Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Vegeta's Pet ❯ Daylight in Your Eyes ( Chapter 4 )
DISCLAIMER: The lyrics and the song Daylight in Your Eyes doesn't belong to me, it belongs to No Angels and anyone else who may have the rights to it. I am just borrowing without permission (as I do the DBZ characters).
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I am sorry for taking this long to update! Thank you VERY much to everyone who reviewed! You're too kind!
Vegeta's Pet
By
Kalamity Kat
It had been a month since Vegeta trashed his bedroom, and Bulma more or less calmed down about it, although she made sure he never forgot how gracious she was being by forgetting what he did to her home.
Snowball, on the other hand, was still strangely attracted to Vegeta and followed him around everywhere she could. When the Prince was training, his faithful companion was lying in front of the Gravity Room, sunbathing and lazily waiting until her master finally come out of the strange contraption and spend some time with her.
Of course 'spending time with her' classified as cursing, kicking and yelling at her, as well as some stray blasts that she was lucky enough (and agile enough) to avoid with singed fur at worst times.
But it was pretty much obvious to everyone that if Vegeta wanted to kill the small cat, he would have done so ages ago - but instead, he even let the cat sleep in his room, and she was always eating when he was - he even expressed his fondness to such a degree that he offered her some of his own food, which was truly remarkable for any Saiyajin.
On occasion when Bulma and Yamcha came into the kitchen, they found him talking to the cat. Which Vegeta haughtily denied if asked about it, of course. But Bulma knew for certain he indeed did have one-sided conversations with Snowball - she sometimes passed his room on her way into hers at nights, and heard talking behind closed door - Vegeta explaining to Snowball how much more powerful and stronger he was than Kakarott, the filthy excuse for a Saiyajin. It was surprising to see that he actually cared about someone for a change, and it was even more surprising that that someone was a cat.
Bulma, for some strange reason, started to like the Saiyajin, even if she wasn't too fond of him at the beginning. Heck, someone who liked animals couldn't be all that bad, now could he?
Another month went by, and Vegeta was still training from early morning to late at night - and when he wasn't, he was always closely followed by Snowball.
~°*°~ DBZ ~°*°~
It was midday when Vegeta finally stopped with his training to get something to eat, when he realised that 'blasted furry bastard' was nowhere to be found. Growling, he stopped for a moment, glancing around, quite certain she'll show up any moment now and start annoying him. But it didn't happen. Vegeta grunted angrily, debating in his mind whether he should debase himself so low to actually call the little bugger.
"Bastard, where the heck are you?" he finally yelled, arms-akimbo and his temper rising by the second. When there was no response, he finally grumpily decided it's time for more drastic measures. He stretched out his ki sensing abilities and came up with nothing… It was that what alarmed him most. Trying to suppress the sudden bad feeling he was getting, he went into the house, trying not to appear upset.
He headed into his room, thinking that perhaps the small cat locked herself into the room and couldn't get out. It had happened before. Bulma never forgave him for kicking down the new door.
As the door slid open, he stepped inside and glanced around. No ki to be felt anywhere. He turned around to leave, when something white on his bed caught his attention. Growling, he made his way towards to the small furry ball which was doubtlessly Snowball.
"Here you are, you little filthy excuse for a-," Vegeta was taken by surprise when the kitten didn't react to his insults. Usually, she would have been on her feet a long time ago and would have rubbed herself against his leg - and then he would kick and curse her, and they would both head back down to the kitchen to eat…
But not this time.
The previous concern, which disappeared when he found Snowball, now returned. Contemplating what to do next, he poked the kitten with a finger. "Hey, wake up, you little bastard! This is my bed you're drooling onto. I don't want to get your fleas."
Snowball, however, didn't move. His brow furrowing, Vegeta finally decided to dirty his hands and actually pick up the small cat. Doing so, he immediately saw what was wrong with her. She was cold, very much so, and already started to stiffen. He had seen enough of dead people, humanoids and animals in his life to recognize dead when he saw it.
Vegeta stared at the small kitten with mixed feelings. The first one he could clearly identify was denial. The second one was anger. And the third one… was one he hadn't felt in over thirty years. Gently cradling the body of his small friend, he stormed downstairs. He wasn't really thinking rationally, but for some strange reason, he knew he has to find Bulma - she always claimed she was a genius, she could fix this. Common sense was telling him it was already too late, but he just didn't want to believe it.
"WOMAN!" he roared, almost shattering all the windows in the house. "WOMAN! GET YOUR FAT ASS DOWN HERE! NOW!"
But there was no reply, and the only one who responded was Bulma's mother. With the ever-present smile on her face, she sauntered into the kitchen and greeted him: "Oh Vegeta, it's you. I'm sorry Bulma isn't here at the moment. She's down in the lab with her father."
Vegeta didn't even thank her. Even if the circumstances were different, the blonde woman's stupidity made her unworthy of losing a word on her - if she wouldn't know how to cook he'd have blasted her a long time ago. It had always been incomprehensible to him how such stupidity could spawn such a genius child.
With an unfriendly grunt, the alien prince turned around and stormed down into the lab, locking onto Bulma's weak ki signature. When he reached the underground lab, he almost kicked the door of its hinges when they didn't open. "WOMAN!" he yelled, and a surprised Bulma opened the door, dressed in dirty overalls, with mussy hair and grease on her face.
Annoyed and more than a little ticked off, she angrily yelled at him: "Damn it, Vegeta, I have a name! And don't make such an unholy racket! We're dealing with sensitive equipment here and-,"
"Shut your hole, woman!" Vegeta growled and handed her Snowball's body awkwardly, a hint of worry on his face when he asked with a rough voice: "What's wrong with her?"
"Dear Kami, what have you done to her?!" Bulma gasped, but one look at Vegeta's appalled facial expression told her it wasn't him that caused this.
"How dare you-" he started, but Bulma unceremoniously cut him off with a wave of her hand as she carried Snowball into the lab, Vegeta following her like a lost puppy.
Her father, who had until then not been paying attention, suddenly looked up, alarmed as he noticed Snowball. Animals were his life, and this wasn't the first time that Bulma wondered if he cared about them more than he did about his own daughter.
"What happened?" he asked worriedly, readjusting his glasses as his daughter placed the body of the small kitten onto the desk, with an equally worried expression on her face.
"You tell me, you're the doctor here!" snapped Vegeta unfriendly, but he was too worried to sound his usual rude self.
"I am not that kind of doctor…" started Mr Briefs, but Bulma interrupted him by a crude: "Stop that!" which was clearly meant for both of them. "And you, Vegeta, wait outside."
Vegeta would have argued on any other occasion, but not this time. With a low grumble in his throat, he went outside, and waited impatiently for any kind of news, his arms crossed and a worried scowl on his face.
After they were alone, Mr Briefs asked with a worried voice: "What's wrong, dear?"
Bulma only now turned around and faced him, and Mr Briefs was taken aback by her tear-stained face.
"She's…?" he didn't dare to finish the sentence. Chardonnay, his black cat, meowed sadly, like she would know what's going on.
"Dead, yes. Must have been for quite some time now." said Bulma, sniffing and wiping her eyes. She had gotten so used to the small cat… But what hurt her more was the fact that she had to tell Vegeta about it. Although the alien would never have admitted it, he did start to get attached to the small cat. In fact, she dreaded his reaction, although she knew he probably already knew. But the fact that he brought Snowball down to her spoke volumes. Clearly, he didn't want to believe it.
Her father put his hands on her shoulders reassuringly: "If you want, I can tell him…"
"No…" Bulma shook her head: "No, I'll do it."
Mr Briefs smiled, a proud fatherly smile she hadn't seen on him for a long time. He turned around and looked at the small dead body on the table, sighing. "What did she die off?"
"I know what you're probably thinking… But it wasn't Vegeta." Bulma replied, surprised at the defensiveness in her own voice.
"I never said that." Said her father, stroking his beard and scanning the dead form of the small cat. "I noticed she wasn't eating much… and she was way too small for her age… and didn't get any bigger. She must have been sick..."
"And Vegeta's kicks didn't exactly help." Finished Bulma for him, a strange feeling of dread creeping up her spine. No, there was no way she could tell him that he hastened his pet's death. It would revert him to his old, cruel self - and thanks to Snowball, he had gotten quite tolerable in the last couple of months. Or maybe it was her and she had just gotten used to him…? Or maybe… she didn't know what it was. It was just that she couldn't tell him. "He… doesn't need to know, does he?" she asked pleadingly, grabbing his father's arm and shaking it. "Please dad, don't tell him."
"If you won't, then he doesn't have to find out." Smiled her father understandingly.
Bulma's eyes filled with tears again. "Thanks dad." She said, giving him a quick hug and then running outside to talk to Vegeta.
~°*°~ DBZ ~°*°~
Vegeta had been pacing up and down in the hall in front of the door of the lab, seriously contemplating kicking the door down. It had only been a few minutes, and yet to him it seemed like a whole eternity.
Finally, the door opened and Bulma came out, trying to appear firm, but he could in fact smell tears on her.
Bulma was taken by surprise how his face went from worried to stone-cold in just a matter of few moments.
"She's dead…" he stated gruffly, his voice devoid of any emotion.
Bulma suddenly felt her eyes fill with tears again. "I… I'm so sorry, Vegeta…" she sobbed and quickly wiped the tears away, unawares smearing grease all over her face.
"Heh, I don't know what you're sorry about." he smirked, looking his old, cruel and unaffected self. "Good riddance for that little bastard. She was only in the way most of the time anyway. It's just too bad I didn't kill her."
"But-" Bulma started, the shock cutting her short of words. Then anger filled and she wanted to yell, when she caught a glint of emotion in his eyes she never thought she'd see. Sadness? Had he been so good at hiding it that no one ever noticed? Of course he must have been. No one can be so cold and heartless. It was just a defence mechanism he must have learned when he was still serving under Freezer. No one noticed it - he wouldn't let them. Damn that pride of his. That's why he didn't let anyone near.
She was snapped out of her musings as she noticed Vegeta turned around and was heading outside. "Vegeta, wait!" she yelled.
"What?" he only half-way turned around and glared at her.
"I… Just wanted to say I'm sorry." She repeated softly, sympathetically, and she suddenly noticed an angry flash in his eyes.
"I don't need your pity, woman!" he snarled, spinning around and walking to her, grabbing her and shaking her: "I don't need anyone's pity!" then he pushed her away and she staggered back, falling on her butt. "And I told you to forget it. She isn't worth your tears."
"Yes she is!" yelled Bulma, her tears starting to fall freely. "And you know she is!"
With a grunt, he turned around and walked off. "If someone comes looking for me, I'm in the Gravity Room." He said coldly, leaving her on the floor.
The door to the lab opened and her dad came out, looking down at her in surprise: "Bulma, what's wrong? What are you doing on the floor?"
"I fell." She lied, wiped her tears and got up. Mr Briefs decided not to ask anymore questions - he handed her the box he was carrying: "I thought you and Vegeta would want to bury her."
"Thanks, dad, but I don't think Vegeta would want to do it. He's…" she searched for an appropriate word, but her father just shook his head: "Say no more. I'll do it then."
"No, it's all right. Yamcha and I will do it." She sighed and took the box. "Thank you."
~°*°~ DBZ ~°*°~
Wannaknow you better
Wanna push you baby but never too far
Wanna show you heaven
Wanna feel like you just as strong as you are
Two hours later, Yamcha, Bulma and Puar were burying the small cat in the backyard, under a small rose-bush. Yamcha finished digging the hole and he wiped his brow, sighing. Then he turned to his girlfriend. "Bulma."
"Uh huh," replied Bulma distractedly, cradling the box protectively. With a small sigh, she placed the box into the hole and straightened up again. As she did so, she noticed Vegeta standing in next to the house, watching them from the distance. He returned her look evenly, without giving away anything.
'You're so damn good at hiding your feelings, aren't you?' she thought sadly. 'I wish I could help you. But you wouldn't want my help anyway.'
"Bulma? Are you all right?" asked Puar worriedly.
"I'm fine, Puar." Smiled Bulma and when she looked back, Vegeta was gone.
Yamcha filed back the hole and placed down a small tombstone, which the Capsule Corp owned a great deal of - it was no wonder with all the pets living there. Concentrating his energy into a small beam, he wrote onto it: Snowball.
He straightened up and looked at his handiwork. "How is it?"
Bulma took a hold of his arm and smiled: "Just perfect. Thanks for doing this, Yamcha."
"No problem. Of course it would be too much to ask if Vegeta did it, huh?" replied the scarred warrior, showing his distaste of the smaller alien again.
"Don't talk like that." Bulma was again surprised at her own defensiveness.
Yamcha was, too, and he glanced at her in surprise. "Why? It's not like he gives a damn, and she was his pet."
"He does care, he just doesn't know how to show it." Replied Bulma and started to head back towards the house. Yamcha's brow furrowed and he glanced at Puar, who just shrugged.
"I don't like this." The tall warrior growled and headed after Bulma. "Bulma, should I be worried about you and Vegeta?" he tired to sound teasing.
"Yamcha, can't you be serious for once?" Bulma snapped, turning around, her distaste clearly shown on her face. "For crying out loud, grow up already." And with that, she stormed into the house, leaving him staring after her in shock.
"That went well." Commented Puar sarcastically.
Yamcha wrinkled his forehead and glanced at the Gravity Room. "He's not even here and he's causing trouble." He said angrily, turning around and shooting off towards his apartment downtown.
~¤~
I wanna be daylight in your eyes
I wanna be sunlight only warmer
I wanna be daylight in your eyes
I wanna be love only stronger
I wanna be daylight
~¤~
Bulma was sitting on the bed in her room, resting her head on her crossed arms and looking down at the garden at Snowball's grave. It was already near midnight and she was tired, but she couldn't sleep. 'Damn you, Vegeta, why do you have to be so proud? Why don't you admit that you care?'
She suddenly heard the familiar noise of the Gravity Room turning down and she stretched her neck to catch a glimpse of him.
Vegeta stepped outside and darkness engulfed him as the lights in the Gravity Room turned off - but Bulma's eyes were already adjusted to dark, and she could recognize the small, muscular form with spiky hair easily.
Vegeta paused for a second, looking around himself. Bulma's heart clenched when she realised that he's probably waiting for Snowball to show up. He suddenly stopped, and then hesitantly headed towards the direction of the grave. Bulma's breath caught in her throat when she realised he's actually going to see to Snowball.
Without thinking, she hastily grabbed a robe and ran downstairs.
~¤~
Wannalive forever
Wanna touch your hand and explode like a star
Wanna stand beside you
Always be together wherever you are
~¤~
Vegeta was standing over the small grave, his face completely emotionless. Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps heading towards him.
"You better go back inside, or you'll catch a cold." He said gruffly, not even bothering to look back.
"I know what I'm doing." Bulma replied softly, but stubbornly, and stopped next to him, glancing at him with worry. He didn't need to look at her to know that.
They stood there for a few minutes, in silence, neither of them moving. Finally, Bulma started shivering and her teeth started chattering.
He didn't avert his eyes from the small tombstone as he suddenly spoke up, startling her. "I told you to go back inside."
"No, I wanna stay here," she repeated stubbornly.
With a sigh, he suddenly turned towards her and asked with surprising force. "Are you going to be just as stubborn about it as she was? Look where it brought her." He pointed at the grave and Bulma shivered again, and this time not from the cold.
However, she stood her ground: "I am always there where I want to be. And I want to be here. And no matter how many times you kick me away, I'll always come back - just like she did."
For a few moments, none of them moved, and Bulma could feel her cheeks starting to burn - heck, she never gave such a love confession to Yamcha, and now she's giving it to Vegeta?!
"Until one day I'll kick you too hard, and you won't be able to come back again." He suddenly spoke up quietly, turning to the grave again. "I know I caused her death." He added as an afterthought, more to himself that meaning to be overheard.
"No, no," Bulma hastily objected. "It wasn't your fault. She was sick, my dad told me. She wasn't big enough for her age and she didn't eat as much as she should. It wasn't your fault."
Vegeta glanced at her, scanning her eyes for any kinds of deceit. She was obviously telling the truth. With a small smile, he nodded and looked back at the grave, his thoughts racing.
Suddenly, he felt Bulma take his hand and entwine her fingers with his. When he glanced at her in surprise, she smiled at him. "Vegeta, you'll always have a friend in me. I'm not sick and I'm pretty tough if I do say so myself. I won't die on you, I promise."
Vegeta stared at her, and at first she thought he'll push her away and laugh at her, or blast her, when he suddenly nodded, squeezing her hand and then pulling her closer. "Bulma…"
Bulma suddenly started shivering, and it wasn't from the cold. She could see it in his eyes - he struggled so much with those words, but couldn't get them out.
Putting a finger over his lips, she smiled: "I know…"
~¤~
I wanna be daylight in your eyes
I wanna be sunlight only warmer
I wanna be daylight in your eyes
I wanna be love only stronger
I wanna be daylight in your eyes
I wanna be sunlight only warmer
I wanna be daylight
~¤~
"Bulma, you aren't serious-"
"I am completely serious." Yamcha was curtly cut off when Bulma determinately shook her head: "Yamcha, you know just as well as I do that it would never work out. We've been together for sixteen years and you never popped the question."
"And you think he will?" yelled Yamcha, the rage at the betrayal clouding his vision.
"No. I know for a fact he won't. But it doesn't matter I never wanted to get married anyway. I just wanted you to ask. Nothing else. But you didn't." it was her calmness that worried him most. They fought all the time - broke up and got back together again. But this time… She was serious. She was dead serious and calm. It scared him out of his mind. She had been a constant in his life for over half of his life, and now… just like this? No, it couldn't be true.
"Bulma, I know our relationship hadn't been the best for the last few years… Even after I was revived, our relationship still hadn't improved… I was thinking about breaking up for a long time, until Goku mentioned you having a baby… I liked the idea. I always wanted to have children-,"
"And you will. But not with me." She cut him off, smiling sadly. "Yamcha, we've been such good friends for so long-"
"Stop that fucking superiority act!" he suddenly yelled, surprising her. "You fucked up, just admit it! You always bitched about how I always cheat on you, and it was you who flirted all the time, never me! And because you had a bad conscience about it, you bitched at me for it!"
"Yamcha-"
"No! You cheated on me! I can't believe it! And I was thinking of asking you…" he chuckled, pulling out a small velvet box out of his pocket and throwing it on the table. "There. You can keep it. Have fun with Prince Almighty. If I never see you again it's going to be too fucking too soon."
Bulma stared after him as he stormed out into the rain. Tears started forming in her eyes. No matter what everyone thought, she cared about Yamcha. Even now after all this time. You can't just forget sixteen years of your life like it was nothing.
"I heard him." She hadn't heard him come in, although she knew he was there. "If you want, I can go after him and-"
"No, don't. He was right, you know." She picked up the small box and opened it. It was a beautiful diamond engagement ring, no doubt something he was saving for for a long time.
"Are you sorry you did it?"
"No. I had to tell him."
"I wasn't talking about telling him."
A short pause. "Stupid question. I told you I'll always be there."
A 'hmpf' was the only answer she got and she heard him head back into the Gravity Room to train.
~¤~
Wannaknow you better
Wanna push you baby but never too far
Wanna live forever
Wanna be like you just as weak as you are
~¤~
Kick. Punch. Dodge. A round of punches. Dodge. Pounding on the door.
"What the fuck?!"
The door slid open to reveal an extremely pissed of Vegeta. Had it been anyone else that had interrupted him, that someone wouldn't survive it.
"What do you want, woman?" on the outside, it didn't seem like many things changed. Her confused expression startled him, however. "What?"
"I… was at the doctors…" Bulma started excitedly, digging through her purse and finally pulling out a sheet of wrinkled paper. She handed it to him and he cocked an eyebrow, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and read it anyway. Her sparkling eyes told him it must have been something very exciting.
As he read it, he raised his eyes, his whole facial expression screaming question.
"Is… this true?" he asked, his voice shaky and his eyes hopeful.
"Yes, it's official." She replied, her gleeful grin threatening to crack her face in two.
Vegeta did the only thing she never expected he will - he suddenly took her in his arms and kissed her. "Bulma…" he whispered, again lacking words to express what he feels.
"I know," she giggled and kissed him again, suddenly feeling a warm feeling of pride fill her. She did it. The darkness in his eyes was gone.
~¤~
Daylight
I see it in your eyes
Daylight
I wanna be - just you and me
warmer inside
Daylight in your eyes
in your eyes
in your eyes
I see it in your eyes
~¤~
TheEnd
AN2: Any comments and critiques are more than welcome. Too sappy, too cliché? I didn't plan into ending it like this and turning it into yet another B/V, but it just happened. Once again, thank you so very much for all your wonderful reviews. Oh, and if you're interested, "Getting Back Together" is a sequel to this story and is set after the Cell Games.
DeeGeta: Thank you so much for your wonderful review. And it's all your fault that this turned into a V/B, when it actually wasn't meant to be one. ^_~ No, seriously, at the beginning I wanted to end it with a hint of B/V, and now it turned into a blatant B/V get-together. Oh sucks. ^_^
Skayda: Thank you so much for the rating and for your review.