Sorry for the delay – flu, writers block, and job interviews.

Time to Talk

Cyrus thought he was dreaming.

It was just like when he was four years old and had that bad asthma attack.  He didn't remember the attack itself but he remembered the aftermath of it.  Mom had told him that he had stopped breathing after he woke up.

She was in the room, with his inhaler loosely held in her hand, sleeping in the chair beside him.  She looked like she was ready to pounce, just in case.  Even though he had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and was covered with heavy blankets.

But the woman in the chair wasn't asleep, nor was she his real mother.

She was sitting there silently thumbing through a book that she was intently reading.  He just stared at her for a bit.  It had been so long since he had seen his mother and this version of her was so similar, yet so different at the same time.

She was so much younger looking.  He never thought his mother looked old, but worry defiantly aged his mother.  She just looked so much happier than he ever remembered his mother being.

Of course, this Soyna, did not live though such anguish yet.

This Soyna was not in such turmoil.  Even her hair showed that.  It did not look as wild or out of control like moms always had.  Everything about this Soyna was calmer.  It was tied back in a neat ponytail that made her look so young.  She reminded him of how Flare had looked.

Her eyes turned to him and there was a soft smile on her lips, "Your awake.  How are you feeling?"  She closed the book and put the inhaler down on the end table.  "You gave your brother quite a scare."

He removed the oxygen mask from his face and struggled out of the pile of blankets that covered him.

He felt her hand on his shoulder.  "You should still rest," she said.  "Your whole body is like it is in a state of shock."  He obeyed and lay back down.  He could feel that he was dressed in new clothes under the blankets.  He wondered if anyone saw the markings?  He would have to ask Benot(… Tobe… his name was Tobe here.)  He touched his arm and felt bandages there.  Did it get torn?  He hoped not.  That would not be a good sign.  "I will go get your brother."  She said and left the room.

He watched her leave and then pulled back the covers to look at his arm.  Last time it was his foot and the time before that it was his hand.  He could see that it was wrapped in a tight bandage and there was blood spotting it.  He felt a terrible feeling in his stomach.

The door opened and Benot(Tobe) came into the room with a large sandwich in his hands and a mouthful of it as he spoke, "How's it going?"  He said and then finally swallowed.  "You had me worried.  You have been out for three days."  His eyes went to his arm and that smile left his mouth and his serious older brother returned.  "How is your arm?"  His voice was stern and cold.  A little bit scared too.

"It feels like he chewed on it," He said and looked at the blood spots.

"It looked like it too," Benot(Tobe) said.  "Has he been talking to you?"

It wasn't like Shelong talked to him.  He told Benot (Tobe) that once because he did not know how else to describe what he was feeling or what was happening to him.  It wasn't quite like having another voice but it was like having another memory.  It was hard for him to understand sometimes.  He was no longer scared by it but he still had nightmares of the time that he first started feeling that way.  It was strange when the old memories that were not his own floated to the surface.

Being cold was a big part of it.

He remembered being cold and the layers of clothes did make him feel so much better.  He thought he just felt bad because of all that was happening around them.  He never thought for a moment that he was anything more then nervous.

Of course, when mom pulled him out of the layers of clothes and saw the shocked looks on their faces.  It was just on his back at first.  The markings of the dragon and a shiny tattoo that shone there.  Flint thought it was the best thing that he had ever seen and was mad when mom told him no.  Mom had looked so pale and she nearly swooned.  That was more than he ever seen her do.  Mom was not the type of person to faint.  It scared him.  It scared him even more when she started apologizing constantly to him and looking on the verge of tears.  It was not a good look for mom.

"Hey!"  Benot(Tobe) said sharply and snapped his fingers in front of his face.  "Yohoo!  Anyone home?"

"I am just cold still," he said.  It wasn't a lie.  It was like there was a big chunk of ice sitting in his gut, but it was getting better.  His arm was aching but it wasn't going to get away from him anymore.  "And I am hungry," he added noting the half eaten sandwich that was sitting by the inhaler.

"Oh.  Yeah.  Well," Benot said with a crooked smile.  "It has been a long time since I have had home cooking.  I drank your soup.  I didn't think you would be awake.  Do you want me to get you more?"  He spoke quickly.

"I haven't eaten in three days and you eat my food?"  Cyrus shook his head.  His brother sure could think with his stomach sometimes.

"But She made it!"  Benot said  (He really had to remember his name was Tobe here) and then in a whisper.  "You know how much I miss mom's cooking."

He understood but… "It's a sandwich!"  he said.

"I'll go get you another one.  Stay warm.  I'll be right back," he said and scurried out the door speaking more apologies, leaving the half eaten sandwich sitting there.  He shrugged and took it.  It was better than nothing and he was starving.

……………………………………….

Cyrus was almost inhaling the sandwich.  So much like his father.

He looked up and smiled from the food.  "Vegeta!"  He said and sounded almost happy to see him, even though he did talk with a mouthful of food.  He really did not think that Cyrus was going to be happy to see him.

He didn't know what all happened in the other time yet.  It was hard enough filling Soyna and the others in on all that happened when he was still there, without much emphasis on her remarriage and the parade of children that were to come.  He was thankful that they did not bring up the topic of why he left.  Or at least the feud that he started.

He knew that was only delaying the inevitable, but any delay was welcomed. 

"I am so glad to see you," he said as he swallowed the food and then cringed and held his stomach.  Benot had showed him the markings.  The tattoo that once graced Kakarott, his mother, now graced him.  "Ate to quickly."  He said and then seemed to shiver.

The others did not have these symptoms.  He would have remembered.

"You feeling better?"  He asked.  What else was he supposed to say?  They had not got to the reason that they had followed him here yet.  And why wasn't he mad at him?  Crystal was.  She was defiantly not that shy little girl that he remembered from the last time.

"I will be in a couple of days.  I hope sooner," he said and suddenly got a worried look on his face.  "I don't recover as well as I used to."

"Recover from what?"

Cyrus just shook his head.  "Like you don't know.  Are we prepared?"  He put his hand on his stomach and he saw a flash of green, the tattoo, on his neck.  The dragon was moving.  The reason that Benot insisted on dressing him in those silly black pajama's with socks and gloves.  He didn't want anyone to see the tattoo-that-wasn't-a-tattoo.

"Prepared for what?"  he said.

"Haven't they told you anything?  I seem to attract enemies now.  I am like a homing beacon instead of a warning device," he said.  "I have been here a week.  The quickest has been 13 days and the slowest was 45 days."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vegeta said.  Beacon?  Enemies?

Of course, that was when Benot burst in with some more food for Cyrus.  Trunks and Bulma was with him as well.

Cyrus looked as if he was angry.  "Be… Tobe?"  He said in a clam but an undertone of threat.  He got that from his grandmother.

Benot seemed to sense it and immediately put on that goofy smile.

"What have you been doing while I was out?"  he asked.

"Well… we… uh… have… you know…just making sure that you are okay and all," he smiled like a lawyer finding a loophole.

"Uh-huh.  You haven't told Vegeta anything!"  Cyrus said in a voice that almost didn't sound like his.  It was deeper and there defiantly was a dangerous threat in that tone.  Benot snapped to attention at that.

"Well, we were… uh… just … uh…"

"Damn it!  I needed you to tell Vegeta everything.  It was bad enough that Crystal blew her part of it.  How do you plan on being ready?"  He threw the covers back and tried to stand but his legs were wobbly.  He just about collapsed.  He used his bandaged arm to hold himself up and looked as if he held back a scream.

"Ready for what?"  Trunks said.  His whole body looked tense.  Ready to pounce.  Bulma just had a worried look on her face.

Cyrus shook his head and rubbed his arm.  "Where is Crystal anyway?"

"She went shopping with Bra," Bulma said.

"Shopping!"  Cyrus growled and shuttered at the same time.  "What the hell just she doing shopping?"  he stood again and was not any less shaky on his feet but managed to hold himself up.  "We are not here for some sort of vacation!"  He snapped.

He was such a small child but that was defiantly no longer.  He was well over six feet (maybe even close to seven) tall and had a wide set of shoulders and quite a stocky body.  How could such a sickly kid get so big?  Ah, but of course, the dragon was on his skin now, maybe that was part of it as well.  Maybe that was why his hair was darker as well.  He remembered his hair being a bright vibrant green, not this color that was nearing black.

How long had he been away exactly?  How old were they?  He had purposely avoided asking such questions.  He did not want to bring up the fact that he was the one that put the scar on that boy's face.  A scar that he was pretty sure that Raymond said would fade with time.  It still looked as it did the last time that he saw it.

He also did not want to face up to what leaving meant.

It meant that he abandoned his family and since they were here, left then in danger.

"Are we in some sort of danger now?"  Trunks said.  "Is there an enemy following you?"  He looked worried.  He thought he had been protecting his family from attack and look what happened.  He brought more trouble right into their lap.

"We don't know.  That is what Tobe and Crystal were supposed to assess.  I won't be well enough to help if an attack comes for at least another week, a month would be better but that is not how things work around here."  He said and he was obviously shivering.

"Then why are you sure that there is an enemy coming?"  Bulma asked.

Cyrus took a deep breath, "Because they always come.  They are always stronger than the last and this time is more susceptible than the rest.  This time has been peaceful.  They did not have all the enemies that we have had to fight.  They are still threatening!"  He shuttered as he spoke.  "They could be figting anyone from Garlic Jr. to Buu here!"  He said.  Benot grabbed his brother and forced him to sit on the bed.

"I have been watching.  There is no indication of anything like that happening," he said.  "I haven't been a total jerk."

Cyrus did not seem eased.

"Plus, we can't do anything until you get better anyway.  You are still cold.  Eat and crawl under the blankets."  Benot said and tried to pull the blankets over his brother.  He was still sitting in the bed.  "You don't need to worry about it.  I will talk with Vegeta.  Okay.  Eat.  Rest."

Cyrus still looked angrily at his brother but complied and silently went about eating the food that was offered and promised he would crawl back under the blankets once he finished.

They left him and he looked to Benot expectantly

"Well, are you going to talk?" Vegeta snapped as he saw that Bulma and Trunks were not going to say anything.  Trunks seemed to be in deep thought and Bulma just had a worried look on her face.

"I guess I have to, huh?"  He said.

"Yes.  I think so."  Vegeta said.

"What kind of threats could be coming after my family?  What have you brought?"  Trunks said and sounded slightly angry as well.

Benot sighed deeply.  "I was hoping that we wouldn't have to talk about that again.  I wasn't there for a lot of it.  I was kind of gone.  I left."

"What do you mean you left?"

"You weren't there.  When I yelled at mom and called everyone evil creatures from the dark nether regions of the universe.  It was awful.  I don't like thinking about it."  He sighed heavily and sat on the couch.  "I left home and went to live with my dad.  I wanted to leave that all behind.  I wanted to leave everything behind and I know it was selfish, but I just ran.  I didn't want to deal with it."

"Your dad?"  Trunks said with a look of confusion.  "Did Goten and her split up?"

Benot sighed.  "No.  I had ran into Brennen and I longed for a normal life after seeing mom turn into that monster… I didn't want to see that anymore."

"Monster?  What are you talking about?  What do you mean she turned into a monster?  You never talked about that!"  Bulma said.  "What information have you not told us?"  She was getting a little angry and Trunks looked angry as well.

"It was what I did," He said.  He couldn't look at them as he spoke.  "I turned her into a monster."

Vegeta didn't want to tell why he attacked that boy –now man- that lay in the other room and how he started a terrible feud that looked as if it ruined his family.

………………………

"You did that for me?"  Bulma said.  "But you had to know that it wouldn't work.  It was a natural death."  She said and gently touched Vegeta's arm.  She understood now why he did not want to talk of it.  His words were halted and even though he tried not to show much emotion, she could see that he was quite torn.

"I was just thinking of a way to get you back.  I only wanted one more day." he said in a low voice.  "The dragon had brought so much back other times, I thought that since we have helped him out so much that… well."  He stopped talking and stared out he window.

He loved her so much!

But then that love was transferred to her.

"My actions were inexcusable," he said and walked out.  Benot was going to follow but she just shook her head.

"Let him be for awhile," she said.

"But…" Benot said.  "He needs to know what happened after his attack on Cyrus.  After he left us.  Cyrus needs him to know."

Bulma just put a hand on his shoulder and held it there.  "Let him be.  It was obviously painful for him to tell that story."

Trunks spoke in a small voice.  "Soyna wanted him dead and what the hell did she turn into?  It wasn't that oozaru thing was it?  It sounds to small, but was she powerful in that form?"

Benot sighed.  "We don't know what it was really.  We thought about it for a bit but then we had other worries.   We just kind of figured that since she was actually only a quarter saiyian, that she could not reach the full form.  Even though this one was much more awful that seeing a giant monkey."  He said and looked said.  "I blocked out that fight.  It hurt me so much that mom was a …well, there is no other way but to say that she was a monster."

"Tell us what happened after Vegeta left," Bulma said.

He nodded and started to talk.