Entry #2
Alternative Form of Babysitting
by jterra

Babysit = to take watchful responsibility for (def. 3, Webster's Dictionary)

To the casual observer, the average person… actually, anyone other than a certain Saiyan prince and possibly the resident Namek, it was a beautiful day. It was a day for playing outside, frolicking in the woods, catching the largest fish in the lake, or simply enjoying the feel of the warm wind through your hair as you fly through the sky. But a closer look at the crystal blue sky reveals a lone figure that does not seem to be enjoying the warm wind through his unruly hair. In fact, if anyone could look downright angry while flying, he was pulling it off quite nicely.

This particular individual is not in the habit of finding the delightful reasons for flying. To him, flying is purely a means to an end, and in this case it could be said that the end in question was avoiding the slightly uncomfortable feeling of obligation. No one can make me do something I don't want to do. Obligation, however slight, is not something that sits well in his mind, and flying is an efficient means of clearing the mind. Of course, the best way was fighting. But since the best fighting outlet was linked to the feeling of obligation, flying would have to suffice.

The brooding figure is rudely interrupted when a piercing, unending scream and… elevated ki?… hit his senses. Curiosity mixed with an infinitesimal bit of concern causes the man to momentarily forget his irritation and fly towards the treetops for a closer inspection. In the several seconds it takes to clear the trees and reach his destination, he is able to further analyze the scream that seems to know no end. It isn't a scream of terror as much as it is a scream of anger, but the truly puzzling part is the ki signature that seems familiar but isn't entirely recognizable.

All contemplation is pushed aside when the imposing figure lands at the edge of the clearing and takes in the scene. Before him stands a large feline-type animal that is currently engaged in toying with its prey, which is a small girl of no more than four or five years old. The animal slowly stalks the girl who is about five feet away. What is surprising about this sight is the behavior of the child.

Most children would have run away in fear when presented with such a situation. Of course, while running they would have become an even more appealing target for the large beast. An alternative would be cowering in fear, unable to move. A frozen target is always easy to capture. In stark contrast to the expected scenarios, this girl is in an almost determined stance. Her feet are planted firmly on the ground, fists clenched at her sides, and what could be best described as an attempt to roar, which translates into an ear-piercing scream, erupting from her lips. She appears to be angry at this animal for threatening her. While the beast is not intimidated, he, along with the figure standing behind her, is curious as to the reaction of this small child.

The newcomer has the experience to know that the curiosity expressed by this animal is soon going to turn to boredom and other, less pleasant matters, at the expense of the still-screaming child. Unwilling to listen to that scream any longer, he raises his hand at the beast, who had lacked the time to notice him, and lets out a blast that turns the animal to ash in the blink of an eye.

The child mercifully stops screaming a moment after the beast is gone and looks around confused.

In the second before her savior is about to return to his previous activity, a small presence attaches itself to his leg. A muffled, "Thank you, Unkie Veggie!" reaches his ears half an instant before he is about to forcibly detach the invading presence in much the same way he removed the feline-type animal. The prince lowers his hand as his mind mulls over "Unkie… Veggie…?". Suddenly the vaguely familiar ki signature and curious reaction of this child all make sense.

Reaching down, the Saiyan prince removes the small girl and rather forcibly sets her down a couple of feet away. She looks up at him with deep brown eyes that betray her Saiyan heritage. In his mind, he acknowledges that she has been faced with a situation that would have left an ordinary child dead, but she should draw no pride from this accomplishment, as she is no ordinary child. When he was her age, the animals of the forest cowered in fear of his mere presence. None would have been fool hearty enough to even challenge him. Her parents are too soft, and yet she still instinctively drew on the strength of her heritage. Maybe there was some small hope for her yet.

The glimmer of hope is not expressed in his stance as he unconsciously crosses his arms and glares down at the girl. "Address me as Vegeta-sama, brat."

As the reality of the situation coupled with the less than friendly behavior of her savior crashes down on her, the small girl's lower lip starts to quiver and her previously clear eyes fill up with unshed tears. Hoping to forestall her sobbing and get on with his brooding, the prince attempts to soften his scowl a bit. "Go home, brat."

Her eyes clear up instantly at his command, and her arms cross in a defiant stance that the Saiyan realizes is remarkably similar to his own. "No!"

This offspring of Kakarot's brat has courage, especially to feel she can be so defiant to the Saiyan prince, but she is most assuredly not worth taking up any more of his time. He is about to tell her as much when she speaks up on her own.

"I'm running away from home." She pauses momentarily in her mini-tirade to stomp her foot for emphasis. "And you can't make me go back."

At this revelation, the Saiyan prince can't help but laugh out loud. I can't? This child has no idea what I can and cannot do! I'll pick her up and take her home right now if I want to. But since she doesn't want to go home, the prince sees no real reason in taking her back. Although, leaving her here in the middle of the forest doesn't seem to be much of an option given her age and obvious lack of basic self-defense skills. Not that he really cares what happens to the child, but if he leaves her here as bait, his mate will likely yell in his ear for the rest of time.

Maybe he can "encourage" her to go home. "Listen, brat, I don't care what you do, but I'm not going to stick around to save you from whatever creatures are prowling around here looking for little girls to snack upon."

"Hmph." Arms still crossed, she raises her chin in defiance. "I don't need you to protect me, Unkie Veggie. I'm just fine all by myself."

Impudent little thing! "Unkie Veggie's" nonexistent patience is starting to get dangerously thin. "Fine, brat! Stay here! I don't care!" He crouches down to her level and grasps her small shoulders to make sure he has her full attention. "Just understand, brat, that I will not be coming back, so you better hope that scream attack works on the next wild creature you come across." Satisfied that he sees the fear behind those defiant eyes, he stands up and turns away to leave her.

An innocent voice catches his ears just before he is about to return to the sky. "Unkie Veggie, why do you keep calling me brat? I am Son Pan." In his minds eye he can see her pointing to herself for emphasis. "You know that." She pauses for a moment almost as if she is letting him remember her true name. "What does brat mean?" she asks in the truly innocent way only a child can.

Vegeta briefly entertains the idea of just flying away without addressing her questions, but sighing he admits temporary defeat and turns back towards her with a scowl. "Brat is how I address children that don't respect their elders." He crosses his arms again and looks down at her. "Especially those who cannot address me properly."

Perhaps it is the glare she is receiving or the mere demeanor of the prince, but the young girl seems to finally realize the proper respect that is required of her. "O, o, okay, Vegeta-sa, sama."

The prince has to repress a chuckle at her reaction. For a child that can scream at a creature that dares think of her as lunch, she is pretty easily intimidated. Of course, in his opinion, she should be showing him proper respect, but he thinks that the fact that she realizes he is not susceptible to her childish games may have something to do with her change in behavior. Like his own young child about her age, what she really wants is someone to pay attention to her.

With head bowed, hands behind her back and twisting her toe in the dirt, Vegeta gradually becomes aware that she is mulling over another question. "Unk…, I mean, Vegeta-sama, will you play with me like Grandpa does?"

Suddenly his sight is overwhelmed by unpleasant visions of tea parties and dress-up, which his young daughter classifies as play. But glancing over at the girl, Vegeta realizes that sort of play is not what she has in mind. Her entire demeanor has changed. She has situated herself about five feet away with her right arm raised in front of her and left arm raised slightly behind herself for balance. She is crouched down with her right leg leading towards him and her left trailing behind her to push off from. With genuine surprise, Vegeta realizes that she has taken up some sort of sparring stance!

Instinct kicks in and he starts cruelly laughing at the ridiculous idea of sparring with an obviously under-skilled child. Quickly composing himself in order to forestall any tears, he asks, "So which Grandpa taught you that?" The idea of that pompous Satan fellow teaching her his cowardly skills is enough to make the prince almost lose his carefully crafted composure. "That bakayaro Satan or Kakarot?"

Instead of a response, the confused prince suddenly has a young girl rolling on the ground, clutching her sides and giggling uncontrollably. This kid has some tremendous mood swings! Not really knowing what to do with her, he decides to wait until she either stops or passes out.

Finally calming down a bit, she manages to gasp out, "Silly, Unkie Veggie, I don't have a grandpa Carrot Top!" Picking herself back up off the ground, she tells him matter-of-factly, "Grandpa Goku and I like to, um, what's the word?" She brings her hand up to lightly scratch by her eye while searching for the right word. "Oh yeah, Grandpa calls it sparring. He says that it is when you fight without trying to hurt the other person, you are just, um, trying to learn how to fight, I guess." Explanations complete, she crouches back down into her sparring stance. "So will you spar with me?"

Arms still crossed, he emphatically replies, "Absolutely not!" Unconsciously closing his eyes against the probable image of her eyes filling with tears yet again, Vegeta continues with his form of a rational explanation. "I have no desire to waste my time playing around with the granddaughter of a low-class warrior." Suddenly an unexpected feeling in his shin causes the prince to instinctively retaliate with a swift kick against the source of the feeling.

The cry of a young feminine voice causes him to realize his mistake a moment too late. The brat actually had the audacity to kick me! What was more surprising was that he was so unprepared for that irrational course of action. Unfortunately for her, his instincts were still better and faster than his mind and had reacted by kicking her several hundred feet away like a lifeless rag doll. Phasing out of sight for a moment, he reappears behind the girl and catches her in mid-flight the instant before she crashes into a gigantic tree.

Breathing a silent sigh of relief at not inadvertently killing the girl, he sets her down on shaky legs. After realizing that she has only had the breath knocked out of her and nothing more, Pan is eager to begin again. "Please Vegeta-sama, I promise to wait until you are ready this time."

Curious as to how little she actually knows, he finally cedes to her pleas. "Kid, I am always ready." With a devilish smirk, he crouches down to a fighting stance of his own. "The question is whether or not you are actually ready, because this time, I won't stop you from going through that tree."

Smiling with glee, she charges at him with all she is worth. Punch for punch, kick for kick, he blocks her every effort, but she is undaunted. She is slow and has a very unpolished technique, but for one so young, she actually shows a glimmer of potential. Maybe she isn't as far removed from her heritage as he first thought. She is never able to successfully hit the prince, but her defensive skills seem better than her offensive ones, since she is able to block the majority of his obviously placed punches and kicks.

They spar for longer than either one of them realize before Pan calls the fighting to a halt by raising one small hand in surrender. "Okay, Vegeta-sama, I'm all worn out." She flops down on the ground and rolls over onto her back. Panting she places her hands behind her head and stares up at the sky. The prince decides to sit on a rock at the edge of the clearing and wait to see what this girl will come up with next.

After laying on the ground long enough that Vegeta starts to think that she has fallen asleep, she lets out an almost mournful sigh and sits up. "Vegeta-sama," she turns to look at him, "I think I'm ready to go home now."

Surprised at why she seems to need his approval, he replies, "Go right ahead. I'm not stopping you." I'm not even sure why I'm still here, he adds to himself.

Getting up and dusting herself off, she clasps her hands behind her back and looks to the ground in an all too familiar pose. The prince remains silent as he waits for her to speak her mind. "Um, will you, uh, walk back with me?" She looks up at him with pleading eyes, "Please?"

Relenting for some unknown reason, Vegeta gestures for her to lead the way. Happily, the young girl skips out in front of him. They walk in silence through the forest for a while, but as they get closer to their destination, Pan slows her previously lively pace. In a quiet voice, the girl asks her traveling companion, "Do you want to know why I ran away from home?" Upon not receiving a response after a few seconds, the girl continues, "They didn't want me anymore. See you know it's Grandpa Goku's birthday today. I tried to help momma with wrapping the presents, but she told me to help poppa instead after I accidentally tore some of the papers. Poppa said that I was too short to help with the decorations and to go play with Grandpa. And Grandpa was so busy trying to steal treats from Grandma that wouldn't pay any attention to me. None of them wanted me to be around, so I thought that they wouldn't miss me if I left."

"Why are you going back, then?"

She thinks for a couple of seconds before responding. "I dunno, I guess, 'cause I missed them." Betraying her child-like attention span, her mood suddenly brightens and she asks, "Unkie Veggie, are you going to stay for the party?" Without waiting for a response she grabs his hand and starts gleefully jumping up and down. "Please say that you'll stay. It will be so much fun. There will be cake and ice cream. And Grandpa will open presents…"

He interrupts her ramblings by removing his hand from her grasp. Glancing around, Pan realizes that they have reached the edge of the trees and that her house is only several hundred feet away. Finally looking up at him she voices what she realizes is the truth, "You're not going to stay." Disappointed, she looks back towards the trees. "It's too bad. Grandpa Goku will be really sad. I know he was looking forward to sparring with you."

Any response Vegeta may have given is immediately cut off by cries of "Pan! Pan!" coming from the direction of the house. Both figures at the edge of the forest look up at the woman running towards them with dark, braided hair and clear blue eyes filled with concern and relief.

Pan breaks out in a run and is scooped up by outstretched arms into a bone-crushing hug. After a few seconds, the woman places the small girl back on the ground and her grateful behavior takes an unexpected turn towards anger. "Pan, what were you thinking running off like that without telling anyone where you were going?! Do you have any idea how worried we all were about you?! You are in so much trouble!"

A clearing of the throat alerts the woman to a presence she had previously failed to notice. "She was with me." If it was physically possible, the woman's eyes grow to twice their size at this revelation. She glances back down at her daughter for verification. "Is this true?"

"Yes, momma," is the contrite reply.

Stupefied, Videl stutters out, "Then, then, um, next time you go out with, um, Vegeta, make sure you tell momma where you are going." She pauses to make sure she has the girl's attention, "Okay?"

"Yes, momma."

Feeling in control of the situation again, she gives the girl another quick, grateful hug. "Now go in the house and change for the party." After her daughter has run off towards the house, Videl turns to Vegeta. "Thanks for taking car of her. I appreciate it."

The prince utters an enigmatic, "Hmph" before turning away. As he is walking away, he pauses for a moment and looks back over his shoulder at the woman, "Pay closer attention to her." With those final words, he takes to the sky and quickly disappears from sight.

Shaking her head and thinking, what a strange man, Videl walks back to the house to make sure her daughter changes into the dress she picked out for her.

~~~

Several hours later after all the party-goers have come and gone and the occupants of the twin houses in the forest have seemingly gone to sleep, a lone figure creeps out the window of one of the homes and quietly slips into the forest.

He makes his way to a location known only by instinct to meet an individual he somehow knows will be there. "Took you long enough, Kakarot."

The man jumps in surprise, "Geez, Vegeta, you're gonna give me a heart attack."

Crouching into his sparring stance, the prince replies, "If only it were that easy."

"Thanks for coming to the party."

"Have you hit your head recently? You know I wasn't at your stupid party."

"You were around," The "hmph" from the darkness is all the reply he needs. Crouching into his own fighting stance, Goku prepares himself to spar. "She would have like to have known you were there."

"She has potential. It better not be wasted by the likes of you."

"I'll take that as a complement." He lunges towards his opponent. "And, Vegeta, thanks for watching out for her."

A fist to the face is the only response he gets.