Rebuilding on the Past
"We need three bedrooms at least," said Bardock, through a mouthful of dumplings
"Four," said Raditz nodding his head in Turles' direction, his mouth stuffed with brownies
"No thanks, I prefer my ship," said Turles, turning his now empty box over in one of his hands, the other holding the fork he was using to guide noodles to his mouth. They had briefly entertained the idea of force feeding the fruit from the Tree of Might to Gohan but Raditz didn't feel right forcing the boy to eat the fruit from the tree of might knowing how the boy objected to the origins of the fruit. So Turles had gulped it down instead, it had helped him heal faster and now he was up and about being a menace to Bulma and the rest.
"I'm not sharing with any stupid babies," said Parzni glaring down directly at her bearer's stomach. She's wasn't even eating, Gohan had talked with her about the joys and responsibilities of being an older sister and she'd been downright melancholy ever since.
"Parzni-," started Raditz
"She's got a point, this baby will be a boy more than likely so when they get older they wouldn't want to share a room," pointed out Chi-Chi from where she was dragging a brush through Raditz's hair. The Son house was repairable, but Bardock had decided to simply replace theirs.
"Fine," said Raditz, wincing a little as Chi-Chi worked through a stubborn knot.
Now obviously you'll need furniture and let's try to not break it all this time," said Chi-Chi, moving on to another section.
"Why?" said Bardock, Turles and Raditz at once. Chi-Chi sighed. Raditz ate another handful of brownie.
"Raditz you have to eat healthier than that," said Chi-Chi pointing the brush towards the plate of string beans in front of Gohan.
"No, I've seen your idea of healthy, I'll starve first," refused Raditz after force swallowing his treat.
"Raditz," said Chi-Chi threateningly
"Father," called Raditz
"Let him eat what he wants," said Bardock swiping the string beans. Chi-Chi frowned at him but didn't argue. She didn't even bat Raditz with the brush.
Instead she'd turned to Gohan who'd been quietly eating his own food and put some squash on his plate. He didn't complain. She tried to do the same to Goten but he just scraped it over on Gohan's plate as well.
They now had some sketchy plans about what they needed, so Turles and Bardock went to go talk to Mr. Briefs to see what they had. Chi-Chi bound up Raditz's hair, he imagined it was from boredom or something, then she took Goten and Parzni to the park to make them get along after yesterday's fight. That just left Raditz and Gohan at the table. They were finished eating, Raditz was reading, Gohan was alternating between staring at his uncle and looking down at his empty plate.
"What's wrong?" asked Raditz without looking up
"Nothing," said Gohan quickly. Raditz put the book down.
"Gohan, tell me what's bothering you," insisted Raditz, turning towards him. They sat on the same side with an empty chair between them.
"It's just, I couldn't do anything. He, Brolly just tore through us like we were nothing and he, he shouldn't have, and now we can't do anything again and he's going to come back," said Gohan with tears in his eyes. Raditz slid over into the empty and took Gohan's head in his hands.
"Gohan look at me, this isn't your fault. You can't blame yourself. This isn't anyone's burden but mine, okay?" said Raditz, looking his nephew directly in the eyes. He was sure it wasn't the most comforting thing he could have told his nephew but it was all he could think of.
Gohan didn't nodded his head in agreement of even acknowledge his uncle's words outside of wiping the tears from his eyes, but Raditz knew he'd been heard. The rest of the Z Fighters were in much the same state, they felt guilty, and they made themselves scarce. The monk had gone back to his home on Turtle Island to finish healing, Tien had healed his eyes quickly through meditation and Chiaotzu's psychic help, and two went off to wherever they were normally, and Yamcha had gone back to where ever he lived when he wasn't being annoying. Bulma was being exceptionally nice to Raditz since she still wanted to study him like a lab rat, so the Son family was still at Capsule Corp making plans for renovations. Vegeta had disappeared with Trunks after Bulma tried to grill him for his self admittedly limited information on breeders and saiyan mating practices.
Gohan was trying to be excited about the baby, but Raditz knew that every time he thought about the cousin he would soon have he just felt guilty and torn. Goten actually was excited for the baby, but mostly because he didn't know what was going on. Parzni wasn't speaking to him half the time, she thought she was being replaced or whatever other ridiculous things children came up with in situations like this.
Raditz was the only one keeping a clear head. He would have this child and love it, the same as Parzni before it, but he would be plotting the whole time he was pregnant. He had to find a way to weaken and kill Brolly when he came back.
He kept thinking on the weeks he spent with the monster, avoided his own thoughts or feelings in that time period and focusing on Brolly's actions and habits. How light a sleeper Brolly was, he'd never sneak up on him. He thought about the chase, how Brolly had quickly adapted to using his hearing when he'd lost his sight, he was smarter than looking at him would give him credit for. Brolly was arrogant too, but he usually could back it up, Raditz would bet he did not handle setbacks well. He thought about how Brolly would spend hours just staring at him, the bastard was not easily distracted. Brolly was paranoid too, his father had done a number on him in that regard, he didn't like to be approached from behind. Brolly also had poor impulse control, and a limited understanding of personal relationships.
That meant Brolly didn't have many friends, he probably never had any and he was incapable of making new ones. He was however very capable of making enemies. Raditz would need to reach out the seedier networks and find someone willing to help him. Where was Turles when he needed him?
