Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ For the Love of a Child ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 6 )

"For the Love of a Child"

Disclaimer: All on the first two chapters

*Chapter 7*

"Daddy, what's a curmajamuffin?"

Surprised, I looked down at Goten where he was sprawled on the floor coloring.

"A what?"

He put down his crayon and walked over to me, resting his head on my leg where I sat at a desk working on some papers.

"A curmajamuffin. Bulma told her dad you were turning into a curmajamuffin."

I puzzled for a moment and then realized I knew what word he actually meant.

"Does Bulma know you heard her say that?"

He shook his head and pressed himself closer to me. I picked him up and he buried his face in my chest, obviously distressed about something.

"What's wrong Goten?"

Lifting his head up a little he stared at me teary eyed and sniffed. "Trunks said it was something bad. He said it was like a blueberry muffin but really bad and it was probably going to make you sick and then you would die."

Trying hard not to burst out laughing, I pulled Goten closer and gently rubbed his back.

"Hey there, it's ok. I'm not going to die." Allowing a little chuckle to escape my lips I tipped Goten's face up to look at mine.

"The word is actually curmudgeon, and it isn't a food at all."

Goten's face cleared a little and he watched me carefully.

"It's not something bad that's going to make you die?"

I shook my head. "Nope, though the real definition isn't terribly flattering, though probably quite accurate."

"What's it mean then?"

"It usually means an old man who lives by himself and is grumpy and cranky."

Goten thought about this for a moment and then he beamed up at me, the pure joy in his expression taking my breath away.

"I guess Bulma just doesn't know you very well."

Startled I asked, "How so?" I had thought the comment quite accurate to my amusement,

aside from the old part.

"Cause you're not cranky or grumpy and you don't live by yourself, you live with me! And you're not as old as Bulma or her dad." He leaned over and whispered in my ear. "Mr. Briefs is really old, he's got hair in his ears!"

This time I let the laughter come, filling the room. Goten snuggled closer to me and laughed himself.

"See, you're not grumpy."

Still chuckling, I ruffled his hair with my hand and turned back to the desk with him still in my lap.

"You know kiddo, you have to go back to school on Monday."

"What's today?"

"Saturday. Speaking of which, where's Trunks?"

"Don't know. I got mad at him for saying you were going to die and left."

"Ah, I see. Well you can stay here and color if you want or we can go find him and let him know that I am alive and kicking and don't plan on pushing up daisies anytime soon."

Goten giggled. "You're so silly dad."

I smiled at him, pleased that he was no longer upset.

"So what's it going to be?"

"Let's go find Trunks."

"Ok." Standing up, I set him on my shoulders and we set off to look for the purple haired boy.

A few minutes later we found him sitting in the living room next to a blonde toddler, looking extremely bored. Standing next to the girl was Bulma and a short man with black hair. When we entered the room, they looked up and the man's mouth dropped open.

"Holy cow, you are here! Wow bro, you're huge! I can't believe how much you've changed!"

"Hello Krillin. Nice hair."

He seemed startled at my tone for a moment and ran a hand through his hair self-consciously.

"Yeah, well you know I only shaved it cause it was better for fighting. Now that I've got a family and all I let it grow out. Hey speaking of which, this is my daughter Marron."

He turned and gestured at the little blonde girl.

"Eighteen?"

He blushed and nodded. "Yeah." Shifting his gaze he noticed Goten still perched up on my shoulders and his eyes widened.

Nodding I lifted Goten off and set him down on the ground in front of me. Krillin seemed rooted to his spot and just stared. Walking forward Goten smiled and waved.

"Hi!"

Seeing that Krillin was apparently incapable of speech I crouched down to Goten's level and pointed toward Trunks.

"Why don't you go play with Trunks and Marron? You can explain to him what curmudgeon really means."

Watching him nod and run off I stood in time to see Bulma blush slightly, I smirked at her and she blushed even more.

"Incredible. He looks just like Goku did at that age, the spitting image." Krillin shook his head as if to clear it and then turned toward me.

"So man, how have you been? Haven't seen or heard from you in years!"

I studied Krillin for a moment waiting to see if I would feel anything inside. Maybe something that resembled some of the warmth I felt around Goten. While Piccolo was probably the closest thing to a real father I ever had, Krillin had been my best friend, practically brother. He had always seemed, like my father, to be eternally young. Good for a joke and a laugh. Now standing in front of him, I felt so old in comparison. I also didn't feel any of the connection I once shared with him. It was gone.

"I'm fine."

Krillin seemed unsure about what to say next, he looked over at Bulma and she just shrugged. Irritated I decided I'd had enough. I had no desire to suddenly redevelop ties I'd dropped all those years ago, despite any attempts Bulma might be planning.

"I have to get back to some work. Bulma, we'll be leaving tomorrow." With a final nod to Krillin I turned and walked out of the room.

-------

"Brrr. Did the temperature in here just drop by twenty degrees or what? Geez, Bulma you weren't kidding. He's a walking ice cube! I feel sorry for Goten, poor kid."

Krillin shivered and looked up at the blue haired woman standing next to him. It looked like she couldn't decide if she wanted to cry or scream. At Krillin's mention of Goten though, her face softened.

"Actually he's really great with Goten. It's just around anyone else he becomes so..."

"Cold? Frigid? Vegeta-like?" He threw his hands up when she glared at him.

"Sorry, but you got to admit there is a resemblance." He shook his head and stared down at his feet thinking. Who could have thought a person could change so much in six years? You'd think Vegeta was his father, not Goku. He was like a completely different person.

"You should go meet Goten. He's a really sweet kid." Bulma stopped and choked back

what sounded suspiciously like a sob. "It's like Gohan put all of his joy and love into Goten and now there isn't any left inside him. I watch him Krillin. He only seems to smile or laugh when he's with Goten, it's like he doesn't care about anything anymore, except that small child."

Krillin nodded seriously. "I guess I'll go introduce myself to the little squirt then. Where do you think they went?"

"Probably the garden."

Giving Bulma one last quick smile, Krillin walked outside. He found the three children standing in a cluster, crowded around something in Goten's hands.

"See, you have to hold it just like this because the wings are very fragile and if you brush it just a little bit it will hurt the wing and then it can't fly."

"It's pretty!" Marron was excited but Krillin was pleased to see she listened to Goten and didn't try to touch the insect.

"It's a Monarch butterfly. They're the only kind of butterflies that fly south in the winter, like birds. It has those bright colors to warn other bigger things that they shouldn't eat it."

"Why not?" Trunks asked. "Everybody's gotta eat something."

"Yeah but this one would taste nasty." The two boys chuckled at this and a moment later Goten held his hands up to let the creature fly away. Marron stood entranced watching it's slow progress through the garden.

"You know a lot about butterflies Goten. Do you know the names of other types as well?" Krillin approached the group and Marron ran over to her dad.

Goten studied the man for a second and then smiled. "Yeah, I know the names for lots of things. Dad gets me books with pictures and then we read all about how animals live. That's how come I know about the Monarch butterflies. They're really neat!"

"Sounds like your dad's pretty nice."

The little boy stared at him in astonishment. "Of course he's nice, he's my dad! He's told me stories about you and how you use to take him fishing and swimming. Wasn't he nice when he was a little boy like me?"

It was Krillin's turn to be astonished. "I hadn't realized he told you about me. Yeah, he was nice, he was a great kid. Smart like you too." Krillin looked up at the sky above his head, feeling sad all of the sudden. "Yeah." He whispered softly, "Yeah he was a great kid."

Later, holding a sleeping Marron in his arms, Krillin said goodbye to Bulma. They were standing in the doorway watching the sun slowly drop over the horizon.

"You were right about Goten, Bulma. You can tell how much love Gohan has put in that little boy. I just which he managed to keep back a little for the rest of the world."

The woman nodded next to him silently.

"He's not going to stay in touch with us, is he?" The black haired man asked.

"No, I doubt it. I think he only stayed this long because of Goten."

"Well at least we got to see him for a little while. Know he's taking care of himself. He'll manage Bulma. And maybe someday when he's ready he'll come back to us."

Bulma gave Krillin a hug and stepped back through the door. "I hope you're right. Thanks for coming over Krillin."

"Hey no problem, anytime. Take care of yourself ok? And don't worry about Gohan. He'll be fine."

I hope so anyway, the man thought to himself as he walked down the sidewalk towards his car. I really hope so.

TBC

*I delayed updating this one because frankly, I think it some of my worst writing. So please bear with me, I'll try to make the next one better. If I manage to find that elusive thing called `free time'. Midterms sort of jumped up and bit me in the ass so my next two weeks are kind of full of exams and papers. I only managed to submit this chapter because I wrote it a couple of weeks ago, back in the good old days when this thing called `a personal life' and `weekends' existed. These are suppose to be the best years of my life man, I'm not suppose to be grinding myself into the ground at the age of twenty-one. Don't you just love college?

And I need to send out a special thanks to stormsaiyan for calling to attention my mistake about the gravity levels. (I had them set waaayyy to low) I had a chat with my brother, trust a twelve year old to remember some little detail like how high Vegeta managed to achieve in the gravity room but can't be bothered to write a book report for his English class, anyway if you go back and check you'll see I fixed all of the references to gravity levels.*