Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Oh Brother! ( Chapter 59 )

A Light in the Darkness - Part 59: Oh Brother!
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

PAIRING: Yamcha/Hakusai, Vegeta/Bulma
RATING: PG
WARNINGS: Tails. ^_^ (It was late. Stupid jokes when I'm tired. ^_^)
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. Dragonball Z and the associated characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation. Ranma 1/2 and the character of Ryouga Hibiki are owned by Viz, Rumiko Takahashi, and some Japanese studio I don't know the name of. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball or Ranma 1/2 themselves. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic. We just have fun writing it. Oh, I guess we do own Hakusai and Serori. But no one will want them.
SUMMARY: The truth is revealed about Ryouga. And a very... different proposal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thank you to TwoMoons and Lady Lark for their betas.

 

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The three Saiyans headed out to the infirmary, and discovered Bulma laughing at something with Serori and Gohan. Bulma was unaware of the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed, but Vegeta was not. He found himself unable to tear his eyes from her face for several minutes. When he did so, it was only for them to roam over the rest of her body. He smiled slightly when he realized she had showered and changed clothing, although he wasn't surprised. She no longer smelled like him except to someone who might be looking for it, but the laboratory itself smelled of intense sex. He thought that even a human would be able to smell it, but the Saiyans would definitely notice.

 

Bulma looked up, as though aware of his intense scrutiny. She realized instantly what he was thinking about and blushed abruptly. Then she smiled and headed towards the other room to hide her embarrassment. “You folks want to see how he is? It should be just about time for him to come out of the tank.”

 

She pressed several buttons on the control panel, and the Saiyans watched the tank begin to drain. Ryouga opened his eyes as the liquid drained away from him, watching them anxiously. It took the boy several minutes to realize that several of the watchers were female and to remember that he was completely unclothed. He covered himself with his hands in embarrassment and blushed a deep red all over his body. The mask on his face made it impossible to speak, and he was too entangled in wires to reach up and remove it.

 

When all of the liquid was drained, Bulma hit several switches. They heard a hissing sound and the door to the tank opened. Bulma arched an eyebrow at the others. “Well, Yamcha? Don't you think you should volunteer to help your brother out of there?”

 

Yamcha stared at her, stunned. “Brother...? You're... sure...?”

 

Bulma pointed to the dark brown tail they now saw waving in the air behind Ryouga. “Well, if that's not enough, I did finally find the DNA records. Your mother was extremely meticulous about record keeping. His DNA is a perfect match for one of your brothers.”

 

Unable to handle the news, which he had both wanted to hear and yet was apprehensive about hearing, Yamcha sat down on the floor abruptly with a thud.

 

Vegeta eyed Ryouga's new tail then snorted. “Great, just what the universe needed; another hybrid.”

 

“Hmm but those hybrids have a tendency to be really strong.” Hakusai sank down on the floor next to Yamcha. “You ok?”

 

Bulma frowned critically at Vegeta. His words stung, but she wasn't about to admit that. “Well, these `hybrids' may be all that are left of your damned race!” she snapped at him. “And if you don't want any more hybrids, then just leave now!” She spun away from them, storming out the door to her laboratory.

 

Yamcha blinked, looking from Hakusai to Bulma, then back to Hakusai. “I think she's angry....” he said, stating the blatantly obvious.

 

“It would seem. My brother has a tendency to not remember that she is carrying one of those hybrids,” Hakusai said, still squatting down next to him.

 

Vegeta cursed under his breath. ::Damn female. I didn't mean my brat.:: He turned and strode out the door, intent on catching his mate to calm her down. Hakusai smiled as she watched her brother stalk after his mate and then turned back to Yamcha. “No wonder they have bonded. They act alike.”

 

Outside, Vegeta caught up to Bulma. Since she didn't seem interested in stopping to talk with him, he simply scooped her off her feet before she could react. “Stop being so temperamental. I wasn't talking about our brat.”

 

Bulma glared at him, absolutely furious. “Damn you!” she shouted. “Don't you DARE say it's different because it's YOUR child! It is NOT different! Stop treating everyone else as though they are inferior to you! Every time you do that, you're treating ME like I'm inferior! Can't you get that through your thick Saiyan skull?” She slapped him on the face with as much force as she could manage, and then grimaced at the pain that shot through her arm.

 

Vegeta winced at the slap. It hadn't hurt physically, but it struck him emotionally, more deeply than he could have imagined. The warrior stared down at her for several minutes before putting her on her feet, and then he gestured back to the lab. “They probably are going to need you in there.” He turned on his heel and stalked back to the lab. ::So what exactly do you say when she is right?:: he wondered, rubbing his cheek where she had slapped him.

 

Bulma glared angrily after him, watching him walk away. Her hand throbbed with the pain of hitting him, and she suspected she might have cracked a bone or two, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as Vegeta's actions had. Tears stung her eyes as she knew that she was never going to hear an apology from him; he would always act this way no matter what she said or did. He said he loved her, and maybe he did, but he didn't respect her. She felt her heart breaking as she realized he never would. She stood there for several moments, trying to control her emotions. When she felt she had herself under control again she stepped back into the lab.

 

Yamcha had stood up, and he and Gohan were helping Ryouga out of his harness. Hakusai and her sister had turned away, despite the fact that Serori was puzzled at having to do so. Bulma noted that the older woman kept sneaking glances up at one of the overhead mirrors, and when Bulma followed her gaze, noticed it caught a very clear view of the young man's quite aesthetically pleasing posterior. Bulma shook her head, silently sharing a smile with Hakusai.

 

She turned around and waited for the boy to finish getting dressed before turning to face him again. She simply looked at him, too upset to smile at the moment.

 

Ryouga stared at his tail, unable to think. “What do I do now?” he asked them in bewilderment.

 

“I'd suggest learning to control your newfound abilities, and I wouldn't go looking up at any moons in the near future,” Vegeta grumbled.

 

“Yeah, you can go Oozaru now,” Gohan said.

 

When Ryouga just gave him a blank look, Vegeta grunted. “Brat, he doesn't know what that is.”

 

“When Saiyans look up at a full moon we change,” Hakusai explained, eyeing the boy curiously. At Vegeta's snort she continued. “We become very large, bad tempered apes. Until you learn to control to control this, I suggest you be very careful during the full moon.”

 

“I'm not so sure that's a major change,” Bulma muttered darkly, not caring that the others were around.

 

Yamcha glanced at her, startled, then realized from the darkness on her face that she was still upset with Vegeta. He studied her closely, and realized she wasn't angry as much as she was feeling hurt and was lashing out in her pain. He wondered what Vegeta had said to her that had hurt her. He sighed, knowing he wasn't one to talk, since he had done things that annoyed her often enough.

 

Ryouga didn't hear them. He was staring down at his tail, holding it gingerly in one hand. There was a completely lost expression on his face. He knew now that he could never go home again. Despair began to well up in him, stronger than anything he had ever felt before. Even when he had been hurt, when girls had rejected him, he had never felt this lost, this alone.

 

He had never had any sort of permanent home, not with his tendency to wander, but at the same time there were places where he belonged, that he could call `home'. The Tendo dojo was one; Akane would let him stay - always if he was a pig and often even if he wasn't - and his parents' home had been another. But he could never go back again, not to either place. He couldn't go home; how could he tell his parents he was some sort of alien? These people seemed convinced that his parents weren't really his parents. If that was so, how could he face them again? Did they know he wasn't their son? Or did they believe he was, and they would look on him in horror at the changes in him?

 

He stroked the tip of his tail, and was surprised by not only how soft the fur was, but by the incredible tingle of pleasure that shot through him. He was almost tempted to stroke it again, but it felt as if there was something vaguely naughty about it, like it was something you weren't supposed to be caught doing in public.

 

He knew that these people hadn't meant any harm, but they had just casually taken his life and torn it to shreds. He was now lost, more so than he had ever been before - homeless, family-less, alone. He swallowed past the lump in his throat, trying to stifle the tears. “I guess I should go now.” He swallowed again, trying to still the shaking he could hear in his voice. “If that's all right with you, I guess I'll be going.” Blindly he headed towards what he thought was the front door, opening a door to one of Bulma's closets.

 

Serori giggled when the Ryouga wandered into one of the closets, and then walked over to him. She smiled up at him, one of those smiles that only children are capable of, and giggled again. “You are silly, Ryouga-chan. You can't leave that way.”

 

Hakusai tried to stifle a smile. “Ah, Ryouga, I suggest you stay with us for a while. At least until you get your bearings. Yamcha can be a lot of help, considering he only recently found out about his Saiyan heritage.” She joined Ryouga by the closet. “They haven't told you about your other brother yet have they?”

 

Ryouga looked around in confusion. “Other brother?”

 

Yamcha nodded, joy brightening his face. “Yeah, you're my brother. My mother said I had two brothers, they're twins, but I never saw either of them. Either of you.” He swallowed. “You're my brother!” He stepped towards the younger man, not certain if he should embrace him or just shake his hand.

 

Ryouga stared up at Yamcha. He had never seen ANYONE as huge as this man. Yamcha hadn't been around when the others had put Ryouga into the tank, and he wasn't sure what to think. He was afraid of Yamcha at first; Ryouga suspected that even with all of his strength this man could crush him like a bug. Then he looked more closely into the older man's face and saw himself in it.

 

He suddenly realized something that the others had said. “A twin?” he almost squeaked. “I have a twin brother?” He blinked several times, trying to digest this. This HUGE man saying that he was his brother, and that he had a twin somewhere out there.... Who? Who could it be? He wonder if he had met him without knowing it. The idea excited him. He didn't have any brothers and sisters, and had always assumed it was because his parents had never wanted any, but now he had a brother! He looked at Yamcha. Two brothers, in fact.

 

He smiled slowly, and Yamcha smiled back as the two stared at each other.

 

Vegeta who had pretty much been keeping silent though the whole exchange, glanced over at Bulma. She was still looking more than a little peeved at him. He sighed. ::I am sorry, woman,:: he admitted to her silently, secretly glad she wasn't mad enough to block him out. ::It comes from being a prince.::

 

Bulma felt a sharp pain at Vegeta's words. He had apologized, but she didn't feel he meant it. He had still called her `woman', and had felt the need to make an excuse for it. Her throat closed with tears, and she started to choke. ::Just go away, Vegeta! If you can't respect me, then just go away!:: She tore out of the room again, sobbing hysterically. ::I hate you, Vegeta!:: Her thought came back at him, hot and sharp, as she felt the pain deep in her gut and just wanted to send it back to him.

 

Vegeta managed to catch up to the woman in front of him. He stepped in front of her, blocking her path, and stared at her in anger. “What is wrong with you?” he demanded. Her moodiness was making him irritable and he was feeling her emotions as well. That was alarming; he was having enough trouble with his own emotions; he did not need hers bombarding him as well. “I apologized. What more do you want?”

 

“What? What more?” She stared at him incredulously, and then replied scathingly, “Oh, I don't know. What more could I want? After all, you treat everyone around you like you're so much better than everyone! You act so superior! You act as though being a Saiyan,” she spat the word as an epithet, “means that you must automatically be just SO much greater than everyone else! No one who isn't a Saiyan could possibly be as superior as you, could they? Oh, and `half-breeds' are the worst of the lot, because they have your superior Saiyan genes, but they're so polluted by us lowly inferior species! Well, this `lowly species' is what I am a member of, and I would thank you NOT to keep acting that way!”

 

She glared at him, and he glared back, the two of them staring hotly at each other.

 

“It is what I am, if you can not accept this, then maybe we would both be better off if I left,” he snapped at her, but knew it would kill him if he followed through with that threat. It was pure stubbornness on his part that he did not want to change or even admit that she was right.

 

“Maybe it would be!” she snapped back, although deep in her heart she was begging him to stay. She clamped down furiously on that thought, refusing to acknowledge the pain she was already feeling at the idea of him leaving her again. “If I'm so damned inferior to you, then you shouldn't burden yourself with my presence any longer!”

 

A part of her began screaming she needed him, remembering the agony she had been in when he was gone. It was even worse now, knowing his absence had almost killed her, knowing she now carried his child. That child would be a constant reminder of the only man she knew she would ever love.

 

::But if he can't respect me, then I can't respect myself if I stay with him. Oh, why does the one man I have to fall for be the one man who can't accept me as an equal?::

 

Vegeta felt the pain cut through him and even though he was glaring at his mate, every part of his being was screaming at him to just accept the fact that he needed her, no matter what she thought of him. How could he explain that it would take time for him to change? He wasn't even sure he wanted to. The warrior had never been good at vocalizing his feelings and this was one of those times.

 

“You would just let me leave, wouldn't you?” he asked, his voice sounding calm, but there was an underlying pain Bulma could hear, even feel. There was something almost accusing in his voice when he continued. “If you wish me to go, I'll leave.”

 

::It will kill me, but I'll leave.::

 

Bulma sucked in a swift breath. She remembered the shape he had been in when she had seen him, after he had been gone for just a few days. Even if he hadn't been beaten bloody by Yamcha he hadn't wanted to live, and she wasn't sure he would have survived for very long. The memory of that brought tears to her eyes that she couldn't suppress any longer, and they trickled down her face, as the thought of him dying brought a stabbing pain to her heart.

 

::I'll die before I let him die,:: she thought fiercely.

 

She slumped forward, realizing she had been defeated because she loved him too much to allow him to be hurt again that way.

 

“If you leave,” she said in a low voice, “it will be because you can't accept me as your equal. It will be your choice, because you think of me - and everyone else on this planet - as your inferior. It will be because you choose to leave, because you can't accept my terms.” She turned away from him, walking blindly away from him, not caring where she went.

 

Vegeta had trouble breathing as she walked away from him. ::Damn. I won't go through this again,:: he thought to himself mere moments before he found himself moving towards his mate. He came up behind Bulma, wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face against her hair.

 

“Forgive me,” he said quietly. “Please.”

 

Bulma tensed at his touch, and at his words she closed her eyes and shuddered. She turned in his arms and wrapped her own arms around him, resting her cheek against his shoulder. It was several seconds before the lump in her throat eased enough for her to be able to speak.

 

“I do forgive you, Vegeta. I love you. I just wish....” She shuddered again, and another tear rolled down her face. “I just wish you could respect me. I know that... I know that you are you, and maybe that means you never will, and that I have to live with it and accept it and I don't want you to leave because I love you too much and I have to take you as you are....” She was babbling almost incoherently as she spoke against his neck. Little tremors ran through her frame as she began to sob softly again.

 

Vegeta relaxed, as much as he ever did, when Bulma turned and embraced him. “I do respect you, I am just....”

 

He trailed off, wondering how he could explain himself, knowing that a few months earlier he would never even have considered doing such a thing. He sighed. ::No one ever said that bonding was this much work..::

 

“Marry me,” he said after a moment. Even though they were bonded to one another, they were not married, and Vegeta rationalized that it might make her more secure that he wouldn't leave. “Please.”

 

Bulma pulled her face away from his shoulder, and looked into his face, her own tear streaked face a mask of confusion. “M-marry?” she hiccupped softly as her sobs subsided. “You want to m-marry me? But I thought... I thought Saiyans didn't marry!”

 

“We marry, just not often,” he said brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Most Saiyans did not want to face the weakness of a long term mate or even a long term lover. But you....” He paused as he gazed into her eyes. “You make me want... no, need things I had no idea I'd ever desire.” He gave her a rueful smile. “You are making me soft.”

 

Vegeta leaned forward and kissed the end of her nose. “So, Bulma, do you wish to be my wife?”

 

Bulma stared at him in confusion, her eyes lost and vulnerable as they stared into his. She nodded almost imperceptibly, as tears shimmered on her eyelashes. “You're not... you're not doing this because you think you have to, are you? It's not... not just because it's what you think I want? If it's not what you want....” Her lashes lowered, as her gaze fixed itself on the tip of his boot. “If it's not what you want, then I don't want to marry you. I can't... I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do. Ever.”

 

Vegeta snorted. “When have you ever known me to do anything I did not want to do? And this was my idea so you are not forcing me to do anything.”

 

Bulma blinked, and then looked at him critically. She tried to imagine him in a tuxedo, but couldn't imagine him doing anything other than getting impatient with it and tearing it off of himself. ::He would look terrific in it, though,:: she thought clinically. Then it occurred to her that what she thought a wedding was, and what he thought it was, might not be the same thing.

 

::But it's what we think of the marriage, not the wedding, that really matters, right?::

 

She slid her arms around his waist again, holding him tightly. “Of course I'll marry you, Vegeta,” she murmured softly. “I can't imagine wanting to be with anyone else.”

 

“Why would you want anyone else?” he said with a smirk. “I am the only one in the universe who could put up with you.” When she looked like she was about to protest he covered her mouth with his, effectively silencing anything she might have said. “Have any plans for the afternoon?” he asked, after he had rendered Bulma breathless with his kiss.

 

“Well, I have to....” She blinked, thinking of the work she needed to do on the DNA analyzer, as well as the moon visors. Then she smiled at him. “No, no plans at all.”

 

Bulma gave a squeak of surprise when Vegeta reached under her knees and took to the air. “Good,” he said after Bulma had wiggled comfortably against him. “There is someplace I want you to see. And I should warn you we won't be back until tomorrow.” He smirked down at her. “LATE tomorrow.”

 

Bulma smiled and leaned her cheek against his chest with a sigh. She listened to his heartbeat as she felt the wind whipping around them, and she knew he was flying very fast, based on the pitch of the wind. She also knew he must be using his ki to shield them from the worst of the wind chill factor; she suspected that it was automatic, since otherwise the wind would rip their clothing to shreds, and he usually didn't come home with shredded clothing. Well, except when he was throwing ki blasts at himself to `toughen up', which she thought was a silly process.

 

She slid her hand around his pectorals, as her other arm slid behind his back, and she leaned against him contentedly.

 

To be continued.....

 

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And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Ryouga learns a little about Saiyans, Hakusai learns something about Chikyuu.