Chapter Five: Goku strolls down memory lane
"Who was on the phone, dear?"
"Um, no one." Goku shifted uncomfortably, looking at the floor.
Claudia walked over and lifted his head up with her finger.
"Well, it doesn't matter, now does it? Come along, we have to finish packing soon, the moving vans are coming in two days."
"Yes, honey."
Goku brightened, and followed her up into the attic. He was quite excited at moving house. They were moving to the suburbs on the outskirts of Koala Town. Claudia, the executive CEO of a major law firm, wanted to be closer to work, and Goku was excited at the prospect of meeting new people. Sure, he was going to miss the forest and the animals, but Claudia said he could get a cute little puppy, whichever one he wanted! They climbed up the ladder to the attic, and Goku sneezed from the dust.
"Gezundheit."
"Thanks, Cloud. Hey, I'll do the attic, and you go have a nice rest, kay?"
"That would be great, I've been running around all day, and I'm feeling a little tired, I guess. I'll go have a bath, then I'll order out take outs. Now don't forget, you have to throw out all the irrelevant stuff, because there won't be space in the new house."
Goku nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek, before she went down the ladder. Goku gazed after her happily for a second, grinning. Then he flopped down onto the floor, and pulled the first box towards him for sorting.
After about three or four boxes, Goku came across a huge black shoebox. It wasn't very dusty, and Goku recognized it immediately. It was his friendship memory box with all his stuff from Vegeta over the years. His stomach knotted itself, as he remembered about today's fiasco with Vegeta's birthday. He lifted off the lid, and put the box down in front of him. On the underside of the lid, there was a photo of the two of them at the beach. Vegeta was chasing Goku with a towel clutched around his waist (or a drying cloth, as he still calls them) yelling the whole time while Goku ran away laughing, swinging Vegeta's black swimming shorts from one hand. Gohan had taken it, and it looked like something out of a cartoon. Around it was written in black pen:
"Baka and Ouji- Friends Forever" and both had signed their names in Saiyanish at the bottom. Goku remembered how Vegeta had rolled his eyes at the "friends forever" part, but he didn't protest, besides muttering that it was sappy. Goku looked at the picture, and could almost hear Vegeta yelling, up in that attic, from a memory of a day on the beach…
"YOU BLOODY BAKA! BRING THOSE SHORTS BACK BEFORE I SEND YOU TO THE NEXT DIMENSION!" Vegeta started sprinting after a madly laughing Goku, who was waving around Vegeta's swim shorts in his one hand as he sprinted down the beach. He'd taken them while Vegeta was changing out of his normal clothes into his costume, and Goku had hidden the other clothes and taken the costume, effectively leaving Vegeta with nothing except a towel around his waist. Vegeta was praying desperately that his towel wouldn't slip as he tried to catch up to Goku. Fortunately, the beach was deserted, and the only other people around were Gohan, Piccolo, Trunks and Goten, who were too busy laughing and taking photos to help Vegeta. Vegeta sent an energy ball into Goku's back, knocking him forward into the sand. There was a muffled yell, as Goku smashed face first into the hot beach. Vegeta leaped right onto Goku's back, sinking his knee right between his shoulder blades, and grinning as he snatched his shorts back with his free hand. Goku gasped, and choked on beach sand. He tried to get up, but Vegeta's well-placed knee kept him in place. Chuckling softly, Vegeta leaned right down next to Goku, their heads right next to each other, Vegeta's breath hot on Goku's ear. Vegeta placed his hand on the back of Goku's neck, and whispered right into his ear. "Gotcha, baka. In more ways than one." Vegeta paused, then with a quick squeeze of Goku's neck, he got up, helped Goku up, winked, then disappeared to go get changed, probably somewhere where Goku couldn't find him. Goku had felt all weird, like he was overheating. Gotcha baka. Goku rubbed away his goose bumps, took a deep breath, and then went back to the group, wondering what the heck that was all about.
That was five years ago, and Goku can still remember how those breathy words had made him feel, as they were panted by Vegeta, slightly out of breath from his mad dash down a sandy beach. Goku shook his head hard. He has a girlfriend now, no reason to think that way any more. Yeah, sure, he'd been nurturing a love for Vegeta for years, but all that had changed when he met Claudia, or Cloud, as he liked to call her. She was just perfect for Goku. She was drop dead gorgeous, strong-willed, funny, smart, gentle and a great cook, even though Goku couldn't pig out the way he used to. At least, he's pretty sure he likes her. So what if she's just a little possessive? Isn't everyone? Vegeta's pretty obsessive, and possessive, and he can be so selfish sometimes, right? Does he think our sparring sessions are more important than my happiness? Besides, it's still all about strength to him anyway. He can train without me, right? Right? Goku had been telling himself these things for the last two months or so. But it didn't alleviate the guilt. He knew he was bullshitting himself. Vegeta may be obsessive, but he is not selfish.
Goku sifted through the box, and found a stack of birthday cards, all bundled up neatly with string. He put it on his lap, and started untying the string. Each card had a picture of a saiyan god, or goddess, or hero, drawn very well by Vegeta in either pencil or painted in oils. Each year, for the last twenty-seven years, he'd been getting one of these cards on his birthday, along with a specially chosen gift, which Vegeta was very good at getting right. A foot high and wide, the front drawn beautifully, Goku always looked forward to receiving one of these cards. Vegeta had told him that there were seventy different figures, and Goku only had twenty-seven. What he loves most about these cards is the writing inside, the words from Vegeta. Vegeta has a wonderful gift with words. He expresses himself so well in his writing, and Goku always found himself sighing whenever he read these cards. He opened the top one, which he received last year.
Dear Kakarot
This year, I've decided to put the goddess of Tenacity on the front of your birthday card. Her name is Cuzcoria, and she represents the determination of the Saiyans to survive, to strive. It is fitting, considering our friendship. You've gotta be very stubborn to be friends with me. I know that at the best of times, I'm a difficult person to be friends with. All my issues, all my bad flaws…the list goes on. And sometimes, it's much easier to hate me than to bear with me. I have to admire you Kakarot, for hanging on this long. Most people would have given up ages ago, I'm glad you haven't.
You know that is the one time of the year when I really come out from my inner fortress, and tell you what's really on my mind, even though I'm pretty sure that you can read me well by now. I'll tell you what goes on in this rather large, chaotic mind of mine, scarred and tormented in most places, slightly friendlier in others.
Kakarot, you make those bad memories, those dark times and fears go away.
You put my demons at rest, you make me a little less scared.
A little less afraid.
A little less sore.
The time we spend together means so much to me. Yes, I am really good friends with Gohan, Goten and Piccolo, and I'm close to my son.
But you, Kakarot, you're the closest thing I have to a soul mate.
During the potara fusion, you got to see inside my mind. You went where even where I am afraid to go. You stepped inside some of my worst memories and saw what I had undergone so many years ago. You stared down my fears and ran your fingers along all my emotional scars, which I try to keep hidden, trying to heal them with time. You saw the ugliness in me, and never turned back. Instead, you chose to try and be my friend. You had seen why I was the way I was, and what I could possibly be, with a little help. And you gave me a chance.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is:
Thank you
For healing me with your unconditional friendship, your understanding, your kindness, your eternal humanity.
Thank you
For being the bandage that healed my battered heart
The soothing balm on all my hurts and aches
The light to chase away the darkness inside me
And for being the knight in orange that slayed my proverbial dragons.
For all this, I am forever grateful.
Thank you, my friend. I can only hope that I can do as much for you as you have done for me.
Happy seventy-first.
Vegeta.
Goku closed the card, and shut his eyes tight. That was one of the best cards Vegeta had ever written. He knew that it had taken a lot of courage for him to write something as personal as that down. It was a sign of how much Vegeta trusted him. What Trunks, Gohan and Roshi had said on the phone did hurt.
Goku did forget Vegeta's birthday, no mistake there.
It was also true that Vegeta never forgot his birthday, and always made it special.
What had hurt the most was that a two-month old relationship had taken complete precedence over a close friendship of twenty seven years, over an alliance that had been thrown together by the gods over fifty years ago. Through so many villains, through so many battles, through their respective deaths, and the sort of bond that all fighters share, Goku managed to see more and more of a different Vegeta. A brave, loyal, unselfish, stubborn, resourceful, brilliant man, who had serious emotional trauma to deal with, a dry sense of humour, and a determination that every one else can only marvel at. Goku slowly opened his eyes and studied the front of the card again. Vegeta's small signature in the bottom left corner made him smile. It was a V, with his spiky hairstyle drawn in on top, looking exactly like him. Goku has always teased him about his v-shaped hairline that pokes down his forehead. Vegeta had responded quite well to the tease, and as far as Goku knew, Vegeta only used the little signature on the birthday cards, a sort of private joke between them.
Goku thumbed through some photographs, and came across his favourite one. It was one of those photo booth strips, four full colour photo's on a sheet. They were both slightly tipsy at the time, and it had resulted in the most scandalous photo that Goku had ever been in, and probably Vegeta too. One of the weird things about Vegeta is that he gets very, VERY friendly and extroverted when he's drunk, and dances on tables, on occasion, and Goku just gets really silly and loud and laughs at the most stupid and/or arbitrary things. Three of the photos on the strip were harmless, just pulling faces at the camera, or just posing. But the last one…they had really blushed when they saw it the next morning, since Vegeta was too drunk to go home, so he stayed over at Kakarot's. Goku had left it on the kitchen table, and Vegeta looked mortified when he saw it again. The reason why it was particularly scandalous was because Vegeta was licking Goku's face, eyes closed, one arm around his neck and the other resting on Goku's stomach, he couldn't have been snuggled up closer to the other saiyan without actually straddling his lap. (AN: although we all know that that was probably what Vegeta would have done, except those photo booths are so damn small!)
Goku was leaning into Vegeta, his one hand resting under Vegeta's shirt between his shoulder blades and the other cupped around Vegeta's neck. They had frozen like that for a few seconds, for the photo, but had stayed that way for about twenty seconds afterwards, Vegeta not removing his tongue, and panting, Goku rubbing his hand on Vegeta's back. Then, Vegeta had realized what he was doing and let go quickly, and Goku did the same. Vegeta had made a fuss about his tongue being dirty forever, while Goku made a big show of wiping his face, to get rid of 'Vegeta cooties'.
But Goku couldn't forget how damn good it had felt to hold Vegeta so close, just like he had in his imagination when Vegeta wasn't around. They couldn't quite look each other in the eye for days after that without feeling a little awkward. But they agreed that they were both drunk at the time and not quite in control. Goku rubbed his left cheek slowly as he looked at the photo. It felt as though Vegeta had left some kind of mark there, invisible, yet always ingrained in Goku. Goku felt himself blushing even more at the expression on his face, in a photo taken three years ago. His eyes were looking towards Vegeta, and to Goku, it looked SO obvious how he had felt. Maybe it was fortunate that Vegeta's eyes were closed, otherwise Goku might have just turned his head and taken Vegeta's strangely dark red tongue and twisted his own around it, allowing the Ouji to explore his mouth instead of his face. He wanted to pull Vegeta right against him and hold him forever.
Not for the first time, Goku found himself imagining what he wanted to do with the prince, and it didn't involve sparring. But he stopped himself from going down what had become a very worn path in his imagination.
No more.
He was going to put it all behind him. He had to, if he was going to make things work with Claudia. No point in having feelings for the prince who only wanted friendship, not a relationship. He didn't see a chance of a relationship, and he felt that it was probably for the best if he just let go, as hard as it was to do. Goku looked at the photo one last time then put it back in the box with the rest of the cards and photos. He put the lid back on, and put it to his left side, to be thrown away. If he was going on with his life, he had to let go of Vegeta. He had to let go of the feelings he had, feelings too strong to simply be ignored.
"I'm so sorry, Ouji. Forgive me."
An- hmmm…does this explain Goku's behaviour? The poor guy just wants to keep everyone happy, but he just doesn't know how to do it properly! But I'm glad that my reviewers are treating him accordingly! The poor dude is getting whacked with rolled up newspapers and being imprisoned, amongst other things…but wait til you see the next chapter, when Vegeta really speaks his mind!! But, you'll just have to wait until Monday…I'm so cruel, but I actually have no choice. I have to use the school computers, and thankfully, school ends on a Friday! So, I'll probably update around 2pm, SA time. That's seven am New York time. We're two hours past the GMT. So work it out.
Questions etc-
Kitkat = I'll update when possible. There are still four or five stories I have to finish anyway, so expect lots of g/v goodness, and maybe a v/pickle one too!
A Paler Shade of Blue = yeah, well, Goku thought Frieza could change his ways, and Claudia is a bit of a manipulative skank, so I hope he isn't too unbelievable here either.
Hudine = you hit it right on the head! Man, you're sharp.
Purple- moonlight = most reviewers want to throttle her, tickets are 50 zenie each.
Midnight-flame-princess = I am honoured that you think I have talent! Just don't inflate my ego, otherwise, Zogeta might make an appearance in her own stories, and you don't want that! But, because you think so highly of my work, the next chapter is for you!
But to all my reviewers, too numerous to name and too great to be ignored…
You are keeping me going everyday! Nothing makes me happier than your reviews.