Disclaimer; Ok I admit, I've been lying to you all, I own DBZ......NOT!
A/N; I'm sorry this took so long everyone, but I've had a few problems with weird boys latly. Anyway, I've already started the next chapter, so hopefully it won't take to long to get the rest of it done. Well yeah...read this and tell me what you think. ~D.B
And Then You'll Know
Chapter 13
"Father are you ok?" asked Vegeta as he approached his father.
The king rubbed his temples and looked down at his eldest son and smiled weakly, hoping it didn't look as fake as it felt, he was in no mood to smile.
"I'll be fine son" he replied. Vegeta shook his head and took another step forward. "Don't lie to me"
"I'm not". Vegeta raised a dark eyebrow, as if he was totally unimpressed with his father's answer.
"Ok," boomed the king, "I'll admit, I've got a few things on my mind"
"What things?" Vegeta demanded to know
"Things I don't want to bother you with, I can see you've also got a lot on your mind at the moment. You don't need to be burdened with my troubles as well" replied the king.
Vegeta thought for a few minutes. What his father had said was very true, he did have a lot on his mind, but he wanted to help his father if he could.
He shrugged his shoulder and looked up at his much taller father, why was it that he was so short?
"Well if you need to talk...." he trailed off, then left the throne room.
Once he was out the throne room, he leaned against the wall and sighed, right now he felt about 50 years older than he actually was. All he ever seemed to do these days was worry – worry about his father, and his planet and the people that would one day be his. He didn't have anytime left to just chill out and stop for a while. He'd forced his body into overdrive all ready and he didn't know how more he could take. Growling and kicking the wall, he walked off down the hall.
***
Chi-chi banged on the door, and banged, and banged and banged. Until finally it was opened.
"It's about time" she said as she pushed past Bulma and walked into the apartment.
"Well hello to you to" said Bulma as she shut the door, yawned and ran her hand through her messy blue hair.
"You didn't just get up did you?" asked Chi-chi
"Yeah," replied Bulma still half-asleep "why?"
"Because it's 2pm" stated Chi-chi.
Bulma rolled her eyes, Chi-chi was impossible sometimes, if she was anyone but her best friend she probably would have thumped her and thrown her outside, but as it so happened, she couldn't do it even if she wanted to.
After much persuasion she had finally managed to get her doctors to let her out the infirmary, on the condition that she took it very easy and kept her broken ribs well protected, which just entailed keeping the bandages dry and changing them once a day.
"Chi-chi" Bulma groaned.
Chi-chi spun around and flashed Bulma the smile she usually gave her father when she wanted something "Yes?" she asked. Bulma picked up on it right away and she had to laugh. "You're an idiot," she said. "You want some ice-cream?"
"Uh yeah" replied Chi-chi as if it was pointless to even ask in the first place.
Bulma nodded and pulled 2 cartons of chocolate ice cream out the fridge, then she grabbed some spoons, and both the girls sat at the table and dug in.
"So, have you spoken to Kakkarot yet?" asked Bulma as she swallowed some more of the cold, slippery food.
"No," came Chi-chi curt reply. "I don't know what I was thinking. I never should have spoken to him, men are a waste of my time"
"So you're saying you wouldn't mind if I gave him a call?" asked Bulma slyly, she had no intentions of calling him, she just needed to make her friends realise that she really did still like him.
Chi-chi's eyes darted up and she gave Bulma a cold hard stare, but she quickly remembered that she wasn't supposed to care anymore and she simply shrugged her shoulders "Fine whatever. See if I care"
Bulma had to laugh.
"What?" snapped Chi-chi.
"My god girl, you're head over heels for him aren't you. I think you might be the only one who can't see it" she said.
Chi-chi quietly gasped, was it really that obvious? It must have been if Bulma could pick up on it that quickly. "No I am not" she lied through her teeth hoping it would fool Bulma, unfortunately, she had no such luck.
"Chi-chi, the only one who falls for your lies like that is you dad. Why don't you just go call him and tell him that what he said offended you but if he apologises then you'd be more then happy to marry him" suggested Bulma, giggling like a schoolgirl.
"Marriage? Don't you think your jumping the gun a bit, I'm not even of age yet".
***
"Tarie, no, not now" said 17 as he pushed Tarie off him. She looked across at him, a confused look plastered on her face.
"What's wrong baby?" she asked as she leaned forward and tucked his hair behind his ears. She had always though he looked cuter like that.
17 sighed and relaxed against the pillow.
It had been 2 weeks now since the untimely death of Astrid and it still hurt. Krillen, the price his sister had somehow managed to befriend had given her a proper burial, with a tombstone and all. It was much more than any of the other deceased slaves had ever gotten. But that didn't take away any of the hurt, she had been one of his oldest and most trusted friends. Ever since he was a scared 11-year old boy, lost and confused in a strange new world, she had taken care of him and watched him grow and love just like his mother would have wanted. And now she was gone. And his sister was taking it even worse than he was. She wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, wouldn't talk. She just sat on the floor and stared at the wall, mumbling something in coherent over and over. It was scaring him.
"17, baby, you still with me?" came Tarie's cool smooth voice.
17 blinked and looked into her big green eyes, "Yeah".
Tarie moved closer to 17 and wrapped her thin arms around him.
"What's wrong? Talk to me" she gently urged.
17 took a big breath and returned the hug, pulling Tarie in tight. "It hurts Tarie, it hurts so much" he said, close to tears.
"I know how hard it is for you, you lost someone you loved" she said.
"It's not that, it's just..." he stoped to wipe the tears off his face "It's just that I don't ever remember missing my mother this much and I feel so horrible for it. How is it that somewhere along the ling I came to love Astrid more than my own mother?"
"17, don't be ashamed, you lost you mother a long time ago, you were young, so young. It's only natural you needed someone to fill the void she left" Tarie tried her best to calm 17 down.
"And I'm worried about 18, she's not taking this whole thing so good" 17 spoke up again after a long silence. Tarie pulled out of 17's warm embrace and took hold of his hands instead.
"Well we're all a little worried about her at the moment, she's definitely not taking this as well as she needs to" agreed Tarie.
17 sighed deeply, "I just don't know what to do about it though. She's my own sister, and I don't know how to help her. I've failed the only flesh and blood I have left. 18's my closets...anything, and I can't help her." he chocked on sobs and it made Tarie's hart break.
"17 baby, you haven't failed 18 or anyone else for that matter. That sister of your's is one very complex women and she's been through more in her life than you or I could even begin to fathom. Just keep an eye on her and give her a bit more time to come to grips with everything that's happened ok" said Tarie.
17 nodded his head and wiped his face with the back of his hands. "I'm sorry" he mumbled, "I haven't been very good to you lately"
"You've been great," said Tarie "now I have to go and do some work, will you be ok?"
"Yeah"
"Ok" Tarie said and she softly planted her lips on his, "I'll be back later ok"
***
"Why are you not done yet? I gave you that assignment 3 hours ago!" roared Chi-chi, her face turning bright red with anger.
"Ma'am, why don't you get down here and try it" snapped 18.
"What?!" screeched Chi-chi. "How dare you answer back to me. Just what are you doing. You have no right to even look at me without my permission"
18 lowered her eyes to the floor and muttered something.
"What was that?" asked Chi-chi
No reply.
Chi-chi's nostrils flared how was it that this one insignificant slave managed to infuriate her so much, she ment nothing to her. Then with one resounding slap to the cheek Chi-chi sent 18 flying to the other side of the room, where she crashed into the wall with a loud thud.
"Next time I speak to you, you will answer me. Is that clear?"
18 hauled herself up off the floor and nodded "Yes ma'am" she whimpered, close to tears.
Chi-chi smirked evilly and slapped a piece of paper down in front of 18. "I want all of that done before I get back. Understood?"
18 nodded again "Yes ma'am".
As soon as 18 heard the door click shut she sunk down to the ground buried her head in her hands and cried. If anyone had been around to hear her heart wrenching sobs they would have known how badly she needed some help, she just wasn't coping, every second that went by hurt more than the last and every day she became more and more aware that Astrid wasn't coming back. She didn't know how much longer she could go on like this. It just hurt way too much.
Sighing heavily 18 picked up the sheet of clean, crisp white paper and counted the number of jobs on it
***
Tarie looked down at the mess a few meters away from her feet. It was making her stomach turn, she never had never had much of a strong stomach. Leaning on the mop for support she turned away from the pool of blood, sweat, teeth and vomit, that was slowly inching towards her.
She was in the training complex's foyer. A rather big square room with metal walls and floor. It had 10 doors with small round windows, all of which led into separate training rooms, coming off two of the walls. There was a small eating area, with tables and a few vending machines, that each dispensed something different at the far end of the room. A few men and a girl were all sitting down there, munching on something and happily chatting away.
Trying as hard as she could to keep her stomach where it belonged, she turned back to the mess, only to find it mere centimetres away from her feet, she gasped and jumped backwards and well away from the mess.
She was not touching that stuff.
She knew where Nison was working, he was in the kitchen helping prepare the evening meal, maybe she could switch with him? But she couldn't really leave this mess here, if she left it unattended and one of the elites down the end dobbed on her, well, she didn't really want to fathom what would happen, but it wouldn't be pretty.
Sighing, Tarie finally came to the conclusion that there was no way she could get out of this. She was going to have to clean up the mess that was once again, uncomfortably close to her feet. She shuddered and pulled the mop out of the bucket, it made a funny sloshing noise when it hit the ground and she couldn't even bare to look at the floor as she cleaned up after an unknown slob who couldn't keep their lunch where it belonged
Squeezing her eyes shut tight, she slowly moved the mop across the floor, this was without a doubt the most disgusting thing she had ever done.
***
Krillen was whistling a happy tune to himself as he wandered down the palace halls at a comfortable rate, he was in a good mood today, and he really wasn't sure why, it wasn't like there was anything to be overly happy about. His father was worried about something – again, 18 was getting harder and harder to talk to everyday and his bother and sister were being meaner than ever to him. Now that he though about it, he should be miserable, but he wasn't.
He swung his towel around in big wide circle, as he walked along. He was on his way to the G.R's. He arrived at the complex and walked inside. He first thing he saw was the poor girl cleaning up something disgusting, and she didn't look so good.
Krillen recognised her as 18's brother's girlfriend, he wasn't quiet sure of her name though. He quickly decided to turn his good mood into a good deed and he headed over to her.
"Hi" he greeted her, "You look like you could use a hand.
"Huh?" Tarie was confused beyond all belief
"Here, why don't you go out side for a few minutes, I'll clean this" suggested Krillen as he took the mop off Tarie.
"Thanks, I guess"
"Hey, before you go, what's you name?" asked Krillen
Tarie looked at him suspiciously for a few minutes, before deciding that if 18 could be friends with this guy, he had to be harmless. "Tarie" she said.
Krillen smiled warmly at her, "Tarie, you're friends with 18. Tell me, how is she?"
"Not so good. She's taking it all very badly, if she doesn't pick up soon, well, there's not a lot we can do for her if she refuses to be helped." Krillen opened his mouth to reply, but Tarie kept right on talking "she won't eat, or sleep, she won't talk to anyone, she's gotten real bad" this time Tarie stopped talking.
Krillen looked upset, 18 had become very special to him over the last few months, and he wanted to help her, so bad. But Tarie was right, she was more distant than ever, if he was really serious about 18, he needed to take action now!
"Ok, thank-you" said Krillen. Tarie smiled strangely at him, still a little confused by his niceness, then she headed out to the garden.
***
She dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue to dry up the tears, this was always so hard for her to do. She looked down at the bouquet of red and purple flowers and placed them on the grave she was knelling in front of.
"Tammin" she sobbed, "I know it's been almost 7 years, but it hurts, it still hurts so much. I want you back", Bulma sobbed freely, she knew her big sister was watching over her making sure she was safe, but that didn't make up for the fact that she wasn't right next to her.
Bulma and Tammin Brief had always been close, they'd been nearly inseparable. Tammin was exactly 1 year and 9 months older than she was, but they may as well have been twins. Both girls had the brains of their father and their looks, and charm from their mother. They were like best friends.
But then Frieza destroyed that!
Yes, he had destroyed everything that had been good in her life and the lives of millions of other Sayians around the planet. It wasn't fair.
Feeling a fresh batch of tears well up in her eyes, Bulma buried her head in her hands and wept. Oh what she wouldn't give to have her sister back for just one more day.
Suddenly she heard soft footsteps coming from behind her. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she turned to see who it was, and smiled weakly at the familiar face.
"You are supposed to be resting women, you shouldn't be out here blubbering"
"I'm not blubbering Vegeta"
"Well if that's not blubbering then I don't know what is," he scoffed, then he got down on his knees beside her, "Why are you are here anyway?" he asked
"Just visiting" was Bulma's short reply
"Visiting hurts" said Vegeta, more to himself than to Bulma, "Too many things I don't want to remember".
"Wanna tell me about it?" asked Bulma, as she shifted positions to get more comfortable.
"No" Vegeta replied curtly.
"C'mon, you know you can talk to me, I'm not a blab like your sister"
Vegeta had to laugh at Bulma's last remark, it was so true. You told Chi-chi anything, and 5 seconds later the whole palace knew. "I don't wanna talk about it".
"So something is up?".
Vegeta's head snapped up, dammit it, she'd figured him out – again. "No, something is not up," he lied "now if you don't mind I'll be over there" he stood up and walked towards the rather large fancy tombstone in the center of the cemetery. Bulma waited a few minutes, then stood up and followed him.
"Mother," Vegeta whispered hoarsely "it's getting hard again, I don't know what to do. Father needs my help, but he won't accept it. Help me".
From behind him, Bulma watched him wipe a tear off his face, she had never seen him cry before, maybe it wasn't a good idea to follow him. But if she left now, he would hear her. She quickly decided to do what any good friend would, and make sure he was ok.
"Vegeta, are you all right?" she asked.
Vegeta jumped, what in the hell was the women doing there? "I'm fine, just leave me alone" he snapped
"You are so not fine," Bulma scoffed "Why must you lie to me? I'll always find out, so why don't you just talk to me" she persisted.
"I don't have a problem to talk about!" he shouted as he stood up. Bulma looed at him lamely. His eyes were puffy and he had several tears running down his cheeks. Bulma smiled awkwardly at him and wiped them off with her thumb. "It's ok you know, everyone needs to talk sometimes"
"Not me" snapped Vegeta
"Yes you" replied Bulma calmly, she reached out and touched Vegeta's hand, but he quickly pulled it away. She scowled at him, but then a more compassionate look settled on her face.
"Ok, if you don't wanna tell me about it right now, you don't have to. But if you change your mind, you know where I am" she said, then she turned and walked off.
***
Well what did you think? Tell me in a review. ~D.B