Vejiita did not see Nenai at all the next day; whether she was avoiding him or she was just occupied elsewhere, he didn't know.  At lunch, he found he sister and asked her if she'd seen Nenai.

    "Hmm...I passed her in the corridor on my way to breakfast this morning," Karii mused.  "Is something wrong?  She looked awful."

    Vejiita's heart gave a sudden little lurch, and he stifled the emotion irritably.  "Awful?  What do you mean?"

    "Her eyes look really weird.  She looks like she's in pain."  The woman frowned.  "She was fine at dinner last night..."

    Well, maybe she's sick.  Do you have any idea where she might be now?"

    "She was heading for the flightsim pods this morning," Karii replied.  Vejiita held back the urge to wince.  "She'd be done there by now, I'd think.  As a matter of fact, I'd expect her to be here, eating."

    "If she is sick, she should have reported to the sick bay," Vejiita said slowly.  "Where is she?"

    Just then, Taurus strode up to them, and angry look on his face.  "Vejiita!  What the hell did you do to that girl?" he demanded in a savage whisper that only the other two Saiyajin heard.

    "W...what?"  The admiral actually took a step backwards.  The taller man was absolutely radiating his anger.

    Karii looked sharply at her brother.  "I thought we had gotten you over that nitekta fit...did you revert?!"

    "No," Vejiita spat.  "Damn it, I'll not discuss it here.  Come to my quarters."  With that, the disgruntled admiral spun and stalked out of the galley.  Taurus and Karii followed him, exchanging a look of concern.  What was going on?

    Vejiita opened his door and waited for the other two to enter, then led them to his lounge.  Since he was an admiral, he had a very large apartment, which included this good-sized area for meetings and discussions.  He sat down heavily in an armchair, and waved for the other two to sit on a couch.

    "I was going to tell you this later," he began.  "It's a bit too fresh right now...but I suppose there's no choice."

    "Should we get Nenai in here too?" Karii asked, fairly sure of the answer.

    "No, damn it!" Vejiita snapped.  "Now you two better listen, because I'm not going to repeat this."  He proceeded to relate the previous night's events to them, starting with Cooler's invitation for Nenai to join his crew and ending with Vejiita taking Nenai back to her room.  Karii and Taurus looked rather astounded at the end of the tale.

    "No wonder she looks like she's been kicked in the gut," Taurus said finally, breaking the uncomfortable silence.  "Vejiita, are you really serious about taking her as a mate?"

    The other man shook his head.  "I don't know.  I don't really know if she'd have me, anyway.  But...something is there between us.  I don't know what to call it, but something's there."

    Karii regarded her brother silently; she was obviously thinking on what he had said, but she refused to comment.

    Vejiita sighed.  At least they weren't angry at him anymore.  But how was Taurus going to respond to a virtual challenge to his courtship of Nenai?

    The taller man seemed to catch his thought.  "I'll tell you what, Vejiita.  When Nenai comes to me and tells me that she's taken you on, then...you've won.  It's her choice.  Fair?"

    "Of course," Vejiita said with a nod.  "That will work just fine...Thank you."

    "All right.  If this is all worked out, I'll be going back to the galley," Taurus said, standing and stretching.  "Karii?"

    "No, I've already eaten, thanks.  I'll get to my studies now."  The woman also stood, then turned to her brother.  "Well, Vejiita, I'm telling you, if you hurt that girl, you'll have me to answer to."  With that, the turned and left the room.

    Vejiita blinked in surprise, then scowled.  "Look, Karii, I would never--" but the doors hissed shut behind the Saiyajin woman.

    "She's worried about Nenai," Taurus said quietly.  "Let it pass."

    The admiral sighed and nodded.  "It's not as if I had been planning it or anything," he said.  "And--well, I didn't want to mention it in front of Karii, but she actually seemed to like it after a little bit."

    Taurus chuckled a little.  "It wouldn't surprise me too much.  Take care of her, Vejiita.  She seems terribly independent sometimes, but she actually needs a lot of support."

    "I understand.  Now if only I could find her..."

    The taller Saiyajin shrugged.  "She might just be keeping her distance.  Also, remember how important her snakes were to her.  Maybe she's hurting without them.  Who can know?"

    "Truly.  Well, you've got lunch to finish, and I have my own work to do.  Go on.  I'll talk to you later."  Vejiita waved towards the door.

    "All right.  Don't do anything rash, eh?"  Taurus saluted snappily and left Vejiita alone in his quarters, staring at nothing and seeing only Nenai.
 
 

    The Amon's avoidance of Vejiita was quite deliberate.  Some very strange things had occured last night, and she was not prepared to face them.

    It was late at night, but Nenai lay in her bed wide awake.  She no longer had the comforting presence of her snakes, and she could not simply go back to the mountains and ask others to join her; that path was closed to her now.  A tear slowly slid down her face as she realized jus how alone she was now.

    Taurus, poor, sweet Taurus, had asked if she had wanted to spend the night with him, because he knew she was lonely without her snakes.  She had had to refuse, but he seemed to have expected it; he only smiled slightly, shook his head and kissed her softly, then left her.  Did he know that he was as lost to her now as the snakes?

    More silent tears fell.  Why Vejiita?  Of all people...

    Nenai prayed to Nanyatenei as she often did when she was in distress.  Formulating her thoughts into the stylized language used in Amon prayer usually had a calming effect on her, and very seldom did her pleas ever get a response.  That night was one of those rare times.

    *What is it, beloved Priestess?*  The divine presence of the demon appeared in front of her.  He was tall and thin, the very picture of Amon masculine beauty.  His hair was short and very black, and his eyes were the blue of the arctic seas.  Those eyes looked at Nenai now with curiosity and sympathy.  *I can see clearly that your line-of-destiny troubles you.  Why?*

    "I...I cannot make this adjustment so easily, my Lord.  It is simply too great a change!  It took centuries for my parents to find each other, and I'm in a...bond..." she hesitated to admit it, "with an alien at twenty?  It just doesn't seem right..."

    *Seem?*  Nanyatenei smiled mysteriously.  *Do you think there is a mistake in your line-of-destiny?*

    Nenai flushed slightly, but before she could deny such a sacreligious thought, the demon took her left hand and placed it against his forehead--a ritual blessing.  The girl shivered slightly and sighed.

    *Nenais'u, dear one, let it trouble you no longer.  Open your heart to the bond, or it will give you only pain.*

    "But...he is not a good man..."

    *Is he not?* Nanyatenei asked cryptically.  He faded from view, leaving Nenai alone again. *Be well, my stormy sea.*

    Still very confused, but less distraught, she lay in state of near-sleep for what could have been minutes or hours.  She was exhausted, but her mind refused to stop cycling around uselessly.

    The hissing sound of her door startled her out of her doze.  Who or what could have opened it?

    In a few moments, the answer appeared in the beaded curtain of her bedroom doorway.  The girl hissed and sat bolt upright in her bed.  "Vejiita!"

    The Saiyajin looked at her expressionlessly in the near-total darkness, and said nothing.

    Nenai realized then that she was naked, and that her entire upper torso was showing, but that was certainly nothing new or shocking to Vejiita; why was he just standing there?

    They stared at each other in silence for a long time, until finally the admiral said quietly, "You are hiding from me."

    "What?" Nenai said irritably.

    "You are hiding from me."  Vejiita entered the room and approaced the bed, stopping out of reach of her talons.  "Why?"

    Nenai's eyes narrowed dangerously.  "Hell burn you!  Why indeed, you...you child-molester!"  She could not find strong enough words in the terrestrial language, and had to revert to her own.

    "Nenais'u!" the Saiyajin said in a low, urgent whisper.  "You cannot hide from the fact that something happened last night!"

    "Something did happen last night.  Several things, really...you took me by force, and you killed my snakes, if I remember correctly," the girl said coldly.

    "Is that all you choose to remember?"  The man actually looked disappointed, an expression Nenai had never seen on his face.

    "You have no idea what you've done to me, do you?" she demanded.  "You've destroyed my life!  In the span of a few hours you took away everything I had!"

    "What...?  Nenai, please...I don't understand..." Vejiita said in a pleading tone.

    The girl stared at him.  She had never seen him act in such a way!  Is that what...bonding...could do?  Did love have such power?

    Of course it did; she had known that a long time ago.  To see it happen before her eyes, however, was entirely different from just knowing it was possible.  She sighed heavily, then closed her eyes.

    "My people--the Amons, I mean--have a rather complicated view of love and its many forms.  Many adults find happiness in the kind of love I had with Taurus.  It was certainly more than pure physical attraction, but it had a sort of limit to it.  A few Amons transcend this tie of passion, and reach a level called bonding."  The girl paused to consider her explanation.  "A bonded pair shares everything, physically, mentally, and spiritually; they are as one being divided between two bodies. Bonding is...well, you could justifiably call it the most powerful force in the universe...sometimes it is even stronger than Death."  She trailed off.  "Do you see?"

    Vejiita nodded, wide-eyed.  "Are you saying...that's what happened?  We are a bonded pair?"

    Nenai clenched her hands into fists.  "That seems to be the answer, yes."

    "Then what did you mean, about me destroying your life?" the Saiyajin asked softly.

    "Look at it this way.  A bond is all-consuming.  It takes so much attention from a person that they do not have the ability to perform certain other things.  When--" she took a breath.  "When we...joined...my power as a Snake Priestess was immediately diminished.  A bonded woman cannot truly be a priestess; it is too great a division of loyalty.  My snakes sensed this change, and they sought you out.  They were jealous, because you had taken me from them and their kind forever."

    "You...you can no longer control snakes?"  Vejiita seemed shaken.

    "Nor summon them...nor any of the other duties of a priestess."

    The Saiyajin suddenly dropped into a kneeling position by her bed.  "I am so sorry, Nenai.  I did not realize that I would be robbing you of so much."  He looked up at her, but she did not reply.  "But...as a bond-mate, am I not supposed to replace what I have taken away?"  Without waiting for a response, he withdrew a very small box from under his armor, then opened it and held it out for her.

    It was a necklace.  The delicate chain and the tiny pendant, the stylized arrowhead of the Saiyajin royal house, were both wrought from a dark, shiny metal that Nenai did not recognize, and one of the tiny links was open.  There was no clasp on the chain; once she put it on, Vejiita would close the link, sealing it with his power, and it would never be taken off.  Being careful not to touch the necklace or the box, the girl looked at Vejiita in wonder.

    "What is the meaning of this?" she asked, even though she already knew.

    "I asked you once before, and you thought I spoke in jest.  I shall ask you again.  Marry me, Nenais'u."

    Even though she had been expecting it, Nenai still felt the world lurch to one side.  "I...I..."

    "Can you really deny me?" the man said quietly.

    Nenai shook her head.  "No...I cannot.  But...I cannot say 'yes', either."  She closed her eyes and shivered.

    "Then don't."  Vejiita took the necklace from the box and stood, reaching to place it around her neck.  "You don't have to say anything, Nenais'u."

    The entire universe seemed to pause for a split second, as the girl hesitated before bowing her head to allow him to close the open link.  There was only the tiniest surge of ki as he melted the link shut, and then it was done.  He let the necklace fall into place; the arrowhead dangled right above Nenai's collarbone.

    The girl's eyes flashed open.  For a moment they were an almost unnatural green, but they faded back to violet as she regarded her life-mate.

           ...he is not a good man...
           *Is he not?*

    Nanyatenei, she thought, how foolish I was to doubt you.  Her resistance finally crumbled as her betrothed took her into his arms and kissed her, at last able to love her--and be loved in return.