Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Wake Up Calls ( Chapter 99 )

A Light in the Darkness - Part 99: Wake Up Calls
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

 

PAIRING: None
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: none
C&C: Please! ^_^
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, Ranma, and Ryouga 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 characters of Ranma Saotome and 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 I doubt anyone cares. ^_~
SUMMARY: The Z warriors wait for Kabu to arrive, and Vegeta spends some quality time with his son.
NOTES: The rest of this story is completely unbeta'd, as I can't seem to find a beta who will be as brutal or thorough as I like, and will get me chapters back in what I feel is a timely manner. I have, however, had training as an editor, and I've edited the remainder of this pretty thoroughly. I would simply like people to be aware that no one else has gone through it to catch any errors or inconsistencies, so it may be more flawed than I realize.

 

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Vegeta slipped on his bodysuit and headed downstairs, intent on speaking alone with his son. As he stepped into the kitchen to replicate some breakfast, he noted that Bulma's cleaning and repair robots had fixed the kitchen already. He wasn't surprised, but it was one more proof of his mate's efficiency.

 

::You are awake early. That is good.::

 

Trunks started slightly in surprise at Vegeta's mental voice. He had been absorbed in his thoughts, and hadn't been aware that his father had come downstairs. Vegeta seemed to sense this, and Trunks could feel his disapproval in his mental tone.

 

::You need to be careful, brat,:: Vegeta told his son. ::And more aware of your surroundings. I would suggest you be more on guard around the General and her people.::

 

::Father?:: Trunks thought back at him, startled by his father's thoughts inserted directly into his mind. He hadn't grown up with telepathic contact the way Vegeta had; there had been no Saiyans alive in his time, so no one to teach him of the natural abilities of their race.

 

::Why?:: Trunks asked warily. ::Do you think they plan treachery?::

 

Vegeta snorted derisively. ::Let's just say Kabu doesn't know her place yet. There is always the possibility her people won't like her authority usurped. When you have had power for as long as she has, it is hard to give it up. Especially to a whelp who has never seen half the things she has. Watch your back, brat. I will be disappointed if you get yourself killed.::

 

Trunks nodded thoughtfully, despite the fact that his father couldn't see it. ::Yes, father. I'll be careful.::

 

He thought about Kabu and the other Saiyans and nodded again. He wasn't entirely sure how he would be able to fight several hundred Saiyans if it came down to it, but he would do his best. He had survived against Cell almost entirely by himself, and he knew he could survive this as well. Or so he hoped at least.

 

::I'll keep an eye on them,:: Trunks promised his father. ::Where is mother?::

 

::In her room.:: Trunks could feel the amusement in Vegeta's mental tone. ::She will be down, brat. You will get to say your good-byes.::

 

Trunks couldn't hide the smile that twitched at the corners of his mouth. He had felt his father's rising ki earlier that morning, and then had heard Vegeta's unashamed expression of pleasure, and he knew what they had done earlier.

 

::There's no rush,:: he assured Vegeta. ::I'm sure Kabu will wait until you tell her it's time for us to leave. And if she doesn't....:: He shrugged easily. ::I don't think the few of us could stop them from doing what they wanted, anyway. There are a lot more of them than there are of us.::

 

Vegeta chuckled again. ::I think we could do more damage to them than you think,:: he replied. ::There are several Super Saiyans on this planet. No matter how many of them there are, we could handle them. However, I like the idea of ruling my people once again, so I would prefer not to kill them. And once I am unfit to rule, you will take my place.::

 

Trunks frowned. He thought his father underestimated the power of sheer numbers. He had seen weaker opponents overpower someone much greater in power, just by overwhelming numbers. They didn't always win, but they could often cause the outnumbered opponent to at least back off. And these were Saiyans - they weren't weaklings by any means. In a one-on-one battle his family would win, but these Saiyans had battle experience, and he didn't think they would be pushovers.

 

::I'll do my best,:: he promised, then smiled when he felt his mother's faint ki coming closer. ::Mother's coming downstairs. You might not want to leave a mess in the kitchen. That's the one thing that would always make her angry with me.::

 

::Brat, your mother is always angry about something. Now get in here and greet her, before she thinks you have already left.::

 

“Why did you have to take another shower, woman?” Vegeta grunted at Bulma as she entered the room, her hair still damp from her shower. “You weren't dirty. I don't know why a little sweat bothers you humans.”

 

Bulma shot him a sour look, refusing to be drawn into an argument at the moment. “Why do you have to spoil every tender moment we have, Vegeta? Do you want me to hate you? If you do, I'll be happy to oblige.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a baleful look.

 

Vegeta chuckled. “If I was nice to you, woman, you would think I suffered a brain injury.”

 

Bulma continued to scowl at him. “If you were nice to me, I might think you actually cared about me!” she snarled at him.

 

“You know I do,” he replied, pushing away his now-empty plate. “But I suppose you have to hear it every five seconds.”

 

“No, I think once every five minutes is enough.” Bulma glared at him defiantly. “Well?”

 

Vegeta chuckled as he stood up and pulled her against his chest, then kissed her deeply.

 

“Ai shiteru, Bulma,” he murmured against her mouth.

 

Bulma's eyes closed as she melted into his embrace, and she was unaware of the kitchen door opening for a moment before shutting again.

 

Outside, Trunks smiled as he watched the slowly lightening skies, as he placed his now-empty tray on the porch near the door. It made him happy to know that his parents loved each other so passionately. He had no idea if it would last until his younger self was his own age, but at least this time they would be given a chance to try.

 

He relaxed against the railing of the porch as the sun continued to rise, and allowed his thoughts to drift lazily around. He could feel the ki of Yamcha's two half-brother's rising slightly and beginning to move around; they must be awake now, and ready to come downstairs. Yamcha and his wife were still sleeping soundly, Trunks noticed with some amusement, but he hoped they would be awake in time to see him off. He thought Yamcha might want to say good-bye to Kabu; those two seemed to have some unresolved issues, and Trunks hoped that some of those things might be worked out.

 

He had the feeling that Yamcha's two younger brothers had spoken to their mother the previous day, and although he didn't know the specifics, he was under the impression they had had a long talk before they had joined the others in the kitchen. They had seemed easier with each other at that point, or at least the two boys did; Kabu was too reserved to be read easily.

 

He sighed, then waited a few more minutes before re-entering the kitchen with the tray, to see his parents simply holding each other and looking into one another's eyes.

 

Vegeta looked over his shoulder and smirked at his son before releasing Bulma from his hold. “Go say hello to your son, woman. He won't be here long.” He looked back at Trunks and arched a brow. “But he won't be gone long, either.”

 

Bulma pulled away from Vegeta abruptly, running towards her future son and embracing him tightly. “Trunks, I want you to come back safely!” she scolded him tearfully.

 

Trunks smiled at her back, realizing that scolding him was her way of expressing her concern and affection for him. It was the way she had been in the past - or in the future, technically, since this was the past - although eventually she had learned to be more expressive with him.

 

She pulled back and looked at Vegeta. “Not long? He has to find a planet that's both inhabitable and uninhabited. That won't be easy!”

 

Trunks smiled at that. “I'll be back in a few months, mother. Do you think I won't want to be around for my own birth?” His smile faded and he looked earnestly into her eyes. “That doesn't mean we'll stop looking if we haven't found anything by then. But I want to be back here then, for you. And we'll be back to help father and the rest of you fight the androids and Cell. I didn't come all this way into the past just to let all of you die again.”

 

He smirked then, his expression looking uncannily like his father's, barring the coloration of his hair and eyes. “I really don't think that Cell and the androids will have much chance against several hundred Saiyans, do you?”

 

Bulma smiled back at him, her eyes twinkling. “No, I would say they're going to be facing something they can't even imagine!”

 

Vegeta smirked. “They will certainly be in for a surprise. And it will give Kabu's troops something to look forward to.”

 

He looked up, studying the ceiling, then looked back at Bulma. “Ranma and Ryouga are awake,” Vegeta snorted. “But my sister and her idiot husband are not.”

 

Bulma shot Vegeta a skeptical look. He still referred to Yamcha as an idiot, yet he had made the larger man his bodyguard. She didn't think he would have done that if he didn't have some respect for the demi-Saiyan. There might have been some initial jealousy, but she suspected much of that had been alleviated when Yamcha had begun seeing Hakusai.

 

“You know, you are going to have to train with that `idiot husband' of hers if you want him to be your bodyguard.” Bulma's eyes twinkled mischievously as another thought occurred to her. “Vegeta, since Goku is now my bodyguard, I suppose he's going to have to be around me all day.” She gave a mock sigh of resignation. “He'll have to be around me all day when I'm alone in the lab, while you and Yamcha are out training....”

 

Vegeta tried not to flinch when she said it. Though it had been his idea, the thought of having Goku around was annoying. “Hakusai will be here as well. I doubt Yamcha is going to let her train in her condition.” He snorted. “Then again, she will most likely want to fight even more.”

 

Bulma frowned at that comment. Why would Hakusai want to fight even more? And was he implying that Hakusai would act as chaperone? She had been hoping to tease Vegeta into a jealous comment, but he seemed oblivious to her innuendo. She was sure Goku would want to train with the others and would be unhappy at being forced to do nothing just to be her `bodyguard'. And she would get annoyed with him hanging around her all the time. No, she would absolutely insist that he train with the others - having Hakusai around, and some way of communicating with the others, would be sufficient if anything were to happen to her.

 

At that moment, the twin brothers of Yamcha made their way downstairs, somehow managing to be even noisier than Goku would have been. Gohan and Serori were right behind them, watching them curiously, wondering why Ryouga had to be led by someone else.

 

Gohan beamed at everyone when they reached the kitchen. “Konnichiwa, Bulma-san! Is there anything for breakfast?”

 

The blue-haired genius blinked at the sudden onslaught of young demi-Saiyans, then pointed to the food replicator. “You remember how to use it, don't you Gohan?” she asked her young friend. “Why don't you four make yourselves something to eat, while Vegeta and I say good-bye to Trunks?”

 

She turned to her future son with a smile. “Let's go outside for a bit.”

 

Trunks smiled back at her, and held out his arm automatically. He was used to walking with her this way, since his father had never been around in his past. Bulma took his arm and smiled back at Vegeta, inviting him silently to join them.

 

~~~*~~~

 

Gohan and the other youngsters watched Vegeta and his family head out to the porch, then he smiled at Serori. “Hey, Serori. Maybe we should wake Yamcha and your sister up. They want to say good bye to Trunks, don't they? Yamcha will want to see his mother before she leaves again, right?”

 

Serori beamed at him. “Yeah! If we don't wake them up, Hakusai will sleep until noon.”

 

Gohan shook his head. “I don't think they want to wait that long. We better go wake them up. Come on!” He grabbed Serori's hand without waiting for an answer, and the two of them literally flew through the house to the wing where the two adult Saiyans were still sleeping.

 

Ranma and Ryouga shared a glance, then Ranma shrugged. “Guess they ain't hungry,” the newly discovered half-Saiyan commented, as he continued to press buttons on the replicator. He had only just learned to use the machine the previous day and only knew how to replicate a few things on it, but a hundred or so hot dogs would be enough to assuage their hunger.

 

Serori giggled when Gohan came to a sudden stop outside the door. “Think we oughta knock?”

 

“Knock?” Gohan scratched his head. “I suppose so.”

 

He knocked lightly at the door. When they had waited a few seconds for an answer, the two impatient children sighed noisily.

 

“Maybe we should just go in,” Gohan suggested. “I don't think they're awake yet.”

 

Serori nodded. “Let's go.”

 

She opened up the door slowly. She was used to this sort of thing. Serori crept into the room, not caring one whit that Hakusai and Yamcha were nude.

 

“Oi, Hakusai.” Serori, shook her older sister's arm, hoping she would wake up from the slight nudge. “You try Yamcha,” she told Gohan. “I'll work on Hakusai.”

 

Gohan nodded, then leaned over his friend. “Yamcha, wake up,” he whispered, touching his friend's arm. He looked up at Serori when it didn't seem to do any good, then realized there was no point in whispering if they were trying to wake them up anyway. “Yamcha, wake up!” he said more loudly, shaking Yamcha's arm a little harder.

 

When that still had no response, he grinned, and flew up into the air. “Come on, Serori. Let's wake them up!” he called out to her, from where he hovered over the two Saiyans in the bed.

 

Serori grinned, floated above the sleeping pair and winked. Gohan lifted a hand in the air, and held up three fingers. “When I count to three, we jump on them.” He closed his fist, then counted up, lifting a finger with each number. “One... two... three!” he shouted, and the two of them flew full force towards the two adults on the bed.

 

Both adults awoke with a shout of surprise, leaping out of bed into combat position. They were both unaware for the moment of their nudity as they scanned the room, prepared to fight whatever enemy had attacked them.

 

Serori giggled. “Morning Hakusai!” she greeted as the older woman's gaze settled on her. “We wanted to wake you up before Trunks left.”

 

Yamcha stared at the two kids, awareness finally dawning on him that it wasn't an enemy facing them, but just two children. It took him even longer to realize that the two of them were in their bedroom... and that neither he nor Hakusai were clothed.

 

“AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!” he screamed, grabbing the sheet from the bed and covering himself up quickly. At the curious looks of the others, he glanced at Hakusai and screamed again. He threw the other blanket on the bed at her hastily. “Hakusai! They're kids! You gotta put something on!”

 

Hakusai grinned at him. “Yes, they are kids.” She wrapped the blanket around her and continued to chuckle. “Who needs alarm clocks when we have you two?” She reached over and ruffled Serori's hair. “We will be down, brat. Get going.”

 

Serori nodded. “Come on, Gohan. They need to get dressed.”

 

Gohan grinned at them and waved, not really understanding why Yamcha was so upset. He and Serori tore off to the kitchen again, since they hadn't yet eaten breakfast.

 

Yamcha panted breathlessly, still clutching the blanket to the front of himself desperately. He was looking more than a little wild-eyed as his eyes darted around the room, as though expecting to see more Saiyans popping out of the woodwork.

 

“Serori does that kind of thing all the time. You get used to it.” Hakusai made her way over to Yamcha, letting the blanket drop as she approached him. “Or are you embarrassed that they got to see your butt?”

 

A pale blush stained Yamcha's cheeks. They had seen a lot more than just his butt. “Well, you know.... I've never had anyone see me without my clothes on before,” he muttered in embarrassment. “Until you, that is. Except Pu'ar,” he added absently.

 

“I don't know what you are embarrassed about,” she purred at him, eyes twinkling merrily. “You have a great physique.”

 

If anything, the blush on Yamcha's cheeks deepened further. “Well... ah....” He put one hand behind his head as his eyes dropped to the floor, his discomfiture increasing. “You know!” He looked up at Hakusai nervously. “We're just not supposed to let other people see us without our clothes on!”

 

Hakusai grinned. “It's just a body, Yamcha,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. “It's not like anything else was involved. Humans have interesting ideas about nudity, don't they?”

 

Yamcha continued to blush, even though Hakusai's breasts pressing into his chest were giving him other ideas. “I'm half human, you know,” he muttered. “And so are my brothers. I can't help it how we were raised. I was taught to always cover myself up,” he explained.

 

“Hmmmmm...” she murmured as she trailed her fingers down his back to rest right above his tail. “I see. Well, I suppose I can deal with your shyness.” Her fingers brushed lightly over the fur. “I guess you'll have to get used to me. Besides, in a few months I won't be a slim as I am now.”

 

He gave her a startled look. He had forgotten for a moment that she was carrying his child. It wasn't something he had expected, to have a family so suddenly. He didn't mind it, but it wasn't really what he had ever planned. Then he remembered that it was what he had planned - when he had been younger he had wanted to get the dragonballs so he could get over his fear of women and get married.

 

Then Bulma had come along and everything had changed. He had never entirely gotten over his fear, but he had gotten over the worst of it, and was able to live a fairly normal life. Other than the fact that he still hadn't been able to get himself to touch a woman. Not until Hakusai, at least.

 

Before he could say anything though, his stomach growled loudly, making its wishes known. As though answering him, Hakusai's stomach growled as well, and Yamcha smiled at her.

 

“I forgot how much Saiyans need to eat,” he said sheepishly. Let's get ourselves some breakfast before we get weak like Goku always does when he gets hungry.” He picked up his bodysuit and then shot her a pleading look. “But please put something on before you go out there!”

 

The look Hakusai gave him was all innocence. “Ahhh, you take away all my fun, anata.” She winked at him before going to the closet and finding something to wear. “I suppose,” she called out over her shoulder, “that you want to say good-bye to your mother.”

 

“Uh... yeah,” he agreed. He wasn't entirely sure what he wanted to say to her, but somehow he felt that there was more to be said. They hadn't spoken much the day before - Kabu had let him know that she had always been proud of him, and somehow, without saying it in so many words, he knew she regretted leaving him behind. He didn't entirely understand her, but he did forgive her. And despite everything, he still adored her the way he had when he had been only a child.

 

When the two of them were dressed they headed downstairs to the kitchen, to find Yamcha's younger brothers and both Gohan and Serori devouring platters of chicken and steaks, as well as other dishes of rice and fish. Yamcha was surprised at eating such heavy foods so early in the morning, but his suddenly demanding stomach told him that he wanted to join them as well.

 

Hakusai grinned at Yamcha's expression. “Well, shall we? I am starving.” She looked around, as if searching for something, then grinned. “Vegeta and Bulma are with Trunks. I think they are having some quality time.”

 

“Mmmm...” Yamcha didn't have any idea how one could have `quality time' with Vegeta, but he wasn't going to press it. Instead he piled his plate with food, and he and Hakusai joined the other four at the table to eat.

 

To be continued.....

 

~~~~~*~~~~~

 

And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Vegeta, Bulma, and Trunks discuss the future.