Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ When Love Comes Knockin' At Your Door ❯ As We Go Along ( Chapter 1 )

Disclaimer: Vejiita-chan and his familiars aren't mine. their
attitudes within, and the plot line, are. Toriyama-san is credited for
them. *sigh* Oh well. Ya win some, ya lose some.

Timeline: After the end of DBZ. But before the events in 'The
Dance,' so that means no DBGT. I don't care for those events, so I'm
not going to use them. Writer's prerogative, ne? But I do like the 'Super 4'
form, so I will use that--maybe. ...hehehe...

Well, minna-san, here's Story #4 in my Songfic universe--the precursor
to 'The Dance.' You more than likely know what the main plot will be,
but there will be a few twists and turns. Like normal. In this chapter,
there isn't a song featured--but there will be in others. I still consider
this a songfic, since I was going to post this as one big @$$ story, but I
decided to do it in chapters. Something different...it'll only be like three
or four chapter long, not like my other large epics. Anyway, enjoy the show!
Remember to tip your waitresses.

Gie-chan

When Love Comes Knockin' At Your Door
Chapter One: As We Go Along

The slamming door startled Bulma from her position at the
table, where she sat, engrossed in a magazine article. "Who's there?"

A feminine voice answered her, but not before letting out a
loud giggle. "It's me and Goten, Mom."

"Back already?" Bulma glanced at the clock. "Well, maybe not
already." She stood and arched her back, working out the kinks. "Did
you have fun, Bura?"

Another giggle answered for her. "Umm..."

"What's so funny?"

"You might want to come and see for yourself, Mom." Another
giggle, along with a male chuckle added to her statement.

Bulma frowned. "What's going on?" She walked down the hall
to the front foyer, where the voice of her daughter originated.
"Why do I have to..." Bulma's jaw dropped as she took in the sight
before her. "What in the world happened to you two?"

"Umm..." Bura blinked at her mother. Or at least Bulma
thought it was Bura...it was rather hard to tell who actually was
standing in front of her. The two humanoid figures could have been
mistaken for mud people--every single inch of their bodies was
completely covered with the dark brown substance. Bura's normally
well-kept lavender hair was a brown nest of glop. Her
once-immaculate appearance was disguised under a thick layer of
murky ooze. Which was dripping onto her pristine-clean floors. "We
went fishing?"

Bulma shook her head. "Looks like you went mudding." She
glanced at Goten, who was in a similar state. "Did you bring home
anything? Besides the entire bottom of the lake?"

He shrugged, and Bulma winced when a few chunks of mud fell
with a wet-sounding splat onto the floor. "B-chan did catch a few
small panfish, but they weren't much to fry up, so we tossed them
back in."

"So where did all the mud come from?"

"Well, Goten was showing me how to catch the big ones, and
we started in shallower water." Bura frowned and wiped away a glob
of mud from her lips. She absently used Goten as a towel. "But I
didn't do as well. It sort of escalated into a mud war from there on."

"Well, at least I wasn't the one that started it. Bura pushed
me into a mudhole when I gave her pointers on catching the..."

"Pointers? Ha!" Bura snorted and tossed her hair over her
shoulder, which made a muted 'thwap' when it hit the door behind
her. Bulma winced at the mess. "It was more like laughing
uproariously when I lost my balance and fell! I just...retaliated."

"Retaliated, my tail!" The said mud-covered object thrashed
a few times, creating a lovely splatter pattern on the wall behind him.
"Whatever! I was calmly telling you how to improve and you launched
yourself at me." Goten huffed, crossing his arms and making even a
bigger mess on the floor.

"Well, whoever's fault it is, it's going to be both of your jobs
to clean up this mess!" Bulma pointed to the floor, wall, and door.
"Go back outside and hose yourselves down. I'll open B-chan's
balcony door, and you can get changed through there."

Bura smiled at her mother. "Thanks, Mama." She gave Goten
a playful shove, and opened the door. "You can clean up in here,
G-chan."

"No way, B-chan!" Goten protested, following after her
quickly, but not without slamming the door behind him.

Bulma blinked, and surveyed the mess--it looked like a
tornado of mud swept through the foyer. She sighed at the
Goten-shaped silhouette on the wall, where he landed when Bura
pushed him out of the way. "Kids these days!" She gingerly stepped
away from the mud, and went to open Bura's balcony.

She passed her mother in the hall. "Did you see the kids?"

The blonde-haired woman shook her head. "No, what
happened?"

Bulma waved her hand to follow her. "Come and see. They're
a big mess, that's what they are." She stopped in the hallway for a
pile of towels and the two females entered Bura's room. Bulma
opened the balcony doors and the two women started giggling like
schoolgirls at the sight. A sopping-wet Bura was chasing a still
mud-covered Goten around the yard, a garden hose in her hands,
yelling at him. Goten evaded the spray deftly, and led her in a merry
chase.

"How did they get so covered in mud?" The elder Mrs. Briefs
asked.

"Well, supposedly Bura lost a bet to Goten, and to ante up,
Bura had to go fishing with Goten. But I don't think they did much
fishing."

Mrs. Briefs giggled, the laugh lines around her eyes crinkling
them up. "Well, it looks like they had fun, at least! Do you know what
the bet was?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I asked them before, but
they were rather vague. Something about Goten doing something..."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows what goes through their
minds. All I know is Bura lost. And her punishment was fishing. She
did not want to go."

"What was Goten's ante?"

"I think something to do with clothes shopping." Bulma
smirked. The two females turned back to the sight of the young ones
play-fighting, only to discover that the water fight had ended, and
the two had initiated a heavy lip-lock session.

"They're so cute together!" Mrs. Briefs squealed happily, her
hands clasped together over her heart.

"Cute is not the word, Mom." Bulma rolled her eyes. "More
like sappy." She elbowed her mother when she saw another set of
figures approaching the unaware couple. They watched quietly as
Trunks snuck up to the pair, holding the hose Bura chased Goten with
earlier. He pointed it at the set of demi Saiya-jiin, and nodded to
Pan, who was at the other end of the hose--the end hooked up to the
faucet. She nodded back and turned the water on full blast.

"AAHHHHHH!!!!" Goten and Bura burst apart, screaming as
the cold water shocked them out of their own little world. "Who in
the...TRUNKS!!!!!" Bura turned red in anger as she caught sight of
her smirking brother, the hose still help limply in his hands. "How
dare you!"

Trunks just continued to smirk. "Well, it was getting hot and
heavy in the yard, so I thought things needed to get cooled down.
Good thing I saw this hose just lying on the ground, hmm?" Pan burst
out in laughter, not bothering to hide her amusement.

"Pan!" Goten whined, catching his niece at the faucet. "Et tu,
Pan-chan?"

"Hey, you guys deserved it." She smirked and walked up to
the trio. "It's a good thing we caught you before Vejiita saw you
two."

"Vejiita? Where?" Goten's eyes widened and he shot a look
around him, looking for the imposing Saiya-jiin.

Bura rolled her eyes. "You big baby! Are you afraid of Papa?"

Goten nodded his head vigorously. "Yes!"

"And he has every right to be."

Bulma started slightly at the deep baritone from next to her.
She turned and gave her husband a whack on the arm. "Don't do
that!"

He ignored the fly-swat and frowned into the yard. "Why are
you so filthy?"

"Goten and I went fishing, Papa. We were just cleaning off."
She stuck her tongue out at Trunks and Pan, and levitated up to her
room, where the three adults stood. Bulma handed her a towel.
"Thank you, Mama." She wiped her face off. "Better, Papa?" She
wrapped an arm around his neck and pecked him on the cheek.

Vejiita grunted at the affection but did not push his daughter
away. "Clean up and meet me in the gravity chamber in ten minutes,
Bura."

She pulled away, and screwed her face into a pout. "Why,
Papa? I don't want to train today."

Vejiita frowned even deeper. "You gave your word that you
would train today in place of Kakarotto's brat. I have been waiting
for you for several hours."

Bura swallowed and looked sheepish. "I did say that, ne?"

"Yes, you did. Now change, or I'll drag you down there by
your tail."

"Yes, Papa." Bura said quietly, knowing when and when not to
argue with her father. And by the look on his face, it was one of
those 'not' times. She gave him a look out of the corner of her eye.
"Can Pan join in?"

He glanced down at the other female Saiya-jiin, who was
talking with Trunks and Goten. "If she wants."

"Good! Now I can get her back for interrupting me and Goten
the other night...oops...!" She covered her mouth, her eyes wide at
the thought of her father finding out about that. He knew about her
dating Goten--in fact he approved of it, but the less he knew the
details of their relationship, the better chance Goten will remain
alive. Or so she hoped.

"Other night?" Vejiita narrowed his eyes at his daughter.
"Just what was Pan interrupting?"

"Nothing, Papa! We were...uh...just watching a movie
and...and...Pan made us miss the ending! That's all!" Bura was backing
away slowly from the black haired male during her fastly-contrived
explanation. She grabbed her training clothes and darted into the
bathroom, slamming the door closed behind her.

"Che." Vejiita turned around and stared into the two sets of
eyes staring back at him. "What, Onna?"

Bulma shook her head and smiled. "Nothing, Vejiita." She
sauntered past her husband and mate, giving him a loving kiss when
she went by. "Just don't be too hard on Goten. He needs to survive
to give me grand-babies." Mrs. Briefs giggled as she followed after
her daughter.

He blinked a few times before finally exploding.
"Grand-babies, my tail! There will be no such thing!" He yelled after
her. He turned back to the yard and saw the three young ones
staring up at him. "Spawn of Kakarotto! You will do no such thing
with my daughter!"

Goten gulped and gave Trunks and Pan a helpless look. "What
did I do now?"

"The question is, Goten, what haven't you done?" Trunks
smirked at his hapless friend and went inside, Pan following him with
a snicker of her own.

Goten sighed and with a burst of ki, dried himself off. He set
his shoulders and went inside to face his fate head on. "Cruel fate
that it is. Sometimes I wonder if Bura is worth Vejiita's wrath." He
paused in the doorway, and watched Bura jump onto her father's
back, wrapping her long legs around Vejiita's waist and her arms
around his neck. She giggled as Vejiita growled under his breath, but
did nothing to discourage his daughter's affections. He sighed as
the pair left for the gravity room, tails entwined with the other..
"It's going to be hard as hell to get in-between those two...but I have
to. It's not like I can turn off my affection for her..."

"Talking to yourself again, Goten?" Bulma smirked next to the
young Saiya-jiin, who noticeably jumped when she spoke. "Or are you
lusting after my daughter again? You might want to watch your step
around Vejiita, Goten. Bura let slip something about a 'movie being
interrupted' by Pan the other night."

"What movie?" He frowned confusedly, glancing in Pan's
direction.

"Exactly." Trunks laughed.

Bulma rolled her eyes and just pat Goten on the shoulder.
"Just making sure you have honourable intentions toward B-chan,
G-chan." She winked at the nickname Bura had bestowed on him.
Goten just blushed and hid his face.

She walked by him and looked out a window, where you could
see the gravity chamber. She nodded and turned back around, sitting
in a comfy chair. "Now that Bura is busy, I wanted to talk to you
three alone."

Trunks plopped down next to her. "What for, Mom?"

"Well, as you all know," she glanced at Goten, "or should be
slightly aware of, next week is Bura's birthday."

Goten smirked, crossing his arms. "I knew that. It's next
Sunday."

"Actually, Goten, it's on Saturday." Trunks shook his head.
"Do you have something in mind for her? Because I don't."

"Sort of," Bulma admitted. "but I wanted to run it by you all.
I was thinking of having a party for her down at Jellies'. Nothing too
big--just family and some of her friends. what do you think?"

Trunks shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. As long as they're
plenty of food."

Pan rolled her eyes fro the couch where she and Goten sat.
"Hmm...Saturday is usually a pretty busy night there. Are you renting
out the entire place?"

She shook her head. "No, I can't. I checked into it. But I
think you kids would have more fun with the normal activities and
crowd, ne?"

"That's true." Pan nodded her head in agreement. "There's
usually a pretty good band there, too. Sounds like a blast, Bulma!"

Goten fidgeted a little. "Well, I guess it's okay."

"Did you have something else in mind, Goten?" Bulma turned
to him, an expectant look on her face.

"Uh...no...not really..." Goten rubbed the back of his neck,
embarrassed by the attention.

"Did you have something special planned, Goten?" Trunks
teased, knowing that Goten was starting to think very seriously with
his sister. He didn't mind their relationship; in fact, he admitted
that his friend was a perfect match for his sister--she needed
someone to boss around, and Goten needed someone to boss him
around. Perfect match. It also helped that Goten would be able to
protect Bura from anything. He knew how strong his friend was.
Plus, it helped that Vejiita was making him train once again. One of
the little 'requests' his father made when they first began dating.
Or rather forced the half Saiya-jiin to agree. Vejiita was not going
to let a weakling court his 'precious Princess'.

"No!" Goten shook his head back and forth violently. "Nothing
planned, nuh uh!"

The other three in the room gave each other a glance. They
knew that something was up...but decided not to press the matter. He
might bolt and run. Pan sighed and shook her head. "So, Bulma, do
you have ideas what to get her for her birthday? For the child that
has everything and anything under the sun?"

"Yeah, right." Bulma scoffed. "As if I know what to get her.
that's why I thought about the party." She shrugged her shoulders.
"I asked her the other day, but she didn't give me a real answer."

Trunks snorted through his nose. "I can give her a swift kick
to the moon."

"I don't think she'd appreciate that gift, Trunks, " Bulma
smiled at her son, ruffling his hair playfully. "Your father then might
give you an extra beating for your effort." She then looked over to
Goten, who had his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "What are you
getting her, Goten?"

"Me? Umm..." Goten paused, and rubbed a finger over the tip
of his tail, which flicked across his crossed legs. "Well, I was
thinking of doing something, but I think I need to think about it a
little more."

"What?" Bulma had a slight idea of what it could be, but she
didn't want to pressure the young Saiya-jiin. It was a big step.

"Well," he stood up and moved over to the window, checking
to see if the gravity chamber was still in use. The lights were on, and
a quiet hum could be heard, indicating that it was running. "Well," he
reached into the pocket of his jeans on pulled out his fist.

Pan sucked in a breath. "Uncle...are you going to...?"

He turned to his niece and scowled, but the dark expression
left his face quickly, turing into a slow smile. "I need to talk to
Vejiita first, but...yes." He opened his hand and a small gold ring
shone from his palm.

Trunks groaned and sank low in his chair. "Oi, Goten! Are you
ready to take on Papa already?"

Goten sat back down next to Pan, who immediately snatched
the ring out of his hand to look at it better. "I...think so. Since
training with Vejiita, I have been increasing in strength. I gave him a
good workout the other day."

"But, Goten, you have to defeat him. In a full one-on-one
battle." Trunks reminded him. "Even I can't do that. Remember,
now that we all have our tails back, Papa can go Super 4."

" I know, Trunks." He took back the ring from Pan, shoving it
back deep into his pocket. "But I think I'm ready."

Bulma stood and gave Goten a long hug. "Well, just don't kill
yourself before you propose, okay? I want you in one piece for the
wedding." She pecked him on the cheek. "Bura is going to be
thrilled! When are you going to ask her?"

Goten let out a sigh, and chuckled. "First I have to defeat Vejiita,
Bulma. I have to prove myself worthy to him. That's why I've been
training with him."

"When are you going to have the fight?" Pan asked. "Can I
watch?"

He shook his head. "I don't know when. But you'll probably
feel it when it happens." He stood up and stared out the window.
"But I think it'll be soon. I have to go. Tell B-chan I'll call her
later." He waved to the other three and left.

They were quiet for a few minutes, soaking in the new
information. "Well, it's about time," Bulma declared finally,
breaking the silence. "That boy's been skirting around the
issue for months. They're practically mated already."

Pan nodded. "I know. You should have seen what they were
doing the other night..." she trailed off at the incredulous looks
given to her. "What? I knocked, and the door was unlocked, so
I just went in. I didn't know they were doing that!"

Trunks raked a hand over his face. "I really don't want to
hear about my little sister's sex life, Pan! Gods! There are some
things that brothers should be kept in the dark about."

She narrowed her eyes, a smirk lifting her lips in an evil smile.
"Oh, really? Like what, Trunks? Their own non-existent sex life? Or
his friend, 'Handy?' But you already know about that, right?" Pan
giggled as she watched Trunks face turn a blood red.

The male Saiya-jiin gasped in shock. "Pan, please! My mother
is in the room!" His face was almost as purple as his hair.

"So what? It's not like she doesn't know about the 's' word,
Trunks! How do you think you were born? The stork bring you out of
the cabbage patch?" The quarter Saiya-jiin stuck out her tongue,
jumped off the couch, and streaked out of the room, shrieking with
laughter, while Trunks was hot on her tail in pursuit.

Bulma chuckled to herself, shaking her head in amusement.
"Kids these days." She heard a thundering noise as she watched a
black blur followed by a purple blur shoot by her, causing her own
lavender locks to fall over her face. "Stop running in the house, kids!
You're going to break something!" A slam of the door told her that
their merry chase ventured into more open areas. She glanced at the
clock and noted that it was nearing the dinner hour. She stood and
moved into the kitchen to prepare the evening meal for her family.

********

The evening went by uneventfully, supper was devoured at its
normal frenzied pace--with three Saiya-jiin in the house, sometimes
four or five if Pan and Goten were over, food was a precious
commodity that was a 'first come-first devour' basis. Bulma learned
the hard way to set aside her own portion of food before calling the
others down to eat.

During dessert, Bulma brought up the earlier topic of Bura's
birthday. "So, Bura, what did you want for your birthday?"

She blinked a few times, and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't
know, really. I haven't thought about it much."

"Well, do you have any plans?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I was hoping Goten will
remember it and take me out for dinner or something to that extent,
but I thought I'd check with you first, Mom, in case you wanted to do
some family thing." She smiled at her mother. "Did you want to do
something?"

"Well, since you wont give me any clue what you want, and your
father is as helpful as a thermal blanket in the desert," Vejiita just
snorted, ignoring the jibe. He was intently concentrating on the
chocolate confection in front of him. "But I was thinking of throwing
a party for you, down at Jellies." She smiled at her daughter, whose
face lit up at the word 'party.' "What do you think?"

"Sure!" Her eyes were bright at the thought of the gala
event. "I wasn't planning on any thing big. And Jellies is a neat place.
They have these funky lights in the walls, that change color with the
music and such. It has a big dance floor, too." She stood up and gave
her mother a big hug. "Thanks, Mom! You're the best."

An equally large smile spread across Bulma's face at her
daughter's happiness. She nodded and hugged Bura back. "You're
welcome, B-chan. I was hoping you wouldn't mind an old lady's
outdated idea."

"It's a great idea, Mom. And you're not old. At least not yet."
She winked at her mother and moved over to her father. "Thank you,
Papa. It's a wonderful birthday present!" She wrapped her arms
around his neck and planted a kiss on his temple.

Vejiita just grunted and looked at Bura out of the corner of
his eye. "It's your mother's idea, not mine."

"So does that mean you have a different present for me,
Papa?" Bura teased him, blinking her blue eyes innocently.

Vejiita grunted again, and stood up from the table. "Come,
brat. It's your turn." He pulled himself out of Bura's embrace and
left the room.

Trunks shoved the last of the chocolate dessert into his
mouth and wiped it clean with a napkin. "Right, Dad." He took a big
gulp of his drink. "Dinner was good, Mom. See ya later." He pecked
her on the cheek and followed after his father to train for the rest
of the evening.

"Thank you, Trunks," Bulma murmured absently, standing up to
activate some bots to clean up the table.

"I'm going to get cleaned up, and call G-chan. I'll be in my
room, Mom." She also pecked her mother on the cheek. "Dinner was
good. And thank you again, for the party. Did you rent out the entire
place?"

Bulma shook her head. "No, they don't do that. But that's
fine. I didn't think you wanted a big fuss, anyway." She raised an
eyebrow in question. "Did you?"

Bura shook her head in agreement. "Actually, I didn't."

"I didn't think so. But I was going to invite the families, and
you can invite whoever else you want. Just give me an estimate so I
know how many people to tell the caterers."

"Hmm...probably no more than twenty, twenty-five." Bura
mused. "Maybe thirty."

Bulma chuckled and stepped out of the way of the cleaning
bots that just arrived. "Just let me know, okay? Now, shoo--Goten is
probably worried about you, since you haven't talked to him in an hour
or so." Bura gave her a silly grin and bounced out of the room.

The purple haired genius smiled after her, and fell into a
chair, letting out a long sigh. "Well, I suppose I can start inviting
people. I think I'll call ChiChi first." She picked up the phone on the
table next to her, and heard Bura already on the phone. She sighed
and put the receiver down. "I swear that girl has a phone receiver
attached permanently to her ear." She stood again and left for other
parts of the house.

**********

Well, there's a start! How'd you like it? Bulma and Vejiita are my favorite couple, but my 2nd fave is G-chan and B-chan. *grin* Next time, well, something happens to change the tone. I won't say anything more. But a small hint: The song featured is 'Pie Jesu'. Take care, minna-san. Ja matte ne! Gie-chan