In Your Dreams

Title: In Your Dreams
Author: CrimsonTide
Pairings: Vegeta x Goku

A/N - Thank you to all those who wished me well with my scan. It went just fine today :) I was just getting what I call 'little aliens' checked out. I'd felt a couple of lumps around my rib area, so I had to get them checked out. Turns out they were just my breasts. HAHA!! I'm sorry, I couldn't resist! Anywho, I'll have results in a couple days.

Oh, and to Simone - I kept meaning to answer your question about how I update so quickly and kept forgetting. I just happen to have some time off between graduating Cosmo school and starting my new job, so I've had some free time ^.^

Ok, ONWARD!


Chapter 9

Goku woke up bright and early the next morning. He’d slept like a rock and without any nightmares after Vegeta had lulled him back to sleep. Who knew that something as simple as having someone run their fingers through your hair could be so relaxing? Maybe he could con more people into doing that.

After choosing a light blue and white training gi with black boots, Goku quietly snuck down the hallway and pressed his ear to Vegeta’s closed door. He listened for any sounds that might indicate the older man was awake. However, after several moments passed by in silence Goku could only assume the prince was still asleep.

He pushed himself away from the door with a disappointed sigh and turned to go downstairs. The Saiyajin was eager to begin training today and though part of him was screaming to barge in and shake the older man awake, the sensible part was telling him to leave him alone and avoid another early death.

The kitchen was empty when Goku finally got there, but he was undeterred. Now that he didn’t need a lot of food to fill his stomach up, it was simple enough to prepare a bowl of cereal. The Saiyajin opened the pantry and gazed upon the many boxes of breakfast cereals. He’d never heard of most of them, but the box featuring a little man in green clothing and a rainbow caught his attention and he decided to choose that one. It was called 'Lucky Charms'.

Goku grabbed a bowl and was delighted to find that the cereal had colorful marshmallows in it as he poured it. He filled the bowl halfway up with milk and grabbed a spoon before he turned and started to head back upstairs. It was unlikely Vegeta had woken up in the past ten minutes, but he felt the need to check anyway.

The Saiyajin was munching away happily and he had begun to hum to himself as his tail swished around behind him. He was full of excitement and was in an excellent mood today. Nothing could ruin it!

“G...Goku?”

Except maybe one thing... or person.

Goku looked up from his bowl and froze in mid-chew. His eyes grew wide and he was really hoping that he wasn’t seeing things right, but after a few owlish blinks he had to accept that it was real.

Standing not ten feet away from him was ChiChi.

The woman was wearing a casual but pretty yellow sundress with matching sandals, and her slightly graying hair was down and flowing just past her shoulders. She was even wearing some light make-up; just enough to give her a pleasant glow. Her eyes were just as wide as his own.

Several silent moments slipped by before ChiChi was able to move, and she took a small step forward. Her hand was reaching out towards him as if she was afraid he’d disappear any second.

“Goku?” she asked again. The woman knew this was her ex-husband, but it just seemed so unreal. He was a teenager again for one thing. And if he had returned to Earth, why hadn’t anyone said anything to her or the boys?

Goku finally swallowed the mouthful of cereal he’d been chewing. His entire body was trembling and for some reason the Saiyajin had wanted to turn and run when ChiChi had made a small step toward him. The hurt he’d felt when he’d discovered that she’d remarried washed over him all over again and his tail fell limply behind him. He couldn’t deal with this right now.

Soon surprise and shock melted into the anger ChiChi was famous for, and the woman finally closed the gap between them and grabbed Goku’s shoulders.

“Why are you just standing there?! I think you owe me an explanation!”

The Saiyajin began to feel a sense of panic and he shook his head in an attempt to make her understand that he couldn’t give her an explanation; not this second anyway.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?!” ChiChi gave the younger man a small shake as her frustration grew. “You’d BETTER start talking NOW! How long have you been back?!”

Goku struggled to come up with the answer and he quickly held up three fingers.

“Three years?”

He shook his head.

“Three days?!”

The Saiyajin nodded and gave a small smile as the grip on his shoulders lessened a little. He thought she might have been calming down until a sharp slap snapped his face to the side. Goku pressed his palm against the reddened skin in an attempt to dull the sting, but the tears that were forming in his eyes had nothing to do with the pain. He struggled to force them down as he looked back at the older woman again.

ChiChi’s eyes were bright with unshed tears, but anger was still the dominating emotion. She growled and grabbed Goku’s wrist, dragging him along behind her as she tore her way through the house.

“BULMA! BULMA, YOU GET OUT HERE NOW!!!”

No one could miss those screams and it wasn’t long before Bulma appeared in the doorway. Her hair was a little messy and she was wearing her lab coat. Obviously she’d been working.

“What is.... Oh...” She trailed off when she saw the two of them together.

“Oh?? OH? Why didn’t you tell me Goku was back?!” ChiChi shouted as she pulled the Saiyajin, who had been a step behind her, closer to her side.

Bulma’s eyebrows lowered in concern when she saw that the younger man’s palm was still pressed against his cheek, and his eyes were wide and fixed on the raging woman as if she would bite him at any moment.

“ChiChi, calm down. I’ll explain everything.”

“You’d better because HE certainly won’t!” The woman’s eyes darted to the Saiyajin beside her and he winced when she tightened the grip she still had on his wrist.

“He can’t! Just let go of him and let’s go sit down.” Bulma pointed to the couch in the next room and tried to control her anger. She could plainly see the younger woman was not only scaring Goku, but hurting him as well. The Saiyajin’s hand had dropped from his cheek and now she could clearly see the rapidly forming bruise there.

ChiChi turned to move to the next room but stopped short when she was faced with a rather angry looking Vegeta. The prince stood there with his arms folded over his chest and his tail lashed back and forth behind him. Dark eyes quickly darted from ChiChi to Goku and his jaw tightened at the younger man’s visibly trembling form.

Goku, assuming the prince’s anger was directed towards him for being so weak when faced with his ex-wife, turned his head away in an attempt to hide the unshed tears that were still threatening to spill down his cheeks. When he attempted to pull his wrist away ChiChi tightened her grip again.

“Oh, no! You aren’t running off, mister!”

Bulma finally stepped forward and placed her own hand on ChiChi’s. “Let go! You’re going to hurt him!”

The younger woman scoffed at the idea, but she let go anyway; mainly because of the low growl that rumbled out of Vegeta’s throat. She was just about to retort when her eyes finally stopped on Goku’s cheek. Her jaw dropped open when she saw the already black and blue spot that had formed where she had slapped him only a few minutes ago.

“What is going on?!”

------------------------------------------------------

It was a long and frustrating conversation, but Bulma had finally gotten ChiChi to understand what was going on. As with Yamcha, the blue haired woman had told Goku’s ex-wife the ‘censored’ version of his return to spare the Saiyajin any unwanted pity, but she also explained that Goku HAD come to see her almost immediately after returning. When ChiChi realized the younger man had discovered she’d remarried on his own, she was quickly filled with guilt over how she’d treated him earlier.

While Bulma had been talking ChiChi had kept looking over at Goku, who sat beside her on the couch with plenty of space between them, but the Saiyajin’s eyes had been fixed on the floor. He obviously didn’t want to be there.

The room’s three occupants sat quietly once everything had been explained. Vegeta had occupied himself in the kitchen once he was sure ChiChi would be keeping her hands to herself. He was still well within hearing range though, just in case.

The black-haired woman finally took a deep breath and slid closer to Goku, who visibly tensed when she gently placed her hand on his knee.

“I’m sorry, Goku. I still love you very much... but I had no way of knowing if you would ever come back before I died. I couldn’t wait anymore... Victor makes me happy. I needed to be with someone... normal.”

Goku winced at the term. He had tried to be normal, but apparently nothing short of an actual human could make the woman happy. He could accept that; he’d just wished he’d known earlier. It would have saved him a lot of grief.

ChiChi sighed when the man still refused to look her in the eye and she stood. “It’s funny. I came here to ask Bulma if she wanted to go shopping today... I never expected this. Not in a million years.”

The woman seemed to be talking more to herself at this point than anyone else.

“I really think you should see your sons soon, Goku. Don’t let them find out the way I did. I’m sure Pan would be thrilled to hear from you too.” ChiChi bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to say ‘hear for you’. It was hard enough not being able to talk; he didn’t need to be reminded like that.

“I should go.” The black-haired woman looked from Goku to Bulma and then back again. “If you need anything, you know where to find me. I’ll check back soon to see if you’ve visited with the boys. Don’t make them wait any longer.”

Goku watched the woman’s feet as she walked away, and he sighed in a mixture of emotions when he heard the front door shut. The Saiyajin looked up at Bulma when she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. “You alright?”

He mustered up a smile and nodded.

“Do you want me to treat your bruises?” the older woman asked, indicating his cheek and wrist. When Goku shook his head she smiled and straightened. “Ok then. Hey, at least the hardest part is over now, right?”

The Saiyajin drew in a shuddering breath before he stood and quickly walked away, leaving Bulma standing alone.

--------------------------------------------

Goku growled to himself as he angrily turned on the sink faucet in his bathroom and splashed cold water over his face. He rubbed at his burning eyes and turned off the water after a few minutes, grabbing a nearby towel and drying his face with it afterward.

The Saiyajin wasn’t quite sure what he was suddenly mad about. Was he mad about ChiChi remarrying? Was he mad that he’d been frozen and had let her drag him around? Or maybe he was mad because Vegeta had seen most of it.

Goku lowered the towel and leaned over the sink. He turned his face slightly to the side in order to get a better look at the bruise on his cheek. He frowned. Not even Cell had been able to bruise him with just one hit; and it hadn’t even been that hard of a slap!

Goku snorted and tossed the towel in the sink before he left the bathroom and walked into his room. He paced back and forth for a moment while he thought about what to do next. Did he really want to face Vegeta now? The older man had looked so... pissed! And he didn’t blame him either. He must have looked pathetic to the prince! Hell, he thought his own reflection was pretty pathetic!

On the other hand, Vegeta had warned him the day before not to skip out on anymore training sessions.

Goku stopped pacing and ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He was afraid he’d disappointed the other Saiyajin; and he cared! He cared what Vegeta thought! He’d never cared what anyone thought about him before, but suddenly he found himself caring a great deal about what the older man thought of him.

Why?

“Kakarotto!”

Goku jumped and spun around. He felt his throat tighten when he saw that Vegeta was standing in his doorway. How long had he been there? Why was he looking at him that way? What did he....

The prince raised an eyebrow at the flustered looking man. “Are we training or what?”

--------------------------------------

The training was simple enough. The two Saiyajins had closed themselves up in the Gravity Chamber, even though they were sparring in Earth’s normal gravity.

Vegeta had given Goku one task, and that was to land one solid hit. The prince had reduced his ki in order to even out the playing fields as much as possible. The goal wasn’t to increase his strength, but to increase his speed and reflexes. Even when he’d had his ki, Goku had always been at a disadvantage when it came to those two categories when he sparred with the older man.

Rule number one: if your opponent couldn’t catch you, he couldn’t hurt you.

The younger Saiyajin had started out confidently enough. He’d pushed aside all the emotional upset of the morning and focused on the task at hand. It was strange falling back into his old fighting stances again. He’d almost forgotten the familiar movements, and the Saiyajin could feel his body coming back to life as he threw punches and kicks at his target.

However, after the first hour passed, followed by the second and then third, Goku began to become frustrated. His brow furrowed in concentration as he danced around the older man and tried desperately to make contact. Each of his attacks were easily caught or knocked away though, and he could feel himself reaching his limit.

Negative thoughts began to creep into his mind as it became increasingly apparent that he would not reach his goal today. Goku felt even worse whenever he saw Vegeta smirk at him; the prince knew it too. The younger man knew his sparring partner was only using this exercise to get an idea of what level he was at physically, but to have fallen so far was still a heavy blow to absorb.

Though Goku could feel his muscles burning and his joints aching, he did not want to stop. It hadn’t even been four hours since they started. A spar between them used to last an entire day! No, he would not stop now. He didn’t want to see Vegeta disappointed with him. He wanted to prove that he was still worth the prince’s time; that he was still a Saiyajin!

So when his body chose that moment to give out on him, Goku couldn’t stop the strangled cry of anger that escaped his lips. As he threw a punch at the older man the Saiyajin’s muscles seized and cramped, overwhelming him with the sudden pain.

Vegeta caught Goku’s wrist and pulled the younger man against him so that he could gently lower him to the floor. The prince watched as the younger man’s eyes clenched shut and his chest heaved as he struggled to pull oxygen into his lungs. His body was covered with sweat and every muscle seemed to quiver beneath the skin.

The prince growled and cursed himself. Some trainer he’d turned out to be! He’d gotten so caught up in the spar he’d lost track of how much time had passed. Fighting with the younger man again, even with no ki, had felt so good and familiar that he’d just lost himself. It was easy to forget that Kakarotto no longer had the same stamina he once had, and now the younger man was paying the price for his forgetfulness. He had trusted him to prevent this from occuring again and look at what he'd let happen!

Goku opened his eyes when he heard Vegeta growl, just like he had earlier that day. He struggled to open his eyes and his breath got caught in his throat when he saw the older man glaring down at him.

He was angry and disappointed; just like he’d feared. The older man probably felt like he was wasting his time. He had to apologize! How? How?!!

Vegeta broke himself out of him musings when he felt the other man squirming. Goku’s head had been resting in his lap and when he looked down to see what the matter was, he was startled to find the other Saiyajin struggling to get up. The process was obviously painful though, and he certainly was in no condition to move around.

Vegeta shifted until he was able to cradle Goku in his arms, and he stood once he had gotten his balance. The younger man seemed to fight him for a moment.

“Kakarotto! Be still! You’ll only make it worse!”

The Earth-raised Saiyajin finally settled at the barked command, but the prince could still feel him tremble every few seconds. It took him a moment to realize the younger man was hiccupping. Apparently he’d worked himself up so much he’d thrown off his natural breathing pattern. The result: hiccups. Or at least that’s what Vegeta thought. If he had been able to see the eyes hidden under long bangs, he would have seen the tears that now freely flowed down Goku’s face.

The prince steadily carried the other Saiyajin back into Capsule Corp and eventually back up to Goku’s room. He gently set the younger man down on his bed, frowning when the other immediately rolled away and curled into a shaking ball.

Vegeta felt he should apologize. Obviously Kakarotto was angry with him for not training him properly. Why else would he not even look at him? However, perhaps now was not the time. If the prince had learned anything from Bulma, it was to give someone he’d pissed off time to cool down before approaching them again. For now he’d go retrieve some senzu beans. At this rate, it would be wise to have an entire stash of them on hand.

Goku struggled to bring himself back under control after he’d been set back on his bed. He wasn’t sure if the older man knew he was actually crying, but he didn’t want him to see, so he’d rolled over to hide his face.

He stopped breathing when he heard his door shut, and after waiting a moment and hearing nothing but silence, Goku looked back over his shoulder.

Vegeta was gone.

He hadn’t said anything! He hadn’t even insulted him or belittled him.

The Saiyajin bit his lip. Kami, he must be so disgusted with him! He wished he could use his Instant Transmission right about now. He didn’t want to be there anymore. He couldn’t deal with the disappointment!

Still though, Goku couldn’t help but wonder... why had he begun to care so much about pleasing Vegeta?

----------------------


TBC

Uh oh. Vegeta thinks Goku is mad at him and Goku thinks Vegeta is mad at HIM! Great googaly moogaly!

Oh, if you're interested in seeing a couple pics I drew for this story and a few more pics drawn by the talented Chi, go here ---> http://rourinu.deviantart.com/ (that's mine) AND here ----> http://xxchichixx.deviantart.com/ (that's Chi's.)