Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Eternal Treasure of Planet Vegeta ❯ Lost Communication ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 6- Lost Communication

Goten knocked on the front door of Capsule Corp. He had his own key so there was no need for this, but he knew no one but Terra and Vegeta would be home, meaning she would have to open the door.

He knocked again. The door opened and Terra was standing inside. Goten bit his lip to stop his mouth from falling open. She was wearing a cotton dress that tied up at the back. It was pretty ordinary but on her it looked as good as a silk gown.

"H-hi", he said nervously.

"Hi, Goten. Please come in" They entered, and came to the kitchen.

"Do you want to see Dad, I mean Trunks?"

"No", said Goten. "Actually, I came here to see you."

"Me?" She looked surprised. "Why do you want to see me?"

"I, well…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and handed it to her. She slit it and opened it, then held up two slips of paper: tickets.

"The West Tide Symphony Orchestra", she read. The WTSO, as they were known as, were so famous in Terra's time, it was like a dream come true to be holding tickets to their concert. She looked up at Goten.

"Are these for me?"

"Yeah, I heard you liked them so I thought…maybe we could go together. I like them too."

"Oh, you darling!" She hugged him and smiled. Goten thought he was going to melt.

"So, I'll pick you up tomorrow night from here?"

"That would be great!"

Goten left, his body tingling with excitement for the next evening. Vegeta came into the room just as he left.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Dada, Goten bought me tickets to the WTSO concert!"

"I don't think you should be getting involved with him", said Vegeta. "He's a third class, and you have royal blood!"

"I'm not interested in him that way, Dada!" Terra said. "I just want to go to the concert. I'd never consider someone shallow and false like him. He's like a cake with way too much icing, too sweet!"

"Hmmm", said Vegeta. He wasn't so sure.

~

Bulma had told him to wait in the lounge room. Terra was still getting ready. She had not really understood what had happened and why her father hadn't come back. She was treating their time trip as a holiday. Today she had gone shopping to find a nice dress to wear to the concert. Goten waited till she came down the stairs.

She was wearing a black dress with silver flowers on the mesh sleeves, long silver earrings, a silver chain and black shoes. A black glittery handbag swung from her arm.

"You look…" Goten's mouth fell open again. Terra flicked a few golden tresses over her shoulder and looked expectantly at him.

"Ready to go?"

He nodded vigorously and stood up.

~

Goten had been sulking all day. Trunks didn't even need to ask why. Goten was usually cheerful and bright. Today he had an unusual sullenness about him. He had even told Pamela, one of his closest friends, that she looked like a warthog in her new dress and made her cry.

The night before had not gone exactly as he had planned. The concert had been an absolute bore, and Goten had nearly fallen asleep before the interlude. After the concert, Terra wanted to autographs to show her friends, and it took about half an hour where she completely disappeared into the milling crowd. Then at dinner she couldn't sit next to the fan because her hair was getting windblown and tangled. Goten offered his jacket, but she refused to wear leather saying it was an abuse of animal rights. And things went severely downhill from there, at least for Goten. Terra told him when he dropped her back at Capsule Corp. that she had had a very good time and thanked him before quickly walking inside and shutting the door. Goten was left standing with a puckered mouth waiting for a goodnight kiss.

Trunks let him fume. He wasn't feeling any sunshine either. Bulma and Vegeta were having such a good time pampering Valley and Terra they seemed to have forgotten him. They were also acting very cool with each other, not fighting because they had not yet told Nikki or Bra about the divorce.

"She's so difficult", said Goten.

"So why don't you just give up?" questioned Trunks.

"Because I refuse to let her beat me!" said Goten. "I will make her like me! No matter what it takes, I'll make her mine!"

"You sound like one of those clichéd movie heroes", said Trunks. "How exactly do you plan to carry this out?"

"I don't know", said Goten dolefully. "She's so different than other girls; it's hard to know what to do around her. I kept telling her how pretty she was, and all she did was say thanks in a monotone! Most girls get all giggly and embarrassed and pleased!"

"You've just gotta figure out what turns her on"

"It's probably not even washboard abs, because she would have been all over me if that turned her on!"

"You're clothes are so baggy no one can see your abs stupid! Especially what you were wearing last night. That jacket looked like a tent."

"Do you think abs will turn her on?"

"Dunno. There's only one way to find out!"

"What!"

Trunks leaned over and whispered something in his ear. Goten turned pink.

"Trunks, I can't do that! It's indecent, and besides, your dad would tear me apart!"

Trunks was laughing. "It's just a joke! Jeez, it's not like you're seriously in love with her, it's just a crush!"

"You never know", said Goten seriously. "She could be the one!"

"The one and only?" said Trunks sarcastically. "How dramatic!"

"Well, what else can I do? Give me some ideas!"

"How about taking her to the beach? Her brother said she liked beaches and watching the sunset. Take her on Tuesday evening to watch the sunset. Then you can wear that white transparent shirt Mom bought for you last year. She'll be able to see your abs through that!"

"Yeah!" said Goten enthusiastically. "And some really low shorts. That should send any girl wild!"

~

Well, Goten managed to ask Terra on the phone for another date on Tuesday night, this time to Satin Beach. She accepted, although Vegeta wasn't happy. He insisted that she wore a sundress instead of the bathing costume she had planned to wear.

"Princesses don't wear scanty things like that!" he said. Terra obeyed without too much fuss. She had a lot of respect for her royal grandfather.

Vegeta also opened the door when Goten came to pick her up.

"Hello sir, I've come to pick up Terra", said Goten politely. Vegeta glared at him. Terra came skipping down the stairs.

"Goten, hi! Sorry you had to wait, I couldn't find my hat!"

"It's okay", said Goten. "Let's go!" He hustled her out hurriedly, away from Vegeta's glare, and into his car. It was an old jeep he had bought from the money he made working at the juice bar in the mall. It had taken two years of overtime to earn, and Goten was very proud of it.

Soon they reached the beach. It was half an hour til sunset, so they played in the sand like children. The tide was coming in bringing fresher, cooler water with it.

Terra sat at the edge of the wet sand. The water licked her feet then retreated back into the ocean. She dug her fingers into the soft moist sand and felt the grains rub against her skin. Goten had said he was going to the car to get something. He was coming back with a camera in his hand when he decided to watch her for a little while.

She had closed her eyes and was so at peace. Her hair was moving in the breeze. It looked like it was glowing in the evening sun. Her eyes were dark purple, almost black. She had clear skin and dark curved eyebrows. A bird came down and landed next to her, so close she could touch it. It cocked its head and looked at her as though it was admiring her beauty.

Goten felt like running up behind her and hugging her so that she couldn't escape, but he felt that if he got to hold her once he would never be able to let her go. Instead he came and sat down on the sand next to her.

She obviously hadn't noticed his abs yet, so Goten unbuttoned the last two buttons before he sat.

"Do you like it here", he asked. She opened her eyes.

"This is like something I've never seen or felt before. It's amazing!"

"Do you feel something special here?"

"Yes", she replied. "More than in any theatre hall or shopping centre. This is wonderful!"

"I really like it here too", said Goten. "I come here sometimes after work to see the sunset. This is special place, and it's nice to be able to share it with someone."

"You come here often?" Terra instantly looked much more interested than she had before. "That's really very sweet. I promise not to tell anyone about your secret place."

She smiled at him, and this time Goten could see more than polite courtesy in it. He smiled back and felt satisfied. One step closer.

"So you're having a good time?" he asked.

"I thought you were shallow", she said. "But this showed me maybe you have something under that sugar coated exterior."

"Huh? You thought I was shallow?"

"Well, you acted like you just wanted a free ride", she said. Goten blushed. That wasn't the impression he was looking for.

"I think I love you, you know", he said. He looked sideways to see her reaction. It wasn't what he expected.

"You jerk! You are shallow and disgusting! How dare you tell me that you love me?" She got up and began to walk back towards the car.

"Wait!" said Goten, scrambling up after her. "What's wrong? What did I say?"

She swung around and said angrily, "You don't even know me, and you're telling me you love me? You sick person, don't come near me! All you wanted was a free ride!"

"No, no! I didn't mean that! I just -"

"Just nothing! I don't want to hear it! You say you love me, but what do you even know about me? You don't even know how old I am! I could already be married!"

She turned around and continued to walk furiously. Goten ran after her and caught her arm.

"Listen -" She yanked her arm away and cut him off.

"I told you to stay away from me!"

Goten tried to say sorry, but Terra had already slapped him on the face. She ran away and left a very surprised young man standing on the sand bar, as the glowing red sun sank below the horizon.

~

Terra was crying by the time her taxi made it home. She burst in while everyone was sitting down at the table for dinner.

"Terra, what's wrong!" asked Nikki as her daughter came in and sat furiously down on the table.

"I HATE that man!" she screamed. "That jerk, that idiot!" She sobbed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Who is she talking about?" asked Bra.

"I'm talking about Goten! I hate him! I hate his dumb car! And I hate his stupid secret place!"

"Tell us what happened", said Trunks. "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

"You don't understand!" said Terra. "He's just like all the others! I want to find someone who wants me for who I am, not how good I look in spaghetti straps!"

She ran upstairs. The women flinched at the sound of the slamming door.

"Well", sighed Bulma, "That didn't go very well. I wonder what happened; Goten is such a good boy!"

"Humph" Vegeta snorted. "I never thought so! She's better off without him!"

"Vegeta, how can you say that?" cried Bulma. "We've known Goten since he was a baby, and he's a good child!"

"He's a third class!" said Vegeta hotly. "And Terra is a Saiyan Princess. If we were on Vegetasei filth like that boy would even be allowed in her sights!"

"We're not on your stupid planet, we're on Earth, and here people have the right to see whoever they want!"

"No wonder these brats are spoilt rotten! Living on this mudball has made them soft and pathetic, just like you!"

Nikki smiled; she was used to Vegeta and Bulma's fighting. Bulma began to turn purple.

"You big ape! I wish you would just leave this house and never come back! I hate your stupid planet, and I hate hearing about its pointless rules and traditions!"

"I will leave! It's about time I got off this mudball and onto a real planet!"

"Go right ahead!" screamed Bulma. "While you're at it, take that G. Chamber with you, because you're the one who uses the bloody thing!"

"That's a worthless piece of junk!" said Vegeta. "If you had a half a brain you would have been able to make something actually worth the Prince of Saiyans!"

"You're the Prince of nothing! Haven't you realized Vegeta, that the Saiyans was dwindling away! You and Goku are the only pure Saiyans left! Pretty soon there will only be a trace of Saiyan blood left. It's a good thing, if you ask me. You Saiyans are all good-for-nothing!"

"How dare you?" Vegeta stood up and glowered at her. Bulma stood up too, her fists clenched.

"And you know what else, Vegeta? I'm glad Goku is stronger than you! It'll teach your arrogant ass that you can't be the best at everything!"

"Woman, if you don't shut up, I'll -"

"You'll what?" asked Bulma tauntingly. "If you lay one finger on me, Goku will beat you up! So ha ha!"

She stuck her tongue out at him. Although Vegeta looked like he was going to hit her, he grabbed the blue porcelain vase that was standing on the table, and threw it at the kitchen window, which smashed.

"Why you -take this!" Bulma picked up Vegeta's old trophy that he had won against Frieza's fighters when he was six. Vegeta was very proud of it. She threw it straight at the microwave oven, which exploded.

Valley covered her mother as pieces of metal and cinder flew about. Bulma ducked, but Vegeta picked up the statue that Bulma had bought recently that was worth a small fortune.

"You wouldn't!" said Bulma indignantly.

"I would", replied Vegeta, smirking. He hurled it at the dining table. It smashed through and made a large hole in it, showering the room in sawdust and made a dent in the floor.

"Dad!" said Trunks in a croaky voice, but he wasn't heard. His parents had started screaming again. Nikki took charge.

"Bulma, VEGETA! Stop it!" She stood up and looked in surprise at the two of them.

"Do they always get like this?" Valley asked Trunks. Before he could reply, Nikki turned to the both of them and said, "Boys, please go upstairs. Trunks, umm, play a video game. Total Annihilation, you like that one."

"How did you know -oh, yeah, that's right." He and Valley got up.

"And tell Bra and Terra not to come down for a while", said Nikki after them, before turning back to Bulma and Vegeta. They were both looking daggers into each other.

"Let's sit down before anything else", she said. She and Bulma sat on the kitchen couch, Vegeta sat on the armchair.

"Now, what's the problem? I've never seen you like this before." Nikki looked at the two older people. Neither of them said anything. Nikki pushed on.

"Come on, guys. Something's wrong, you never used to throw things before!"

"He is impossible", said Bulma icily.

"She is a screechy, uptight nuisance", said Vegeta equally icily.

"You can't get along?" asked Nikki. "When did the problems start?"

"They started when His Royal Pain-In-The-Ass began to think I was his slave!"

"I asked the woman to make me pot roast because I liked it!" said Vegeta indignantly. "What is so wrong with telling your wife to make you some food?"

"I'm not your wife anymore!" screamed Bulma, before she could stop herself. She clapped her hands over her mouth, but it was too late. Nikki stared wide-eyed at the two of them.

"You -you're -no! Oh, Bulma, Vegeta, how, how? How could you even think of -?"

"It was a difficult decision, but a needed one", Bulma explained gently.

"Did you even stop to think about the effect this might have on your children?" asked Nikki, her volume rising.

"Don't yell", said Vegeta.

"I'll yell if I goddamn want!" Nikki screamed at him, in a tone Vegeta had never heard from her before. Her cheeks were reddening with rage. "How could you do this? How could you destroy something so perfect?"

"Nikki, it really isn't that big a deal", said Bulma tenderly. "Vegeta will still be living here, and -"

"No big deal?" repeated Nikki incredulously. "Are you both crazy? Of course it's a big deal! Nothing hurts a child more than seeing his parents fighting!"

"Trunks doesn't mind", said Vegeta.

"Have you asked him that?" said Nikki. The expression on Vegeta's face answered her question. "Well, if you haven't asked, how do you know?"

"He doesn't mind; we can tell", said Bulma.

"How do you know?" asked Nikki. "He may be acting!"

"And how would you know if he was?" asked Bulma, heating up too.

"He's my husband! I've been sleeping next to him for sixteen years! I know when he's pretending or not!"

"I've sleeping in the next room for all his life!" said Bulma. "I'm his mother, and I know my son!"

"Do you know he was crying last night, Bulma?" asked Nikki.

"…", Bulma looked uncertainly at her. "No", she said. "I didn't. But he could have been crying about a lot of things!"

"How many seventeen year old boys do you know who break down and cry until they fall asleep, and then continue to cry in their dreams?"

"Trunks probably had a nightmare", said Bulma.

"I went in to sit with him last night", said Nikki quietly. "I -I couldn't help it. When I heard his cries, I had to go. Even though he's younger, he's from a different time…he's still Trunks and I still love him. I can't live without him."

Her eyes filled with tears of suffering and desperation.

"I -I saw Trunks being hurt like this before. He wouldn't say anything to me or anyone, but he was shattered inside. I can't -I won't let that happen again." She turned to the both of them.

"I don't know about you, but I could never bear to see pain in my husband's eyes again."

Bulma looked like she was going to cry now.

"He's fine! He's still adjusting, he'll settle in!"

Nikki shook her head.

"You just don't get it, do you? Trunks isn't adjusting. He's never going to settle in. He'll just become shy and closed to everyone, and one day he'll become closed off to you!"

She turned around and stomped up the stairs.

~

Valley had a feeling Trunks wasn't really interested in playing video games. The boys were sitting quietly in his room.

After a while of silence, Trunks spoke up.

"So, tell me. What is life like in the future?"

Valley looked at him. Trunks' voice was squeaky.

"Life's alright", said Valley. "I mean, high school is hard, but it's okay."

"Was I a good -a good father?"

"Yeah", said Valley. He looked up at the ceiling. "You were the greatest!"

"Tell me about some of the things we did when you were little", said Trunks. He looked eager, so Valley obliged.

"There was this one time, when I was nearly two…"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A happy laughing was heard from the kitchen where Nikki and Bulma were cooking dinner. It was accompanied by loud screeching and splashing.

"What is Trunks doing?" said Nikki. "I leave him alone for one hour with Valley, and they get up to all kinds of mischief!"

"Maybe you should go check", said Bulma, kneading dough for a pizza base.

"Yeah, maybe I should. I'll be right back, Bulma". She rinsed the flour off her hands and dried them on her apron before opening the side door and going out into the garden. She followed the noise around the side of the house.

"Hey, sweetness, how about a drink!" Trunks jumped in front of her and blasted her with the garden hose. It hit her in the chest.

She screamed; her thin muslin shirt was sopping wet.

"Trunks, you idiot! What are you doing?" Valley was sitting in the blow-up swimming pool and splashing happily, giggling at the sight of his mother being drenched. Nikki saw him and screamed again.

"Oh, my baby! He's going to drown!" she ran up to the pool and looked in. Valley was sitting in a puddle of water 1m deep. Trunks ran after her.

She turned around and started yelling at him.

"Trunks, are you mad? How can you leave a small baby in a pool alone? Don't you know people can drown in one inch of water? It's not safe to be unsupervised around water!"

Trunks put his arms around her waist and pulled her against his chest.

"Hey, I can't remember any complaints from you that night we had a little `bath' in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. We were completely `unsupervised'."

"Don't be silly", said Nikki, frowning, "We were supervised; Vegeta was sleeping on the couch in the next room."

"Uh huh, sure honey. You believe whatever you want".

"You're crazy, Trunks", said Nikki, kissing his cheek.

"I know", he said, kissing her back. He was kissing her lips when a blast of cold water made them draw apart again. Valley was standing on his chubby little legs with the hose in his hand, giggling away.

"Mummy, Daddy, kissy-kissy!" he giggled. Nikki and Trunks looked at each other.

"He -he spoke!" whispered Nikki.

"I knew you could do it, son!" said Trunks, bending over and lifting the little boy out of the pool. Valley pulled at Trunks' tank top.

"My little genius", said Nikki proudly, kissing his head. Trunks put him on his shoulders and jumped around the lawn like a kangaroo. Valley bounced on his shoulders, laughing and screaming with delight. Nikki laughed too. Trunks turned around and bounced the baby so high he nearly let go of him.

"Be careful!" Nikki warned. She saw the hose lying on the lawn, dripping slowly, and picked it up. She aimed it at her husband and opened the nozzle. It hit him square in the back, and he fell over. Valley bounced off and landed on the lawn, still laughing. But Trunks didn't move; he stayed flat on the lawn.

"Ha, knock out!" said Nikki, punching the air. "C'mon Trunks, get up and shake hands!"

There was no reply, and Trunks remained motionless.

"Trunks?" Nikki began to feel a little worried. "Trunks, honey are you okay? Trunks?" She sprinted over to him and stood above him.

"Oh God! Trunks, get up, please, get up!" She tugged at his side, but he was dead weight. Tears started forming in her eyes. She closed them and wiped the tears away.

"Oh my poor sweet dar -Urgh!" Trunks lifted his arm and yanked her down so she was lying underneath him. He had a naughty gleam in his eyes.

"I'm back from the dead, mwahahaha!" Nikki's eyes opened wide in shock, and then she relaxed.

"Don't do that, you know how worried I get!"

"Sorry sweetness, I couldn't resist."

"Kissy-kissy!" screamed Valley in a fit of mirth.

"C'mere you!" said Trunks, scooping him over as well. He climbed onto his mother's chest and bounced up and down, laughing in delight. His face was inquisitive and chubby.

"Kissy-kissy?" he asked, looking at both their parents. He couldn't understand why they both started laughing and kissing him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Valley sighed as he remembered.

"Mom and Dad kept a million pictures of Terra and me", he said. "And they would make us look at them once a year, and each year we'd all go out together and get a new album to keep that year's pictures."

"That's nice", said Trunks. He waited before saying, "My parents never do anything like that. We don't do anything together."

"You eat together", said Valley. Trunks shook his head.

"Nope. Dad eats in the G. Chamber, and Mom usually eats at work. Bra and I eat by ourselves for dinner, and breakfast is push-and-go."

"What about when you watch TV?" asked Valley.

"Mom watches late at night when we're asleep in her room. Bra watches the kiddie shows in the afternoon. I watch in the evening or in the morning before school, and Dad usually hires movies and watches them by himself."

"You have your own TVs?" said Valley, looking shocked. "Wow, Dad never let Terra and I have our own televisions! You're so lucky!"

"Yeah, lucky", said Trunks dejectedly. The conversation was interrupted when the sound of angry footsteps was heard outside.

Valley got up and opened the door to see who it was.

"Mom? What is it; what's wrong?"

"Oh, Valley honey", Nikki looked up, her face red and bothered. "Nothing's wrong honey, I'm fine!"

"Come on Mom", said Valley, holding on to her shoulders. "Why are you crying?"

"Oh, I'm not crying sweetie. My eyes are just watering."

"Mom, I'm not stupid."

"I'm really alright Valley". She smiled at him. He smiled back. She looked past him and saw Trunks standing at the doorframe, looking lost and very sad.

"Trunks, uh -could I talk to you?" she asked. She looked at her son, signalling him to leave. He nodded and went into another room. They were alone in the corridor.

"What do want to talk about?" he asked.

"Maybe we should go sit down in your room first."

"Okay". He went back into the room. Nikki waited for him to enter and then followed.