Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sing No Songs ❯ A broken window ( Chapter 6 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Chapter six

Pan's four-year-old daughter Veta slumped down on the floor and closed her eyes as if she was planning on going to sleep right there.

Gohan leaned down and took the girl by the hand to help her up and lead her out of the crowded living room.

"First of all," he murmured, "we're going to put you to bed."

His thoughts were deeply occupied with the message that he had just heard. He wondered how serious the situation was. Gohan thought of the alien captain and remembered how he had expressed regret in the same breath that he had threatened to destroy the planet. Perhaps the aliens could be reasoned with?

A strong feeling of warning laced trough him. Take no unnecessary chances, he thought. The safety of the Earth comes first. He sighed; he did not relish the thought of another battle after so many years of peace.

Though Gohan reminded himself not to underestimate the aliens he could not help but marvel over the superior attitudes in their threats. They could not possibly have any idea of the forces that were protecting the Earth.

He suddenly smiled, imagining what his father might have said if he had still been with them. He would have wished that they had possessed a power that made the stars tremble. He always did love a challenge.

The girl tugged at his hand.

"Tell me about Great-Grandpa," she said.

"Alright," Gohan said quietly. He began as he always did. "Your great- grandpa is an angel, and he is watching over us and keeping us safe."

"Even me?" the girl asked. She never seemed to grow tired of hearing the answer.

"Of course you too!" Gohan looked down at her upturned face. "You know, once upon a time he lived in the house where you live now. He climbed the same trees and fished in the same river. Tell you what," Gohan said as he reached the door to the room that she shared with her sister. "When we get home, I'll take you girls fishing again, would you like that?"

"Mhm," she murmured as she crawled into bed and he pulled the covers up to her chin. "What was his name?"

"His name was Son Goku. He loved to play and to have fun, just like you do."

"Do angels have fun?"

"I-", Gohan started slightly and spun around when a shadowed figure suddenly appeared in the doorway. Vegeta.

Gohan studied the older man anxiously, searched a face that was strained and rather pale. Gohan found it nearly impossible to meet his eyes, so very dark in that uncommonly pale face, not even reflecting the light.

The girl in the bed craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the man that had just entered the room. Vegeta turned to her and their eyes locked.

"Child", he said in a low voice. "Your grandfather is not telling you the truth." Vegeta stepped closer and stated darkly, "His name was Kakarott and he is no angel."

The girl's eyes grow very wide, but then they narrowed in anger.

"He is too an angel!" Her sister turned in her sleep and made a small noise that sounded as if she was going to wake up. "If we really need him he will come back and save us. It's real magic!" She gave Gohan a demanding stare. "Tell him!"

"I will." Gohan found himself blushing and hoped that no one would notice. "But it's time to sleep now. Don't let us wake up your sister."

"Mhm." Veta yawned as she was reminded of her tiredness.

"Goodnight," Gohan murmured when he left the room. To his relief Vegeta followed him.

Gohan silently shut the door and turned to Vegeta. Once again he was confronted with that face of fixed control, a control that did little to hide the deep injury caused by his loss.

"Vegeta, I'm so sorry..."

Vegeta shook his head slightly, the movements short and fast. Clearly, he was warding Gohan away from the subject.

A long silence followed. Vegeta turned his face aside, his gaze resting dully at the far wall. He looked like he might stay silent forever.

Suddenly Gohan was gripped by a deep sense of urgency. They were wasting time!

"I take it you heard the aliens' message," he said. "We need to find out how serious this threat is. For all we know, they are aiming some sort of terrible weapon at the Earth right now!" The undeniable truth of his own words chilled him.

"I need to talk to them," Gohan continued. There was a fair amount of danger in his voice when he added, "Perhaps I can persuade them to leave."

Vegata did not move or in any way acknowledge that he had heard him. But when Gohan started to leave, he opened his mouth to speak.

"It's me they want." His voice was flat and monotonous.

Gohan dismissed the shorter man with uncharacteristic rudeness.

Don't worry, Vegeta," he said as he brushed past him. "I'll tell them that they have come to the wrong place."

I'll apologize later, Gohan thought as he hurried down the hallway.

---

Levi changed channels. The same. He changed channels again and again the same image appeared on the TV-screen.

It was Vegeta, Vegeta as he had never seen him before. A strange blue and white costume hugged his body and he had raised a gloved hand in a gesture that somehow seemed to promise immediate destruction. Most unsettling was the broad leering grin that distorted the fine lines of his face. No trace of mercy or restraint could be detected in his countenance, all it showed was a complete dedication to cruelty.

So different from Vegeta's usual silent reserve.

Years ago, when Levi had been a small boy, Vegeta had been his greatest hero and he had fantasized about travelling through space with him, fighting monsters and exploring strange new worlds. Some part of Levi still looked at his mysterious grandfather in that way.

Apart from the exciting fact that Vegeta came from a different planet, Levi knew next to nothing of his past. It was not that his questions were refused, Levi thought, just that the questions he had never thought to ask as a child, he later learned were far too personal, far too intrusive.

He stared at the sinister image of Vegeta with a vague sense of dread.

At the corner of his mind he registered that the others were involved in a heated argument. The short black-haired woman named Pan paced back and fourth and waved a fist in the air to underline some point she was making. Then his father was talking, and Levi turned around to listen.

"How can we be sure that they will keep their word and wait peacefully for two weeks?" Trunks sounded so calm that Levi stared at him in surprise. He was talking about aliens threatening to destroy the Earth as if it had been a matter of some minor business agreement.

"We should strike first!" Pan spoke forcefully.

"But we can't just attack them," Goten said and frowned.

"Why not!?"

"Well, for one thing, it would be unfair."

"But they-"

"Mother died tonight."

Bra's low-voiced announcement stopped the debate completely.

When Gohan a short while later entered the room they all sat in oppressed silence. He stopped in the doorway and let his eyes wander over the group.

"This problem must be addressed immediately," Gohan said abruptly. "I'm going to the aliens' ship right now to try to reason with them. Hopefully, all this could be solved diplomatically."

The demi-Saiyan paused for a moment, a wistful expression creeping up on his face. "If Dende had still been among us he would have been the perfect person to talk to them. He... he always knew how to bring out the best in people." After all these years Gohan still missed the gentle healer. He had been devastated when the his friend, shortly after the disappearance of the Dragonballs, had informed them that he only had a few months left on this plane. The bond between the young Namek and the magic dragon had been stronger and gone far deeper than any of them had realised.

Trunks cleared his throat. "I'll come with you," he said.

"Me too." Pan was already on her feet.

"Goten?" Gohan glanced inquiringly at his brother.

"I don't think so," Goten shrugged. "Call me if it gets interesting."

"I sure hope it won't come to that", Gohan muttered. He raised his voice. "Lets go!"

"Trunks, wait!" Bra grabbed his arm just as he was leaving. "Aren't you even going to say good-bye to Mom?"

Trunks avoided his sister's demanding stare. "I'll do it later," he said. Gently breaking free of her restraining grip, he hastened to catch up with the others.

Then they were gone. It all happened so fast, it almost left the remaining people blinking in confusion.

---

Vegeta sat slumped on the couch, his forehead resting on the heel of his hand. He did not look up or speak to anyone, and after her initial attempts to comfort, even Bra left him alone.

Looking at him, it occurred to Levi that, for the first time, his grandfather showed his years. He looked worn; the still youthful lines of his mouth set in an expression of absolute weariness.

He misses her a lot.

Earlier, Levi had followed his aunt to stand for a moment by Bulma's bedside. Bra had attended to Bulma, combed her hair, closed her half-opened mouth and drawn a calming hand down her brow to close her eyes.

He had never seen anyone dead before, but it had not frightened or repelled him as he had thought it would. Bulma had looked like she was resting, like she was enjoying a well-deserved night of sleep. Seeing her had awoken thoughts in the youth that he had never experienced before, musings about life and death, which he had felt did not belong to a child. He decided then and there to make some important changes in his life.

---

Bra was furious. She was sitting by her mother's side and she was literally shaking with anger. She was trying to calm down, and outwardly she appeared almost composed, but inside, hot, angry thoughts sizzled through her mind.

How dare they?! How dare those aliens try to take her father away! How dare they come here, carrying ghosts from the past that they had no right... And now of all times, Bulma so recently gone...

"Mom," she whispered. "I'm so sorry about this mess. I-"

She abruptly turned to the window. Was there someone out there? She strained her eyes to see if she could detect anything, but all she could see was her own reflection. She turned her attention back to Bulma.

"I though I heard something", she muttered.

At that instant the window exploded with a loud crash, shards spraying all over the room. A rock the size of a fist hurtled through the air, struck the wall, and landed on Bulma's bed, not one decimetre from her pale cheek. Bra stared at the object. It was wet and muddy and it left a dirty stain on the white sheet.

A large jagged piece off glass fell out of the frame and smashed against the windowsill.

"Who the hell did that!?" Bra screamed at the top of her lungs. "Show yourself!"

Only silence answered her.

The door flung open as Goten came running. "What happened? Oh..." He stared at the gaping hole in the window.

Bra picked up the offending stone and made as if to throw it into the dark, but then she just let it thump heavily on top of the glittering shards.

A second ear-shattering crash could be heard from somewhere else in the house.

"What's going on?" Goten's face showed only confusion.

Levi appeared in the door.

"Someone throw a stone through the living room window", he said, almost screaming. His voice broke, and his blue eyes were very wide.

"Well!" Bra practically roared. "Don't just stand there! Goten! Go get rid of whoever is throwing those stones! I'll carry mother upstairs; she can't stay here now. Levi! You wake the girls up and take them upstairs too!" At his blank look she continued, "They are sleeping in the room down the hall." She indicated the direction with her whole hand, jabbing the air repeatedly.

"Um... Goten said. "Do you need any help with Bulma?"

"Don't be ridiculous! I might not be able to stop meteorites, but I sure as hell can carry my own mother up some measly stairs. Now get moving!"

"Alright." Goten smiled slightly as he turned to go. He was thinking that Bra sounded exactly like her mother when she was angry.

---

The girls were already wide-awake, sitting up in the large bed. Two identical pairs of black eyes blinked up at Levi when he barged into the room.

"Come with me," he said, feeling rather grown-up and responsible for being in charge of the children.

Two identical heads of tousled black hair shook back and forth. "No."

"But... but," he sputtered, "there are bad people outside. We have to get you someplace safe."

"We're not afraid," the older of the girls said, sounding highly affronted by the suggestion.

"We can fight!" The other girl leapt off the bed and launched a succession of kicks and punches into the air.

She looked very cute... and, Levi had to admit, rather dangerous too. He was glad he had not followed his first impulse, which had been to grab them by the collars of their shirts and drag them up the stairs.

"Listen," he began desperately. "Pan... your mother wants you to come with me."

The girls exchanged a considering look before they seemed to reach a silent decision. They followed him out the door, tiny noses in the air.

Bra stood in the hallway, she was carrying her mother in her arms, cradling her like a baby. Bulma was completely wrapped in a large soft blanket. Her head, resting on Bra's shoulder, was the only thing not covered by the blanket.

Levi did a double take when he noticed that Vegeta was also standing there in the hallway.

"Is she asleep?" the younger of the girls whispered.

"No," a dark voice answered. Vegeta did not take his eyes off Bra. "She's dead."

"Aaah." Fascinated, the girls walked closer. As one, they both poked Bulma with an experimental finger.

"Veta. Sada," Bra said mildly. "Would you two go to her bedroom and bring the pillow that's lying on the bed? Then come with me upstairs, we're going to get her nice and comfortable."

"OK!" They both hurried to obey.

Vegeta and Bra exchanged a long look. Without a word Vegeta held out his arms and Bra transferred her burden to his care.

Vegeta held the blanket-covered body lightly, tenderly. For a moment he did not move. Then he bent his head down to nuzzle her temple. He inhaled sharply, and shuddered, once. When he lifted his head, he avoided meeting anyone else's eyes.

Abruptly, Vegeta turned and began walking toward the stairway, the girls trailing at his heels.

"Trunks better be here soon," Bra said, almost to herself. "How long can it take to convince some delusional aliens that this is not a good time to barge in with their pathetic threats and mindless accusations!"

Levi stared after her, as she too turned and walked away.

"What?" he whispered. Everyone was action so... weird. Even his aunt, who he thought he knew, was acting as if the aliens were some temporally problem, easily dealt with. It also astonished him how they all seemed to assume that it was their responsibility, without even consulting with anyone else.

Levi shook his head. School had certainly never prepared him for anything like this.

He turned around when he heard the front door open.

"We're back!" his father's voice called out. In the same breath he asked, "What happened to the window?"