as a metaphor,” Zarbon chuckled. “Nava means ‘honor’ as well as ‘tail’ in their language. Saiyan is as simple as the people that speak it and they have many words that mean multiple things. ‘Sh,’ for instance, can mean ‘life,’ ‘woman,’ ‘water,’ ‘light,’ and is even the word they use for one of their suns.”

“Thank you for the language arts class, Zarbon,” Frieza replied dryly.

“You’re quite welcome, my lord,” the former prince of his people answered with a tiny grin. “Anytime.”

“Smartass.” If it had been anyone else they would have been a stain on the floor, but Frieza liked Zarbon’s sass so long as he didn’t cross a certain line. “I have to admit, Zarbon, you are right, so I’ll let him continue. For a Saiyan, he’s being delightfully adorable.”

Ami definitely agreed with that, and when Frieza huffed and waved effeminately at Nappa to continue, she blushed when Nappa spoke again, the bond translating his words to Mercurian for her. “I swear to protect you,” he stated solemnly, completely blocking out and ignoring Frieza and Zarbon and forgetting their whole stupid, mocking conversation. “I swear to put your needs before mine. And… goddamnit, I guess I have to say it, don’t I?” He added in a mutter as he rolled his eyes, pausing for several moments before focusing on her and only her, now blocking out everyone else around them, including Raditz and Vegeta. If he didn’t pretend that she was the only living person that could hear him, then he wouldn’t ever get the words out of his mouth.

“You promised to always love me… but I can’t give you that. I don’t know how to love,” he continued seriously as he gently cupped her face in one of his massive hands, oblivious to the way Raditz, Vegeta and Zarbon all gaped at him when he uttered that word, “but because of you… I know what it is. So for you… I’ll try my best to learn. I can’t swear to love you, Ami. But I swear to try. That’s the best I can give you and I hope it’s enough. This I swear on my tail, before the gods, witnessed by all present.” As he dropped the hand caressing her face in order to link his fingers with hers and give her hand a squeeze to emphasize his vows, Nappa hoped that would be enough. He simply didn’t know what else to promise. Sorry if it’s not what you expected. I did my best.

Nappa… it was perfect, Ami replied, her sincerity carrying through with her words. You gave me the truth, and on a ship full of nothing but liars, it was beautiful.

Still bug-eyed due to hearing “tah’kha’or” leaving Nappa’s mouth on three occasions, it took Vegeta elbowing him in the ribs before Raditz spoke up. “So witnessed?” he choked out, his voice strangling the word into a question as he wondered if he’d just imagined the whole speech.

Her face was beet red as she removed her hands from Nappa’s and threaded her father’s ring onto the long silver chain, and she blushed even brighter when he bent down to her level. “With this ring, I pledge my love,” she whispered. You don’t have to say it again, she added gently through the bond. Just say something else, Nappa. Anything you want.

Thanks, he replied gratefully as he stood upright once more and accepted the silver sapphire and diamond ring she had in her hand. “With this token,” he stated in Saiyan, “…I pledge everything I am, my loyalty and my protection. You’re mine. Now and forever… you’re mine, Ami,” he repeated softly as he slipped the ring onto her left hand, the words ringing even truer than his vows had. Simple was always best for Saiyans.

“I’m yours, Nappa,” Ami answered shyly as she gazed into his eyes, feeling warm all over when he briefly purred for her. He was nervous and furious with Frieza, yes… but laced through both of those emotions was a very real thread of happiness and contentment. He’d wanted this just as much as she had, and he was trying to convey that reality to her through the bond. “Now and forever.”

“Oh, yay! This is my favorite part! What about you, Zarbon?” Frieza asked gleefully.

“I don’t know, his vows were quite moving, my lord. Beautiful, even. I honestly never thought that one of these monkeys would be capable of something so touching and poetic. I’ll translate them for you later,” the former prince added while Nappa and Ami just gazed at each other, temporarily oblivious to everyone else in the room. “I think you’ll appreciate the vows as much as I did.”

“Aw, you’re such a softie, Zarbon. Oh, pardon me, lovebirds! I nearly forgot to say it! You may kiss the bride, Nappa!”

Ami wasn’t sure what she expected when Nappa bent down to her level, but the kiss he gave her managed to curl her toes even though it was close-lipped. It was still far from chaste, though, and as he kissed her long and slow, she returned it with a hum of approval that mixed in with his brief purr. But that purr was quickly stifled when someone whistled in appreciation and he heard Jeice yell something in Saiyan that was as complimentary to the bride as it was insulting to Nappa, and despite himself he couldn’t help but snort in amusement when his men erupted into peals of laughter. “Oh, I’m not that fucking ugly!” He yelled as he broke the kiss and snapped his head around to glare at them for ruining the soft waves of emotion he’d managed to induce in his mate. “At least I don’t have that pussy white hair! It makes you look like an old man!”

“At least I have hair, mate! And you are old!”  

“You’re not my mate, you fucking twat! THIS is my mate!” Nappa emphasized as he raised his hand to point down at the top of Ami’s head. “And she’s quite a bit better looking than you!”

“That’s exactly what I meant, you fucking retard!” Jeice agreed with a grin. “Which is why she’s getting such a raw deal! That sheila deserves someone prettier than anyone on this bloody ship!”

“Heh… well, I won’t disagree with you there,” Nappa chuckled when he heard Ami wondering if they were about to fight or something. “Nah, k’sha m’yo, Jeice is just a jackass,” he told her quietly as he placed a hand at her lower back to pull her closer, his posture just as protective as possessive when all the warriors drew closer to get a look at her and offer their congratulations to the general.

“Ahem.” The room went quiet when Frieza cleared his throat loudly, and Nappa and Ami turned back to him, the latter of the two immediately dropping into a curtsy.

“Thank you for the lovely ceremony,” Ami said softly, her voice ringing with a level of sincerity that only Nappa knew was false. “It wasn’t necessary, but I do appreciate being legally married in the way of my own people, Lord Frieza.”

“Of course, my dear. If there’s anything I can do to make your transition easier, please let me know. I want you under as little stress as possible,” Frieza replied pleasantly, clearly happy with her feigned gratitude. “You, Lady Ami, are dismissed. You’re eating for two now and should rest as often as possible until we know how your body will handle the strain of a Saiyan pregnancy. Nappa, you’re on light duty for the rest of the month. Maximum four hours a day in the ring, no more than that, no exceptions,” Frieza continued casually. “I want you to keep an eye on her and help her get used to the way things work around here during your extra free hours. Make her feel at home. And if your pretty wife starts feeling under the weather, you have only to call Zarbon to let him know you won’t be in for the day. Her health and comfort is now your number one priority. Understand?”

“Yes. Of course, Lord Frieza,” Nappa stated calmly as he turned to escort Ami back to their quarters.

“Actually, my lord, I’m not tired at all,” Ami said softly, faking a smile as she laid a hand on Nappa’s arm in a silent request to wait. “If you wouldn’t mind, I would very much like to stay and see what my mate does all day. It would certainly be nice to get out of the room for a little bit after over a week of being cooped up. Please?” She added hopefully when Frieza frowned.

Damn it, he hated being manipulated more than anything, and Frieza certainly wasn’t stupid enough to think for a moment that her smile was sincere. Oh, her thank you had been genuine and that pleased him greatly, but now she was laying it on a little thick in an effort to defy his order. But on the other hand… if it made her happy, then she would be easier to deal with when they had their little luncheon meeting. And a happy mother produced healthier children. All in all, it was a small request, and Frieza very much wanted her to have whatever would keep her happy. Within reason, of course. “Oh… fine. I suppose it couldn’t hurt,” the tyrant huffed, waving a dismissive hand their way. “You can sit over there and watch. Zarbon, keep an eye on her while Nappa’s working. I would, but I have important matters to attend to. I’ll return in an hour to see how the training is coming along,” he added as he made for the door.

“Thank you, my lord,” Ami said before Frieza left, smiling up at Nappa and shrugging once he was gone and she found her mate eyeing her uncomfortably. What’s that look for? I want to watch. I’m curious about what you do.

You’re going to see a side of me that you won’t like, Blue. I’d rather you return to the room or ask permission to walk around the ship or something, Nappa answered hesitantly. He didn’t want her to see him working, damn it. He didn’t want to see fear in her eyes when he took her to bed later on. He didn’t want her watching as he beat the shit out of some snot-nosed little warrior because he couldn’t follow Nappa’s instructions, and he knew that no matter how he explained to Ami the importance of those beatings and the lessons they taught a warrior that was still learning to fight, she would still think less of him after watching him work. Please, Ami, he added carefully.

He didn’t expect the disappointment in her eyes and flooding the bond, and when she gave him a submissive nod and just looked at the floor, Nappa sighed and scrubbed his hand over his bald head. She really just wanted to know her mate better, that was the long and short of it, and he could hardly fault her for it when he also desired the same. “Fuck… never mind,” he mumbled as he caved in to her request and led her to a chair that Zarbon had placed near the ring for her. “You can stay.”

Once she was settled into the comfortable seat, Nappa kissed the back of the hand that was still in his grasp and gave her an indescribable, conflicted look. “Ami…” I don’t want you to be afraid of me, he whispered through the bond. “…you stay here and don’t move unless I’ve called a break. I don’t want you to get hit by any stray ki blasts.” Whatever you see me do in this room, I need you to know that I’ll never hurt you.

“I’ll be fine, Nappa,” Ami replied gently, her eyes trying to convey that she would still love him even if whatever she was about to witness would bother her, trying her best to reassure him. She didn’t know what she was about to see, but it surely couldn’t be as bad as he thought she would think it was. It’s ok… I’ve got you, she added with a smile.

You’ve got me? He chuckled, shaking his head at the funny thought before giving her an affectionate smirk and turning back to the ring to join his men and get to work. That’s cute, zua m’yo.

And so are you, she giggled. I wanted to tell Jeice that he’s very wrong. You’re not ugly at all. You’re the handsomest man I’ve ever seen.

Surprised by that, Nappa turned his head and just stared at her. “Oh, now you’re just kissing my ass, Blue,” he snorted.

“I’m not!” She protested, blushing when many of the warriors in the room turned to look and see what was going on. One of them was Jeice, and Ami floundered for a moment when she realized that no one had heard her because they’d been using the bond. “I was telling Nappa that you’re wrong,” she clarified as she dared to make eye contact with him—one of the warriors that had beaten her only a sennight before. “He’s not ugly. In fact, I find him extremely attractive.”

“I think we hit you too hard in the head when you first arrived, love,” Jeice snickered. “Or maybe you need glasses.”

“It’s the bond,” Raditz huffed, rolling his eyes as if all the people laughing quietly were completely retarded. “She’ll always think he’s the sexiest thing she’s ever seen in her life and nothing you do will change that opinion.”

At an attempt at levity, Ami withdrew her glasses from her subspace and put them on before looking at her mate and smiling up at him shyly, her cheeks heating up when the image of him sharpened. She’d gotten so used to not wearing her glasses since she’d been captured that she’d completely forgotten about them, and now that they were on, she let her eyes roam him as her arousal grew and she sighed at the knowledge that the gorgeous warrior in front of her had just sworn himself to her. “Definitely the sexiest man I’ve seen in my life,” she said under her breath, melting a bit inside as recalled how unexpectedly lovely his improvised vows had been, thinking of just how much she was going to try and show her appreciation to him when they returned to their quarters.

“You can see a lot more of me when we get back to our quarters, baby,” he teased in reply to her words even as he heard her thinking about him naked, risking appearing soft in front of his men but unable to stop the words from leaving his mouth. Damn it, he couldn’t help but feel immensely flattered by the way she was looking at him like she wanted to eat him alive, her eyes sparkling with a combination of love and lust that he’d never had directed at him before.

“Aw,” Zarbon chimed in with a chuckle, “I must admit that the two of you are adorable. Lord Frieza’s talents as a matchmaker are certainly better than I’d ever guessed.”

Ami was reminded of something Makoto had frequently said, and before she could stop herself she’d blurted it out, blushing hotly when Zarbon just stared at her in surprise and Nappa’s men erupted into peals of laughter.

“W—What did you say?” The former prince asked in shock.

“Um… even a blind squirrel finds a nut on occasion,” Ami repeated, embarrassed that she’d said it at all. Now Zarbon was going to tattle on her and get her—or worse, Nappa—in trouble, and since Frieza couldn’t really punish her, her husband would take the brunt of his anger. He’d torture him or hurt his tail or—

Ami stopped thinking when a sound rolled through the room, low and rich and beautiful. Zarbon was laughing. Bullet dodged, she thought with total relief, unable to contain a giggle when Frieza’s right hand man continued to guffaw. His laugh was honestly quite infectious and she couldn’t help herself; within a few more moments her giggle had become a series of them, and then a full-blown laugh as well, while everyone in the room snorted or chuckled. Everyone except for members of the Ginyu Force, who Ami was oblivious to… until one of them spoke.

“Lord Frieza weren’t like it much if he knew you was being unrespectful.”

It was only because Nappa’s head snapped around and he was watching the fatass green ball of ugly approaching his mate that Ami managed to stay calm and stare at it icily, rather than tremble in fear as she remembered his fists pounding into her during two days of torture. Nappa had seen some of the damage he’d done, but Nappa hadn’t been there for all of it, nor had he needed to treat all of the injuries Guldo had inflicted upon her.

If it hadn’t been for her escalated healing capabilities, the beating that Guldo had given her would have likely left her dead. And Ami had hoped on more than one occasion that he would kill her, especially when he’d told her about all the things he would do to her if Zarbon or Frieza had given him permission.

 Inwardly shuddering at the memory of him groping her several times when one of the others had left the room, Ami somehow managed to appear unfazed on the outside when she addressed him, though her tone was impossible to thaw. “Guldo,” she stated calmly, “I told you time and again downstairs. The word is ‘disrespectful.’ Ignoring the rest of that mess of a sentence, you’d think you could remember the proper pronunciation of a single word,’” she added with a bit of exasperation, her bravery bolstered by her mate—she could feel his pride swelling through the bond and his amusement as he accessed a memory on the surface of her mind, a memory of her repeatedly correcting Guldo’s grammar just to piss him off in hopes that he would finally kill her.

“I don’t understand why I should have to correct the same word for the fifth time,” Ami continued when the ugly, fat warrior turned red and his ki shimmered around him in his anger. Good, she was glad he was mad and seemed to be embarrassed. It didn’t even begin to repay the embarrassment she’d felt whenever he’d groped her breasts and ass or commented on how tight she’d be, but it was satisfying to know she’d hurt him in some small way. “Maybe you need some remedial lessons? I could tutor you if you like. I’d be more than happy to tutor you in proper manners as well, of course. Gods only know how badly you could use some education in that field.”

“Don’t bother trying to educate Guldo,” a contemptuous voice sneered, revealed to be the Saiyan prince when Ami sought out the owner. “His brain’s useless lard, like the rest of him. He’s a complete imbecile.”

“The young prince can be far too overcritical at times, but I have to agree with him in this case,” Zarbon’s cultured voice added with an amused chuckle. “And I advise you to stop giving Lady Ami that threatening look, Guldo,” he advised softly. “She is under Lord Frieza’s protection, I’ll have you remember.”

“Yeah, and she’ll need it, ‘cause Nappa wouldn’t be able to do shit to me if I wanted to break her pretty neck,” the green ball of dough huffed as he glared at her for another long moment, completely ignoring the tallest warrior in the room before turning towards the other side of the dome to join Burter and Jeice.

“You’d be wise not to underestimate my husband,” Ami stated with regal, quiet coldness, furious at the slight against Nappa’s strength. “You’d also be wise not to underestimate mine. I might not have been able to defend myself while I was strung up like a side of meat, but I can promise you that it won’t be as easy to hit me when my arms are free.”

“Settle down,” Zarbon chuckled as he lightly gripped her arm and gave her a disarming smile when she turned her angry blue eyes his way, giving Guldo a hand signal out of her line of sight, telling him to fuck off before Zarbon blew him away. “You’re pregnant, Lady Ami.”

“Come on, Blue,” Nappa rumbled as he approached her quickly and offered his hand, concern in his eyes as he nodded towards the door. She needed to go back to the room before either her or the fat little asshat said the wrong thing and a fight got started that could put the baby in danger. “I’ll take you back.” I don’t like the way Guldo looked at you. And while it’s hot as hell to see you pissed off, I don’t think now’s the time. Let me handle him later.

Forgetting to use the bond because it was still such a new concept to her, Ami spoke aloud, her voice coming out as a quiet hiss. She consciously knew she was losing her temper and knew she needed to leash it, but the more she thought about the beatings she’d endured and the way Guldo’s filthy, disgusting hands had touched her, the less she cared about reining it in. Never before in her life had she wanted to beat the shit out of someone so badly, and she would be damned if she was going to sit there passively and let a room full of her enemies think that she would just sit there and let them all talk down to her and push her around! Yes, Usagi had said to endure, but surely that couldn’t mean she’d have to deal with horrible, awful people like Guldo insulting her whenever she dared to venture out of her room! “He insulted you, and on our wedding day, nonetheless! He’s rude and disgusting and—and—“

“Blue…” What’s wrong? During the last week she’d never acted like this, and for the life of him Nappa couldn’t figure out just why she was so pissed off about Guldo when she’d done a fine job of keeping it together since they’d entered the training room, but after a moment a flash of memory from her end of the bond hit him… and Nappa saw red.

Guldo had been the primary overseer of her torture, and while Nappa hadn’t been present for all of it, what he had seen was enough to tell him why Ami had lost her cool. And while he knew she hadn’t been raped downstairs, he inwardly trembled as he asked the obvious question, his heart pounding and anger filling him as it never had before at the thought of someone touching her. Did he…?

No, she whispered through the bond, so furious that her voice was trembling even there. He groped me… and he told me all of the things he was going to do to me if… if Frieza let him have me. He told me what he’d do to my sisters if they were captured.

I find it oddly comforting to know you’re capable of hating someone, Nappa murmured even as he knelt in front of her and kissed her lips briefly, giving her a savage half-smile as he ignored the fact that quite a few people were observing the exchange. Let them watch all they fucking wanted… especially Guldo. Let him watch. Because it was going to be one of the last things that rat bastard ever fucking saw with those freakish four eyes. Calm down, baby. I swore to protect your honor, didn’t I? Sit back and let me take care of it for you. I’d let you handle it if you weren’t pregnant, he added when she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Don’t think that I don’t know you can take care of your own battles. But since you’re carrying my daughter, let me handle this. It’d be my pleasure.

Fine, Ami sighed even as she accepted another slow, soothing kiss from him and sensed his amusement at the feeling of a room full of eyes on them. He wasn’t embarrassed, though, he was looking forward to showing them just how fucking soft his mate had not made him. But don’t kill him. Just… just beat him half to death, alright? As much as I’d like for him to die, I just…

I know. It’s not in your nature and it’s against your sissy, frilly Solarian morals, Nappa replied with only a hint of annoyance. Sparing a foe seemed absolutely retarded to him—after all, why leave an enemy alive just so they could come back for revenge?—but for her, he’d do it. It wasn’t like Guldo was a huge threat, anyway, especially not while they were on the ship.

“So!” Nappa called out as he stood from where he was kneeling before his mate, “I wouldn’t be able to do shit about you breaking my mate’s pretty neck, was it? Was that what you said, you four-eyed fat sack of shit!?”

The other two Saiyans in the room moved towards Nappa out of habit—ready to back him up if necessary or to get out of the way if this was to be a one-on-one honor match of sorts, and Vegeta gave him a brief smirk as he caught his eye. “You know how much I hate that asshole,” the prince chuckled. “Fuck him up, Nappa.”

“Happily, Vegeta. Guard my mate, would you?” Nappa replied with equal mirth, cracking his knuckles and ignoring whatever the hell was coming out of Guldo’s mouth as he came across the room to face the beating of a lifetime. Whatever he was saying now, it didn’t matter, it only mattered to the giant Saiyan that there was about to be some blood on the floor, followed by some lusty I-defended-your-honor-sex from his mate when they returned to their room in triumph.

“We’ll guard her from coming to your rescue,” Raditz teased. “Something tells me that she’d flash-freeze him given half the chance and wouldn’t even need you to lift a finger.”

“No,” Nappa agreed easily, “she wouldn’t. So keep an eye on her or Frieza will have our heads for letting her get involved.”

Chapter Text

                The first blow came so quickly that Ami’s breath caught in her throat, and she winced when she felt Nappa’s pain through the bond before she even saw his bloodied lip and he spat blood onto the training room floor, a fierce grin morphing his features into something harsh and scary, turning him into a man she didn’t know.

                The bond was closing as well, she noticed, just as Nappa darted towards Guldo and returned the blow, throwing him into the nearest wall. Not all the way, but slipping shut until there was barely a crack, and she was so distracted by it and the foreign urge to panic because of it that she didn’t even notice that everyone around her had frozen in place. Nappa? She asked, shivering at the sensation of not being able to feel him through the bond.

                The bond was new so she knew she shouldn’t be missing it so much and on the verge of freaking out, but no matter how she tried to rationalize it, the impulse to cry and beg him to reopen it was still there. “Nappa?” She asked aloud, only to look up and realize that no one was moving.

                Everyone was frozen in place… except for Guldo, whose eyes were lit with confusion as he stared at her, the only other person in the room that wasn’t immobilized. “How… what? What did you do?” Ami asked just as she noticed that his cheeks were puffed out and he was beginning to sweat.

Was he… holding his breath? Yes… yes he was. But why?

That breath was released just as he glanced up at Nappa and moved out of the way of his fist, the Saiyan’s follow-up swing frozen in mid-air. “Why ain’t you effected by it!?” Guldo shouted at her as Nappa’s strike crashed into the wall instead of its intended target.

“HEY! That’s cheating, you little fucker!” Jeice yelled from the sidelines as Nappa looked around in confusion for a moment before understanding dawned in his eyes and he growled and spun to face the weakest member of the Ginyu Force. “And you know how Lord Frieza hates it when you do that shit on the ship! Cut it out if you don’t wanna get annihilated!”

“It’s the only way he can beat me and he knows it,” Nappa growled with that savage gleam in his eye that made Ami tremble with nervous fear, just as he vanished from her view and reappeared behind Guldo, sending him flying into another wall. “You think you can threaten my mate!?” She shouted as he stalked towards him, fists clenched and ki flaring wildly in his rage. “You think you can threaten to kill her and my brat, you little four-eyed fucker!? I know you, Guldo,” he growled, “I know you’re thinking about the shit you pulled downstairs when no one else was in the room. And let me tell you, it’s never going to happen ag—“

Time froze once more, and while Ami was trembling at the murderous rage she’d felt through the barely-there crack in the mating bond, she was snapped out of her wide-eyed stare when her head snapped to the side and pain lanced through her jaw. And like Nappa, she spat blood onto the floor. Unlike Nappa, she looked over at her assailant with wide, disbelieving eyes, clutching at her throbbing face as tears welled up and began to fall.

Holding his breath to maintain the timefreeze, Guldo could only stare at her menacingly, unable to speak, but that look was enough to make Ami skitter onto her feet and away from him, snatching her pen from her subspace out of instinct, her transformation to Sailor Mercury occurring without any thought to it.

“I’m not effected by whatever you’re doing because my oldest sister is the goddess of time, herself,” Ami finally realized aloud. Thank the gods for that, because she knew without a doubt that Guldo wouldn’t have hesitated to kill her if she’d been completely defenseless. “None of us can be frozen in time. At least, not so easily.”

Glancing around the room as Guldo frowned and stalked towards her, Ami realized that no one would be able to save her when he attacked her again. Not Vegeta or Raditz, who were standing there immobilized, not Zarbon, who was sitting frozen in his chair, and not Nappa, who still had his mouth open in mid-sentence.

She could only save herself, and even though Ami was terrified of Guldo, she knew that she was no longer tied up—her hands were free to do what she’d wanted to do to him every time he’d groped her, every time he’d told her what he’d do to her, how he’d rape her if Frieza gave him permission, and how he’d do the same to all of her sisters when they were finally captured. Surely, what he would do to all of them would pale in comparison to what he’d do to her unborn child.

That last thought angered her beyond measure, and Ami drew on that anger, letting it fuel her powers and grow, blotting out her fear just as Guldo leapt at her with his fist extended and aimed right at her stomach.

If Ami hadn’t been ready for the blow she would have surely lost the baby, and later on she would reflect that she’d never moved so fast in her entire life. The blow caught her hip and hurt like nothing else she’d ever known, but just as he connected with it, the power focused in her hand slammed into his chest and sent him flying, knocking the air out of him and ending the timefreeze.

“—ain!” Nappa shouted just as he caught a glimpse of an ice-encased Guldo flying through the air, turning his head just in time to see him crash into the wall, shards of frozen water exploding around the fat, green alien just before he collapsed on the floor.

Nappa had never been the greatest, deepest thinker in the universe, but the moment he jerked his head back around to check on Ami and follow everyone else’s gazes, which were all locked on her, his tiny, blue-haired, gorgeous mate… who was now dressed for battle and clearly favoring her left leg, her left cheek bruised and her lip split and bleeding.

His first feeling was rage, his first thought for the brat she was carrying, but the second emotion he felt was pride as he sensed her equally intense rage through the cracked bond and he saw murder in her eyes. Nappa had known she was a warrior, but he’d had yet to see that side of her, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he acknowledged that she was quite a sight… and that when she wasn’t pregnant, he’d beg her for a spar.

“Vegeta, Raditz,” Nappa grunted. There was no time to ask Ami if she was ok—she was still standing and still breathing, at least—Guldo needed to be handled quickly before the little bastard managed to hold his breath again and possibly kill the only woman Nappa had ever cared about, and his daughter in the process.

Three shields snapped up around Ami immediately, the third belonging to Zarbon, and when the tallest of the three approached her and attempted to scoop her up, the queen of Mercury gave him a glare that could have frozen his balls. “I’m fine,” she hissed. “Move, or you’ll be in the way if he comes at me again.”

Respect flickered in Raditz’s eyes for a moment before he complied and positioned himself just to her right, flanking her along with Vegeta, who was standing to her left. “Your hip’s cracked at the very least. I’m surprised you’re not screaming and crying,” he murmured. “Have to admit, I’m impressed.”

“Trust me, screaming and crying is exactly what I want to do right now,” Ami replied tersely as she tried her best to just focus on watching her mate, who had just lifted Guldo into the air by his leg and was crushing it in his grip.

A normally peaceful creature, Ami was slightly shocked by her own satisfaction at the sound of their enemy screaming in pain, but she didn’t voice that surprise, she only grimaced when Nappa shifted his grip to repeatedly slam Guldo into the wall as if he were nothing more than a ragdoll.

It wasn’t lost on her that Nappa could just as easily do the same to her if she angered him enough, and she trembled at the thought, his cold, heartless facial expression fueling the horrible image in her mind of him doing exactly that.

“Stop.”

That quietly spoken word in the training room froze every single person inside of it, snapping Ami out of her dark thoughts and her eyes towards the doorway, the only sound in the room that of Guldo weeping when Nappa dropped him unceremoniously to the floor.

“He attacked my mate, Lord Frieza,” Nappa snarled as he stood over the broken mess of green, bleeding flesh. “He accepted the challenge of single combat after threatening her, and then he froze time and attacked her.”

Frieza’s eyes darted about the room, focusing keenly on the shards of ice that remained on the floor, and he drew the correct conclusion as he finally looked at the injured, clearly furious Senshi. “You aren’t effected by Guldo’s timefreeze, I see. Interesting. Hrm… did he strike you in the stomach?”

“No. I dodged,” Ami ground out as she tried to focus on everything and anything except for the pain lancing through her hip. “He caught me here instead,” she said as she pointed to the injury and the side she was favoring.

“So he did purposely aim for your stomach,” Frieza stated blandly as he turned his calculating eyes back towards Nappa and the sound of wet, gurgling breathing on the floor. “I see. Nappa,” he finally said, using the tone that everyone except for Ami knew all too well. Those two softly-spoken syllables communicated an order that Nappa was more than happy to follow; hell, he was already powering up to do so before Frieza had even spoken.

“Gladly,” he ground out as he moved so quickly that only Frieza, Zarbon, Jeice, and his fellow Saiyans saw him snatch Guldo up by the front of his armor. They were also the only ones that saw his fist as more than just a blur when it went through the green warrior’s skull, splattering brains and blood on the wall behind him. Everyone else, including Ami, only saw the resulting mess and Nappa’s fist and arm resting inside of hole he’d made through Guldo’s head, the entirety of that arm caked in gore.

“This,” he growled as he flung the lifeless body to the floor, “is what’ll happen to any of you little fuckers if you hurt my woman. So if any of you have got any bright fucking ideas about hurting her, you’d better forget them right now! Understand me!?” He bellowed, his voice practically a roar by the end of his short speech.

“I don’t think they do,” Frieza murmured quietly, “so let me spell it out for your cretins. Queen Ami is carrying the first member of my Saiyan army in her royal belly. If any one of you touches her to do harm without my explicit order, I will happily allow Nappa to kill you as painfully and as slowly as he sees fit. Unless, of course, the lady would prefer to acquaint you with the effects that frostbite can have on the male genitals. Then I’ll let Nappa torture and kill you. Am I clear enough, gentlemen? Or shall I choose a volunteer from the lot of you to demonstrate just how slowly and painfully Nappa can kill you? You’d be amazed how long one can live after being gutted, you know.”

“I think they understand, Lord Frieza,” Zarbon chuckled.

“Good,” the little tyrant purred. “But just in case they don’t… Zarbon, you or Raditz will escort Lady Ami on the ship whenever Nappa isn’t available to do so, and I trust that you’ll defend the precious bundle inside of her with your lives.”

“Yes, Lord Frieza,” both of the warriors in question said automatically just as they dropped their shields. However, Vegeta’s shield lingered as the prince studied her face and how she was clearly in pain, and the young royal wrapped an arm around her waist to take the weight off her injured side and allow her to lean on him, grunting in reply to her softly whispered thank you.

“Oh my, it seems that the little prince has taken a shine to you, Lady Ami. Perhaps I should have kept you as a prisoner and fattened you up to mate with him when he started puberty,” Frieza chuckled in amusement. “Hrm… yes, he shall be assigned to your guard detail as well. No, Nappa,” he added when the general moved to aid his mate the moment Vegeta’s shield fell, “you’ll come with me and report on whatever in the hell just happened in here. Your wife will go with her guards for medical treatment.”

“Yes, Lord Frieza,” Nappa stated even as he disobeyed and went to his mate anyway, wincing when she cringed the moment he touched her, his hand gently cupping the uninjured side of her face as he threw the bond wide open once more. Her fear was the first thing that hit him, and the general couldn’t help the wounded look he gave her when he realized that she was afraid of him. It was then that he noticed his hand was still covered in the gore from the blow that had killed Guldo, and Nappa drew his hand away, trying his best to give her a wave of comfort through the bond even though he was still learning how to use it. “I’ll see you in a moment, k’sha,” he murmured. “Call me if you need me before I’ve returned. Vegeta, Raditz, please take good care of my mate,” he added.

“I’m so pleased that you don’t think I need to be reminded to do the same, Nappa,” Zarbon drawled out with a touch of sarcasm, chuckling when Nappa shot a brief growl in his direction before kissing his mate’s forehead and turning to leave with Frieza. “I’ve got her, Your Highness,” he added seriously once Nappa was gone, lifting Ami into his arms and heading for the door even when she protested that she could walk. “Nonsense, little bluebird, that hip is broken; and while I know Vegeta could easily support your weight, carrying you is a much quicker means to an end.”

Sighing heavily, Ami submitted and simply looped an arm around Zarbon’s shoulders, glancing down at Vegeta and giving him a grateful look, which he only returned with a quiet huff. Her hip was screaming in agony at this point, and while it had protested sharply when Zarbon had lifted her, it was now dulling into a quiet ache compared to what it had been only moments before.

They were in a medical exam room in no time, and Ami was surprised by how gently and carefully Zarbon placed her on the table in the center. He’d helped torture her downstairs, after all, and here he was, giving her a gentle, reassuring smile and brushing her hair out of her face to get a good look at her swelling cheek and split lip. “We’ll get you patched up in no time, bluebird. Vegeta, Raditz, go fetch me a portable x-ray machine, would you. I’ll get started on her face. Go on,” he added with a roll of his eyes when they both hesitated.

“Nappa told us to take care of her,” Raditz stated evenly. “We said we would.”

“And you are, you nitwit. You’re going to help me x-ray her hip, and then we’ll see about setting it properly before we inject it with medtank juice to knit the bones… but we can’t very well do that without the portable x-ray machine. So go get it,” he bit out sharply. “Now.”

Ami noted that she’d never once heard him raise his voice—not even when he’d been smacking her around and grilling her with questions about her queen’s location—and she shivered in fear at the promise of violence that she heard in it and the way Vegeta and Raditz immediately complied, even though the prince shot him a dark, dangerous look before following the taller of the two out an adjacent door.

“For the life of me,” Zarbon murmured as he went to the sink and washed his hands, “I haven’t a clue why those two can’t just follow orders. It’s not like I’m going to blatantly disobey Lord Frieza and hurt you.”

“You’ve hurt me before, that’s why,” Ami said softly when he returned with a cold washcloth in hand, “so you can hardly blame them.”

“You are simply adorable when you put on that false bravado,” Zarbon chuckled, his eyes twinkling in amusement and his seemingly genuine smile morphing his features into more than just incredibly handsome—but gorgeous. “But as cute as you are when you get that chin of yours up, bluebird, you’d do best to just keep it down.”

                “There’s nothing wrong with keeping my head up and being brave,” Ami protested quietly, wincing at the sting as Zarbon began to clean her split lip with surprising gentleness; his fingers gingerly touching the cold cloth to the cut in such a way that the queen of Mercury nearly burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

Here she was, being tended to by a man that would have stood by and helped to orchestrate her death by gang rape only a little over a week ago, and he was acting as if none of it had happened! How in the hell did they do it!? How could anyone possibly manage such an incomparable level of cruelty one moment, only to follow it with genuine kindness!? Did Zarbon and all of the Ginyu Force just completely lack empathy and mindlessly follow orders, or was it more than that?

                “Might I ask how that’s been working out for you?” Zarbon asked with a smile that Ami couldn’t translate. It was either sincere or sardonic… but Ami honestly couldn’t tell the difference. “Being brave,” he added as if she hadn’t a clue what he was referring to.

                Opening her mouth to answer hotly, Ami closed it just as quickly when she caught a shimmer of knowing amusement in his eyes, sputtering out a sigh and shooting him an exasperated look. “Fine… I get it. Being brave hasn’t done me a damned bit of good the last two weeks, has it? Except for maybe attracting Nappa and saving my life,” she added pointedly.

                “Correct. The fact that it’s saved you on one occasion is nothing to sneer at, but other than that single stroke of pure luck,it’s done nothing but bring you trouble,” Zarbon replied in his pleasantly cultured, patient voice. “Might I suggest saving the bravery for him and simply keeping your head down otherwise?” He asked, raising an eyebrow when Ami’s look became a glare. “You can give me that look all day long, missy, but it doesn’t change your situation here or the fact that your bravery only results in you getting hurt. Not counting the fight with Guldo, of course. That wasn’t bravery, that was survival.”

                “You don’t even care,” Ami sighed with a slight shake of her head. “You’re only saying all of this because Frieza wouldn’t want me to miscarry. Hell, you’re only being nice to me right now because he wouldn’t want me stressed out any more than I already am!” She added loudly.

                “That could be true,” he allowed calmly, “and I don’t blame you for thinking so. But what you fail to realize, Ami, is that it’s no skin off my nose if you miscarry, nor will it really affect me when Frieza kills you for miscarrying as a result of doing something stupid. I won’t be punished for it, but you will. And so will your newly crowned prince consort.”

                He had a point, but Ami knew he was just following orders; he was telling her all of this because it all landed in Frieza’s best interests if she behaved. Never mind that it would be in her best interests as well. “I wasn’t purposely trying to get hurt.”

                “No, you weren’t,” Zarbon allowed after several moments of thought and a tiny nod. “But would Frieza have believed you if all of this had happened without witnesses? Perhaps, but I think not. Another incident like this, Ami, and he may get the idea that you’re purposely putting yourself in harm’s way. Look,” he added when she glared at him and opened her mouth to protest. “You’re ridiculously smart, but you’re also incredibly naïve. You need to start thinking in terms of the very worst possible scenario in regards to your actions. Ask yourself ‘what would Frieza do?’ whenever you’re preparing to do something just as stupid as it is brave. And I don’t mean ‘what would Frieza do if he were you,’ either.”

                Deflating, Ami could only nod, and when he produced a pot of healing salve and began to treat her lip she held still. “What he’d do to me,” she sighed.

                “Ah yes, I do believe she’s starting to understand,” Zarbon murmured absently as he assessed her bruised cheek and paused in his ministrations to dig around in the first aid kit. “You know, Ami, I was once a prince of my people,” he continued in a seemingly absent fashion. “My sister was the ruler, though—I was only the fourth child of my parents’ union. My sister was much like you, you know; beautiful, intelligent, sweet. She always put her people before herself, everyone else’s needs before her own.”

                “She sounds like a very wonderful queen,” Ami said gently, inwardly wincing when she realized she’d used the present tense. If Zarbon was here, it only stood to reason that his sister was dead and he’d been taken by Frieza, just as Nappa had described Vegeta and Jeice’s kidnappings during their week of solitude in his room.

                “She was,” he replied, his face gentling in a way that Ami hadn’t expected to ever see from him. “She was the light of my life, and of our people’s lives, too. Everyone loved her. She had no political opponents; no enemies whatsoever, and she never even took so much as a servant, let alone an armed guard when she walked amongst the people or did her shopping every afternoon. But… she had a sense of justice. Just like you, Ami. And it’s that sense of justice that got her killed when Frieza offered an alliance and she turned him down. Her high sense of morality and her bravery was what brought Frieza’s wrath down on my home planet, destroying every man, woman and child… except for me. You see, Frieza had taken me hostage only a day before, as a sort of insurance policy, assuming that my sister would cave and sign an agreement with him and the Planet Trade Organization. I would be kept and raised on board this ship as an honored guest—well-treated, of course, as befitting a prince—and even trained as a warrior. But my sister wouldn’t sign the agreement.”

                “You’re angry with her for not rescuing you?” Ami guessed.

                “On the contrary. I was about Vegeta’s age at the time, you see,” Zarbon chuckled humorlessly, “and I recall never being prouder of my sister in my life. She’d put the needs of our people above our own, just as we’d been taught. She’d taken the moral high ground, even though it would destroy her when Frieza executed me to prove a point. But instead, he incinerated our planet, and Frieza kept me as a pet.”

                Ami could feel the tears welling up in her eyes in reaction to his story, her heart not only aching for all of the souls that had been lost, but aching for what he must have felt and endured during and after the destruction of his home. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

                “Just like her. She would have cried, too,” he sighed as he reapplied some ointment to her cheekbone when her tears washed it away. “And don’t cry, little bluebird. Not only was it years ago, but you’re ruining this dressing.”

                “S—Sorry… I just… I’m sorry.”

                “I know, I know. It’s alright. The point I was trying to make with my story,” Zarbon continued, “is that being brave and taking the moral high ground will prove absolutely nothing when you’re dead, and that Frieza gives literally zero fucks about anything or anyone but himself. If you want to stay alive and if you want Nappa to do the same, you’ll need to come down off that high horse a little. There are an infinite number of ways that Frieza can make your life miserable—trust me, I know, and the man can get ridiculously creative with punishments when you annoy him often enough—if you don’t behave. For example, I’m positive that you and Nappa have some sort of horribly romantic plan to go down in flames together should the shit hit the proverbial fan, am I right?”

                “I…” Unable to lie when she was staggered by how correct he was, Ami could only shrug.

                “Did it ever occur to you that Frieza could just take the baby from you in a few more weeks and stick it in an incupod? You’re dead, Nappa’s dead, and he still gets what he wants. And if the baby’s a female, he’ll breed her with Vegeta, and oh look! Now we have a whole army of nearly full-blooded Saiyan warriors, anyway,” he stated patiently.

                “I’m Mercurian,” Ami said simply. “The baby would die outside of me. It wouldn’t survive in an incupod, not like a Saiyan baby would.”

                With a chuckle and a shake of his head, Zarbon patted her shoulder. “That’s adorable, little bluebird. I can’t blame you for sticking with the story, though, since it’s put just enough doubt in Frieza’s mind to keep him from taking the child from you in a month. And might I add, it was awfully sneaky of you to erase all of the data files on Mercurians from the database. I have to admit that I felt some admiration for you, Ami. That took balls, and like the whole Nappa thing, it was a stroke of luck that saved you from getting killed as a result of those balls.”

                Ami tried her best to school her expression and seem like she hadn’t a clue what he was talking about, but she couldn’t hide her surprise. She’d nearly been caught? But wait… if Zarbon knew about it, then she had been caught, hadn’t she? Or… “I’m confused. Either Frieza thinks I did it or he doesn’t.” Gods damn it! She’d taken painstaking measures to ensure that her signal was bounced off of every computer inside of the ship so that the source of the attack on the main systems would be untraceable! She’d even made sure to only work on the program while Nappa was sleeping, and to keep her thoughts of it buried so that he wouldn’t sense it through the bond! She’d also made sure to set the timer on her computer so that the attack would launch while her and Nappa were on their way to the training room, ensuring that they would be blameless, but apparently it hadn’t worked out that way.

                “Frieza can’t prove it, and since an attack on our databases came from outside of the ship during the wedding, the blame leans far more heavily on an outside hacker than it does on you,” Zarbon explained. “Frieza and I both received reports on our earpieces while we were in the training room. And since no signal left the ship and then came back to make it look like an outside job, we know you weren’t responsible for the outside attack. In all fairness, the inside attack could have simply been part of the outside attack’s programming and was done to confuse us, to make us think that we were being breached by two different people.”

                “You couldn’t prove I did the inside one, at any rate,” Ami said flatly, knowing damned well she’d covered her tracks.

                “No, but if we hadn’t been attacked from the outside as well, I’m pretty sure his lordship would have punished you anyway. You don’t get a fair trial here, bluebird. You don’t get the benefit of the doubt. This is a dictatorship; not a democracy or even a monarchy. If Frieza thinks that you’re trying to undermine him, he won’t hesitate to destroy you… and since I’m privy to his musings on a daily basis, I’ll tell you now—he’ll let you live,” Zarbon continued as he gently gripped her chin to force her to look up at him. “And even though I know he’s more than hinted at what he’ll do, I don’t think you fully understand, so I’m going to refresh your memory.

“He’ll let you live, bluebird, and he’ll kill Nappa. It’s not much of a punishment for you if he ends your misery. Then he’ll take your baby, Ami. He’ll take it, and then because Nappa is dead and Frieza wants more warriors, he’ll force Raditz to breed you. And if you’re stupid enough to cross Frieza again, he’ll kill Raditz the moment you’ve gotten attached to him and then breed you with Vegeta. And because it would destroy you, he’ll take every baby you ever have the very moment it’s born. You’ll never hold a single child you’ve birthed. You’ll never nurse them at your breast. You’ll be little better than a cow bearing young, only to have the calf sold at market the next day for veal.”

                His voice wasn’t without sympathy, but it was also matter-of-fact and dead serious, and Ami trembled as she tried her best not to cry. She failed miserably, and even though she wanted nothing more than to punch the prince in his pretty face for telling her so many horrible things, she clung to him when she dissolved into tears and he held her tightly to him, letting her sob into his armor.

                “Bluebird,” Zarbon whispered into her hair, his voice as surprisingly gentle as the rest of him as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her comfortingly, “believe whatever you want, but I’m not telling you these things to upset you. Nor am I telling them to you because Frieza told me to. He didn’t even suggest that I speak to you and that’s the truth. I’m doing this on my own, and I’m telling you this to educate you.

“If you behave… if you do as you’re told and you just comply and keep your head down, Frieza will allow you to raise your children to a certain age before they’re put into training. And even then you’ll be allowed to visit with them daily. Nappa will continue to live, and while you two won’t have a perfectly happy life, it can be as happy as you make it. Displays of bravery are going to do nothing on this ship except bring you more pain. Pain that you should have wisely avoided, since being brave here will change absolutely nothing. Do you understand?”

                “Yes,” Ami sobbed, “I… I understand.”

                “Good. And sweetheart… I’m sorry,” Zarbon murmured as he ran his hands up and down her back soothingly. “For what it’s worth, anyway. I am sorry. It’s not fair, but it’s the hand you’ve been dealt, and I’m sorry that I had to be the one to explain it all to you.”

                “N—no. I’m grateful,” she sobbed. “Believe me, I am. Thank you, Zarbon.”

                “You’re very welcome. Now… I need you to listen some more. Tomorrow, when you meet with Frieza for lunch, you’re going to be very surprised to hear about the ship being hacked. You haven’t heard a word about it, do you understand me?” When she nodded, Zarbon kissed the top of her head and squeezed her in a brief hug. “Good girl. Let’s just hope your acting skills are as good as I think they are.”

Chapter Text

“I’ve got her,” Vegeta huffed up at Raditz once the procedure was finished, slipping her carefully from the table and cradling her to his chest. Her feet nearly touched the ground, but Ami was just short enough that they didn’t, and in her post anesthetic haze she rested her head against Vegeta’s shoulder and sagged into him. “Get the painkillers,” he ordered the much taller Saiyan, his voice as imperious as always.

“And the instructions for her hip, sweetheart,” Zarbon added with a little grin towards Raditz, his eyes twinkling with mischief when the Saiyan warrior just growled down at him and snatched up the paper and the bottle of pills. “So touchy, I swear.”

“Getting tired of being treated like a fucking dog,” Raditz replied flatly before following Vegeta out of the room—who was already headed towards Nappa’s quarters. “Geta, what the hell? We’re supposed to guard her, you can’t just—“

“Feh. Like I’d actually need help to defend anyone from the likes of the cretins on this ship,” Vegeta scoffed quietly.

“Oh, of course, Your Highness,” Raditz drawled out with a hint of sarcasm. “Don’t get too fucking high and mighty, Vegeta, you’re the one carrying the woman and—wait. Why are you carrying the woman?” He asked as it dawned on him that that sort of task was one that the Saiyan prince would normally parcel out to a lackey. It was beneath him, simple as that, but here he was… carrying Nappa’s mate… and gently, at that, taking care not to jar her hip by floating just above the floor.

“Her Majesty is carrying my future mate inside of her,” Vegeta answered simply. “She’ll always have my complete and total respect as the mother of my mate, but she’s also earned it by proving her strength against Guldo. Something tells me that if it had been a full-out fair fight between her and him, she would have won. She just… she isn’t accustomed to fighting. Not like us, at any rate. She doesn’t know how to kill. She’ll learn in the years to come,” the teenager finished.

“If she does, Nappa’s gonna be a bitch in heat watching her fight,” Raditz chuckled.

“Phht. You as well, space whore,” Vegeta snorted, his lips twitching up in a smirk. He knew that Raditz was silently sputtering behind him and making faces and flipping him off. It didn’t matter, though, he’d gotten under the slightly older Saiyan’s skin, just as he’d intended. Raditz was always far too easy to annoy, and sometimes that personality flaw could prove to be extremely entertaining.

The young prince was about to make another comment to further annoy the other warrior, but Ami stirred in his arms then and Vegeta’s attention was diverted to the hazy blue eyes cracking open and looking up at him. “Don’t move,” he murmured, “your hip is healing.”

“Hurts,” the queen of Mercury whispered, her voice dry and raspy from the anesthesia. “Thirsty.”

“Here, Vegeta. Stop. I’ve got the pills and—“

“She’ll be fine until we reach the room,” Vegeta snorted. This little queen was a warrior, and he knew from experience that the pain she felt was nothing compared to the initial break. If she could bear through it in the training room and the med ward before they’d put her under, then she would be just fine until they’d gotten her somewhere safe. And as her assigned guard, he couldn’t help but notice the looks she drew from the other warriors in the hallway.

Not all of them were sneers or lustful glances, but there were enough of them to put him on edge. He could easily take on several attackers if he passed her off to Raditz, but if enough of them ganged up on him…

Slowing down enough so that he and Raditz were strategically side by side, Vegeta looked up at him, caught his eye, and then gave a meaningful, barely-there nod to yet another male leering at Ami, his body language daring the other warrior to try something stupid. The other warrior was smart enough to look away. “I hate to admit it, but—“

“Yeah, I know,” Raditz said seriously, just loud enough for Vegeta to hear. “We’re gonna have to keep Zarbon closer than we’d like in the future. We can take… what? Maybe two dozen by ourselves without using ki blasts?”

“At the most,” Vegeta confessed grudgingly. The Ginyu Force was comprised of Frieza’s strongest men, but Frieza hadn’t managed to extend his control throughout the universe by employing weak warriors, and most of them were at Raditz’s strength or just a smidge below it. The prince could handle that for the most part, but Raditz would be overwhelmed quickly. In the event of an orchestrated attack, he would have to pass Ami off to Raditz, order him to run and call Zarbon for help, and pray to Dra that he could handle himself long enough to let Raditz escape with her. All the while, trying not to blow holes in the ship. A fight in the open would be over in a handful of moments… a fight on a ship in space had to be handled more delicately, lest someone wanted to get sucked out into space.

Or piss Frieza off.

Freezing to death in the vacuum of space would be preferable.

At any rate, a fight probably wouldn’t happen today… but it never hurt to be prepared.

“Sorry… I’m such… trouble,” Ami whispered, her eyes slipping shut again even though she tried like hell to stay conscious.

“Not your fault,” Raditz offered with a sigh, awkwardly giving her shoulder a little squeeze. He hated the fact that Nappa was breeding and slightly resented Ami for it, but she was just too nice for Raditz to hate her. No one else would have apologized for being a burden, but here she was, doing just that. “Here we go, home sweet home,” he added as he opened the door to Nappa’s quarters, relieved that they’d finally arrived.

“Blue,” Nappa sighed in relief the moment the door swung open and rushed towards them to take her, only to stop when Vegeta batted away his hands with a swipe of his royal tail.

“I’ve got her. Passing her over will jar her hip,” Vegeta explained with a hint of annoyance as he floated up onto the bed, knelt, and carefully placed Ami on the covers. “There. Raditz,” he added in the tone that the remnants of the Saiyan race knew all too well.

It was that same giving-orders-tone that Frieza always used, and Raditz immediately got a glass of water and uncapped the pills, shaking one out into his hand before passing the bottle over to Nappa. “Zarbon said she can have one of these every four hours if she’s in pain, and that thanks to some sort of attack on the database, he’s not sure how long Ami will be out from the anesthesia… though she’s already starting to come out of it, so I wouldn’t be worried. Here, Ami, take the medicine,” he added as Vegeta slid forward on the bed and lifted her head into his lap, elevating it so she could swallow. “That’s it. Now drink… no, don’t stop, drink it all. Zarbon said you need to drink a lot to clear out the anesthesia.”

“Kay,” she whispered before finishing the glass, her eyes remaining closed even as she accepted the offering of a second and drained that as well. “Thank you,” Ami finally murmured before cracking open her eyes and looking up at Raditz. “And… I really am sorry. I… I know about… you and Nappa made a deal. Raditz, I’m so sorry. Please… forgive me.”

The sincerity in her glassy eyes washed away most of his resentment for her, and Raditz just sighed and nodded, managing a brief smile for her as he ran his fingers comfortingly through her hair, turning to Nappa when she smiled weakly in return. Goddamnit, it was really, really hard not to like someone as genuinely nice as her. “Come on, Nappa, snuggle up to her. She’ll feel cold from the gas.”

“And make sure she drinks a lot of water or juice,” Vegeta added as he gently slid Ami’s head out of his lap and slid a pillow under it instead. “No weight on that hip for at least twenty-four hours, either. You’ll have to carry your mate to the toilet and the bathtub.”

Nappa nodded at that and unstrapped his blood-stained armor, setting it to the side with his cape, but he hesitated to slide into bed with Ami, his cheeks coloring as he looked at his fellow Saiyans awkwardly. Hell, they’d seen him naked multiple times and none of them felt any modesty about nudity, but the idea of anyone seeing him snuggling up to a woman… shit, he’d rather that they stand there and watch him fuck the hell out of some random whore than hear him purr for his mate and stroke and pet her as she slept.

Vegeta was the one that saved him—Raditz was only grinning like an idiot, having known Nappa long enough to know that their mentor was embarrassed—and the prince slapped Raditz’s arm and nodded towards the door. “You’ll call if she wants to leave the room,” he stated firmly. “Too many warriors were looking at her in the hallway, Nappa. They weren’t good looks, either.”

“Raditz?” Nappa asked with a hint of worry as he glanced down at his mate, who was stirring on top of the covers and rubbing briefly at her hip.

“Yeah,” Raditz confirmed. “Having Zarbon accompany us everywhere might not be my favorite idea, but… yeah. It’s a good idea, nonetheless.”

“Alright, then. I’d hoped having guards wouldn’t be necessary, but I’ll admit I’ll be grateful for Zarbon when we’re deployed in a few weeks.”

That got Vegeta’s attention, and his head snapped around as he laid his hand on the doorknob. “We’ve got an assignment?”

“Yeah. Three or four weeks from now, just a quick sweep and purge. The planet has three moons so we shouldn’t have to wait long for one of them to be full,” Nappa answered as he glanced at his mate. He didn’t have to be a genius to know what her opinion would be when it came time for him to earn their keep, but he would stand by what he’d already made clear to her—she was a hell of a lot more important to him than a few billion people that he’d never met before, women and children included. “I’ll call you both when I know more about the mission.”

“Yes, you will,” Vegeta stated as he nodded Raditz towards the door. “Come on, let them have some privacy, already. Pervert.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Raditz didn’t argue, though, he followed Vegeta out, and once the room was empty, Nappa locked the door before going to the closet and retrieving the thickest extra blanket he could find.

He could have turned back the covers, but that would have jarred Ami’s hip, so he settled beside her on the bed and drew up the spare comforter around them. “Blue?” He murmured, trailing his fingers through her hair, wincing when she flinched at his touch. “Ami, I…” Nappa slid closer to her to offer her his warmth, and while he hated to admit it to himself, it hurt when she stiffened against him instinctively. “It’s just me,” he whispered, pretending that it wasn’t him that she was afraid of. He had to deny it, because the thought of his mate being terrified of him hurt so deeply that he didn’t even know how to handle it. Gods damn… it was even worse than feeling guilty. “It’s just me. I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.”

She eventually relaxed against him, and Nappa inwardly winced when he realized that it was only because she’d fallen asleep again. Fucking hell, this was exactly why he hadn’t wanted her watching him work! There was nothing he could do about it now, so he closed his eyes as well and dozed off, waking hours later when she stirred against him and tried to slide out of his grasp. “No, baby,” he breathed sleepily, “no weight on that leg.”

Still groggy from the anesthesia, Ami couldn’t mask her fear as she looked up at him and tried to slip away. “I… I have to use the bathroom,” she managed weakly.

“Oh,” Nappa replied softly, looking away from her as he shucked back the blanket and rose to his knees, trying his best to ignore the pain that came with that scared look in her eyes. “Hang onto me, I’ll take you. Then a bath if you want and something to drink. They said you need to drink a lot.”

“Ok,” she replied softly, half-forcing herself to lean into him trustingly, wincing guiltily when she sensed through the bond that he knew exactly what she was doing. The mating bond was still so new to her that she’d forgotten that she couldn’t hide her emotions from him easily, and as Nappa set her on her good leg and drew her panties down, Ami gave him a brief squeeze with her arms. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” he grunted. “My fault. I…” Nappa just shook his head and sighed as he took all her weight again and sat her carefully on the toilet, turning away to give her a semblance of privacy until he heard her wipe and flush. “I’m the one that’s sorry,” he finally said as he turned the taps on in the tub. “Sorry that you’re afraid of me.” He wasn’t sorry that he’d killed Guldo, not at all; but he was sorry that Ami feared him. He was supposed to be the one person she didn’t ever need to fear, but as he helped her remove the gown she’d worn for their impromptu wedding, he could only try to ignore the way she flinched whenever his hands touched her skin. “Come on, Blue, in the tub,” he urged her once she was naked, lifting her gently and just as carefully settling her into the hot, steaming water. “You’re not going to nod off, are you? Good,” he said when she nodded tiredly, “I’ll go hang your dress up to air out.”

That only took a minute though, and after he’d ordered them something to eat, Nappa kept fighting the urge to see her and assure himself that she wasn’t seriously harmed, every inch of him tense as he leaned against the wall beside the bathroom door. “Do you need any help?” He finally called out after fifteen minutes, grasping at any excuse to enter and check on her.

Ami nearly told him no, but his guilt and worry were palpable through the bond, so easy to sense that he was clearly overwhelmed by the emotions. Knowing what she’d learned about him during their time together and how poorly adjusted Nappa was when it came to dealing with emotion, she didn’t have it in her to deny the offer. It was likely that he’d made it in hopes that he’d be able to fix everything, even though Ami didn’t even know precisely what was wrong with her.

She didn’t exactly fear him, no. Not as she thought about how they’d come to be mated, not as she remembered his immense kindness from the first moment he’d lifted her into his arms. But when he came around the corner after a minute of silence on her end, the queen of Mercury couldn’t help the shiver of fear that ran through her as a result.

It was easy to figure it out then—why she was scared of him. She’d seen what he was capable of. She wasn’t afraid of Nappa… no, not exactly. Ami was afraid of what he could do if she managed to push the wrong buttons. “Would… would you mind washing my back?” She asked after swallowing hard and forcing herself not to break eye contact.

When he nodded and knelt beside the tub silently to do just that, Ami contemplated her own reaction to his hands on her back and let loose a sigh that was a combination of frustration and pleasure. His touch felt good. It always did, but… but she’d seen that he could break her in half in only an instant. Sure, she’d known that intellectually from the very beginning, but seeing it was a completely different matter. He’d killed without hesitation, too, and that had been just as unsettling. There hadn’t been an ounce of mercy in him when he’d—

“He was going to kill you,” Nappa ground through his teeth, his tone harsh even though his hands were gentle. “He was going to kill you and my daughter, and Guldo wouldn’t have done anything but laughed while he danced on your corpse. Even if Frieza hadn’t ordered me to destroy him, I would have done it the same way, without a shred of hesitation or guilt. Not a single fucking shred, do you hear me!?” When she cringed and nodded, her eyes fixed on the water, Nappa realized that he’d raised his voice… and he hated himself for it. At this rate she wouldn’t just fear him—she’d hate him, too. “Hate me if you want, Blue. I’ll always protect you. Even…” His voice softened and took on a weary note as he cupped her face to force her to look at him once more, his eyes sad once they locked with hers. “Even if you’re afraid of me. Even if you hate me for it.”

Her fear of him hurt him deeply, simple as that—it hurt him in a way that he’d never been hurt before. He couldn’t really give voice to it since heartache was such a new emotion for him, but Ami could feel it through the bond and nervously licked her lips even as she nodded.

Nappa was what he was. He’d even warned her about it, he’d told her he could and would be brutal, and he’d clearly warned her away from the training room… and she’d still asked Frieza to let her stay. “This is my fault, not yours,” she sighed as she latched onto his mind through the bond despite their mutual inexperience with it, her arms winding around his shoulders to embrace him. “I should have returned to the room.”

“Yeah. You should have,” he agreed flatly, only to grimace when he sensed that he’d hurt her feelings with his choice of tone. “But to be fair, it was better for this to happen now, while you could defend yourself. If it’d happened in a few months it might’ve ended differently. Now let’s rinse your hair,” Nappa sighed as he cut on the detachable shower head, bracing his left arm against her shoulders. He needed a break from the subject, at least for a few minutes; he was just too full of guilt and the unfamiliar feeling of heartbreak whenever he sensed her fear of him. “I got you, Blue. Close your eyes and lean your head back. Be careful not to shift that hip.”

The way she immediately complied without hesitation gave Nappa hope—her eyes were closed in perfect trust and he couldn’t help but purr at the relaxed expression on her face as he gently rinsed her hair, savoring the feeling of how tightly her mind was latched onto his. “The bond’s helping, isn’t it?”

“Mmm,” she confirmed as he ran his fingers through her hair to work the suds out and she enjoyed the way he massaged her scalp without flinching a single time. Being partially joined with his mind not only made it easier to anticipate his actions, but Ami also could feel his emotions—how he cared for her more than anything, how he’d die to protect her… how it hurt him deeply that she was afraid of him at all after he’d defended her and their unborn child. To him, killing was just the way of things, and while he would be willing to change that aspect of his life for her if they managed to escape, there wasn’t a chance he’d be able to avoid killing while they were on Frieza’s ship and they both knew that. “I’m sorry, Nappa,” she whispered, cracking her eyes open to find him watching her sadly.

A kiss was his reply, but Nappa kept it short and cut off the showerhead after a moment. “Don’t be sorry, Blue. Just… don’t be afraid of me. That’s all I want from you.” He also wanted the unwavering love he’d always dreamed of receiving from his mate, but he couldn’t and wouldn’t say that. To say it would risk Ami only telling him what he wanted to hear in an attempt to make him happy, and Nappa would rather live with her fear of him than live a lie with his mate. He already lived enough lies among Frieza’s men—he’d be damned if he’d do the same with the one woman he’d ever cared for. “Come on, let’s get you back in bed,” he murmured before he could say something sappy and stupid, lifting her from the tub and using his ki to dry her.

It wasn’t lost on Ami how gently he handled her and how careful he was not to jar her hip as he carried her to the bed and settled her onto the mattress, his fingers running through her hair affectionately once he’d tucked her in and he’d sat down beside her. “You hungry?” He asked softly. “I ordered food. Pasta… I noticed that you liked it. Fruit, too. More of that cake. You should eat something,” Nappa added before she could even reply, looking away from her awkwardly as he tried to think of some way to erase her fear of him.

There was always that slow, tender sex that she loved so much, but with her hip still knitting, sex was probably off the table. No, he’d actually have to think of something besides a few dozen mind-blowing orgasms… at least for a day or two. “So,” Nappa sighed, “some fucking wedding, huh?”

Silence was all that met his question for several beats, but just as he turned his head to look at her, her laughter filled the room, loud and beautiful, her body shaking from the force of it. At first, Nappa could only stare, but after a moment his lips twitched up in a smirk, then a smile, and before a minute had passed, the general was laughing right along with her.

“It… it was definitely… unforgettable!” Ami howled once she could choke out a response between laughs, wiping tears from her eyes as her giggles ebbed and her cheeks burned at the sudden memory of his vows.

“What?” Nappa asked when she suddenly stopped laughing and he found her staring up at him and blushing brightly. “Whoa, easy,” he murmured as he instinctively supported her when she tried to sit up, warming and relaxing when her intentions were made clear by the way she embraced him tightly. Whether it was from the laughter or the hug, Nappa’s anxiety had melted away and he sighed into her hair as he purred for her and savored the moment, simply basking in the love pouring through her side of the bond. Her fear seemed to have receded as well, and while he wasn’t sure exactly why it had vanished, he certainly wasn’t going to question it.

She loved him and she didn’t fear him… as far as Nappa was concerned, all was right in the universe. At least for the moment.

“Nappa?” She whispered shyly, her fingertips idly tracing little circles around the base of his tail.

“Yeah, baby.”

“That salve you used on my wrist and my bruises… would it speed the healing at all?” Ami asked as she looked up at him, her face red as she withdrew her hand from his tail to trail its way up to the chain that bore the ring she’d given him. “I… um… your vows were really beautiful,” she explained softly, “and I… well…”

She wanted to consummate the marriage, and Nappa found himself melting a little at the sight of her persistent shyness, his lips pressing briefly to hers before he nodded. To him, they were already mated and married. The vows didn’t mean as much to him as they did to her. Sure, they meant something to him, but not with the same gravity that they did for her. To Ami, they were really, truly married now. To her, the vows had made it official even though her queen hadn’t presided over them. To her, they really were bound for life, for better or worse, with or without the mating bond. “I think I put it in the nightstand, hang on.” He produced it quickly, and as he massaged it into the massive bruise on her hip as gently as possible, he met her eyes again, covering her up once more with the coverlet. “We’ll eat first to give it some time to really heal. And if you’re too tired or if it still hurts, I’ll understand. Ok?”

“If it still hurts I’ll take a pain pill,” Ami countered, leaning in and silencing him with a kiss when he opened his mouth to argue. “Nappa, it’s Mercurian tradition to consummate the marriage on the same day that we’re wed. Please,” she whispered, “the lights are dimming. We only have a couple hours left. I couldn’t have my sisters at my wedding and I couldn’t have Usagi marry us, but… please. At least let me have this,” she pleaded softly. “It means a lot to me. I wouldn’t ask if it didn’t.”

“If it hurts too much I’ll stop,” Nappa countered just as a knock sounded at the door, signaling that their food had arrived. He stepped out of the room to get the cart before she could reply, but when he returned he found her bared to him, the coverlet drawn back, her face red and her eyes glittering with hopeful desire as she looked up at him shyly from beneath her thick lashes. “Blue…”

Sensing his intention to suggest that they eat first, Ami shook her head and extended a hand to him, wishing she could stand up or even sit up in order to go to him and draw him into the bed with her. “Nappa, Frieza took away nearly every marriage tradition that I would have wanted for our wedding… don’t deny me this one.” When he hesitated and regarded her silently as he clearly thought it over, the queen of Mercury tried her best to use the bond to send him a plea through it, attempting to convey to him just how important this was to her. “Please, Nappa. Please make love to me before the day’s end.”

“You will stop me if it hurts,” Nappa stated as he left the cart where it was and stripped on his way to her, finally hovering over his mate once he’d joined her in the bed, his fingertips brushing her hair out of her eyes before caressing the delicate line of her jaw. “I mean it, Ami. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t ever want to see fear in your eyes when you look at me, not ever again. Never again, you understand me?”

The earnestness in his voice and in the way he regarded her moved her deeply, and she felt tears stinging her eyes as she sensed a very strong, raw emotion coming from him through the bond. It wasn’t love, not exactly, but she knew without a doubt that it was the closest he’d ever come to it in his life… and possibly the closest he ever could come to it, but the thought of him not loving her the same way she loved him didn’t bother her. She loved him as he was, all of his flaws included, and Ami wasn’t about to try and change him.

It wasn’t quite love, no… not the way Ami felt it. But there was possessiveness, protectiveness, concern and tenderness all rolled together as he traced her jawline with his fingertips, and Ami leaned in and kissed him as she remained joined with his mind, sighing his name just before her lips molded to his. I know you don’t want me to fear you, she whispered in her mind, pushing the thought into his as he carefully, tentatively rolled on top of her, moving slowly to keep himself from jarring her hip. And I don’t. I’m sorry that I did. I trust you, Nappa.

“Too much weight?” He breathed between slow, tender, heart-stopping kisses, pressing to her while taking nearly all of his weight on one elbow and both of his thighs and knees, his free hand caressing her idly as his tail curled possessively around a silky leg. He knew she liked it best when he pressed tightly to her whenever he took her face-to-face, but Nappa was worried about her hip… even if he’d begun to prefer that method of mating with her above all others.

“I’ll tell you if you hurt me,” Ami whispered in his ear when she broke the kiss to trail her lips over his throat, savoring the closeness and the intimacy of how sweetly he was holding her and worshipping her mark with slow, lazy kisses, sighing happily as she continued to feel his emotions rolling through the bond.

Ami quickly learned that what she’d sensed before wasn’t all of it, though, and when Nappa sunk his teeth into her shoulder without warning she was swamped by even more. It wasn’t just protectiveness, possessiveness, and tenderness. There was a fierce desire there that was as strong as his purr as he sucked on her mark and coaxed a moan from her. There was admiration there as well. Respect. Devotion and loyalty. Beneath all of that, there was a barely concealed layer of an eagerness to please her, to make her happy, to be worthy of her love. And even further down… an aching, raw need for her love. A desire to not only feel it through the bond but to hear her breathing it in his ear every second of every day for the rest of their lives. To know that she didn’t fear him and never would again. To know that one person in the entire universe loved him unconditionally.

“Nappa… I love you,” she sighed right in his ear, her voice barely loud enough to be heard over his purr, even by Saiyan ears, smiling into his throat when he shivered and she felt his happiness swell through the bond. “I love you. Make love to me… please? I know you won’t hurt me.”

Without releasing her mark, her devoted general nodded and nudged her entrance, pushing forward when he discovered that she was wet enough for him, more than eager to give her anything she wanted as he rode the high that came from hearing those sweetly whispered words in his ear.

Ami was careful not to move as he pushed deeper, gasping and clutching at him when he finally withdrew and then locked himself in her to the hilt with a carefully checked thrust. “Yes… yes, love… oh yes, that’s what I want,” she whimpered just as he emitted a possessive growl at the way she flexed around him, her climax imminent thanks to the teeth buried in her shoulder.

“Tell me you’re mine,” Nappa panted as he released her mark.

Ami did one better. “I love you, Nappa,” she whispered as she fought the overwhelming urge to move with him when he withdrew once more and slid deep. “I need you.”

Emitting a low groan of ecstasy, he didn’t even reflect that he’d only moved twice and was on the brink of climax in response to the honesty in her voice. “Ami… my Ami… I need you to come, baby… so close,” Nappa breathed as he began to move, his motions slower and more careful than they’d ever been, his hand sliding down to pin her good hip to the bed when she shifted against him instinctively in a quest for more friction.

The sensation of being completely immobilized drew a whimper from Ami, and she gasped at the pleasure washing through her and her own reaction to being pinned—apparently she was turned on by being made to submit. “Don’t stop,” she moaned when he withdrew all the way and then slid home, her tight cleft feeling every single thick inch of him more powerfully than ever due to the slow pace.

“Gonna come if I don’t,” Nappa croaked, pausing suddenly and panting for air as he rested inside of her. He was teetering on the edge after hearing ‘I love you’ multiple times, and if he hadn’t been so overwhelmed by the pleasure he would have had time to reflect on how quickly she’d brought him to the brink of orgasm by those three little words… and what that meant. “Fuck, baby… gods, you feel so fucking good,” he whispered as he buried his face in her hair and trembled against her.

Blushing at the genuine compliment, Ami turned her face to capture his lips for several moments, sighing contentedly into the kiss, and when she broke it she smiled up at him shyly. “I’m already close. Bite me again. I mean… that usually makes me come when I’m close, right?”

“Heh… yeah, it does. But to be fair, Blue, it’s definitely gonna make me come. So if you don’t get off…”

“Then you can just make it up to me later,” she chuckled.

“I think I’ll make it up to you both now and later,” he purred before moving once more and worshipping her mark with slow, open-mouth kisses, trying his best to block out his own ecstasy when she moaned his name in approval and gripped his back. She was so close, he could feel it, and Nappa grinned as he recalled something else that got her off as easily as marking her, turning his lips to her ear and dropping his voice to a whisper. “Come for me, atti. I wanna feel it… be mine.”

“I’m yours,” she whimpered immediately as she tried to rock into his next movement for a harder thrust, only for him to keep her pinned so she wouldn’t hurt herself on accident. “Pl—please…”

“Mmm… love it when you beg, baby… and you’re right… you are mine, now. My mate… my wife…” He knew for a fact that that would do her in, and when she dug her nails into his back on the last word and tightened around him, Nappa growled with satisfaction, finally letting go inside of her and sinking his teeth deep.

The cry in his ear was cut off when she did the same to him, biting down hard, and Nappa’s eyes rolled back in reaction, a loud groan leaving him as his vision blacked out. Fuck, he gasped through the bond before quickly rolling off of her. “Baby,” he slurred aloud, “…’til that hip’s healed…?”

“Don’t do that again?” Ami guessed, her voice just as slurred as her mate’s, her lips turned up in a delirious little smile.

“Yeah,” he breathed. “About passed out on top of you.”

“Heh… I know,” she giggled weakly. Basking in the afterglow, it took Ami a moment to speak again, and when she did she turned her head, a blush staining her cheeks. “I love you,” she sighed, “and Nappa… I’m not afraid of you. I see it in your head. I feel it. You’d never hurt me. You might yell and rant and rave, but… you’d never hurt me. Not like that. Not like what I saw,” she finished softly.

“Never,” he agreed firmly, locking his eyes with her. “Ami… I shit myself every time I think I might hurt you on accident.”

His confession was coupled with a reddening of his face, and Ami smiled in reply, grasping his arm to tug him closer since she couldn’t go to him without moving her hip, sighing happily once she was engulfed in his carefully enfolded arms. “I know. I saw that, too… and I’m sorry. I trust you.”

“Good,” he huffed in fake exasperation, “don’t let it happen again… or I’ll kick your ass. Understand me?”

“Phhhht… you’re a poor liar, r’sha.”

The love in her eyes as she said that word unmanned him, and Nappa felt hot from head to toe at the sound of that word, fighting the urge to separate from her and flee just so he could compose himself. She’d clearly gotten that word straight out of his head, and there was a long, awkward pause on his end while his mate merely smiled knowingly and waited for him to find his voice again. “Um…” Nappa cleared his throat hard, unwinding his tail and arms before sitting up and fleeing to the cart to pull it over. “We should um… probably eat. You need to.”

It was only after he’d uncovered the trays that he realized Ami would need help to sit up, and Nappa huffed at his own absentmindedness before gently easing her into a sitting position with every pillow on the bed, tucking the comforter around her for good measure. “Here,” he offered, holding out a bite of her food to her since she couldn’t sit up on the side of the bed. “Lucky you’re my mate,” he added in an embarrassed mutter, “because if you weren’t, no way I’d feed you.”

“I know,” Ami answered as gently as possible to soothe his ego. First ‘r’sha’ and now he was feeding her… it was clear that so much intimacy was making him extremely uncomfortable, and while it was cute, she managed to suppress the urge to giggle at the sight of his red face. “Thank you, Nappa,” she added with a smile before taking the offered bite of pasta.

“You’re welcome,” he sighed as he discarded the idea of lifting the tray from the cart and setting it in her lap. No, it was too heavy with her hip taken into consideration, so it was better to err on the side of caution and just feed his mate.

“Nappa… you could just hand me the plate, you know,” Ami suggested softly.

“Oh thank the gods,” he breathed in a rush of gratitude as he scooped it up and handed it to her swiftly. “Er… uh… fuck, that was fucking rude of me, wasn’t it?”

Ami couldn’t suppress her giggles anymore, and she just shook her head as she dissolved into hysterics, unable to control the laughter at the sight of him cringing. He was trying so damned hard to be nice that it was just uncharacteristic of him, and at the same time she knew he meant it on some level, that he cared. “I’m sorry, Nappa! It’s just… your face! Stop trying so hard!” She finally managed once she’d gotten herself under control to find him scowling at her. “I—I’m sorry!” She stuttered out between giggles once more, “I love you, really,” she added once she’d managed to bring it back down to just a grin, “but if you feel awkward about something then don’t do it. It’s ok, Nappa.” That grin was now a gentle smile once more, and she cupped his cheek to draw him in for a kiss, happy when he allowed it and stuttered out a purr in response. “I just want you to be you. That’s who I fell in love with, alright?”

Her words were whispered against his lips, and Nappa kissed her again in reply, nodding once he broke away. “I wasn’t trying too hard,” he muttered, “I just didn’t think of picking up the fucking plate, that’s all. Didn’t want the whole tray to hurt your hip. I feel kind of stupid about it, but… that’s what I have you around for,” he allowed with a chuckle.

“You’re not stupid,” Ami huffed, “and the fact that you were even willing to feed me was sweet, Nappa. There’s nothing wrong with that. Being good is—“

“Shuddup for the love of the gods, atti,” he groaned. “Please? Enough with that talk for just one day? Please?”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just…” Ami wanted to say more, but the pained look on his face was enough to shut her up. “Thank you for it,” she finally managed as a compromise before digging into her meal, noting that it didn’t taste quite as good as her last dish of pasta. Still good, just… not amazingly so. Frieza had stopped dosing her food with hormones, apparently, and that made her happier even though Nappa was silently brooding over the awkwardness they’d experienced.

It wasn’t until she’d started in on the cake for dessert that he spoke, and when he did, Nappa leaned in and kissed her forehead before stealing her fork, cutting a piece, and offering it to her. “Ad, k’sha.”

Her eyes locked with his in surprise, Ami could only do as he told her and take the offer, chewing slowly and swallowing before glancing down to find the fork full once more and his jaw set determinedly. “You don’t have to, Nappa. It’s alright. Really,” she whispered in reassurance.

“I vowed to take care of you and I’m doing that,” he rumbled sincerely. “And I’m an asshole. So just eat, already.”

That was clearly an apology coming from him, so Ami could only take the bite and every bite after that dutifully until the plate was clean, smiling up at him once it was done. “I’d offer to feed you in return, but… well, you already wolfed yours down.”

“Not hungry anymore, but I am thirsty,” Nappa chuckled, his lips twitching up in a smirk as he found himself on even ground again, taking her plate before easing her onto her back once more. “Don’t move that hip, Blue… though I did notice how hot you got when I pinned you down,” he chortled as he slid down and looped her good leg over his shoulder while she gawked down at him and turned the color of a sunset.

Seeing her as red-faced as he’d felt only a little while ago definitely put them back on even ground again, oh yes… and he was going to make her blush for another hour or so before he let her rest, so long as it didn’t hurt her.

Because damn him, the idea of hurting her in any way terrified Nappa now that he knew what it was like for her to fear him.

Chapter Text

“No. I should at least escort you to the—“

“No, Nappa,” Ami sighed for the third time. “No,” she repeated gentler than before, leaning up to kiss him tenderly, her fingers tangling briefly in the chain she’d given him only a little more than a day ago. “Zarbon will take me. He already called and offered, and after yesterday, I trust him.”

“That’s a mistake that could get you and our brat killed, Ami,” Nappa ground out. “Don’t trust him. Just don’t … please,” he added weakly when she frowned up at him and he felt her resolve through the bond. “You trust me , right? All the way? Without reservation?” She nodded without hesitation, and he sighed and sagged a little against her when he felt the solidity of that trust through the bond, strong, unwavering, and without question. “Then trust me , Blue. Trust that I’ve known Zarbon for years and that he isn’t to be trusted. At least be cautious around him. Don’t let your guard down. And don’t sass Frieza, either, alright?”

Ami bit her lip at that but finally nodded when Nappa stared her down with fear in his eyes. “I’ll try,” she whispered. “I’ll try very hard. It’s just…”

“I know,” he sighed. “It’s our child on the line. I know. Look… what Zarbon said about keeping your head down?” He continued weakly. “He was right about that. I don’t know why he gave you advice and I don’t know if Frieza told him to tell you that or not—he probably did—but it was good advice. You should follow that, at the very least. Just… don’t trust him , ok?”

“I think you’ve made that pretty clear, honey,” Ami teased, pulling him down for another tender kiss before giving him a wry smile in an attempt to wash the anxiety from his face. She was anxious too, but it wouldn’t do for Nappa to show up in the ring in his current state—he was sure to get his ass handed to him if he remained distracted… or worse, he’d wind up killing someone because of the state he was working himself into. “Nappa, everything’s going to be fine. Really. Just fine.”

“Feh, I should be the one reassuring you, not the other way around,” he sputtered, frustrated by his own roiling emotions as Ami’s poured over him like a wonderful, frustrating, beautiful, agonizing balm. Hell, he didn’t even need to see the way it lit up her eyes to feel himself practically drowning in her love. It was as unending as the oceans of Neptune, just as deep, and like her sister’s power over water, it was warm. So warm… and it wasn’t for the first time that Nappa found himself wondering how an ice goddess could be so very different from her own powers. No, there wasn’t anything cold about his Ami, not where he was concerned. The love that coursed heavily through the bond was having such a profound effect on him—just as it had last night and that morning—that the general had a hard time separating his own emotions from hers…  just as they had last night, when he’d cut her short from saying those damnable words that somehow managed to fill him with both guilt and pride at the same time.

Gods damn it, he was not good. He wasn’t good in the least. If he was good, he would’ve just fucking killed her to spare her everything she was going to endure over the next nine months or so. Even if her Senshi did show up as promised, his little mate was sure to go through Hell and back… and it was his fault. All his fault. He wasn’t good, and the more he thought about it, he’d broken his promise to be good to her, as well. I should’ve killed her. Or helped her escape, somehow. I’m dumb, but I’m not stupid enough to believe we could’ve gotten away together. No, I would’ve needed to stay to hold them off so she could get out of range of the ship’s guns. Or I could’ve—

“Nappa,” Ami sighed, “stop it. It’s alright. It’s all going to be alright. There’s no escaping now and no killing me now so just… let it go. The Senshi are coming. The baby will be safe. I’ll endure, like Rei told me to. And… you are a good man,” she finished in the barest of whispers, her fingers cupping his jaw. She didn’t miss the way he leaned into it, either, his purr briefly stuttering to life before dying out as he kissed the palm of her hand. “A good man… and good to me. I would’ve never fallen in love with a man that wasn’t.”

“Enough of that talk, baby,” he muttered before kissing the tips of her fingers, his eyes briefly skimming over the ring on her left hand. Gods, it felt so surreal, knowing that they were married and mated. That he was married and mated. “I don’t like it when you say shit like that and you know it, ok? Please?”

Her lips twitched up into another teasing smile, Ami’s eyes glittered mischievously. “What would you have me call you then? My love? Dearest heart? R’sha ?” She giggled when his cheeks reddened, and even when he growled down at her in annoyance, it didn’t erase her mirth. “Sweetheart? Phhhht… princess ?”

“Gods no, that’s what Zarbon calls Raddy all the time,” Nappa snorted. She was trying to make him smile, he knew that, and it was the only reason he hadn’t yelled at her as she’d teased him. Sure, she thought it was funny… but she’d only done it with the intention of trying to make him feel better, and even Nappa could appreciate the effort. “Quit it already, you make me sound soft. I’m a Saiyan warrior. A general , at that. At least make me sound tough. Hard.”

Well, that wasn’t too difficult, and Ami was more than happy to oblige him as she raked her blue eyes up and down his towering frame, her cheeks coloring when she focused on his groin and recalled just how hard he’d been for her when they’d woken. “Hard and tough, huh? So… rigid? Stiff? Firm? Strong… um, virile?”

“My mate’s a walking thesaurus,” Nappa groaned, ignoring her light arousal and the fact that her voice had taken on a breathy quality. “I’m serious. You think it’s funny and I know you’re trying to make me feel better, atti . But just… just promise me that you won’t say shit like that in front of other people, ok? Gods know, something like that could seriously get me killed and I ain’t even joking—it’s not a pride thing, I’m actually serious. It really could get me killed... or worse, all three of us,” he added worriedly.

“I won’t,” Ami promised softly, looking away in shame as she covered her flat stomach with her hand. “You should know better than that, Nappa. I would never put you or the baby in any danger. I… I only… I want you to smile, that’s all. I want it to be like it was during the first week. You didn’t worry so much.”

“I worry when I can’t even be in the room to protect my mate,” he snapped quietly, cringing briefly when he realized he was losing his temper with her and it wasn’t even her fault… again. She didn’t flinch, however, and Nappa thanked the gods silently that she was figuring it out, that she was learning to read him better. That she knew that he’d never hurt her and she’d begun to trust the fact that she never had to be afraid of him. 

Ami’s first thought was that there was little to nothing anyone could do to protect her from either Frieza or Zarbon no matter who was in the room with her, but she knew better than to say that. It would serve no purpose to point it out, and it would only make her husband feel even more helpless in the matter, so she smiled gently as she leaned into his unmovable, towering frame, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Nappa?”

He needed the embrace even if he would barely even admit it to himself, and her mate sighed into her hair as he drew in her scent and let it give him what little comfort his worry would allow him to have. “ G’re, atti .”

“I love you.”

I care for you more than I can understand… let alone say or explain. Hell, even to myself. It didn’t have the same ring to it as those three little words did, however, so Nappa remained within his comfort zone. “I know you do, baby,” he whispered tenderly, stooping and gripping her chin to draw her lips up as he descended upon them, trying his best to use the bond as he did so and somehow, he awkwardly succeeded in conveying his emotions through it. 

The contact helped, they’d both discovered—if they were touching or if the bond had been renewed fairly recently, using it was easier than if either of their mating marks had considerably healed. And since they both healed quickly—especially Nappa, who barely bled for even a few minutes, and sluggishly after Ami had renewed the mark—that time wasn’t for as long as they liked. Lucky for both of them, Saiyans had a wickedly short refractory period, with or without all of the hormones that Frieza had stopped putting in their food. 

Heh… it doesn’t even seem to matter much that I’m ten days older than Dra himself, Nappa thought wryly as his beast let his purr loose when the kiss deepened and he considered taking her to bed again. Though, to be fair… I’m mated to a woman more beautiful than Cha. A young, shy, stunningly gorgeous woman that manages to get my blood up every time she blushes. And she blushes a lot .

“What… are you… thinking about?” Ami asked breathlessly between heartstopping kisses, her face hot at how hard he’d suddenly grown against her.

There was really only one answer, so he kept it simple, flashing her a brief smile, well aware of what the sight of his smile did to her. “You.”

“Oh.” Her face couldn’t have possibly gotten any redder, and when Nappa lifted her against him to carry her back to bed, Ami simply moaned in approval as she returned the next kiss, wrapping her legs around his waist once her dress was hiked up around the tops of her thighs. 

“Knock! Knooooock!”

The crooning, sing-song voice was accompanied by the opening of the door to their quarters, and Ami squealed in a mixture of surprise and mortification just as Nappa’s momentum carried her onto her back with him on top of her and he let loose a growl of frustration. “Goddamnit, Zarbon! You did that on purpose! ” He shouted as he grabbed his scouter from his face and chucked it at him in annoyance. 

“Maybe. Maybe not.” The teasing words were coupled with a mischievous grin and a blue-eyed wink at the both of them, and Zarbon couldn’t leash a chuckle when Nappa tried to both shield Ami from his eyes and help her fix her dress… only to wind up losing his balance and falling on top of her again. “Well, if you’re really that randy, Nappa, I suppose I could see if Lord Frieza would be willing to reschedule.”

Much to Nappa’s and Zarbon’s mutual surprise, it was Ami’s turn to throw something, and her aim was a lot better since she was facing in the right direction. 

Out of instinct, Zarbon caught the coffee mug that had flown from Ami’s subspace via her hand, his smile gone as he stared at her in astonishment, but his lips twitched up again when she followed up with a few choice phrases in Mercurian that could only be curses. “My, my, bluebird! Aren’t you cranky this morning! I’ll have to remember to annoy you in the mornings more often, you’re far more entertaining!”

“I’m not cranky, I’m embarrassed!” Ami huffed as she helped Nappa fix the spandex that had been drawn down to his knees by his tail just before he’d landed on her the first time. “There. Sorry,” she sputtered apologetically, caught up between being embarrassed and feeling Nappa’s justified anger and annoyance through the bond as well as her own. “I guess I’ll see you after brunch?”

“Yeah,” Nappa sighed, bending to kiss her once, completely ignoring Zarbon as he fisted a gloved hand in her hair and devoured her until her lips were a little swollen from his zeal and she was breathing a bit heavier. “We’ll pick up from there when you get back. Come straight to me after and I’ll escort you the rest of the way, ok? And Ami,” he added seriously, dropping his voice to a whisper, “keep the bond open. I’ll…” A quick glance towards Zarbon showed that Frieza’s righthand man had politely chosen—for once in his life—to act like he wasn’t paying them any mind, busying himself with righting the slightly bent earpiece on Nappa’s angrily thrown scouter. “I’ll worry if you don’t,” Nappa confessed, his fingers trailing over her jawline, his ebony eyes full of deep concern and a few other emotions that he wasn’t going to voice in front of Zarbon. 

“I will,” the queen of Mercury promised him, grasping his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze before kissing him gently and somehow extricating herself from between him and the bed to cross the room. “I’ll see you in a few hours, Nappa. I love you.”

“ Ui n’ta, k’sha m’yo.”

“Aw, so sweet,” Zarbon chuckled. “Of course she’ll be safe.” He glanced into the hallway then to check for eavesdroppers, and finding none, his smile fell, his eyes seemingly sincere—though Nappa couldn’t tell for sure if it was just a trick—as he met Nappa’s eyes, then Ami’s. “You’ll be safe, bluebird. Just remember what I told you before, alright? And fix your hair,” he added with a sputter, his hands going to her blue locks before hers could. “Seriously, girl, you cannot go before Lord Frieza with sex hair. There, much better. Let’s get going.”

Ami nodded, taking Zarbon’s offered arm, her face still red after being caught with Nappa halfway inside of her. “You be safe, too,” she told her mate as Zarbon led her from the room. 

“I will be,” he assured her with a nod. 

As always, Zarbon got the last word, tipping Nappa a saucy wink when the general turned towards the door to follow them out. “Um… Nappa? You may want to take care of that before you train. I certainly wouldn’t mind it if you came at me in the ring with that thing bouncing around, but some of the others might. Mmm… very, very nice. Ami, my dear, if he was bisexual, I’d be half tempted to kill you off just to give myself a fighting chance,” he continued as he led the blushing queen down the hall, leaving Nappa standing there, speechless, staring down at the tent in his spandex.

“Asshole,” he finally ground out before slamming his door shut and locking it.  

##############################################

“Ah, Your Majesty! How very good of you to finally join me!”

Seeing Frieza’s ecstatic expression upon her arrival, Ami reflected that it was anything but warm and felt a shiver traveling down her spine, realizing that she’d never thought anything could possibly seem colder than her powers. Yet somehow, Frieza’s smile was twenty below zero, even while it played the farcical role of warm and welcoming. 

Ami wasn’t sure how she managed it without shaking the entire way, but she somehow crossed the room and curtsied, eyeing the table Frieza sat at and the menus sitting upon them. Apparently, he hadn’t been kidding about lunch. “You summoned me, my lord?”

“Yes, yes… sit down already, and stop looking at me like you’re going to faint. I don’t want you worked up in your delicate condition,” Frieza replied pleasantly, waving at the empty seat, and then at Zarbon in a silent order to take his usual position—out of the way, but not out of earshot. “You’ll forgive me for not ordering for you, of course. I wasn’t sure what was safe on this menu for you to eat…”

“Oh, of course, thank you, Lord Frieza,” Ami answered with a forced smile as she took the menu when he gestured towards it, opening it and perusing the list of salads on the first page. “I’m actually quite hung—“

“…since all of the files on Mercurians were erased in a recent hack to my main database,” he finished coolly.

Thankfully for Ami, the fact that he’d blindsided her while she was reading and concentrating on the menu made her blank stare something that could be easily interpreted as surprised ignorance.

Very good, bluebird, Zarbon thought from his place beside the door.

“Pardon?” She finally asked after several seconds of silence. 

“Hmmm… so you didn’t know about it,” Frieza stated in contemplative annoyance when she just stared at him. “The database was hacked. Everything we had on file about your kind was deleted. So I’m going to need you to fill in the blanks.”

“I… ok? The blanks on what?” Ami asked in genuine, momentary confusion. For once in her life, she was grateful to be drawing a blank on a question, because it merely looked like she was still processing new information. It did wonders to make her look truly innocent.

“On your kind,” Frieza sighed. “Gods, I thought you were of above-average intelligence, Your Majesty. What you can or cannot eat, how long you’ll carry the baby, your race’s odds of miscarriage, any expected side effects from the pregnancy,” he finished with a shake of his head. “That sort of thing.”

“Oh. Sorry. Well, Mercurians are omnivores. So far, it seems that I can eat just about anything on this menu. I’ll carry my daughter for approximately nine months, miscarriage happens anywhere from one-third to half of all pregnancies, and morning sickness is expected to begin around six weeks. Hormonal mood swings and cravings start around the second trimester,” Ami finished as she sat down the menu.

“One-third to half?” Frieza asked incredulously. “How in the blue hell did your people manage to populate an entire solar system!?”

At that, Ami couldn’t help but chuckle as some of the tension went out of her. “Well, Lord Frieza, Solarians in general are very persistent when it comes to breeding. The gods gave us a strong sex drive, so as a people we tend to keep at it no matter what.” She blushed at that, thinking of Nappa and how Zarbon had only just interrupted them. “And with such a short gestation time, even a human woman can bear children for a few decades. The Solarians that are longer-lived can bear them for a few centuries if their body has enough eggs for it.”

“Your people must spend half their waking time on sex,” Frieza sputtered as he beckoned over what could only be a waiter, pointed at something on the menu, and then imperiously waved him towards Ami.

“Some do, my lord.” Looking up at the waiter with a smile, Ami handed him the menu. “A salad to start, please. Then perhaps the chicken as an entree?”

Unable to resist her radiant smile, the waiter returned it and nodded. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So… it wasn’t you that hacked the database,” Frieza mumbled thoughtfully, returning to the subject he’d begun with. “I’ll admit, I find it hard to believe. The timing of it all was just a little too perfect. If it wasn’t you, then who did it?”

“Probably one of my sisters,” Ami answered truthfully. After all, there had been an outside attack on the ship’s databases that had coincided with her own. “I’d put my money on Setsuna or Michiru. Maybe even my little cousin, Bulma. She’s become quite the little computer prodigy. The timing has everything to do with my sister, Rei, or again, Michiru. They can watch us. Even you,” she added. “They’re probably watching us, now.”

“Oh, goody, ” Frieza answered with pleasure, smiling that cold smile once more. “Then for your sake, I hope they are watching us right now. Because the next time they attack my ship’s computers, you’ll pay the price. Even if your sisters did it.”

Putting on a brave face, Ami asked the only thing that came to mind in the wake of his open threat. “And what if it was just someone on the ship? A disgruntled analyst or a programmer looking to give you a bad day?”

“I’m not too worried about that,” Frieza replied in a chipper tone. “Because in order to put yourself above any and all suspicion, you’re going to patch any holes in my ship’s cyber security. So if someone gets through, it is your fault in some fashion.” His smile broadening at her surprised expression, he continued, “and since this is a fairly high position in my security team, the pay for your time and effort will be more than fair. After all, you’ll need money for when the baby comes, so you can buy… whatever a baby needs. What does a baby need?” He wondered aloud. “I’d like to know ahead of time so we can prepare.”

“I… uh… diapers?” Ami asked stupidly, trying to compute the fact that Frieza had just made her one of the heads of his security.

“Majesty, do your people typically get dumber while they’re pregnant?” Frieza asked impatiently.

“Actually, yes. But not until after the sixth month.”

“Then please do try to catch up if you’ve no good excuse for it,” he grumbled. “Diapers. What else? I suppose the little half monkey will require clothing. But don’t they grow out of it quickly?”

Her brain finally caught up, and Ami nodded. “Yes. It’s not uncommon for new mothers to put their babies in a different outfit everyday and still have unworn clothes by the time the baby grows out of that size. At the sight of his frown, Ami smiled. “They usually don’t buy them, they’re typically given as gifts at a baby shower.”

“I… sorry, what? They shower a mother with babies? Where’s the sense in that? She’s already got one!”

At that, Ami couldn’t help but laugh and shook her head. “N-No! They shower her with gifts for the baby! Usually clothes, diapers, bottles and formula if she isn’t going to nurse, or just in case her milk doesn’t come in. Toys, a crib or a basinet, that sort of thing.”

“And when does the mother take this shower?” Frieza asked curiously.

“Usually in the last trimester,” she answered with a hint of lingering mirth.

“You keep saying that word like you think I know what it means. What is a trimester?” He asked as the waiter brought them glasses and poured just enough for taste. The galactic dictator sniffed it then, tasted it, and smirked in approval before nodding at Ami. “Try it. I broke out a good vintage to celebrate this partnership.”

Ami hesitated as she hoped he wouldn’t be insulted, then shook her head. “Regretfully, Lord Frieza, Solarians cannot drink alcohol while pregnant. I mean no offense, but–”

“Good gods, children just suck the fun out of everything, don’t they?” He exclaimed as he swept her glass out of reach and drained it himself. “More for me, then. Bring her a glass of iced tea or something. Caffeine is acceptable, yes?”

“Yes, my lord,” Ami answered with relief, grateful that he hadn’t been offended. “And a trimester is three months. If everything goes well, I’ll be pregnant for forty weeks, give or take. The last trimester is made up of the seventh, eighth, and ninth month. Thank you,” she added to the waiter as he brought her a cold drink.

“And how long before the little brat is of some use? Just getting down to brass tacks,” he added. “I’m not going to pretend that your child is anything other than a commodity to be used to my advantage, so get used to that.”

Flushing with anger and unable to keep it from showing, Ami gritted her teeth. “Mercurians reach their majority after eighteen years. They’re still growing until they’re twenty-five.”

“No need to get all huffy, I thought you’d prefer it if I dropped the illusion that I actually care. When can she learn to fight? When can she begin to breed?” A few beats passed as Ami simply glared at him. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Zarbon?”

“Yes, Lord Frieza.”

“When do Saiyan brats start breeding? Isn’t it kicked off by some hormonal thing?”

“Their women start the burning at sixteen, and their men at fifteen,” Zarbon supplied. “But because Queen Ami is Mercurian, her daughter may start later. The burning marks when a Saiyan reaches sexual maturity. Training typically begins as soon as a Saiyan can walk, then the child graduates to sparring with its peers as they get older.”

“And if you do lose the little half-breed, Ami, how long until you can conceive again? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wishing a miscarriage on you, but you did say one-third to half of pregnancies are miscarried.” Smiling at her anger, Frieza took a long sip of his wine. “Well?”

“To avoid a second miscarriage, it would be unwise to conceive before six months have passed. A year is usually recommended, Frieza ,” Ami replied coldly, emphasizing the use of his name without the honorific.

“Oh, aren’t you just a ray of sunshine when you’re angry. A shame I missed the fight with Guldo, though I did watch the recording of it. Tell me, could you have frozen him solid? So that he would have shattered on impact?” He asked curiously, nodding in approval when the salads were brought. 

Calm down before he make him angry, Nappa whispered through the bond. Right now he’s amused with you, but he’ll only tolerate so much mouth, even from you. R’sha, au cril?

I hear you, Ami answered softly, savoring the closeness of their minds as she felt his attempt to soothe her. “Yes,” she finally answered after taking a deep breath. “But I’ve always tried my hardest not to kill if I’m forced to fight.”

“Which is why you’re here, now, sitting with me,” Frieza mused. “Because you couldn’t kill my men. If you had, you might be free and back home with your sisters and your queen. But your weakness landed you in a holding cell where they beat you and would have raped you.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “But if I had killed your men out there or in that cell, I wouldn’t have met the love of my life.”

Frieza’s laugh came so suddenly that it made Ami jump in her seat, and even Zarbon blinked in surprise before snorting in amusement. “Oh, my! How sweet and romantic! How very droll! I must admit, you have a very curious way of seeing a silver lining in your situation; I almost envy your way of thinking!” He waved at her salad then, still chuckling, not a hint of coldness in what was clearly a rare, genuine laugh for him. “Eat! I swear, even if it turns out that you can’t carry a half monkey to term, I may keep you around for my own personal entertainment! ‘Love of my life ’ indeed! Tell me, do all of your people have such an adorable, naive outlook on life? Or is it just you?”

Grateful for the food so that she could avoid a knee-jerk answer to any further questions, Ami stuck a mouthful of salad in her mouth and chewed, trying her best to affect a contemplative expression. Damn it, the salad was actually quite good. Better than anything they’d brought to her and Nappa. But then, Frieza didn’t strike her as the type of person to tolerate less than perfection from those that personally served him. And he probably punished those servants severely if they displeased him. Hell, he probably killed them outright. Or worse, he took his time and made examples out of them. It would be good for her to remember that. 

“People are people,” she finally replied. “Some are naturally optimistic. Some are pessimistic. And then there are those of us that have our queen as a sister, who are always basking in her radiant goodness. Those lucky few, like myself, can’t help it. Even those that are incredibly pragmatic, such as my sisters Rei and Haruka, can’t help but have a better outlook on things in Usagi’s presence.”

“While your optimism is amusing, my dear, do remember that you are no longer basking in her glow. You’re basking in mine. You would do ill to forget it.” It was a warning, clear as day, and Ami knew it when she heard it. She nodded at that, taking another bite of her salad.

“What exactly is in this dressing?” She asked suddenly. “My apologies for changing the subject, but it’s quite good. If I’d known it was available as a topping for my salads, I would’ve asked Nappa to order it for me.”

Frieza was surprised by her nonchalance, but in the face of her sincerity, even he wouldn’t be so rude as not to answer. After all, he had invited her and she was technically his guest for the duration of the meal. It didn’t hurt that she’d complimented his taste, either. “Fix her majesty a bottle of this dressing to take with her,” he commanded one of the servants. “A large one. If you run out,” he directed towards the queen of Mercury, “just call down to the kitchen and ask them for some more. It’s made with vinegar, oil, and some kind of cheese, I think.”

“It’s absolutely delicious. Thank you, my lord.” The thanks came out as genuinely as her thanks for marrying her and Nappa, and Ami returned Frieza’s pleased smile.

“So, tell me, when will I be able to see Nappa’s little bundle of joy? Will it be visible on a monitor yet?”

“Probably not,” she answered honestly. “You might be able to see the amniotic sac in a couple weeks. Zarbon? Could you see anything yet on the ultrasound?” Ami inquired.

“No, not yet, regrettably. But your blood test did come up positive for… what was that hormone, bluebird?”

“HCG. It was elevated enough to confirm that I’m pregnant, and then only just barely. After all, I’m only eight days along. You can usually tell after three days, but the levels weren’t quite high enough for my liking,” she admitted solemnly.

“Is that any cause to worry?” Frieza wondered aloud.

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly, her voice tinged with worry. “Every woman is different. Even if the baby is a half-Saiyan, that shouldn’t matter where my body’s response is concerned. I asked Nappa about other half-Saiyan children, but there were very few of them, even during his lifetime. So… I really don’t know,” she repeated with a sigh. “This is completely new territory for all of us.”

“Hmm… we’ll check your blood every few days for that hormone, if you can safely give enough for to test that frequently.” When Ami shook her head a bit, Frieza huffed in displeasure. “Well, as often as you can, then. Eat,” he ordered, gesturing at her salad. “If you think the dressing is good, you’ll find the chicken excellent. My chef marinates it in wine before– wait, can you eat that?” When Ami nodded, he gave her a pleased smile.

“The alcohol would have cooked off of it in the process,” she informed him. “It sounds lovely, thank you.”

At that, Frieza stopped asking questions to watch her eat. The fact that she enjoyed the food and appreciated the ingredients and the work that had gone into the meal pleased him. So few on board had a shred of refined taste, and other than Zarbon, Ami was the first to dine with him in a very long time and entertain him while he ate. 

When the chicken was served, he wasn’t disappointed by her reaction; Ami’s smile bloomed slowly at the first bite, and then she beamed and thanked him again –earnestly– as she dug into it, making soft, appreciative sounds as she tucked away the entire portion and the roasted vegetables on the side. 

“Oh… I think I ate too much,” the queen giggled as she finally sat back, satisfied and simply too full to be afraid. “Thank you for the meal, Lord Frieza. Truly, the food was amazing.”

“Then I’ll have to have you back sometime soon,” he stated pleasantly. “While we digest our meal, tell me about your hobbies. Is there anything that you enjoy doing in your free time? Will you want to knit baby booties while you relax in your quarters?”

“Actually, I do know how to crochet and knit,” said. “But I love to read more than anything. And play chess… but I don’t know if Nappa is any good at it and I’d hate to beat him into the dirt everytime we play. I’m incapable of letting someone win at it,” she added when Frieza lifted an incredulous eyebrow.

“Well then. Zarbon, bring the chess board from my sitting room,” Frieza commanded. “Let’s see if someone can finally beat me at the game.”

A/N I know, not a lot of action in this chapter, but if I remember how I had it planned, I’m doing it right. I’m finally starting to see WHY so many people do outlines before starting to write! And as always, thank you for all your well-wishes and your kindness! It’s good to be back!