The golden light faded.
Porunga hovered in the sudden darkness, red eyes blinking in confusion at the tiny Saiyan who had just screamed a string of creative profanities at an invisible blue god halfway across the afterlife.
Vegeta rolled his shoulders, aura settling back to calm gold.
He glanced up at the dragon.
"Sorry about that. Family issues."
Porunga's massive jaw worked soundlessly for a second.
Then he cleared his throat with a noise like tectonic plates shifting.
"…Your third wish?"
Vegeta looked out over the empty ocean.
130 days until the balls recharged.
Four months of peace.
Four months to train.
Four months to decide exactly how he wanted to rule the universe.
He turned back to Porunga.
And smiled.
It was a small, thoughtful, almost shy smile.
"Third wish."
He raised one finger.
"Make me taller."
Porunga blinked.
All thirty meters of divine dragon actually blinked.
Vegeta folded his arms, cheeks faintly pink.
"Twenty centimeters. Twenty-five if you're feeling generous. I'm not greedy."
A long, long silence.
Somewhere in the distance, a fish jumped and decided to become a monk.
Porunga finally found his voice.
"…That is your third wish?"
Vegeta's tail flicked, embarrassed.
"I'm immortal now. I'm going to be this height forever if I don't fix it. Do you know how annoying it is to look up at Kakarot for the rest of eternity?"
He muttered the last part under his breath.
Porunga stared.
Then the dragon did something no one in the universe had ever seen a divine dragon do.
He laughed.
A deep, rumbling, world-shaking laugh that lit the sky back up with green light.
"Very well, Super Vegeta."
Golden-green energy wrapped around Vegeta again.
He felt his spine stretch, bones lengthening with pleasant pops, armor adjusting seamlessly like it had always been that size.
Twenty-three centimeters.
Perfect.
Vegeta rolled his shoulders, now standing a proud 187 cm.
He looked down at his boots.
Then up at the sky.
And allowed himself one quiet, satisfied nod.
"Much better."
Porunga's laughter finally tapered off.
"Your wishes are complete. The Dragon Balls will scatter and recharge in 130 days."
Vegeta waved a hand.
"Yeah, yeah. See you then."
The dragon dissolved.
The balls shot off in seven directions like golden missiles.
Vegeta watched them go.
Then he looked at his reflection in the water.
Golden hair.
Teal eyes.
And finally, finally, a height that didn't make him want to punch mirrors.
He smiled.
Small.
Genuine.
Almost soft.
"Not bad."
Far away, on Earth.
Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma stood on the hill where the Namekians had just materialized, staring at the seven stone Dragon Balls.
Krillin's eye twitched.
"Did… did he just wish for a height boost?"
Gohan tilted his head.
"…I think he did."
Bulma burst out laughing.
Hard enough to cry.
Because somewhere across the stars, the immortal golden god who had just soloed Frieza…
…had used the third wish on platform boots from the gods.
And honestly?
She couldn't even be mad.
It was the most Vegeta thing she had ever heard.
~~~~~~
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