Happy
Chapter 1
The sunrise promises nothing new.
Getting out of bed is a chore. Opening my eyes each day takes every ounce of willpower I have. I'm not the Saiyan you used to know. I'm tired. Tired of fighting, living ….breathing. Each inhale I take, I wish it was my last. It's not though. I keep on living.
The love of my life has been gone for four hundred and fifty-six days. Each day have dragged by, torturing me every moment with memories everywhere I look. The bed where we made love, the kitchen where she made me delicious food... Each morning she'd be waiting for me, a smile on her graceful face as she sipped from her coffee mug. She said…. she would say 'Goku don't go dragging Gohan on an adventure with you. He has school work to finish!' I never listened. I took him into battle with me. He fought beside me. My son. The son I've barely seen since her death. To look upon him would be to look upon my dead wife. He slowly stopped coming over after a few months. He calls once a week to check on Goten and I, what a kind son. I couldn't have asked for anything more.
Goten has grown up looking so much like me. Wild hair and a never ending good outlook on life. I don't know how he keeps it up. I now understand why Vegeta was always so angry with me.
After a long struggle, I made it out of bed and down stairs, there's hot coffee waiting. I let a smile creep across my lips as I heard voices from outside.
"…Can do better than that brat! Again!" Vegeta must be training with Goten. In all this mess, he's managed to stick around. After Bulma passed, he didn't have much to do beside pester me when I was trying to sleep. My eyes caught the clock, 1:12pm. I slept the day away.
"Hey dad!" Goten said with a smile, his head peaking through the front door, his forehead covered in sweat. "I'm going to hang out with Trunks. That ok with you?" It isn't really a question.
I shook my head, wanting him to stay but knowing he wanted to go. "Yeah that's- that's fine. Are you going to come back for dinner?"
"I don't know. I'll call you. Bye!" With a wave, he disappeared from sight, Vegeta's scowling face replaced him.
"You haven't been training with that boy, he's getting rusty." He said with a scoff, taking a seat at the table, his legs planting on the top of the wood. ChiChi would have killed him for the audacity.
"I don't train anymore, Vegeta. You know that."
"Can't blame me for trying, now can you?" He gaze lingered on me, a sad look in his eyes. "Eat some food and take a shower for god's sake. I could smell you outside." I could almost laugh. "I made plans today and you're going."
"I'm tired, I want to stay here." I felt like a whining teenager.
"Yeah and I have a headache from hell. You're going. That's it. You need to get out. You're starting to get flabby."
"There's no way I'm getting 'flabby,' maybe losing some muscle…." I looked down at myself, my clothes hanging off of me.
He grunted and pointed to the stairs. He's definitely as bossy as she was. I did as I was told.
When I walked down the stairs Vegeta stood there, smiling. "Now that you don't smell like a trash can, I can sit with you in the car."
I was curious. "Where are we going? And in a car? Since when do you drive?"
His eyebrow lifted. "I drive all the time Kakkarot. I bring Goten to school while you sleep." Low blow. I frowned, feeling like a failure. I can't even get my son to school. He barely lives here anymore. He mostly stays with Vegeta or Gohan. He brings home math homework and I don't understand any of it to help him. Gohan can, and he does.
The drive in the car is long and awkward. Vegeta and I are friends but it was never like it was with Krillian. We could talk for hours about nothing. …Krillian…. My best friend died slowly from pancreatic cancer. It was horrible and long. He fought for almost a year before it took him. His daughter and wife mourned. Eighteen soon followed. I don't even remember what killed her, it was so…. Human. Vegeta said we could live to three hundred years old depending on how we lived our life. I can't live that long. It's too long and lonely. Everyone around me has died; I can't watch my children follow.
The drive was mostly silent; we didn't reach our destination until dust. Bright lights filled my view as we drove up. Vegeta had a small smirk on his face as a spark of excitement ran through me. I hadn't been here since Goten was small. We brought him here with ChiChi, Krillian, Vegeta, and Trunks. They had so much fun as did I. I think I ate the whole supply of cotton candy. I smiled remembering what a wonderful time we had. I looked over to Vegeta, my smile remaining.
"See something you like?" He had a playful glint in his eyes.
"Yep! I see cotton candy stands!" He rolled his eyes at me as he parked the car. Maybe tonight would be fun after all.
To be continued . . .
