Today's the day, he thought, somehow excited. Vegeta walked along with Bulma in the mall, Trunks and Goten babbling beside them. Bulma wanted Vegeta to come with her to the mall because she wanted to buy clothes and she wanted his opinion before buying them. Ordinarily, Vegeta would have told her to go and have another CAT scan as he wasn't going, but this time, it suited him just fine. Trunks and Goten kept on gushing about how good his drawings were that they suggested to him to buy paints and canvas. Vegeta knew what paints were, but he had no clue in hell what a canvas was. So they then suggested that they go to the mall to buy him all the materials they said he would need. Vegeta had made them promise earlier not to tell anyone that he was going to take up art, and they completely understood. Poor Vegeta would be gawked at for the rest of his life if anyone found out he was doing something cultural, as he was the Saiyan no Ouji, and everyone thought him to be a total bastard.
"Hey mom," Trunks said, gaining his mother's attention. "May Goten and I go the games store? I want papa to buy me a new game." Bulma nodded.
"Sure. I'll be upstairs if you guys need me." she smiled sweetly and walked away. After a few moments, they lost her in the crowd. That was their cue to get Vegeta his new gear.
"Come on, papa!" Trunks said as he pulled Vegeta hand.
"Waaah!" he yelped. "Where are we going?"
"To the art store over there!" Goten pointed out. Vegeta looked up and saw a cooky old store cramped away in the corner of the mall. He silently pondered on why he hadn't seen it before, as it looked older and wooden, unlike all the other plastic and metal high-tech stores. But he simply dismissed it when the two chibi's pushed him through the door.
He entered the shop, pausing slightly as he craned his head up to look at a bell that tinkled as the door opened and closed. He gazed about, and found he was rather comfortable in his new surroundings…much more comfortable. Seeing as there was hardly anyone in there, it didn't feel so claustrophobic. And also, because of all the colours of paints, inks and pencil crayons, Vegeta felt at ease. Just as he was admiring a crimson pot of paint, Trunks and Goten pulled him over to the counter.
"Do you mind?" he growled. "I can walk by myself!"
"Gomen nasai, Vegeta-san," apologized Goten as he rubbed the back of his head the same way his father does. "But I think it's best if you get all the stuff before Bulma-san remembers something and decides to find us." Vegeta was just about to snap back that the onna was on a shopping spree, so why in the hell would she want to bother with them, when he thought that Goten might be right, and kept his mouth shut. Trunks rang the bell on the front desk a couple of times before an old man, almost bald with a short, silver beard and square spectacles balancing on a crooked nose, appeared from the door behind the counter. He smiled softly at them as his piercing green eyes wafted over them.
"Konnichiwa," he greeted them politely. "May I help you?"
"Konnichiwa," Trunks greeted back. "We'd like to buy some art supplies."
"Hmm, we have a huge variety, as you can see." He said, waving his hand gracefully at the aisles of paints and drawing materials. "What is it exactly that you require?"
"Umm…I guess all the things for an aspiring artist." He replied. Vegeta raised his eyebrows at this. Him? An Aspiring artist? All the while he was thinking Trunks was just flattering him for his own personal gains, but he privately did feel profoundly flattered.
"In that case," he said slowly. "You'll need a sketch pad, a couple of canvas-if you so wish-coloured pencils, brushes, paints and a palette." They all nodded their heads slowly. "So, shall I get them for you?" They nodded their heads again. "You had better come with me, though. Just so I can be sure of what you want." They waited for him as he slowly crept over to the open gap in the counter, and followed as he walked down the first aisle.
An hour later, they were back at Capsule Corp. Bulma was still at the mall, but they went back home quickly just to drop his stuff off. They all stood back to admire all the new brushes, paints and cream sheeted sketchpads they had bought. Goten looked up at Vegeta and beamed.
"Isn't this great, Vegeta-san?" he asked. Vegeta looked down at him before giving his regular 'hn' as a reply. But he really agreed with Goten. He was very excited to have his own paints and brushes.
Now I can see what I can really do! He thought determinedly.
"Uhh…papa?" Vegeta looked down at Trunks. "I think we should be going back to the mall now. Mom might be looking for us." Vegeta and Goten nodded their agreement before all three took off back to the mall.
Vegeta inwardly sighed. Pity, he actually wanted to stay back home and admire his things for a little bit more…
Goku sighed as he looked out on the lake. The sky was clear, as usual, the grass was waving in the gentle breeze and everything looked so calm and tranquil. Sadly, that was far from what was really going on around there. Goku was upset. Well, that's putting it mildly. No, Goku was deeply hurt that after 22 years of marriage, Chichi decided to leave him. Goku didn't know what he did wrong, though he suspected that Chichi's leaving was due to his constant absence at home. It wasn't his fault; in fact, it wasn't a fault at all. All he did was train and spar with Vegeta. He saw no harm in that. In fact, he thought that it might be better for him and Chichi that way, seeing as she was always screaming at him for some reason or other. But apparently, Chichi thought different. If he wasn't always at home, then he was a bad husband.
Sometimes, Goku thought that that was the reason why they separated. But most of the times, he suspected that she had found someone else. Someone to her liking. Someone who didn't run off with Saiyan no Ouji's for the whole day and then return home with their clothes in tatters and about a billion huge bruises and wounds. He didn't know why he thought things like that, but he swore he could smell another man on her…literally! He sometimes suspected that, being Saiyan and all, he was able to pick up faint scents that no ningen could. Obviously Vegeta would know about things like that, but he never asked the fiery ouji. He was always distracted by something. He didn't know what or why, but whenever he was around his ouji; his mind always went blank. Or otherwise when asked a question by Vegeta, his mind would race with suitable answers, even if it required a very simple answer.
Usually, he came to this spot by the lake to think about Vegeta and just what was it that was making him so on edge when he was around the smaller saiyan. But today, he just came to sit and ponder about his relationship between him and Chichi, and whether he should be so upset about it or not. Granted, Chichi could be a very nice woman when she wanted to be. She could cook wonderful meals, she was very neat and tidy, and she was a very caring person. Although, the bad side to her was that she was rather over bearing and bossy, telling everyone what they should do and how they should live. She was always pushing Gohan to study, not really considering his own feelings towards studying every day. And, on more than one occasion, she could be a real pain in the ass. It was then that Goku wondering if he ever really loved Chichi, or if he just liked her.
Truth was, Goku had never experience real love before, so he honestly didn't know what it felt like. It wasn't that he was stupid, he knew that the difference between love and like is that when you love someone, your feelings are far more intense for them. But the problem was, he never felt that way about Chichi. Sure, he sometimes worried about her when a new threat came about, but that was only because he was concerned on what Gohan and Goten would do without their mother around. He never really worried about Chichi unless the entire universe was at stake. Never.
Vegeta, on the other hand, he constantly worried about. Not because he was afraid the borderline psychopath Saiyan no Ouji might actually decide to destroy the planet, but…he didn't know. He was just concerned about Vegeta, all the time! In the beginning, when Vegeta was having some troubles adjusting on Earth, he was worried about him. Whenever Vegeta was in trouble, he worried. When Vegeta and Bulma were going through divorce, he was worried…and a little hopeful. Of what, he wasn't sure. But when they sparred, he was especially worried about his precious ouji. He was scared that he might hurt the smaller saiyan. Obviously if he told Vegeta that, that would be the last sentence he would ever utter, but still…that was just how he felt.
Goku frowned to himself as he stared out onto the glassy lake, hands unconsciously stroking the long grass.
What is with me? He wondered. Why is it that every time I think about Vegeta, I get so lost and confused? Sure, I can think of Krillin, Chichi and Bulma, no problem. But Vegeta…? He shook his head. I don't understand it. I just don't understand it. He returned his gaze to the cerulean lake, completely oblivious to the warmth welling in the pit of his stomach as he chanted Vegeta's name like a mantra, over and over, in his head.
He slowly dipped the new horse haired brush into the small splotch of emerald green that he had just made, sitting on his clean palette. Brows furrowed in deep concentration, he painted Mrs Briefs sunning herself outside. He didn't have to worry about being spotted, as he was looking down on her and she was fast asleep, anyway.
As soon as they all got back from the mall, Vegeta raced up to his room to admire his new art things for a bit more. He liked the crisp, clean paper of the sketchbooks with the hard, black outer cover. He liked the clean and brand new tubes and pots of paint, waiting to have splotches of their own colour decorating their rim. He liked the brushes, how some of them were stiff, some were soft, some were fat and some were thin. He couldn't say what he loved most, but he knew he adored every single thing of his art kit. He grinned as he took a step back and took a look at what was forming. He had been painting Mrs Briefs for about an hour now, and he was coming along well.
"Not bad," he complimented to no one. "Hmm…maybe it could use a little vermilion here…" Vegeta was having a blast! He loved every minute of sitting in his room, doing nothing but drawing and painting. He grinned to himself. If I'm not careful, I might turn into a ningen loving baka like Kakarot… Vegeta paused for a moment, then went back to painting, brows furrowed even more. Kakarot… Vegeta didn't know what was going on with Goku, and he didn't know why he wanted to know.
In a way, he was worried about him. Sure, Vegeta never liked that kono ama he was married to, but that didn't mean he wanted Goku to be unhappy. He wasn't too sure of whether Goku was pleased about this or not, but had an inkling he wasn't. After all, Goku was so gentle and childlike; he wouldn't be surprised if he was lying on his bed at home right now, crying. Almost instantly after thinking that, Vegeta felt a pang in his heart.
Kakarot… he thought as he dropped his brushes into his water jar, finished his painting and cleaning up. How I wish omae wa ore no mono da. He put his paints nearly away in his new hiding spot. Nakanaide, tenshi no sora. I'll come for you… he looked out the window, out to the mountains where he knew Goku was.
…one day.
Red: Gomen nasai if this is a very short chapter…but I think it would be better if I carried it on in the next chapter, ne? Besides…I dun want anyone to suddenly leave…heheheheheh…