Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Distant Light Years ❯ Some Space for Peace ( Chapter 1 )

Hello there, some of you out there may have read this story before at Fanfiction.net, but to get a wider range of readers I have decided to post this epic here at Mediaminer.org as well ^_^. I've had nothing but good responce for this story. I hope you enjoy.

Warnings: In general this warning will vary per chapter. This chapter contains angst and depression.

Distant Light Years

Chapter One ~ Some Space for Peace

The window betrayed the night's beauty to his ebony gaze as he blinked slowly. He turned his head slightly as he recognised a star formation which looked very similar to one he use to watch from his rooms at the Royal Palace of Vegetasei, when he was a young child. He let out a sigh. He ran his olive hand back through his stiff yet soft locks of obsidian. Vegeta sat on a window seat, the moon's soft blue light flickered over him, disturbed by a twitching tree. It was quiet here, in one of the many dozens of guestrooms in the Capsule Corp. building. Quiet now that he had peace from his family.

A shooting star flashed across the sky and then fazed out. He pulled his knee up to rest his pointed chin on. He missed the stars. That realisation shook him slightly, his whole life he had lived among them, no real home, no place to settle; until he came to Earth of course. Then there was Kakarot… he hissed out a breath of fury at the thought of the man.

"All he does is plague me…" Vegeta muttered darkly. He growled to him self. He bowed his head slightly, resting his cheek against his knee skinned in black leather. He looked out to the gardens below and saw how the moon made them look like an alien world. The white roses twisted into dark thorned demons of the night. The grass became blades of crystalline glass. Even this small garden on a planet of wild places had a savageness betrayed by the moon. A slight smile graced Vegeta's thin lips.

"Yes, the moon brings out many savages." He rubbed his chin remembering what it felt like to have his tail under a full moon, the feeling of power, so great and magnificent. Only when he was ozaru did he ever feel that he really ruled the universe. Only then was he a King.

"In the dark, with the wild things…" He laughed at the terrible irony. No longer would the full moon give that security, no longer would he be a king under its gaze.

"But I'll settle for being a Prince." He uttered under his breath; a bitter edge came to his voice.

"A Prince of Nothing." He stood and walked out of the room to mingle with the shadows of the cold hallway.

He soundlessly walked to his rooms. The sound of Bulma's even breathing caressed his ears as he lay back on the queen-sized bed. Its white sheet immaculate and deep red duvet the twin of a cold French wine. He said nothing, allowing his wife the blessed peace of sleep he could not enjoy. The dreams would taunt him. Dreams of uselessness and weakness. Insomnia was his companion right now. He sighed, how he just wanted to rest and be done with it all. This life, this slow dreary life which lead him nowhere was beginning to gnaw at his soul. He almost laughed at the thought, he, Vegeta have a soul? Well, he supposed he must have one some where, how else would he be able to cherish his wife, son and daughter like he did. Ah yes, his daughter, that beautiful little child. A clone of his wife. Yet Bra was so different to Bulma as well… And was in some ways like himself. He didn't believe it really, when his little daughter first called her brother a "Lilac haired baka". Trunks had always been his mother's son, no matter how like Vegeta he had seemed when he was a young child. He had mellowed since that up tight little boy who had won the World Championship all those years ago. Right before Buu. He clenched his teeth. He did not want to think of Buu and the idiot mistakes he made.

Vegeta stared at the ceiling and sighed again. A scowl flashed over his features once before he rolled over and looked out the large window at the ever-present moon.

~

When morning came, Vegeta opened his eyes to find the sun had replaced the moon. The dark silent garden was gone. Replaced by a bright one full of the sound of chirping birds and a singing Mrs Briefs, who danced around like she always did, watering her roses. Vegeta sat up and wiped his grainy eyes. He looked over his shoulder to see that Bulma was already gone, off to work at the great Capsule Corps main building.

"Seems I slept after all…hmm." He stretched; the pop of his shoulder joins met his ears. He wandered over and picked some clean clothes before having a shower. When Vegeta staunched down stairs to breakfast he felt a slight pleasure in seeing that his children had not left for school yet and were munching away on a healthy Saiyan sized breakfast. All conversation stopped when he entered the room. Something with made Vegeta's placid face frown slightly. ~ Hell they can speak in front of me, its not like I'm going to bite their heads off…~ He thought as he picked up a coffee one of the servant drones carefully deposited on the table in front of him. He sipped it as Trunks eyed him carefully.

"So…um, Dad…how have you been lately…" Asked Trunks in an overly chirpy voice. Vegeta scowled at him.

"What do you care, boy." He said darkly, his fingers cracking the mug slightly. Trunks shrugged and stuffed his jam toast into his mouth before grabbing his school bag to rush out the door.

"Bye, Bra!" He called as he vanished into the sky. Vegeta glanced over at his daughter who continued to eat her breakfast.

"Bra." Said Vegeta. His daughter looked up at her father with a concerned look on her face. Before Vegeta could say another thing, she jumped off her chair and walked over him and hugged Vegeta tightly.

"What's wrong daddy. You're not happy any more." She said, her eyes were wide, innocently blue as she looked up into her father's dark eyes. Vegeta smiled slightly and brushed his thumb over her cheek.

"It's nothing Bra, you had better leave or you will be late to that school your mothers so determined you go to." He gave her a brief hug before she left with a wave. Vegeta leaned back in his chair and rubbed the dark rings under his eyes.

"Perhaps Kakarot will be up for a spar." He said with the flash of a smile, which showed his teeth. "Maybe that baka will actually be able to today." Vegeta had gone to Goku every week ever since the whole Buu fiasco and they had sparred and trained together, but over the last month Goku always seemed to be busy with something which Vegeta did not believe even warranted attention. Just little things, like Chichi wanting him to build some thing for the house or that he had to help Master Roshi with something or other. It hadn't bothered Vegeta that much at first but now it was becoming a little repetitive.

He donned his usual fighting uniform of dark navy spandex and jumped onto the sky. He flew slower than he usually did. His tired eyes dropping to watch the earth below instead of the horizon. The land was monotonous green fields and forests that flickered by, he was so absorbed by this quiet daydreaming that he almost ran headfirst in to Goku, to his embarrassment.

~ Damn it, I have to stay focused and stop this idiocy.~ He berated himself.

"Oh hey Vegeta!" Said Goku with that stunning smile of his. Vegeta scowled slightly and faced his rival.

"Well, are you going to spar today or do you have another sorry excuse not to?" He growled around his narrowed eyes and folded arms.

Goku winced and stuck his hand behind his head. "Well…ah…Vegeta I really can't today, um Chichi has me running errands all day you see…" He ended lamely. With a nervous laugh.

Vegeta glared at him.

"Fine." He then turned about and promptly left Goku staring after him.

"Hmm…" said Goku his eyes narrowing in thought as his eyes followed the Prince's vanishing form. "Some thing's not right." He had noticed the dark rings around Vegeta's eyes and that made him worry.

"Well, what ever it is, I'm sure Vegeta will work it out." Said Goku to himself before he headed to Satan City for supplies.

Vegeta began to fly back to Capsule Corp. but then with a growl he altered his course to head to the empty wastes out beyond the city. Where a lonely cliff top stood, it was his favourite place to stand and contemplate. He often got so rapt up in his thoughts he did not return home for several days. Trunks, when he was younger use to go and fetch him from his sullen reserve, and shake him from his private thoughts. Now though it was Bra that did it, and it had been occurring more often of late. So he landed silently and crossed his arms, letting the wind caress his face and sweep back the strands of his jagged coal hair. He closed his eyes. He needed something. He didn't know what. He wanted peace. Something he never thought he would ever want. Back when he had wanted the power, the power to rule the universe. Perhaps he had wanted that because of the throne which had been stripped from him when Freiza had destroyed his home and people. That lost power, taken from him. Now though, he did not want that any more. He just wanted peace. But he had peace. He frowned. There was no strife, no danger to face. Then what was it that he felt he needed but did not have? He knew his family had been distant recently, but he just put it as himself that was distant from them. But was that really the case? Bulma had barely spoken two words to him in the last fortnight. When Vegeta realised that he sucked in a sharp breath. Why hadn't she been speaking to him? When he thought back now, even when out of the blue he had started a conversation, she usually brushed it off with a dismissing comment. He looked up to the sky again. ~ Perhaps I should… take a break. ~ He thought. The image of Dr Briefs newly constructed prototype space capsule came to his thoughts.

"Yes… I should get away from this planet for a few weeks." He growled softly.

"Nothing else for me to do around this mud ball." He lifted off from the out crop and flew off to the Capsule Corp. He spotted the ship in its landing dock near Dr Briefs work shop. He had stolen space craft before and didn't think they would care too much. Not that they could do any thing about it. This new space craft was sleek in its design. Shaped like a silver tear drop on its side. He ran over to the craft and yanked the door open. He quickly looked around before closing it behind him. First he checked that every thing was well stocked. The ship was equipped with a newly invented engine which ran on bio-energy which was a lot like Ki. The best part about it was it was like a nuclear reactor in the fact it was a never ending energy source. He belted him self into the control seat and punched in a few destination co-ordinates before he felt the ship begin to hum underneath him. There was a high pitched whining noise before it lifted off the ground and blasted into the blue sky.

~

"What do you mean he's gone?!" Cried Bulma over the phone with her father.

Dr Briefs stood out side his work shop where his new creation had been.

"That's right Bulma, he just took off with out saying a word." Said Dr Briefs shaking his head. "But that's not the worst part. I hadn't even installed the Time Space Continuous Movement device yet." He said waving his arm about, his black cat meowing pitifully. Bulma froze when she heard those words. The Time Space Continuous Movement device (or TSCM for short) was what Dr Briefs installed in all his space craft. It made the ships travel through space with out it disrupting time. It all had to do with Einstein's theory of relativity. Like for example if you travel at speeds near the speed of light in space, you may only travel for a few months to the person on the ship but to the people at the place you departed from years, decades may go past. The TSCM stopped that from happening, other wise when they had gone to Namek it would have taken years on Earth to get there even if it only had felt like a month to Bulma, Gohan and Krillin. And the ship Vegeta had taken did not have the TSCM installed.

"Oh no…" Breathed Bulma before she fainted to the ground like an autumn leaf.

TBC…