Disclaimer: A HAIR! I'M SHEDDING! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!
A/N: Dude, 3 chapters. Wow, I'm making up for the three months I didn't update. Yeesh, do me a favor and don't harrass me unless it's been like, four. ;P
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Petrified Tears
chapter 86
Her head found its way onto his shoulder, her fist curled into his shirt. He smiled down at her, black hair spilling over her shoulders, hiding her face from his gaze. Gently, he reached down, sweeping strands of midnight from sleeping eyes.
She mumbled, shifting against his side, arms wrapping around him as best they could, her body curled with her knees propped up, her feet balancing precariously on the edge of her seat as she snuggled against the warmth that was her grandfather.
He smiled, watching her interact with his father.
The girl slept peacefully, her face nestled into the soft hollow of his father's shoulder, her tears drying on the old saiyan's shirt. Her cheeks were a little smudged, her jeans slightly torn and frayed, her shirt kind of muddy, her sneakers somewhat tattered. But she was still an angel to him-to all of them.
If they ever lost her…even for a few days…
He quickly shook his head, locks of black skittering across his forehead as he banished the thought.
He didn't ever want to think about losing her.
She was supposed to outlive him-he would do everything in his power to see to it.
And he knew the others would as well.
Quietly, he set down his book and entered the room, seeing the smudges on her peaceful face, the lost and lonely needing in her grip on his father's gi. Settling on the floor before them, he watched his father absently stroke the girl's hair, his attention focused on something past her face, something beyond all comprehension.
"What happened?"
The old saiyan blinked and turned his head, smiling down on his son.
"Oh-I didn't hear you come home."
He shrugged. "I was trying to be quiet, I didn't want to wake up Mom or Videl. I didn't realize anyone was up though."
His father smiled, the dazzling family smile somewhat deluded by a kind of insight that both troubled and moved him. "Yeah…"
"What happened?" he repeated gently, his gaze turning from his father to the child.
"Huh? Oh…I don't know." The way he said it, oh so casually, oh so naturally…he knew his father knew. For a normally naïve man, he wasn't ignorant. And the girl told him everything. "I came down to get something to eat and saw her out on the roof. Went out and brought her in…she just started crying."
That was all he needed to hear.
There was only ever three reasons she went onto the roof: grades, friends, or daydreaming.
She never cried over daydreams.
Grades weren't coming out anytime soon.
The only friends that ever drove her out onto the roof were Trunks, Bra, and Marron.
Trunks would fly out to find her if it was one of the girls-the two would go to him for help if they couldn't go to Panny, and he'd find her to find out the other side of the story.
Obviously, Trunks hadn't come to find anything out.
Which meant that he didn't know-and that he was the reason for her tears.
He lay back onto the living room carpet, one leg propped up, the other stretched out, hands behind his head as he gazed at the ceiling fan that his brother had bought for Videl past Christmas.
He'd protect Panny-his little Panny-like any father would.
Even from that purple headed dick-wad.
From his perch on the roof, he saw something glint in the moonlight, something that blended in well with the blackness of the valley.
He scowled, rising to his feet as the limo drew closer.
She was almost home, with her 'finance' and the boy who'd been as innocent as the girl in the whole undertaking being undertook for the 'sake' of his grandfather.
Shoving hands into his pockets, he waited.
It was time he told that purple headed dick-wad how he felt.
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A/N: It's not a dbz fic until Goku makes un appearance. He's made one. A little belated, maybe, but he's made one. I think I'll leave ya'll here.
-Panabelle ;P
www.angelfire.com/dbz/storytellers