Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Roses in the Rain ❯ Roses in the Rain ( One-Shot )

    Goku's lids pressed shut as the open door let in a driving rain.  He stepped outside and quickly shut the door, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the downpour.  Something deep was calling to him -- and for once, he knew exactly what it was.  The lonely lifestyle that had become his own had taken its toll on him.  He, who thrived on the company of friends, had suddenly found himself alone.
    Not exactly "suddenly," no...  It was true, most of them had led long, healthy lives.  But after three hundred years, what could he expect?  His connections to the rest of the world slowly shutting down, he'd ended up all by himself in his small abode in the mountains.  It wasn't that he couldn't go meet more people, it was more that he didn't really feel the desire to do so, yet.
    And then there was the same enigma that always polluted his life -- that gave it clarity.  At some point, it had disappared, so subtly that he hadn't noticed until now, and his existence was blurring with each day, as his vision was now with the rain.  But at first, they'd spent a lot of time together.
    And what strange time.
    Goku felt that no one would be able to -- should even try to -- describe those days, those years.  His heart panged as the yearning hit him deeply once more, driving him to take to the air.


    The man's eyes were closed, and his breathing was soft, slow, and deep.  His skin was pale with cold, but his features were gentle and calm as he shivered.
    This was nice.
    And he didn't even know why.  Lacking any other purpose, he now spent his time pursuing whims.
    Oh, there was him.  But somehow, they'd drifted apart.  And he wasn't about to chase after the other man if he wasn't wanted.  Neither seemed to be making an effort to find the other.
    As if summoned by these thoughts, Goku arrived quietly, his boots tapping on the granite.  Vegeta kept his eyes closed, either pretending not to notice the other Saiyajin, or not bothering to acknowledge him.  "Hello," Goku whispered, his voice lost in the downpour.
    "Hello," Vegeta whispered back.  Ahh.  So it was just like those times.  Goku's whispering sent shivers not triggered by the physical cold down his spine.  His breath sank softly from his throat as he drank the memories in with the other Saiyajin's scent.
    "Something inside me really wanted to see you," Goku breathed.  "My chest felt so empty, like it might collapse if I couldn't find that feeling again."
    Vegeta nodded, his eyes still shut.  "It's called death."
     Goku leaned over the other man, waiting for his eyes to open and watch for his reaction.  When they did not, the younger Saiyajin knelt down, quivering now in the rain, and then pressed his body down against the prince's.  The prince shuddered at the sensation.  "What do you mean?" Goku murmured.
    "Our lifespans are finally reaching their ends."  There was relief in his voice.  "And now is when we slowly begin to die."
    "What happens?"
    "I'm not sure," Vegeta responded, and he had not yet opened his eyes.  "Rarely do Saiyajin live to find out.  I've been dying for at least a year, Kakarrotto."
    When he finally spoke the other Saiyajin's name, Goku's breath hitched.  "Why didn't you say anything?" his words were barely more than mouthed.
    "Didn't want to bother you with it," he muttered.  "And I knew you'd be dealing with it soon enough."
    "Have you been feeling the same pangs as I have?"
    "I imagine so.  I think that as death draws near, our bodies must ache for a final contentment, urge us to pursue and complete our last vocations."
    "Mm," Goku nodded, burying his face between Vegeta's neck and shoulder.  The prince blushed slightly -- it wasn't as if Goku had never done this, but in the years of isolation, he'd grown less used to physical contact.  In addition, with all the time to ponder things, it was now, now that he finally realized what these affectionate gestures meant.  He nibbled Vegeta's earlobe gingerly.  "Are we really dying?  I want to spend my last days with you."
    "We may be dying for a long time yet," Vegeta responded, taking it upon himself to turn Goku's head toward his as he finally opened his eyes.  "Don't you feel your insides, your fighting spirit, suffering away, shrinking back?  Who knows how long it will take?"
    "I'll spend all of that time with you, then," Goku gazed into prince's eyes, reveling in their depth.
    "I know you will," Vegeta whispered.  "That which drove you here won't let you do otherwise anyway."
    "Vegeta...do you remember?"
    The prince's eyes narrowed, neither angrily nor suspiciously, but in a detached reminiscence.  "I do."  As the other Saiyajin's fingers twisted through his hair, he returned the gesture, and did not complain when Goku's lips and tongue were crushed against his.  This was not quite part of what he remembered -- no, that only went up to the fingers through the hair.  This was new.  But for all he felt, it might have been an experience he'd treasured his whole life.  Goku pressed his warm hands over Vegeta's icy skin and shifted his tongue to the prince's ear.  Vegeta's breath escaped him, and his hands clutched more tightly at Goku's hair before releasing it and instead gripping the sides of his shoulders.
    Goku pulled away with a gentle, resounding affection glowing from his eyes.  "Could we...?"
    Vegeta gazed back at him quietly for several moments.
    "...I ache for those days...Vegeta..."
    "I see," a warm smirk spread over his features.  They really were indescribable.  Something that just happened...and again, something that he had hardly thought about until loneliness mandated he ponder everything.  If he'd realized then, what it truly meant...what it could have become so much earlier.  But soon -- soon, after submerging themselves in the past -- destiny would perhaps be fulfilled.  The warmth radiating from the younger Saiyajin almost assured it.  But as soon as the fond memories came, and the hopes, and the foolish dreams, he remembered the death that was to come, and suddenly, Vegeta was tired.  The weight of the centuries pressed itself upon him.  "All right," he nodded wearily.
    Goku noted the prince's sudden change in demeanor with concern.
    "We will dance...one last time."


    And they did.
    No one that they'd known, of course, would understand, especially since they didn't either.
    They just...danced.  And not one last time, but a hundred.
    "I brought a rose," Goku whispered.
    "You know us too well," Vegeta jested softly, taking it from Goku's hand as raindrops beat its petals.  It trembled in his lips as he continued, "Do you remember when you came back?"  A rhetorical question, so he continued -- "We haven't continued that."
    "Let's dance first," Goku urged him softly, but forcefully.  He wasn't entirely sure what the prince was talking about, but he would ask later.  For now, he needed to relive the feeling.
    Vegeta raised his eyebrows, surprised, but he linked hands with Goku, and in a whirlwind of agility that could only be achieved by such a pair of warriors, they danced, their feet skimming over the ground and their bodies pressing together and pulling apart at irregular, rhythmic intervals.  It was almost a match, almost a fight, but it forced them to be together within their competition.
    How had it happened the first time?
    The prince vaguely recalled images of Goku holding a hand out to him, remembered being confused.  Then the other man had said 'dancing,' and, as if determined to rise to the challenge, he'd taken Goku into a rush of movement, forcing him to learn steps and motions as they went.  And now, with all the experience they'd gained through constant matches, their dancing was wild, and blinding, and passionate.  They needed no music.  Dancing.  Dancing replaced sparring sessions.
    They stopped when their breath grew short, and continued to hold one another as they sunk to the ground.
    "I always wondered where you learned it," Goku murmured, bringing his lips so close that they brushed Vegeta's ear as he spoke.
    "It's just a variation of fighting," he replied breathlessly.
    "And you said that dancing was shameful."
    Vegeta frowned, annoyed that Goku had brought up something so far in the past, when he knew that it was not even entirely relevant to the conversation.
    "Shh, I'm just kidding," and this time, his tongue flicked out onto Vegeta's ear.  "Now, what was it you were talking about that we hadn't continued?"  His tone was curious, innocent.
    The prince's features softened, and for the first time in so long, the pain he was experiencing shone through from the bottoms of his eyes.
    "Are you all right, Vegeta?" Goku traced concerned hands over his face, bringing them to rest lovingly against the sides of Vegeta's neck.
    "I thought I was so tired of my life..." he whispered.  "Until you came back.  And now, I'm..."
    Goku closed his eyes, nuzzling Vegeta reassuringly.  "You're what?"
    "Afraid to die, and lose you."
    "Vegeta, you're not gonna lose me.  I'm dragging you into Heaven whether Enma-sama likes it or not.  After all, he owes me a favor or two, I'd expect," the man replied lightheartedly, but his amusement faded when Vegeta's worried expression did not disappear.
    "Things don't work that way," he murmured.
    "We'll find a way.  We always have."
    Vegeta nodded slowly, curling his fingers into Goku's shirt and burying his face against the other Saiyajin's chest.  "Okay," and the almost childlike trust in his voice melted Goku's heart.
    "Now, come on, Vegeta.  Don't spend too long thinking into the future when we've got a perfectly good present," he smiled warmly, running his fingers through Vegeta's locks and inhaling his scent deeply.
    "I've wondered...what's the meaning of this all?"  Once more, Vegeta's tone was naive and quiet as a child's.  As if to demonstrate what he meant, he ran his tongue over Goku's lips, gasping slightly in shock as Goku met it with his own and engulfed the prince's tongue in another intense kiss.  He moaned and returned the action, letting Goku gently lower him to the ground and press against him, his blood singing with the verve of long-missed life.  Almost unconsciously, he wrapped his arms and legs around Goku and crushed the younger Saiyajin against himself.  As Goku slowly moved his mouth down Vegeta's neck, up around to his ear, and then along his shoulder, a rippling purr resounded within his throat.  Vegeta made an effort to return the affection, smoothing and teasing his hands over Goku's body, until the other Saiyajin pulled back.
    "That, you mean?"
    "Yes.  I remember...you used to do things like that, but to a much lesser degree, all the time."
    "I did."
    "...Is that for...the reason that I think it is?"
    "Most likely," Goku answered softly, unsurely, waiting for Vegeta's reaction.
    Vegeta nodded, reaching out and grasping the rose that had fallen from this mouth long ago.  "One of the first times, your lips brushed against mine.  I just thought it was because you were clumsy...but that wasn't it at all, was it?" he slowly turned the rose by the stem between his fingers.
    Goku lowered his head, shaking it.  "No."
    "Hmm," Vegeta closed his teeth around the rose's stem.  Goku's heart beat wildly as he tried to guess at the prince's thoughts, to decipher his words and actions and expressions.  The rain intensified, large drops smacking against their skin and creating strange rhythms in the silence.  Vegeta stood slowly and held a hand out for Goku, helping the younger man stand, and then offered his other hand.  Goku smiled.