Well, Vegeta seems to have made it through alright. Despite his moment of weakness at the thought of losing the only person left who truly understands him deep down and the only other living full blood Saiyan left, he is now in command again and he is about to utter a word he swore he would never say!
7
Vegeta came down stairs like a man who had just had the weight of the world lifted off of his shoulders. His eyes were still slightly red, but there was a certain sense of peace in them. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stood there with his arms crossed. He stared, with one eyebrow slightly raised, at the whole group, scanning from one side of the room to the other.
"Well, what have all of you been doing down here this whole time?" asked Vegeta. "I don't suppose you've prepared any food have you?" They all stared at him in silence, unsure of what to say. Then he announced, "Goku is starving and so am I!" Suddenly, they all looked as if Vegeta had turned into a two-ton pink elephant in the center of the room. "Well...? What are you all waiting for?" he demanded, punctuating the sentence with a frown. Everyone got up at once and ran for the kitchen, stumbling over each other in the process. Vegeta chuckled to himself. The last time he had seen a crowd move that fast, Cell was hot on their heels.
Afterward, the kitchen was a disaster. They all had to help clean up after lunch because they had managed to spill things on the counter and the floor in their panic. Even Piccolo had managed to break a couple of plates. He was sweeping up the remains, thinking it would be a lot easier just to blast it away, but decided that the boys might not be too happy with a hole in the kitchen floor. Chiaotzu had been the cook this time. Mainly because he was the first one in the kitchen. He was an excellent cook and was turning out pots of food in record time. At one point he thought he might be making to much and said so. "We're feeding Saiyans, remember?" dead panned 18. He thought 'Good point!' and continued his pace.
18 and Marron were bringing down the trays from upstairs. They had made two trips this time since Goku had skipped breakfast. This made Gohan feel a little better. He had been very worried this morning because it was not like his father to turn down a meal. He had only done it once in his life and that was many years ago at King Kai's. Goku had been so intent on catching Bubbles so that Kai would train him, nothing else mattered. Gohan had reached that level of concentration and determination the day he destroyed Cell and he knew it was a very rare and awesome feeling to want to achieve something that much. He knew in his heart that these moments might only come once in a man's life and his father had taught him that he should always be ready and willing to go beyond his own limitations. He also knew that any limits he had were set by himself and sometimes he was a little angry at himself for not pushing past them when it was necessary. He promised himself that he would re-enforce that particular lesson with his daughter and his grandchild, as well as with himself.
Gohan's decision will prove later on to be an important one. After all, the torch is being passed to the next generation of warriors that will protect the Earth. Soon he will find out just how important this decision is. Thanks for the reviews. I love to hear what you think, good or bad, about the story.