Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Conflicts and Resolution ( Chapter 11 )

A Light in the Darkness - part 11: Conflicts and Resolution

by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

PAIRING: Goku/Chi-Chi, Bulma/Vegeta
RATING: G
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters or anything about DBZ, but we both wish we owned the Saiyans. All of them. These characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball itself. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic.
SUMMARY: Conflicts and resolution
Notes: Thanks to Ravyn for her beta!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Goku lifted his face from Chi-Chi's hair and stepped back from her, frowning.

 

"Vegeta's here," he said releasing his wife and striding quickly to the window. "And Bulma is here too. I better go see what they want."

 

Goku couldn't imagine what the older man wanted. Goku secretly hoped the other warrior wanted to spar. Vegeta was strong, and would make a good sparring partner.

 

"They are out there talking to Gohan. I wonder if they stopped by for dinner?" he wondered aloud and he walked towards the door. "Are you coming with me Chi-Chi?"

 

"Vegeta!" Chi-Chi's eyes widened and her nostrils flared, but whether it was from fear or anger, even she wasn't sure. "I don't want him coming in here!" She scowled at her husband, much to his surprise, and folded her arms over her chest. "He isn't welcome in MY house! Why on Chikyuu did Bulma bring him?"

 

"To see me, I think," he said with a thoughtful expression on his face. "He probably asked Bulma to bring him here. Are they friends now?" he asked.

 

He knew that Bulma had been afraid of Vegeta in the past and wondered how Vegeta had persuaded her to bring him. Although the longer Goku thought about it the more it didn't make sense. "Though I don't know why he needed her, I mean after all he can sense ki." He looked down at the floor still puzzled. "That's real odd."

 

"He can... what? What are you talking about?" Chi-Chi shook her head. She had no idea what he was talking about. Sense ki? She had never heard of anything like that. "As far as I know they aren't friends. He's living with her, though."

 

At Goku's surprised expression, she waved a hand dismissively. "I don't think she exactly invited him. He invited himself. He found out about the gravity room she built you, and demanded that she build one for him as well. Although he believed it was her father that had built it until Dr. Briefs set him straight. I don't think Bulma's been very happy with his demands all the time."

 

Chi-Chi frowned up at her husband. "All right, I'll go downstairs, just to make sure that... *monster* doesn't do anything to our son!"

 

Goku beamed at her. "Thanks, Chi-Chi." He bolted to the door. "I'll see you down there." He made it outside before Chi-Chi had a chance to reply and he grinned broadly at Bulma.

 

"Hi Bulma!" he greeted her as he picked her up and hugged her, much to Bulma's surprise and Vegeta's annoyance. "How have you been? You look great!" He put her down, still smiling at her. "Any new inventions?"

 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. Even after a year of being away, Kakarot was still as obnoxious as ever. "So tell me, Kakarotto, about this other Saiyan."

 

"Hakusai?" he asked. "Oh, she is a really good fighter and she is really smart." He grinned suddenly. "She isn't as smart as Bulma. She can cook though. She makes great muffins." Goku's mouth watered at the thought.

 

"She didn't happen to mention how she survived," Vegeta asked.

 

"Umm, no." Goku put his hand behind his head and gave them a sheepish look. "At least I don't remember if she did. She didn't talk an awful lot."

 

"Some help you are," Vegeta muttered under his breath. Great. The first Super Saiyan in one thousand years had to be a complete moron. He glared at the younger man.

 

"You might get to meet her," Goku said, oblivious to Vegeta's cold glare. "I was trying to get her to stop here on her way home."

 

"Oh?" Vegeta's eyebrows rose. "Is that so?"

 

"Another Saiyan?" Bulma stared at Goku, dumbfounded. "WHAT other Saiyan? Don't tell me that yet *another* Saiyan managed to escape your miserable planet! So how long do we have before THIS one decides to destroy Chikyuu?"

 

She ignored the sharp glare that Vegeta threw at her. She figured he didn't have the right to resent her words, since he had been the one to cause them.

 

"You know," she said, with a viciousness out of proportion to the threat, "I think the Saiyans *deserved* to have their planet destroyed, considering how often they did that to others! It was... it was...." She paused, trying to think of the word, then exclaimed in satisfaction, "Karma!"

 

"Another Saiyan?" Chi-Chi had heard that part, as she had come downstairs. "What other Saiyan?" she asked, suspicion in her voice. She eyed Vegeta warily, as though expecting him to suddenly become a bloodthirsty homicidal maniac... which was what he had demonstrated before.

 

"Hakusai wouldn't hurt anyone. Unless someone threatened her," Goku said shaking his head. "She is kind of...." He trailed off, apparently deep in thought.

 

"Kind of what?" Vegeta prompted. "She is a third class warrior then?"

 

Goku shook his head again. "She said she was noble born and was an elite class."

 

"Noble born?" Vegeta frowned. "What are you talking about?"

 

"Oh, she told me lots of things about Vegeta-sei," he explained. "She said there were four tribes."

 

Vegeta nodded. "Yes, that is true."

 

"She said she was from the Southern tribe, but she favored the eastern tribes. Her Mom was from there."

 

Vegeta frowned at the other warrior. It was possible that a noble had escaped from the destruction of their homeworld, but how?

 

"Did she say anything else?" Vegeta asked.

 

"Umm lots of stuff, but we sparred most of the time." Goku grinned broadly. "She is a Super Saiyan too, we traded techniques."

 

Vegeta's jaw dropped. "WHAT???"

 

Goku shrugged. "Well, you'll find out if she comes here."

 

"She?" Chi-Chi pounced on the fact that the Saiyan was a woman. Was Goku interested in her, is that why he hadn't come home for so long? Had he been cheating on her? Chi-Chi felt tears starting to sting the backs of her eyes again. "So why didn't she come with YOU?" she asked acidly.

 

Bulma was glaring at Goku, too. She knew how naive her Saiyan friend was. "Oh, sure!" Sarcasm dripped from her voice. "And I'm sure you traded recipes, too, and she doesn't go around blowing up planets like Saiyans all do. I'm sure that when she comes here, we'll all have tea and crumpets together."

 

Gohan blinked at both women in confusion. He didn't understand why they seemed so angry. Didn't they know that warriors liked to spar? "Daddy? Did she teach you any new techniques?" he asked eagerly.

 

"Oh no you don't!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "You're not going to start fighting again! I want you studying, not wasting your time on fighting!"

 

Gohan looked upset, but said nothing, and simply stared at the ground sadly. Bulma frowned. She hadn't realized how over-protective Chi-Chi had become with Gohan this past year, since she had distanced herself. She wondered how the woman could do that to her son, when she knew how much being a warrior meant to him.

 

"She taught me a couple of new techniques," Goku said. He was frowning at his wife but he spoke to Gohan. "I'll be happy to show them to you. I bet you have gotten stronger over the past year."

 

Goku spoke quietly but with a tone that none of the group had ever heard before. "Gohan needs to train, Chi-Chi. He is a warrior; it's in his blood. You'll hurt him if you don't let him. And I can't allow that." He sighed when it looked like she was going to argue. "Chi-Chi, don't be upset - he can study too. But fighting is a part of him, just like it is part of me."

 

Vegeta blinked. The warrior didn't know who was more in shock by Goku's words; his wife, or Bulma who was staring at Goku like he had sprouted three heads. But Vegeta couldn't argue with him. Kakarotto was right; the boy needed to hone his skills.

 

Bulma frowned at Goku, noticing that he seemed stronger somehow than he had been before. She knew he was right, however, and spoke up, looking sharply at Chi-Chi as she did so.

 

"He's right, Chi-Chi. Gohan's a warrior. I saw that on Namek, and there's no point denying it. You need to let him fight, as well as study. He can do both. I did."

 

Gohan's face brightened at Goku's and Bulma's words, and he launched himself into his father's arms. "Thank you, Daddy!" he shouted happily.

 

Chi-Chi stared at them, looking bereft. "Are you all ganging up on me?" she cried out tearfully. "Is that what it is? You're all conspiring against me?"

 

"No, Chi-Chi, we are not against you." Goku spoke quietly. "You wouldn't want to hurt Gohan, would you? It would be like asking me to quit fighting."

 

Vegeta snorted. Not a chance in hell. He wondered about Goku's new attitude. From what he had heard - or overheard - from Bulma and her odd assortment of friends, Goku had never stood up to Chi-Chi n his life. This was certainly interesting, he thought as he watched them face each other.

 

Chi-Chi stared at him, tears welling up in her eyes, starting to spill over. "I thought you.... You would rather fight than be with me!" she shouted at her husband, then turned and ran back into the house.

 

Gohan looked down at the ground, despondent. "It's all right, Daddy," he said sadly. "I won't fight anymore, if it makes Mom sad. I don't want Mommy to cry anymore. I don't want her to be sad anymore."

 

Bulma stared from where Chi-Chi had run into the house, and then glanced back at Gohan. "No!" she shouted, looking back at Goku. "This isn't right! Either you get her to understand or... or Gohan can move in with me until she does!"

 

Gohan looked at Bulma in surprise.

 

Goku squatted down so that he was eye level with his son. "Gohan, listen to me." When he was sure he had his son's complete attention, he continued. "You can't stop fighting, it's in your blood. You need to compete. It will hurt you if you don't. At least that's how Hakusai explained it."

 

He turned his big puppy dog eyes up to look at Bulma and smiled. "You don't mind keeping Gohan with you until I get this settled, do you? This may take awhile."

 

"I wouldn't have offered if I'd minded," she said simply, and turned to Gohan. "Would you like to stay with me for a while, Gohan-chan?"

 

The little boy looked back and forth between his father and Bulma. "Can I really stay with you? Really?" He looked back at his father sadly again. "But I don't want to make Mommy cry. Daddy, if it'll make Mommy happy, I'll come back, and I'll be good, I promise...."

 

Bulma bent down and put her arms around the little boy's shoulders. "Gohan-chan, you have to make you happy, too. And I want you to come stay with me for a while. So, listen to your father and come home with me, all right?"

 

Gohan looked back at Goku, and when his father nodded, he smiled at Bulma. "All right, Bulma." He put his arms around her neck and hugged her. "Thank you, Bulma."

 

Bulma looked back up at the house and sighed. "We should probably go now," she said regretfully. "You should talk to Chi-Chi now, before she stews on it for too long. Come on," she said, standing up with her hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Let's get going."

 

"It will be easier if you let the kid fly." Vegeta finally put in his opinion. He walked over to Bulma, scooped her up again and held her securely in his embrace. "Let's go, brat," he told Gohan, before taking to the air and heading back in the direction of Capsule Corporation.

 

Goku hugged his son. "Don't worry about it, Gohan. Everything will be ok," he told him. "Now go."

 

He gave his son a gentle shove in the direction that Vegeta had taken Bulma, and watched until Gohan's ki trail could no longer be sensed. Then he turned and headed into the house and to their bedroom to confront Chi-Chi.

 

To be continued.....

~~~*~~~

And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Gee, Chi-Chi, would you like a little cheese with that whine? Some lemon, too.

~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~

Don't forget to review! ^_^