Chapter 83: Forest Fire
The rest of the afternoon was peaceful, especially seeing how the boys spent their free time. Since Gohan couldn't bring a book, nor contact anyone it was nice seeing his interactions with Goten. Vegeta was slightly upset that Trunks had to find everything else on his own. But Vegeta didn't argue about it. But I'm kind of curious about something. We were far from the boys, and he was just off a tree or two from me. "Hey, Vegeta." He gave me a quick look, before looking at whatever he was looking at. "Have you ever gone camping before?"
"It's nowhere near this." What's 'this'? "Peaceful. I'm not on missions. It feels… weird." Well that's interesting. "Shut up."
"You wouldn't mind sharing your 'camping' experience with us? Would you?"
"I rather not." Now I sat up and looked at him. From the little I know of him, and what recently happened, did he ever have peace. "Stop looking at me like that. The woman gives me that same look when she thinks something is wrong. Nothing is wrong you fool."
"Sorry. I just can't help it." Then I looked back at my boys. That's when an un-nerving question pop to mind. I shouldn't ask it. It's really none of my business. But it still slipped my lips. "How old were you?" That's when I felt a kick heading my way. I got up, and soon was blocking punches left and right. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in anyway. You don't have to tell me." He still went at me. Before long he was able to land 5 hits on me, and then he stopped and walked back to his spot. Why was I even counting those hits? And why… 5! I looked up at him, as he looked away from me.
After that I didn't asked him anything. I didn't feel the right to. "You probably would have died if was in Frieza's army. He killed anyone that disobeyed him, and/or saw as weak. You're consider weak, and so you would have been killed." With that he finally sat down. After that we didn't speak.
It was starting to get late, and no sign of Trunks. "Want me to get him?"
"No. I'll get the boy." He then flew off to get Trunks.
That's when my boys came up to me. They kept asking why did Vegeta attacked me. And if everything was ok. Goten even asked where was Trunks. "Everything is fine. I asked something that I shouldn't. And Vegeta is getting him. Since that's taken care of, I'll go hunt dinner. Would you boys like to join me?" They nodded and we were off. When we came back, from hunting fish, Vegeta and Trunks were waiting.
…
After we had our fish, we were all sitting around the fire. This felt nice. Me and Trunks were talking about how weird the list was. Also, how he wasn't able to find some of the things. I then looked over to our dads. My dad was chatting away with Gohan, and uncle Vegeta just had his arms cross and was quiet. They're so different, yet they're supposed to be the same race. I wonder. "Dad what was it like when you were our age?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like what was it like when you were a kid?"
"Oh. Well, let's see." He look like he was deep in thought before he answered. He told us how he was raised by his grandpa, who found him when he was super small. He also said how he didn't even know his name or his parents. His grandpa was the one who gave him his name. His grandpa thought him martial arts. He trained everyday with his grandpa. He was very happy. That's when I saw dad had a frown, before it turned back to a smile. He said sometimes when he was 7, he looked at the full moon, and next day he knew, his grandpa was dead. Even though dad was smiling, I could tell that made him sad. Dad said from that day on he was alone. But he always remembered what his grandpa teaching were. Always smile, always look forward, and always keep his promises.
I couldn't help, but got up and gave dad a hug. Dad was alone. Dad lost someone special to him. It then got really quiet; nobody wanted to speak. Dad tried lighting the mood with talking about how he scared Bulma, by flipping her car, when they first met. It was funny, but I was in no mood to laugh. Gohan then suggested that we should probably go to bed. We all agreed. As we were settling in for the night, I didn't want to leave dad alone. Even Gohan didn't leave dad's side. I ended falling asleep on top of him, while Gohan slept at his side. Dad had his arms holding both of us, and it felt peaceful.
…
After what happened last night Goten didn't leave dad side all morning. It was kind of cute watching them interact. I stood close by. We all went through something tragic in our childhood. That's kind of interesting. But it made us the person who we are today.
This morning dad got breakfast, and made me stay behind. I knew Vegeta wasn't sleeping, but he sure looked peaceful next to Trunks. I wonder what's his story, but it's not my pace to ask. That's when I recalled what he said to dad, as he was dying on Namek. He was taken as a boy. He was forced into slavery. He had no choice on anything. All he could do was adapt and survive. I wonder how he'll be if he never was taken away. I doubt he'll tell anyone his childhood, but maybe he'll tell us more about sayians as a whole. But wouldn't that information be altered throughout years of abuse and misinformation. If so, is there a point to asking him.
After breakfast, dad was making everyone, even Vegeta, do a training exercise. It sound easy enough. Just need to do a full lap around the earth. That's easy, if you're flying at full speed. "No one could fly for this. You could only run and swim." There was a round of shock what's. Only one who didn't complain was Vegeta. "First one done gets to pick what exercise we do next." He looked over to Vegeta. "Or should I raise the stakes?" Vegeta nodded, and dad looked at the rest of us. "The last person doesn't get to eat lunch, if we all make it to lunch." It was only Goten who said a complain what this time. Oh man.
"Oh, calm down. He said 'if', for all we know maybe not all of us will make it to lunch." If that's Trunks way to calm Goten down, it did the opposite effect.
"Chin up." Goten looked at dad. "This is a simple exercise, I'm sure you'll do fine." Goten still did look convince, but he didn't complain this time. As we were getting ready to start, I noticed dad and Vegeta wasn't in a starting position. Were they give us a head start? In that case, my goal is to get back before dad. "On your mark. Get set. Go!" With that we were off.
…
"So, should we count to 3 or something?" Vegeta nodded. We counted to 3 and we started our way. When I got back to the camp, it looked like I was the first one. Then came Vegeta, sometime after came Gohan. So, looks like the younger two needs a lot of work. When they finally showed up, it was a close call for tie. But Trunks made it first. Guess I'm going to have to work with Goten personally; that sounded fun. Since I already ate, I sat with him. He looked really down that he lost. "It's ok. You just have to work at it. Not even I could have done one lap at your age." He looked up at me puzzled. "You're actually stronger than me, when I was your age."
"How is that possible? You're super strong."
"Being super strong is something I spent my whole life working at. You and Gohan are twice as strong as I was when I was younger." He questioned how. "I was always challenged. Wanna hear something funny?" He nod his head eagerly. "When I first met Vegeta he was actually stronger than me." The shock on his face was priceless. "If I didn't train in otherworld, or got help, I would have lost easily."
"No way."
"I blame that damn fatty for cutting my tail, and your older brat transforming!" Vegeta just couldn't resist shouting that our way.
"See. It took me a lot to get to where I am. So, don't get discourage. Just needs to keep moving forward, and keep trying." With that he had a smile on his face. After lunch, since I won, the next exercise was a tricky one. Well, not that tricky. We had to take turns trying to land a hit on either me or Vegeta. Trunks had to go against me, while Goten was against Vegeta. Gohan was the only one who got to choose. Trunks seemed to have his form better down, but he depends to heavy on pure strength; definitely Vegeta. Vegeta commented that Goten could work on guarding better. Gohan wanted to challenge both of us. Now there's the fun. We didn't let up on him, and it ended up with him going against me. He was able to get Vegeta just recently. When he did finally land a hit, I caught myself from reacting. Gohan might be rusty, but not as much as I thought. That actually made me proud. Both my boys are very good. So, I guess tomorrow we could do some real fun.
…
It was the last night of this little trip. Me and Trunks were exhausted. I'm not sure if big brother felt the same, since he was able to keep up with dad and Vegeta. As we watched Gohan cooking fish, and our dads were having a little spar. We talked how Trunks was curious about his dad's past. During this whole trip he did get to do fun stuff, and be with his dad, but he felt something was missing. He told me how after what happened with Buu all he wanted was to get closer to his dad.
As we sat by the fire, Trunks finally spoke the question on his mind. "What was it like growing up?" Everyone got silent, even my dad was saying how it's ok if Vegeta didn't answer. What would the big deal? Gohan even tried changing the subject, but Trunks wasn't having it. "Dad, come on. Tell us. What was it like growing up?" Uncle Vegeta looked ready to get up and leave, and dad was about to say something, but then Vegeta spoke.
"It was nothing like this." That's when he told us how since he was 2 his father kept telling him how he'll be his people's savior. How when he takes the crown, he will be in command of controlling his people's fate. He was pushed to trained daily. Then he had the greatest honor to joining the army at age 5. At the time you had to be 10, and have a strong power level. Well, at the time he thought it was an honor. If he didn't tell his group to ignore Frieza's command, to return to the planet, he would be dead. From there he became Frieza's favorite toy. Also, he took it upon himself to keep the remaining sayians alive. At the time there was a numbered of them, him included. Slowly sayians died left and right. Him, Raditz, and this Napa guy was all that was left. Vegeta had lost hope. If he slipped up that was it. When Raditz remembered my dad was when Vegeta started to have some hope back. Hope to gain his freedom. With that everything went silent again.
Even dad didn't even try to make things cheerful. Some trip. That's when uncle Vegeta smiled. "At least fate didn't let me riot. Heck, dying twice wasn't so bad. I got to finally punch my father." Uh? What did that make him happy? That's when he looked at all of us. "I might have lost everything, but there's one thing nobody could take away from me." He sat up straight, had his singular smirk, and using his thumb to poke at himself. "My pride." We all smiled at that, and there was a cheer of yeahs. With that we finally called it a night. But I didn't notice that Trunks didn't leave his dad side like usual.
…
As everyone settled for the night, I was left with my thoughts. I watched how Goten snuggled up to dad, and Trunks still talking with Vegeta. My dad and Vegeta aren't as different as I thought. Then again, can I even include myself. Dad didn't even know who he was, where he came from, or anything. Someone was fortunate to have found him, and take care of him. Then he lost that person forever, and tried to move forward. Mom once told me during the days, leading up to their wedding, he called her his. Not in the 'loving' way, but as in the 'possessive' way. Like he claimed her as his own. Mom would say how over protective he got of her, yet he didn't understand what love was.
When Bulma and Krillin told me stories of dad, it always seemed weird. Bulma only wanted dad's dragon ball. If not for that she would have never found dad. How long would it have been when dad finally left the moments? Probably never. Grandpa also told me stories how dad was every overprotective of mom. He still is. Everything was taken away from him. His whole world was gone in a night. Then over and over again as his friends were being killed left and right. So, it would make sense how overprotective dad would get. I never thought my dad was the possessive type, but could I be wrong? Maybe his smiles aren't as real as I once thought.
That's when it hit me. Dad is always hurting. I sat up and looked over to him. Does her even sleep peacefully? Dad is so strong, but it makes one forget he's also a person. He found his peace in mom? Could that be why he would do anything for her? that would explain a lot. Probably is why he always calls mom perfect, even when she's angry, or any other emotions. Probably why he keeps calling Videl my special one. Dad always is trying to make us all happy. So, does that means… it's time I found my peace? It could be possible. That was a happy thought. With that I finally fell asleep.