Author's notes (for pt. 3):

Once again, sorry so long on the update. These lovely little things called Midterms decided to sneak up on me, and then took up all of my time, and after that it was finals. O_o So I had to wait until winter break to even think about tapping away at Fan Fiction. Speaking of which, Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! :D

~~~
Part 3
Comfort
~~~~

Stript, wounded, beaten nigh to death,
I found him by the highway side.
I roused his pulse, brought back his breath,
Revived his spirit, and supplied
Wine, oil, refreshment--he was healed.
I had myself a wound concealed,
But from that hour forgot the smart,
And peace bound up my broken heart.

- James Montgomery, A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief

~~~

Still elsewhere...

Goten looked slightly scared as he listened to his mother rant. The phone was held a couple of inches away from his ear, and all three occupants of the room could hear the boy's mother yelling on the other end. After several "uh-huh"s and "okay"s and one or two "but Mom, he never...", Goten hung up the phone.

"I have to go home," He told his friend Trunks, and Bulma, a rather despondent look on his young face. He ignored the small smirk on Trunks face, who apparently found it amusing that he had been reamed out by his mother, and turned his attention to Bulma. "And she said to send Dad home too..."

"Son Goku?" Bulma replied, confused. She hadn't seen her old friend all day. Of course she had been in the labs until about ten minutes ago... "Was he here?" She asked.

"I saw him leave with Dad a few hours ago," Trunks replied nonchalantly.

Bulma Briefs threw her hands in the air in utter frustration. "That man!" She muttered, resisting the urge to tear at her hair. Saiyans and their fighting... it never changed. She understood Chi-chi's frustration in that regard. Send a man out to do something... sighing, she stopped her mental tirade and nodded. "Well then Goten, I guess you'd better head then." She turned to her son. "Trunks, would you be so kind as to find your father and tell him to let Goku go home?"

Trunks shrugged. "Sure," the purple haired boy agreed.

~~~

Goku didn't know how long he was out cold. It could have been hours... it could have been days. He thought it was more likely that it was days... the odd waking dreams he had told him that there was a passage of time involved.

Actually the waking dreams disturbed him somewhat. He kept on seeing the face of a... man, above him, holding his head level and giving him something liquid to drink. Beyond that the hazed images didn't make much sense. Even the person he remembered taking care of him didn't make sense... he had seemed familiar to him, but no matter how hard Goku thought about it, he couldn't seem to place him.

When his fever finally broke and he came to, he spent a good couple of minutes re-orientating himself. He was lying in a clearing of some sort. It was slightly dusky out... like the sun was either rising or setting. It took him rolling his head to the side and discovering water in the form of a river only a few feet away from him. His mind began to process his location. He remembered then... the fall, dropping Vegeta...

Vegeta!

He rolled his head in the other direction, and breathed a sigh of relief. Vegeta lay only a couple of feet away from him, with his head turned towards the other warrior. There was a worried but sleeping look on his face. He was still deathly pale, testament of the fact that they had both been very very sick, but a slight expansion of his senses told him that the prince's chi was low... but stable.

Mind at rest assured that Vegeta was not in fact dead, Goku made his first attempt to get up. He fell back to the earth with a soft "ah". His muscles weren't going to let him go anywhere.

After several more minutes of staring at the sky, Goku attempted to move again. This time he did manage to roll on his side and crawl forward an inch. That's about as far as he got...

When he came too again a bright noon day sun was beaming onto his back. Goku winced, and moved his head... only to have it bump into something.

Goku raised his head all the way and blinked. He instantly thrust himself backwards a couple of inches, surprised. He had been sleeping with his head pressed up against Vegeta's arm. A confused glance behind him told him that he had dragged himself across the riverbank to his present location. Funny, he didn't remember moving... oh yeah. He *did* remember dragging himself a couple of inches across the ground, but he didn't remember making it all the way to Vegeta before he passed out again.

"Huh," He began, turning his head back to inspect Vegeta's face. The prince was breathing shallowly, but he was still very much alive. Carefully Goku expanded his senses, and took again yet again that Vegeta's chi was healing. Not only was it healing, he was happy to discover that it was also expanding, slowly but surely. And the sores that had decorated Vegeta's face were healing as well... the scabs were pale and white and nearly ready to fall of....

Goku stared at them for a long while, his mind processing that. Scabs ready to fall off... that meant they had been out here for quite a while. Once again, Goku turned over his rapidly fading memories from when he was sick. Someone must have taken care of them... but whom?

A rumble from his stomach told him that he had more important things to think about right about then.

It took Goku the rest of the day and part of the night to catch his first fish. By the next morning he finally dragged himself out of the water and laid himself down on the bank, panting heavily. In each of his clenched fists he held a fish. They were extremely small in comparison to the fish he was used to catching, but he was desperate for food and they would do. After much moaning, groaning and aching he managed to make his way up the rocky sand bar and settle down a few feet away from Vegeta. With a small burst of chi and some dry driftwood he created a fire and set about gutting his fish with his bare hands.

Vegeta came too only a moment or so before he was done. He startled Goku... one moment he was out cold, the next he had sat up with a start. Though he couldn't hear, Goku could still see the movement, and he turned his head to inspect the other.

Vegeta stared back at him out of unseeing eyes.

Goku watched as confusion crawled across his companion's face. He could practically see the gears in his head moving as they tried to process information through impaired senses. He smiled to himself and "flexed" his chi slightly, making it more noticeable to the mostly helpless prince. At the same time he thought tired but happy thoughts, assuming that if the prince chose to try to sense his thoughts they would only reassure him.

Apparently it worked. After a moment Vegeta relaxed and then carefully lay back down. He sniffed the air, once twice, and then his eyes closed and he fell back to sleep.

Goku assumed that the smell of food had awakened the prince. He hesitated, then after eating the first fish, picked up the second and crawled over to him. He placed the food near his head where it could easily be reached. Then he yawned and moved off to find a nearby place to sleep by himself.

His actions marked his routine for the next few days. When he woke up the next morning the small fish he had left Vegeta was gone, eaten by the prince no doubt. Despite the fact that Goku was still incredibly hungry the thought made him smile. After several more minutes of lying on the cold ground and staring at the sky, Goku carefully got to his feet. This time it appeared that his body would let him as much. Grinning widely, Goku stretched and yawned, then moved off.

It was time to find more food. Food always came first in his mind, but this time food and survival came before finding out anything about anyone else. As soon as he and Vegeta were feeling well enough, he'd continue exploring in attempts to find their missing friends...

~~~

Vegeta

Encased in his dark little world of no sight and no sound Vegeta found that his thoughts were rapidly turning towards the paranoid side of things. All that he had to rely upon now was his touch and his ability to sense chi -- the latter being something that he relyed upon much too often. He ALWAYS knew where Kakarrot was... and Goku seemed to understand enough to keep himself constantly detectable to the blind prince as way of reassurance.

On this particular day, Kakarrot had spent a great deal of it several miles away and in various directions. He returned after several hours during what Vegeta assumed was the evening time, and set about doing stuff about a half a kilometer downwind from him. When the faintest smell of roasting meat drifted up to his nose, Vegeta relaxed ever so slightly.

He sat patiently until he felt Goku approach. After nearing him close enough to touch him, the other's chi paused, then left again. Vegeta waited. After he had spent enough time sulking, he reached out to where the other's chi had been. He smiled ever so slightly as his hand came in contact with rapidly cooling meat.

Yeah, he hated this. Yeah, he couldn't see or hear and thus couldn't sense much of anything, no matter how many times he tried to explore about the valley they were in. Yeah, so he had to rely on Kakarrot to feed him, of all the humiliating things in the world. However it was still FOOD and he was hungry. He would eat it and endure.

Three days later he wasn't feeling quite so *generous* about his situation.

~~~

Vegeta wasn't sure what made him loose it that day. Perhaps it was the fact that, even though he *willed* (and cursed) himself to get better, he was still showing no signs of recovery. He *still* had to rely on Kakarrot for a great deal of his basic needs. And maybe it was because he had felt his power returning to him, slowly but surely, and that made him all the more upset about his weakened state.

So he brooded and sulked all day. After a while he vented and let off some practice chi blasts around the valley. Of course he had no idea what he had hit. He was blind.

Then he leaned up against a tree, smirking, and awaited Kakarrot's return.

He still didn't know what he had hit in the valley when Kakarrot showed up finally, but he assumed it was noticable by the fact that he could feel Kakarrot hesitate. Even so, the larger man continued on with his nightly rutine like there was absolutely nothing wrong. He was brought dinner. He felt the other warrior move off, assumiably to put out the fire and clean up. By the time he was done Vegeta was seething.

He glowered as he felt the other warrior approach him. When a questioning hand finally fell upon his shoulder, Vegeta yanked it away. He began to power up.

This time the hands landed on him gently but firmly, holding him to place. Vegeta struck out. The moment that his fist met the others face he jumped away, breaking out of that grip with ease. His lip curled. He did not want to be cared for or coddled, nor touched and led back into place. He wanted to fight, to beat something, or to be beaten. At that moment he would do anything to get several days worth of blind frustration out of his system.

Goku's hands landed on him again, holding him down much more firmly this time. Vegeta let out a scream of pure rage that he couldn't hear (but his throat could definitely feel) he brought his own hands together and blasted at him with all of his might.

He could feel Goku's chi fly away from him, traveling purely on the momentum from Vegeta's blast.

For a moment Vegeta wondered if he had caused the other warrior harm, then he realized that he really didn't care. Still feeding off of the brute force of his emotions, he blasted in the general direction of Goku's chi. At that particular moment he didn't care whether he seriously harmed or even killed the man who had become his only connection with anything living over the last few days. All he knew was that his pride demanded that he do this

It was only when he felt Goku's chi flare up... and then continue to grow that Vegeta felt a streak of real raw fear slice through him.

Then Goku went accended Super Saiyan, up to the second plateau of power. With the amount of energy Vegeta felt radiating off of the other, it may have even been Super Saiyan three that was standing in front of him.

Vegeta's mind reeled. He wasn't nearly as strong as the other Saiyan even *with* all of his facilities intact. What if Kakarrot attacked him with all of his power, and he couldn't see to dodge? What if...?

He instantly banished the thoughts from his mind. He let out a roar of challenge, and blasted off into the air. He would not feel fear. He would not. He was so very good at converting fear into anger that he instead followed that response.

It was over before he knew it. The first attack from the other Super Saiyan grazed him on one of his arms before he could avoid it. He lashed back, sending a wide barrage of energy attacks in the direction of Kakarrot's chi, hoping that some of them would hit home. Goku was too quick for him. Vegeta moved about as quickly as he could without being able to judge the distance to the ground, shooting everywhere until another high powered attack came at him, this one hitting him square in the chest despite his rapid movements.

Vegeta dropped like a stone. He was sure that the impact caused quite an impression in the earth... he couldn't see it. All he knew was pain... Kakarrot hadn't held anything back on that last attack. After a moment or so his high tolerance for pain kicked in and pain was replaced by anguish. All the fight left him as he balled his hands into fists and turned over. He lay there on his stomach, clenched his teeth and cursed softly as the tears welled up and threatened to fall.

Damn it. Damn it anyway. He hated this. He hated the situation he was in. But even more than that he hated the fact that he was crying... in front of Kakarrot. Again. He hated feeling helpless most of all, and Kakarrot made him feel helpless on a fairly consistent basis. It wounded his pride and he had preciously little of that left.

Oh yes, and he hated pity most of all. Which Kakarrot seemed to radiate a lot of. He could practically *smell* it reeking off of the other Saiyan as his chi drifted down towards him. With in moments Kakarrot had landed and a soft warm hand was laid on his shoulder. Vegeta jerked away from him, and managed to bash his chin into the ground in the process. That made him snarl... and his tears of frustration began to fall. He stilled again, silently sobbing his broken pride into the ground. He HATED this. He just wished... he could die even, if it would take away this horrible feeling. This horrible situation where he couldn't even fight...

To make him feel even worse, a hand was re-placed on his shoulder. This time Vegeta let it remain there, too miserable to resist.

He didn't even resist when, moments later, Kakarrot very gently gathered him up. He stiffened slightly as he was held against the other man's gi, until he figured out that the other Saiyan was probably trying to console him. This was the ultimate humiliation. He was being held like a little child and he couldn't even do anything to stop him. It only served to prove him right when Vegeta slammed an ineffective fist against the other's chest. Goku didn't move, except for the fact that Vegeta could feel the other's chest vibrate against his body. He was speaking to him.

He couldn't hear him.

Vegeta slowly realised that he didn't care anymore. He just... didn't. He grabbed a handful of Kakarrot's gi into his fist, then brought his face to it, sobbing outright. Damn him. Damn him...

Goku patted him on the back awkwardly. He kept on saying "that's okay", but it didn't take him very long to realise that saying anything was pointless. Neither one of them could hear his words.

So Goku decided, after a moment or so more of Vegeta's display, that he'd try to give Vegeta consoling thoughts. If he could. Bringing his head close to the other's he focused his mind solely on the distraught prince. He tried to think of all of the happy thoughts that he could.

After a few more minutes of tears, Vegeta had cried himself out. Weary and defeated, he did something very out of character for him... he lay still in Goku's arms, quiet and unresisting. He would call up the energy to squirm free and find an unscorched patch of grass on which to spend the night... in a moment. For now... he was so very tired...

His eyes, which he hadn't even been aware had been open until he blinked them, began to grow heavy and weary. He began to relax despite himself, inadvertently nestling closer to Kakarrot and stifling a large yawn. He had used up way too much energy in that foolish attack... energy that he didn't have to spare.

Even as his wearied eyes drifted closed, he vaguely became aware of the fact that he was under assault. There... there were colors...? In his mind? What the heck...

He stopped his headlong tumble into the dark oblivion of sleep to consider the strange colors. He definitely could not see... they weren't coming from visual outside sources. But they weren't coming from his mind either. Consisting of solid colors mostly, they sometimes sharpened into a pleasant thought or feeling. It was only when the thought image of sparring, with a child that was definitely not his own, did he realise that they were coming from Goku.

He tilted his chin towards the other warrior, a questioning look on his unseeing face. All he got in reply was another sharp feeling, this one of complete happiness. An image accompanied it was a strange one indeed... it was of Goku. He was fishing. Naked. And he was enjoying every moment of it. Another warm happy feeling flowed over him.

Vegeta was shocked. He had seen something, finally, after a week of being blind, and that something just had to be of Kakarrot naked.

Sometimes... that man... he shook his head as another happy image came to mind... this one of eating the generously large fish he had caught. And then more images came to mind, these ones of food... lots and lots of food.

Kakarrot was very happy at that thought. The pure joy rolling off the other Saiyan was more than Vegeta could take. "Enough!" He barked out, both in his mind and out loud, and thank-fully Kakarrot stilled the images. Soon the only thing that was left in his mind was a thought that merely formed the shape of a question mark. Are you okay?' it seemed to ask.

Vegeta couldn't seem to bring himself to answer harshly. Fine.' He thought back, a bit wearily. Let me go.' He added, a hint of indignation in his mind voice.

Kakarrot must have heard him because after a moment the arms loosened from around him. Vegeta purposely extracted himself from the other. An odd sense of concern seemed to follow him. Still too shocked over the fact that his mind had been invaded so completely by the other and the raw weariness from his fight, Vegeta didn't go far. He stumbled a couple feet away, and lay himself down again. He was too tired to care where he slept. Letting out a wearied little sigh, he closed his eyes.

After a moment or so Goku lay down where he had left him. The large Saiyan was asleep even before he was. He was close enough to Vegeta that Vegeta could practically feel the heat radiating off of the other. He wasn't close enough, however, to creep the injured warrior out. In fact it was oddly comforting, and Vegeta allowed himself to drift off. Though he would never admit it to himself, he felt completely safe for the first time in a very long week.

~~~

Elsewhere...

Trunks burst into the lab, which nearly made Bulma drop the tiny remote she was operating on. Blinking, she stared up at her eldest child. "Trunks?" She questioned. She took in the look on his face. "What is it?" She asked, concerned.

"It's father!" Trunks replied, panting and shaking his head. He had flown too far, too fast. After a moment he gulped and continued. "I can't find him mom! Him and Goku..." His eyes widened. "It's like they're not even on the planet any longer. I can't sense them anywhere!"

This time Bulma really did drop the remote in her hands. She ignored it as it skittered across the floor. She stared at her son. "WHAT??" She demanded to know.

Trunks shook his head again, then gave his mother a pleading look. "It's like they've just... disappeared."

For a moment mother and son just stared at each other. Then "I'll go get the others!" Trunks announced, flying back out of the door.

~~~