The Colour Red

The Trouble Begins

Everyone crowded around in Bulma's living room, chattering amongst themselves. Was it true? Had Vegeta come back? Where had he been for the past six months? Nobody knew the answers. The chattering continued until Bulma finally came out from the medical room, looking more tired than ever.

"Well?" asked Trunks who had, until recently, been sitting quietly as he waited for new from his mother. Everyone stopped talking and turned to face her. Bulma let out a huge sigh, one of both relief and stress.

"He's doing okay for now," she said, talking to everyone. "He's very thin…probably hasn't eaten anything in weeks…and he looks worse than what he seems." All the Saiya-jin let out a breath of relief.

"That's a relief." Muttered Goku.

"So?" piped up Goten. "Can we see him?"

"Not just yet, Goten," she told him, watching his happy little face crumple with disappointment. "Give him a few hours to rest and he'll be fine."

Everyone glanced at each other, smiling and feeling grateful that they didn't lose one of their warrior's.

"Well, that's all we wanted to hear," Krillin said as he picked up a bored Marron. "We'll maybe come around again just to check up on him and see how he's doing." Bulma nodded her thanks.

"Okay. Take care, you guys!" she waved as they left the house.

"We might as well go, too," Yamcha spoke up as he headed towards the door.

"Take care of him, Bulma!' said Tien. Bulma nodded, feeling a great weight being lifted from her shoulders.

"I think we should be going, too…" Chichi spoke up, but Goku quickly stopped her.

"No, Chichi." he said. "I want to stay a bit longer." Chichi looked as though he had just told her that he felt like destroying Earth today.

"WHAT!" she screeched in her typical manner, but Goten and Gohan backed him up.

"Come on, mom!" Goten pleaded. "Please? Just until he wakes up? I want to see his face when we tell him that he has been gone for six months!"

"Yeah, I agree with Goten." Gohan said, completely ignoring the look Videl was giving him. "I mean, I'd really like to know where he was for six months. He couldn't have just stayed in Kuro Mori and lay unconscious!" Chichi looked as though she had swallowed a lemon, and Videl didn't look all that keen on the idea either. But seeing as they were outnumbered, they gave in.

"Oh, all right!" she sighed dramatically. "But don't expect me to go in and see that brat of a prince!" The three of them just nodded their thanks. Videl turned to look at the Namek who was leaning against the wall next to the door.

"What about you, Piccolo?" she asked. "Are you going to see Vegeta as well?"

"Hn." He nodded. "I also want to know where he disappeared to for the past six months." They all nodded.

"Well," sighed Bulma as she sat down next to Chichi, slouching from exhaustion. "I guess there's nothing else we can do but wait."

Hours passed. At six in the evening, the light was beginning to fade away, transforming the bright cerulean sky into a dyed canvas of pinks, crimsons and vermilions. Bulma has started dinner for her guests, but not for Vegeta seeing as she didn't know when he was going to wake up. Silence passed between the Saiya-jin while the other two women occupied their minds by chatting.

Goten let out a little sigh.

"Gee, seems like it's gonna take Vegeta-sama ages to wake up!" he said.

"Shiteru na," Trunks said, leaning his head against the wall as he sat with his legs stretched out in front of him. "I hate waiting like this! If only we had something to wake tousan up…"

On hearing this, Piccolo's brow-less eyes widened. He reached into the pocket of his gi and found what he had hoped was lying there.

"Come on," he said to the four Saiya-jin. "Let's get Bulma and go see Vegeta." They were slightly puzzled when he said this, but they asked no questions. On entering the kitchen, he told them of the lowly little Senzu bean he had found in his pocket and that they were going to use it to revive the prince.

"What were you doing with a Senzu bean in your pocket, Piccolo?" Goku asked curiously.

"I keep one there just in case something happens," he explained. "How do you think I survived when Cooler's henchmen back attacked me?" Goku tilted his head to one side and thought for a moment, realizing the logic in carrying a Senzu bean around. He pondered on whether he should start carrying a lowly bean in his own pockets, but the thought was cut short when they arrived in front of the door to where Vegeta slept.

Bulma opened the door and everyone trooped in. Goku was the first to notice the difference in Vegeta.

"My gosh!" he yelped, not swearing out of habit. "He's so thin and sickly!" Goku was right. Vegeta's usually well-built figure had faded away into something slender and thin. His skin had a sickly grey hue, making Goku think back to all those horror movie Goten and Trunks made him watched about zombie rising from the grave. "What's the bandage around his eyes for?" he asked.

"His eyes were rather swollen," she replied, taking her place next to the slumbering prince. "The right one was also bleeding." Goku nodded, is heart picking up a steady pace with the prince's haggard breathing.

"We need to give him this Senzu bean," Piccolo said, holding the bean up.

"I'll do it!" said Goku immediately, snatching the bean from Piccolo's hand and striding over to where Vegeta lay.

He leant over his prince, gently sliding one hand under his neck and pulling him up slightly.

"Vegeta," he crooned in a soft voice. "Vegeta? Wake up. I've got something for you." It appeared that Vegeta couldn't hear him at all. Deciding to take on another approach, Goku pushed the small bean against Vegeta's bluish lips. He managed to pry his mouth open, but it appeared that Vegeta wasn't about to swallow whatever he put in there. "It won't work," he said, feeling rather dejected.

"I know!" Trunks piped up. He ran out for a few moments before returning with a glass of water. "Why don't you crush the bean and put it in the water? It'll sort of be like an aspirin!" Goku considered this for a moment before e beaming and following Trunks's advice.

Once again, he lifted Vegeta's head and softly called to him.

"Vegeta, I've got you something to drink." Even though Vegeta didn't respond, Goku pressed the glass to his lips anyways and was glad to see that as the water went down, Vegeta swallowed. Everyone looked very relieved.

Once the glass was empty, Goku laid him back down and took a step back, waiting for the reaction. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see whether the Senzu would take action.

Then, without warning, Vegeta gave a loud gasp. Bulma jumped, thinking instead that he would rather have sprung out of bed like he always does. They waited a little longer. Trunks could already hear the difference in his father's breathing, going from haggard and struggling to normal. But all too soon it started to speed up.

Then, he spoke.

"Ko…koko wa?" he asked in his native tongue. Everyone cracked smiles at each other, glad that he was finally awake and healed, but it fizzled from their faces rapidly when he spoke again, this time, more desperate. "Koko wa? Doko ni desu ka?" he asked, his voice starting to waver. They all stared. If they didn't know any better, they have thought that Vegeta was…

…Scared.

Vegeta slowly sat up. Blinded by the bandage wrapped tightly around his eyes, he felt all around him with his bare hands.

He was on some place soft, like a bed. The smooth sheets that crumpled and folded in his hands seems to secure that information. He couldn't tell what time of the day it was exactly, but by the feel of a warmish glow on his skin, he thought it would at least be in the evening. Either that or it was winter.

He started to pant nervously.

Where am I am? He asked himself. Who's with me? Vegeta knew very well that there were others in the room with him. He could hear their light breathing through the silence, the warmth of their breaths rushing towards him. Who are they? What do they want? Vegeta was nervous beyond words. He had no idea where he was and he had no idea what he was doing there. In fact, the only things he knew about him were himself.

His head snapped to the right when he suddenly heard a footfall, the clapping of a boot on a tiled floor. Instincts covering for his lack of knowledge, he backed up against the wall, pushing back with all his might. His heart pounded in his ears as he sought to get away from his current situation.

"Yamero!" he yelled. "Dame!"

Bulma stopped as soon as Vegeta tried to back away from her. She felt slightly hurt when she realised he was trying to get away from her but the pain doubled when he yelled at her, saying something in his own language. She knew he was scared, but of what she didn't know.

Trunks, noticing the pain in his mother's eyes, decided to take action by relieving his father of some of the tension he was feeling.

"Daijoubu desu ka?" he asked, knowing that his father would understand that it was him. But, to his amazement, Vegeta glanced in his direction and asked:

"Da…dare desu ka?" Trunks was stunned. His father, his own father who had taught both Goten and him their own national language, which had trained him countless time in the GR, was asking him who he was. Deciding to play it safe, he replied back very calmly.

"Ore wa Torankusu desu." He replied, trying to jog his father's memory. But his jaw dropped even more when Vegeta asked, in a very puzzled tone:

"To…rankusu?" he asked. "Anata wa Torankusu desu ka?" Trunks nodded, his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Ha…hai."

Trunks didn't understand it. Why was his father behaving like this? Why did he pretend not to know who he was? Why was he only speaking in Saiya-go? And why, why was he acting so afraid?

Goten, reading the shock in his friend's eyes, decided to carry on where he left off. It seemed to him like Trunks wasn't going to carry on after what he had heard and seen.

"Ore wa Goten da," he said meekly. Vegeta just stared.

"Futari no hito…" he asked, shocked to hear another voice.

"Iie. Roku." The expression on Vegeta's face was practically unreadable because of the bandage, but everyone could tell that he was stunned.

"Doko ni desu ka?" he asked again, feeling a little braver and peeling himself off the wall.

"Capsule Corp." he replied.

He was about to say more when Gohan suddenly intervened.

"What are you saying to him?" Vegeta's head suddenly snapped in his direction, jumping up against the wall again. Goten turned and glowered at his brother, feeling very annoyed that his onii-chan decided to talk to him now.

"I was just answering his questions in Saiya-go," he snapped.

"Well, what did you say so far?" asked Piccolo.

"So far, Trunks and I have just introduced ourselves and told Vegeta that he's at Capsule Corp.," he replied, not noticing that Vegeta had regained some of his confidence and was now sitting quietly on the bed.

"Why does he look so nervous?" Bulma spoke up. It was true. Ever since the prince woke from his slumber he had been very jumpy, asking questions in his own language which only Trunks and Goten understood and could reply to. It was almost as though he was expecting to be surrounded by Saiya-jin.

"I don't know," Goku said, trying to figure that one out as well. This isn't like Vegeta, he thought, frowning at the way his prince sat meekly on the bed. He's not nervous, shy and afraid of something he can't see! He's brave and confident of himself, no matter what the situation is! But this…

"Goten, Trunks," Piccolo said. "Try asking him who he is." They all stared at him with wide eyes of disbelief.

"Wha…"

"Just do it!" he commanded. Running his eyes up and down Vegeta, he realised that there was something not quite right with the stubborn prince. He knew as well as the other that Vegeta never, ever, not in a million years, would behave like this. If he answers like I suspect he will, then my suspicions will be confirmed.

Looking oddly at Piccolo, Trunks and Goten turned back, Goten opened his mouth to ask.

"Ah…ano?" Vegeta's head cocked in his direction. "Demo…anata wa…?"

Suddenly, Trunks knew where this was going. He understood the reason behind the question. This was a test.

To their horror, Vegeta gave a genuine smile and replied.

"Atashi wa Saiya-jin no Ouji desu, Vegeta desu," he smiled again. "Yoroshiku."