Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Interesting Discoveries ( Chapter 14 )

A Light in the Darkness - part 14: Interesting Discoveries
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

PAIRING: 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. We just have fun writing it.
SUMMARY: Interesting discoveries.
Notes: Thanks to Ravyn, for her wonderful beta-ing!

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It didn't take Vegeta all that long to catch up to Gohan and when he did he looked around himself in surprise. He knew this place. It was where he had fought Kakarotto two years before. It was also a perfect place to practice ki attacks.

 

"Not a bad place, kid," he said after a moment. "Now let's see what you can do."

 

Gohan blinked, not entirely sure that he knew what Vegeta wanted. Did he want a demonstration? Piccolo had wanted Gohan to attack him directly, but the boy wasn't sure that was what Vegeta wanted. He shrugged, pulled his hands back, and started building his ki.

 

"Kame.... Hame... HA!"

 

He loosed a ki blast that obliterated part of a nearby mountain, and looked at Vegeta curiously. It wasn't his most powerful attack, but he wasn't sure where he should start with Vegeta.

 

Vegeta snorted. "Now I know you can do better than that! Or have you gotten soft over the past year?" He folded his arms across his chest and looked over the bridge of his nose at him. "Well, is that all you have, kid?"

 

Gohan blinked, and then considered a ki technique he had developed while he was alone out here, one that he had modified from Piccolo's most powerful technique. He couldn't yet do Piccolo's Makankosappo attack, but he did come up with a variation that was all his own. He considered it, then concentrated on the way the ki flowed through him, building it up.

 

"MASENKO!"

 

The ki beam hit the mountain, obliterating the rest of it. He smiled, his tail flicking behind him in satisfaction.

 

Vegeta grinned slowly. He knew that Gohan had been holding back earlier and he had a hunch that he had been practicing without his mother's consent. The older warrior was happy to see that he had been right.

 

"Not bad, kid," he said, tilting his head to the side. "Now try this."

 

Vegeta turned away, powered up and raised his right arm in front of him.

 

"GALLIC GUN FIRE!!"

 

The blue blast struck the hillside that was next to the mountain that Gohan had obliterated and shattered it into many pieces. The two warriors had to shield themselves from the debris.

 

Gohan blinked at that display of power. He considered it for a moment, and then decided to try what Vegeta had done. Like his father, he had an almost instinctive feel for the way ki flowed. He drew in his ki, and released it the way he had sensed Vegeta do it.

 

"Gallic Gun Fire!"

 

The beam wasn't as powerful as Vegeta's, but it was effective. His tail was straight out behind him, the tip quivering in excitement.

 

"Well, I'll be damned," Vegeta said as he watched Goku's son mimic almost perfectly his attack. When he looked back over at Gohan he noticed that the boy's tail was back again. He stared at Gohan in surprise. "Kid, your tail grew back."

 

"Huh?" Gohan looked up at him, startled, then behind him at his tail. He brought it forward, then took it in his hands and looked at his tail almost ruefully. "I better not let Mommy see it," he said unhappily. "She'll make me cut it off again."

 

"She makes you cut it off?" Vegeta looked horrified at the thought. "Why? Does she...." Then he trailed off as he realized she did not want her son going oozaru, especially since Gohan could not control himself in that state. After all, he had experienced that first hand. "Well, we won't let her do it this time, brat."

 

Gohan nodded. "She cuts off Daddy's every time, too. She wants us to be like normal people. She says that normal people don't have tails, so she makes us cut them off." He sighed, remembering that when he was very young she hadn't cared as much. "I don't want to make Mommy upset. I just wish she didn't want me to cut off my tail." He sighed unhappily.

 

"I suppose I could teach how to control your oozaru state," Vegeta said, not liking the fact that his mother made them cut off not only his, but his father's tail as well. "That should keep you from destroying things unless you want to." Vegeta frowned thinking about it. "We had better do it when your father is around. He seems to be the only one who can get through to you when you are in that form."

 

"You can?" Gohan's eyes widened in surprise and almost awe. "You can teach me how to control it? I don't even remember what happens when I go oozaru. You can control it?"

 

Suddenly he remembered that Vegeta had seemed fully in control of himself when he had gone oozaru the first time he had come to Chikyuu, and he blinked. "How do you do it?"

 

Vegeta shrugged. "All it takes is a little concentration and something to focus on when you first change." He looked at Gohan thoughtfully. "You have the power for that kind of control. It should be easy for you."

 

"I do?" Gohan looked surprised. Everyone kept telling him how much power he had, but he always thought his father was the strongest in the universe. He didn't know how much power he had, but maybe he had more than he realized. "Can you teach me now?" he asked eagerly.

 

"Let's save it for when your father's around," Vegeta said. "You would respond to him better than to me. I'd rather not have you squash me again, if you don't mind," he said dryly. "Let's concentrate on ki attacks, shall we?"

 

"All right." Gohan looked disappointed, but then perked up at the thought of learning more ki attacks. "Do you know any more?" he asked eagerly.

 

"I know quite a few more, brat." Vegeta smirked at Gohan's eagerness. "But let's practice one at a time. Then we will learn new techniques," he informed his new student. "Now, let's try that Gallic Gun again."

 

Gohan nodded thoughtfully. That is what he had learned; you perfected one thing before moving on to another. But you didn't perfect it *too* far, because if you were too picky about how much you perfected it, you would never learn anything new.

 

"All right Vegeta-sensei," he agreed with the older warrior, automatically slipping into the term of respect for a teacher. He concentrated again, building his ki the way he had sensed it flowing in Vegeta.

 

"Gallic Gun Fire!" he shouted, releasing a blue blast and demolishing most of another mountain. He considered it, without consulting Vegeta, having gotten used to practicing on his own. He concentrated again, once more building up his ki. "Gallic Gun Fire!" he called out, releasing an even larger blast that time. Then he thought to consult Vegeta, and looked at the Saiyan prince almost apologetically.

 

Vegeta found himself pleased by how fast the younger Saiyan learned. He didn't know why he should be so surprised by it though. His father learned that fast as well.

 

"Not bad," he said eyeing the destruction with satisfaction. "Again," he commanded.

 

Gohan nodded, smiling happily. He sensed the subtle compliment in Vegeta's words. He knew the older Saiyan wouldn't compliment him directly, but only indirectly. He concentrated, and released ki blast after ki blast, each one getting successively larger and more controlled.

 

After a few dozen blasts, Vegeta stopped him with a single raised hand, sensing that the little boy was growing tired. It surprised him how long the little boy had lasted; most people his age, even if they were Saiyans, would have been exhausted long before this. Gohan really did have a strong amount of ki, and he had been told that he hadn't had any training until a little over a year ago. Despite such late training - by Saiyan standards, at least - he had learned ridiculously fast.

 

Gohan looked at Vegeta curiously. "Should we go home now?" At that, his stomach growled loudly, and Gohan looked at Vegeta sheepishly. "I guess we should go eat, huh?"

 

Vegeta barely managed to repress a grin. The boy was Saiyan all right. Not only did he like to fight and learn new techniques but he was also ruled by his stomach on occasion. It wasn't like the older warrior could complain though. He was feeling a little famished as well.

 

"Not a bad idea, brat," he said after a moment. "Let's head back now. We will start early again tomorrow."

 

Gohan nodded eagerly. Vegeta wanted to teach him more tomorrow? Well, he wasn't going to say anything and make Vegeta regret that decision. He wanted to learn anything that Vegeta would teach him. He had been quite serious when he had told Bulma that he had wanted Vegeta to train him, to teach him the techniques of the Saiyans. Vegeta was the last one in the universe who would know those techniques, now that Vegeta-sei was destroyed and all of the other Saiyans were killed.

 

"OK, let's go!" Without a second thought, Gohan shot off back towards Capsule Corp, to see if Bulma would get them something to eat.

 

Vegeta looked after Gohan in astonishment when he took off so quickly, then the older warrior started to laugh. The boy had spirit, he had to give him that much, and when he had an idea he followed through. Vegeta was hungry and he flew off after Gohan within seconds. It didn't take him long to catch up to the young boy. Gohan was not flying all that fast, and Vegeta had a hunch that Goku's son had been waiting for him to catch up to him.

 

It didn't take the two warriors long to get back to Capsule Corporation. When they touched down in the front yard Vegeta could see several of Bulma's employees watching them curiously. Vegeta glared at them as Gohan trotted along beside him, keeping up a steady stream of chatter. The Saiyan smirked when he saw he employees scatter.

 

"Well, let's see what they have to eat for us."

 

"OK!" Gohan nodded eagerly, and went into the kitchen door. Mrs. Briefs was in there, cooking as usual, and she smiled her usual vacuous smile at the two of them. Vegeta now knew that her apparently air-headedness hid a more perceptive mind than he had realized before.

 

"Hello, Vegeta-chan, Gohan-chan! Are you visiting Bulma for a little while again?"

 

Gohan nodded. "Bulma said I could stay here for a while, so my Mommy and Daddy could talk. Is that all right?" he asked anxiously. Bulma had extended the invitation, but he wasn't certain that her parents would necessarily approve.

 

"Oh, Son-kun is back?" Mrs. Briefs asked in surprise. "Is he all right?"

 

"Yes, ma'am. He says he was on Yardrat learning a new technique."

 

Mrs. Briefs didn't ask about that, she simply nodded. "That's good. Your parents need some time to themselves." She put her hand on Gohan's hair, and ruffled it a little. "You can stay here as long as you'd like, Gohan-chan."

 

Then she looked up at Vegeta. "Where's Bulma? Where's my daughter? Isn't she with you?" she asked in surprise.

 

Vegeta grinned at Bulma's mother. "She said she wanted to get some work done. I imagine she is in her workshed, tinkering with her latest invention. But if dinner is close to being done, I'd be happy to go and get her for you."

 

It would be the perfect excuse to go and see her. Not that he needed the excuse, but he wasn't sure how she would react to him. She was better at hiding her emotions than most humans and he couldn't always figure out what she was feeling. He had learned over the past year that she often got angry to cover up embarrassment or if something frightened her. But sometimes she was such enigma to him. Which explained his attraction, he mused.

 

Mrs. Briefs blinked. She had heard that Vegeta and Bulma had left together earlier that day, and then someone had reported that Vegeta had left again, so she had assumed Bulma had gone with him. She couldn't help feeling a stab of disappointment that this hadn't been the case. She hoped they hadn't fought, and that things were working out between them. She had seen the attraction building between the two for a long time, and thought that they would be good for each other. If they could overcome their pride. ::I hope Bulma hasn't blown it for herself,:: she couldn't help thinking.

 

But she simply smiled vacuously at the Saiyan prince, giving him no clue to her real thoughts. "You know that I always have food ready for you, Vegeta-san! Please, go get Bulma, and we'll have something to eat, all right? Gohan, I need you to help me set the table."

 

Gohan nodded, and accepted the utensils that Mrs. Briefs handed him. He had often helped in setting the table at home, so didn't think there was anything odd about her asking him.

 

 

To be continued.....

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And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Lemon, lemon, lemon....

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