Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Through Thick and Thin ❯ Couldn't Live Without You ( Chapter 5 )

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--THROUGH THICK AND THIN--

--Chapter 5--

--Couldn't Live Without You--

"Do you suppose that's his way of apologizing?"

"I think so..." Bulma replied. "I didn't see it there before."

Mrs. Briefs smiled. "I told you you two would make up."

Bulma shook her head in defeat and smiled. "I must admit," she sighed, "I had my doubts. But I'm glad that my doubts were wrong."

"Why don't you go talk to him?" Mrs. Briefs coaxed gently.

Bulma nodded and stood. "I think I will. It's about time I heard his voice again."

Mrs. Briefs smiled fondly at her daughter's retreating back. I knew it would work out, she thought as she turned back to the toast she was buttering for her late breakfast.

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A knock at the door distracted him from his push-ups, and he almost lost count. With a growl, Vegeta ignored the visitor and continued with his warm-up.

"Vegeta?"

Vegeta stopped and looked at the door. Had that been Bulma's voice? He frowned and stood up, wiping the sweat from his brow and turning the gravity back to zero before opening the door. As he had suspected, his mate stood there, a hint of a smile on her face.

Vegeta's features darkened. "What do you want?" he snarled.

Without a word, Bulma stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Vegeta's neck. "I love you."

Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise before he slowly wrapped his own arms around her trim waist. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent, the one he had missed so much the past five days. He didn't say that he loved her as well, but the gesture was enough for Bulma. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and stepped a little closer.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I shouldn't have gotten so angry with you."

The Saiya-jin's only response was a tightening in the hug. Looking up, Bulma smiled warmly, and planted a kiss on his lips. Vegeta placed a hand on her head and deepened the kiss passionately.

Bulma sighed into his mouth slightly, melting against his bare chest. She hadn't realized how much she had missed these rare, tender moments until she had almost lost them. She pulled away then and inhaled deeply, gazing into Vegeta's black orbs. The man smirked and pulled Bulma's shirt off up over her head. She didn't complain.

He reached around to her back and tore the clasp off Bulma's bra, letting it fall loose. The blue-haired woman shrugged it off, leaving her chest bare and exposed. Vegeta smirked once more, and pulled her into another embrace.

"I found your present," she murmured into his chest.

"Present?" Vegeta pulled away and frowned at his mate. "What are you talking about?"

Bulma looked at him in confusion. "You know... the red Christmas dress I wanted? It was addressed to me in your writing."

"I bought nothing of the sort," Vegeta snorted indignantly.

Bulma's forehead creased and her eyebrows pinched together. "What? But I found it in the laundry room!"

"And I found a cheque for a new set of weights," Vegeta said. "It was in the kitchen, in a dinocap, and it was from you."

"I didn't buy that!"

"It was written on one of your cheques in your writing!" the Saiya-jin argued.

"Well, I didn't buy it," Bulma huffed.

"And this is supposed to be my fault? You're the one who interrupted my training! And for what? Need another good fuck?"

Bulma's face turned red with rage. "You... you... asshole!" she shrieked, unable to think of a better, more suitable insult in her anger. "I came here to make amends. I thought you were trying to apologize! And this is how I get treated? Well, forget I ever cared!! You will get no more respect from me!"

Vegeta merely snorted. "It's not like you ever respected me anyway. What difference does it make now?"

Bulma's eyes filled with salty water. "I loved you Vegeta, and you know I respect you. I may not have at first, but that was long ago." Her tears overflowed and began sliding down her cheeks.

"I always thought that I couldn't live without you, but I guess I'm going to have to get used to it. Having that bed all to myself is nice for a change; maybe in a year or two, there will be another man to share it with me, once I get tired of having all that space to myself." She turned on her heel and stomped out of the training facility, picking up her shirt and sliding it over her head as she walked out into the freezing winters of West City.

Vegeta watched her retreating back as her mother had done only minutes before, though his look was one of shock, not affection, as the meaning of her words began to sink in.

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"What are you doing, Mama?" Bra asked, as she spotted her mother throwing clothes haphazardly into a suitcase.

"Packing," Bulma replied simply.

"For what?"

"For your father."

Bra looked confused. "Is he going on a trip?"

"I guess you could put it that way," Bulma said. "A long trip, one he hopefully won't return from."

"What!?"

Bulma looked up at her daughter as the shout reached her ears. Bra instantly noticed her mother's tear-stained face, and her own eyes welled up.

"No!" she shouted angrily. "No!!" she turned and went running down the hall towards her room. She practically threw Trunks out of the way as she charged to her bedroom. Trunks' brows pinched in confusion and surprise, and he poked his head into his parents' room. He noticed his mother throwing one of his father's training outfits into a suitcase that lay on the bed. His jaw dropped and he openly gaped. He immediately pulled his head out of the room, leaning against the wall.

She wouldn't be packing his things if he weren't leaving, he thought. And it would explain why Bra shouted and started crying. He angrily wiped at his own tears that threatened to spill as he turned to go back to his room.

He was stopped, however, as his sister stepped into the hall directly in front of him. "You said they wouldn't split up," she said venomously, wiping her nose. "You lied." The word came out as a growl and it shocked Trunks. He had never heard her speak in such a way and he found himself amazed that she could even think to use such a tone.

Trunks shook his head. "I didn't lie," he said quietly, wiping his tears away once more. "I'm just as surprised and angry as you are, Bra. I didn't expect this to happen."

"You promised."

"I know. I shouldn't have made a promise that wasn't in my power to keep. I can't promise something that deals with others. I'm sorry."

Bra glowered at her brother, before turning and stomping back to her room. With a sigh, Trunks, too, returned to his own.

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Trunks was awakened the following morning by screaming and sobbing. He jumped up and went to pull on some clothes before rushing downstairs, when he remembered he had forgotten to change out of his clothes the night before.

"Papa! No!"

He recognized his sister's voice, and the urgency in her voice caused Trunks to run faster. He practically flew down the stairs, and stopped short as he skidded into the living room. His mother was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed, just as his father often did. Bra was leaning against the door, preventing Vegeta from leaving, who had the suitcase his mother had been throwing clothes into the previous day in his hand. He was wearing his winter jacket, and the boots Bulma and purchased for him.

"Dad?" Trunks hardly recognized his voice as it escaped his mouth, and the following events seemed to play before him as though in slow motion.

Vegeta picked Bra up by the collar and put her down nearby, before opening the door and stepping outside. Bra called to him again, and, as his own had, her voice sounded foreign to Trunks' ears. Vegeta ignored her as Bra stepped out after him. Suddenly Bulma was there, pulling his sister back inside and closing the door. Bra let out a scream as she flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to reach her father. But the door was already closed, blocking Bra off from the man she loved most.

Trunks was only vaguely aware of him sinking to his knees as everything replayed once more through his mind.

"Trunks?" His name sounded distant, almost a call from his own head, but it distracted him enough to blink and look around.

His sister was laying on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably into the carpet and his mother stood nearby, her own tears making tracks on her face. Time seemed to be back to normal, and the voices no longer sounded exotic and unfamiliar.

He could hear his father revving up the car in a driveway and pulling away. As the sound drifted away, Bra's sobs became louder.

"He's gone?" Trunks asked his mother quietly.

His response was a nod.

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A/N: Don't worry guys, this isn't the end. Do you honestly think I'd leave it like that, and especially on such a sad note? Nope, not me. ^___________^ There are many more chapters to follow.