Disappearance
Bulma sat at the table with her third cup of coffee, feeling more than a little tired. She had been up all night trying to finish her new project; a scouter that could detect ki from a range of 100 and higher, but she failed again, giving into a few hours sleep instead of carrying on.
Six months. It had been six months since Vegeta disappeared. No one knows where he went. The last Bulma knew was that he was going out into the forest to train and since then, she hasn't seen hide nor hair of him. Some say that he probably went to train in outer space, but Bulma knew that was a lie. If that was so, then why was the GR still here in her back yard? Some say that he's still training, but they all doubted it anyways, as they couldn't feel his ki no matter how hard they searched. But all that they knew, no matter how much they speculated, was that Vegeta had disappeared. Vanished into thin air.
Bulma sighed again as her scouter picked up Goku's ki heading towards her house. She knew that it worked, but she also knew that it couldn't pick up ki from as low as 100, which was as low as Vegeta could go.
"Good morning, Bulma." Goku greeted her. She nodded.
"'Morning, Goku" she replied.
"Have a rough night?" he queried, noticing the dark bags under her eyes. Bulma gave a small smile.
"Yeah, I've been up all night trying to set the minimum of my radar to 100," she said, pausing to sigh. "But so far I've only got as low as 500." Goku nodded. She took a sip of her coffee, black with no sugar or milk. She turned and gazed up at him, running her hand through the shortly cropped hair.
"What about you?" she asked. Goku just shook his head.
"Nah, Uub says it's okay." He said, understanding what she meant. "He knows how much Vegeta means to all of us and he's even willing to help." Bulma sighed and shook her head.
"I still can't believe that Uub didn't mind you stopping your training until we found Vegeta." She said.
"Well, I guess he just understand what a great fighter Vegeta is," he answered honestly. "And he respects that, knowing that Vegeta got me where I am today." Bulma gave a little chuckle as she gazed at her life-long friend through bleary blue eyes.
"Do you honestly think that?" she asked, knowing that it was more Goku that felt that way than Uub. Goku blushed, knowing that he had been caught out.
"Well…that's how I fell," he said, shyly rubbed the back of his neck. "I just assume Uub would feel the same way. I mean, look, even 18 is looking for him! And she was the one who beat him when she was trying to get to me!" Bulma nodding understandingly, taking a deep gulp of her strong coffee.
"I know what you mean," she said.
Bulma hadn't realised it but, to her, Vegeta played a very important role in her life. He may have seemed like the annoying prince who simply cursed and belittled everyone around him, strutting out his superiority, but she knew that there was something more to him than she could have ever imagined. Vegeta cared deeply for her. She only realised it now when he was gone, now that she had time to think over his past insults instead of dealing with fresh ones. They never meant to harm, but they were never friendly, either. They were simply comments on bad traits and that was that. Bulma knew, being the genius that she claimed herself to be, that she should have figured it out long ago. Yet, she didn't.
And now she missed him more than anything.
"The house is so quiet without him," she mused aloud. "I mean, he was always in the Gravity Room, but at least I knew he was there. I knew that he was around." She sighed tiredly as she rubbed her swollen eyes, sore from lack of sleep. "I've even grown accustom to the humming of the GR when I work outside." She shook her head sadly. "Now, I don't anymore."
Goku understood. The loss of Vegeta left a big gap in all of them. Even Piccolo was at a loss. He and the Saiya-jin prince hardly conversed, but at least they held some sort of respect for one another.
And, despite what Bulma said, Goku felt that the loss was mostly his. The way he thought of it, all Bulma had lost was a father to her child and a husband. There were deep feelings involved but to Goku they went even deeper.
To him, Vegeta was his prince. His link to his past and the key to his future. Goku hardly knew much about the way of the Saiya-jin if it wasn't for Vegeta, and because of Vegeta he was able to reach the level of Super Saiya-jin he was at that day. Vegeta was his friend and companion. His ally and his rival. The only other left of his kind.
Bulma's not a Saiya-jin, so she won't understand this if I told her. He thought sadly to himself. Even though he knew that she, too, was at a loss, nothing could compare to losing the only piece of your past.
And, once again, the dull throb in his chest returned.
"We really shouldn't be out here, Trunks," Goten told his friend stubbornly. "You know what our moms would say if they knew that we were in Kuro Mori…"
"They aren't going to find out, so shut up." Commanded his older lavender-haired companion. Goten pouted, his chubby cheeks squishing in the corners.
"That's very rude of you, Trunks." He said, feeling very upset that his friend was so nasty. But then he reminded himself that Trunks was only behaving this way because his father had gone missing.
He remembered the day everyone set out to find the fiery tempered prince, two months after they last saw him. Trunks had a hard time adjusting to the fact that his father had disappeared and no one could find him. He refused to believe that his father had simply disappeared off the face of the earth. He yelled at the adults on how they were wrong and how his father would come back after no matter how long, but Goten could see that they were not convinced. He could even see that Trunks himself wasn't so sure of his declaration. But whether he was certain or uncertain that his father was still on this plane, he was determined to find him.
Trunks stopped walking, but never turned to face his friend. This action reminded Goten very much of Vegeta and he found his heart aching to see the stubborn prince again. To him, Vegeta was like the first father he ever had. He knew that, when no one was looking, he would spoil both the boys' and treat them to delights of the culture of their race. And now that he was gone…
"Gomen nasai, Goten," Trunks apologized in their native language, the one that Vegeta had taught them. "Demo, I am going to find my father. No matter anyone else says, I am going to find my tousan!" Goten said nothing. He just smiled at his friend, amazed at how much he was like his father.
"Hai, Trunks." He said, following his friend as he took off again. "But they will get angry if they find out that we've been here." He said, returning to the topic at hand. "I mean, we don't even know whether Vegeta-sama is here or not. There are so many forests all around the world! It'll take ages for us to find the right one!" Trunks didn't respond, but Goten knew he would.
"Look, Goten," he began. "If you're worried about getting chewed out by a bunch of old women then I suggest you go back. But I am not going to stop until I have found tousan!"
"Even if it means going into Kuro Mori?"
"Even if it means going into the deep, dark depths of Kuro Mori." He echoed. Goten had to admire his courage, but he didn't like where he was going. Following close, he asked:
"So, what makes you think Vegeta-sama was here in Kuro Mori?" Trunks gave the typical royal smirk.
"Dakara," he explained. "Tousan is the type of person who goes to the most dangerous areas to train so he can get stronger. Kuro Mori doesn't have very dangerous animals, but the foliage and plants are thick and constricting and unless you know how to weave your way through those then you won't survive a day in this forest!"
"Do you think Vegeta-sama…" Goten didn't need to finish the question. Trunks had already whirled around and gave him the death glare, narrowing his crystal orbs.
"IIE!! TOUSAN GA KOROSU JA NAI!!" he yelled at the top of his voice, causing small jittery birds to take flight. He took in a deep breath and said it again, more calmly and in English. "No, my father isn't dead." He said stubbornly. Goten looked guiltily at his feet.
"Gomen ne, Trunks," he apologized. "I guess what my kaasan is telling me is actually getting through."
"Hmph," Trunks snorted. "She would say such things…"
Suddenly, Trunks stopped short as he saw some sort of figure hiding in the shadows of a tall tree. He squinted hard, trying to make out the face of the person, but all he could see was the colour of their eyes.
The person's eyes were a deep, silky blue, something like the thickly dyed silk scarves his grandmother wore. They were narrowed in a way and seemed to be gazing at bother him and Goten with a stern expression.
"Hey, Goten," he whispered to his friend. "Do you see that?"
"Nani?" he friend asked in the same whisper, knowing better than to ask out loud.
"Over there by that tree," he said, indicating with his eyes. Goten followed and, sure enough, the figure stared back at him.
"Hai!" he gasped out. "I see it!"
But before anything else could happen, the strange being ran from the shadow of the tree to another shadow, hiding all the while but staying visible to the chibi hanyou Saiya-jin.
"Oi!" called Trunks as he ran after it, followed by Goten. "Come back here!"
But the creature had no intention of slowing down. It did, though, keep a steady pace, pausing now and then to allow them to catch up to it. They didn't know it, but the being was actually taking them somewhere. Hell, they didn't even know that the being was doing this deliberately.
Poor chibi Saiya-jin, she thought as she leapt into the trees above the target area. They have no idea that they are just being used to get him back where he belongs. Oh well, she shrugged. All we're doing is interfering to the minimum. As Red said, we're just leaving them alone after this and going to hope for the best. She pulled herself even further into the shadows, using her techniques to hide herself well, even in the twilight.
Trunks and Goten came running around the corner, still following the strange being.
"Come on, this way!" Trunks guided his friend. "I'm sure I sure it go…" They both stopped dead in their tracks.
There, lying in a beam of sunlight that managed to filter through the dense canopy of the forest, lay the missing prince.
Note
Just so you know, I'm going to make Japanese the official language of Saiya-jin in this fic. So it's not all jibberish…just very, very bad Japanese! ;p