Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Heartless ❯ Gone ( Chapter 5 )

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Heartless

Chapter 5: Gone

The ensuing battle had not been kind to Vegeta. No matter how he tried to look at things, he could not see any triumph. Cell was dead; the boy had won the battle. But at what cost.

So much death, and it actually mattered to him. Not the nameless faces that Cell absorbed. Of course not them. But Trunks…

Trunks was alive. The dragonballs had taken care of that. He had just seen the youth he had spent so much time with, had trained with, depart into his own timeline forever. They had not done much talking that year in the Room of Spirit and Time, but they had unintentionally formed a sort of bond. They had sparred and grown stronger. And-did Vegeta actually miss him?

His son's death had affected Vegeta almost more than Kakarrot's death. His rival's death he had taken calmly. His son's death-he'd never realized before how much his son meant to him. And now he was gone.

"Waahhhh!!!"

The ungodly noise startled Vegeta from his reverie. The child-that child was Trunks. The same purple hair, the same eyes, the same-person. If only he could get to know this child, just as he had come to know the powerful young man. If only he didn't have to… what?

For once Vegeta realized he had nothing to do. No battles. No threats. No evil tyrants. No androids. No Kakarrot.

Nothing. So-why not?

"Shh, Trunks. Be a good boy. Everything's all right now."

That's why not.

The woman-the one he actually considered staying with, feeling maybe she had enough strength of will and spirit to compensate for her inadequacies in strength. Yet she had run straight back to that unfaithful idiot the first second she could. She just wouldn't be known as the mate of a murderer. Doubtless the two idiots were already making plans for a family life, using his son to complete the picture.

Yet why was she alone?

*****

Bulma rocked Trunks, needing the comfort as much as she felt Trunks did. She couldn't help but feel abandoned. Honestly, she hadn't thought she would be alive to worry about the rest of her life. But whoever controlled the universe decided to let her live, prolonging her pain.

Yamcha was gone. He'd survived the tournament, but hadn't looked her in the eyes once. What little connection they'd had was destroyed by mutual betrayal.

Goku was gone. The man had sacrificed his life, but it had been his life that had kept her going, ever since she had first laid eyes on the funny little boy. Somehow, as long as he was happy and carefree, she knew she was complete, and that life was now the way it should be. Yet, without his smile…

Trunks was gone. Having the baby was wonderful, but seeing him as a man, knowing that her other time-line self could raise the child alone under worse circumstance-he had been such a nice young man. She could be a single mother-

Chichi was gone. She had lost a husband, and now had to raise Gohan and the baby-she had too much to deal with. Bulma couldn't rely on her.

Vegeta was gone-

No, he wasn't.

The prince was leaning against a tree and was staring at her. Why was he still here? Everyone else was gone.

"Well? Aren't you going to leave too?"

Vegeta scowled further. "Where's that weakling idiot you're so disgustingly fond of?"

Bulma glared into his eyes, but had to turn away. She wouldn't cry in front of him. "He's gone, all right. Now go ahead and leave."

"Fool woman. You actually think I'll just leave you and my son? What do you take me for, heartless?"

"You mean you-"

"Why do you think I'm here?"

With that, Vegeta walked into the Capsule Corp complex. With a bewildered look, and possibly a sigh of relief, Bulma followed.