Lost

The phone was ringing; Chichi rushed inside, laundry basket still tucked under her arm, and answered before the next ring could begin. Holding the phone with her shoulder, she started walking back outside where her husband was waiting for her at the clothes line, looking at her curiously. She was nodding and, without a word, handed the phone to Goku.

Frowning, he said, "Hello?"

"Hey, Goku. It's Trunks. I was wondering if you've seen my dad recently."

"Vegeta?" The youth hummed in response. "Uh, no, haven't seen him in a couple months. Wait, ain't Bulla-"

"Yeah. That's why I'm calling. I wouldn't have bothered you if it wasn't important."

"Oh, yeah, I get you." Goku scratched his head, reaching out with his mind to sense for Vegeta. He felt it, weak and distant, and grinned brightly. "Hey, I can sense him! Do you want me to use my instant transmission and send him over?"

"Please, Goku that would be awesome! You don't know how bad Bulla's been on my ass about this."

He hung up and handed the phone back to Chichi, who was giving him her nastiest of looks. She had gone so far as to set down her clothes basket and put her hands firmly on her hips. Trying to avoid too much eye-contact, Goku put two fingers to his forehead and tried to concentrate, but Chichi rushed forward and slapped his hand away.

"Darnit, Goku," she scolded. "I can't believe you want to go help them after what happened last time. He would've killed you if you'd let him."

Goku sighed and put his hands on her shoulders. "Chi, I've explained this: Vegeta was upset. It really hurt him to lose Bulma-"

"That doesn't give him the right to cause trouble."

"-And he wasn't going to kill me, anyhow. He wanted me to kill him. Not the other way around." Chichi folded her arms and looked away. Goku laughed; he loved when she got huffy. "It'll only take a second. His kids need him." Sighing, his wife turned away from him, waving her hand in a dismissive manner, but it was really her giving him the okay. He vanished.

The world reappeared in front of him, and Goku couldn't help himself; he laughed aloud.

"What's so funny, Kakarot?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Trunks is looking for you, though." Vegeta nodded.

"Yes, I know. He ran into me shortly after getting off the phone with you. Literally." Goku snorted and the elder's frown deepened. "Why did he feel the need to call you, anyway?"

"Said he couldn't find you."

"I've been here the entire time." He grinned, and an unease that had long settled in Goku's stomach vanished. It was a frightening expression, as it had always been on Vegeta, but it was obviously not a sign of maliciousness. "Where else would I be?"

Goku's calm faltered. "Where have you been, Vegeta?"

He didn't respond immediately and instead looked away, down the hall, possibly where his daughter was. "Mourning."

Nodding, Goku wished him well and vanished.

Trunks found him again standing outside the viewing window, arms crossed and looking thoughtful. He thought maybe his father looked less angry than before, but that might've just been his mind fooling him. Standing side-by-side, the men stared at the newborns, chubby and red-faced, swaddled and most of them asleep. Vegeta pointed to a dark-haired baby that writhed in a pink blanket, big eyes staring around her in awe. Trunks grinned.

"She's stronger than the others," Vegeta said, concentrating on the little bundle. "Not by much, but noticeably."

Trunks was nodding, though he doubted his father noticed. "The nurse had a hard time holding on to her."

"Her hair is very dark."

"Yeah." He glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye. "Bulla said the father was blond."

A brief grin was clouded over by rage. "And where is the young man?"

"He got really mad when Bulla told him about the pregnancy, said he didn't want anything to do with it."

Vegeta looked at him briefly; Trunks thought he looked sad or guilty and remembered his mother saying his father had said …nearly the same thing to her. Now, as an adult, he wondered if Vegeta regretted his decision. From the way he stared at the glass, no longer at the infant in front of him, Trunks figured he knew the answer.

His hoarse voice was quiet when he asked, "What's her name?"

"Sokka Bulma Briefs."

Vegeta bobbed his head. They were quiet for a while, watching little Sokka look at the other babies, investigate her blanket, and finally seem to sense their presence. She stared back, blinking her owlish eyes at them, until something made her giggle. Trunks felt his father's ki flicker beside him, not dangerously, but as if his control had wavered, and looked over. His mouth was pressed into a very tight line.

"She's got her eyes," he whispered. Trunks smiled. Yes, she did.

A/N: There you go. A bit of light for your darkness, Vegeta.

And yes. I (kind of) named her 'Sock.' The Japanese katakana word for 'socks' is 'sokkusa.' I just kinda played off of it. Sokka is not the real word for sock though. Just roll with it.