Gohan was near sleep, but continued his thoughts. Strangely, it seemed that the answers to all his questions and worries lie in Vejita. As sleep drew nearer, Gohan decided to go see Vejita.
Vejita was surprised to feel the familiar ki coming closer and closer. Perhaps the brat was lost. Vejita leaned against one of the largest trees near the pond and watched as the young half-Saiyajin landed with a tap of his boots.
"What the fuck do you want?" Vejita asked, knowing that this involved his softer side that he’d revealed only a day ago.
Gohan stepped over to the older and stronger man, plopping down a safe distance away from him, "I was wondering if I could talk to you."
"Are you going to talk or sit there all day?" Vejita asked rudely, feeling very much violated by the brat that had witnessed his caring side.
"Oh, well, I was wondering if you knew what was wrong with Dad?" Gohan asked cautiously, afraid to offend the much stronger warrior.
"I thought it was obvious."
"Well," Gohan stuttered, "I’ve been trying to figure it out and yesterday…"
It was clear now that the brat was as blind as his father was. There was no point in telling the brat the truth: that he and Kakarotto yearned for one another, since Kakarotto hadn’t figured it out yet.
"Maybe I should tell you," Vejita interrupted rudely, "Kakarotto no longer loves his puny Ningen wife."
Gohan had wondered at that, "But is there more…"
"No," Vejita interrupted again, not wanting to have to share his feelings with the merciful brat, "You should go."
With that, Gohan rose to his feet and leapt into the air, blasting off towards school. He’d learned enough to know that his father was going through a lot, but he hadn’t learned enough to calm his curiosity. The last thing he needed though was to get in a fight with Vejita, where he’d most likely be killed. So, he left. Just as Vejita had told him to.
Bulma sat back in her chair, watching her young son chow down. He ate like his father. Like all Saiyajin did, swallowing without chewing. It was so quiet around the house now. No more training sounds, except when Trunks was bored. No more rude comments. It was almost peaceful.
Trunks had asked her questions like, "Where did Papa go?" and, "Is he coming back?" She’d simply answered them honestly. She was surprised to see Trunks take it so well. He must have seen it coming.
"Mom, you’re not hungry?" Trunks asked through a mouthful.
She brushed the comment off as if it had never been asked, "Don’t you think it’s been a long time since we’ve seen all our friends?"
Trunks shrugged, "I guess so."
Bulma smiled, that was all she needed to hear, "Well, what do you say to a little reunion at our place?"
Trunks just stared at her, continuing to shove food into his mouth.
Bulma hopped out of her chair and trotted over to the phone, quickly dialing the number.
Krillin sat back and watched as his beautiful wife showed his lovely daughter how to swim. Number Eighteen was tall and thin with shoulder length blonde hair. It was rare to see her in a swimsuit and he took it in for all it was worth as he relaxed in the beach chair, wearing a red T-shirt and khakis. His daughter, only four, was wearing a frilly pink swimsuit over her chubby little body. Marron. She was so cute with her mother’s blonde hair and his friendly attitude.
"Krillin!"
Sitting up, Krillin looked to the bright pink house he shared with his family as well as with Meijin Roshi just behind him. He could see the bald old turtle hermit waving with the phone in his hand.
Slowly, the short man climbed out of his chair and made his way to the house. He’d been living on the tiny island for quite some time, but it wasn’t until recently that he was so happy with it. He’d even let his black hair grow out, not too long. He wondered what all his friends, namely Goku, would think.
"Telephone." Roshi said as he handed Krillin the phone and retreated back into the house to watch some more exercise videos.
Krillin took the phone and held it to an ear, "Hello?"
"Krillin?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yeah?"
"It’s me… Bulma."
"Oh, hi. Wow. It’s been a long time. Gosh over five years, eh?" Krillin said, scratching his head and watching his wife and daughter from the window.
"Yeah… Almost seven. About that… I was wondering if it would be a good idea to have a little get-together at my place?" Bulma asked, watching her son wipe his face on his arm, jump out of his chair, and trot outside.
"Uh… I guess."
"What do you mean, ‘I guess.’ It’s a great idea!"
Same old Bulma, "When are you going to have it?" Krillin asked.
"I was thinking maybe in about two weeks on Saturday."
"Sounds good." Krillin said, nodding even though this conversation was taking place over the phone.
"Okay then. Oh, and could you do something for me?"
"Uh… Sure… What?"
"Just let everyone know when, where, and what for me. Okay? Okay. Thanks, Krillin. Bye. Oh, and see ya there." Bulma said as she dropped the phone into its cradle.
"Sure." Krillin answered to no one as he hung the phone up and began his task of announcing the reunion.
----------------------------------------------
"Goku, aren’t you ready?" Chi-Chi asked as she stared at her dazed husband.
Snapping back into reality, Goku realized that his family was ready. He watched as his youngest son called forth Kinto’un, the magic cloud that had been given to Goku when he was just a child by Meijin Roshi.
"Kay." Goten chimed as he climbed onto the cloud and helped his mother up.
With that they blasted off into the calm blue sky. They were on their way to the reunion. Goku sighed. He wasn’t ready for this. Two weeks ago Krillin had called and told them that everyone was invited over to Bulma’s place. Everyone. Goku wondered if that meant Vejita too.
Glancing to his right, Goku could see that Gohan was flying right beside him. On his left was Kinto’un with his wife and youngest son. Things had been somewhat better. He’d been talking to Chi-Chi more, trying to understand the things going on in her life. He’d been sparring more often with his sons and always acted interested in Gohan’s tales of how he’d kept the peace in Satan City.
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since Vejita had shown up out of nowhere. Goku felt a tingle in his fingertips. Vejita. He was stronger now. He could feel it, and it ached. The confusing frustration that had been torturing his mind was still there, but he’d decided to stop thinking about it. Now he simply ignored it. It was just easier that way.
Bulma sat back and looked at all her friends. It was nice to have them all together again. Tien and Chiaotzu hadn’t shown up yet, but she guessed that they were off in the mountains somewhere, training as usual. Most likely Krillin hadn’t been able to get a hold of them and lied to her about it just to avoid getting yelled at.
Looking around again, Bulma noticed that Goku hadn’t arrived with his family. She’d hoped he’d come. She was looking forward to gossiping with Chi-Chi. Not that they didn’t do that enough over the phone.
Bulma sighed. This was great. She was relaxed in a fluffy couch beside her mother, who was offering everyone cute little desserts. Her father was off in the shop, tinkering with some new and advanced device. Krillin was visiting with Yamcha, Meijin Roshi, and Oolong. Piccolo was sitting with them, but he wasn’t contributing much to the conversation. Number Eighteen and Marron were each sitting in a blue armchair. Bulma had been so surprised to see that Krillin had a daughter, much less hair. The little girl was really cute. Trunks was talking to her about something. From the looks of it Number Eighteen was pleased. Probably because Trunks was telling the feminine little girl about the latest fighting technique he’d learned. He just couldn’t wait for Goten to get there so he could explain it to him too. Bulma smiled. It was great.
"Hey, Vejita."
Bulma’s head jerked up at the sound of the turtle hermit’s voice. Sure enough, there was Vejita, looking sleek and handsome as always. He was wearing a black spandex bodysuit and white gloves and boots. Bulma felt her eyes watering and her cheeks burning. Why’d he have this effect on her? It didn’t matter. The truth was that she was still attracted to him and in her own way, still loved him. Suddenly, she felt a little less than presentable. She was wearing a short dark blue sleeveless dress and she’d just had her fair blue hair cut quite short. Everyone had commented on how much they liked it, but she knew that it wasn’t what Vejita liked. He liked her to look strong, but that was the problem. She wasn’t strong.
Vejita glanced around the room. Kakarotto wasn’t there. That was probably best. Lately, his need for the younger man was stronger than ever. He could still sense Kakarotto raging in the forest from time to time. He understood why. By causing damage he’d been working off his sexual frustration. Vejita found himself doing that a lot lately, as well as jerking off.
"Oh, hello, Vejita. Would you like some tea?" Bulma’s mother, Mrs. Briefs asked, holding up a pitcher of tea, sporting her knew black and white horizontally striped tube-top and tapered blue jean pants.
Vejita didn’t bother answering the woman, and watched as she scurried off to make some more appetizers. Vejita glanced around the room to find that Number Eighteen was there with what was obviously her little brat. The android was an enemy and knew it. Ever since she’d given Vejita that blow that broke his arm. Now the woman sat among them wearing Ningen outfits and trying to have normal conversations with Bulma. To the side he could see a small group of supposed warriors. They were all there, laughing and carrying on. Vejita found a place among them and was soon ignored, much like Piccolo had been for all the past years.
"So, Yamcha, any luck with the ladies?" Meijin Roshi asked, winking to the well-dressed warrior.
Yamcha was wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and a pair of tapered black slacks and he’d obviously had his hair cut short again, "Uh… Well, not much."
Vejita smirked, he was the one who’d taken Bulma away from the low class Ningen.
"Well, it ain’t easy. I’ve been searching for that right honey for… Gosh, I don’t even know how long." Roshi said, leaning back in his seat.
"Here you go, boys." Mrs. Briefs said as she placed a tray of goodies in the center of the small round table they were gathered around.
Vejita couldn’t handle it anymore. He quickly stood from his seat and retreated to the kitchen, thinking that he should just leave. He’d made an appearance. Wasn’t that good enough?
Vejita plopped down in one of the six wooden chairs surrounding the kitchen table. He had to calm down. His frustration with Kakarotto was getting to him. He’d learned long ago to put up with the mindless jabber of the Earth beings. Why couldn’t he do it now?
More than a year ago he’d shared a kiss with his enemy, Kakarotto. It was wonderful. When he was with the younger man he’d felt better about himself, as if all his worries disappeared. All he wanted now was more of that, but the last time he’d faced the younger man he’d upset him. Vejita knew that Kakarotto felt the same way though. He had to. He could feel it. He’d just have to come right out and ask Kakarotto what the deal was.
