I do not own Dragonball Z.
Fear Inside – Chapter 4
Goten landed in front of his childhood home and sighed. It looked just the same as it had before he left. He still couldn't believe five whole years had gone by in his absence. He wondered how his mother was doing. Trunks and Pan hadn't said anything about her, but he got the impression she was doing okay. He couldn't wait to see her. She was always the one woman in his corner, no matter what.
Off to his right he could make out Gohan and Videl's little house in the fading light. He missed his brother too. Tomorrow he'd have to stop by and catch up with them, but for now, he just wanted his mommy.
The door to the cottage creaked as he pushed it open. Stepping inside, he quickly took off his shoes. It was a habit, ingrained in him at a young age not to track mud through the house. Looking around, he saw that the inside hadn't changed much either. All the knickknacks and family pictures where still up and in the same places as he remembered them. He smiled, comforted by the familiar surroundings.
"Gohan, is that you?" A familiar voice called out from somewhere in the house.
Goten grinned. "No, mom. It's me, Goten!"
Chi-Chi rounded a corner and stopped in her tracks. A hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Goten!" she cried before flinging herself at him.
Goten caught her easily and returned the embrace. "Did you miss me?" he asked softly.
Chi-Chi stepped back and looked her youngest son over. "I cannot believe you're finally home." She said as she wiped tears from her eyes. "Where have you been, young man?" she asked sternly, although there was no anger behind the words.
Goten put a hand behind his head and forced a laugh. "You know me, mom." He replied vaguely.
Chi-Chi grinned. "Yes I do. You're just like your father was." She shook her head. "Now, are you hungry? I could whip you up something and then you can tell me just where you've been all this time."
Goten dropped his cheerful facade. To tell her where he'd been was to think about Bra and didn't want to do that. Not in front of his mother. "I'm not hungry. I'm actually kind of tired. I think I'll just go to bed now. We can talk in the morning." He bent down and gave his mother a small kiss on her forehead before turning to go upstairs.
Chi-Chi read the sadness in his eyes and it broke her heart. "Goten," she called out before he reached the top of the stairs. He turned around to hear what she had to say. "I tried to tell her. I tried to tell her that you were just like your father and you'd be back if only she'd wait."
Goten sighed, "Thanks, mom," was his only reply before he disappeared into his room.
Once in his room, he let all pretenses drop. As far as he was concerned, his life was in shambles. There were five years that he was unaccounted for. The girl of his dreams was gone from him forever. It was the most painful blow he'd been dealt in a long time. Staggering over to his bed, he dropped down face first. Exhaustion gripped his body and he felt as if he'd been in an awesome battle. He didn't want to deal with anything right now.
He slid his hands underneath the pillow and felt the photo he'd always kept there still in its place. With a groan, he pulled it out and rolled over onto his back. It was a picture of him and Bra together. They were on a secluded beach, just the two of them. They'd set the camera on a tripod to take their picture. There were more pictures of that day, but those were too risqué to leave lying about. He smiled sadly as he looked at it. That day had been so perfect and they had been so happy together.
Another forlorn sigh escaped his lips as he set the picture aside. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the engagement ring he had planned on giving her. Five days had turned to five years and looking at the round piece of metal it all seemed to catch up with him.
The ring was so small that it barely fit half way on his pinkie finger. It was made entirely out of platinum with an intricate pattern all along the sides, on the top was a large beautiful heart-shaped diamond and the inside was carved with words of love. It had taken him forever to make it.
He hadn't made it completely by himself, of course. He'd chanced upon the platinum by accident one day sparring with Pan. At the time, he hadn't known what it was, so he took it to a friend who was a geologist. After finding out it was a precious metal, he set in motion making it into a ring beautiful enough to be worn by the Saiyan princess. The diamond was easy enough to come by, if one knew where to look. He chose the biggest rock he could find and with the help of a jeweler was able to turn it into the perfect heart. All the designs and carving he did with his own hand. It took nearly two months to make, but it was a labor of love.
Sighing heavily, he set the ring on his bedside table and moved his arms behind his head. Staring up at the ceiling, he contemplated all that had happened in the last week. He wondered how Bra was doing and if she truly was happy like Trunks said. He wasn't angry with her. She had waited for him for as long as she could. He was upset with Uubu. The bastard had come in and took her right out from underneath him the minute he'd disappeared. Somewhere deep inside told him he should be happy that a friend was there to take care of her in his absence. But a more powerful part, one ruled by more territorial and possessive traits, said that because he was his friend, he should have stayed away. Instinct told him to challenge the other man for her, but he knew better. Bra would not go for it, they lived in modern times, and things were not dealt like that anymore. Oh, but if they were . . . Goten grinned wickedly at the images that thought invoked. He could see himself pounding the life out of the younger man and in the end Bra falling into his arms. They'd fly off into the sunset and live happily ever after.
Of course, things like that only happened in fairy tales and he was far from living in one of those. He was living in what he would consider a nightmare. He thought about Mirai Trunks and the world he grew up in. That was definitely more of a nightmare than anything he could imagine. He wondered how the other man was doing and wished there was some way to speak with him. If only he could get another time machine, he could go back to the correct time and save his relationship.
With a shake of his head, he rolled onto his side and stared out the window. It was dark now and the stars shown clearly in the night sky. It was almost a beautiful scene, but without her, everything lacked luster. He wondered what she was doing right then, if she was thinking of him, if she missed him. He doubted it. Uubu was probably too busy screwing her brains out for her to think of much anything else. He growled savagely at the images that came with the thought. There was no one in the world having better sex than the sex Uubu and Bra were having in his mind. He flipped onto his stomach and buried his head into the pillow in an attempt to suffocate his brain so the mental pictures would go away. In the end, he only succeeded in making himself pass out and even then, his dreams would offer him no solitude.
Bra sat in her kitchen nibbling on a cracker and staring blankly at a newspaper. Her conversation with Pan kept running through her head and against her own will she felt her heart beat faster. For her own sake, she couldn't believe it was true. It wasn't possible that Goten could show up again after all this time. She'd given up on ever seeing him again years ago, but her heart hadn't. Deep inside, locked away from conscious thought, he lived.
She had been so deeply in love with him that it defied all logic. When he left, her heart had been broken beyond repair. For so long, she had longed for his touch, to hear his sweet voice and now he was back and the knowledge was more than she could bare. It was unfair that he would return after all this time. She'd moved on with her life and now had Uubu to consider. Uubu had been there for her and helped mend the hole in her soul left by Goten. She had thought she'd never be able to love again and now . . .
Well, now she didn't know what to think.
Where the hell has he been all this time? She wondered. What could have been so important that he'd just take off and not come back? Was he that afraid of her father? It didn't make any sense. That day so long ago, she had been sure he was going to propose to her. What had happened to make him change his mind?
She had no answers to these questions and it made her furious. Never before has she been this mad at one person, except maybe her father. When he blasted Goten with her experimental gun and he disappeared, she vowed never to speak to him again. Upon returning from Namek, she packed her bags and got an apartment in the city, away from Capsule Corporation. And even though it killed her, she said no more than a handful of sentences to her father for nearly two years.
After she accepted Uubu's proposal, she returned home to her father. Even after everything, she couldn't marry a man without his approval and she wouldn't walk down the aisle without him by her side. It was a painful reunion for both of them, to have to swallow their pride, forgive, and forget. He readily gave his approval, saying that he only wanted her to be happy and she was, but there was still a part of her that she felt was missing. Unfinished business, she supposed and she would never be entirely happy until she had some sort of closure.
Now he was back and she could get the closure she needed. The unanswered question could finally find their peace and so could she. For no matter how happy she was, in the darkest hours of the night she wondered what happened that fateful day five years ago.
Bra heard the front door open and a set of heavy feet come her way. Uubu was finally home. She couldn't tell him what she knew. Not until after she was able to talk to Goten herself. There was no point in getting into that discussion tonight. It made her feel scandalous to keep things from him when she knew he was always open with her, but he would not take the news well, especially if she told him that she planned on going and seeing him for herself. Uubu was a wonderfully understanding man, but the fact remained that he was still a man and she knew that he would feel threatened by Goten's presence in her life once again. As soon as she saw him and was able to put to rest things between them, she would come home and show her husband that he was the only one for her.
Bra stood to leave as Uubu entered the kitchen and set the bag on the table. "I'm back." He said wearily.
She walked to him and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, honey, but I'm tired and am going to go to bed."
"What?" Uubu exclaimed, "After I flew all that way, you're not even going to eat any?"
"I'm sorry, Bu, but I'm tired now." She replied as she began walking from the room.
"So what did Pan want?" he asked as he followed behind her.
"Huh?" Bra stopped and turned to him, "oh, nothing much."
"Really? So you sent me to get watermelon in Mexico for 'nothing much'?"
Bra frowned. "It was just girl talk, really." She said trying to avoid the subject. She didn't want to get into it with him right then. Her mind was too confused for the conversation.
Uubu let the subject drop, but he knew there was more to it than that. The circumstances were too suspicious for it to be something so simple. He knew that if it was important Bra would tell him, but he got the feeling she was keeping something from him. He decided not to badger her about it tonight, but he vowed to find out exactly what was going on in the morning.