Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Attachments Detached ❯ Chapter 17 ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17

Hours later, he glanced up from an almost black page to the sound of a motorcycle stopping. He put the pen and pad on the table beside him and wondered if he should try to go meet her. No, bad enough he would have to sit here and have her not care; but to hobble out and receive her pity? He wouldn't sink that low.

ChiChi opened the door, smiling at the woman who looked as if she was having second thoughts in coming here. Those thoughts were erased by ChiChi's next words. "Vegeta's in the second room to your left."

Bulma nodded her thanks and hurried to the indicated room.

Vegeta looked up as the door opened, cursing his heart for beating so loudly, having the inane anxiety that she would hear it. He watched a blue head poke around the door and tried to stop from looking wide-eyed at the color. He had to control himself now more than ever.

Bulma glanced in the room, eyes immediately locking on Vegeta lying halfway upright on the bed. Well, he didn't look injured, but then again, the shadows from the setting sun were casting right over him and the blanket was almost pulled up to his stomach. All she could clearly see were his eyes, glittering blackly at her; never wavering. Was he still angry with her? Did he even want to see her?

Vegeta watched her pause, wondering with a pang if she would even step fully into the room or just leave him there since she knew he was alive. He narrowed his eyes, trying to silently will her in.

Bulma took the narrowed-eyed look as a challenge, as if he was daring her to approach him. She did so, closing the door firmly behind her as testament to her conviction. Vegeta's eyes relaxed slightly, and he inwardly breathed a sigh of relief, though he didn't know if this would be better or worse.

Bulma decided that it would have to be her to break the ice. "Vegeta?" Well, that sure did it. He didn't even know what she was asking.

Vegeta reached to pick up the pad and pen and turned at a scoffing sound. He was a little surprised at the look on Bulma's face, a mixture of disbelief and anger. "So what? I'm not good enough to talk to? You're going to spend your time with a piece of paper?" Her arms folded across her chest and she glanced away.

Of course, her looking away defeated the only way he had of communicating with her. He tried to let out a shout of frustration as she turned away from him to walk out the door only to get a shooting pain in his throat for his troubles. So he did the next best thing.

Bulma whirled around at the giant crash to see Vegeta had half-levered himself up to smash his hand through the table. It now lay in splinters beside the bed. She looked wide-eyed at the state of rage he was apparently in. His face was flushed and his breaths came in great heaves. His eyes were the worst yet; she saw such pain and helpless frustration there she could've cried.

Vegeta hurriedly picked up the pen and paper and wrote on it, flipping it quickly around so she could view the words in big, bold letters on it. In some places it looked as if the pen had gone through the paper.

'I CAN'T TALK'

Her hand half flew to her mouth and halted. She took one tentative step forward; then another, watching as Vegeta slowly lowered the notepad and reached up to lower the bandage she hadn't even seen, hidden by shadows. She gasped at the red gashes that ran across his neck like canyons, raw and angry, looking fresh if not for the fact that they seemed to have been tended.

He put the bandage back on, his face the epitome of displeasure. He hated that look she was giving him. It was a 'poor Vegeta is crippled' expression. He curled his lip in disgust as tears welled up in her eyes. He again wrote on the pad.

This time, she stepped forward to take it, but he did not hand the paper to her, rather threw it on the bed.

'Stop that! I am not an invalid!'

Bulma rolled her eyes. "I never said you were! Jeez, Vegeta! You were gone for almost a day! I thought they'd taken you or something!"

Vegeta shook his head, picking up the pad and again handing her his words after he had finished writing them. This seemed like such an impersonal way to talk. There was no emotion. It was as if he could distance himself doing this.

'I am fine.'

Then again, she 'heard' the emphasis on the first word. She swallowed, looking at him fearfully. "Where's Kakarott?"

He glanced away momentarily and her hand did go to her mouth this time. She sat down hard on the bed. "No…."

The word was softly spoken, but Vegeta heard it and frowned at the girl. He waved the paper he held so it made a noise, catching her attention. 'He died in battle. ChiChi was his mate.'

She read the last sentence again, deciding to ignore the first. "What do you mean by 'mate'?"

Vegeta looked to be heaving a sigh and she noticed the dark look that crossed his eyes as no sound emerged. 'Saiyans can form a sort of connection with those they become intimate with. I do not think Kakarott got that far with her, but she is her mate. They shared something. She is with child.'

Bulma looked up at him. "You can smell it?"

He nodded silently.

"And-he's dead?"

Another nod, this time with troubled eyes. Again Bulma felt the tears well up, trying to control them so he wouldn't see. She heard the noise of paper rattling, but instead of giving her another message, he just looked at her; head tilted to one side slightly, his eyes darting into hers as if trying to find something.

Unable to contain all that had happened in just a few moments' span, Bulma heaved herself forward onto Vegeta, clinging to him and sobbing.

Vegeta's eyes were a comic display of surprise and bewilderment. One arm instinctively went around her to keep her from falling off the bed and taking him with her. He looked down at her head, relishing in the color even as he felt a tiny pain at the wracking of her body. Slowly, his other arm joined its match, wrapping her firmly and securely in their grip.

He cursed the fate that had left him unable to say anything and rubbed his hands on her back, wishing the heart-wrenching sobs would stop or slow down. Her body was shaking so badly he was having trouble holding her.

Slowly, the quaking of her body slowed, although she did shudder as more sobs came unbidden to her throat. Vegeta tightened his hold on her momentarily; then tried to disengage, feeling uncomfortable with such emotion. A warrior did not show such sorrow. He pushed it aside and fought on.

However, Bulma was in no state to cope on her own and was not a warrior. She whimpered, clinging to him even tighter. She had just lost someone who had been like a brother to her. He shouldn't have died, not him….

She felt Vegeta's chest rise and fall with an unheard sigh and then felt a hand reach down and guide her legs onto the bed, so that she lay stretched out beside him, the hand retreating to its original position.

She heaved a sigh herself, snuggling into him and trying to ignore his sudden tension. He relaxed under her after a few seconds and she smiled softly. "Thanks, Vegeta."

Of course, there was no reply in words, just a squeezing of one of the hands on her back. She looked up at him to see a curious expression on his face. He was gazing at her in uncertainty, with a little bit of-fear? She frowned, "What's wrong?"

He quickly shook his head and removed one of the hands from her back to pull over her eyes; a silent command to sleep. She frowned, but laid her head back on his chest, finding that last night's sleeplessness, the warmth of the body beside her, and the gentle lulling of his breaths led to her shortly falling fast asleep.

<~>

Krillin pulled his arms back and smashed the ax they held down onto the tree branch, splitting it in one blow. He couldn't help smirking in pride at such a great blow dealt to this mortal enemy. He grimaced. He really needed to get out more.

He suddenly chuckled as he remembered Bulma rushing out of the house with her face beaming in glee. She shouted out something about Vegeta being okay and she'd be back with him before popping a bike out a capsule and taking off, leaving Krillin in a whirlwind of dust and befuddlement.

He raised his axe to again attack the wood and stopped his movements as he heard a sound, slowly lowering the tool and turning his head slightly. The woods were awfully still, especially for early morning. There was not one bird chirping, even the wind seemed to have died. Living most of his life in the woods, Krillin knew the signal of 'intruder' very well.

He straightened and glanced all around him, tensing. He half-hoped Vegeta would spring from the shadows and scare the crap out of him, but he knew instinctively it wasn't him. Bulma wouldn't let him do that, would she? Besides, it was late evening. Surely they'd wait till morning to come back.

Holding the ax comfortably on his shoulder, his eyes scanned the surrounding land. It wasn't until he had turned from the patch of shadow in front of him to look at the patch behind that the attack came.

A/N: Wow! It has been awhile! Sorry about that. I've been…. I don't know. Kinda lifeless you could say…. Anyways, away from my angst of a life! What in the world is happening to Krillin, eh? Uh, oh! I have a feeling it isn't good either. Just call it-author's intuition. Lol Awwww, Vegeta and Bulma found each other…. Now what…. Sleeping in bed all innocent again. I bet that drives you guys nuts, eh? Lol I love driving you guys nuts.

BTW, I do my updates quicker when I know more than two people are reading. Guess what? I don't know you're reading if you don't review…. Yep, it's the truth! Oh yeah, go on to the next chapter. Reviewers' answers there….