A Light in the Darkness - part 30: Sick Friends
by Mia Skywalker, Wataruo

PAIRING: None that I'm willing to acknowledge in this chapter. ^_~
RATING: G
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters or anything about DBZ, but we both wish we owned the Saiyans. All of them. At least all of the ones with hair. These characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation, even though the last one is a crying shame. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball itself. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic. We just have fun writing it.
SUMMARY: Two strange visits with sick friends. Yamcha attempts to 'cheer up' Bulma, and Vegeta tries to fight Gohan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks to saiyengerl for beta'ing!

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Last time on Dragonball Z: A Light in the Darkness....

Gohan waved good-bye to his parents as they left Capsule Corp., and then considered for a little while what he wanted to do that day. He could spend the rest of the day playing video games, but he'd spent the afternoon yesterday doing that, and he wanted to do something physical. He really wished that Vegeta hadn't left; he'd wanted to keep training with him. He sighed despondently, wondering where the older man had gone.

Almost as though his thoughts had summoned it, he felt the older Saiyan's ki. Apparently Vegeta had been masking it earlier, since it appeared abruptly, not as though he was approaching from a distance. Gohan considered where he was sensing it from, and then with a rush of excitement realized that Vegeta was where they'd been sparring yesterday. ::Maybe he wants to spar some more today, but doesn't want to come back here, because Bulma kicked him out! Maybe I'll just go see him!:: The little Saiyan boy took off, heading for the desert area.

When he arrived, he was surprised to see Vegeta slumped on the ground, looking almost exhausted. Vegeta's ki was very low as well. He'd thought that maybe Vegeta had been keeping it low to hide it a little, but now he sensed something might be wrong. He landed lightly next to the older Saiyan, and waited for a response from him, wondering if he should ask him if he wanted to train, or if he should leave.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Yamcha left his apartment in Satan City after getting Chi-Chi's phone call, feeling somewhat reluctant. The last time he'd seen Bulma was three nights ago, and they'd gotten into another fight. He really didn't understand why she was angry with him. Just because he was friendly to someone who was a fan didn't mean she should get all riled up. He was a famous baseball player and had a lot of fans. He had to be nice to his fans, after all. He couldn't just be rude to them. That wasn't done.

He let the wind whip through his long hair as he drove his aircar to the Capsule Corp, and parked the car in the small lot reserved for non-capsular cars. He noticed Gohan shooting out of the house as he approached, and the small Saiyan boy shouted a greeting at him as he zoomed off. Yamcha smiled and shook his head, and then headed into the house to face Bulma, carrying the flowers he'd bought for her in the hopes that they would prove some sort of peace offering. 

He wasn't entirely sure what he was doing there. He hadn't told Chi-Chi that they'd broken up again; she would have been angry with him if he had. But she'd coerced him into agreeing to come here, and if nothing else, he was a man of his word. He wished he'd been able to get Krillin to come with him, but he hadn't been able to reach the smaller man before he'd left. And he knew he couldn't really delay the visit. Chi-Chi would find out if he did.

He knocked on the door and Mrs. Briefs answered. He almost thought he saw a startled look in her eyes, but it vanished so quickly that he was sure he was mistaken. She smiled with her usual empty-headed expression. "Yamcha-san! How nice to see you! What can I do for you?"

"Um...." He looked at the ground, hesitant to meet her eyes for a moment. "Um, I've come here to see Bulma. I was told she wasn't feeling well. Can I... can I see her?"

Mrs. Briefs smiled at him happily. "Oh, certainly!" But then she appeared almost concerned for a moment. "But Bulma really is ill. You mustn't tire her out. If she looks fatigued, or asks you to leave, then it's a good idea to leave."

He nodded, relieved. It would give him a good excuse not to stay too long. He didn't really want to get into another fighting match with Bulma. He loved her, but he was a little afraid of her. Sometimes she could be... frightening. More frightening even than enemies like Frieza or Garlic Jr.

Yamcha went up to her room, and saw Bulma curled up on her bed wearing only her nightgown. It was obvious that she hadn't been out of her room all day; he wasn't even certain that she'd gotten out of bed. She looked up at him in horror, and then immediately drew the covers over her head. "Yamcha, go away!" she shouted at him, her voice muffled under the covers.

Yamcha looked at her in dismay. He knew that if he didn't talk to her for at least a little while that Chi-Chi would be furious with him. He had to stay and try to talk to Bulma at least a little bit. 

"Bulma..." he began, and then hesitated. "Bulma, are you still mad at me? Do you want me to go away?" He managed to make his voice sound very hurt and pitiful.

Bulma peeked slightly from the covers to look at him. Yamcha had sounded very much like a little boy whose toy had been taken from him, and he looked like a puppy that had been kicked. "I'm not mad at you, Yamcha," she said with a sigh. "But I'm a mess! I don't want anyone seeing me!" ::Especially you:: she thought. Somehow the idea of looking like a fright in front of your ex-boyfriend was just... wrong. She wanted to make him regret losing her, and why would he regret it if she looked terrible? She knew those feelings weren't really that logical, but that didn't matter much.

Yamcha looked at her in confusion, and then clumsily attempted to reassure her. "A mess? Oh, that's all right, Bulma. I don't mind if you look like a mess."

Bulma sighed in irritation, realizing that he was just as clueless as he'd always been. She could never hope to change him, and she wasn't sure if he'd ever change. She didn't think he'd ever get a clue as to what was bothering her. "What did you want, Yamcha? Why are you here?" she asked, sighing in resignation.

He blinked. "Chi-Chi said you weren't feeling well. She said I should stop by. To cheer you up, you know."

Bulma eyed him cynically. Chi-Chi had told him to stop by. Not 'I wanted to stop by because I was worried,' but 'Chi-Chi told me to stop by.' She knew, somehow, that he'd never have come here if her friend hadn't pressured him. ::Some boyfriend he's been to me. He's too interested in himself to care about anyone else.:: "That's nice, Yamcha. You've stopped by, now it's time to leave."

Yamcha scratched his head in confusion, and then smiled abruptly. "I brought you some flowers!" he said brightly, holding them out to her.

She stared at him blankly, and then took them with a small sigh. "Fine...." She buzzed the intercom. "Mother, can you bring up a vase, please?"

Mrs. Briefs arrived in the room in a few minutes with a vase, and she smiled at Bulma. "Your voice is better, Bulma dear! Are you feeling better? Do you want to get out of bed yet?"

Bulma considered it for a moment, and then shook her head. The idea of facing the world didn't appeal to her. She had a computer in her room that would allow her to keep up her Capsule Corp books, although she didn't really feel up to that, either. She still felt like bursting into tears at the smallest things, and knew she wouldn't do any good at the moment.

Mrs. Briefs eyed her shrewdly when neither of them was watching her, and then she turned her empty-headed smile at Yamcha again. "Yamcha honey, why don't we leave Bulma alone? She looks like she's still tired. You can have some breakfast if you didn't have some earlier!"

Yamcha was secretly relieved that he wasn't expected to visit with Bulma any longer. He smiled at Mrs. Briefs and trailed happily after her, happy to get something to eat.

Bulma sighed in relief when he left, glad that she didn't have to pretend that everything was all right. He was more concerned that she was upset at him than that she was sick, and his casual self-centeredness irritated her. He curled back up on the bed after he left, tears starting to fall once again. "Oh, Vegeta," she whispered. "I wish you could have loved me, too...."

~~~*~~~

It took Vegeta a while to even notice Gohan's presence, he was so preoccupied with his own thoughts. He sat still for several minutes hoping that the boy would just go away; when he didn't, but just shifted from foot to foot waiting for the older man to say something, Vegeta sighed deeply and raised his head from his hands to look the boy in the face. "Is there something you want, brat?" he asked. "If not, then leave." 

Gohan shifted from one foot to another curiously. Vegeta seemed positively... despondent, to him. This was something he'd never seen in the other man before. "Do you... do you want to train?" he asked him hesitantly. "You came here, so I thought maybe you wanted to train with me some more. Would you rather I leave you alone? I can go, or if you want me to bring you something to eat or something...." Vegeta's ki was dangerously low, he sensed, almost as though he hadn't eaten in a while. For some strange reason that Gohan couldn't put his finger on he was worried about the older Saiyan.

Vegeta gave a bitter laugh. "I am not hungry, kid," he said. What was the point of eating when the woman he was bonded to did not want him? The sensible half of him was screaming for him to get a hold of himself, but he wasn't acting sensibly. He was basing his reasoning on emotions. And this was dangerous considering that Vegeta had no experience with such things. "But if you want to train...." He gave him a cruel smile as he got to his feet. ::Maybe I'll get lucky and the kid will kill me.:: This line of thinking should had warned the prince that something was very wrong with himself, but Vegeta was ignoring things that made sense and going purely by instinct.

Gohan was suddenly very concerned about the older Saiyan. On the surface he seemed normal, but something seemed amiss. Gohan was worried, but decided to watch Vegeta closely, and see if there was anything he could do. But he knew that Vegeta wouldn't allow him to stay unless they sparred, so they would spar. "All right," he agreed. "What do we do today?"

Vegeta considered him. "Hand to hand. Come at me with everything you've got, brat."

Gohan nodded, fully expecting a training session like he used to go through with Piccolo, where Piccolo gave no quarter nor expected none. He came at Vegeta full strength, but it was only after they'd gone at it for a while that Gohan realized that Vegeta wasn't always blocking when he should have been. It was almost as though the man was deliberately leaving himself open on occasion, allowing some of Gohan's hardest attacks to go through. They weren't coming at intervals that he could time or expect, though, so couldn't pull his punches easily. 

He tried to slow down, so he could pull them when Vegeta opened himself, but the older man snarled at him, "What are you doing, brat? You're a warrior! Don't leave yourself open, and don't treat me like an invalid!" Then he punched Gohan hard, sending him flying, and the little boy came back.

He could feel Vegeta weakening, and Gohan pulled back, breathing heavily. "What are you doing?" Vegeta snarled. "It's not over yet. Come at me, or I'll kill you."

"I'm tired, Vegeta!" Gohan explained. "In a minute. Let me catch my breath." He ignored Vegeta's growls, and considered what he could do to drag the match out. He was afraid this time not of getting hurt, but of hurting Vegeta so badly that the other man couldn't heal himself. He had the feeling that Vegeta would allow his body to die. That made a cold shiver run down Gohan's spine. He had no idea what had done this to Vegeta, but there was almost a desperation in the other man's face and demeanor, something that made Gohan want to help him.

After he pretended to catch his breath, he moved towards Vegeta again. He thought carefully about what he wanted to do, then concentrated his ki and began moving even faster than normal. It wasn't faster than Vegeta could move, but he knew he stood a better chance of holding him off this way. He still landed blows - he knew that Vegeta wouldn't be satisfied unless she felt that Gohan was fighting - but he was pulling his punches just a little, hoping that it wouldn't be noticeable.

Vegeta stopped to catch his breath after a moment, realizing that Gohan had caught on to what he was doing, and glared at the boy. He knew that Gohan was holding back, and this frustrated more than angered the warrior. ::He is worse than his father.:: 

"Kid you are no help," he said without even realizing he had spoken aloud. He sank to his knees breathing hard. Not eating for a day and a half had affected the warrior greatly. It wasn't widely known that Saiyans had extremely fast metabolisms and if they didn't eat at least their weight in food per day, they would end up starving to death. This was partially the reason that Saiyans ate so much; the other was to help maintain their ki. 

Vegeta folded his legs underneath and looked up at the boy, who was watching him with such a look of blatant worry that Vegeta almost laughed. ::Why should he care what happens to me, when I don't?:: 

"Get lost kid," he commanded. "I am finished with you." 

Gohan didn't leave, however, but continued to hover above Vegeta. "Are you all right?" he asked him in a worried voice. He was tempted to force the older man to eat, but didn't know how he could go about doing that. Vegeta would just fight him, and nothing would be accomplished. "If you're not feeling well, you should go back with me. Yamcha's over there right now. I don't think they'd be mad if you came too."

Vegeta felt a white hot flash of jealousy. His jaw tightened and his hand clenched into a fist. ::That bastard!:: He seethed inwardly. ::If he thinks he can have my mate he is seriously mistaken.:: 

"I am perfectly fine brat," he ground out, when it was apparent that he was not. "I have no intention of ever going near that place again." 

::Liar:: came the unbidden thought. ::When the kid is gone you'll go back there won't you?:: He pushed that thought to the back of his mind and glared at Gohan. 

"Go away, brat, unless you want me to kill you before I kill your father."

Gohan's concern grew when he saw Vegeta almost double over. He couldn't tell what was wrong with him, but he was worried. ::I better go back and tell Bulma.:: He frowned. ::No, I'll tell Bulma's mom. She might be able to help him.:: 

"All right," he said reluctantly. "But if you get hungry later, I'll bring you something to eat, all right?" 

He flew off again, heading back towards the Capsule Corp as quickly as possible. He landed in the front yard and headed into the house, seeing Yamcha and Mrs. Briefs chatting happily in the living room. "Mrs. Briefs!" he shouted at the woman. "Vegeta's sick! I need to get him something to eat!"

For the first time since they'd known her, almost, a look of real concern passed over Mrs. Briefs face. "Sick? Are you sure?"

Gohan nodded, his small face serious. "Uh huh. His ki was really low. And he was letting me beat him up, he wasn't fighting back, when he was supposed to be training me. He got mad when I didn't want to hurt him."

::Training him?:: Yamcha thought, startled. He wondered if Chi-Chi knew about this. He wasn't about to be the one to tell her, though. 

"I think I'd better leave," he said hastily, when he saw Mrs. Briefs get up to gather some things for Vegeta. She didn't know what he would need, but she gathered up what she thought a sick person would need. "I'd just be in your way right now."

Mrs. Briefs nodded absently, and continued to gather blankets and food while Yamcha exited the house. He hesitated at the stairway, and then decided to say good-bye to Bulma before he left. He went upstairs, and when he saw her curled up on the bed with her back to him, he decided not to wake her.

Bulma stirred when the door to her bedroom opened and shut. She hadn't been sleeping, but was glad that whoever it was hadn't come in to see her crying.

Yamcha went downstairs again, and walked slowly out the door, heading out to his car.

~~~*~~~

Vegeta was greatly relieved with Gohan left. He was starting to shake and he hadn't wanted Gohan to see his weakness. After several deep breaths, Vegeta got his trembling under control and he stood up. He took to the air, but realized that he was too weak to fly and was forced to land again. 

He was suddenly annoyed that he didn't have the strength to even fly and realized that even though he had no appetite he needed to eat something. ::Otherwise I will die before I have a chance to kill that lowlife Yamcha.:: Thus motivated Vegeta got to his feet and searched for food.

 To be continued.....

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And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Goku worries about a certain Saiyan Prince.