Disclaimer: Holy s#%&! I forgot to do the disclaimer, didn't I?? Jeez, what a baka am I! Ouie! Well, I don't own DBZ. Glad we got that out of the way. Don't sue! ^.^;;
Coming Back Home Chapter Four: How Much Heartache Can One Poor Man Take?
Goku reappeared in the living room of Yamcha's messy apartment. Hm, well at least that was another thing that hadn't changed. Clothes were flung all over the room as well as papers. Goku bent down and picked up one of the sheets and saw that it was a bill.
"Man, Yamcha sure does have high electricity bills…I wonder why?" Goku thought. He heard the sound of a TV going and could've sworn he heard a sniffle. Curious, almost too curious for his own good, he followed the noise to Yamcha's bedroom. And what he saw made him gasp in horror and shock.
Yamcha was sitting in a chair, although he could hardly tell it was his ex-bandit friend except for the scars. His hair was ruffled and sticking out everywhere more than usual, and Goku could swear that he had a stubble on his chin, a faint one but one nonetheless. His clothes were wrinkled, and it looked like he had been living in them for months. His eyes were swollen and red, as if he had been crying. Why didn't he noticed any of this earlier?
He took a step closer and almost jumped back and winced when he heard Yamcha hiccuped, then sniffle again. Goku looked closer and saw him holding a beer bottle, half empty, and before Goku could do anything else, Yamcha quickly downed it, then tossed it aside, missing the trash can but not caring all the same.
"Yamcha?" Goku whispered, but of course, he couldn't hear him. The Saiyan frowned at the sad state his friend was in and became even sadder, realizing there was nothing he could do to help. At least when he was alive, he could pat his shoulder and attempt to cheer him up. He let his eyes trail over to the TV, which was also playing some kind of a home movie that had him in it. In fact…it looked like one from one of the tournaments.
"Where did Yamcha get that?" he thought puzzled. He thought only Bulma had them. Then again, he probably asked Bulma if he could borrow it from her. After all, he knew that the two were still friends, even though she dumped him for Vegeta.
"G…Goku!…" Yamcha sobbed, before holding his head in his hands and began crying again. His best friend, his best friend in the whole world, and he was gone. Gone. Poof. He could never come back. And knowing that was painful enough. But now…who was he going to talk to when he had problems? He had always come to the kind Saiyan for advice and was the only one he talked about his break-up with Bulma to before the Cell Games.
The pain was unbearable for both men. For Yamcha, it was the lost of the little brother he never had and the lost of a close friend. For Goku, it was seeing his friend in pain and knowing he had caused it and for not knowing how to fix it. Finally, Yamcha cried himself to sleep, and Puar came quietly flying into the room.
"Oh Yamcha…" the cat whispered softly and sadly, "Not again…" With that said, Puar helped Yamcha into bed and tucked him in and turned off the TV before silently leaving for the living room. However, Goku didn't leave. He didn't want to. Instead, he pulled up Yamcha's chair and sat down, facing Yamcha.
"It's okay friend…I'm still here…" he murmured, watching over his sleeping friend.