A/N: Thanks for the reviews, especially you, LVR4Trunks-n-Vegeta! I always appreciate your feedback!
Chapter 3: Exile
Against his plans and wishes, Vegeta had decided to see off Trunks, before the latter went away to face the Androids of his time. Of course, he wouldn't have, but Bulma persistently nagged him to the point of insanity and he'd finally caved in. He wasn't sorry though. Though the Prince didn't show it, his crushed pride and morale were assuaged to some degree when he saw the boy smile at him. He, as usual, shrouded any hint of emotion behind a stoic, stone-cold, nonchalant façade.
"Father." Trunks offered Vegeta a dazzling smile. With all the effort he could muster, the Prince avoided the urge to smile back and instead just gave his own farewell gesture with two fingers, which was of course, reciprocated in kind.
After Trunks left, Vegeta spent his days in solitude, cramping himself in his quarters of Capsule Corporation's residential complex, doing absolutely nothing, except moping and wallowing in his own self-pity. He hardly even ate and when he did, it was during the dark, lonely hours of midnight, when the rest of the world was sleeping. It was so unlike him, but he didn't care anymore. He didn't care about being the strongest, because in the end, all of his efforts had ended with an eleven year old boy exceeding his skill in battle. When all was said and done, all those agonizingly painful days and restless nights had amounted to absolutely nothing... As far as he saw fit.
Soon, days turned into weeks and almost two months had passed since Trunks' departure into his timeline, yet no one had seen neither hide nor hair of the lonely Prince. Vegeta would often take trips flying around the world and visiting places at random, just to loosen his muscles and pass away the time. During one such occasion, he wound up near a seemingly abandoned hovel that appeared to be in an empty wasteland, in the middle of nowhere. Having nothing better to do, he flew up above, to get a bird's eye view of the godforsaken premisis. It had a tattered awning extending from the back and several gaping holes on the rooftop.
'What on Earth am I doing here?' Thought the Prince, but just as he was about to leave, his sensitive hearing caught wind of a baby girl crying. That instantly drew his attention.
He descended right above the roof and gazed through one of the many perforations. He could see a young brunette woman in frayed attire, cradling the girl in her arms, as though it were the most precious and fragile thing in the world... and naturally it was.
"It's okay Clara..." The woman cooed, "Mommy's here."
After a minute or so, the baby finally calmed down and started to relax. Vegeta shook his head, wondering why he'd even bothered to come here. Just as he was about to bolt, the woman's next words struck a soft spot in his heart, if he had one.
"Enzo, why'd you have to leave us?" She looked up wistfully, tears brimming her emerald eyes. She gasped when she saw a man on the rooftop, surveying her and Vegeta quickly took off, headed back to Capsule Corporation, all the while, deeply pensive. Did he come here for a reason? Was the world telling him something? Is this how Bulma and Trunks would end up, if he continued spurning them? Sure, she was the richest woman in the world, but she was still a single mother. He'd cast the two of them aside once before when he chose to train in space, the moment he learned of the pregnancy. He was no father, he'd thought. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, he could offer to a child... could he?
He scoffed, paying no heed to such thoughts. He got it right the first time. They were better off without him. She still had her eccentric parents and perhaps that scar-faced fool. He shuddered. Even thinking about that weakling getting intimate with Bulma, made his stomach churn. But if he continued to turn a blind eye to her and baby Trunks, could he blame her for seeking comfort elsewhere? He groaned vexedly! Goddamn jealousy! No one else made him feel this way, but that accursed blue-haired harpy!