Chapter 55
As predicted, Yamcha did regain full consciousness about two days later. The baseball star was understandably confused as to why he was in the hospital and how he got there. It was Puar and Oolong who broke the news to him about his girlfriend. According to them, he took it pretty well, if a little embarrassed that he didn't pick up on Carna's demonic nature, and was even flirting with the nurses a little by the time they left. It was another four days until the hospital discharged him, worried about any lasting injuries or aftereffects from his 'fall'. However, it would be at least a couple of days before he was recovered enough to fight and utilize his ki. Bulma decided to throw a little party for him at Capsule Corp. to celebrate his recovery. All his friends were there, laughing and cracking jokes with him to help lift his spirits. The poor guy really did like Carna, or the Carna he knew anyway, and was pretty crushed to learn that she was actually a Demon working for Dabura and, by extension, Babidi. No one really knew what to say to make him feel better. Not even Bulma. So they opted to just steer clear of the topic. But, naturally, some people just couldn't let sleeping dogs lie…
"You're pathetic." Vegeta abruptly scoffed from where he leaned against the wall. All conversation immediately ceased, creating a tense silence. The baseball star turned around and looked at the Saiyan prince in confusion.
"What?" Yamcha asked, completely taken off guard by the comment. Bulma, on the other hand, knew exactly what her husband was getting at and did her very best to silently get him to shut the hell up behind her old ex-boyfriend's back. Vegeta blatantly ignored her.
"Not only did you fail to notice that the woman you had been fraternizing with was 'up to no good' as it were, but you left yourself open to her attack." the prince explained. "What were you thinking? Are you honestly that naive as to not suspect that she was after something? Or did she cast some sort of spell on you, making you her thrall?"
"Vegeta!" his wife snapped.
"It's a simple question!" he countered defensively. "He calls himself a martial artist, a warrior, yet a lowly Demon, which was easily defeated by a mere slip of a girl, bested him!" Gohan raised an eyebrow at him.
"This coming from someone who can't win a single argument against his wife out of fear that she'll disable the G.R. for a whole week?" Stifled snickers rippled throughout the room, diffusing some of the tension. The Saiyan prince's face reddened in humiliation.
"No one asked you, boy!" Vegeta growled.
"No one asked you either, your Highness." Videl replied coolly. Yamcha suddenly walked up and put a hand on both of the teens' shoulders.
"It's alright guys." the baseball star told them softly. "Really. I appreciate it and all but the asshole does have a point. Because of me and my nearsightedness, some innocent people got hurt."
"Really?" the snarky prince replied. "Figured all that out on your own, did you? So, what's your excuse?"
"I don't have an excuse for you, Vegeta." Yamcha admitted. "At least, not one that'll satisfy you. Vegeta raised an eyebrow at him.
"Is that it? Not even a 'fuck off'?"
"What do you want from me?" the scarred martial artist snapped. "I screwed up, big time, and I know it, okay?"
"That's an understatement. You know how to fight, do you not? You've fought stronger foes than that silly Demon, haven't you?" the Saiyan prince pressed.
"You've fallen in love before, right? Then you know damn well why I didn't see Carna for who she was, what she was. All I saw was a woman that I foolishly believe would be the one that I spend the rest of my life with." With that, Yamcha walked out. Everyone gave Vegeta a distasteful look.
"Honestly Vegeta, is it too much to ask that you just lay off?" Bulma asked with an aggravated sigh.
xXx
While the others confronted Vegeta about his impeccable timing, Gohan and Videl slipped outside to get away from it all. For begin in the midst of winter, West City was fairy warm, hardly ever reaching freezing point. The sun hung low in the sky, painting the city skyline in hues of pink and gold. Some of the Brief's many pets lounged languidly in the dying light, digesting their evening meal. Flocks of migrating birds soared in the clear sky above as if bidding the sun goodnight. Videl sat down on a garden bench and simply admired the setting sun. An elderly Sheppard mix wandered over and nuzzled its graying head into her lap for a pet.
"Hey Gohan?" she began.
"Yeah?" he prompted.
"What are you going to do about…you know…" the Satan girl trailed off uneasily.
"Honestly, I'm not quite sure." the teenage Saiyan admitted with a weary sigh. "It's sort of a bolt out of the blue. There haven't been any arranged marriages for centuries. And I'm sure that the general public wouldn't be to happy that a bunch of politicians are trying to revive some obsolete tradition just to further their own schemes."
"What if you told them that you are already in a relationship?" Videl inquired quietly, so quietly that Gohan almost thought he misheard her. He just stared at her for a moment while his brain raced to process the information. Was she really suggesting what it seems like she's suggesting?
"I…do not know…" was his hesitant, but honest, answer.
"Would they back off?" she pressed.
"Possibly…" he answered vaguely.
"But?" Videl prompted.
"It's just-what about-I mean, I know you don't like it when the whole world scrutinizes everything you say and do…" Gohan stuttered out.
"Maybe I don't care what the world thinks about my dating a prince of the East District…" the Satan girl stated determinedly, getting up from the bench and approaching him. "…and if they don't like it, then too bad…no one gets everything they want in life."
"What do you want?" the teenage Saiyan inquired in a quiet, breathy voice. She stopped advancing, their bodies mere centimeters apart.
"You." Her lips met his in a quick, fierce kiss. "Just think about it, alright?" Gohan nodded numbly. With one final, meaningful, look at him, Videl went back inside. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding, stumbling over to sit down on the bench she just vacated before his suddenly weak knees gave out from under him. He simply sat there as everything sank in. Videl wanted to stay with him, to continue on with their current relationship. And in order to do that she was willing to make their relationship public, even if it meant an end to their much loved privacy. The whole world will undoubtedly watch them like vultures circling over a dying animal. But she didn't care. It awed and stunned him at the same time. He'd never guess that in a million years a girl like Videl Satan would love him so much.
"That's one hell of a girl you have there." Gohan whipped around and found Yamcha standing there with a knowing smile.
"Yeah…" he smiled back. The older man sat down next to him with a sigh.
"You're lucky." Yamcha said after a moment. "Most people go their entire lives without finding that one special person that makes living life worth while." The teen looked at him in surprise.
"Yamcha?" he inquired uncertainly.
"You know, Bulma was my first girlfriend." the baseball star explained. "I was scarred of girls before I met her. Terrified even. But I got over it because of her, which I'm sure she regretted later. I know that I might not have been the best boyfriend or the most faithful, but I always came back to her. No other woman could possibly hope to compare to her. I screwed up big time. If I had gotten my shit together sooner then maybe…when I met Carna, I thought that Kami himself gave me a second chance. A chance to do things right, like I should've with Bulma."
To say that Gohan was speechless was an understatement. Yamcha was such a happy-go-lucky guy. Nothing ever seemed to bother him…well, nothing besides his friends getting hurt and Vegeta's attitude. It never occurred to him that the breakup with Bulma, as bad as he knew it had to be, shook the guy up so badly. But, in a way, it made sense. They were together for years, maybe even decades, before Gohan had ever met them. He had assumed that the two would one day just settle down and get married. Heck, everyone did. So it came as a major shock when they all found out that she dumped him for Vegeta, let alone bore Vegeta a son. The one man he hated more than anyone else. That, more than anything, probably stung the worse. Then Carna came along…and destroyed what was left of his heart.
"I'm sorry." Gohan said lamely. But, what could one say when someone, no matter how close they might be, bares their soul like that.
"Me too." he chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Gohan, can you promise me one thing?" Yamcha asked. The teenage Saiyan cocked his head at him curiously.
"What is it?"
"Don't make the same mistake I did. Just go for it. Even if things don't work out between you two, at least you'll know that you tried your best."
xXx
Omake
"Vegeta…" Bulma begged shamelessly, silently glad that no one could see her and the Saiyan prince in their own backyard at the moment without risking life and limb. This really wasn't a moment that she wanted the paparazzi to capture and spread around.
"No." her husband told her, continuing his stretching exercises, as he liked to do in the fresh air when possible, looking very much like a yoga master…even in those silly black shorts of his.
"But-" she began.
"No." he interrupted sharply.
"You did even let me explain!" his wife whined.
"I said no." he stated plainly. The blue haired woman stomped her foot on the ground childishly.
"Oh come on!" Bulma exclaimed.
"I'm not going to dress up in ridiculous, uncomfortable clothing just to go out to eat and go see an opera!" the Saiyan prince growled. "What's wrong with eating here and watching a movie here?"
"It's not romantic!" she protested.
"Neither is your screeching." he countered. Her eyes narrowed dangerously, making the proud Saiyan pause in his stretching.
"If you don't take me out, you don't train in the G.R." the scientist gritted out clenched teeth. They glared at each other for several long moment.
"Fine!" he finally barked. Bulma squealed happily.
"Oh, thank you! I'll make it worth your while!" she shouted over her shoulder, rushing back inside to pick out what she was going to wear. He merely grunted in response, going back to his stretching exercises.
Translations:
Ki- energy
Kami- god
AN: Feedback is much appreciated!
