Part 27   Play Date, Sage and Surprise!

“Trunks is coming over, Trunks is coming over, Trunks is coming over today!!!!!!!!”

Goten had been singing that happy little song for the past hour once he had finished breakfast and as he did the few chores his mother set to him.  He danced around the yard, tail waving as he leaped and bounced, turning a cartwheel here, a back flip there, ending up standing on his hands, his little legs waving in great semaphore V’s as he sang at the top of his lungs. 

Goku and Gohan both watched from the doorway, identical goofy grins on their faces.  Goku was dressed in his normal orange gi, and Gohan in one of his Piccolo-look-alike outfits.  Both planned on sparing today, but through an unspoken agreement wouldn’t leave until Bulma and Trunks arrived.

“Where are you planning on sparing today, tousan?” asked Gohan quietly.

“Usual sparing grounds,” replied Goku.  “You and Piccolo?”

“The cliffs above where his waterfall is,” said Gohan, watching his little brother execute a complicated leap, twirl and bounce as he sang, tail waving a counterpoint to the child’s superb balance.  “Goten sure has improved with his tail,” he noted absently.

“Hai,” smiled his father.  “As have you.”

Gohan grinned and smacked the older man on the shoulder affectionately.  “In other words, I’m getting to be too much for you, Dad.”

“Not even close boy, not even close,” said Goku, grinning back.

“Do you think it’s safe to leave him here?” asked Gohan.

“Hai, if she was going to try something, she wouldn’t try it with Bulma around.  And he’ll be with Trunks too.” Goku sighed.  “He’ll be safe enough.”

Gohan glanced at his father out of the corner of his eye.  There was a look on tousan’s face that he wasn’t used to seeing there.  It was a cold and calculating look.  Gohan shivered.  He HAD seen that look before.  It was the look of his father going into battle.

“Tousan, if you don’t trust her, then why did we come home?”  Gohan spit the words out before he could stop himself.

“I need to be sure,” was all the answer he got.

All three Saiyjins ears perked and heads lifted into the sky as Bulma’s air car first came within hearing, then within view.  Goten stopped dancing and began jumping up and down, shouting and waving his friend’s name.  Then, apparently remembering something, he cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted “NIMBUS!!”

Seemingly out of nowhere, the golden cloud streaked towards Goten, and came to stop beside him, hovering at a height that was easy for the boy to scramble up to.  Goku smiled and called out to his youngest son to be careful as Goten streaked into the sky astride Nimbus and escorted the air car down to its perfect landing.

Trunks didn’t even wait until the cockpit was completely open before he shot himself out of the air car and into Goten.  They tumbled to the ground in a tangle of chibi limbs, mock-growling and snapping before flinging their arms around each other; each attempting to squeeze the breath out of the other.

“Gosh,” said Bulma in simulated surprise.  “Think they’re excited to see each other?”

“You’d think it had been a year since they had seen each other instead of just a day,” smiled Gohan.

“Will you be all right with them,” asked Goku, the larger question looming in his eyes; Bulma had no trouble reading her long time friend.

“Don’t worry Goku, you either Gohan.  They’ll be fine.  BOTH of them.  Now shoo…Goku, I’m sure Vegeta is already waiting for you.” She smiled.  “IF anything happens, I’m sure one of you will know it one way or the other.  Don’t think I’ve missed the little telepathy tricks you Saiyjins have been up to since your tails grew back.”

Goku and Gohan exchanged confused looks.  Bulma laughed out loud.  “Well, just ask Vegeta about it then, Goku; it has something to do with that whole blood thing.  Go…everything is in hand here.” She pushed past the Saiyjins to enter the house, calling out, “Oi, Chichi….”

Back at Capsule Corporation, Vegeta was preparing to leave for the sparing grounds to meet Goku.  He picked Sage up from the floor where he was playing with a pair of his discarded training gloves, and nuzzling the chibi started to take the child downstairs to his grandmother.

Sage, frowning at the interruption squirmed so violently that Vegeta nearly dropped him.

“Sage, stop that.  I’m just taking you to your grandmother.  I’m going to go and spar with Kakkarott for a little while, please behave.”

Sage stopped struggling, hope lighting his midnight eyes, his small chubby cheeked face.  “Baka?” he said uncertainly.

Vegeta stopped mid stride.  He stared at his child.  He had almost gotten used to the chibi’s various uses of his single word vocabulary over the last two days, but this?  He sat down heavily on the bed, holding Sage standing in his lap, looked the chibi in the eyes.

“Sage, did you just call ME “baka”? asked Vegeta suspiciously.

Sage frowned at the stupid question.  He reached up a hand to his father’s face and patted it, then with difficulty said “Tou’tan,” stumbling over the second syllable, not being able to quite pronounce the tricky “s” sound.

Vegeta held his breath.  Sage wasn’t calling him baka, then….could it be?

“Kakkarott,” said Vegeta experimentally.

“Baka,” squealed Sage back at him.

Vegeta very nearly performed a face-vault.  The only thing that saved him was that Saiyjin princes DO NOT face-vault, no matter what their two old month sons may say unexpectedly.

Vegeta slowly let out a long breath.  How in Kami’s name had Sage come up with that particular….oh.  He groaned, suddenly remembering just how often he referred to the other Saiyjin as “third class baka,” or simply “baka.”  Come to think of it, it was pretty clever of Sage to pick up on that.  He chuckled in spite of himself.  He couldn’t wait to see Kakkarott’s face when Sage called him baka.

“As  amusing as this has been son, it’s time for you to go to your grandmother now.”  He started again for the door, and Sage began to screech.

“TOU’TAN,” Sage yelled as he struggled reaching towards the balcony where he could see the sky outside the windows.

“Sage, knock it off,” Vegeta was beginning to get irritated.

“MORE BAKA,” sobbed Sage, still struggling.

“What?  Sage, I can’t take you with me.  If I take you, Kakkarott and I can’t spar, and….um…oh shit.”

Vegeta had made a fatal error.  He had looked full into his son’s streaming, pathetic eyes.  As he watched, the chibi’s lower lip trembled and his eyes threatened to tear again.  Two little hands reached out to cup either side of his sire’s face as he whispered, “Tou’tan….more Baka,” in a pitiful little voice.

Vegeta swore and gave up.  Setting Sage back down on the floor to play with his gloves, Vegeta made a quick stop downstairs to grab the carry-pouch and to tell Bulma’s mother that Sage would be accompanying him.  When he came back into the room, Sage had both hands stuck into one glove and was giggling madly.

Vegeta tied the carry pouch on and plopped the baby, glove and all into it, securing him against his chest, and grabbed a loaded diaper bag.  As he took off for the sparring grounds, a delighted Sage in the pouch, he wondered how he, the Prince of all Saiyjins had managed to be so completely manipulated by a baby.  Even if it was HIS baby…who after WAS a Saiyjin prince himself….but STILL.    He grumbled as he struggled with what to do with the brat while he and Kakkarott sparred.

To be continued….

Email Talon @ talonsage@attbi.com