Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ As Loyalty Can Be ❯ A place to stay ( Chapter 4 )

(4)

Vegeta stood straight and unmoving, stiff and still, rooted in the same spot he had been most of the night. The sky was slowly turning grey, putting the stars out one at a time. He could see the silhouettes of the mountains clearly now, a jagged ridge where there had only been black against black sky. He breathed, taking the cool air deep into his lungs.

He could have been anywhere; these mountains under the stars could have been on any planet. But this was where he had stayed, settled, all because of her.

::: "Vegeta." He was lying in the grass, the well-cut grass in the garden of Capsule Corporation. "Vegeta?" He was watching the clouds twisting and reshaping themselves. Stretching and folding.

She stopped beside him, the sun painting her contours golden. Go away. "Aren't you ever going to change out of that armor? Come on, it's kind of macabre, don't you think, with that hole in the front and all." Shut up, shut up, shut up. But he didn't tell her to leave. She had fallen silent, and the shade was restful on his eyes. :::

 

("The idea of us as a couple is over.")

The idea.

In her mind. She had been the one with the standards, the expectations...the rules of the game that she wanted him to play.

("You are a lousy boyfriend.")

He raised his head to take in the stars that were still showing despite the light at the horizon.

("I want to give him a chance to have a proper father in his life.")

A shift in the air, suddenly. He was not alone. He tensed, but didn't turn as he listened to the sound of footsteps slowly approaching, coming to a hesitating halt some distance behind him. Waiting. His shoulders relaxed slightly and that seemed to be enough. A few more steps and the other came to stand next to him there on the edge of the cliff.

Vegeta turned his head to look at Goku's serene profile, at the thick hair that rested against his forehead. The other man glanced to the side, meeting Vegeta's gaze with eyes that appeared almost luminous, bright within dark edges.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked. Getting no answer, he didn't press further, only turned back to study the horizon. Yet Vegeta thought he could see some hesitation, a tentativeness that was explained by the next, faltering question. "Has... Bulma talked to you?"

"Yes." He tone was dry and dismissive. Though he found that the undivided attention he was receiving made the next words softer then intended. "I prefer not to talk about it."

"Okay, Vegeta." The response was readily given, dark head lowered slightly. Hm.

"When I saw you standing here, looking at the stars," Goku resumed carefully, "I got the impression that you were thinking about leaving."

Had he been? "Perhaps. There's nothing special about this precious Earth of yours." On any planet, the same jagged silhouettes.

"Well, I hope you're staying."

There it was again, the same frank statement. And just like yesterday in the garden Vegeta was stunned, hearing the words as the simple truth. Kakarott really wanted him to stay. It was a blow that went past all defences, sending him reeling.

You assume a lot, Kakarott.

Aloud he didn't say anything, just looked down into the valley, still dark, though the tips of the mountains were bathing in sunshine.

"Isn't it great?" Goku spoke up. "I love watching the sunrise, don't you?"

Vegeta's answering glance was filled with incredulity. What possible reason could Kakarott have to ask him something like that? What purpose...? His eyes widened in realization. Kararott was attempting to be sociable. The question served no other purpose then to form a thread between the two of them.

It was yet another blow that he didn't know how to block. What was with him anyway? He would definitely have to do something about this.

"Hey," Goku said brightly, as if he had just gotten an idea. "Do you want to come with me so I can show you something?"

"What now, Kakarott?" His voice was impatient, but when the other man rose from the cliff, he followed after only a brief moment of hesitation.

----

Goku studied the ground below. There! There was the river and there... He landed neatly in front of the old stone and wooden building. He turned around to see Vegeta take land and sharply studying the green surroundings. Next Vegeta's watchful gaze was nailed to Goku, who shrugged uncomfortably under the direct scrutiny.

"Well, this is the house where I used to live when I was little. With my grandfather." Vegeta's direct stare didn't waver; he looked like he was waiting for some kind of performance. Goku added, rather defensively, "I have been meaning to visit it again."

Vegeta was sure making him nervous. Goku couldn't let go of his earlier statement that there wasn't anything special about Earth. It kept echoing in his mind. Making him wonder what Vegeta was thinking of this place, making him doubt the validity of his own attachments.

If he had come alone, he was sure, it would have been different. He would listen to the birds, and their singing would be exactly the same as it had been all this time ago, when he had sat on this very spot, playing with rounded stones, to young even to walk. Hearing the birds sing. The memories would have been so clear.

"Me and Chichi live over there." He gestured vaguely and Vegeta turned his head to look. There was nothing to see though, the house lay several miles away, deeply obscured by the high green hills. Goku laughed, embarrassed.

It had to be the knowledge of what Bulma had done that made him feel so at a loss. He didn't know how to respond to that. If it had been Krillin instead, if he had known that Krillin was hurting, he would have offered his sympathy together with his smile. He wouldn't say much, letting his friend do most of the talking and even if the actual problem never come up, Goku would still get the impression that he was helping.

Krillin wouldn't make him feel like he didn't know what he was doing.

Goku looked around and tried to gather some of the memories that should surround this place.

"I must have been a handful for the old man. I seem to recall him constantly telling me things like 'stay here' or 'don't go there' and I always found myself doing just what he told me not to. I just couldn't help it. I mean... look." Taking a few steps, he pointed down the slope to the foaming stream. "Doesn't that look like the perfect playground?" He remembered how it had felt to jump from stone to stone, the thrill of the water rushing by. "Sometimes I would fall into the water and that was the most fun of all!" He laughed, feeling the pull of the stream, grabbing him and tossing him as if it had been a living thing. "And look at..."

He fell silent when he became aware that Vegeta had stepped right up to him and that his eyes were fixed, not at the river, but at him. On Vegeta's face was a strange, wistful look, like he was listening to a faraway dream.

"Ah..." Goku backed away a step. "You want to look inside the house?"

Vegeta shrugged noncommittally and followed him to the sturdy, red-painted front door. The doorframe was so low that Goku had to bow down slightly as he stepped inside.

"It even smells the same!" Goku breathed deeply the subtle composition of wood and smoke and something warm and cozy like cotton or wool. He drew his palm over the smooth surface of the low dining table. "My grandfather made this. And here," he laughed, "here are marks from my teeth, all around the edges." He caressed the small incisions with his index finger. Absently he rubbed his palms together, wiping the dust away.

"And look at this." He walked up to a large iron stove, taking up the farthest corner of the room. He patted it, almost expecting it to be warm to the touch. "Grandpa said he remembered this from when he was a kid, so it's really old!"

"Oh yeah? You could have fooled me."

Goku glanced at Vegeta. The other man was leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed, studying him like he presented a most interesting spectacle. When Goku turned towards him, he raised both his eyebrows, as if to say 'impressive'. Funny, he couldn't tell if he had ever seen Vegeta look this relaxed.

"Really, Kakarott. This is what you wanted me to see? Do..." Vegeta fell silent and a thoughtful look crossed his face. Then he laughed, a brief ha-ha sound that made Goku blink. "You brought me here to offer me a place to stay, didn't you?"

"Er... not really." Not really. When Vegeta had made his comment about Earth, Goku had ransacked his mind, trying to come up with something that might make him think differently. Something that might make him want to stay. The one thing that had come to his mind was this house. The greatest place in the world. Right.

"Thank you, Kakarott." Thank you? "But I think I already have somewhere to stay." Vegeta stepped over the threshold, his hair brushing against the low doorpost. He turned around, giving Goku a astonishing half-smile. "I'll let you be alone with your memories."

For a long minute, Goku stared wide-eyed at the empty door where Vegeta had disappeared. Then he smiled, grinned widely as he stepped into the morning sun.

"Oh well," he said in a low voice. "I do think I managed to cheer him up."

---

"God morning, Vegeta."

Vegeta looked up from his breakfast plate to give Bulma a nod. She looked tired, he noticed, like she hadn't slept at all. Pulling out a chair, she sat down opposite him, leaning her elbows on the table, chin in her hands.

"So..." she said slowly, gently.”How are you?"

"Fine." Short and clipped.

"Good... good." She sat silent, watching him eat, before taking a deep breath. "There are some things that we need to discuss."

"Yes?" He pushed the plate away and mimicked her position, chin in hands. He could see her eyes widen with this sudden, almost playful, show of attention.

"Well," she said. "What are your plans?"

"My plans?"

"Yes. For starters, where are you going to live? Not that you aren't welcome here," she said in a rush. "It's not like we don't already have separate rooms. What I mean is, you're welcome to stay if you want." She flushed in confusion, squirming under their tight eye contact.

"I know," he said simply. "I'm counting on it."

"You are?" She blinked. He guessed that this conversation didn't go quite as she had expected. "Alright..." she said slowly. She leaned back in her chair, putting one leg across the other. "Are you sure, Vegeta? You know I might find someone I like. Some guy. Don't you think that might be a bit... awkward. Him and me. Here. Together."

Possibly she looked a bit hurt when he just shrugged.

"Listen." He paused to collect his thoughts. In truth, what she was saying was affecting him more then he cared to admit. But at the same time..."You're expecting me to react according to a fabrication that's in the past." He chose the words carefully, not so much explaining to her, as trying to make it clear to himself. "The thing you ended last night was nothing but a structure that you had created. It never really existed, but still it constituted the frames of both our realties."

"Wow, Vegeta." She smiled briefly, eyes sparkling. "It's been some time since I heard you speak so much in one go. But you know...that was just a pile of words." Smart woman. "I take it, though, since you plan to stay, that you want us to be friends. I also assume that this means that you will make some kind of effort to... at least communicate with Trunks. I will not have you hurting him with your neglect."

"Whatever." That too, he might have added, was just a pile of words. "I'm satisfied with the present arrangements, for now."

"Me too." This time, the smile lingered. "I'm relieved that you still want to play a part in Trunk's life, even after what I said. This way will be easier on him, I think. Although I hadn't expected you..." She stopped herself, clearly thinking that whatever she was going to say might anger him, but then she chose to continue. Dauntless. It was one of the things he admired about her. "You know we like to give things away in my family. Why, just a few days ago I gave Yamcha a car that probably cost more than all the food you have ever eaten in this house. I was sure, however, since we are no longer together, that your pride wouldn't let you accept what my family and I have to offer."

"No?" He leaned back in the chair, smirking at her, deliberately assuming a superior manner. "I am Vegeta. It is my due."

She smirked right back, recognizing the game. "In that case... your highness... we're honoured to have you with us.”