~May 7th, 2001~
The disclaimer and the warnings are in Week One. If you haven't read that one already, why are you here?
Author's Note: Week One was a place to put every single incomplete story idea I've had recently. The ones that wouldn't work out as a full story because they would be too short. Short in my opinion anyway.
Author's Note #2 (11-19-2002): I've decided to post what I finished last year (instead of the complete story) and explain why I don't think this will ever be completed. Lately, I've been writing (and reading) a lot of Vegeta x Goku fics. This is Vegeta x Bulma. I'm not used to doing canon couples anymore so anything I add to day three wouldn't be very good.
Shameless Plug: Since people read my humor fics way more often than they read my other ones, I'm going to advertise. You know my latest rewrite of "The New Age Empire"? I want more people to review it. Only part one is finished (and it's been that way for a while). It's called "Age of the Empire: Ghosts from the Past".
Warning: I've never been to any other country besides Canada so if I get something wrong, gomen nasai. I've also never taken French in school.
A Month in the Life of Vegeta
~Week Two, Part A~
Monday:
It took Bulma seven hours to pack for the trip. It took me only thirty minutes. I mean, how many outfits does she need? I know she's going to buy a whole lot of crap in Europe anyway. That's just more stuff to take home.
"Are you almost ready to leave Bra?" I asked. The onna made me do it. She said that if you didn't ask her at least every ten minutes, she'll take forever. I could say the same thing about her.
"Just about," she grunted. I pushed the door open to see what the hell was going on.
There sat Bra, on top of a bulging suitcase, trying to close it. But the girl just didn't weight enough.
"Let me do it," I told her as I shut it easily. I also lifted it and took it from her room so that Bulma could encapsulate it. She said that she didn't trust the airlines not to lose her luggage. "Is your brother finished?"
Bra nodded. "He was done last night. I was, too, until I remembered that I didn't pack my swimsuit."
"Your mother is currently deciding that one outfit needs to be exchanged for another." I rolled my eyes exasperation. "Onnas!"
"Hey!" Bra frowned at me. "I'm one too, you know."
"Not yet."
"Anyway," She followed me to Bulma's lab. "Trunks told me to tell you that he would be over Goten-niichan's house until it was time to leave."
I frowned. "Why?"
Smiling mysteriously, she said, "I can't tell you, but I know you won't like it."
That made me a little afraid. Now I know what you're all thinking, 'Vegeta, the strongest Saiya-jin warrior in the universe, afraid?!' But when it came to Goten and his insane family, fear wasn't a big deal.
Bra, again, is too intelligent and perceptive for her own good. She read the look on my face and patted my hand. "It'll be okay Papa."
After Bulma took care of her luggage, she placed all of the capsules into the case and stuck them into her pocket. Then she grabbed this huge carry-on bag and her car keys.
"What's in that thing?" I asked.
"My laptop, my makeup, a book, some stuff for Bra to do so she won't drive me crazy, your blood pressure medication, aspirin for the headaches I'm sure you'll give me..."
"Okay! You didn't have to add that last part."
She just grinned at me. "Well, you asked."
After Bulma unencapsulated the car we were off. Luckily the airport was only about four miles away.
Once inside the airport, we spotted our gate and headed toward it. I just had to look at all of the people in that place. Weird people, foreign people, short people, tall people; it was a regular mixture of ningen.
It was making me feel a little crowded. I mean, on Vegeta-sei the population was so small that we were only occupying less than 25% of the entire planet area. On Chikyuu they seemed these humans wanted to inhabit every single available area until there were even millions of people living in Antarctica. They multiply like rabbits. On Vegeta-sei, the mating cycle was only every seven years. We never felt the least bit overcrowded.
The flight to Paris, France was not as crowded as the concourse and the ticket areas. We found four seats together, not that it really mattered to me, and prepared to wait a while. Bulma herded us out of the house *way* too early.
"Konnichi-wa!" Came a voice from over to my far left. I barely gave it a second thought. Then something inside of me said to look in that direction.
The site that greeted me was bad. No, make that TERRIBLE. When Bra said that I wouldn't like it, she was understating the situation. I HATE IT!
Kakarotto, his youngest brat, and the loud demon of an onna brought all sorts of luggage to our area. ChiChi shouted and threatened a few people and they got three seats behind us. My back was actually touching Kakarotto's, if you ignored the chair backs between us. Thank Kami for hard plastic.
I glared at his family and then turned that look to Bulma. She kept on smiling. Then I bodily dragged her off away from them so I could ask her a question.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Maybe I was a little bit too loud because half the people clustered around the gate turned to look at me.
She pursed her lips, frowned, and just glared right back. I thought she didn't hear me. So I asked her again.
"I *told* you that you were going to give me a headache, Vegeta!"
"Well you shouldn't have invited those bakas along!"
"Papa," Trunks tried to use that sorrowful tone of voice. If you're over ten, it doesn't work anymore. "Goten's my best-friend. Can we *please* take him and Goku-san along?"
The insane onna cleared her throat pointedly.
"And ChiChi-san," he tacked on at the end.
I kept right on glaring at each and every one of them and realized that no matter what I said, they were going to come along anyway. Finally I gave up and sat down. "Forget it."
Both Bra and Trunks grinned and then decided to hug me. The girl on my neck, the boy around my waist. I shook them off.
"No touchy feely crap in public!"
"Aw, Vegeta," Kakarotto said. "Lighten up!"
I chose to remain silent and settled back into my chair. I'm going to ignore everyone until we arrive in France.
***
Plane trips are boring. I mean, *really* boring. It was around nine hours long and Bra got bored easily. For some odd reason she asks me the most questions when she's bored.
"Papa? What happened when you were on Vegeta-sei?" She asked this from my lap. Bulma sat on my right because she wanted the window seat. Trunks was sharing with Goten and Kakarotto and his onna were far, far behind me. Thank Kami for small miracles. Bra had to sit next to someone that she didn't even know across the aisle.
"What do you mean?" I didn't know what she wanted me to tell her. Most of it, in Bulma's opinion, was too horrible for her tender ears.
"What was your papa like? And your kaasan? What do princes do?"
I carefully considered my words since I noticed that Bulma was listening in. I guess she was curious because I had never told her any of this before. But then again, she never asked me.
"Well Bra, for once my father was sort of cold. But he was that way to everyone. Since he was the king, he had a lot of stuff to do so I never really saw him a lot. My mother.... I never knew her. There were all kinds of rumors going around about what happened to her. They usually included death. Some said that she died giving birth to me and others say that my father killed her."
Bra eyes got wide. "Are you serious? Why would your father do that?"
"He was Saiya-jin," I said simply. "We aren't usually known for our kindness."
"But you're nice," she told me. "I heard that you didn't used to be."
Bulma decided to butt in. "Oh he wasn't. He originally came to Chikyuu to kill all of us for the dragonballs. Starting with Son-kun of course."
"And I'm still not immortal."
"What's so good about being immortal?" Bra asked me. "You'll just keep on living and everyone you love would die."
"At the time, I only wanted to be the strongest in the universe. If I had eternity to train, I would be. Being the strongest is still important, but not as much as it was then."
"What about my third question? What did you have to do since you were a prince?"
"I mostly trained with Nappa and Raditzu. Since I was royalty, I couldn't mix with the other brats. My father told me all the time about how Vegeta-sei would be all mine one day and how I was destined to be the Legendary Super Saiya-jin." I turned slightly to glare at the unaware Kakarotto. The bane of my existence. "My planet got blown up and we all know how the second one turned out. Even though Brolli's really the Legendary one, Kakarotto gets all of the credit."
"What about Furiza?"
I blinked. "What about him?"
"I know he was the one to destroy your planet, but why did he do it? No one told me that."
"When I was six years old, I begged Furiza for something to do. He brought me on his ship and told me that there was a planet that needed to be taken care of. My father, along with some of his men, came onto the ship to get me and Furiza killed them all. At the time, I didn't know. Later that day, Furiza blew up the planet. It was because he was afraid that one day a Super Saiya-jin would be born and kill him. Turns out he was right.
"But the best part about being a prince," I gave Bra one of my rare smiles, "is being able to order everyone around."
She grinned. "Yep!"
***
When we landed, I was confused. I mean, the time difference is odd. We had left in the morning our time and arrived late night/early morning at around one a.m. To us, it wasn't even midnight of the next day. To everyone else in the city, it was two hours after yesterday. When the sun rose, it would be like repeating the day all over again.
We were all wide awake and bored. I mean, after you unpack what else is there to do?
I tried watching French television, but I couldn't understand a word of what anyone said. After a while Bulma took pity on me and gave me a translation dictionary. What good was it going to do if they're speaking so fast you can't look anything up?
Bulma went around handed everyone a copy of her itinerary for this city. We were going to at least three different countries to teach me how to relax. The Eiffel Tower was on the list as well as the Notre-Dame and other places.
The onna had paid for three bedrooms. Goten and Trunks in one, ChiChi and Kakarotto in another, and unfortunately that put Bra in our suite. Pan should have gotten brought along just so she would have her to talk to instead of me.
"Ooh Papa!" Bra exclaimed as she stood in front of the open window. The sun was rising.
I wasn't impressed. "Yeah? So?"
"So?! I never saw the sun rise before! Have you?"
I snorted. "Plenty of times. It's nothing special."
She sighed. "I don't know why I bother sometimes."
"You sound like your mother. It's enough that you look like her, but do you have to talk like her, too?"
She turned back towards the window. "Whatever."
"Veggie-chan!" Bulma sang as she stepped into the sitting room from our bedroom. "I'm ready!" She was dressed in this long, loose neon green dress with a large and floppy straw hat complete with a matching green and red ribbon. Even her pursed matched her outfit! Both Bra and I just stared at her.
"Once you get dressed, we can go," I told her. That wiped the smile right off of her face.
"Nani?"
I motioned at her. "You look like a tourist!"
She blinked, a little confused. "I am a tourist."
"Kaasan! You're not supposed to act like it!" Bra began to walk as if she was some French model on the runway. Swinging her hips and all that. "You're supposed to act like you belong here. Like you come here every single week."
I pointed to my conservative (and normal) jeans and tee-shirt. I had even forgone the gloves and boots. "At least dress like a sane person."
"You mean like you?" She put a hand on her hip. "Mr. Spandex Man!"
"Hey! I'm not wearing spandex now!"
Bra pulled a pad from her pocket and wrote something on it in blue ink. It made me curious.
"What's that?"
"It's my notepad for recording every fight that you have. The counselor at school said it was therapeutic."
"This isn't a fight Bra," Bulma said in a soothing tone. "It's an argument."
She waved her hand dismissively. "Argument, fight, whatever. You have so many, there has to be a world record in there somewhere. I'm going to write to the Guinness people."
I cross my arms across my chest. "Are we going to leave anytime soon?" I felt a slight tugging on my shirt. Bra looked up at me with huge, puppy eyes and held out her right hand. Sighing, I took it in my left one. She did the same to Bulma who obliged with a slight smile.
"Let's go!" She chirped brightly. I was less enthusiastic.
***
We met the others in the lobby to decide where to go for breakfast. I selected the hotel buffet. At least there would be enough food. The onnas could choose dinner.
I got a little bit of everything on three starter plates. I could always go back for more. That was the most perfect part of all, the hotel never seemed to run out. Kakarotto actually became full and it was miraculous. And, even though he would complain of hunger only a few hours from now, life was good.
Outside of the hotel, Bulma and ChiChi were studying this big ass map while the rest of us looked around at the scenery. Bra and Kakarotto watched the people drive by on the street while Trunks and Goten were checking out the girls. Since it was hot outside, there was a lot of flesh to see.
After about a minute of this, I began to get bored. I mean, couldn't we just get a cab and tell the driver where to go? So I suggested it to them.
"What a good idea, Vegeta!" Bulma said sarcastically. "We can ask them in our broken French and end up somewhere entirely different than were we want to be!"
I glared at her. "Proper nouns are the same in every language onna! You just tell the driver Eiffel Tower and we'll get there!" I stepped out into the middle of the street and began to wave my arms, trying to hail a cab.
"Are you insane?!" She screamed at me as she tried to pull me back onto the curb. The cars all came to a stop and began to honk their horns at me. Bulma clutched my arm tighter and her eyes snapped shut.
"It's okay, onna. They're not going to hit us. They couldn't kill me anyway." I motioned for the others to follow me and we got one cab while Kakarotto and his family got the other.
I turned to the driver once I got the front seat. "Eiffel Tower."
"Oui Monsieur."
I smirked at Bulma. "Now, wasn't that simple?"
"Oh, shut up."
The ride took only a few minutes. I used the time to try and think up a way to convince Bulma I was having 'fun' so she wouldn't bug me about it.
As we piled out of the cab, the man made a noise and pointed to the meter. The numbers 62.16 were clear on the display.
"Bulma," I said to her, "pay the man."
She reached into her purse for her wallet and pulled out a few yen.
"No yen, onna, francs." Then it occurred to me. "Did you forget to change your money over?"
She blushed and nodded. "Hai."
I tried to think. How much would 62.26 be in yen? Before I could say a word, Bra spoke up.
"Kaasan, that's 1515.68 yen."
We all looked at her in shock. That girl was already a living calculator and now she's a currency converter.
She just smiled at us. "It's a little talent I have."
***
The tower was okay. It was as standard as towers go, and that includes Tokyo Tower.
The one most interesting thing was all of the signs that said in a multitude of languages "Do not drop items from tower!" That tempted me to do it just to see what would happen.
"I see you eyeing that sign Vegeta," ChiChi said in a disapproving tone. I don't think I told her how much I hated her lately.
"I'm not one of your brats, onna."
"I don't care! You shouldn't disobey rules!"
I turned my back to her. "But what *would* happen if I dropped, say an American half-dollar from this height?"
"You would kill someone," Bra told me.
"Really?"
She nodded. "At this height that coin would pick up so much speed that when it hit someone, probably in the head, it would kill them instantly."
I grinned slowly. "Sugoi!"
"That was not permission to do something stupid Vegeta!" It was Bulma who yelled at me this time.
I mock pouted. "But it would be fun!"
"I swear," she sighed, "you're like a child sometimes. What kind of example do you want to set for Bra and Trunks?"
"Like I've said a thousand times, Trunks is beyond saving." I glanced over to where he and Goten were playing pranks on unsuspecting tourists. "And Bra knows how to make her own decisions."
"I guess you're right. But it's pretty strange having a four year old who knows more than your average adult."
***
We spent more hours viewing the sights of Paris until finally it was dinner time. The onnas picked a place was high class. *Very* high class.
The man at the little podium thing led us to a table in the middle of the restaurant and handed us menus. I would have preferred one in the back. Bulma smiled and thanked him while we all took seats.
"You three better not cause any trouble," She glared at Goten, Trunks and me in turn. "I don't want to be embarrassed."
"What about tousan?" Goten whined. "You didn't look at him that way!"
"Fine," ChiChi rolled her eyes. "Goku-sa, behave."
"In other words," I said in mock sweetness to him, "chew before you swallow."
"Vous-avez choisi?" That waiter just appeared so fast, I'm sure no one noticed him. I did, of course.
Bulma nodded. "Oui. I'll have le poulet potage to start."
He nodded and wrote it down. "Et te, Madame?"
ChiChi looked at her menu and then tapped Bulma. "How the hell do you say this stuff?" I heard her clearly all the way on the other side of the table. I'm sure that everyone else heard her too.
"Just get le grillé agneau. It's really good."
Kakarotto's mate nodded and then completely butchered the words. "Just get me the lay grill-ay and-yo."
The waiter made a sour face at her pronunciation but wrote it down anyway. He then proceeded to take Trunks and Goten's orders. They both wanted the house special. Kakarotto wanted one of everything and Bra (in French that was, of course, excellent) ordered something that I think was steak. Then it was my turn.
"I want five plates of es-car-got. I'm not that hungry."
Bulma and Bra's mouths dropped open.
"Papa!" Bra blinked at me. "Are you sure you want that?"
I nodded. "Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be? I know how to order my food."
"But Veggie-chan!" Bulma said. "That's-"
"I know what it is." I waved the waiter away.
"Good choice, Monsieur. They are especially plump this year."
"You can speak English?" ChiChi asked him.
"But of course, Madame." The onna then proceeded to tell him off.
"You had me making a fool of myself when I can't even pronounce anything on the menu!"
"S'excuser, Madame. It will not happen again."
She crossed her arms. "I should hope not."
It took half and hour for the food to arrive. During that time I had a pretty interesting conversation with my daughter and she taught me a few French words that I didn't know. When our waiter finally placed the dishes onto the table, it could barely hold everything. They had to bring in extra carts for Kakarotto to put his plates on.
I lifted the dome thing over my plate and found something underneath that I wasn't expecting. I looked at it from different angles and still couldn't figure out what it was.
So I poked it with my index finger.
"Vegeta, are you playing with your food?" Kakarotto was amused, I could tell.
"Iie, bakayaro." I whispered to him. "I'm trying to figure out what it is."
He smiled. "That's easy."
"Oh? Then what is it?"
"Snails."
I just looked at him for a moment. "What do you mean, snails?"
"That's what escargot are!"
I didn't believe him, not for a second. "Bra," I poked her in the side, "what are escargot?"
"Snails," she said simply before popping a french fry into her mouth.
"Damn Kakarotto, you're actually right."
His smile turned into a wide grin. "Of course I'm right. I'm a master of food!"
"Of that, I have no doubt."
***
The day ended sometime around eight for us. Those extra hours took their toll on us and we were dead tired. I sent Bra off to bed with a goodnight kiss and a little reading from "The Joy of Physics" and crawled into bed next to Bulma.
"Vegeta," she said, "are you tired?"
"As a matter of fact, hai."
She kissed my closed eyelids. "Are you tired now?"
"Hai."
She kissed my nose. "Are you tired now?"
"The answer is still, hai."
Then she moved lower, completely bypassed my mouth, and disappeared under the sheets. I tensed up.
"Are you tired now?" Came her muffled voice.
"Hai." I lifted the covers to see her expression. She was pouting. "But you aren't so keep on doing what you were before."
She laughed and kissed me again. "Ai shiteru, Vegeta-chan."
"Ai shiteru, Bulma."
Tuesday:
Bright and early the next morning, I awoke and stretched. Glancing at Bulma, I noticed how peaceful she looked.
I loved her when she was awake, but I loved her even more when she was asleep and quiet. But I had to wake her or her schedule would be ruined. Then she would really make some noise.
"Bulma, wake up." I shook her as gently as I could. She grunted slightly and rolled over. That was the only reaction I got. So I picked her up and walked over to the bathroom. It was cruel, I admit it. But it was oh so fun!
After standing her up in the shower, I turned the cold water on full force. She woke up then, sputtering.
"What's going on?!"
I laughed and cut the water off. "You were sleeping too late."
"What time is it? Noon?"
"Six."
"As in six in the morning?!" She pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes.
"Yes, six in the morning."
"And you say I was sleeping too late?!"
I opened the bathroom door. "I'll go wake up Bra."
"Wait a minute," She grabbed my arm. "Shower with me."
"But what about Bra? You know if she's late you're going to throw a fit."
"I don't throw fits."
"Well, not as bad as ChiChi but still..."
She grabbed me by a very sensitive object and pulled me towards her. I didn't resist.
"Now, come on! Shower with me!" She squeezed.
I don't know if it was supposed to hurt, because it generated quite the opposite effect. If she was going to do more of that, of course I would shower with her.
Anything to please Bulma... and to get her to do more of this.
***
For the second, and final, day we were in France, Bulma decided to let us choose what we wanted to do. I didn't care, Kakarotto wanted to do something fun, and Goten and Trunks were still on 'babe watch'.
"What about a carnival or something Bulma?" Kakarotto asked her. He had this pathetic hopeful look on his face.
Bra smiled and nodded. "What about it, Kaasan? That or an amusement park. It would be fun! Right, Trunks?"
The boy kept right on looking at some blond girl. She stomped on his foot to get his attention.
"Right, Trunks?" she asked louder.
"Um, right?" He had this blank look on his face. Then he blushed when he realized what he had been doing and elbowed Goten.
"Whatever." The onna rolled her eyes. "An amusement park it is, then."
The theme park was noisy and crowded and irritating. The temperature was about ninety and it was like everyone decided that today was the best day to visit Happy World.
The tickets cost around 207 francs for each adult ticket. Bra's was only 103. So Bulma spent 1552 on tickets alone. They had special group rates but that was only for ten or more people.
We waited in line at the ticket booth for an hour because Bulma forgot to buy the tickets at the hotel.
"What does everyone want to ride first?" she asked after we were on the midway surrounded by gift shops, rigged games, and screaming children.
Everyone except me had maps of the park and were studying them intently.
The park was divided into four sections: Fantasy Land, Sci-Fi Land, Horror Land, and Kiddie Land. Of course everyone wanted to go in separate directions.
"Wait a minute!" Bulma shouted above the noise. "Trunks and Goten, you're both old enough to go without parental supervision."
Before she could even finish her sentence, they were almost out of sight.
"But, you have to meet us at the eating area in Fantasy Land around noon, alright?"
"Hai, Kaasan!" "Hai, Bulma-obaasan!" Trunks and Goten chorused in unison before they disappeared entirely.
"Bye Kaasan and Tousan!" This was from Goten alone.
"Now, where are we going to go...first?" She began but immediately noticed that Kakarotto had disappeared.
"Where did Son-kun go?"
ChiChi shrugged. "He mumbled something about cotton candy."
"Oh well. He can find us later."
"How about you and I head off to a little place on Parent's Island?" She pointed it out to Bulma on the map. "There's karaoke bar there."
"Oh!" Bulma smiled. "I love karaoke! Come on ChiChi!" Then she grabbed Kakarotto's mate by the hand and dragged her off down the pathway.
This left me alone with Bra.
"So, " she said while looking around.
"So, what?" I asked while wondering what she was getting at.
"Where do you want to go?"
I walked over to a dark green painted bench and sat down. "I'm staying right here."
I guess that was the cue for her to turn on the waterworks because Bra started crying right there in front of me and everyone else.
"PAPA! I WANNA GO ON RIDES!!" People were stopping just to stare or see how I would handle my daughter's temper tantrum.
"Go on them by yourself."
She wailed for a few minutes longer and then she just stopped. "Please can we go on some rides?"
"Are you going to stop crying like someone's murdering you?"
She nodded. "Hai."
"And you'll obey every word I say?"
She nodded again. "Within reason."
I stood up and took her hand. Hey, that answer was good enough for me.
***
There was this one roller coaster that I wanted to go on, but Bra didn't. The Creature was made of dark green steel and it was the fastest, and tallest, one in the entire park. I thought it was worth at least one ride.
At the end of the queue there was a sign that said "You must be this tall to ride this ride!" with a monster holding his hand outward. Bra came pretty much below the one-hundred and sixty-eight centimeter mark (five foot six). I was around a half an inch above.
"I wonder how we can convince the ningen up there to let you ride anyway." If worse came to worse, there were always threats.
"Are you really going to hold my hand?" she asked with a frightened look on her face.
"I can't do that. You sit in seats in one line and you'll be strapped in tightly. It's because there are loops."
That just made the look worse. "Papa!"
"It'll be okay! You need to learn how to be brave. I was when I fought Furiza." I thought a little reminder on how tough I was couldn't hurt.
She gave a small smile. "Okay."
The line moved so slowly I felt like grabbing Bra and cutting at least twenty people. The only good thing was that ten people could ride on each trip. After twenty more minutes we were finally the next ones in line.
Bra gulped very loudly and held me around my leg even tighter than before. She watched the people pull out and then saw them go through a series steep drops, loops, and corkscrews all at around eighty-five miles per hour. Two and a half minutes later it was our turn.
"Sir, your daughter is too short to ride. How about taking her to Kiddie Land?"
"Look human, I want to ride this ride. *Bra* wants to ride this ride." Bra nodded hesitantly. "So we're going to ride this ride."
"She doesn't look like she wants to ride."
I glared at him. "And you need to mind your own business."
"Fine," he shrugged, "if she gets hurt don't blame me. But you can't sue the theme park for any injuries."
"Papa!" Bra's scared look intensified.
I patted her on the head and tried to calm her down. "Nothing's going to happen to you, alright? Remember what's in your blood."
She took a deep breath and nodded as she got into a seat. When she was out of hearing range, I punched the operator in the stomach. Not very hard, but enough to get the point across.
"Don't ever tell her something like that again or I'll do worse things to you."
Bra had taken a seat in front of me and I helped her get strapped in properly. Then I took my place and waited for some fun to actually begin.
***
"Are you okay, Papa?" Bra called from outside. "I mean, you've been in there for like five minutes!"
I stood up from my doubled over position in front of the toilet. I am *never* riding that stupid roller coaster again!
I was alright until the second series of loops and stuff. I don't know what the hell happened after that. Bra was shrieking and laughing at the same time and here I am with my eyes clenched shut wishing that the world would stop spinning. She had to help me to the bathroom.
I washed my hands and splashed some cold water on my face. I'm just glad no one saw that besides strangers. When I exited the men's room I spoke too soon because Goten and Trunks were standing just outside.
"Papa, what happened to you?" He was eating a large tub of cheese fries. I prayed to Kami that I could ignore the smell of them. Goten had an ice cream cone.
I refused to tell them. It was none of their business.
"You'd probably think that he's weak," Bra commented. "He doesn't want that." She does know me well.
"Naw, I won't think that. He's mortal just like the rest of us."
"No matter how much he hates it," Goten added.
"Papa got sick when we got off The Creature."
I could tell they thought she was joking. It was still unbelievable to me. Me, the mighty Saiya-jin no Ouji, getting sick from a roller coaster ride. It was just plain sad.
Trunks looked at me and a stray breeze brought the smell of his food closer. "Are you alright?" He said after a while.
I nodded, unable to speak. If I did, I don't know what would come out. And I'm not just talking about words.
Goten came closer too. "You don't look alright."
I opened my mouth to tell him to shut up and had to cover it as I once again pushed everyone out of the way and dashed for a stall.
"We don't tell *anyone* about this, okay? He wouldn't like it." I heard Bra speak right before I entered, but I didn't hear what the other two said.
***
When lunch came I was basically okay. I mean, I had Bra tell me the truth whether I looked too pale or not. I didn't want *anyone* making comments about it. The picnic area was crowded, but the onnas had saved two green-topped tables with matching green-topped attached benches next to some plants. There was even a matching green and white umbrella through a hole in each table. The food lines were so long that I pushed my way to the front with Bra.
"I had so much fun!" Bulma said cheerfully as she dipped a fry in ketchup. "ChiChi and I went to that karaoke place and she looked so funny up there on the stage."
ChiChi frowned. "You didn't look too great yourself."
"But at least I didn't have to look at the words on the screen."
"Anyway," ChiChi changed the subject, "Goku-sa where did you go?"
"First I got some cotton candy and then I rode the Bumper Cars with Goten and Trunks. Then I got on the Ferris Wheel and the Merry-Go-Round."
"You rode all of the sissy rides, Kakarotto," I informed him.
"Oh really? What did you go on?"
"The Creature," I said proudly. He didn't have to know what happened after I got off of it.
His eyes lit up. "Wow! That's the one I always hear people talking about. They even have t-shirts that say: 'I rode The Creature and survived!' "
"I went on it too!" Bra spoke up. I guess she didn't want to be left out of the conversation.
"Nani?!" Bulma's eyes opened wide. "You did?!" Then she turned to me. "Vegeta, you let your four-year-old daughter ride that roller coaster?"
I nodded. "Hai. But she had fun so..."
"That's not the point! How the hell was she able to get on anyway? She's only four-and-a-half feet tall!"
I waved my hand in a dismissive air. "It's all in the past. Now, what is everyone going to do after lunch?"
She didn't have time to question me further because everyone's conversations stopped as they absorbed my question.
"Why do you care?" ChiChi asked.
"Yeah, Veggie, it's not like you to ask." Kakarotto commented.
I wanted to kill him for calling me that but I plastered a fake smile on my face. "I was just curious, Ka- er Goku. Is that so wrong?"
They all nodded, even Bra. "Coming from you, it sounds *very* wrong." This was from Trunks.
I snorted. "Well, excuse me then!"
"I'm going to go with Papa for the rest of the day, okay Kaasan?" Bra asked.
She nodded. "Fine with me. ChiChi and I were bonding anyway."
"In-between the stupid comments about my singing," ChiChi growled.
"I'm coming with you guys too!" Kakarotto's grin stretched from ear-to-ear. "Maybe I'll ride some roller coasters."
"Oh, joy," I said in monotone, "Kakarotto is coming with us. Oh, happy day." Secretly I was scared he would see my little motion sickness problem. It was bad enough that Bra did and Trunks and Goten heard about it.
"I'm going to ignore the way you said that because I know deep down inside you're overjoyed," he told me. If he only knew the truth...
***
"What about this one, Papa?" Bra pointed to another roller coaster. We were in Sci-Fi Land this time.
I shook my head. Still too many loops. I pointed to another ride not that far away. "How about those?"
Both Bra and Kakarotto made faces. "The Flying Saucers?" she asked incredulously.
I didn't think they were so bad. It was like the Teacup ride at Disneyland. But they were safe. That's all that mattered.
"And you said that *I* rode the sissy rides." Kakarotto smiled at me.
I growled. "Bakayaro! Upside down rides make me nauseous! That's all! It's not that I'm scared or anything."
He blinked once and then blinked again. "Are you serious?" I just stared at him. "Nevermind. You're always serious."
I folded my arms. "It's just something that I found out today. I ran straight to the bathroom after I got off The Creature."
"Well, we don't have to go on that kind of roller coaster. We can go on The Flying Saucers. They look fun!" He smiled and it made me feel a little better about everything. I would never admit this to anyone, but Kakarotto was a pretty good person to have around. He puts fun into everything.
By the end of the day, we had rode almost all of the rides and tried almost all of the games at least once. We had also won tons of stuff that we would have to take home later.
Kakarotto said that he was taking all of his toys home to Pan. That little girl was already spoiled by him. My stuff was going all to Bra. Again, another little girl that's spoiled rotten. But I can't help it and neither can Kakarotto. There's just something about those kids.
Bra was the happiest that I'd seen her in a while. She was constantly smiling and skipping around Kakarotto and I. She was also talking a mile a minute.
"Where are we going tomorrow? Is it a zoo? Or a movie? Or another country? I would love to go to another country! How about Germany or Great Britain? Oh! How about the United States? I wanna see New York so bad!"
"Calm down Bra-chan!" Kakarotto laughed.
I mock frowned. "It looks like someone ate too much sugary stuff today."
"What do you mean Papa?" She couldn't stand still. Even now she was bouncing in place. "I'm not hyper!" Then she yawned widely and sort of slumped. I handed all of our stuff to Kakarotto and picked her up.
"The day caught up with you, finally."
She blinked sleepily at me. "I'm not hyper."
"Not any more anyway." She started to say something else but she fell asleep before they came out.
"You're so nice to her," the king of bakas said to me. We were almost to the front gate.
"Yeah, so?"
"Well, it's just that I thought I would never see you nice to anyone. I mean, the only reason you came to Chikyuu was for immortality."
I shrugged as best I could without waking Bra. "I can't have my wish, you people won't let me. A Saiya-jin has got to find alternate happiness."
I saw the others waiting for us at the gate. Bulma was checking her watch periodically.
"I'm glad what you chose wasn't wrong. Like blowing up planets or torturing ningen."
I smirked. "After a while, that would get boring. And I would run out of planets to destroy and people to kill. The universe only has so many."
He gave me a look similar to ChiChi's at Eiffel Tower. "You've really thought a lot about this, haven't you?"
I shook my head. "You would think so, wouldn't you?"
Bulma frowned when she saw us. "You're late."
"Well, sorry!" I said sarcastically. "My bad."
"Anyway, we have to get some sleep. We're going to Britain tomorrow."
"Bra'll be happy. She wanted to go."
"And this time there will be *no* amusement parks." She was still mad about The Creature. I can tell.