Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Never Forget Me ( Chapter 52 )

A Light in the Darkness - Part 52: Never Forget Me
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

 

PAIRING: Vegeta/Bulma
RATING: NC-17
WARNINGS: Some good old-fashioned lemonade with a sprinkle of B&V. ^_~
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. At least all of the ones with hair. And yes, we're including Yamcha in that, now you know. 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: Vegeta and Gohan try to keep Yamcha from thinking about Hakusai.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thank you to TwoMoons for beta-ing this.

 

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“So is he cute?” Serori asked, poking her sister in the side. Hakusai was busy trying to see if she could get more speed out of the pod.

 

“Yes, he is,” Hakusai said, a sappy smile spreading across her face. “He really is.”

 

“Wow, you have it bad.” Serori giggled. “He must be something.”

 

Hakusai rolled her eyes. Her sister had been going on, talking almost non-stop for six hours. Hakusai had managed to get her to be quiet for a few minutes when she gave her something to munch on, but that had not lasted long.

 

“I think I am going to put us to sleep for the rest of the trip home. “

 

“Why?” Serori asked.

 

“So it will go faster.” Hakusai winked at her sister. She wasn't about to tell her that she was getting a huge headache from her incessant chatter.

 

“Okay! How long `til we get there?” Serori asked settling down in the seat.

 

“About six more hours. Let's get some sleep.” Hakusai activated the sleep function and felt her eyes get heavy. She sat back in the seat and smiled down at her sleeping sister, hoping that Yamcha would like her, before she also fell asleep.

 

~~~*~~~

 

Vegeta awoke at daybreak like he usually did. Habit, more than anything else, had kept the warrior awakening early even when he did not need to. Even though the sun was not yet all the way up, Vegeta leaned over and began nuzzling his mate's neck. Nothing would stop the warrior when he was feeling amorous, and for some reason that morning he was feeling unusually so.

 

Bulma stirred, feeling something wonderful snuggling against her. When she realized it was Vegeta, she stretched slightly and smiled, putting her arms around him. “Isn't it a little early?” she murmured curiously.

 

“No,” he replied simply, as he moved his mouth to hers for a deep kiss. He ran his tongue over her lower lip before grazing it with his teeth. He kissed her lingeringly, then moved down her throat to lick the pulse in her neck.

 

::Aishiteru, Bulma-chan,:: he thought at her as he kissed her neck and collarbone. ::Aren't you glad I woke you?::

 

Bulma allowed her thoughts to drift for several minutes before she answered him. ::Of course I'm glad you woke me, Veggie-chan. How else are you going to get Yamcha out of the tank?::

 

Vegeta snorted against her shoulder. ::Brat,:: he grumbled at her, kissing her shoulder once before rolling onto his back.

 

Bulma smiled, snuggling against him for several minutes, and then snapping awake once she realized she was starting to fall asleep. Somehow it was incredibly comfortable snuggling up against Vegeta; it relaxed her so completely she just wanted to stay there forever. ::Maybe someday we will,:: she thought happily, then suddenly wondered where that thought had come from.

 

She sat upright and stretched, trying to wake up. She looked down to see Vegeta staring at her, and she smiled. “Come on, Vegeta. Time to get up, isn't it?”

 

“I suppose,” he agreed, eyeing her body appreciatively before sitting up. Then he leaned over, pressed a kiss to her forehead and got out of bed and stretched. “Can't we just let him sit in the tank all day?”

 

“I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it.” The two of them got dressed and went downstairs, and helped Yamcha out of the tank. He was less embarrassed at Bulma seeing him without any clothes now, knowing she had now seen him that way several times. Once again a memory of Hakusai rose in his mind, and as he could feel an overwhelming despair begin to drown him again, instinctively suppressed the thought.

 

Gohan bounced downstairs as they were sitting down to eat; count on a Saiyan to know when food was ready. After the four of them had eaten, the three Saiyans went out to play once more, and Bulma left again to study more about DNA and chemistry.

 

~~~*~~~

 

The Saiyan Prince sat down on a nearby boulder under the pretense of watching Gohan and Yamcha spar, when what Vegeta was really doing was taking a break. Yamcha had improved again, much to the smaller man's irritation, and now Vegeta was going to have to train twice as hard to keep ahead of him. He had no doubt that Yamcha could one day outdo him, if he let him. But Vegeta decided that after dinner he was going to train in the high gravity room. He was not about to let two warriors outdo him. It was bad enough that he had been beaten by Kakarotto; he was not going to let a half-Saiyan get stronger than he was, as well.

 

“Take a break, brat!” he called out to Gohan, who also seemed to been having a hard time keeping up with Yamcha that day.

 

Gohan nodded, slightly relieved. He smiled at Yamcha tiredly. “You're getting stronger, Yamcha-san,” he commented, before he flew down to join Vegeta. The older Saiyan noted that the little boy was panting heavily and not bothering to hide it. “Hi, Vegeta-san,” he said wearily, as he sat down. He looked up at where Yamcha was still hovering in the air, considering something thoughtfully. “He's getting stronger, Vegeta-sama,” he noted quietly.

 

“I have noticed. But we need to keep him busy,” Vegeta commented. “We should head back for lunch soon. He will need to eat again.”

 

::I wish my sister would get back,:: he groused to himself. ::Then I won't have to baby-sit him any longer.::

 

Gohan looked at Vegeta curiously. “Why?” he asked bluntly.

 

“Why what?” Vegeta replied, scowling down at Gohan.

 

“Why do you need to keep him busy?”

 

“He is going through a kind of withdrawal, brat,” Vegeta said. “Say nothing to him. This is something he needs to figure out on his own.”

 

“Oh.” Gohan looked thoughtful, then looked up at Vegeta curiously. “Bonding withdrawal?” he asked with a perceptiveness that startled Vegeta. “Does that mean Hakusai doesn't like him?”

 

“It means that he needs her here. I don't know if she likes him. She may, she may not,” Vegeta answered thoughtfully.

 

“Oh.” Gohan continued to watch Yamcha, who seemed to be trying out some katas in midair. “I hope she does. She's nice. If he marries her, won't he be related to you?”

 

“Yes, he will be,” Vegeta admitted.

 

“He'll be a Prince too, then, won't he? Because Hakusai's a Princess.” He frowned. “But maybe it doesn't work that way on Vegeta-sei.”

 

“Yes, he will be considered a prince,” Vegeta said thoughtfully. “But it really doesn't matter now. Vegeta-sei does not exist any longer.”

 

Gohan remained silent for several minutes. “Well,” he said finally, breaking the silence. “Maybe Vegeta-sei doesn't, but Saiyans do. There's me and daddy and Yamcha and Hakusai, and now even Yamcha's two brothers. Maybe even more! Other Saiyans could have escaped Frieza. You were a prisoner of Frieza's. How did Nappa escape? And my uncle Radditz?”

 

“We didn't escape,” Vegeta said, watching Yamcha. “We worked for him, biding our time until I was strong enough to kill him.” Vegeta turned his gaze to Gohan's. “Your father beat me to it though.”

 

Gohan frowned. “But Nappa and Radditz weren't on Vegeta-sei, right? They were somewhere else? Didn't all Saiyans used to conquer other planets for Frieza? Couldn't other Saiyans have been on other planets when Frieza blew up Vegeta-sei? Couldn't some of them still be alive? Like my daddy, and Yamcha's mother, and Radditz and Nappa, right?”

 

“Anything is possible,” Vegeta agreed. “Frieza was bound to miss a few of us.”

 

Gohan beamed happily at him. “Then there are still more Saiyans out there! Maybe we can make a new Vegeta-sei! And make it different, so people are happy and they don't kill people all the time! My daddy can help you with that, Vegeta. And Bulma and Yamcha can, too!”

 

Vegeta rolled his eyes. “I doubt that very much, brat. Some people can't change. Especially the older soldiers. The younger ones...” Vegeta shrugged. “Will most likely stay wherever it is they are.”

 

Gohan looked down at the ground, slightly subdued. “You've changed, Vegeta,” he said softly. “You're not the way you used to be.”

 

Vegeta was about to deny it, but snapped his mouth shut. Gohan was right; he had changed, softened a bit. And if his hunch was right, this was the very reason Yamcha's mother had left Earth. But Vegeta wouldn't leave. He had too much here he wanted to keep, and some things were worth changing for.

 

“Maybe,” was all he said and stood up abruptly. “Let's head back for lunch.” Not only was Vegeta starving, but he missed one of the reasons he stayed on Earth. “Yamcha. We are heading back,” he informed him. “Let's go.”

 

Yamcha paused, startled, in mid-kata. “All right,” he said, instinctively acquiescing to the older man's authority. It never even occurred to him to question Vegeta's leadership, just as he had never really questioned Goku's most of the time. But Vegeta was even more of a natural leader than Goku was. Although Goku could inspire people and get them to trust him, he lacked both the will and the intelligence to be a truly strong leader.

 

The three Saiyans headed back to the Capsule Corp for lunch, and were greeted by Bulma and both of the Briefs, who were already at the table.

 

Vegeta dove into his food with his usual exuberance and watched Yamcha out of the corner of his eye. Although he was eating, he did not seem to be paying much attention to the conversation going on around him. Gohan was chattering away about whatever it is that children seemed to like to discuss with Bulma's parents, with Bulma chiming in with her own comments from time to time, but all Yamcha did was poke at his food as if it was going to attack him at any moment.

 

Vegeta decided that to keep the other man diverted would be the best course. It seemed that every time Yamcha had time to himself, he withdrew more and that was a little alarming. Vegeta was not much of a conversationalist so he decided he needed to hurry things up and get Yamcha back to sparring before he became more despondent than he already seemed to be.

 

::Sorry to eat and run, woman,:: he told his mate. ::But I need to keep distracting Yamcha.::

 

Vegeta stood up once Yamcha had eaten enough, and commanded. “Let's go, we don't want to waste the light.” He paused by Bulma's chair to press a kiss to her forehead before heading outdoors to wait for the others to catch up with him.

 

::That's all right,:: Bulma replied. ::Some of us actually do work around here.::

 

Gohan wolfed down a few more bites, and then grabbed an armful of calzones before heading out after Vegeta. Yamcha shook his head with a smile and joined the other two Saiyans, and they took off back towards their training field.

 

For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening the three Saiyans sparred, extremely content on beating the living hell out of each other. Gohan and Vegeta exchanged looks throughout the workout, both thinking the same thing. Yamcha was stronger and faster and was picking up new techniques. Vegeta could only hope it was enough to keep him occupied.

 

The three probably would have sparred forever if their stomachs had not interfered. The group headed home to find Bulma waiting, and already eating when they arrived.

 

“So did you find anything else out, woman?” Vegeta asked around a mouthful of food.

 

Bulma rolled her eyes and sighed. “Bulma. B-U-L-M-A. I know that's difficult for you to remember with your tiny pea-sized brain, but it IS my name. Not woman, Bulma. And can you PLEASE learn not to talk with your mouth full? It's barbaric. Of course, I forgot; you are a barbarian.” She gave a long-suffering sigh.

 

“Yes, I've gathered up a lot of data. She stored basic Saiyan DNA patterns in her databanks. As fascinating as I find the rest of the data in her computers I'm not going to keep going through it at the moment. I have the information I need, and I'm going to try to build a scanner that will compare anyone's DNA patterns to Saiyan DNA. It will help us narrow things down.”

 

Bulma was silent for a moment as she ate another bite and thought carefully. “The only problem,” she said, once she had swallowed, “is that I'm not sure if it will have any sort of range, or if we'll need to somehow get a hair, skin, or blood sample of anyone to test it. That can be difficult. I'm not sure people are going to be willing to let me draw their blood for this.”

 

“What if you were putting bandages on people? When they get hurt, I mean? You'll be able to get stuff then, right?”

 

Bulma blinked. “That's a good idea, Gohan. I guess I can do it.” She looked at her mother. “You have medical training as well. Would you be willing to help?”

 

Mrs. Briefs looked thoughtfully at Yamcha. Bulma had clued her in on everything that they were doing. She smiled her usual vacuous smile. “Of course I'll help you! Yamcha-chan needs to find his brothers! You just need to make some scanners now. Right, Bulma-chan?”

 

Bulma nodded. Her mother's continuous act at being an idiot sometimes confused her. “Yes. I guess I'll make several of them.”

 

“How long will that take? We only have five more days,” Vegeta asked. “You will be up all night working on those things.” He didn't know what bothered him more - the fact that the scanners weren't started or the fact that she would be neglecting him again.

 

Bulma considered this as they continued to eat. This time they were having Swedish food. Bulma was in a very international mood that day and decided to foist her desires on everyone else.

 

“Well,” she said thoughtfully. “I'm using the pattern for my dragonradars, and just modifying the scanning equipment a little. It shouldn't take me that long. You boys are gone all day, that should give me plenty of time to make these. I'll probably have four or five of them by the time of the Budokai. I'm not sure we'll need that many, but it can't hurt.”

 

Yamcha stood up abruptly, his face turning towards the side of the house. Without a word he strode out the door, as though heading for something in particular.

 

The others gaped after him in surprise. “What was that all about?” Bulma asked in confusion.

 

Vegeta concentrated on the direction that Yamcha had stared at and smirked. “Hakusai is back.” Vegeta continued to eat. “At least he will settle down now.”

 

Bulma stared at him in surprise. “Well, if she's back, we should find out what happened, shouldn't we?” She was also worried that Yamcha might end up going through what she and Vegeta had, if Hakusai didn't feel the same way for him. “Let's go meet her.” She got up and headed for the front door.

 

Vegeta shoveled the last of his dinner in his mouth and stood up. “We will just be in the way,” Vegeta said as he followed her out the door. “They are going to be completely oblivious to our presence.”

 

Bulma blinked at him in confusion. “We need to greet them, Vegeta. It's only polite.” She looked around. “Where are they?”

 

“About a mile in that direction,” Vegeta said. “I assume she didn't want to come down too close to the house.”

 

Bulma frowned when she realized Vegeta wasn't going to be helpful, and de-capsulated an airbike. “Fine. You can wait here if you want, but I'm going to meet her.” She revved the engine and took off.

 

Vegeta sighed and took to the air following his mate. Since Bulma was insisting to go and greet them he had no choice but to go with her.

 

To be continued.....

 

~~~~~*~~~~~

 

And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Hakusai returns.