The Guy I Never Knew Saga
By: Trunks_J_23

Chapter One
_---* Runaway *---_
Part Three

After an hour, Goten went back into the café to check on his friend. As he cautiously opened the door, he was shocked to find the cake he had given to Trunks laying on the floor…crushed under the weight of the broken ceramic plate. With a gasp, his eyes started to fill up with tears. Then, someone gently tapped him. With a shudder, he took a step forwards without looking back and the hand rested on his shaking shoulder.
"Goten…honey…what's wrong?"
It was a voice he's known most of his life…it was his sister, Videl. Worried, she tried to look at her son's scared face. He didn't dare look at her for tears started to run down the sides of his cheeks. She respected that and didn't attempt to force him to look at her.
"Goten…are you scared?" she asked again.
"Uh…? Uh…huh…(sniff)" he answered her like a little child as he was tightly grasping the door knob so tightly, that it seemed to melt under his palm.
"Honey…are you crying for a reason? Come on… you can tell me…but if it bothers you…go on and cry…"
"S…sis…?"
"Yes?"
Goten looked at the plate and the scattered pieces of cake that was thrown to the floor, and thought about Trunks. The way he looked when he saw Bulma and Goku kissing…when he offered the cake…when he left him in the café alone…! He couldn't tell his sister! He couldn't tell ANYONE! For if he did, Trunks would NEVER forgive him! This was one of those emotional states that he went through. I mean, growing up with a father who got angry when he looked at him…a father who never thought he could do anything that he wanted to…a father who got too caught up in his pride to care about his son…and wife. Videl suddenly turned her gaze from him to the cake on the floor.
"Goten, sweetie…why is there cake on the floor?" she asked. Goten was blank at that. His mind suddenly…emptied out when she asked. He did, though, manage to say,  "Uh…well…it…"
" Did a bird knock it over? Was it yours?" Videl asked him as she began picking up the broken pieces of the plate. His mind suddenly returned to him at that remark and a small smile appeared and the tears that where streaming, dried up.
"Yeah…it is." He said, as he got on his knees to help.
---* I hope Trunks is O.K. though. *---
As they cleaned up the last of the cake, Videl went back to Gohan, and Goten went to find Trunks. As he turned to his left, he looked on the ground…and found Trunks' rose that he had in his pocket. Concerned, he picked it up and looked over at their beach hut…and saw a dim light out of the window…thinking it was Trunks. He turned both ways to make sure no one was watching him and ran towards the hut.
 

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Trunks checked his watched and the wall clock he had over his bed. "3:26am…ALREADY?"
On his bed he laid his tux…neatly folded…as he stretched out lying on his stomach in his usual ensemble, the usual trench coat, blue handkerchief, and baggy, khaki shorts, ready for the challenges ahead of him. He then sat quietly thinking about Bulma and Vejita…back together! How can he be so uptight over something like that?
---* I guess…it's just…after what he's done to make my life so miserable…living it without a REAL father…and hurting mom…isn't worth his forgiveness. I just don't want her to feel that bad again…and now…here she is…back with HIM! What does she see in him? I don't know…I just need time to figure this out… huh? *---
His thoughts suddenly broke off when he heard the doorknob turn. He got up and stood near his bed in a fighting stance…ready to attack. Through the door came Goten and Trunks relaxed…leaving a small grin on his face welcoming his friend.
"Hey man!" Trunks added to the smile. "Look…I'm sorry about the cake…I'll clean it up."
"Don't worry about it. Videl and I cleaned it up for you cause…well… I went back to check if you were still there. That's when I found the mess you made." Goten answered as he started to giggle.
Trunks started to laugh too after he made that remark.
"Hey…Goten. You better get changed if we're gonna leave."
"O.K. I'll be right back!" Goten said as he ran towards the bathroom. A few minutes later Goten came out and grabbed his backpack and Trunks' from under their beds. Everyone was still outside having a blast as they got ready. Trunks looked out the window to make sure no one was heading their way or blocking their route. On the other side of the room, Goten was packing the last of his belongings. From the top of his drawer, he took a framed photo of him, Gohan, Videl, Goku, and Chichi…together. Goku stood by Chichi, Gohan sat by Videl, and she had Goten sitting on her lap…one big happy family…but who was the little girl beside him? He didn't care! He just didn't want to leave, but for his best friend, he'd lay his life on the line. He looked at it for a moment and smiled as a tear ran slowly down his cheek. Trunks looked over at him to see if he was ready to leave. His eager expression was saddened when he saw his buddy crying for the fact that he was gonna miss his dad, mom, brother, and sister. Trunks then looked out the window to find his mom and dad having a great time and, with a small grin on his face, he whispered out the window, as if they could hear him, "Good-bye…Mom…and Dad…" and turned away. At the same time, their watches went off.
"Well…Goten, this is it! You ready?" Trunks asked.
With one last look at the picture, he set in on the desktop, turned around to face his best friend, and nodded. Through the back door of the hut, they left.
 
 

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It was almost daybreak and everyone was still out having a BLAST! Something's wrong here… you don't think that…maybe they…
"<Hiccup> <Hiccup>"
"Goku! You're…you're!"
"Oh! Hi there Yamcha…<Hiccup> want some? <Hiccup>" he answered holding up a can of beer.
"YAMCHA? Listen up young man! Just WHO are YOU calling 'YAMCHA'?" the person talking to him turned a bright red and had their fists clenched.
"Oh…So you're NOT Yamcha? You're right…<Hiccup> O.K…oh! Sorry Piccolo! <Hiccup> Gee…I never noticed how short you were Piccolo. Did you shrink?" drunkenly, Goku stared the person's face, squinting.
"PICCOLO? SHRINK? WHY YOU…YOU! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE GOING TO BED YOUNG MAN!" the person hollered in his face dragging him by the back of his tux as he dragged his feet across the sand to his beach hut. Everyone looked over at them and Bulma shouted, "Chichi! What's wrong?"
"He called me 'Piccolo' and 'Yamcha'…she began as she dragged her drunken husband to their beach hut. "…And 'SHRINK'! He also mentioned 'SHORT'! I'll show him what's gonna be short if he doesn't SHUT UP! HIS LIFE SPAN!" She hissed at the crowd as she slammed the door behind them.
Everyone stared blankly at their hut as her lectures drew in the dawn…well…if she lectured any louder…she'll scare the dawn away back into the night. Finally they got back to their festivities just 20 minutes after Trunks and Goten left the site.
Around 3:52am, they started wearing out. Chaozu's guests left 2 hours ago since Chaozu, Marron, Tenshinhan, and Yamcha fell asleep 2 ½ hours before they left. Vejita, Bulma, Juuhachi-gou, Klilyn, Gohan, and Videl started to doze off 'til they noticed the mess they made.
"Ugh…great! It's almost morning and we stayed up <yawn> most of the night…partying. Now we gotta clean this stuff up." Gohan yawned.
Then, Chichi came casually walking out the door of their hut with a smile on her face.
"So…" Bulma asked. "Did you get him to, in your words, "Shut up"?"
"Yes I did… and he didn't listen to me!" she shouted.
"Why? What did he do? Did he hurt you?" Juuhachi-gou asked concerned.
"No! WORSE!"
"What could possibly be worse?" Vejita asked.
"He slept throughout all my lectures! HUMPH!" she 'humphed' as she crossed her arms with a sour look on her face, eyebrows locked. Unsurprised by this statement, Gohan and Videl stared at her as she posed her anger.
"You know, anyone would LOVE to sleep through Mom's lectures." Gohan whispered.
"Hm! You're telling me? Am I supposed to laugh?" Videl answered sarcastically.
"Were you two SAYING SOMETHING?" she yelled.
"Oh No! Not at all!" Videl whined!
"Why would we? Cool it, Mom! Cool it!" Gohan answered. The rest of the by standers sat watching the scene with no further argument.
Being brave to talk over Chichi, which is, in most cases, impossible, Juuhachi-gou asked,
"Guys?" At that moment, everyone turned to face her.
"If its not too much trouble, can we get this site cleaned up before we ALL fall asleep?"
Everyone nodded and began cleaning things up. Just before 4:26, everything was back into place…no trash on the floor and chairs and tables were neatly set away in the café storage room. Exhausted from a job well done, they all headed to their beach huts. The three happy couples, excluding Chichi due to technical difficulties (ha… ha), got a little close the pretty short distance away from their beach huts.
 

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Chichi lead the way to the huts and following behind her was her son and daughter-in-law.
"Ooh! It sure is cold out this morning." Videl mentioned. Suddenly, something unexpected crept up her shoulder. She jumped up a little from the surprise, but calmed down when she felt that the thing on her shoulder was keeping her warm, due to the cold morning weather. Confused, but happy, she looked up to see Gohan's eyes. Staring deep into them, she knew something was wrong, but something that she was feeling inside of her was so right! What was he thinking? Sure, his face could react to smile, but his eyes hold something far more than that… sadness. Videl cared about him a lot and she didn't like seeing him like this. She began to ask him what was bothering him.
"Gohan…?" she whispered.
"Yeah?" he answered a little unsecure.
"Are thinking about something…something that we lost?"
"No…not at all!" he answered nervously. He looked down at her and she gave him a stern look that he can't possibly hide anything from. He relaxed and taking in a breath of cool air, he answered, "I guess…well…yes."
"I am, too…I don't believe that we let…" Suddenly, an unexpected guest dropped into their conversation.
 "WHAT ARE YOU TO TALKING ABOUT?" Chichi hollered.
"Just…uh…about how we thought we…uh…lost Goten tonight!" they exclaimed to her.
"I see…JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON'T TRY LOSING HIM LIKE THAT AGAIN!" she proclaimed spinning around in a half circle, marching to her door, and slamming it behind her. "Ugh! Man! That was close!" they answered relieved. Videl leaned against his chest and wrapped her right hand around his waist. He reacted to this by holding her close. With warm smiles on their faces, they strolled slowly down the soft, cool sand.

Following close behind…was Vejita and Bulma. They walked side by side against the fading night sky strolling along the beach. Bulma, still worried about Trunks and how is attitude was towards her that night, couldn't really say much the short distance back. Vejita concerned about his wife's silence asked what was bothering her.
"Nothing…really. It's just…Trunks."
"Oh?" he replied. He looked towards her and from the first morning ray of light, he saw its reflection in the tears that were building up in her eyes. Feeling sorry, he took his right arm and gently placed it on her shoulder, hoping this would help her calm her nerves.
"I just don't believe he would ignore me like that. Ever since he knew you weren't there for him, he took care of me like I was his "wife. Now, I guess he's probably thinking of me having an "affair" with you and he feels rejected or something." Bulma answered him as 2 streams of tears ran down her soft cheeks.
Vejita hated this part. He hated her crying all the time, but he also loved it for he could get close to her each time he gets! With her arms crossed and her face to the ground, she tried to hold her tears back, but it was no use. He carefully took his left hand and wiped the two streams of tears dry and softly placed a kiss on her left cheek. She flushed a little and rested her head on the chest of his tux feeling the warmth between them as they walked.
"I'm sure he'll be himself in the morning." he whispered to Bulma.
"I hope you're right.
 

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Behind them, was Klilyn and Juuhachi-gou taking each other by the hand they walked happily. Wanting to see the sunrise, Juu-chan turned around, still holding Klilyn's hand. Then a sight caught her anxious eye and she mentioned to her husband, "Opps! Forgot something!"
"What? What did…" his voice trailed as he saw her point in the direction of their sleeping daughter. Bulma, Vejita, Gohan, and Videl looked over at them and followed Juuhachi-gou's finger. Sprawled across one of the beach umbrella benches Chaozu, Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Marron slept. Sitting on the bench cross-legged and arms folded, Piccolo slept, but it looked as if he wasn't. I mean, he always looks like that… most of the time. Sitting up and managing to stay erect, Yamcha's head bent back with his face to the orange-ish sky…drooling yet, but he wasn't the only one! Tenshinhan, not as sick as Yamcha, laid his upper body on the table and using his arms as a substitute for a pillow…he too, drooled. Chaozu on the other hand, was on a beach mat spread at the foot of the table sitting down leaning against the one of the benches asleep with drool coming down the side of his mouth. Luckily, Marron was out of his drool's reach! She lay asleep curled up lying on his lap happily dreaming.
Juuhachi-gou smirked at this sight as she looked back at everyone.
"Don't they look so…so…innocent? Even for Yamcha, yet!" Klilyn said.
They started giggle, but not too loud that they would wake up.
"We can't just leave them out here! What are we gonna do?" Videl said.
A light bulb in Bulma's head flicked on and she ran to the second beach hut she had that was set up for them. She then deactivated it so it shrunk back into its capsule form and brought it back to the site. Vejita, confused, watched as his scientific wife place the little capsule on the cold sand near the set of "Sleeping Beauties" that lay before them.
"Now what are you doing?" he asked.
"You just sit back and watch as the wonders of science amaze you!" Bulma answered excitedly.
"Whatever you say." He answered as he crossed his arms sternly, but looked somewhat interested.
With no hesitation, Bulma took a small cup of water she wanted to carry back to the hut, and spilt some of it over the capsule. As it took its previous form, but in a different location, it enclosed the "Sleeping Beauties" without further movement. Confused, Vejita asked, "Uh…Bulma?"
"Yes?"
"Isn't that bench still in there?" Worried, she deactivated the capsule for the second time and reactivated it next to the bench. With a grimaced look on her face, she turned around to face the guys and asked, "Gohan? Vejita? Klilyn? Help please?"
 

_---* END OF PART THREE & CHAPTER ONE *---_