Second Chances
Chapter Two
A/N: Please review, I'm afraid no one is reading this. Please tell me what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
Rating: M (for language and sex)
I
I
"Feed me," barked Vegeta as he burst through the front doors of her house. Trunks entered shyly behind him.
"Hi Ms. Chichi," he said politely.
"Hello sweetie," she said, ruffling the boys purple hair. "Gohan is upstairs if you want to see him." The child nodded and quickly ran into the direction of his friend's bedroom.
"Did you hear what I said?"
Chichi rolled her eyes. "Yes, majesty, I did!"
"Well then get started!"
"No! Who the hell do you think you are, bargaining in here like you're some damn king! If you want me to do something for you then ask me nicely," cried Chichi, her voice shrill. Vegeta narrowed his eyes and watched the swelling of her chest as she breathed heavily. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes shined with an untamed fire. No wonder Kakarot was always making her angry. She was alluring when she was livid.
"You always feed my kid, demon!"
"Because your kid isn't an asshole! Which is surprising considering you're his father."
"Banshee!"
"Troglodyte!"
"What?" Vegeta asked. She had never called him that before.
"Never mind. Can you leave now?"
"Not until I've been fed."
Chichi sighed, her hand digging painfully into the edges of the wooden door she was holding. "Why can't Bulma feed you?"
"Have you had her cooking?" asked Vegeta, his eyes bulging from his head.
"No," she mumbled.
"Well, I have and it's garbage."
"So, then pick a phone and order take out! Or are you too stupid to do that?"
"Look woman-"
"Ask me nicely," said Chichi, her hands on her hips.
"Excuse me?"
"Ask-me-nicely," she repeated slowly.
Vegeta watched her silently for a moment. If he didn't fulfill her request then he wouldn't be able to eat and he would have to listen to Trunks complain about how hungry he was all day. "Please," he growled.
She smirked at him before ushering him inside and asking him to sit on the couch.
"Any preferences, Señor Presidente?" she asked, bowing.
"What!"
"Never mind, just relax and I'll make something."
Vegeta strolled around haughtily as he surveyed his surroundings. Littered around the house were several pictures of her and Gohan but none of her freak husband. He smirked. "Trying to forget that clown, eh?"
"Huh?" she asked while she pulled a huge hunk of meat from the refrigerator. "Oh, yea I guess."
"What's the point? I'm sure you worship him like every other idiot around here does."
She looked at him before returning to unwrap the meat. "No, I don't."
"I don't believe you."
She sighed loudly. "What the hell do I care if you don't believe me? I don't even like you."
"Well, I don't like you either!" he cried.
"Then stop coming over here!"
"You make good food!"
Quickly she opened and closed her mouth, shocked at what just happened. "Did you just compliment me?"
"I didn't compliment you I said you made good food. Don't get excited."
She smiled softly at him and returned to her ministrations. "So that's why you've been over almost everyday over the last two weeks."
He paused and narrowed his eyes before walking into the kitchen and staring at her. "The woman is driving me insane. Between her and my brat I'm about to be committed."
"I know it's none of my business," began Chichi as she rubbed seasoning all over the roast before placing it in the pan, "but it seems like she's never home."
"She isn't," he replied curtly.
"Then how is she pissing you off?"
Vegeta growled. "She wants to get married."
Chichi laughed softly. "So, what's wrong with that?"
"Why the hell would I want to marry her?"
"Oh I don't know Vegeta," she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice, "she's the mother of your son, she beautiful and smart-"
"And self centered, and selfish and demanding," he said, finishing her sentence.
"You're one to talk, you know," she said, opening the oven and putting the roast inside.
"I can do whatever I want."
"And she can't?"
"She won't make a good wife."
"What's a good wife?"
He opened his mouth for a moment before a garbled response came out. "I'm sorry Vegeta, I didn't catch that."
He grimaced. "I said, you do."
Her breath got caught in her throat over his words. He had never, apart from complimenting her cooking, said anything remotely nice to her. What had prompted him to say that?
"Close your mouth woman, you look like a cow."
Chichi frowned; he had easily ruined the moment. "It's really not hard being a wife," she said. "You just… love your family and try to take care of them. Motherhood is new to Bulma, you just have to give her time to sort things out."
"I didn't ask for your advice, demon."
Chichi rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying that you should give Bulma time. I'm sure she'll get better at domestic tasks."
"I'm not giving her time. I'm not going to marry her. You must be out of your mind!" he yelled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I don't see why she wants to marry you anyway," said Chichi after a beat. "You're bossy and stubborn and-"
"Exactly like you," said Vegeta.
"I am nothing like you," said Chichi.
"Oh really?"
"Yes, really."
"You fling that damn frying pan and yell at Kakarot all the time and-"
"How do you know anything about what goes on in this house?"
"Because when we trained for Cell I had to hear him complain about it, that's why. Do you know what its like to listen to some buffoon go on and on about his buffoon wife? It's damn irritating that's what!"
Chichi paused before falling back against the counter as if she had been mortally wounded. Goku had complained about her? To Vegeta? She felt like she was drowning in some dark abyss. She felt her eyes burning and willed herself to keep the tears from falling. When she tasted the salt against her lips, she realized she had failed. Quickly she closed her eyes, before opening them and rushing past Vegeta who was staring at her with his mouth opened.
He watched her run away and immediately heard a door slam in the distance. Damn woman; he hadn't meant to…if he thought she would have had a nervous breakdown then he wouldn't have said it. He huffed, now he had to find her and worm his way out of apologizing.
"Woman!" he yelled. "Get down here!" When he heard no response he trudged in the direction where she ran to. In front of the door he could hear her sobbing in the bathroom and he felt a huge amount of guilt settling in the pit of his stomach. "Open the door woman," he said, tugging on the locked handle. "Open it or I'll break it!"
"Go away!" she cried, her voice muffled.
"No, open the door."
"Don't you break it!"
"I will if you don't do as I say, now open it!" he roared. He heard shuffling before she yanked the door open and he was staring into the face of a very angry woman.
"Get out," she growled.
"What?"
"I said…get out. GET OUT NOW!"
He stumbled back as she screamed, tears pouring from her face. "No," he said, regaining his composure.
"Why, Vegeta? You want to torment me some more? Go ahead; tell me how much my dead husband hated me, how much I got on his nerves. I wouldn't be surprised if Gohan hated me to! What have I done to him? What has he told you?"
"Kami, would you shut up woman!"
"Don't you yell at me!" she screamed. "You come into my home, making demands, and I was going to feed you and your kid and then you insult me. Well you can just go to hell Vegeta. For all the shit you've pulled I'm sure you're destined to burn in hell anyway."
She quickly stormed away from him and back into the kitchen where she threw some potatoes in a pot and began boiling them on the stove. Still staring at the bathroom door Vegeta was at a loss for words. Never in his life had any woman ever spoken to him that way; even if he deserved it.
He walked toward her slowly as she pulled up the sleeves of the deep purple shirt she was wearing. She wasn't looking at him, but he could see the fear etching itself across her face. She knew she had crossed the line and she was waiting for Vegeta's seething rebuttle. He immediately grabbed her wrist and spun her to him before backing her up until she collided with the pantry. He was looking at her oddly and she almost expected him to hit her.
"He loved you," said Vegeta, his voice barely above a whisper.
"What?"
"Kakarot loved you. Yes he complained about you, but what man doesn't complain abut his wife. Trust me; he said more good things about you than bad. I had to hear him go on all the time about how wonderful you were and how much he cared about you and your little family. So, stop crying…please."
She jerked her wrists from his grip. She couldn't believe Goku had said that about her. He never…he never told her any of those things. Even hearing it from Vegeta was hard to believe. "Are you lying to me?" she asked.
"Why the hell would I lie about some stupid shit like that?"
"Then…why did you tell me that. It's not like you to be…nice."
Vegeta turned to her. Why had he told her those things? He hated when Kakarot talked about his marriage and his children. It was always one more thing for him to be jealous of. He wanted something…something that he could never have.
"Because," he said, pausing as he bit the inside of his lips.
"Because what?"
"Because I hate to see you cry."
She smiled softly. "Why?"
He shrugged before scowling at her. "I don't know. You get uglier."
She glowered at him. "Kami, Vegeta you're such an asshole, I swear."
"I know," he said quietly.
"Then why do you act like that?"
"Because I can."
"I don't understand you."
"No one does."
"Because you push people away," she said, walking closer to him.
"Because every one else is an idiot."
She chuckled. "Is that really why?"
Vegeta turned to face her. "Is there any other reason, demon?"
"Stop calling me that."
"I like it. You're fiery, like a demon."
"Demon's are evil, Vegeta. I'm not evil."
Slowly he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know."
"I think you're afraid."
"I'm not afraid of anything," he said, stepping closer to her.
"You're afraid of letting people in, that if you do, you'll lose them. Just like you lost your people to Frieza."
"What the hell do you know about Frieza?"
"Goku told me," she said.
"That freak doesn't know anything."
"He knows a lot more than he lets on. I should know. I was married to him."
"I know you were," he said, his voice dropping.
She opened her mouth to respond when she heard the sound of Gohan and Trunks descending the stairs.
"Mom, I'm hungry," said Gohan, a puzzled expression on his face. He briefly wondered why Vegeta and his mother were standing so closely, but quickly ignored it when his stomach began to growl.
"Soon, honey," she said. "In fact, go wash up, the three of you."
Trunks and Gohan quickly ran to the bathroom while Vegeta continued to stare at her.
"Don't diagnose me," he said.
"I wasn't. I was just trying to see what's behind that shell of yours, that's all."
Vegeta smirked. "I won't let you get to me, demon."
"I know," she said, smiling at him. "I know."
