Seeing Things Clearly

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 5: Practice, Anger and Understanding

I know, I know, stop with the pelting of rotten fruit already! When I get my USB saving things updates will be a lot quicker, but until then I have to find the time when I get home to type up what I've written in work and with my laptop on the fritz ad my mum constantly stealing it – what's a girl to do?

Anyway – on with the fic!

Piccolo's eyes snapped open as a soft creaking noise entered his ears. The Z Warriors had decided to stay at CC for a while, much to Vegeta dislike, and because he never actually slept, Piccolo had been meditating in the living area.

His eyes followed a figure as it crept silently down the stairs and into the room he was occupying. He could easily tell it was Vegeta, but decided not to speak up, not wanting t startle the Prince.

"I know you're here Namek" Vegeta stated

"How?"

"My other senses are working just fine, I can still smell and sense you"

Piccolo looked slightly offended my that comment, but Vegeta was quick to rectify, realising his mistake before the Namek had a chance to whinge.

"By smell, I mean your scent Namek" Vegeta explained "No insult intended"

Piccolo seemed satisfied by that answer and moved onto more pressing matters.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked "Shouldn't you be in bed with your woman?"

"I never did sleep much" the Prince replied simply

A moment of silence passed between them before Vegeta reached his hands out in front of him and walked forward until they were touching the wall. He then proceeded in feeling his way along the wall until h reached the sofa and sat down. Piccolo turned away, not wanting to offend him in any way by staring, even if he couldn't see him.

"I don't really mind if you watch" Vegeta stated calmly. Catching Piccolo by surprise "You are one of the only people I have come to truly trust on this mud-ball of a planet"

"Thanks … I guess" Piccolo replied, not knowing what else to say

After a while, a frown crossed the rince's features and Piccolo raised a brow in curiosity.

"Problem?" he asked

"I want you to help me with something"

"What?" Piccolo asked, shocked that Vegeta would willingly ask for help

The prince didn't answer, but instead felt his way along the wall until he reached the door and turned to face Piccolo once more. He walked several paces before sopping and looking up at the Namek. That was when Piccolo noticed.

Vegeta was wearing sunglasses.

It was an odd sight seeing the Prince with something so unfamiliar on his face, but he supposed it was for the best, after all, people had been staring at Vegeta's face a lot since he had confessed his blindness so Piccolo didn't really blame him. Whether it was for his own comfort or for others was his own business and the Namek wasn't about to pry.

"Did you hear me?"

The Prince's question broke Piccolo out of his musing and the Namek turned to the Saiyan uttering and intelligent "Huh?"

"I find it hard to believe you didn't hear me with your ears, but then again maybe your hearing is fading in your old age"

Piccolo snorted at the comment letting it pass over his head. He could have come back with a hundred different insults mainly revolving around the Prince's blindness, but he didn't really think that would be wise and besides he wasn't really the type of person to pick on another for having a weakness.

"I said move the armchair here facing that wall over there"

"Piccolo did as he was asked and moved the armchair.

"Now what?"

Vegeta repeated the process as before, walking to the door and then taking slow steps to his location before giving a demand for something to be moved or rearranged. Before long the room had an entirely different arrangement.

Morning cam quickly and soon everybody was up and about. As she woke, the blue haired scientist had noticed that her husband was missing from the space beside her and sighed. It wasn't unusual for him to get up before her, but in his current state she couldn't help but worry – even if he was adamant he could look after himself.

She wrapped a dressing gown around herself and made her way out of her room and down the stairs. The Z Warriors followed close behind having gotten up only moments after her.

As she reached the bottom step she was surprised to find the furniture had been moved back to the way it had been before she had rearranged it all.

Before she had a chance to think about it, Vegeta crept around the corner stealthily, looking as if he were searching for something. She was also surprised to see that he had a very dark, though trendy pair of sunglasses over his eyes.

She moved to speak to him, but was gently stopped by Goku who had motioned for all of the Z Warriors to be quiet by pressing a finger to his lips. The Warriors watched on curiously as Vegeta took a few deep breaths and smirked, moving toward the cupboard next to them and opening it, easily avoiding the gaggle of Warriors.

They watched in confusion as he felt around the cupboard an frowned when he came up empty handed. He took a few more deep breaths before raising his ki slightly. He jumped as Piccolo's cool voice sounded above him.

"That's cheating" he stated "You're only supposed to use a ki wave to determine your location if you become lost and you are clearly not lost"

Vegeta huffed as the Z warriors looked from Piccolo, who was sat idly on a beam above their heads to the Prince who was standing with his arms crossed and head held high.

"Well the rules also said that you had to be in a place I could get to!" Vegeta retorted confusing the Z Warriors further

"You can climb can't you?" Piccolo taunted "I wasn't about to move – it's the rules after all"

The smirk was evident on the Namek's voice and even if he couldn't see it, Vegeta could just imagine the smug look on his face right now.

"Fine Namek" the Prince relented But why is your scent so strong in the cupboard – I though for sure I had found you!"

"Ha!" Piccolo smirked "That was decoy – I cut myself and wiped the blood on a tissue which I placed in the cupboard to fool you"

"Clever"

"I know"

Both Warriors smirked at each other before finally turning to acknowledge the oher Z Warriors.

"What are you staring at?" Vegeta asked angrily

"What are you two doing?" Krillen asked back, completely unfazed by Vegeta's anger

"Practising" Vegeta replied "We're training my other senses to take the place of my eyes – hide and seek"

"Wow!" Goku exclaimed "I didn't know that game was for that!"

"I'm sure you didn't Vegeta replied rolling his eyes"

A few chucked passed through the room at Goku's comment and before long everybody left to do their own thing.

Hours passed and in the early afternoon, Vegeta felt the ki's of all of the Z Warriors approaching him. Once they entered the room, Vegeta turned his head in heir direction to acknowledge them.

"What?" he asked gruffly

"Well" Goku asked "We were going to see a movie and we just wanted to know if you wanted to come with"

A moment of silence passed before Vegeta's eyebrows knitted together in anger and he stood from the chair.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" he asked angrily

"What?" Goku asked, shocked at Vegeta's sudden anger "We just waned to know if-"

"I wanted to see a movie" Vegeta finished "See a movie – don't you think I'd like to see a movie Kakarot? Newsflash! I can't see anything at all!"

"Vegeta, I'm sorry – I didn't mean-"

"Just leave me alone" Vegeta interrupted, sitting back down in his chair

Goku sighed and walked out of the room, followed closely by the Z Warriors who were by now feeling very guilty, even if they did mean well.

Hours passed and when Bulma came home from work around 8pm, the Z Warriors were still out, leaving the house eerily quiet. The blue-haired woman closed the door with a quiet click behind her and made her way down the hall. She was about to turn to go up the stairs when a familiar silhouette attracted her attention. Her eyes brows knit together and she crept closer to the figure.

When she was close enough, Bulma could see that the figure was indeed her husband. He was sat cross-legged on the ground, staring off into space.

"Vegeta?" Bulma asked worriedly "Are you ok?"

"Yes" Vegeta replied, a small smile playing on his lips

The light was just beginning to fade now and the hallways were starting to darken, but Bulma could still see the smile and sighed in relief with the knowledge that he was ok.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. Moving around him so that she could look at his face – she was pleased to note that he wasn't frowning or angry.

"I got lost" Vegeta replied simply

"What?"

"I was looking for the stirs and I misjudged the distance … a few steps later and here I am without a clue as to where I actually am" the Prince explained "Since all of the Z idiots are out, I could lead myself by following one of their ki's and I wasn't about to start crawling around the floor or feeling along the walls, so I decided to wait for you"

Bulma smiled noticing how calm her husband was and how well he was handling this situation.

"Here" she offered holding out her hand "I'll take you to the living room"

"No thanks" Vegeta replied turning his head away "I think I'd rather stay here for a while … its nice … calm … nobody really comes down this hallway much…"

Bulma smiled again and crouched down to Vegeta's level before moving to sit beside him.

"Then I guess I'll stay here to" she stated

"But what about your work?"

"It can wait"

The two sat in silence, simply listening to the others breathing and enjoying the wuit, rare moment.

"Vegeta?"

"Hm?"

"Why won't you have the operation"

The Prince remained silent and Bulma sighed, thinking that was not going to answer.

"A lt of things have happened to me Bulma" he stated "I was born with a disability and I lived, I was tortured by Frieza and I lived … I've always taken what life has thrown at me without finding ways to cheat it … if I am meant to be blind, I'll be blind"

"But it would let you see again Vegeta!"

"I know that" Vegeta snapped "But that doesn't change the fact that I don't want this stupid operation!"

"Doesn't it bother you at all!" Bulma snapped back "Doesn't it bother you that you will miss seeing our children grow up!"

"You have no idea how much it does" Vegeta whispered "But I have made my decision and my decision is final"

Bulma sighed knowing what Vegeta had said was true and she now had no hope of changing his mind.

"Stubborn fool" she muttered, leaning against his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his waist

"Maybe" he replied, moving his arms around her shoulders.

The hours rolled by and around 11pm, the Z Warriors arrived back at CC. They hadn't wanted to return after the mistake they had made earlier but eventual knew it to be inevitable and had returned to the CC grounds, ready to face whatever Vegeta would throw their way.

They walked through the hallway, heading towards the living room, when suddenly they all stopped. Sat before them in the hallway were Vegeta and Bulma. Vegeta had turned to look at them as they had approached, but Bulma had remained motionless, obviously asleep.

"Dad?" Trunks called "You ok?"

Vegeta nodded shifting Bulma slightly until she was sat in his lap. He then stood, lifting her into his arms and carrying her down the hallway and up the stairs. As he started to move up the stairs, the Z Warriors moved forward readying a protest for fear of Vegeta falling and hurting both himself and Bulma, but Goku and Trunks stopped them.

"Just leave them" Goku demanded

"Don't even think about it" Trunks warned

"But-"

"He's fine" Goku reassured "Really"

"No Goku!" Yamcha protested "I don't care what you say – this isn't safe!"

"You won't be safe if you say something like that again" Trunks growled

"It's ok boy"

The Z Warriors turned, shocked that Vegeta had returned, now empty handed

"But dad-"

"I don't care what they think – you know and our family knows and that's what matters ok?"

"Ok dad"

With that said The Briefs and the Son's left for their rooms, knowing the Prince well enough to understand that he was talking about trust, but leaving a confused bunch of Z warriors in their wake.

Vegeta made his way to the bedroom and lay down beside Bulma. Even if he never was going to see her again, he could still enjoy the rest of her.

"I love you" he whispered in her ear, he'd never tell her when she was awake, but he truly did appreciate all she did for him.

Bulma sighed contentedly and rolled into Vegeta's chest. Vegeta smirked as his hold on her tightened. Sleep began to creep upon the Prince and he fell asleep with one thought on his mind.

As long as I can still see what's important, that's all that matters.

Ok, it took forever I know, but I lost half the update and only found it today – I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I know Vegeta was a little OOC towards the end, but nobody was awake to see it so that's ok lol.

Until next time!

Don't forget to review!

Clarobell