Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wish For The Past ❯ Moving On ( Chapter 45 )

Bardock: Errr... no, it doesn't.

Brenda: Dang! Oh well. No, I don't own DBZ, or any of the characters. That wild burdock in my back yard is as close to owning any of the characters as I'll likely ever come. *plucks a few leaves of the burdock and munches on them*

Bardock: *sweatdrops*

"BARDOCK!!"

A wild cheer erupted from the audience as Brenda hopped onto the stage and gleefully latched onto the taller man's arm, pulling him forward until they got to the end of the catwalk. Bardock was smirking faintly from the rush that a victory always gave him, no matter the arena of combat. His tail was lashing back and forth wildly, revealing his emotions to any who could understand the subtle language of Saiyan tails, and a slight blush graced his cheeks, enabling those not so well versed in Saiyan body language to know what he was feeling. He didn't even notice that Brenda was probably a little closer to him than she should have been.

"Congratulations, Bardock!" Brenda cheered into the microphone. "Now, if we could have to step backstage and into a room prepared for the picture taking, we could wrap this up, give you your prize, and you can go home." Even as she was saying this, a man came onto the stage from behind the curtains and approached the duo. He whispered something into the spokeswoman's ear, who nodded at his words, then turned around and left. "I've just been informed that the photographers of the OSC Swimsuit Edition Calendar would also like the runner up, Radditz, to pose for a few shots." Another enthusiastic cheer greeted this revelation, making it apparent that none of the women in the crowd would mind at all seeing Radditz's picture in the Swimsuit Calendar.

Leading the two Saiyans off stage by the arms, Brenda took them to a large side room that had been prepared in advance for the photo shoot. Since she was the spokeswoman of the contest, she even got to sit in on the picture taking, something that she was taking great pleasure in. Oh man, I don't think I've ever seen two sexier guys on Earth! They both have those strange tails, too. They're probably related, I guess. Happily sitting down next to Bardock as they waited for the camera men to pick the lighting, she idly toyed with the idea of asking him out on a date after this was all over. He might say yes, after all! She stifled an excited giggle at the thought. One could only hope.

The only thing Bardock felt as he exited the room was relief. He had felt extremely ridiculous doing those silly poses as various photographers snapped pictures of him and Radditz together and separately. On top of that, there had been that strange female who kept pestering him about getting together after this was all over. He guessed she was attracted to him, but the feelings were not mutual. Sure, she was nice to look at, but he just wasn't interested in a romantic relationship. The wounds from Sereri's loss were still too fresh and deep, and he really doubted that he would ever find another mate. Saiya-jin tended to mate for life, and it was a rare case indeed where a Saiyan found a second mate after the loss of their first one. He had no reason to believe that he would be any different from the majority of his people, nor did he have any real desire to find a second mate. For him, there was only Sereri.

As he and Radditz padded back to the men's changing room, Bardock suddenly remembered the incident with Roshi. Inwardly, he reflected that he had jumped to the wrong conclusion about the old pervert, but he was still furious with the martial artist. Unfortunately, he hadn't counted on the having to let photographers take pictures of him after he won the competition, and it looked like Roshi had hightailed it out of there already. Coward, he snorted to himself, smirking. Can't really blame him, though. However, if I ever see his wrinkled old face again... He left the thought hanging, not really certain what he would do, only knowing that it would be unpleasant for the old hentai.

Once the two had gotten dressed and had left the men's changing area, they found Bulma waiting impatiently, tapping the toe of one foot with her arms crossed. In her hands she held a folder with some copies of the photos that had been taken of the two of them, along with the gift certificate and the six star dragonball. An amused Bardock had said that she could have the free massage in his place, since he didn't particularly want to place himself under the hands of some strange human who knew nothing about Saiya-jin physiology and reflexes. One misplaced hand, and Bardock might accidentally kill the man (or woman) out of instinct.

"You two were great!" Bulma grinned as she caught sight of them. It was mildly disappointing that they were back in normal clothing again, but at least she had those pictures! She would treasure those always, and probably make dozens of copies. Especially the ones of Radditz. "Okay, now that we have that done with, we need to get back to shopping! Seeing as how you two are both fighters, I thought maybe you'd like to go to this little martial arts store that's just around the corner."

Father and son glanced at each other and shrugged simultaneously. It wasn't likely that they were going to get out of shopping anytime soon, and, as they'd already found out, there were stores far worse than martial arts stores that they could be going to instead. They wordlessly followed their guide on to the next shop, hoping that perhaps this place would have some normal clothing.

Maybe the Kami of this world is listening, after all. Bardock grinned as he slipped into a sea green gi and examined himself in the mirror. Flowing in loose folds that wouldn't hinder movement, it was comfortable and fit. And, more importantly, it did not hurt his eyes just to look at it. He'd also found another pair of loose black pants, much like the ones he'd been wearing for the past few weeks, a black, weighted shirt, and a green top to wear over it, along with black weighted arm bands and boots. His Saiyan boots were still serviceable, but going by the track record he'd had with clothes so far, there was no guarantee that they would remain that way for long. He might have varied the colors in his clothing more, but the store had a limited selection of colors, and most of them didn't really fit Bardock's taste.

Radditz, too, had found some acceptable clothing, some in his own preferred maroon, and some in a muted twilight blue. Needless to say, both Saiyans had already determined that they were going to wear the martial arts clothing when they left the store, rather than the surfer clothes Bulma had picked out. That is, if they had a choice.

In the mean time, Bulma had been looking through the children's section and had managed two orange gis like the one Goku tended to wear, two dark navy gis for Trunks, two royal blues for Vegeta, and two sea green for Goten. How she had known their sizes, Bardock didn't know, nor was he really sure he wanted to know, but he shrugged it off and went back to looking through the waist sashes until he found a dark green that could almost have passed for black. Perfect.

Deciding that he had found enough clothing to suit him, he brought the small stack of items over to the check-out desk and placed them with the other things Bulma and Radditz had picked. Radditz soon joined him and placed his bundle down as well. The sales clerk, a kindly old man with gray hair and a bald spot, began to add the purchases up. Bulma came over just as he was reaching for the last gi and she dropped the clothing she'd chosen for the boys on the desk. Mild surprise flitted across Bardock's mind as he glanced over her choices, since none of them were bright or eye wrenching, unless you counted the orange gis. That was fine with him, though, since Goku liked that color anyway.

Goku... While the man continued to ring up the purchases, Bardock's mind wandered back to his youngest son. Worry began to gnaw at his heart as he recalled how severely the boy had been injured, and the fact that he had left him with only Goten, Trunks, and Vegeta to watch over him. He stared pensively at a clock on the wall of the store, absently wishing he could read Earth time pieces, knowing that it had been a long time since they had left the capsule house. He hadn't felt any of the children raise their ki, but that didn't necessarily mean that everything was all right. After nearly losing Goku the night before, he couldn't help but worry about him.

"Well, now that we're done with that," the little blue haired girl said as she capsulized the new acquisitions, "I think we should-"

"Umm, Bulma?" Bardock cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "I think maybe I should get back to the house now. Goku's bandages probably need to be changed, and that's not something I'd trust the boys to do." Even with his newfound fatherly concern, he wasn't about to admit to either Radditz or Bulma that he was worried about his son. It just wasn't something a Saiya-jin was supposed to do.

While Radditz wasn't nearly so concerned about his little brother, he did see this as the perfect opportunity to escape the torture that Bulma had planned for him. "Great idea, father! Let's all go back now!" he said, a desperate edge to his voice. He had no idea what store Bulma wanted to go to next, but he had absolutely no desire to be left shopping alone with her for an indefinite amount of time.

Unfortunately for him, Bulma didn't agree entirely with this plan. "Bardock's right," she stated firmly. "Someone needs to go back and check on Goku. But only one person needs to do that, and I'm not done shopping yet!" Rounding on Radditz, she leveled a finger at him. "And neither are you! Bardock doesn't need your help changing bandages. You're staying with me." She had been planning on taking them to a formal wear store, and she was not about to miss out on seeing Radditz in a tuxedo! Granted, since she already knew their measurements, she could easily shop for them without their help, but she saw this as the perfect way to be alone with her crush.

Seeing the pleading look in his son's eyes, Bardock grinned and shook his head, his own eyes twinkling with mischief. He knew that Bulma had developed some kind of puppy love for his teenage son, and that Radditz didn't return the feelings to even the slightest degree. In fact, if there had been any sort of mutual attraction, Bardock probably would have been discouraging Bulma from her pursuit so as to avoid destroying any chances of her eventually getting together with Vegeta. He owed it to Trunks to give the boy a chance at life in this timeline, too. However, since there seemed to be no danger of Radditz falling in love with the human girl, Bardock felt safe in letting them spend more time together. He was discovering that it was quite fun to watch his son be tormented.

"Here, Bardock, you can take the dragonball, and some clothes for Goku," Bulma added, give him one of the capsules of clothes, rather than opening it up just to remove one of the orange gis, and the six star dragonball. Putting both items in the folds of his green gi, he nodded his thanks and turned towards the exit, making sure to toss a final smirk at his son.

As he watched his father leave the store, Radditz growled softly, glaring daggers at the older man's back. "I'm going to get you for this, father," he muttered under his breath, even as Bulma grabbed hold of his arm and began to drag him off to the next torture chamber in this damned dungeon.

Sailing gracefully through the air, the two boys quickly spotted the village in the distance that rapidly grew in size as Goten and Trunks drew closer to it. It wasn't a very large village, but it seemed fit snugly in the valley it was located in. Once they caught sight of it, the boys forgot about their race and happily set down just outside the village entrance. Pulling out the radar, Trunks clicked it on and watched as the small blip appeared on the screen.

"Yup, it looks like there's a dragonball here, Goten," he confirmed as he began to walk into the village in the direction the radar indicated. "In fact, it looks like it's in that big house over there. Let's go check it out!" He deftly put the radar away and sprinted towards the building in question, his younger friend close behind. The house was easily the biggest one in the village, and if the doors were for more than decoration, the person who lived inside had to be huge. Not that that bothered either of the chibis. They were used to being outsized by everyone, since they were still children. Besides, sides didn't matter in questions of strength.

Before the boys reached the door to knock on it, however, it opened of its own accord and out rushed a small, black haired girl in a skimpy warrior woman's outfit, a cape on her shoulders and a bladed helmet on her head. "Goku!!!" she shrieked, her large, black eyes widening in delight. Both boys stopped short in confusion and stared at the little girl, who was probably only seven years old, as she grinned and walked up to Goten. "You remembered! Oh, I'm so happy!" A bright blush spread across her cheeks, which caused her to cover them with her hands and glance aside shyly.

"Uhh.... remembered what?" Goten asked, confused. He put one hand behind his head and scratched his neck as he tried to figure out what the girl was talking about.

"The wedding, silly!" she exclaimed, sounding exasperated, then promptly blushed again. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed! This is the happiest day of my life!" Goten was about to ask what she meant by that, but the girl's eyes latched onto Trunks. "Well, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Goku?"

"I'm Trunks," the lavender hair boy said, saving his friend the arduous decision of whether to straighten the girl out about his identity or introduce Trunks.

"Well, I'm Chi-Chi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Trunks." Chi-Chi smiled and bowed her head politely, not seeming to notice that both boys were openly gaping at her. "Well, come inside! We were about to eat lunch, and you're both welcome to join us. Then we can make plans for our wedding! I can't believe it's actually going to happen! I'm so excited!" The black haired girl was already through the door, her cape swirling in her wake, before either boy even thought about closing their mouths.

"Goten, that's your mom?!" Trunks whispered hoarsely, his eyes wide in the conflict of whether to gape in shock or fall to the ground laughing. The little girl who had just greeted them was absolutely nothing like the strict, powder keg tempered, pan wielding woman he was used to. Looking over at his friend, he found that the spiky haired chibi still looked dazed, as though he'd just been hit by a Kamehameha blast. Goten opened his mouth to say something, but-

"Get in here, you two! The food's going to get cold!" the Ox Princess yelled from inside the house, her patience wearing thin. At that moment, she sounded almost exactly like her future counterpart, which inadvertently elicited the desired response from the two boys. Goten and Trunks darted into the big house with their heads bowed meekly. They had learned throughout their short lives that one did not cross Chi-Chi.

Besides which, neither of them were about to turn down free food, especially if it had been cooked by Chi-Chi!

"Agent Shao, can you read me? Over."

"Agent Mai, I read you loud and clear. Over."

"I'm in position to steal the dragonball, but there seems to be a problem. I don't see any sign activity at the contest Emperor Pilaf told us about. Over."

"Gee, do you think maybe we got here too late? Over."

"Unknown. Hold on a second, I see someone who looks like they're part of the contest. I'm going to ask her what happened to the Swimsuit Competition. Over."

"Roger that, Mai. Over."

Agent Mai cautiously strode up to the woman in the uniform of a judge and who was wearing a tag that announced her as judge and spokeswoman of the swimsuit contest. "Excuse me, ma'am," Mai politely said as she tapped the woman on the shoulder. "Can you tell me what happened to the swimsuit competition that was supposed to be held here?"

"Oh, the contest?" Brenda blinked in surprise, turning around to face the black haired woman. "I'm sorry, but that ended an hour ago."

"Is there any way I can contact the winners?" Mai asked, trying not to sound desperate.

Brenda shook her head. "I'm sorry, but that information is not available to the public." Besides which, only the female winner had a permanent address. Neither Bardock nor Radditz could give us their address, something about being 'in between homes' right now. Not that I'd tell you that, missy. Seeing that Mai had nothing else to say, the spokeswoman continued on her way, a cheerful smile on her face as she once again thumbed through the pictures of the winning contestants. Too bad she couldn't get that Bardock fellow to go on a date with her, but at lease she had managed to obtain some copies of the photos!

Once the judge was a safe distance away, Agent Mai lifted her walkie talkie to her ear and said. "Shao, we have a problem. The contest is already over and the dragonball is no longer here. I repeat, the winner of the contest has already taken the ball. Over."

A moment of silence passed.

"I copy that, Agent Mai. The Emperor is not going to be happy about this. Over."

That was an understatement. Mai winced as she pictured what the little gremlin would do when they showed up without the dragonball and without any information on who had taken it. Needless to say, she was not looking forward to it.

I'm going to try something out, courtesy of a suggestion saiyantamer made a while back. *clears throat* Ahem... I don't want ANY of you to review! DON'T REVIEW! If you review, I'll have Vegeta blast you to the next dimension! Whatever you do, don't you dare touch that little gray button! *eyes the audience warily to see if anyone's taking her seriously* I wonder if they'll still review...