Light and Darkness
Vejiita was sprawled on the couch in a half
doze, his hair now nearly dry, dressed in a worn pair of blue jeans and another
sleeveless white T-shirt, his bare feet crossed at the ankle. The house was
entirely quiet, Trunks having left about twenty minutes ago, mumbling something
about a party being thrown by one of his friends from school.
Vejiita sighed deeply, relaxing into the soft
leather cushions, his tail hanging over the side as the tip curled and uncurled
repeatedly, oddly catlike. One arm stretched over his head as he prepared to
allow himself a short nap. And at that precise moment the doorbell rang.
He groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes, and
considered ignoring it. Then, abruptly, he tensed, realizing that it had to be
Goku. He sat up quickly, thoughts of sleep having vanished, then hesitated,
again thinking of ignoring it, though for different reasons. But then he would
have to be a coward. Kakarrot would know he was home, it didn’t make sense for
him to be anywhere else unless he was avoiding the other Saiya-jin.
Cursing, feeling a nervous knot tighten his
chest, Vejiita slid to his feet and left the den, heading for the door. When he
reached it he paused with his hand on the knob, closing his eyes for a moment
and taking a shallow breath. Then, relaxing his features, he turned the handle
and pulled the door open.
Kakarrot was standing on the doorstep with his
hands in his pockets, looking oddly uncertain as he shifted his weight from one
foot to the other. He, too, was dressed in blue jeans, and he wore tennis shoes
and a red, short-sleeved shirt that buttoned up the front.
"Hey," he said softly.
For long moments the two stood in awkward
silence, staring at each other. Finally Vejiita moved to the side, holding the
door open, and something that looked almost like relief crossed Goku’s face as
he stepped through the doorway and into the house.
Vejiita quietly shut the door behind him, then
slowly turned to face him, annoyed at his own nervousness as he slid his
fingers into the pockets of his jeans, gazing at the floor. Goku rocked back
and forth on his heels for a moment, glancing around the kitchen in silence.
Finally Vejiita grunted slightly and moved past the other Saiya-jin, his bare
feet making no noise on the floor. When he reached the hallway he paused, looking
back at Goku, who was still standing uncomfortably in the entryway.
He didn’t know why he felt compelled to say
anything. He’d told himself that he didn’t want to see Kakarrot, that he needed
to reestablish the distance between them. Still, he stopped, turning toward the
other Saiya-jin.
"Are you coming?" he asked gruffly.
Goku looked at him in surprise, then quickly
kicked off his shoes and headed toward Vejiita. Turning away again, Vejiita
headed a short way down the hallway and then made a left, back into the den he
had just vacated, stopping to lean against the doorjamb. Goku slipped through
the doorway and took several steps into the room, then stopped and swiveled to
face Vejiita. Another awkward silence fell, Vejiita standing with his arms
folded across his chest, Goku idly drumming his fingers against his thigh.
Vejiita’s gaze was drawn to that movement, watching as the strong, tanned
fingers tapped rhythmically against the denim covering Goku’s leg. Against his
will, his eyes slid downward, taking in the areas where the jeans stretched
tightly over hardened muscle, then returning to the other Saiya-jin’s fingers.
Vejiita’s mouth was dry as he forced himself to close his eyes, to keep from
looking.
He vaguely heard Kakarrot’s voice, and, opening
his eyes again, only managed to catch the tail end of his statement.
"...with Goten."
"What?" he said stupidly, focusing on
Goku’s face. The other Saiya-jin shrugged, running his hand through his thick
black hair, a faint smile on his lips. "I said I heard you were sparring
with Goten. It was kind of obvious he’d been through a workout when he came
home, and he told me about your fight."
Vejiita felt a flush creeping up his throat and
he shifted his weight uneasily, wondering if Kakarrot was upset with him. He
hadn’t exactly gone easy on the boy. He hadn’t done anything cruel or
unreasonable, either, but he knew Kakarrot was extremely protective of his
children.
"I," he began, then cleared his
throat, "We went out after breakfast." He didn’t add that he’d been
more than ready for a workout after Mrs. Brief’s antics. "Goten and Trunks
thought they could defeat me if they worked together."
Goku grinned at him. "So he told me. Trunks
didn’t know you’d reached level three, huh?" He laughed. "I would
have liked to see their expressions when you turned."
Vejiita relaxed slightly, finding that a slight
smile was pulling at his lips as well. "Well, they had fused into Gotenks
at the time, so I didn’t see them, exactly."
He straightened up from the wall and moved
further into the room, his arms dropping as he slid his hands into his pockets
again. Goku smiled. "I’m glad you got him to fight you. He needed a good
workout. I know I go too easy on him, but I can’t seem to help it."
Vejiita looked at him in surprise, an odd
feeling in his chest. "You’re glad I fought him?"
Goku’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Sure.
Why wouldn’t I be?"
Vejiita coughed, lifting a shoulder
uncomfortably. It just felt strange, that Kakarrot should be pleased to hear he
had spent any time with his son, much less sparring with him. He frowned
remembering the time several years ago when Krillen and Juuhachigo had wanted
to go out. Since neither Goku or Gohan were able to watch Marron, Goku had
innocently suggested they leave her with Vejiita. They had looked at him like
he was crazy.
Goku was looking at him more intently now,
obviously sensing that something was wrong. "Why would you think I
wouldn’t want you around Goten, Vejiita?"
"Because I’m not the kind of person most
parents trust with their children!" Vejiita snapped, folding his arms
again and avoiding Goku’s eyes. It was one thing for Kakarrot himself to be
willing to be around him, another entirely for him to let his son do the same.
The other Saiya-jin frowned. "Of course I
trust you, Vejiita," he said seriously, "I know you’d never hurt
Goten."
Vejiita swallowed, turning his head to the side
and biting his lip briefly, feeling oddly touched. Then he frowned, cursing
himself for being a sentimental fool, and walked across the room to gaze out
the window.
Goku watched him for a moment, then took several
steps toward him, only to stumble slightly as his foot hooked on something.
Vejiita turned to look at him as he twisted around and bent over, wrapping his
fingers around the black cord that had caught his toes. The other Saiya-jin
straightened, his brows furrowing in puzzlement as he held the cord up for
Vejiita to look at. Hanging from one end was an odd grey device, strangely
shaped.
"What’s this?"
Vejiita rolled his eyes. "You haven’t seen
one before? It’s a device that is used for playing some kind of game on that
thing." He pointed to the grey box below the TV, to which the other end of
the cord was attached.
"A game?" Goku replied, looking
slightly intrigued. "What kind of game?"
Vejiita sighed. "When you turn that box, I
believe it is called a Playstation, on, along with the television, a screen
comes up where you can choose characters and use those," he gestured to
the object Goku was holding, "to control them."
"Oh yeah, yeah!" Goku exclaimed
suddenly, his confusion vanishing as he realized what Vejiita was talking
about. "A video game, or something."
Vejiita nodded. "Trunks always plays it
with Goten when he comes over here."
"Huh. So what’s the point of the
game?"
The Saiya-jin prince shrugged. "Apparently,
your characters fight each other, and the point is simply to win the
match."
Goku pursed his lips for a moment, looking down
at the controller in his hand. Then he looked at Vejiita again and grinned.
"Why don’t we try it?"
Vejiita stared at him, wondering if he’d lost
his mind. "What?"
"Yeah, come on," he urged, kneeling
down to examine the Playstation. "It’ll probably be fun."
"Eh..." Vejiita began.
Goku twisted to look at him, his eyes glittering
playfully. "What, are you afraid you’re going to lose?"
Vejiita’s own eyes narrowed and he glared at the
other Saiya-jin. "Of course not!"
"Then let’s go," Goku grinned.
Vejiita hesitated a moment longer, then growled
under his breath and stalked over to the other Saiya-jin, dropping down on his
knees beside him, catching the other cord in his fingers and pulling on it
until the controller tumbled into sight. Goku curiously pushed the
"Open" button on the Playstation, watching as the circular cover
lifted to reveal the disk inside. He plucked it out, examining it briefly, then
set it back inside and pressed the cover shut. Reaching across him, Vejiita
pushed the power button on the television, snarling as some woman’s face
appeared on the screen and began screeching hysterically that her fiancé was
having an affair. He immediately turned the volume all the way down.
Goku pressed the Power button on the
Playstation, and the two waited for it to start. Nothing happened. Frowning,
Goku turned the Playstation off, then back on again. Still nothing. They
checked the little light on the grey box and found it to be glowing, signifying
that it was hooked up, and they could, in fact, hear the CD turning. Goku
looked at Vejiita for help.
The prince frowned, trying to remember what his
son did when he wanted to play the game. "Hn," he said after a
moment, "I think Trunks usually pushes another button on the television to
start it."
They simultaneously leaned toward the row of
buttons beneath the TV screen, nearly bumping heads in their attempt to read
the lettering below each one.
"Ah!" Goku said after a moment.
"It must be this one!"
Reaching out, he pushed the TV/video button. The
screen darkened for a moment, then suddenly brightened to reveal a menu screen
with an arrow currently pointing to the "Arcade" selection.
"There!" Goku cried triumphantly,
turning up the volume and then scooting backward to lean against the base of
the couch. Vejiita did the same, leaving several feet of space between them.
Frowning, he experimentally pushed the button that looked like a
downward-pointing arrow and was rewarded to see the cursor scroll down to the
next selection, "Verses". Pushing it several more times, he watched
the menu move through about five other options before returning to the first one
they had seen, "Arcade".
"It must be ‘versus’," he said
finally.
Goku nodded in agreement and, after glancing at
the controller, Vejiita pushed the ‘start’ button.
A new screen came up, showing the portraits of
about twenty different fighters, blinking boxes highlighting the ones they
currently had selected.
"Well, how are we supposed to know who to
choose?" Vejiita asked irritably. "It doesn’t say anything about
them."
Goku shrugged, grinning. "Who cares? Just
pick anyone."
Sighing, Vejiita pushed the directional buttons
a few times, then randomly selected one of the characters. Goku did the same,
and before long the screen had changed again, showing their characters standing
on the screen opposite each other. A male voice said enthusiastically, "Round
one. Fight!"
For a moment they both sat staring at the
screen. Then Vejiita looked down at his controller again and pushed several of
the circular buttons on the right side. On the screen, his character
simultaneously threw several punches and kicks.
"Just push the buttons, Kakarrot," he
mumbled to the other Saiya-jin.
For while they did nothing but experiment with
their controllers and watch what happened. Finally, Goku grinned and sent his
character running at Vejiita’s, pushed the up arrow to make him jump and kicked
at the same time. The character Vejiita was playing was knocked backward, and
the health bar above his head went partly red.
"What?!" Vejiita snarled. Leaning
forward slightly, he attacked Goku the same way, and before long the two were
pushing buttons furiously, neither having any real idea what they were doing.
The fight ended with Vejiita’s character knocked unconscious, the announcer
declaring Goku the winner.
Hissing, Vejiita quickly chose a new character,
Goku doing the same. More random button-pushing lead to the discovery that
hitting the buttons in a certain pattern made their characters do specific
moves. Goku howled in triumph when he finally landed one of these attacks on
Vejiita, earning himself a smack from the Saiya-jin prince.
"Shut up, you fool!"
Several fights later, they were both becoming
more refined in their techniques and deciding which characters they liked.
Strangely caught up in the competition of playing the game, they completely
lost track of time. They finally entered a fight where they seemed very evenly
matched, the first round stretching to a ridiculous length before Goku finally
knocked out Vejiita’s character.
"Dammit!" Vejiita snapped, lurching
forward onto his knees as though that would help him play better. His tail
whipped from side to side in agitation. Goku laughed out loud, also leaning
toward the screen as the announcer began round two. This time Vejiita’s
character emerged victorious, and Vejiita smirked while Goku yelped
indignantly, scrambling to his feet.
When the final round began, they were both
standing, teeth clenched, nearly growling in anticipation. The fight began and
they lunged at each other, each voicing their hits or misses loudly. Neither
noticed as their eyes turned aqua and their hair blazed gold, focused too
intently on the television screen. Finally Vejiita landed a killing blow and
Goku’s character slumped to the ground, defeated. Vejiita shouted in triumph,
dropping the controller and grinning widely.
"Oh, come on!" Goku moaned, dropping
his controller in a much more defeated fashion. "No way, I had
you!"
"You lose, Kakarrot!" Vejiita
smirked, sticking his finger in Goku’s face.
Suddenly the two actually looked at each other
and stopped short, blinking as they realized they had both turned Super
Saiya-jin.
"Huh," Goku said after a moment.
"Well, I think that’s about enough of that."
Crouching down, he turned off the TV and the
Playstation, then turned back to Vejiita. The prince’s hair flickered into to
black and he sank back to the floor, leaning against the couch again. Goku
joined him, also releasing his SSJ form, and for a moment they both relaxed,
their heads resting against the cushions as they gazed at the ceiling. Then, at
almost exactly the same time, they rolled their heads to the side to look at
each other.
After a moment of silence, Goku started
laughing. Vejiita struggled to keep a straight face, but found that his lips
would not obey him and grinned back. Goku’s eyes were sparkling.
"I can’t believe we turned Super
Saiya-jin."
Vejiita sighed, still smiling. "Hm. Well.
Maybe I can understand why Trunks likes that so much after all."
Goku nudged him. "I told you it would be
fun." He twisted to the side so he was facing Vejiita more fully, his
elbow on the couch and his hand bracing his head. "You got a little worked
up for a while when you were losing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that
many swear words strung together in one sentence before."
Vejiita snorted. Then, unable to hold it back,
he laughed out loud. "Hn, you turned Super Saiya-jin, too. Don’t tell me
you weren’t into it."
Goku grinned. "I bet if we counted, I won
more matches."
Vejiita grunted, wondering vaguely why he
couldn’t stop smiling. He allowed his head to roll back so he was facing the
ceiling again. "Whatever, Kakarrot."
A relaxed silence fell. Vejiita could hear the
clock ticking. He could hear Goku’s breathing, soft and even. Slowly, he became
aware of how close they were now sitting. Goku’s knee was nearly touching his
thigh, the arm braced on the couch only a few inches from his head. He could
feel Kakarrot’s eyes on him and took a shallow breath, forcing himself to keep
his gaze on the ceiling. Then Kakarrot’s fingers touched his cheek.
He caught his breath as Goku’s touch tipped his
head to the side, toward the other Saiya-jin. The dark eyes that met his were
tender, faintly questioning. He felt his heart beat accelerate and his
breathing become louder as Goku’s fingers smoothed down his cheek, curling
around his ear and then softly tracing his jawline. Vejiita couldn’t look away
from him. And then he bent his head, lightly touching his lips to Vejiita’s.
The contact was faint, the merest breath of
warmth against his mouth, but Vejiita shivered violently, his eyes closing.
Goku came back to him, more fully this time, his lips caressing, softly,
gently, his hand slipping around to cradle Vejiita’s nape. The tender pressure
of his lips begged for a response, and Vejiita’s mouth trembled open, granting
entrance.
Goku kissed him like it was the first time, his
tongue slipping gently between Vejiita’s lips as he tasted him with tender
restraint, never rushing or asking Vejiita for anything he wasn’t ready to
give. Vejiita’s entire body was trembling, and Goku’s arms slid around to
gently support him, his mouth playing over Vejiita’s very softly, even as the
kiss deepened. Vejiita’s arms slid upward to wrap around his shoulders, his
fingers clenching in Goku’s shirt, and he moaned against his lips as the other
Saiya-jin pulled him closer.
Oh... God...
Vejiita made a soft sound as their bodies
pressed together, a spasm sweeping him. Goku’s chest was solid against his and
Vejiita could feel his heart keeping pace with his own. He could not think
beyond the feeling of Goku’s mouth touching his; soft, warm lips caressing,
coaxing, gently teasing. He tentatively met Goku’s tongue with his own, heated
wetness twining together, and moaned again at the sensation.
He didn’t know how long it had been before Goku
drew back, nipping gently at his lips as he pulled away. Vejiita’s eyes opened
and he stared up at him, his body still trembling as he gasped for breath.
Goku’s face was only inches away as he gazed back down at him, his dark eyes
searching. Bending his head, he dropped another light, brief kiss on Vejiita’s
lips, lifting his hand to softly stroke Vejiita’s cheek.
"Are you all right?" he whispered
finally.
It took Vejiita a moment to realize what he had
said, his mouth opening as he tried to answer. But he found that he couldn’t
speak, his throat working silently as he struggled with himself. Goku remained
silent, giving him time while he lightly kissed his chin.
"I-I-I..." Vejiita stammered finally,
then blushed.
Goku’s eyes smiled at him for a moment before he
lost sight of them, the other Saiya-jin lowering his head to briefly nuzzle his
cheek, then brushing his lips along Vejiita’s jawline. A moment later Vejiita
felt his mouth against his throat and his eyes closed again, his head falling backward.
Goku traced a path up his neck with his tongue, then kissed his way back down,
pausing to suckle gently, leaving a faintly red mark on Vejiita’s skin when he
drew back slightly. Vejiita felt Goku’s fingers slide through his hair, then
drop downwards to stroke his back. Goku’s lips softly brushed his eyes, moved
to the side to kiss his temple.
The other Saiya-jin moaned quietly, pulling
Vejiita tightly against him. "Oh, God... Vejiita..."
Vejiita pressed his forehead against Goku’s
shoulder, breathing heavily as he tightened his arms around him. For a moment
they didn’t move, Goku holding him close and pressing his face to Vejiita’s
hair. Then the other Saiya-jin set him back slightly, lowering his head and
kissing Vejiita’s collarbone, his fingers making soothing circles against
Vejiita’s back. Vejiita panted lightly as Goku ran his tongue over the place
his lips had just kissed, pressing his head back into the soft cushions of the
couch.
"Kakarrot..." he whispered, his throat
tight. He couldn’t believe what was happening. This was different... different
than the other times Goku had touched him. It had never been... so slow, so
very gentle. Before it had always been blind instinct; they had acted
recklessly and without thought. Now they were both aware; he knew what was
happening, what Goku was doing. He felt every touch, the sweep of Goku’s
breath against his skin, the pressure of his fingertips against his back....
Goku’s touch slid around, his hand splaying over
Vejiita’s stomach. Slowly, he traced the ridges of muscle, slipping his fingers
along the waistband of Vejiita’s jeans, then letting his hand travel upward to
rest against Vejiita’s chest.
Lifting his head, Goku kissed him again,
flicking his tongue over Vejiita’s lips before pulling back to look at him. His
eyes searched Vejiita’s face, a question in their depths as they slid over his
features.
"You’re all right?" he asked again,
his voice soft. Vejiita could feel Kakarrot’s fingers idly stroking his chest
through the fabric of his shirt.
"I..." he whispered, searching wildly
for the right response, trying to remember what he was supposed to say, what he
would normally say. But he could only find the truth. "Yes... I-I’m...
Yes."
With a quiet sigh Goku leaned forward and kissed
him again, lightly, his lips coaxing a response from Vejiita who slowly kissed
him in return. Vejiita’s body tightened as he felt Goku’s hand flatten against
his chest, his splayed fingers curving over hardened muscle. Gradually, his
hand slipped downward, caressing, and then his fingers fluttered over Vejiita’s
nipple.
"Ah," Vejiita gasped softly, his eyes
closing and his head tipping backward. A low moan, nearly a growl escaped him
as Goku gently massaged the sensitive area through his shirt, teasing the
little bud to hardness. Vejiita fought the urge to squirm, his body shivering
against the couch as he kept his eyes closed, feeling Goku’s lips brush his
throat.
The Saiya-jin’s other hand slid down his back,
and Vejiita half-stiffened, then cried out, his body arching forward as Goku’s
fingers threaded through the fur at the base of his tail. He groaned, clenching
his teeth as the other Saiya-jin ruffled his fur, lightly sifting through the
soft brown strands.
Vejiita was hardly aware that he was in Goku’s
lap, straddling the other Saiya-jin’s thighs as he clung to him tightly,
pressing their bodies together. He nearly whimpered as Goku’s other hand joined
the first on his tail, fingers stroking and caressing until he was gasping for
breath. Unable to help himself, he pressed breathless kisses along Goku’s jaw,
down his neck, his hands smoothing over Goku’s back. Driven by something he
didn’t understand, Vejiita reached up, his fingers catching the collar of Goku’s
shirt and pulling it aside to bare the skin beneath. Panting softly,
unconsciously rocking his hips against the other Saiya-jin’s, Vejiita trailed
his lips downward until he found the point where Goku’s neck met his shoulder.
Growling quietly, he opened his mouth, bathing the skin with his tongue and
felt the vibration as Goku moaned softly. Acting on instinct, Vejiita’s lips
curled upward and he lightly scraped Goku’s skin with his teeth; a prelude to
something else. Then he froze.
Oh my God, what am I doing? What am I doing
here, like this?
He slowly realized how he was sitting, realized
that his other hand was threaded through Goku’s hair, his lips against Goku’s
neck. Sudden despair flooded through him. Kakarrot was touching him, touching
him in a way that he had almost believed wasn’t possible. But it was wrong, it
shouldn’t happen. He didn’t deserve it.
A choked sob escaped him and he struggled
clumsily to pull away from the other Saiya-jin.
"Stop... Kakarrot, stop, please," he
whispered, his throat aching.
This can’t be happening. He doesn’t
realize... what he’s doing. I don’t deserve this, he shouldn’t be doing this...
Not for me.
Slowly, Goku’s hands fell away from his tail to
rest on Vejiita’s thighs and the other Saiya-jin lifted his head, his dark eyes
pained. "Vejiita," he whispered, his voice tight, "What’s wrong?
I’m sorry, I didn’t-"
With a bitter, wrenching laugh that turned into
a sob halfway Vejiita twisted away from him, pressing back against the couch
and away from his touch. "Don’t be stupid, Kakarrot. It wasn’t
you..."
"What... what is it?" Goku asked, his
voice worried, "Vejiita, please... please don’t do this. Tell me. If it
was me, that’s... that’s all right, I’ll understand. I will. But-"
"It wasn’t you!" Vejiita snapped, his
voice rough, wondering vaguely why he felt the need to reassure the other
Saiya-jin.
Vejiita felt Goku’s hand touch his shoulder and
flinched, jerking away from the contact. "Stop," he whispered.
"Don’t touch me, Kakarrot, you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t..."
Clenching his teeth he pressed his face into the
cushions of the couch, telling himself that he would not cry, not again.
"I shouldn’t...?" Goku repeated, his
voice uncertain. "Why... why not?"
Vejiita groaned, his body shuddering.
"Don’t you understand, you fool!? I’m not... not right. For any of this. I
don’t want you to touch me because you’re defiling yourself. You have... some
kind of deluded idea that I’m a good person, that maybe I was misunderstood,
that-" Vejiita’s voice broke as he lost the battle with his tears, but he
continued anyway, the words tumbling out of him. "I’m not. I am evil
Kakarrot, you don’t know... You have no idea... some of the things I have
done... I have killed.... thousands of people, more people than you can
imagine, for years... And I..." His hands clenched into fists, the muscles
in his arms trembling. "I still... feel... this anger sometimes. I
know it is still there, that rage that lets me kill without mercy... You don’t
understand, you can’t possibly. If you knew, really, the things inside me...
You would want to kill me yourself."
Vejiita hunched forward slightly, his tail
wrapping around his waist. "But you are innocent. You... You believe in
me, I don’t know why. But you’re wrong, Kakarrot. There is nothing inside me
that is worth redeeming. You’re bright and pure, and.... if you just leave me
alone you’ll stay that way. Please..." Vejiita swiped at the tears that
marred his cheeks, smearing them across his skin. "Please, Kakarrot...
I-I..."
There was a very long silence. Vejiita shivered
with the effort to contain the bitter grief he felt, closing his eyes and
remaining curled against the couch with his back to Goku. His body tightened
sharply when he once more felt Goku’s hand on his shoulder.
"Vejiita..." the other Saiya-jin said
quietly, "why do you do this to yourself? I don’t understand how... how
you... You’re not evil, don’t you see? Look at how... You... you’ve changed so
much... You are... You are the most-"
"Stop!" Vejiita’s voice was a harsh
whisper. "No, Kakarrot, you don’t understand. You didn’t see, you weren’t
there. You don’t know the things that I know. Just... believe me when I tell
you that I... I am wrong. Believe me when I tell you that there is s..
something twisted inside me. And just.... l-leave me alone."
Again, the silence was heavy. Vejiita swallowed,
folding his arms over his chest and pulling his knees toward himself. When he
spoke his voice was barely audible. "Go away, Kakarrot."
There was a slight rustle as Goku shifted
uncertainly. "I... Vejiita..."
"Leave me alone!" Vejiita snarled.
Several seconds tripped by before Vejiita heard
Goku slowly climb to his feet. The other Saiya-jin’s voice was a strained
whisper. "All right."
Vejiita felt something cold clench in his chest,
but he refused to turn and look, refused to acknowledge Goku’s statement,
remaining curled against the couch. He heard the faint sound of Goku’s
footsteps as the Saiya-jin quietly left the room, and a few moments later the
front door closed softly.
Vejiita took a shallow gasping breath, resting
his forehead on his knees. He’d wanted Goku to leave. It was what he’d wanted,
what he’d told him to do. But then, why did he feel like this? Why did some
part of him somehow wish Goku had refused? He almost felt abandoned, almost
betrayed. But that was ridiculous. This was what he had asked for.
Slowly, he dragged himself onto the couch and
lay on his stomach, his throat achingly tight. It was better like this anyway.
Maybe he’d made Kakarrot understand, just a little. He was not the kind of
person someone like Goku needed. He knew it was true. Kakarrot was light where
he was darkness. Kakarrot was innocence where he was corruption. He did not
question it. And if Kakarrot believed him, they were both better off for it.
But it still hurt.
Vejiita’s grief finally escaped him in painful,
wrenching sobs, tearing his throat raw. God, he wished... He’d wanted...
But it didn’t matter. Love was not for him. Life was not for him, he no
longer had any right to claim it. And on a level he didn’t wish to acknowledge,
a level he pushed into a deep corner of his subconscious, he’d thought if
Kakarrot had stayed there might have been hope for him. If Goku had... believed
in him enough, that it might have been true. But Goku had left. And it was
better that way. It was the way it should be. There was no redemption for him,
it was just a fleeting hope, a product of wishful thinking. He had known,
really, that this would be his truth.
But it hurt.
Trunks pushed open the door of the house,
grinning as he shrugged out of his jacket and turned to place it on one of the
hooks by the door. The party had gone pretty smoothly until a couple of
hot-headed jocks had gotten drunk. They’d started a brawl and ended up
challenging Trunks. His grin widened. He’d rather enjoyed himself.
It’s good to be a Saiya-jin, he laughed to himself, remembering the astonishment on
their faces. Or a half-Saiya-jin....
Running a hand through his hair in an attempt to
straighten it after his wild flight, he slipped quietly down the hallway,
glancing into the den on his way to his bedroom. He almost continued on his
way, then suddenly froze, taking several steps backward and looking again, his
lips parting in silent shock.
His father was curled up on the couch, his face
pressed against the cushions, and it looked like he was shaking. For a moment
Trunks told himself that it couldn’t possibly be what it seemed, that it was
completely ridiculous and he should just keep heading toward his room. And then
he heard Vejiita sobbing.
Trunks gasped faintly, his eyes widening as his
chest tightened and he slowly crept forward into the room, moving until he was
standing beside the couch, looking down at the Saiya-jin prince who was yet
unaware of his presense. Wondering frantically what could have brought his
father to this, Trunks reached out slightly, stopping just short of actually
touching the prince.
"Dad?" he whispered, his voice taught
with concern.
Vejiita stiffened, the muscles in his back
tightening visibly as he choked back his tears, his fingers sinking into the
soft leather cushions. He didn’t look up.
"Shimata," he whispered after a
moment, slowly drawing his knees beneath him until he was in a semi-upright
position, though he was still hunched over. His breathing was ragged and
uneven, his body shuddering as he tried to contain the sobs that wanted to keep
coming.
Trunks sank down on the couch beside him, daring
to set his hand on Vejiita’s back. "Dad...? What happened? What’s
wrong?"
After a quiet gasp for breath Vejiita whispered,
"Nothing... Trunks. Just... let me be..."
Trunks ignored the request, not about to leave
his father alone like this. He shifted slightly, his arm moving to wrap around
Vejiita’s shoulders. "No, Dad... what is it?"
Vejiita pressed his face to his hands.
"Trunks, I can’t... I can’t tell you this... It’s not... I can’t...
please..."
Trunks shook his head slightly, still badly
wanting to know what was going on, but it was more important that he help his
father right now.
"That’s all right, Dad," he whispered.
He could feel Vejiita’s body trembling, feel the anguish simmering beneath the
surface. It seemed unreal that this could be his arrogant, invincible father.
Deeply concerned, he pulled the prince into his embrace, despite his
low-throated protest, holding him so Vejiita’s head was on his shoulder.
"It’s all right... It’s all right,
Daddy," he murmured, vaguely astonished that the endearment had escaped
his lips. He could feel something else, feel that somehow Vejiita desperately
needed reassurance. "It’s all right... I love you."
Vejiita shivered violently, an agonized sound
escaping him, and Trunks felt the moist heat of his father’s tears dampening
his shirt. Tightening his arms around him, Trunks rocked gently, wondering how
it was that he had become the comforter. Vejiita had always been so strong; if
anyone had cried it had been Trunks. But that didn’t matter right now. Soothing
whatever was hurting his father was all that was important.
Closing his eyes, Trunks held him close.
Back to:
Home My Fanfiction Guest Fanfiction Image Gallery My Guestbook