Keep Me

Standard Disclaimers...

When the sun had touched the skies and brightened the day with its soft glow, he was putting his sneakers back on. When it rose a little higher and brightened their room, he was looking down at him sleeping soundly. Not one to wake him, Vegeta left his goodbye on Goku's head and lips and left to return to the world outside of this small haven. He didn't want to leave, but turning up missing for more than a night tended to raise suspicion is his house. He didn't need that today.

His family was grown. He didn't want to isolate himself from them, but they had their own lives to lead. He also hadn't had the desire to be near anyone as much as he wanted to be near Goku, and that wasn't because of their little situation. He hadn't been given a reason to really feel that way about anyone else. His wife, though smart and beautiful and a temper to match his, tended not to hang around him but for so long. Her hobby was socializing and getting dirty with her inventions. His son was more interested in chasing after potential bedmates. They didn't have much in common with one another but he still was concerned about that bad habit. His daughter was a spitting image of her mother, but her agenda was spending money as fast as she got it in her fingers.

No one of them was concerned about him or his whereabouts unless he was gone for too long in their eyes.

Taking one last look at the endless blue beyond the horizon of his home, he sighed and felt his heart sink a bit. It was back to the home with half the power, the bitter people, and not giving a damn. He supposed he had no one to blame but himself for pushing them away. How could he grow close to them without them hating him for what he was then compared to now? People were fickle like that, and often biased in their opinions without knowing the true reasons why behind certain decisions. All they knew and would probably ever know was that he was a warrior; a strong warrior that wanted to be stronger than anyone else so he'd never have to bend to people like that freak again.

Vegeta knew is family from the inside out. They didn't know him. Not this quiet person that turned back to look at the house behind him, looking forward to seeing a possibility he hadn't thought for himself. The one person that did know him that well was in the bed he'd left the warmth of, sleeping soundly and curled around the small second chance he had to be what he should have been the first time. He stared at that second story window for a long while, his chest swelling with pride as he thought about Goku. He hadn't given up on him. Not once. He'd fought him, beaten him, and befriended him…and did it all again and again until this Vegeta, the one about to leave this quiet place had been found under the scars.

Goku was the one who wanted nothing in return for something. He loved everyone, no matter who it was. Somehow, Vegeta was included on that man's list and he still couldn't figure out how.

When he had heard his heartbeat that autumn night, something had been said. When it had been said, he hadn't responded. He didn't know how. Now, as he remembered last night, he had heard it again and whispered his response to a sleeping man. He wanted him to know. He didn't want to go back.

The shores crashed against the sands and Vegeta took off. He flew hard and fast toward his house in the city, swearing to himself to set things straight.

That was his mission now.

Goku, sitting up in time to watch him leave, smiled gently against the sun. His hands eased the playful ripple under them, his heart a different matter. He'd heard him last night.

It was only a matter of waiting for him to return.

"What are you doing?"

Vegeta turned briefly to see his son in the middle of the doorway. One hand was currently digging for some clothing and the other was holding the bag he was shoving them in. "What does it look like?"

"Packing?"

"Now that I know you aren't losing your mind, do you want to give me a hand here or just stand there and look dumb?"

His son frowned, but came into his room anyhow. Vegeta grabbed him the moment he was close enough, tossing him to sit on the disheveled bed. He bounced once, at a loss when Vegeta slammed the door shut and locked it from the inside. Vegeta had never done this before, not that he had a reason to. His children were grown and he knew they could take care of themselves, but his concern wasn't for what he was about to do.

It lies with his son, staring angrily up at him until he realized that Vegeta was indeed truly upset with him. He frantically tried to think about the reasons why, but they wouldn't come. He hadn't been around his father long enough to do anything, which was the problem they both came to conclude.

Vegeta placed his hand on his hip in his trademark gesture. "You know we don't hang around the other…and I know you're wondering what in the hell I'm getting ready to say, right?"

"…yeah, that would be nice…"

"Well, let's not keep you in suspense. Stop fucking around with so many people. Condoms or no, nothing is guaranteed…and I'm sure being a father at your age is the last thing on your mind."

"E-excuse me? Since when—"

"I'm not a loving man, Trunks. Not in the way that your mother wants me to be. I'm also not father of the year, as you well know…but I do care. It's hard to break habits you grow up with….you should know that better than anyone."

Trunks thought his brain would fall out of his nose and land in his lap. This was as close to a heart to heart with his father that he could remember without someone dying in the middle of a battle or something. There were no threats to the earth, and the last time he checked his father wasn't checking out to the next dimension as a ghost or something worse. He looked over his father's head for a halo.

Vegeta knocked him in the head and sat down aside him.

"Listen…it's hard to say some things that should always be said," Vegeta said quietly. "And while I should have found some way to say them without the pretense of dying...it's not like I don't."

"...you're not dying are you?"

"I thought we established that I wasn't."

"...then...why? Why tell me now?"

"…it's about that time. I think…you're old enough to understand. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about."

Trunks turned his head away from the saiyan aside him and focused on his hands. It was no hidden fact that his father wasn't a good man, and Vegeta made no attempts to hide that. Maybe it was so Trunks wasn't disillusioned with thoughts to raise him on some pedestal when he felt he didn't deserve that honor. Not then anyhow, and possibly not now either. Trunks didn't really know everything about his father's past, and he was sure that his father wouldn't tell him everything…but he did understand that some things needed to he sacrificed in order to survive.

His father had given up the hope of having some normal stable life and the hope that he would rule his people in the victory following Frieza's defeat. He'd given up a lot and didn't know how to move on from what he'd been, and as a result had taken it out on the others. As the years went by, Vegeta was still someone to contend with on a good day, but he'd found some peace within himself. It was most likely the reason he was sitting here now, telling this to his son…that and…possibly…

"…you're leaving."

"I have to," Vegeta said, unashamed of his answer. "I want to. I need to."

"But…Why?"

"…you know why. Oh, don't do that you—"

Trunks shook his head and covered his ears. He didn't want to hear. Vegeta reached up and snatched his arms down only to have them curling around him with a shudder. Trunks squeezed, face buried against his father's warm shoulders, willing himself not outright sob. It was like some unspoken rule not to cry in front of him. That rule was broken when Vegeta lifted a hand to pat the back of his head and whisper that it was all right.

Eventually he stopped crying, and Vegeta removed him from his shoulders to wipe his son's face with the back of his hands. He supposed he was going to have to get used to doing this now. He'd gotten into that bad habit of caring enough to do so because of Goku.

Which brought him back to why he was packing.

"Dad…"

"Stop it. I'm not disappearing off of the face of the planet."

"I know...but I never thought that...you'd go away..."

"Things change. I need to be somewhere else…and you need to go do the same. If it's not right, why allow it to exist? Being angry isn't going to fix anything…and neither is the company of some random person."

Trunks laughed a little and shrugged. "So…you're not freaked?"

"About what?"

"My...chasing guys..."

Vegeta stared at him, and Trunks realized how dumb that sounded. Properly chastised without having to hear it, he offered his apologies by grabbing the bag his father had and picking up where he'd left off.

"I swear earthlings have some of the weirdest…expectations," Vegeta muttered. "I mean…if things like Frieza existed, who really cares about who sleeps with who?"

Trunks couldn't stop his laughter even if he tried.

It was a nice sound. A sound Vegeta kept close to him when he thought about the others.

They didn't take it as well as Trunks did. Vegeta wasn't going to lie to himself about the reasons why. One reason was because they were women and more emotional about this kind of thing. The second more prominent reason was that he had unequivocally handed this to them out of nowhere without telling them the true reasons why or offering those reasons. It was simply something he had to do.

Not that Bulma or Bra would truly try to understand why at the moment.

He stayed in the skies listening to his wife screaming for him to come back. She was telling him the obvious that was supposed to stop this madness he'd brought the moment he spied those tears spilling down her cheeks. For a genius, she was slow to realize what he'd know from the start. There was a huge difference between loving someone and tolerating them, and they had been tolerating the other from the start. He still didn't know what love was, or if he could handle such a huge concept without being weary of all it entailed, but thinking about Goku waiting…

It would be all right.

His daughter would be slower to forgive him for his transgressions. They would all hate him for one reason or another when this was all over. It was enough right now to allow his daughter to sob relentlessly where she'd slumped down, not understanding his sudden departure or why he'd incinerated her credit cards. Her last words before that sickening sob were that of hatred, and he could find no fault in them. He'd simply said, "I know", and left her to figure it all out for herself.

Bra and Bulma were perhaps the only two women in his life he would ever feel sorry about. They didn't deserve this anymore than he did, but someone had to make that change.

His son popped out of the house before he turned to leave. He'd done his crying. He was still a little red in the face and a little confused, but he'd figured that Vegeta was right about something for once. He'd packed a small bag and had it hung over his shoulders, his destination unknown to him. Trunks looked upward and regarded his father with an understanding nod. He couldn't live his life comfortably with things handed to him knowing that he was capable of much more than sitting behind a desk.

He took off the same time Vegeta tuned out the cries for him to come back and pushed himself into the skies. Bulma was too distraught to follow either of them.

It was a small blessing Vegeta silently gave thanks for.

He took another route towards the secluded spot he'd been frequenting more often these days, wary of anyone following him intentionally or not. It would cause a lot of hell for this to come to light now. He preferred to let people think what they wanted, give him his space, and give this a chance to be done and over and sealed in the cemented fabric of past before the present could give way to heartache. It would not be easy for anyone, least of all Goku. He might not have voiced it, but the taller saiyan was worried.

Vegeta silently vowed to do the one thing he couldn't do. He would stay by him, good or bad. He was not the most reliable of people and still had his moments of being a royal bastard, but this spark…this little light of hope…it didn't deserve to be shunned and forgotten. Vegeta was not going to let his past run him any longer, and he wasn't going to run from the one thing that managed to ground him long enough to see more than his nightmares running ramped.

There was so much to say and so much to do and make amends for. He would learn. He would make sure Goku knew and that there wouldn't be a start that was based on tolerance. This was more than accepting one's behavior and learning to ignore it. This was embracing their good and bad and deciding that no matter what, that feeling that enabled them to accept one another would not fade, but prosper even in the toughest of times.

The waters around him were higher with his sudden need to get back. Everything he carried was suddenly weightless. None of it mattered right now.

He popped onto the shoreline faster than he thought and landed a few feet from the house. He dropped everything, running to the smiling form that waved at him with a bandaged hand. Goku sat on the steps, looking a little pale and somewhat tired, but still cheerful even when Vegeta grabbed his hand and inspected it.

"What happened?"

"I broke a dish."

"How? Kakorrot, tell me what happened."

"There's not much to tell," Goku said softly. "I felt dizzy…and I caught myself on the counter. The next thing I know my hand is bleeding and there's glass all over the floor…"

"Is that mess still there?"

"No. I cleaned it up. I feel fine now...Vegeta?"

Vegeta kissed the back of that hand. "You need to take it easy from now on." They were close to the finish line, and Goku would tire a lot more easily with the coming days. It was his entire fault and he wasn't going to let Goku suffer needlessly any longer.

He helped the taller saiyan to his feet, amused that he was only a few inches taller. Some idiotic wish on his daughter's part had shoved him a little higher than he was used to, and now it was possible to look at Goku in the eye without straining his neck. He gave him a small hidden smile, gestured for him to go in, and walked to grab the things he'd brought back with him.

"Are you home now?" Goku asked softly, "Or...are you just visiting?"

Vegeta trekked up the stairs, everything in hand, and said, "It's good to be home."

And we're moving forward!