Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Show Him How ❯ A somber occasion. ( Chapter 27 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or any of the characters seen in the show, movies, manga, etc. I am not making any money or profit whatsoever off of this story.

Author's Note: Thanks to all of you who reviewed chapter 26! You guys know I love ya for it! *smile* I don't have a lot to say today…well, nothing that any of you would want to hear, at least, so on with the chapter!!!

*Special thanks to Vegetababe, Kat8125, and ssjblackguy for beta-ing*

Show Him How

Chapter 27

A somber occasion.

Last Time: Bulma and Vegeta travel to the Uyfer quadrant and find the whereabouts of Gomer's mysterious girlfriend.

"Come on, wake up." Vegeta nudged her. "We're here."

"Already?" Bulma blushed, running a hand through her hair, trying to fix it. Vegeta rolled his eyes, silently laughing at her, as he stepped toward the door and rapped three quick times against its wooden surface.

*****

The door opened after a moment, with a creak, and a small head poked cautiously out, looking up at Vegeta with an awed curiosity. Vegeta looked down at the boy, the usual scowl on his face.

"Does anyone by the name of Irriey live here?" He questioned, gruffly. Bulma elbowed him in the ribs as the child nodded.

"Be nice," she hissed, "and reset my translator." The Saiyan rolled his eyes, but reached a hand behind Bulma's neck, fiddling with the tiny chip as he watched the kid. Bulma shivered as his fingers brushed against the sensitive skin, lingering a little longer in her hair than what would be considered proper.

"Well?" The child was just standing there, staring at him, and he was getting annoyed.

Wide eyed, the boy turned and scampered back into the house, leaving Bulma and Vegeta alone on the door step, where they waited for a few more minutes, until the door was opened again, this time revealing a young woman.

"I am Irriey," she said softly, pushing a lock of silky verdant hair behind her ear with a slender hand. "And may I ask who you are?"

"Vegeta," the Saiyan replied in that gravelly voice of his, "and this is Bulma."

"Ve…Vegeta? You are Gomer's friend then? I have heard much of you, if you are in fact the Vegeta Gomer spoke to me of." She smiled warmly, then questioned, with a tilt of her head, "Where is Gomer? He promised to visit me but never showed up."

"Uh…may we come in?" Bulma stepped forward, glancing quickly at Vegeta, who nodded his approval. "We have very important news…" she trailed off as the door opened wider and Irriey stepped back to allow entrance. She smiled down at the boy, who clung tightly to her skirt, peeking out to watch as the strangers came in.

"His name is Treyte," Irriey placed one hand on the boy's head. "Say hello, Treyte."

"Hello," he mumbled, gray eyes still clinging to Vegeta.

"You two can make yourselves comfortable in here," Irriey gestured to a small doorway, leading to a cozy little sitting room. "I'll fetch us something to drink. It's terribly hot out." With that, she swept into another doorway, presumably the kitchen, with young Treyte close on her heels.

Bulma plopped down onto a plush couch, quickly sinking into the soft cushions. Vegeta followed suit, closing his eyes as he laid his head back. He was completely at a loss of what to do, concerning Irriey. When he had volunteered for the job of informing her of Gomer's death, he hadn't even thought of what it would be like to have to tell a woman that her beloved had died. In truth, he had thought it would be easy, after all, he had killed countless men before their wives' eyes, and described in detail the brutal murders to countless other women…

But that was before. He was different now, not so cold, not so unfeeling that he could laugh at a helpless child's tears…Gods, he had convinced himself that he was doing those children a favor, killing them, rather than allowing them to be enslaved by Frieza, as he had been. But he couldn't deny the fact that it had given him a rush…the sight and smell of death would always do that for him, there was no way he could change that…but…but not Gomer…Why did it have to be Gomer?

Bulma turned to observe Vegeta, hearing him sigh heavily, closing his eyes. He was troubled, she could tell. This death business must have been taking quite the toll on her Saiyan companion…Kami, how she wished she could help him get through this…

"Vegeta," she ventured, placing a hand on his tense shoulder, "everything's gonna be okay. You'll see." She smiled lightly at him, and, to her surprise, he gave a tiny little smile back, lifting just the corner of his thin lips, as he placed his hand over hers, holding it as his eyes locked with hers.

"Oh…am I interrupting something?" Vegeta's head snapped up to see Irriey standing in the doorway, a tray of drinks in her hand. Treyte clung to her skirts, as usual.

"N…not at all." Bulma said, flustered, as she pulled away from the Saiyan. He, too, pulled quickly away. There was no need to act affectionate toward Bulma, in front of a woman whom he was about to inform had lost her beloved.

Irriey smiled and nodded, setting the tray down on a small table. She handed both of her guests a cool drink, then sat down herself, on the cushy chair across from the couch where Bulma and Vegeta sat. Treyte made himself comfortable on the floor by the table, his large eyes watching the Saiyan no Ouji as he sipped his own drink.

"You said you had something to tell me?"

"Well…" Vegeta started, uncomfortably; "It's about Gomer…"

"H…has something bad happened?" she questioned, leaning forward.

"Well, you see, Irriey…something rather unfortunate has happened…" Bulma spoke up when Vegeta didn't answer.

"He's dead." The prince said flatly. "He was killed and his body was inhabited by a creature known as Mortipus."

Both women gasped, and while Irriey lapsed into silence, Bulma struggled for something, anything, to say. "Vegeta!" she cried, "How could you be so cruel about it?"

"It needed to be said, woman. There is no point in drawing it out. She hurts now, but the pain will subside eventually."

"And what would you know about pain, you heartless jerk?!?" Bulma cried, angry that he would be so callous with such an issue.

"What don't I know about pain?" he hissed, turning his back away. "I can't just sit here and pretend everything is alright, because it's not!"

"You…you didn't have to be so harsh…"

"There's no such thing as letting someone down gently, Bulma. No matter how you say it, it hurts just the same. If you try to be nice about it, you're just bottling everything up inside, trying not to offend anyone…it just makes it all worse." He turned back around and walked across the room to Irriey, who was just silently staring in to her cup. "Bulma and I will be leaving tonight. When we get back to Strata Phon, Gomer's Ceremony of Passing will be held, and I think he'd like it very much if you came with us."

"I'm sure everyone will understand if you don't want to." Bulma piped in.

"No…I'm…I'm all right. Treyte and I will go pack right now, won't we?" She held her hand out to the little boy, who wiped a tear from his eye and nodded, grasping her fingers in his own.

"She seems to be taking it rather well." Bulma mumbled, once the pair was out of earshot.

"Hn. She's in a bit of shock, I think. When she sees the…body," Vegeta shivered slightly, remembering, for himself, the look of that lifeless sac. "She'll break down. I'm not so sure if that boy should be allowed to see though."

"I…I don't know. Do you think he's Gomer's son?"

"Can't say. It's hard to tell with Tumarians. They all look fairly similar. And I don't know how long the two have been together. I haven't seen Gomer in a long time, and of course, Mortipus wouldn't have thought to mention Irriey.... I'm guessing that the boy is about five or so, though. Usually, Tumarian couples who are together for that long marry."

***

"Is it too tight, boy?" Vegeta asked, tightening the straps on Treyte's seat in the ship. They would be leaving very soon, the minute that everyone was strapped in.

"No sir. It's fine."

Vegeta grunted and looked over at Bulma, who was strapping herself in, after having helped Irriey. He plopped down in his own seat and buckled himself in, before giving the verbal command to the ship to launch.

It was already quite late by the time the ship was in space, and Treyte was beginning to yawn, having trouble keeping his eyes open. Bulma showed the two strangers to the bedroom in the lower deck, where Irriey could put her son down to sleep, then left them alone together, wandering off to find Vegeta.

"Where are we sleeping tonight?" he wrapped his arms around her from behind, startling her. "We can't very well all share that one room."

"Well…I…I didn't exactly think about that. But I think there are some spare pallets in the bedroom closet." She mumbled back, unable to shake off the fact that he had said 'we' when asking her where they would sleep. Perhaps…perhaps the situation was not as she had first thought. Was it possible that he had been telling the complete truth when he spoke of mating her, and not some desperate lie?

"Fine with me," he nuzzled her ear, delighting in the soft, feminine sigh she let out. This was better, definitely an improvement to the previous day. She wasn't being so cold anymore, and if Gomer's woman and the boy weren't on the ship, he had no doubts that he could have gotten her into the bed again.

Irriey blushed softly, turning around and heading back to the room where her son was trying to sleep. She had just stumbled in upon a very intimate moment, she knew, and thought that perhaps her hosts would like some privacy. I knew it she smiled to herself. I knew, when I walked in on them in the living room earlier today, that there was something going on. She recalled the scene, wondering why they had been so quick to push away from each other. Perhaps there was some sort of secret romance going on between them. But wait… If she remembered correctly, there had been a small trace of hurt in the Saiyan's eyes as Bulma pulled so quickly away. Is he in love with her? Does she not feel the same way? But no…that cannot be it. What I saw was a very intimate moment, not the kind of moment shared by people who do not love each other…

***

The crowd was quiet; the atmosphere heavy as the Tumarian priest began reciting the ancient incantations that would allow Gomer's spirit to pass into the afterlife. He danced slowly around the stone podium where the warrior's remnants had been laid out, lighting candles and sprinkling the body with a fine powder that was said to ward off demons.

Bulma looked over at Irriey, who stood silently, tears streaming down her cheeks as she fought back sobs. It would not do for her to begin bawling during the ceremony, but it was so hard to watch. Her poor Gomer! Why did he have to die in such an awful way? She couldn't even look upon his corpse and see the serenity on his cold, dead features…What was once his face was stretched and mangled beyond recognition by the creature that had killed and inhabited his body.

As the priest finished his dance, Irriey stepped up toward the platform and began her prayers for his spirit, casting a torch into a fire pit. This was her job as the woman he left behind, and, keeping tradition, she blessed the roaring inferno with her love, before stepping down and gesturing to Vegeta that it was his turn.

As she joined the rest of the crowd, she took her son's hand from Bulma, who had been comforting him, and dried his tears. Vegeta strode slowly toward the platform, studying his friend's remains, blinking back the tears in his eyes. His duty as the deceased's closest friend was to cast the corpse into the flames to be incinerated, and he needed to be strong for Gomer's spirit, so that it would not get lost along the way to the afterlife. It would be a great disgrace to cry.

With no more than a moment's hesitation, he took the limp body in his arms and placed it over the flames, stepping back as his best friend's remains turned to ash. With a nod from the priest, the crowd stepped forward to fan the flames. Ashes scattered in the wind, floating up toward the sky, as the closest friends and family of Gomer recited an ancient prayer that would help the ashes reach the clouds, once the wind was no longer able to carry them.

Poro limped forward, not completely healed after the beating she had suffered, and blessed the fire with the family name, so that all would know her brother had perished with honor, and that she was proud to be of his blood. She held back her sobs as she spoke, her voice clear, not faltering once, but as she stepped back into the crowd, her sobs escaped, and she and Irriey clung to each other for comfort.

The fire was left burning as the crowd dissipated, and would be allowed to burn until it drowned itself out, to ensure that every bit of Gomer had been turned to ash and sent to the afterlife. The Tumarians believed that if his body still existed, there was no way he would be allowed into eternal paradise.

"Ve…Vegeta…" a small voice croaked, and the Saiyan turned to see Poro limping toward him. "I…I just wanted to thank you for killing him…Mortipus, I mean," she stuttered. "I knew there was something odd about him, that he wasn't my brother Gomer, and when I finally got up the nerve to confront him about it…he turned on me…"

"I figured as much." Vegeta snorted, observing her bandaged leg and the crutch she leant on.

"Well then…err…thanks then, I guess." Poro muttered, embarrassed by the man's scrutiny. It was obvious that he didn't hold her in very high regards, family of Gomer or not. She turned to limp away, but was stopped by the gentle pressure of a hand on her shoulder.

"I know he's gone, and I know it hurts," Bulma said, softly, "but everything will turn out fine. You'll see." Poro turned her head away, ashamed that she still held the grudge against Bulma, even though the other woman seemed to have forgiven her, and was even willing to console her after the death of a loved one.

"Yeah, I know." She closed her magenta eyes, forcing the tears back, and limped off, not turning back once.

"We should go," Vegeta wrapped one arm gently around Bulma's waist. "The sun is setting, and we should probably eat and get to sleep as soon as possible if we're going to be leaving tomorrow." Bulma nodded, trying to ignore the tingles that engulfed her waist, and allowed the Saiyan no Ouji to lead her to Strata Phon's mess hall, where a dinner was being held in Gomer's honor.

Next Time: A meaningful talk between Irriey and Bulma (yeah, I know I promised it for this chapter, but it didn't exactly work out) and Bulma and Vegeta launch, and land back on Imtor. It seems Vegeta has a plan to win Bulma over once and for all, but will she take the bait?

Hey all! There's the end of the chapter!! YAY! Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that there may not be a chapter of Show Him How up next weekend. I assure you, I'm writing every spare moment I get, but the semester is coming to an end, and that means that finals are coming up…bleh. Classes are going into review mode, which means lots of review homework, and of course, lots of studying for the upcoming exams. I'm trying though! Just don't be surprised if chapter 28 is delayed another week.

Anyway, please remember to review!

And, as usual, if you would like to be notified when new chapters or fics come out, please send a BLANK email to cat_girl_26-subscribe@topica.com