...........................................................................................~* BROKEN HOME
.........................................................................................................................Rhapsody~*
Trunks rolled over onto his back in the sand, staring up at the gray, rainy sky with eyes that were dull with boredom. He had been laying out here for Kami knew how long, and no sign of either his father or his mother. But that wasn't going to stop him-- no way! Trunks was going to outlast them this time, he was no coward. If he could just hold on for a few more minutes, then maybe his dad would move up his flying lessons. After all, if he, a small child, could survive alone for so long, then he was definitely strong enough to do something so simple as flying.
So Trunks kept on telling himself that, over and over, until the reassurances ran together and soon faded from his mind. All that he could concentrate on was the cold. And the wet. And the incoming storm that rose the little hairs on the back of his neck.
"Its gettin' hot in here..." he sang under his breath. It was one of the only 'grown-up songs' he knew, and this was only because he had watched his mother dance around the living room to the song a while back, during one of the rare times where they had all been happy. The song suddenly struck him as quite funny-- it even brought a smile to his blue lips. "So take off all of them clothes..." The kid would have found it a whole lot funnier if he had known that he was getting the words wrong.
Suddenly, on the edge of his consciousness, Trunks picked up on the risen ki's of his father and who felt like Goku. The kid made an unsuccessful attempt to sit up in surprise. His cold, stiff muscles protested the movement and eventually Trunks gave up. It looked like he didn't have much longer to wait. Surely the combined forces of Vejita and Goku could pick up his ki quickly. And the ki of his runaway mother.
Trunks lay in the sand, shivering and wet, for ten more minutes before succumbing to the sleep that had been threatening to close his eyelids for some time now. Instead of dreaming of one particular, coherent thing, as he had before, his dreams consisted of random images and scenes that made little or no sense to the young demi-Saiyan.
Bulma kneeling on a patch of grass, sobbing for all she was worth; Vejita powering up in a burst of blinding golden light; that same wedding he had dreamed of earlier; Goku running a nervous hand through his unkempt hair; even an image of himself, motionless-- sleeping, apparently.
Trunks struggled to escape from this strange state of sleep, but was unable to regain consciousness.
His parents clinging to each other, doing something that his young mind could not yet fathom; a younger Bulma yelling at Yamcha, who seemed to be offering her a ring; Vejita watching his mother don a black dress; Bulma holding a baby with a tail and smiling; a little boy waddling across the room towards Vejita, who was trying to hide a smile.
The confused child managed to roll over before the darkness completely overtook him, and he was unable to escape. Even through this the images kept on coming, invading his mind.
A coffin surrounded by blood red roses; Bulma hunched over a neat line of fine white powder; Vejita barely flinching as a tattoo artist plunged a needle repeatedly into the skin of his chest; Chi-chi awkwardly hugging Bulma; Goku, Yamcha, Krillen, and the rest of the crew eating together solemnly; snowflakes falling on the long hair of his mother, who was crouched in the snow...
Trunks took a shallow, rasping breath, then stirred no more.
Goku looked inconspicuously over at Vejita as they flew. The other man seemed to be all right, judging by his cool expression, but Goku knew better. Even with his drastically different Super Saiyan appearance, Vejita's turqouise eyes gave him away. They were stormy and dark, full of supressed anger and frustration. And maybe even a touch of... pain?
"What do you think?" Goku called over.
"About what?" Vejita snapped.
"Can you feel anything? Any ki's?" Goku tried to sound somewhat cheerful, for Vejita's sake.
"If I did, then we wouldn't be flying around in circles, would we?" Vejita shook his head and sped up, leaving Goku a short distance behind. "Baka Kakkarott..."
Goku wisely chose not to say anything more. It was just pissing the other Saiyan off, obviously. He could practically feel the waves of intense anger coming off of Vejita. Not that he could blame him. They had all believed that Bulma had long since gotten over her unsteady stage. To have her run out now, at such a critical point in Trunks' life, and perhaps even in her relationship with Vejita, was unthinkable. Goku could hardly believe that she had done such a thing. Yet here they were, chasing blindly after her and her runaway son.
They were above the city when Vejita suddenly stopped. Goku flew on for about a hundred feet before he was able to stop. He backtracked hurriedly, studying Vejita's tense face for clues as to what was going on.
"What is it?" he asked eagerly. "What do you feel?"
"She's at that bastard's house," Vejita growled. His ki grew blindingly bright as he fought to control his anger. "I knew that she would go running to that baka human!"
"Don't do anything that you're going to regret later," Goku warned. Vejita's murderous intentions were quite clear. "Bulma's in pain, and it won't do her any good to see you blow up and kill somebody."
"Fuck you." Vejita began gravitating down towards an appartment complex, his arms crossed.
"I still think that we should find Trunks first!" Goku called down after him. "He's all alone out there!"
Vejita stopped and glared malicously at Goku, who flinched visibly. "SHE'S alone in THERE, with HIM!" he roared. "If you have a problem with my actions, then why don't you come the hell down here and do something about it?!"
Goku held up his hands meekly. "I'm not about to stop you, Vejita."
Vejita shot him one last venomous look, then continued on his way down to Yamcha's appartment. Goku sighed helplessly and followed, praying to Kami that Bulma wasn't in a volatile mood.
Bulma had fallen into an exhausted sleep on Yamcha's couch, her coffee mug still clutched in one hand. Yamcha watched her silently, his eyes glazed over in memory. Bulma looked so different than she had when they had been going out. He didn't know if this was a result of her strange relationship with Vejita, or her messy breakup with him, but it didn't make much a difference. She was beyond the point of help, and there was no turning back.
She stirred slightly, and her tube top moved just enough to give Yamcha a glimpse of her fire engine red bikini top and the ivory skin beneath it. His eyes locked on her bare skin subconsciously, and he was grateful that Vejita wasn't here, or else he would be smeared across the floor for looking at her. Unable to resist, he got up and stood before the sleeping woman uncertainly. He reached out a hand to fix her top and--
"Stop."
Yamcha snatched back his hand and whirled around to see Vejita standing in front of his (broken) doorwall, scowling dangerously. His Super-Saiyan ki lit up the room in an eerie golden glow and illuminated Bulma's face. She still, miraculously, did not wake up.
"Whoa, Vejita!" Yamcha held up his hands innocently. He trembled a bit-- he couldn't help it. "I wasn't going to do anything! I was just going to fix her shirt--"
"I don't want to hear it, you little bitch." Vejita glared at him then stepped further into the room, moving his eyes to Bulma. Yamcha thought that he caught a glimpse of something approaching compassion in the Saiyan's turquoise eyes, but he couldn't be too sure. This was Vejita he was dealing with. "Leave, unless you feel like pain."
Yamcha, who was bold enough to look Vejita briefly in the eye before leaving, took his advice and retreated to the kitchen, where he was out of sight but could still hear what was going on. He nodded to Goku when he stepped into the appartment through the hole Vejita had made. Goku took one look at Vejita, who was approaching Bulma quietly, then joined Yamcha in the kitchen.
Bulma turned over as Vejita approached her, giving him a good view of her face. Even in sleep, her brows were furrowed in agitation, and her mouth was set in a thin, hard line. The Saiyan took a seat in front of the couch where she slept and frowned, trying to think of what to say.
"Wake up, woman." When Bulma merely moved a bit, his frown deepened. "Wake up!"
Bulma's eyelids fluttered, then opened slowly, taking in her surroundings, then Vejita. She made an effort to sit up, but was stopped by Vejita's hand. She took the hint and settled back onto the couch, confusion and anger evident on her face.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. "Where's Yamcha? If you killed him, I'll--"
"I didn't kill him," Vejita snapped. "If I had, there would be a great deal of blood decorating the walls."
Bulma wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Thanks for that consolating visual." Then, as if catching herself in a mistake, she shook her head. "I'm still pissed off, you know! You are not going to get off the hook that easily!"
"I could be at home sleeping right now." Vejita scowled and shook his head. "But instead I'm here, unnecessarily exposing myself to the two people I hate most-- Yamcha and Kakkarott. That alone should be enough to help you get over your ridiculous anger."
"Ridiculous?" Bulma sat up defiantly, her blue eyes flashing. "My feelings are ridiculous now? Thanks."
"Your emotions over this particular issue are!"
Bulma narrowed her eyes at her Saiyan partner. "Don't start with me, you son of a bitc--"
Vejita's ki flared out, temporarily blinding Bulma, who squealed in protest. "You are on thin ice here, woman!"
"Stop trying to indimidate me!" Bulma exclaimed, shading her eyes against the harsh golden light. "I'm not one of your invading alien enemies! Your royal Super Saiyan self doesn't scare me!"
Surprisingly, Vejita powered down, and his eyes and hair returned to their normal hues.
Bulma brushed some hair out of her eyes and stretched a bit. "Why are you here, if you're still so mad? Why bother wasting your time with a weak human like me and my 'sentimental bullshit'? Why don't you just-- go off and TRAIN or something... Just leave me alone!"
Vejita couldn't resist a slight smirk. "Just a few hours ago you wanted me to marry you, and now you want me to leave?"
"Not funny!" Bulma made an attempt to shove him, but was unsuccessful. "Why are you here?!"
"I have to look after what's mine," Vejita replied seriously. His eyes held a strange, foreign expression that Bulma had never before seen in him. Whatever it was, it kept her rooted to the spot.
"What's yours?" Bulma repeated. "You have no claim over me. We've been over this already."
"Don't be foolish," Vejita said. "You know better than that. You never needed any 'sentimental human bullshit' from me before, so why now?"
Bulma hesitated to answer, though she held Vejita's gaze steadily. "It never mattered before. We were young... so young ... and it was hard enough to believe already. We have Trunks now, everything has changed."
"Trunks is gone," Vejita told her quietly. "He left soon after you did. Kakkarott tried to force me to scour the city for the brat first, but..."
Bulma smiled dryly. "But you felt me here, with YAMCHA, and you couldn't stop yourself. So predictable."
"The boy is Saiyan," Vejita informed her. "He can take care of himself."
"I may be a weakling human, but I can take care of myself."
"That's bullshit and you know it." Vejita glanced at her glittering nose ring.
Bulma's gaze softened when she realized what he was looking at. "Why can't I stay pissed at you?" Before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing him. A part of her hated herself for giving in so easily, but Vejita was about to remedy that. She had not lost the battle yet.
He pulled away with that trademark smirk on his face. "If you allow me to take a swing or two at the bitch, then I suppose I'll consent to your wish..."
"The bitch?" Bulma smiled in spite of herself. At times, the description perfectly suited Yamcha. "I suppose it suits him." Then, the full impact of Vejita's words sank in, and her smile was replaced by a look of disbelief. "You don't mean...?"
Vejita grimaced as if the mere thought of marriage was painful. "Don't make me fucking say it."
Bulma kissed him again contentedly, then met his eyes seriously. "I won't."
Goku stuck his head out of the kitchen timidly. "Are we finished in there? Because, um, Trunks is still out there, alone..."
Vejita fixated a nasty glare in Goku's direction, while Bulma smiled in welcome.
"We're finished," she replied, getting up off the couch. Then, to Vejita, "We'll continue this conversation later."
Vejita grumbled something offensive under his breath, then followed Bulma into the kitchen.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
(A/N): Not too much longer to go! I'm thinking about three more chapters, then perhaps an epilogue...? I dunno, it depends. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Have you guys like, dropped off the planet or are you just too lazy to review? Seriously-- take a look at the amount of reviews for "Little Black Dress", then look at this story and the number of chapters. Pathetic, as my good friend Vejita would say. Ridiculous! But you know what? I'm not going to let it get to me so much this time around. I'm gonna finished this damned story whether you all read it or not! I WANT to complete it, and I'm NOT going to give in. I'm sick of yelling at everybody, so I'm going to leave it at that and hope for the best. I think that the next chapter will be out by the middle of week, if anybody is up to reading it... *Uncertain smile* Riiighhtt..... ja ne, and please please please remember to REVIEW! I won't bite... hard ... ^_~
Rhapsody~*
HawaiianBabay@aol.com
AIM Hawaiian Babay
_________________________________________________________________________________________
.........................................................................................................................Rhapsody~*
Trunks rolled over onto his back in the sand, staring up at the gray, rainy sky with eyes that were dull with boredom. He had been laying out here for Kami knew how long, and no sign of either his father or his mother. But that wasn't going to stop him-- no way! Trunks was going to outlast them this time, he was no coward. If he could just hold on for a few more minutes, then maybe his dad would move up his flying lessons. After all, if he, a small child, could survive alone for so long, then he was definitely strong enough to do something so simple as flying.
So Trunks kept on telling himself that, over and over, until the reassurances ran together and soon faded from his mind. All that he could concentrate on was the cold. And the wet. And the incoming storm that rose the little hairs on the back of his neck.
"Its gettin' hot in here..." he sang under his breath. It was one of the only 'grown-up songs' he knew, and this was only because he had watched his mother dance around the living room to the song a while back, during one of the rare times where they had all been happy. The song suddenly struck him as quite funny-- it even brought a smile to his blue lips. "So take off all of them clothes..." The kid would have found it a whole lot funnier if he had known that he was getting the words wrong.
Suddenly, on the edge of his consciousness, Trunks picked up on the risen ki's of his father and who felt like Goku. The kid made an unsuccessful attempt to sit up in surprise. His cold, stiff muscles protested the movement and eventually Trunks gave up. It looked like he didn't have much longer to wait. Surely the combined forces of Vejita and Goku could pick up his ki quickly. And the ki of his runaway mother.
Trunks lay in the sand, shivering and wet, for ten more minutes before succumbing to the sleep that had been threatening to close his eyelids for some time now. Instead of dreaming of one particular, coherent thing, as he had before, his dreams consisted of random images and scenes that made little or no sense to the young demi-Saiyan.
Bulma kneeling on a patch of grass, sobbing for all she was worth; Vejita powering up in a burst of blinding golden light; that same wedding he had dreamed of earlier; Goku running a nervous hand through his unkempt hair; even an image of himself, motionless-- sleeping, apparently.
Trunks struggled to escape from this strange state of sleep, but was unable to regain consciousness.
His parents clinging to each other, doing something that his young mind could not yet fathom; a younger Bulma yelling at Yamcha, who seemed to be offering her a ring; Vejita watching his mother don a black dress; Bulma holding a baby with a tail and smiling; a little boy waddling across the room towards Vejita, who was trying to hide a smile.
The confused child managed to roll over before the darkness completely overtook him, and he was unable to escape. Even through this the images kept on coming, invading his mind.
A coffin surrounded by blood red roses; Bulma hunched over a neat line of fine white powder; Vejita barely flinching as a tattoo artist plunged a needle repeatedly into the skin of his chest; Chi-chi awkwardly hugging Bulma; Goku, Yamcha, Krillen, and the rest of the crew eating together solemnly; snowflakes falling on the long hair of his mother, who was crouched in the snow...
Trunks took a shallow, rasping breath, then stirred no more.
Goku looked inconspicuously over at Vejita as they flew. The other man seemed to be all right, judging by his cool expression, but Goku knew better. Even with his drastically different Super Saiyan appearance, Vejita's turqouise eyes gave him away. They were stormy and dark, full of supressed anger and frustration. And maybe even a touch of... pain?
"What do you think?" Goku called over.
"About what?" Vejita snapped.
"Can you feel anything? Any ki's?" Goku tried to sound somewhat cheerful, for Vejita's sake.
"If I did, then we wouldn't be flying around in circles, would we?" Vejita shook his head and sped up, leaving Goku a short distance behind. "Baka Kakkarott..."
Goku wisely chose not to say anything more. It was just pissing the other Saiyan off, obviously. He could practically feel the waves of intense anger coming off of Vejita. Not that he could blame him. They had all believed that Bulma had long since gotten over her unsteady stage. To have her run out now, at such a critical point in Trunks' life, and perhaps even in her relationship with Vejita, was unthinkable. Goku could hardly believe that she had done such a thing. Yet here they were, chasing blindly after her and her runaway son.
They were above the city when Vejita suddenly stopped. Goku flew on for about a hundred feet before he was able to stop. He backtracked hurriedly, studying Vejita's tense face for clues as to what was going on.
"What is it?" he asked eagerly. "What do you feel?"
"She's at that bastard's house," Vejita growled. His ki grew blindingly bright as he fought to control his anger. "I knew that she would go running to that baka human!"
"Don't do anything that you're going to regret later," Goku warned. Vejita's murderous intentions were quite clear. "Bulma's in pain, and it won't do her any good to see you blow up and kill somebody."
"Fuck you." Vejita began gravitating down towards an appartment complex, his arms crossed.
"I still think that we should find Trunks first!" Goku called down after him. "He's all alone out there!"
Vejita stopped and glared malicously at Goku, who flinched visibly. "SHE'S alone in THERE, with HIM!" he roared. "If you have a problem with my actions, then why don't you come the hell down here and do something about it?!"
Goku held up his hands meekly. "I'm not about to stop you, Vejita."
Vejita shot him one last venomous look, then continued on his way down to Yamcha's appartment. Goku sighed helplessly and followed, praying to Kami that Bulma wasn't in a volatile mood.
Bulma had fallen into an exhausted sleep on Yamcha's couch, her coffee mug still clutched in one hand. Yamcha watched her silently, his eyes glazed over in memory. Bulma looked so different than she had when they had been going out. He didn't know if this was a result of her strange relationship with Vejita, or her messy breakup with him, but it didn't make much a difference. She was beyond the point of help, and there was no turning back.
She stirred slightly, and her tube top moved just enough to give Yamcha a glimpse of her fire engine red bikini top and the ivory skin beneath it. His eyes locked on her bare skin subconsciously, and he was grateful that Vejita wasn't here, or else he would be smeared across the floor for looking at her. Unable to resist, he got up and stood before the sleeping woman uncertainly. He reached out a hand to fix her top and--
"Stop."
Yamcha snatched back his hand and whirled around to see Vejita standing in front of his (broken) doorwall, scowling dangerously. His Super-Saiyan ki lit up the room in an eerie golden glow and illuminated Bulma's face. She still, miraculously, did not wake up.
"Whoa, Vejita!" Yamcha held up his hands innocently. He trembled a bit-- he couldn't help it. "I wasn't going to do anything! I was just going to fix her shirt--"
"I don't want to hear it, you little bitch." Vejita glared at him then stepped further into the room, moving his eyes to Bulma. Yamcha thought that he caught a glimpse of something approaching compassion in the Saiyan's turquoise eyes, but he couldn't be too sure. This was Vejita he was dealing with. "Leave, unless you feel like pain."
Yamcha, who was bold enough to look Vejita briefly in the eye before leaving, took his advice and retreated to the kitchen, where he was out of sight but could still hear what was going on. He nodded to Goku when he stepped into the appartment through the hole Vejita had made. Goku took one look at Vejita, who was approaching Bulma quietly, then joined Yamcha in the kitchen.
Bulma turned over as Vejita approached her, giving him a good view of her face. Even in sleep, her brows were furrowed in agitation, and her mouth was set in a thin, hard line. The Saiyan took a seat in front of the couch where she slept and frowned, trying to think of what to say.
"Wake up, woman." When Bulma merely moved a bit, his frown deepened. "Wake up!"
Bulma's eyelids fluttered, then opened slowly, taking in her surroundings, then Vejita. She made an effort to sit up, but was stopped by Vejita's hand. She took the hint and settled back onto the couch, confusion and anger evident on her face.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded. "Where's Yamcha? If you killed him, I'll--"
"I didn't kill him," Vejita snapped. "If I had, there would be a great deal of blood decorating the walls."
Bulma wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Thanks for that consolating visual." Then, as if catching herself in a mistake, she shook her head. "I'm still pissed off, you know! You are not going to get off the hook that easily!"
"I could be at home sleeping right now." Vejita scowled and shook his head. "But instead I'm here, unnecessarily exposing myself to the two people I hate most-- Yamcha and Kakkarott. That alone should be enough to help you get over your ridiculous anger."
"Ridiculous?" Bulma sat up defiantly, her blue eyes flashing. "My feelings are ridiculous now? Thanks."
"Your emotions over this particular issue are!"
Bulma narrowed her eyes at her Saiyan partner. "Don't start with me, you son of a bitc--"
Vejita's ki flared out, temporarily blinding Bulma, who squealed in protest. "You are on thin ice here, woman!"
"Stop trying to indimidate me!" Bulma exclaimed, shading her eyes against the harsh golden light. "I'm not one of your invading alien enemies! Your royal Super Saiyan self doesn't scare me!"
Surprisingly, Vejita powered down, and his eyes and hair returned to their normal hues.
Bulma brushed some hair out of her eyes and stretched a bit. "Why are you here, if you're still so mad? Why bother wasting your time with a weak human like me and my 'sentimental bullshit'? Why don't you just-- go off and TRAIN or something... Just leave me alone!"
Vejita couldn't resist a slight smirk. "Just a few hours ago you wanted me to marry you, and now you want me to leave?"
"Not funny!" Bulma made an attempt to shove him, but was unsuccessful. "Why are you here?!"
"I have to look after what's mine," Vejita replied seriously. His eyes held a strange, foreign expression that Bulma had never before seen in him. Whatever it was, it kept her rooted to the spot.
"What's yours?" Bulma repeated. "You have no claim over me. We've been over this already."
"Don't be foolish," Vejita said. "You know better than that. You never needed any 'sentimental human bullshit' from me before, so why now?"
Bulma hesitated to answer, though she held Vejita's gaze steadily. "It never mattered before. We were young... so young ... and it was hard enough to believe already. We have Trunks now, everything has changed."
"Trunks is gone," Vejita told her quietly. "He left soon after you did. Kakkarott tried to force me to scour the city for the brat first, but..."
Bulma smiled dryly. "But you felt me here, with YAMCHA, and you couldn't stop yourself. So predictable."
"The boy is Saiyan," Vejita informed her. "He can take care of himself."
"I may be a weakling human, but I can take care of myself."
"That's bullshit and you know it." Vejita glanced at her glittering nose ring.
Bulma's gaze softened when she realized what he was looking at. "Why can't I stay pissed at you?" Before she knew what she was doing, she was kissing him. A part of her hated herself for giving in so easily, but Vejita was about to remedy that. She had not lost the battle yet.
He pulled away with that trademark smirk on his face. "If you allow me to take a swing or two at the bitch, then I suppose I'll consent to your wish..."
"The bitch?" Bulma smiled in spite of herself. At times, the description perfectly suited Yamcha. "I suppose it suits him." Then, the full impact of Vejita's words sank in, and her smile was replaced by a look of disbelief. "You don't mean...?"
Vejita grimaced as if the mere thought of marriage was painful. "Don't make me fucking say it."
Bulma kissed him again contentedly, then met his eyes seriously. "I won't."
Goku stuck his head out of the kitchen timidly. "Are we finished in there? Because, um, Trunks is still out there, alone..."
Vejita fixated a nasty glare in Goku's direction, while Bulma smiled in welcome.
"We're finished," she replied, getting up off the couch. Then, to Vejita, "We'll continue this conversation later."
Vejita grumbled something offensive under his breath, then followed Bulma into the kitchen.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
(A/N): Not too much longer to go! I'm thinking about three more chapters, then perhaps an epilogue...? I dunno, it depends. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Have you guys like, dropped off the planet or are you just too lazy to review? Seriously-- take a look at the amount of reviews for "Little Black Dress", then look at this story and the number of chapters. Pathetic, as my good friend Vejita would say. Ridiculous! But you know what? I'm not going to let it get to me so much this time around. I'm gonna finished this damned story whether you all read it or not! I WANT to complete it, and I'm NOT going to give in. I'm sick of yelling at everybody, so I'm going to leave it at that and hope for the best. I think that the next chapter will be out by the middle of week, if anybody is up to reading it... *Uncertain smile* Riiighhtt..... ja ne, and please please please remember to REVIEW! I won't bite... hard ... ^_~
Rhapsody~*
HawaiianBabay@aol.com
AIM Hawaiian Babay
_________________________________________________________________________________________