Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Crossroads ❯ Confrontation ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: See last chapter.

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Svenja blinked wearily and hoped the night would finally end. She felt exhausted but too edgy to get any real rest.
It seemed like an eternity since she had retreated into her room and later outside onto the terrace, though it had probably just been an hour or so. Her eyes had gotten used to the lack of light and after her butt had turned uncomfortably cold from sitting on the ground she had stood up and wandered about the spacious yard her room faced.
It was of rectangular shape, roughly twenty meters long and another thirty across. It was enclosed by the one-storied building on three sides, the last side opening to grassy ground she hadn't had the mind to explore. Terraces similar to hers were facing the patio in regular intervals on ground level, and above them rooms with balconies. She doubted they were used regularly, the curtains were drawn back in most of the rooms, making them appear as gaping black holes. In the middle of the yard and only two or three meters off from her terrace, as Bulma had told her, was a pool, the water's surface rippling slightly.

In the darkness she couldn't guess how deep it was, and she had no notion to jump in and find out.

Everything was dark and quiet, even the background noise of insects seemed muted, and her footsteps had sounded unnaturally loud. The whole scenery didn't exactly lighten her mood but fit it well enough.
She had found a lounger standing to the side of the terrace, one of those comfy garden swings with canopies and enough space to let three or four persons sit next to each other without them getting their neighbours elbows rammed in their sides all the time. She had also found, or rather stumbled over, some lawn chairs.
The noise of them clattering to the ground had been deafening. When a few minutes later nothing had stirred yet and no lights had turned on she had dared to breathe again.

Unwilling to go back into her room she sat on the lounger and pulled her legs up, shivering only slightly in the cool night air. It felt warm compared to the last days on Lokran, when her head had ached almost constantly with the cold wind howling through the ruins.
She shoved the memory away determinedly. She didn't want to think about Lokran now, that unfortunate chapter of her life was over and done with, she told herself firmly.

A glance upwards revealed no increase of light creeping up the sky to herald dawn. Just like when she had last looked, about a minute ago.
Grumbling to herself she got up and went back in her room to use the bathroom and get some blankets. True, it wasn't that cold really, but she saw no reason why she shouldn't be comfortable in at least one aspect.

When she stepped out again with her attention being mainly on not tripping over the trailing end of one blanket, she didn't see the figure standing on the opposite side of the pool at once. Stopping in her tracks she felt her stomach clench. The light was by far not sufficient to make out the person's features, but Svenja highly doubted there were two persons in the compound with that height, body posture and hairstyle. And a tail.
She stiffly resumed her way to the lounger, seething inwardly. What the hell did he want out here, in the middle of the night? Why did he intrude on her personal space? Nothing here belonged her in the sense of property, true, but she felt that this night out here was her own, not to be disturbed. And especially not by him. She had no idea what his business out here was, but she sure as hell didn't want to ask. Couldn't he go somewhere else, preferably far away? She wasn't ready for this.

His head had turned sharply when she had resumed walking, and it took all her willpower not to react in any way, to just ignore him and let out a little of her irritation by throwing the blankets on the lounger with a little more force than was necessary.
Maybe he'd just go away.
Yeah right, she snorted inwardly, and gritted her teeth in frustration and apprehension when she heard his footsteps coming closer.

There was no way to put it off, so she steeled herself and turned around to face him. Resentment boiled up in her, at him because he was the reason for her misery, but mainly at herself for being such an idiot and let it come to this in the first place.

He must have seen something on her face, for his steps grew slower and he stopped two meters away, where the terrace ended and the rest of the yard began. His face lay in the shadows and she couldn't discern his features.

With his actions of the evening before he had inadvertently made her see her own naivety, and her false assumptions he'd see things the way she did, a notion born out of ignorance and the unrealistic thought that her own norms would apply to him.
No one likes to have their faults and mistakes rubbed in their face, and self-defence kicked in. Seeing the source of her insomnia and frustration standing so close, facing him for the first time since the evening before, her confusion and conflicting emotion transformed into anger, knocking common sense aside.

"What do you want?" she demanded in an unfriendly tone, annoyed at his silence and wanting to get over with whatever he wanted as fast as possible.

Zura moved back a step, and the little moonlight that transformed the yard into a surreal landscape of obscure shadows illuminated his face with the changed position. Perplexity was briefly apparent in his face and he blinked once.

"Well?" she snapped coldly when he didn't answer right away and crossed her arms, pressing them close to her else they'd take on a life of themselves and poke his eyes out or something similarly stupid.

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Nothing specific," he answered finally, his voice as guarded as his features.

"Oh, really? Well, you got it," she said curtly, fighting down an irrational disappointment at his answer. What had she expected? That it would all turn out to be a big misunderstanding and everything would be good again? Hardly. "Was there anything else?"

Something flashed in his eyes before they grew unreadable and changed into obscure pools of darkness.
"No." he said flatly and turned around, stepping away from her.

'That's it, then,' she thought bitterly and squeezed her eyes shut. Despite the anger still churning inside her, she couldn't deny the pain of something irrevocably lost twisting her insides. That had probably been the very last conversation she would have with him, ever, and it couldn't have turned out worse. And most of it had been her own doing. 'There's no helping it. Deal with it.' She repeated the mantra that had kept her sane the first days on Lokran, only this time they didn't really help.

Her eyes snapped open when she realized his steps had stopped and then resumed, faster than before. Coming closer.
What the…
She looked into a grim face with eyes that burned with determination and anger as her shoulders were suddenly caught in a hard grip. "What", he hissed, "is wrong with you?"
For a moment she stood stunned, staring up at him helplessly. Then she ripped her arms away forcefully. "Keep your hands away from me! Nothing is wrong. Absolutely nothing!" she spat angrily, stubbornly resisting the urge to take a step back.
"I don't believe you," he growled, narrowing his eyes dangerously.

"What?!" She gaped at him in disbelief for a moment before outrage contorted her features. "Now listen, sweetie," she hissed venomously and took two steps forward that brought her nose to nose with him, "I don't give a shit what you believe or not. Is that clear?! Now FUCK OFF!" With the last yelled words she pushed him away from her hard, her indignation and fury lending her strength.
He obviously hadn't expected anything of that sort, else she'd have probably sprained her wrists or something. But she actually succeeded in making him stumble backwards, with his arms flung out widely to regain his balance when his foot caught at the tiny elevation separating the terrace from the yard.

Svenja's eyes grew large and when she saw what would happen, and she automatically stepped forward, half-raising her arm. Too late. "Oh fuck…" she breathed.
With an exclamation and a loud splash Zura vanished in the pool.
'I must ask him how deep it is.' she thought hysterically, feeling dismay rising in her. She hadn't wanted that to happen, but that didn't matter.

She was in very deep shit now.

Unable to move Svenja stood rigid and watched him break the surface. His hands slapped on the pool's edge and with a single powerful pull he propelled himself up and out of the water, landing on the pool's rim in a crouch. He rose from with a graceful motion that was almost feline, giving her the image of a very wet and very pissed-off god of vengeance as he advanced on her. His tail was bristled to twice its normal size and lashed angrily behind him, spraying the ground with water.

Until that moment she hadn't believed he would hurt her, despite the complete change he had undergone in the short time he had talked to Vegeta. But seeing his furious expression and bared teeth, appearing unnaturally white with in the contrasting darkness of the night, she wasn't so sure anymore. He had never looked so mad, not even when they had first talked on Lokran. And that was when he had thought she wanted to kill him! She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.

Her shoulders were gripped again, painfully, and she looked into eyes burning with fury and something else she couldn't quite make out. "Now", he snarled, his nose mere centimetres away from hers," you will tell me exactly what the fuck is going on. Everything and in detail. Is that clear?"
Svenja swallowed again and then raised her chin. "No." She said, cursing the wavering in her voice and gave up her struggling against his grip after a few seconds. Something flashed across his eyes and he sneered at her. "See the advantages. When you're finished explaining, I might just go away and never bother you again. After all, that's what you want so badly, right?"

"No! I don't want that. You do!" she yelled, and felt her face losing colour as she realized what she had let blurted out. For a second she wished for a convenient wall nearby so she could repeatedly beat her head against it.

"I do?" he asked flatly, his expression never changing.

"Yes, you do. You said so." she said and shook her head angrily. "Gods, stop playing games with me, please."

"Playing…" He jerked his head irritatedly to fling dripping skeins of hair out of his face, splattering her face with droplets of water. "What are you talking about? I said nothing of that sort. Speak plainly, dammit!" He stared at her for a second and let out a frustrated growl. "Listen," he said, shaking her a little for emphasis. "Listen! Talk to me, dammit! I think I deserve an explanation."
"Stop shaking me, asshole!" She snarled and kicked his shin fiercely, feeling a spark of satisfaction when she saw him flinch and felt his grip loosen a bit. "Serves you right," she muttered and succeeded in twisting one arm out of his grasp.

Then she paused, becoming fully aware of the absurdity of the situation when her common sense came back and reclaimed its part in her mind. She wanted him to go away, right? And he wanted an explanation There was certainly nothing to lose when she told him, but a lot to gain - namely him leaving her alone and thus getting rid of what his presence did to her emotional equilibrium. And it would also give her an opportunity to vent her frustration on its source, something she'd surely never again get a chance to.

"You want to know what's wrong?" She slapped the remaining hand on her shoulder away, too angry to wonder why she succeeded so easily and bared her teeth at him. "That's easy. I'm… I'm so mad I can't even think straight anymore! I…. argh!" Breathing heavily she shook her head, the ability to express herself suddenly abandoning her.

"Listen," she said through gritted teeth, struggling to for coherent sentences and realizing with a sinking feeling she started to babble. "Most of it is my fault, and I suppose it's not exactly fair to lay the blame all on you, but I don't give a fucking damn! Because you, mister," she poked his chest hard, "you were the trigger. And …"

"Stop!" he hissed and held up his hand, and to her amazement she felt her mouth snap shut. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I obviously did something that pissed you off a lot, so much I could understand from your ranting. Look, I don't like this here any more than you do, so spit it out, dammit! Why are you mad at me? I want a simple answer, mind you. Only the basic reason," he demanded.

"Because you were such an asshole last night! Because you'll go away and leave me here!" She heard herself yell when her self-control decided it had enough of this shit and went on a coffee-break.

There. She had said it. It was out in the open, and once again without her wanting it.
'If he laughs at me I'll deck him!' she promised herself grimly and with rising mortification.

Somewhere not far away a window banged open. "Keep it down, fuck you!" A voice roared out into the night, followed by an angry, "Vegeta! Shut the damn window again!" coming from Bulma.

Zura's head whipped up towards the origin of the voices, a cold glint in his eyes, and he spat a few harsh sentences in a language Svenja didn't understand, but with an animosity in his voice that chilled her. Stunned silence followed, then the window was slammed shut with a bang that echoed around the yard.

"What was that?" she asked bewildered, her anger momentarily forgotten at the odd scene she had just witnessed.

"Nothing important." he muttered darkly and then turned his head back, shooting her a quizzical glance. "What makes you think that?"
"You're not making this any easier, you know?" she muttered exasperatedly. "You said you wanted to go back to Lokran and be on your way as fast as possible."

He blinked. "Yes. And?" he asked.

Unable to form a response Svenja stared at him in disbelief and wondered whether he was really that dense or whether he got a kick out of seeing her squirm.

His eyes widened suddenly and the puzzlement in his gaze was replaced by dawning comprehension. "Oh."
He blinked at her in surprise. "Now wait a second, let me get this straight. You were bitching at me and acted like a mad Saoshd because you thought I'd go away?" he asked incredulously.

Svenja had no clue who or what a Saoshd was, but she highly doubted it was something flattering. "Well yes," She muttered. "But it's not as if you said anything different in the first place, in fact you said nothing at all about it, since we never thought we'd end up here, so…" she trailed off, feeling incredibly stupid and acutely embarrassed at having lost her temper like this when she had no real justification to be angry. But her hurt and frustration were still there, and the conflict between common sense and her emotions confused her greatly.

Zura began to tremble softly, a barely discernable tremor that intensified quickly. The corners of his mouth twitched and he finally broke out in helpless laughter, grabbing the side of the lounger for support.

'Gods, no!' Svenja thought faintly and wished the ground would open and swallow her. Her hands balled themselves to fists and she fought back tears of embarrassment and helpless rage.

"I hate you so much!" she whispered silently and looked away.

Her arms were grabbed suddenly, and she looked up in startlement to see Zura grinning at her. "And here I thought it was something serious!"
"Wha…" she started offended, but got interrupted when she was suddenly pulled forward and crushed to a damp shirt. "You stupid fuck," he said affectionately and squeezed her hard.

Svenja heard her breath wheeze out of her lungs at the pressure but didn't notice it. She stood wide-eyed and stiffly with her face pressed against the wet fabric, feeling utterly and completely lost. "Er…" she finally managed to get out, the syllable matching her current state of mind perfectly.
He drew her back a bit and grinned down at her, shaking his head slightly. "You really had me worried there for a while, you know?"
"Gah…?" she managed to utter in an impressive impersonation of a caveman suddenly confronted with an electric toaster or something, and tried to make sense of the last minute.

He looked at her quizzically. "Sit." he ordered, pushing her back and down the lounger's seat. Blinking she came out of her short-time stupor and grabbed a handful of shirt before he could move back. "I don't understand!" she managed to get out, relieved that at least her ability of coherent verbal communication was back again.
"That's obvious." he said dryly, trying to pry the shirt from her fist, and shot her an amused look. "I had no intention of leaving, at least not for long."
"But you said…"
"Yes, I have to get back to Lokran, I have to repair my ship. But" he grinned at her, "Lokran is only 4 days away from here, providing I can boost my engines a little and take some short-cuts. And will you let go of that damn shirt? It's not mine, you know?"

Svenja let him pull the wet textile from her suddenly nerveless fingers.

She had been an idiot. She was an idiot.

The fact that she couldn't have known about his plans to fly back here with his ship didn't give her any comfort. Relief that he had wanted to come back was drowned by a burning sense of shame at having made such a fool of herself and the humiliation at the knowledge that probably everybody within 100 meters knew what a stupid moron she was.

"Hey!" his voice ripped her out of her thorough wallowing in self-pity.
"What?" She asked miserably and twisted the hem of her sleeve, wondering how she would survive the following days without dying of mortification whenever she looked at someone.

"Were you really that upset because you thought I'd leave?" he asked curiously.

"Don't get any ideas!" she said defensively and hoped the lack of light would hide her reddening face "I just didn't want to be stuck in yet another place without someone I know."

"Right."

"Not that you're exactly the best company, mind you, but since there's no one else I can't be choosy or something."

"Right."

"Besides, we still don't know whether you were some external factor in the malfunction of Bulma's machine or not."

"Right."

"I swear, one more 'right' and I throw you back into the pool!" she growled and shot him a withering glare that was answered by an innocent raising of eyebrows. The effect was somehow diminished by the twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Asshole." she muttered and crossed her arms in a huff.

"Sorry..." he muttered, trying vainly to wipe the grin off his face.
"Say," he asked after regaining control over his features if not his voice, "why didn't you just ask what I meant with going to Lokran? You never had any problems pestering me with questions."

"Ask you?" Svenja exclaimed incredulously. "Do you really think I had wanted to talk to you after yesterday? You left the kitchen right after you made your statement, and the way you acted at dinner wasn't exactly inviting, you know? You looked ready to bite the head off the next person who even looked at you the wrong way! What the hell happened to you?!"

"So that's why." he nodded thoughtfully and straightened himself, his tail making an odd trembling movement that shook the remaining droplets of water out of the fur. "I want to put on some dry clothes first, if you don't mind, it's getting a bit chilly out here."

"Um… sorry about that." she mumbled sheepishly. "But I don't want to keep you from sleeping or something."

"I'm not tired anymore. I only came out in the first place because some crash woke me up and I wanted to know what it was."

"Oh." she coughed, wondering when the blood in her body would finally leave the area of her face. "That was me. I... er.. found the lawn chairs."

"I should have known." he sniggered with mirth and stepped out of the puddle of water that had formed around his feet. "Be right back!" And with that he walked away quickly, casting the pool a dark glare on his way.
Silence descended once again over the yard. Svenja closed her eyes and rested her head against the lounger's back, trying to catch on what had happened in the last half an hour or so. She had went from misery to anger, astonishment, embarrassment and had somehow ended up talking to Zura with the same comfortable ease as she had 24 hours before. She felt strangely content, but couldn't fully quieten the nagging worry that she was maybe lying to herself again.

Zura came back a few minutes later, his hair in disarray from the attempt to towel it dry and sticking out in weird angles, and she bit back a snigger. "Look what I have!" he beamed, waving a large thermos and two mugs. "Bulma's mother told me she'd prepared some coffee, just in case someone wanted any."

Svenja blinked. Right…. she dimly remembered Mrs. Briefs telling her something similar when she had shuffled bent-over into the kitchen to beg for tea and spice. She had also said something about where to find pastries and cookies if she had any sudden appetite for them. The older woman had certainly some strange ideas about midnight snacks, but considering the quantities of food she had seen the two men wolf down yesterday, the notion wasn't really that odd.

She took the offered mug with a thankful smile and waited until he had settled himself on the lounger, careful not to spill his coffee.

"What happened yesterday when you talked to Vegeta? What did he say to piss you off like that?" she asked quietly after a short silence.

He sighed and leaned his head back, making the lounger swing gently as he absently pushed against the ground with his feet. "It's not only what he said." he began after taking a sip of the steaming liquid. "It's also how he said it. And what he presumed. I don't know what Bulma told you or what she knows. You were there yesterday when I talked to her, so you already know Vegeta worked for Frieza. That was the one who blew our planet up. And Vegeta…." he trailed off, growling in annoyance. "I was so stunned when I found out he was still alive. Not especially sad or happy, just… amazed. It happened so long ago, the destruction of our planet. I don't really feel any closer to the rest of the survivors than I do to other people. The fact that we're of the same species doesn't weigh that much to me, to be honest. It's nice to know they're out there, sure, but nothing more. But Vegeta was…. not really what I expected."
He snorted and made an angry gesture, and she quickly reached out a hand to steady his mug when its contents threatened to spill.

"Sorry," he muttered and licked some droplets of coffee from his hand. "Anyway. That guy still lives in the past. Maybe it's because he's royalty or something, or maybe he's just refusing to see reality. Or both, I don't know. I think he still sees himself as a ruler somehow, even though he didn't know about any survivors before yesterday. You'd think he'd be glad to hear that some Saiyans other than him survived planet Vegeta's destruction. I mean, it'd only be natural, right? I remember how happy I was when I met another survivor for the first time. It was good to know there was someone out there belonging to the same species. We only met briefly, but it made me feel… dunno, not alone, in a way." He stared in his mug, apparently lost in memories.

"And Vegeta wasn't?" Svenja prompted gently after a while. She was mesmerized by his tale, getting for the first time some glimpses from his background and early past.

"Vegeta," he repeated in a voice that dropped several degrees in temperature. "No, he wasn't. To make it short, he called us survivors cowards for not contacting him." Anger twisted his face and he exhaled in a sharp hiss.
"He said even an idiot should have known that Frieza wasn't blind. He said it was the biggest mistake his father could make, calling all Saiyans back to the home planet to start the rebellion, that Frieza had spies everywhere. And he said everybody heeding his father's summon were utter fools, and since they ran into their death with open eyes they probably deserved nothing better."
He abruptly lifted his mug and emptied it in a few gulps, his face livid with anger. "If Bulma hadn't come in at that moment to tell us dinner was ready I don't now what would have happened."
Svenja gaped and stared at his profile. "What?! He can't possibly mean that, right?!"

"I don't know." he answered quietly. "He wasn't exactly reasonable at that point. But I don't really care, to be honest. Saying it, he belittled not only his father's attempt to stand against Frieza, but also the deaths of thousands of his people who were very well aware of what they risked when they came back…" he broke off, breathing heavily.

"Oh shit." She breathed, unable to grasp how someone could be so seriously fucked-up. The initial dislike she had felt for Vegeta turned into a full-fledged aversion.

"Yeah," he agreed, turning his empty mug in his hands. "I was so mad, I couldn't even think! I only wanted to get away from that asshole."

"I didn't know. I'm sorry." she whispered unhappily and hung her head. She should have known there had been a valid reason for Zura to act like he did. She shouldn't have jumped to so self-centred conclusions so quickly. "Of course you didn't know. That's why I told you," he retorted and nudged her. "Are you going to drink that coffee or not?"

"Don't change the topic." she muttered and swallowed the warm liquid. "I feel like shit."

"Don't," he said firmly, picking up the thermos and refilled the mugs. "You have no reason. It's over and done with, and I came to terms with it, mostly. He still makes me angry as hell, but as far as I'm concerned he might as well be dead as I think of him. I don't feel any connection to him."

"But still…." she sighed, not really comforted by his statement, "I somehow wish we were back on Lokran. Stupid, isn't it?"

"Not at all," he shook his head. "If we were still there none of this would have happened. But see the advantages. We found the one responsible for us being on Lokran in the first place, can eat normal food, your fever is gone…" He flashed her a grin, his dark mood from moments before gone. "Besides, I'd have never found out you'd be so… upset at the idea of me leaving."

Damn! She felt her ears start to burn. She had secretly hoped he'd miraculously forget that particular piece of information.

"Hey! I told you it was…" she started indignantly but stopped at the sight of barely controlled mirth in his face. "Well, it's good to see one of us having fun at my expense!" she growled with dripping sarcasm.

"Oh yes, I do." he sniggered, not fazed by her scowling. "Oh, come on, stop sulking." He nudged her and shot her a sly grin. "Say… would you feel any better if I told you that I kinda like you a little, too?"

Svenja snapped her jaw shut that seemed to have come unhinged suddenly. "Er…I suppose…" she stuttered, wondering how it was possible that a warm feeling spread in her belly when every drop of blood seemed to have gathered in her face.

"See? Now we're even." he winked at her, and saved her from any further possible embarrassment by rearranging the cushions and shifting on his seat until his back leaned against the lounger's side, and his legs drawn up from the ground and stretched out. "Hey," he drawled and cocked his head, "how about some compensation for wanting to drown me?"

Svenja's eyebrows shut up and she gave him a blank look, blatantly refusing to start guessing what he meant with that after some rather interesting but quite disconcerting images flashed across her inner vision.
"Oh really, must I do everything by myself…" he grumbled and reached out suddenly, grabbing and pulling her sideways and back until she found herself in the familiar position pressed against his chest. Blinking up at him in bewilderment she obeyed without delay when he explained, "I'm cold, stupid. Use those blankets, will you?"

Settling back against his warm body and feeling unexplainably happy she closed her eyes, content to just stay like this. Whatever awkwardness may come next morning when she met the others, right now she felt she could deal with it.