jacob's author note- Hmm… Well this is
sappy… I was trying to find something to submit to Ash the
Wanderer's contest, and I wanted something that was short and easy to
write. Well here you go, the only sap you'll ever get from me!
Disclaimer- DBZ belongs to the illustrious Toriyama,
*mayhisnamebeworhsippedforever* say that 10 times fast…
Untitled Vignette
Damn you Kakarot. Vegeta slowly unclenched and clenched his fists. His
eyes burned with a fierce inner rage, his ebony hair unmoved by the breeze. Bulma
clung to him, her fingers digging into his workout suit. He looked down at her,
almost carelessly. She was well into her pregnancy.
Damn
you. Life was so strange. For years he had
lived alone, his heart had been cold and he had known no friends. He remembered
the cold hatred of all the soldiers in Frieza's army. He remembered
killing so many, and for such a petty cause. He looked at the tossing and
turning body of the man that had single handedly changed him. Bulma gave
another sob, and then suddenly let go.
Damn. She wandered over to Chichi who was patting
Goku's head with a wet sponge. Bulma knelt down by her and gave her a
hug. Chichi kept patting. Vegeta heard the continuous wet sound. Endlessly,
patting, tapping…
Kakarot,
why? Vegeta shook his head and sat down. In
the corner the brat sat with the cue ball. The boy was crying. Weakling. And then Vegeta remembered, the death of his father,
his people, and the hurt. But emotion was weakness, strength was all.
"I
was supposed to defeat him." Vegeta murmured, finally voicing his
thoughts aloud. Nobody heard him, except for Piccolo. The Namek shifted
slightly, his cape draped down his back like a frozen waterfall. Vegeta stared
at the floor, as if he could bore a hole in it with his thoughts.
"It's
late, we should have someone keep watch." Bulma said. The broken silence
hung there, the words echoed emptily throughout the room. More a minute no one
moved, they only listened to he ragged breath of their fallen comrade. The Ox
King moved first, he picked up his daughter to carry her upstairs. Chichi
didn't resist, all the fight was drained from her.
"I
will take watch." Vegeta said. He didn't know why he said it. Did
he really owe this third class warrior who had surpassed him anything? He
sensed the surprise rippling around the room, and the faint outrage that
followed.
"Why
should you have watch, you've wanted to kill him for all this time, by
rights we should make sure you're nowhere near him in this moment of
weakness," Krillin spoke sharply. His anger made him braver than ever
before. Vegeta looked around, unsure how to handle this or why he was doing it.
"Krillin,
let him." Gohan whispered quietly. The boy got up and went over to
Vegeta, his eyes still brimming with tears. The two looked at each other, the
confused warrior who didn't know his own heart, and the young boy
who's power could someday surpass them all.
What
the hell am I doing? Vegeta sighed; he
didn't remember how he had gotten here. First the boy stood up for him,
and then the Namek did too. Are they all so stupid and compassionate? Vegeta
growled suddenly, it was a low noise, akin to purr but with blood on its edges.
Goku stirred beneath the blankets, moaning in his nightmares.
Why
now, Kakarot? Vegeta finally stood up, the
sudden movement disrupting the suffocating peacefulness of the room. He
wandered outside to the beach. They had all agreed to take Goku to
Kamesennin's house that the ocean might be better for him, and everyone
could gather easily.
Damn
it, damn you! Vegeta began to practice. His ki was
suppressed as he flung punches in the air. He back hand-springed around the
small island. He continued, making his muscles tense and untense rapidly. The
cool night breeze kept him from breaking into a giant sweat, but he soon felt a
trickle coming from underneath his hair. He stopped, and his fine hearing
picked up the sound of a panicked struggle.
Damn
you Kakarot. Vegeta was inside in a flash.
Goku was thrashing around wildly, his arms flailed with incredible strength,
but his breath was halting and ragged. Vegeta, without knowing quite what he
was doing straddled him. He took both hands and pushed them against the bigger
mans chest.
Come
on Kakarot! He pushed
his ki through his hands, a steady stream into Kakarot's. HE felt how low
his fellow Saya-jin's strength had gone, and he dove deeper.
Ve-Vegeta?
Wh-Why?
Why
what? Vegeta snarled back mentally,
astonished they hadn't thought to interact with Kakarot like this. But
then again, it was dangerous; this close contact was draining his ki
quickly…
Why
are you so, angry?
I
was supposed to kill you! I was the one who was supposed to have glory! IT WAS
SUPPOSED TO BE ME NOT YOU! Damn you Kakarot, why can't I hate you! Vegeta cried, his mind voice wrought with suppressed
pain, the things that had been kept under his skin and never let lose, for
years on end… Pain was the one constant.
Vegeta,
be strong. Tell Chichi, and Gohan, and the others, I love them all. Protect my
family Vegeta, protect this world. When you are protecting what you care for,
the power will come… Goku's
mind voice was weak now, full of sorrow for what was being cut short. It
trembled. Vegeta was starting to gray out now, consciousness was hard, and it
was only his will that was keeping Kakarot alive now.
Why
Kakarot, why won't you live, you can' t die, I- I have to defeat
you. Even to Vegeta it sounded weak, the
pitiful denial of what had happened to him, a pitiful attempt to cling to the
past like a spoilt child.
Train
Gohan Vegeta, he will give you the challenge you seek, be gentle. Lemme'
go Vegeta, I'm tired. Vegeta
couldn't keep this up much longer; his own ki was dangerously low. But he
had to tell Kakarot; somehow, he knew that Kakarot would
understand. But he couldn't.
Damn
you, then die coward. Things never came
out, as he wanted, life wasn't in his favor it never had been. Suddenly
he felt memory pouring into him, the fear and respect Goku had felt for him
that first time, the first fight…
Bye
Vegeta.
Kaka-
GOKU!
See,
not so hard- It ended, so quickly…
Vegeta looked at his hands, felt his memory, now with something that
wasn't his. Damn that man, giving to the last. So unlike a Sayaijn, a
disgrace to the race, but that disgrace, had succeeded where so many other
failed… But in the end he too had failed, unable to ask Kakarot for what
he sought, the burden within him.
Vegeta cupped his hands, and
watched the dead body. His vigil lasted 'till morning; he didn't
move in all that time, his iron will keeping him upright.
"Vegeta,
is my dad?" Gohan came first, the forgiving child, with only a half
spoken question. Vegeta turned his face towards the boy. Gohan saw his answer
there.
"I
guess you're happy, you finally defeated him." There was no malice
in that statement, only truth. Only truth…
"Yeah"
Vegeta would have said more, but he couldn't bring himself to it.
Something was lacking. Suddenly he was being hugged. Gohan clung to him, and he
was unsure what to do. He remembered, that awe, respect and camaraderie Kakarot
felt, that first battle.
"He,
cared for you, 'till the last." Vegeta spoke, the word love not coming to
his lips. His gruff voice was covered in sleepiness. He looked down and
awkwardly patted the boy's head. He felt tears running down his outfit.
"Damn
it boy, did I say you could cry on me?" Vegeta whispered, his anger gone,
just going on reflex now. But Gohan understood him now, just as his father had.
Goodbye
Kakarot, you better be training, I'll be coming for you, someday.
