Keep Me

Standard disclaimers...

AN:

There's no pretense or elaborate plot here. It's just life and what could happen if the situations pushed people in certain directions.

An old fic revised heavily! :)

Oh, and yeah, Mpreg warning. I'll let you see the rest.

What day was it now?

Vegeta didn't even remember.

He couldn't afford to look at his calendar for more than a moment. He flipped the pages and found that all he had was a month left.

A whole month.

He sighed at the thought of it and let the papers drift from his fingers, flapping absently in the warm air that fan was blowing. It wasn't doing much for the room or any place else in this house. The AC system was on the fritz and it would be three days until it was back on. He always told that woman that all the power they used would give way to something blowing a fuse. His words were truer than ever, seeing that half of the house refused to work now.

Papers were strewn everywhere. In the midst of them were his sneakers which he grabbed and slipped onto his feet. He would go through the rest of them later. The information was nothing he hadn't known already, and the incoming faxes he'd gotten from a comrade afar only confirmed it.

He tried not to scoff and laugh hysterically at that. A comrade somewhere? The people he knew would have heart failure over it and the hidden truth under their noses.

It was time to go. He moved through the stifling heat, seeking the door with his bag waiting aside it. The others were passed out due to the sweltering heat of the day, though it was still a good ways from the summer reaching its fruition. It was assumed that he was asleep himself—the thought appealing—but he had other things to tend to. Doing them while the others were awake meant questions, and he didn't have the patience for curiosity at the moment.

He didn't bother to lock his door. It was strange regarding it as his. He wasn't going to think about it as he headed for the open window. A quick look outside of it, and he was leaping out and down onto the ground three stories down.

People were so used to it that they paid him little mind when he landed on the grass. It was drier than usual, and he wasn't in the mood to be the victim of ill timed watering. He looked back as was habit, glad nothing moved in that house or outside of it. It wasn't unusual for him to vanish, but he'd rather it without them seeing him. The coast clear and all danger of him being sensed out of the red zone, he ran a short distance and took off.

They rush of air as he streamed through it felt nice against his skin. He was careful not to exceed more than he allowed himself in his energy output, lest risking some nosey person coming to see what or who was putting out the waves. More often than not they could tell who it was. Vegeta wasn't up for guessing games either.

The route he took was different each time but the destination the same. It was a few hundred miles from the city limits, over the waters that separated one shoreline from another. In that direction were secluded regions, owned long ago but left to no one when the person who owned them died. Vegeta, with a bit of his money from winning fights and underground dealings, had purchased them as a means of escape when the annoyances of day to day life on this planet were too much. He was headed there now, but not for the reprieve he sought initially when he'd first purchased the islands.

He hit the edge of the city. He flew higher and passed through the clouds of powder and over seamless waters vibrant with color and life. The horizon widened before him and shrank behind him, one life forgotten and a private matter pressing on his mind to find a solution soon. It wouldn't be private for long. He grimaced a little and shoved that thought from his head. He still had a month.

Twenty minutes passed before the familiar shoreline of his property caught his gaze.

There was no sign of him.

Vegeta landed and looked around, walking a short distance and dropping his bag on the sands near the chair he spied. It was one of the few items that resided on this little piece of land. He could see the house that had been rebuilt and fixed up only a short run away. Not far from it was a bunch of baskets that had been piled high. The scent of sea air was fermented with the aroma of ripe blackberries and lilac. Those baskets were full of them. He picked his bag back up and walked for the baskets just as the one he had been searching for appeared from the trail in the local forests.

The ground was soft, so Vegeta heard nothing as the person he was seeking walked out carrying yet another basket. He placed it next to the others and wiped his forehead of the sweat he had worked up just trying to get everything. He looked to the sky as if he were waiting for something, but that something was already there.

"What did I tell you?" he scolded lightly. "I thought I said I would help you when I got here."

"I know...but I couldn't wait. I didn't want all those greedy birds getting their hands on this batch."

"I see you gathered lilac as well."

"I like the smell of it. It's really hot and I figured the stifling air could use a reason to stay warm. I was going to put it up around the house after I make them into wreathes. It's something to do."

"Trying to fill the calendar?"

"There's nothing to do now but wait and even that gets a little boring. How long do I have now?"

"A month."

"I figured I had a little longer. Oh well. Are you going to help me with these?"

"No. I'm going to take them and you're going to go back to the house and sit. When I'm done, I'm going to check on her and then I'll make you something to eat. Now go on. This will only take a moment."

Despite what Vegeta had said, his guest took a basket full of lilac and headed for the house. He shook his head at the taller man who walked weirdly now. Not a limp, not a shuffle, but it was more like waddling. He still strode tall and with his usual resolve; carefree.

He allowed a small smile to appear on his lips as he set about gathering the rest of the baskets.

Onto pt 2!