Chapter Three: Vegeta's Birthday Party
"Tell me again why I'm wearing this blind fold." Vegeta was sitting on his double bed while Goten knelt behind him and tied a thick red velvet blindfold around his eyes. The Prince had sat in his room crying silently for an hour after Kakarot had phoned, and he'd cried himself to sleep, only to be woken up by Goten two hours later. Goten snickered as he tightened the knot.
"Because, dumbass, we have to take you somewhere secret for your big birthday!"
"Goten, for a forty-something guy, you're still as childish as you were when you were seven." Vegeta grinned. Goten smacked him on the back of the head.
"Keep it down, old man. Oh, look, here comes my ball and chain, Aka Trunks."
Trunks came into the room, and smirked, hands on hips.
"Excuse my rather annoying onna, I just can't get her to shut up." said Trunks, winking at Goten.
"I am not an onna!" Goten crawled off the bed, then walked up to Trunks. Trunks poked Goten hard on the forehead with his middle finger, making him stagger back a little. Vegeta listened to them with great interest, since he couldn't see.
"Then stop acting like a whinging woman! The last thing my dad needs to hear is your whining!"
Goten pulled on Trunks' long purple bangs.
"You're the one that nags!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Nag, nag, nag, nag!"
"Whinge, whinge, whinge!"
They both started play fighting, but then Vegeta decided he'd had enough.
"You two shut up, you're giving me a migraine." Vegeta stood up, his blindfold on. Trunks opened the double bay windows, and he and Goten took Vegeta's hands.
"Hold on dad!"
"Wha-" but before he could finish his sentence, Goten and Trunks pulled him out the window and blasted off, dragging Vegeta along with them and laughing their heads off at the reams of curses he was throwing at them in each of the twenty seven languages he knows.
After about thirty minutes flying time, they touched down on a little island in the middle of the ocean. Trunks and Goten let go of Vegeta, who folded his arms.
"Okay, where have you two bickering idiots brought me now?" demanded Vegeta. Trunks grinned, while Goten untied the blindfold and pulled it off.
"Only to a party thrown in your honour, dear father."
Vegeta blinked in the bright sunlight, as his eyes adjusted. Then he grinned when he saw the remainder of the gang wearing dark blue t-shirts saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OUJI!, in red writing.
"Happy birthday, short shit." said Piccolo in his usual gruff voice, smiling for a change.
"Thanks Namek. I didn't know they made shirts that big. What did they do, cut it out of a hot air balloon?" retorted Vegeta, shaking hands with the seven foot Namek. Piccolo just smiled wryly as he stood aside to allow Vegeta to be greeted by the rest of the group. The other guests were Gohan, Roshi, 18, Dende, Popo, Majin Buu, Maron and Bra, who lives in another country most of the time. As Vegeta hugged his daughter, he couldn't help noticing what a small group they were. All the earthlings had passed away from old age, although Roshi was still going strong. Vegeta smiled when he saw a porn magazine rolled up and stuffed into a back pocket of Roshi's highly coloured, blindingly patterned board shorts. Mr. Popo had outdone himself in the catering department, and Trunks had really gone to great lengths to get the cake. It was a giant dragon ball the size of a beach ball, maybe a little smaller, but it was blue with eighty silver stars on it, with a double chocolate fudge filling inside. Vegeta felt really honoured, and he felt so good inside.
Vegeta's mellowed out a lot over the years, and has been accepted into the group. Gohan had said once that he was the arrogant prince that had got up their noses and wriggled down into their hearts. Vegeta, Gohan and Piccolo met every Wednesday to go catch a movie together, and had become serious movie fundies. Vegeta spends Sundays exclusively with Goten and they go paintballing together, or go-karting. Until Claudia had fucked things up with Kakarot, Vegeta had been enjoying life immensely. Mondays was poker night with all the guys, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from 8am to 6pm was sparring time with his bestest friend Kakarot. Wednesday night is movies night with the brat and the Namek, as Vegeta fondly calls them, and Friday is anime, playstation and manga shopping day with Trunks.
Yes, things were going very well in every sphere of Vegeta's life, except when it came to Kakarot, that is. And things were about to get worse.
"Hey, where's Goku? Isn't he supposed to be here?" asked 18 as she piled salad onto her plate. Trunks frowned.
"I don't know, but he should be here. I left a message with that girlfriend of his, and I sent him a written invitation. It's not like him to miss a party, especially my dad's."
"You know my dad, he has the memory capacities of a bowl of soggy cereal. Let's call him and get him to come, it'll mean the world to Vegeta."
Goten looked across the lawn to Vegeta, who was busy arm wrestling with Piccolo, the blistering summer sun on his bare back, sweat rolling off him as he battled with Piccolo. He finally slammed the Namek's hand down, then stood up and raised his arms in victory.
"I win! Now I get to eat your slice of cake!"
"Like I was going to eat cake anyway, you saiyan punk." pouted Piccolo.
Vegeta picked up a party hat and stuck it jauntily on top of his spikes and grinned. Piccolo snorted.
"You look like a saiyan Christmas tree."
"And you look like an overgrown plant that needs watering!" Vegeta grabbed Piccolo by the arm and flung him into the sea, Piccolo yelling as he flew through the air. Vegeta chuckled as he dived under water, while Piccolo came up spluttering. Vegeta kept his power level suppressed, as he circled underneath Piccolo like a shark, awaiting his chance.
Piccolo tread water, keeping an ear out for Vegeta. But he wasn't quick enough, as Vegeta came up from underneath him and pushed him high into the air, about four metres above the water. There was a brief moment of silence, then a sickening slap, as Piccolo came down hard, landing face down on the water. Vegeta came up for air, holding his sides and laughing as hard as he could, while pointing at Piccolo. The Namek groaned, as he floated over to the beach, and collapsed on the sand, but on his back, since his stomach, face and chest were sore from his belly flop. Vegeta followed, still chuckling. He walked up the beach, and bent over Piccolo, hands on his knees.
"Busted, Namek!"
Piccolo's one eye opened sneakily.
"Eat sand, short shit!"
Piccolo grabbed a handful of sand and chucked right into Vegeta's face. He was caught completely off guard, and got half of it in his mouth. Now it was Piccolo's turn to laugh, as Vegeta nearly gagged on beach sand and tried to get it out of his eyes. But as soon as his mouth and throat were clear, he started laughing too. Then everyone started laughing, as Piccolo and Vegeta slapped each other on the back.
"Nice one, Pointy Ears."
Trunks and Goten were on the phone, and dialed Goku's home number. They put it on speakerphone and waited. The others were all inside, enjoying iced lemonade after a hot day under the sun. Eventually, the answering machine picked up their call.
"Hi, you've reached Kakarot"
"And Claudia!"
Vegeta stiffened. She had already added herself to Kakarot's answering machine. Not even Chichi had done that.
"We're not here right now, so if you leave a really detailed message-"
"- we'll get back to you!" chirped Claudia.
There was a beep, and the phone waited for them to leave a message. But Goten put the phone back on the hook, and looked at Vegeta. He shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry, Vegeta. I guess he couldn't make it."
Vegeta just nodded, and stared into his drink.
You mean, Claudia was more important, right Kakarot?
"Thanks for such an awesome party guys, I really appreciate it. Everything was great, and I really loved the t-shirts, they're awesome!"
Vegeta was standing outside on the beach, his diamond black jet idling behind him, his presents stored away in the hull. The others were all gathered to say good bye to him.
"It was only a pleasure, Vegeta. You really should come over here more often, it's more fun when you're around." said Roshi, standing next to 18. The two had become good friends, especially since Krillin had died two years ago. Maron was out of the house and far away, so 18 had become friends with the Turtle Hermit. Vegeta hugged, shook hands and said his various good byes. Goten and Trunks were going to stay on for a bit longer, bur Vegeta really wanted to get home. He'd been sunburnt really badly, and could feel the blisters forming on his back. He needed to spend an hour or so in the regen tank back at Capsule Corp. He jumped up into his jet, and waved as the glass lid came down and locked into place. Then he revved the engines, and with a final wink and wave, he blasted away over the ocean with his presents, the others waving until he was out of sight.
An- at least some one remembered his birthday! I can't believe that people are quoting me! I have the best reviewers in the world! To kitkat…I guess if I have time, after finishing all my current fics, I'll write you a mirai/ Goku, but don't expect it this year, it's nearly prelims! I'm not a big mirai trunks fan, since he's such a little hero worshipper, and it's kinda painful. If you've seen the jap version of the android 13 movie, then you'll get my drift. As for the suggestion about Vegeta and Pickle fic, I'm glad it got a positive response. Since this story is doing so well, I'll update it faster! Thank you to ozumas girl for her brilliant reviews, I'm glad you're enjoying it so much. But enough of my rant, see you all soon! The next chapter is gonna be a shocker! Muwahahahaha!