A/N: I found this chapter to be a great disappointment. I'm very anxious to get working on 23 so I cut it short. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I shall answer them the best that I can. Sorry it's so...I don't know. Bland I guess. 23 won't be.

Black Sunrise

"You get back here!" Vegeta growled playfully as he crawled on the carpeted floor after Rayne. The little girl let out a squeal and fell to the side, her legs pushing her onto her back. "Got you!" He huffed, large fingers tickling the little girls stomach. Rayne let out another squeal as she wiggled under the moving digits.

Her eyes glittered as she stopped laughing and looked up at the man that was over her. "Dada.." His heart skipped a beat as he jumped up and then lifted the little girl in his arms to hug her. "Dada!" Rayne liked his reaction, her fists going up to tug on his hair, fingers grasping the black and blond tipped locks.

Vegeta tossed her into the air with a laugh. "My little Rayne. My little princess!"

"Da! Dada! Da...dadadada!" she cooed happily.

"Mmm... my little girl. I love you. You know that? Daddy loves you." His heart almost burst from his chest. She accepted him as her daddy and he wasn't going to let her down. "Your mommy loves you too. But she's not here right now, she'll be back though and we'll be one big happy family."

Luna watched the two play with ease, eyes blinking slowly as she still continued to look around for Isis wishing that her play-mate was still there with her. Mitch walked into the bedroom with the black cordless in his hand. A soft smile played at his lips for a moment and he coughed. Vegeta snapped his head up and cradled Rayne on his hip.

"What is it?"

"Phone call for you Master Vegeta." He walked farther into the room and handed it to the young man who instantly put it to his ear.

"Yes?" He listened for a few minutes, the happy expression on his face moving downwards into a frown and then a deep scowl. Rayne could sense his unhappiness and started to whimper. Vegeta couldn't hush the tot so he handed her to Mitch, she wasn't happy about that and started to scream. "Get her out of here!" Vegeta shouted, startling the child so that her two-toned eyes widened and the raised voice.

He was instantly guilty and tried to tickle her stomach but her face crumpled into tears. Mitch turned with the little girl in his arms and walked out of the room. He, meanwhile started pacing back and forth like a caged tiger, his free hand running through his hair. "When?" His pacing slowed for a moment while he listened and then picked right back up. "Where? ...right. Yeah. Bye." The call was ended with the press of a button. "God DAMN IT!" he roared, phone flying across the room to land with a thud against the wall no longer whole. Anger was rising in him, his vision starting to blur as he yanked the covers off of his bed and threw them to the ground. Pillows were next, followed by the flipping of his mattress. Ten minutes after the phone call his room was totally destroyed save for a few things. Picture frames littered his side tables, none were harmed or even knocked over and hanging on the wall, crooked, was the picture that Bulma had painted for him for Christmas.

Fingers clenched, he walked to the picture and fixed it. Everything drained away from him, all the negative energy left his body in peace as his eyes, mind and soul took in the beauty of the picture. And then he saw something that he hadn't noticed before. There, in the clouds were three words. I love you.

Tears stung his eyes. "If you loved me why did you leave me then? Why didn't you stay and let me help? Now I have to leave. I have to leave to go and find my sister...but I cannot just leave our daughter here alone..."

An idea came to him and he ran to his coat to grab his cell-phone. He punched in a phone number and then waited for someone to pick it up. "Shit. Hey, it's Vegeta. Call me back when you get this and pack for a while. We're going on a trip."

Time to go make amends with the daughter now... Shoving his cell phone into his pocket, he left the room and walked down the wide stairs. The front door opened and swung wide. "Yes. I know. We'll have a talk with him..."

His flight down the stairs was stopped when a woman with cropped black hair walked in, and put down the black carry-on bag that she was carrying down on the floor. Her long black coat was unbuttoned and Vegeta could see the small swell of her stomach. Her blue eyes lifted from the floor and she straightened herself. "Hello Vegeta darling."

"He's here?" Good." His father walked in, a man standing a little over 6'4" with a bald head and dark eyes smiled proudly at his first born. "Well 'Geta old boy, you're going to be a big brother."

"I'm already a big brother."

His mother laughed lightly and shrugged out of her coat which is father caught and pulled open the closet and hung it up on a hanger. "Now darling, you father and I have something to tell you."

"Your mother is pregnant. Isn't that happy?"

There was a screaming laugh coming from the kitchen area and Vegeta ran a hand over his face. "Mitch!?" Bryce, his father, called out.

"Coming Master Bryce!" A few moments later Mitch walked into the front foyer, covered in yogurt and a gleeful little girl in his arms.

"Mitch! What happened to you?"

The butler and friend handed Rayne over to Vegeta with a laugh. "You take this little brat upstairs and get her washed up and into some new clothing. She decided to throw her snack at me."

"Vegeta?" His mother's soft voice drifted to his ear, the hint of a question on it.

"Dada!" Rayne smacked her sticky, cold hands on Vegeta's face.

"'Dada'?" Bryce said, walking closer.

"Later." Vegeta growled and walked up the stairs.

"Lilian..."

"Yes Bryce, I'll go and talk with him."

Fantastic. Vegeta muttered as he walked into Rayne's room and grabbed some new clothing and a diaper. He almost ran into his mother as he left the little girl's room and walked into his own. "Rayne, calm down you little nymph. Just like your mother you are." His mind raced to the last night that he and Bulma shared together before she decided to up and leave him and her daughter behind. "Don't just stand there mom, you know you can come in."

Lilian walked into the bathroom slowly and stood just inside the door to watch her oldest child undress the little girl and then with one hand, the other one supporting the child on his hip. He filled the bottom of the bathtub with a few inches of water and then set the naked, squirming child into it. She splashed about happily, Vegeta handing her a few soft toys for her to play with. "Dada!"

"Vegeta," his mother started off, her voice soft and puzzled. "Do you have something to tell us?"

"Dada!" Vegeta smiled and plopped a damp face-cloth onto Rayne's head.

"Not really, no."

"'Not really?' Darling, if you have something to say then say it. Who is this little girl?"

Taking a few moments to wipe Rayne down, he avoided answering the question but knew that he couldn't avoid it forever. "Her name is Rayne." Unplugging the tub, he lifted the child up and wrapped her in a large fluffy towel. Grabbing her clothing, he headed to his bed and with a playful growl, gently tossed her onto the wide mattress, making her laugh.

"And?" Lilian leaned against the wall just outside the bathroom door, arms crossing over her chest to rest lightly on the bulge that was forming under her red shirt. "Is she yours?"

"In a way she's not, but in the ways that counts, she is." He quickly dried her off, putting on first her diaper, and then a pair of yellow sweat-pants and matching sweatshirt. Finishing the outfit off with a pair of white socks and yellow slippers, he tickled her stomach.

"Did you..."

Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his blonde and black hair. "No mom. I didn't go and knock some woman up, if that's what you're asking."

"I wasn't going to say it like that, but yes. So how did you come to have a little girl?" Walking slowly, she sat herself on the edge ofbed, eyes forever watching her son, never leaving his face, afraid that she might miss something.

"It's a long story."

"We just got home and have all the time in the world."

"You might, but Rayne needs to have something to eat, and then needs to be put down for her nap." He scooped up the little girl, her little blonde curls bouncing against her head as she cooed happily. "C'mon you little brat. Let's go see what we've got to put in your belly." Settling Rayne onto his right hip, he walked out into the hallway and then down the stairs. The clock only read 2:30 pm, and Rayne was still wide awake and as happy as ever.

"Dada...Dada..."

"Yes you little darling." Waltzing into the kitchen, he strapped her into her highchair and then turned to find something for her to snack on until dinner. "Let's see what we have. Oh, yum apple sauce, some strained peaches, your favorite, Cheerios and a cookie. How does that sound?"

"Mmm!"

He pulled out a few plastic bowls and added some cereal into one, the applesauce into another and then grabbed a can of strained peaches. His mother watched from the doorway with a soft smile on her face, his father coming up behind her to place a hand above her head on the door-jam to watch as well. Vegeta could feel eyes on him and made a point to totally ignore his parents while he concentrated on putting mouthfuls of soft foods into his 'daughter's mouth. After 10 minutes of cleaning up spilled applesauce and the mushy peaches, he gave her a few animal crackers to chew on.

"I think you have some explaining to do son."

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"Vegeta, please don't talk like that to your father..."

Rayne threw a cookie at him with a laugh. "Dada!" Abandoning the cookies, she shoved her thumb into her mouth and yawned, other hand coming up to rub blue eye first, and then the green one. "Nap time for you, you little love of mine." Sliding out the tray to the highchair, he unbuckled Rayne and then picked her up once more.

"When you get down, you're going to explain to your mother and I how you've got yourself a child."

"Whatever."

"Don't you 'whatever' me boy!" His father bellowed out, scaring Rayne into tears.

"Damn it father! Don't you know not to yell?" His cell phone rang and he fished awkwardly in his pocket for it. Pushing passed his father with his elbow, Rayne still crying as Lilian turned to look at Bryce with a shake of her head, Vegeta made his way back upstairs and into Rayne's room. He placed the child in his arms into her crib, covered her up with a blanket and then gave her the teddy that she had when she was born. The stuffed toy soothed away whatever tears were left and she became quiet. "Hey...sorry about that...yeah, hands are full. Parents just got home today....Tell me about it...Yeah. I don't know how long...but pack for a while like I said. I'm booking the tickets tonight...Yes I'm bringing Rayne...right. Come over after you're done. Later."

Ending the call, he bent over the rail and kissed Rayne's forehead. "Have a good nap." Giving a soft whistle, Luna came from wherever she was hiding and crawled under the crib to continue sleeping. Heaving a sigh, he closed the door and returned downstairs and into the living room to face his parents.

"Her name is Rayne," he started, walking through the doorway. "Rayne Ava Briefs. Her mother is an heiress. They're here because some things happened and they had no place to go." For the next hour, he spent telling the whole story as to how Bulma came into his life, how she and her daughter ended up living at his parents house, and how she was injured by her so-called best friend.

"And where is she now?" His father asked softly, his hand on Lilian's knee. His parents had listened to the story for the full hour without interruption.

"I...don't know." His answer was soft and full of hurt.

"Vegeta, listen. If you love this woman then have no fear that she's going to come back. It's been a month, yes, and I can see that you're very upset about it but you have to understand from what you've told us, she did what she thought needed to be done to protect her family and the ones that she loves. Sure, what she did wasn't too intelligent but she felt that there was no other choice." She ran a hand through her pixie-short hair and smiled. "The only thing I can think of..."

There was a knock on the front door and it flew open. "God damn it Vegeta, you could at least have helped me lug these stupid bags into the house!" Chuckling to himself, Vegeta got up off of the chair and shook his head.

"Calm down. You're going to wake up Rayne."

"Right. Sorry. Parents home huh?"

"Yes." He walked outside and picked up the few bags that had been set on the front step. "C'mon, I'll introduce you to the folks." He grabbed her hand and tugged her towards the living room. "Mom, dad this is my friend Juu, otherwise known as 18."

"Hi." She waved a hand and chewed on her bottom lip.

"Girlfriend?" His father asked.

"She's a girl, and she's a friend. If that makes her a girlfriend, then yes. She's a girlfriend, but not the girlfriend."

Lilian laughed and stood up and walked over to 18. "Hello darling, I'm Lilian and my husband Bryce. We're glad to meet you. Vegeta, darling, why don't you help your friend with her bags upstairs and then we can continue our little chat when you're done."

"Yeah. Sure." He dragged 18 back to the front door and they each picked up two bags and hauled them up the stairs and into one of the spare bedrooms. 18 went to the bed and threw herself on it.

"So, it seems that you're not in your parents' good books..."

"It's not that, I was just telling them about Bulma."

They were quiet for a few moments before Vegeta sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Damn it 18, I wish I could tell mom and dad about Keisha but they cannot know."

"Poor Vegeta. Poor, poor Vegeta. I wish I could ease what troubles you, but I know that I can only help. Have you booked the tickets?"

"Not yet."

"Then we shall go and do it."