Vindicated

Wow, a LOT of you guys lost interest in this story, though I’m not so sure why anymore. I want to thank those who reviewed, especially Macha, whom I’m elated to see reviews from. She is one of the greatest fanfiction writers out there and I just thought I had to say that. Thanks a bunch to everyone else that reviewed, it means a lot. Anyway, enough of my sentimental blabber.

Btw, the song stopped following the fic for a moment. Sorry. Heh.

Disclaimer: *mutters…man this sucks…..I don’t own DB/Z/GT nor am I affiliate with any of its creators. I never have been and I never will be.

Vindicated Chapter 5 Happiness Renewed


It bothered him. He wouldn’t deny that it did, even if it were for reasons unknown to him.

The five year gap between the last time he had seen his fellow Saiyan was taking its toll on him. Sure he missed Vegeta, but missing him and wanting the prickly Prince’s company were two different things. He certainly didn’t miss the insults or the games.

Perhaps he had been too harsh after all.

The only thing that really bothered him now was why the older man listened to him. Had he been so callous as to actually scare the Prince off? Or had the Vegeta finally complied with one of his wishes? Well he didn’t *wish* per say for the Prince to leave him, it was up to Vegeta.

Apparently, he took it too literal.

Either which way Vegeta took it, Goku was feeling more lonely than usual, as if that were new anymore. When Vegeta had come to see him after four years of obvious avoidance, he had been somewhat elated to know that at least someone cared about him enough to visit. Of course Vegeta hadn’t come to makeup. Goku could see that he tried but he didn’t try hard enough.

All it would have taken was one more push, just one nice thing to say and he would have never had to try again.

In these times of perpetual loneliness, even the littlest bit of attention made hope spring in his heart. Twice Vegeta had killed that hope. Maybe he wasn’t too forward in his presumption of the Prince trying to hurt him. It wasn’t far from the man’s nature to do so, but Goku would have thought that after all the years they had known each other, something other than animosity would spark between them.

How Goku longed for acceptance and companionship from the Prince; it wouldn’t take much on Vegeta’s part, just a few compliments instead of insults and an acknowledgement of some sort to his presence. All the taller Saiyan could have hoped for was for someone to be with him when he was down, not scoff at him when he cried, and hold him when he slept. It wasn’t too much to ask, or maybe he was just too needy. Maybe Vegeta didn’t like needy.

Goku sighed, resting his head on his arm and nibbling on the skin there. If only he hadn’t said what he said. If only he tried to see what was upsetting the Prince so much. As far as Goku knew, he was too caught up in his own problems to deal with someone else’s and if Vegeta needed help, he sure didn’t show it.

By now, Goku knew what the other Saiyan was like on the inside and out, but differentiating between his moods was hard enough. If he even so much as tried to guess what the Prince was feeling, then it was none of his business, harshly put.

One more than a few occasions he tried to offer his companionship to Vegeta only to be turned down, each turndown more demeaning than the last.

*“When you can go fuck yourself, I’ll tell you.”*

That one hurt pretty bad.

He didn’t say anything after that and what the older man did next almost made him cry. He laughed, laughed until he doubled over on his sides in hysterics.

Goku didn’t find it funny at all. He would have gotten up and left then, but at the time he was willing to deal with it until he found an opening. That opening never came. It was the same thing for years, and those were years Goku would have rather spent alone rather than in the presence of the unsettlingly mean Prince.

Surely, he thought, no one but a monster could be so cruel, but Vegeta had proved him wrong. Vegeta was more humane, as far as accepting Earth as him home went, but there were just some things about him that were still as cold hearted as the man he fought over 25 years ago.

Vegeta changed. He was humane alright. But not to Goku. For some reason nearly 7 years ago, the elder Saiyan started acting meaner than usual, as if Goku had done something wrong yet again. Goku tried and tried to find out what he was doing to make Vegeta so angry at him, but try as he might, he just couldn’t figure out what it was. Then he was an idiot. That’s what Vegeta always said when he asked him what was wrong. That was always the first response.

*“You baka.”*

Every other time he asked after that, it was some heart crushing insult to add to his already messed up life. Why couldn’t Vegeta see that he was hurting him? Didn’t he care? Obviously not. He couldn’t have cared. But then again….why did he come back after four years? He said he’d missed him then he just snapped once Goku asked a question.

What was wrong with him? It probably would have gone smoother if he kept his mouth shut. But he just had to know, he felt that he at least had that right.

Now he was all alone again, sitting in his kitchen, waiting for someone, anyone to come and knock on his door. He was desperate. A few times he had gone to seek the Prince’s company but always lost his courage at the end. All that was left of him was his hope that someone would come around. Now he was nothing but a muscle bound idiot, all that made him what he was, was gone.

Tears stung the back of his eyes and he didn’t try to fight them. He never did.
Here he was, the protector of Earth, bawling his eyes out because he was lonely. Ha, what a way to end up after such an adventurous and meaningful life thus far.

He cracked a smile and snickered. He couldn’t believe himself. Not even a life threatening wound had this kind of effect on him. He always thought that nothing but the death of a loved one could make him cry. He cried for Chichi, now he was crying for himself.

How was he going to continue living like this? He could leave and go of in search of adventure, but it wouldn’t be the same doing it alone. He would be even worse off leaving than staying.

Why did it suddenly hurt to be alone?

He remembered as a child he could go for years being alone and not having a care in the world. As he grew older and had a family of his own, he found himself the happiest he’d ever been. Years went by and his sons grew and “left the nest” so to speak and Chichi was getting ill. They spent the rest of her life peacefully enough; he thought that he could accept that she was gone.

Soon he realized that his sons suddenly wanted nothing to do with him anymore, neither of them had come to visit him at all since the passing of their mother. Even his only escape from life, his sparring partner, the only other one left like him, had shunned him. He didn’t understand.

What was it about him that suddenly repelled the people he once called his friends and family? Vegeta, most of all, he expected to take advantage of his freedom and spar with him every chance he got in the hopes of someday defeating him. His human friends were getting too old and had settled down years ago, leaving Goku all alone. It was as if they forgot about him.

There used to be a time when people flocked around him, or did funny things to get his attention, now it was like nobody knew he existed anymore. It had been years since someone dropped bye to say hello.

Of course, he tried his hand at visiting some of his friends but it just wasn’t the same. They were either too busy or their hellos were so dead he just didn’t want to think about why that was. Nobody had time for him anymore and with his Saiyan lifespan, he had nothing but time.

Perhaps he could start over. Marry again and have more children. Come to think of it, that sounded like a very interesting prospect. He was surprised it hadn’t crossed his mind before. But then again, he was a baka. But he was good for it. And for him, it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to love, he needed it desperately enough.

Goku rose from his chair and smiled a genuine happy smile for the first time in years. He would move to the city! There was no doubt he could find a woman in an area as populated as the city.

“Ahahaha!”

He would start over and finally be happy. It wasn’t a small world after all, surely he could find someone that shared the same interests as he and wouldn’t mind catering to his Saiyan appetite. He could leave all of this loneliness and misery behind. Now he had something to look forward to.

Rushing up the stairs, taking them in two bounds, Goku practically tore the door of off his bedroom and immediately went to the closet and began pulling everything out. Finally he had a chance to forget about all the hurt he suffered through the years.

He would leave and Kami willing if he ever saw his friends again, their aloofness would no longer bother him. Vegeta was as good as forgotten at this point. Gohan and Goten had their own lives and most likely wouldn’t care what he did either way.

Goku stopped his packing frenzy and stood in the middle of the room. He was leaving this place. After spending more than 30 years of his life there, he was finally able to go somewhere new.

He threw his hands in the air and let out a loud whoop, dancing around the room as happiness consumed in for the first time in so long.

“Back to packing!” His excitement showed in the speed he used packing. In less than five minutes he had gotten all of his things packed, which wasn’t much, and encapsulated his small house. He had no food now, but a little fishing trip would take care of that. All this excitement was making him hungry.

It was so simple. He didn’t have to suffer; all he had to do was whatever made him happy. His happiness was no longer limited to what he knew and now he could go out and meet new people, make new friends and hopefully have more loving children. Nothing was stopping him from changing his life and he was somewhat angry at himself for letting his needless misery get so deep.

Slinging a long duffle bag over his shoulder, Goku looked up at the sky and shielded his eyes from the cheerful rays of the sun. It had been so long since he noticed the beauty of nature; lately it seemed like everything was as bleak as his heart.

He would miss all the good times he had with his former friends and his children, but he wasn’t going to stick around hoping all of that came back to him. He would go out and search for it. Vegeta would be better off with him gone anyway. He was sure Vegeta wouldn’t notice he was somewhere else or that he had decided to change his life. It was all for the better.

Smiling at the spot his house used to be he began heading off through the dense forests in the back of the house and to the nearest road.

He would walk to the city; the exercise would do him good. It would take a while, but he had more time than he knew what to do with.

Humming to himself, he merrily took a bounce in his steps, clutching the duffle bag. There was no need to rush; there would be no shortage of good people anytime soon. Well, at least he hoped not. He wanted to enjoy this day and camp out in the night before he got to the city.

Some fish sounded pretty good right now and luckily for him there was a plentiful creak nearby.

He said to himself that he would walk but he couldn’t help but run to the creak. All this excitement seemed to demand erratic movement. He needed to feel the wind whipping sharply in his hair and against the smooth skin of his face. He was so happy he could shout and so he opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted his happiness out to all that would hear. Luckily only some rabbits and lizards were around to hear.

“YEEESSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOO HOO!!!!”

He jumped into the air and dropped his duffle bag. On the way down he striped himself of everything but his white boxers and dove headfirst into the creek.

Boy, Goku thought to himself, there were some nice looking fish down there.

A blue and yellow fish looked owlishly at the seemingly innocuous creature in the water and continued to go about its way. Unfortunately, it didn’t know that Goku just so happened to be craving fried fish. The fish didn’t stand a chance against a punch to the stomach that put it out of its misery.

“Ah, lunchtime!” Goku laughed cheerily and hauled the gigantic fish out of the water.

Minutes later there was a nice fire going with the surprised looking fish sizzling above it. It had been so long since he enjoyed a good meal. He never went farther than his back yard to hunt for the little bit of food he ate and it felt good to be out and about again.

Humming happily to himself, he busily devoured his fish with his revitalized relish and smacked his lips in content.

“That’s much better. I guess I better head off now.”

It would be a long way to the city, but the length of time it took to get there wouldn’t take away from the fact that he desperately need change in his life. Now he had a chance to be happy again and nothing, not even Vegeta and his selfish way, was going to take that away from him.

He was already at the point in his life when he needed to settle down and enjoy life. He hadn’t been enjoying anything since his wife’s death; it was high time he got his just rewards for being the savoir of the universe. He would spend the rest of his life happy like he deserved to be and never have to worry about why the people he cared about didn’t care for him anymore, or why his sons disowned him, or even why the closest connection to everything that he was suddenly wanted nothing to do with him.

Yes, this was the beginning of the rest of his life and he was going to enjoy it no matter what.

TO BE CONTINUED…..

Oh goodness. This story took a very unexpected turn. I didn’t plan for this to happen, but then again, I am writing this story from pure momentum and nothing else. I know this is short, but I sensed that it had to be because now this is the beginning of Goku’s point of view in this story. Things are going to be great. I can’t even guarantee that some of the chapters will be longer than this, but never under this length, I promise. As usual, it’s going to be a while before the next chapter is up as I don’t always have incentive for readily continuing this fic. But I’ll continue alright, don’t worry about that. Finals are coming, like doom, they are coming. They’re right on my ass. So…the next chapter might take longer than usual, though I will try to get to it as soon as I get the urge to continue.