Visible Stranger

XI.

Bura and Yamucha hardly wasted any time in holding off the inevitable. They figured they might as well tell Buruma and Vejiita about their little arrangement the night they decided on it, instead of waiting until the next morning. They didn't feel like sleeping on it and then losing their nerve when it came down to the final showdown.

But they found just stepping out of Yamucha's room a big step. It's amazing how one space could make you feel powerful and indestructible, but once you left that area, harsh reality sunk it.

Sure, Bura did say that her parents would eventually accept their relationship, but actually thinking about confronting them seemed to be a different story entirely. And it wasn't so much her mother that she was worried about…she knew she was a sucker for romance, no matter what.

Her father on the other hand…

Well, let's just say it didn't look as promising as she wanted to hope for. Alas, there was no turning back now. She put on a brave smile for Yamucha and squeezed his hand for comfort. Bura was determined to be with Yamucha, no matter what kind of tantrum her father decided to throw. She hated to do it, but if Vejiita didn't give them his blessing, she would have to choose one over the other.

As the saying goes, "blood is thicker than water," but Bura desperately wanted someone to love and to love her. Though she was still at the ripe young age of eighteen, she longed for the romance she sometimes thought was always out of her reach.

Almost as though they were moving through a haze, they slowly walked down the hall, knowing that the top of the stairs would soon appear and they would, most likely, hear Buruma's and Vejiita's voices on the bottom floor.

They descended, both trying desperately to think of something to say to the other, just to lighten up the mood. They figured it would be better to appear natural and happy, but that was almost impossible to do when you thought your life was about to end within the next five minutes.

Once they reached the bottom, they heard Bura's parents in the living room. Looking up to him, she put on a tight smile and squeezed his hand again, before letting go. She was prepared to enter the room first.

When she spotted them, she saw that they were having one of their once-in-a-blue-moon moments. Vejiita was sitting up on the far end, Buruma resting her head on his shoulder and her legs reposed on the cushions. They were talking lowly to each other; probably nothing too much, Bura thought, just going over the day like couples sometimes do.

Clearing her throat lowly, she hated to break their moment, but knew she couldn't wait any longer. She stepped up to the end of the couch, rocking on her heels slightly with her fingers running over the soft fabric on the armrest.

"Mom…Dad," she began, her eyes staring back into their own when they looked up at her.

"What is it, dear?" Buruma asked, smiling up at her daughter but not moving from her position.

"I, umm…" she paused and looked over her shoulder towards the kitchen, seeing Yamucha lingering in the corner. She was sure he wanted to wait there until it was safe to come out. No use letting out the truth and having Vejiita act on instinct and send a ki ball his way. Bura didn't continue for some time, heavily debating on whether to change "I" to "we", thinking that maybe she should bring Yamucha into the picture as soon as possible.

"Well, get on with it!" Vejiita snapped, his eyes narrowing, obviously telling her to just spit out what she had to say or leave.

Sighing, her eyes, shiner than ever, turned back to them, "I have something to tell you."

Vejiita mumbled under his breath, "Of course, why else would you just stand there," he stopped when he felt Buruma elbow him in the stomach.

"Tell us what?" Buruma inquired, ignoring the impatience radiating off Vejiita. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for her to go on.

Bura closed her eyes. This shouldn't be this hard! She tried to reason with herself; she never had problems telling her parents of all the things she did or was going to do, in the past. There was no use in starting now. She knew her father wouldn't harm Yamucha…for if he did, she would have to break it to him that he had lost his daughter forever.

She snapped her eyes open, a bright fire burning in her watery depths, "You want me to be happy, right?"

As Vejiita continued to glare at her for beating around the bush, Buruma blinked a couple times. Finally, she sat up away from Vejiita and put her feet to the floor. She patted the seat beside her, silently telling Bura to sit down.

Shaking her head, she asked again, "You want me to be happy, right?"

"Aren't you happy now?" Vejiita interrogated, making that his way of saying yes.

Gathering up all her pride and courage, she sucked in a deep breath and put her hands to her hips firmly, "Yes, I am, because I've found the man I want to be with."

"Oh!" Buruma exclaimed, clasping her hands together in delight. She stood from the couch and walked to her daughter, grabbing her hands into hers. Her eyes sparkled with delight, a new refreshing look seemingly brightening her face. Ignoring the look of surprise she received, she said, "I am so happy for you, Bura. Its about time you told Goten-kun you're feelings." Her smile widened, "And I just knew he would return those feelings."

"What!" Vejiita suddenly exclaimed, getting to his feet immediately, "You're with Kakarotto's son!"

They both quickly overwhelmed her, Buruma talking in one ear about how excited she was for her, and Vejiita yelling in the other about how it was a disgrace.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Squeezing her eyes shut to ward off the upcoming headache, she screamed while she pulled her hands out of her mother's to clench her fists, "It is not Goten!"

"Not Goten?" they both questioned at once. Bura saw how shocked they both were, but she couldn't blame them, considering Goten was the one she had been doting after for umpteen years. And all of a sudden she comes up with another guy. They were both so curious, she had to laugh to herself when she imagined illusory question marks popping up all around their heads.

She calmed herself down, "No…it's not Goten."

She had to raise an eyebrow when she realized how pleased that made Vejiita, "That's great…I knew you would come to your senses one day."

Flashing him a glare before she turned back to Bura, Buruma tried to put a smile on again, "Well, if it's not Goten…then who is it?"

Bura froze. Her eyes wandered back and forth, seeing how expectant they were for her to not disappoint them. Of course, she knew her father would be upset that it would be a human, because…well, if she wasn't with Goten, who else was there? She began getting so lost in her thoughts, she didn't even realize the clock ticking away.

She opened her mouth…

"Here's your culprit!"

Bura and Buruma jumped when they suddenly heard Pan's voice, looking towards the kitchen doorway, Vejiita turning to see what was going on also. What Bura saw made her jaw drop. There were Pan and Trunks, each holding on to one of Yamucha's arms and dragging him into the living room. It seemed that the older man was trying to fight them off, but to no avail. Eventually, he just gave up and walked in as calmly as possible. His face was slightly red from embarrassment.

"What!" Buruma cried out, her eyes widening as she stared at two mischievous faces and one reluctant face. She raised an eyebrow dubiously, looking from them, to Vejiita to see what he thought (only to see he looked almost as confused as she), to Bura. "What are they talking about?"

If looks could cause endless suffering, Pan and Trunks would sure be in trouble. Bura glared at them, her eyes full of venom, only seeming to get angrier when they stood there smiling…looking oh-so-innocent.

"Whoa, Bura, calm down," Pan said, releasing Yamucha's arm and holding her hands up, "don't get your hair all in a ruffle. We're here to help."

Trunks laughed at Pan's joke and went over to his sister, patting her on the back, "Yeah, we had a feeling that you might need some backup."

She felt that headache coming on again. Actually, she felt as though her whole head was about to explode. She held her breath for some time, her face turning red from the heat. Closing her eyes, she tried to relax by counting to ten. It worked; that is, up until number six.

"Please, don't say…" Buruma started off.

"That the man…" Vejiita continued.

"She wants…"

"To be with…"

"Is…"

"You!" Vejiita screamed suddenly, pointing an accused finger at Yamucha.

Yamucha snapped his head up quickly when Vejiita addressed him, a quick look of fear flashing through his eyes. He took one step back as Vejiita marched over to him, noticing how the Saiya-jin's fists locked closed in a death grip.

"Don't get too worked up, Tousan," Trunks warned, stepping in his path. Pan followed suit, both of them protecting the free entryway to Yamucha's demise.

However, all Vejiita had to do was flash them one look and they gladly sidestepped, sweat dropping slightly. He didn't even smirk from his trustful interrogation, setting his cold eyes on the human.

"No way is…"

"Stop it!" Bura screamed, her turn to step in front of her father. Even when he scowled at her, she didn't back down; she simply mocked the sneer perfectly. She stood up straight and was glad she was pretty much eye-level with him, "If you do anything to him, I will never speak to you again!"

The outburst startled him, looking at his daughter indifferently. The urge to kill Yamucha was pumping strongly through his blood, but the threat of losing Bura made his heart skip a beat.

"Surely you can't be serious!" Vejiita looked back at Buruma, growing angry again when he saw her just standing there. "Hey! She won't listen to me, that's for sure. Why don't you try putting some sense into her?"

Buruma had been looking down at the carpet, her eyes lowered in an oppressive façade. When she heard Vejiita address her, she slowly looked up, her gaze sliding past him and landing on Bura.

"Mom…" Bura began, relaxing a little when she saw that her mother wasn't going to thrash her out instantly. She walked to Yamucha and took his hand bravely, ignoring the rise of anger coming from her father, "I know it may be a little hard to believe, but…I do want to be with Yamucha. He…he makes me feel free, like I don't have to pretend to be someone I'm not. He likes me the way I am and…"

As the young woman lingered off, it seemed the whole room held their breath, waiting for her to finish the sentence. Off to the side, Pan was pushing her arms against the air, acting as though she were pushing Bura to declare her final statement. She sighed and turned around to hide her anticipation when she saw she couldn't catch Bura's eye.

Then finally, "And I love him for that."

Bura wasn't sure if the tension had been released or had built-up tenfold. She felt better when Yamucha gripped onto her hand tightly. But before she knew it, he was ripped from her hold and thrown back. Her eyes widened when she turned around to see that Vejiita held tightly onto Yamucha's collar, pressing him firmly against the wall.

"No!" Bura protested, running over and grabbing hold of his muscular arm that held Yamucha in place.

Vejiita ignored her and, despite the fact that he had to look up about four inches to look Yamucha in the eye, the Saiya-jin wasn't intimidated.

"How dare you come into my home and think you can just—."

Boldly, Yamucha interrupted him and stared down at the stronger man, "Vejiita, there's no reason to do this!"

Vejiita pressed tighter to his throat, a small crack splitting off from the side of the wall due to the pressure. Yamucha clenched his eyes closed, trying his best to ignore the pain and discomfort.

"Bura said she loved me," he choked out, only to be rewarded with more constraint. He groaned lowly before slowly opening one eye to look down to him, "And I love her."

Despite the predicament, Bura smiled at his comment and looked back to Vejiita to see if he would now release his prisoner. To her surprise (or maybe not), he only seemed to get more irritated. His free arm began to fold back, into the position that suggested he was getting ready to give a punch.

Her eyes widened. She grabbed onto his arm tighter and tried to pull him away, grateful when Pan and Trunks helped. With all three of them pulling as hard as they could, they did manage to drag Vejiita a few feet away from Yamucha. Yamucha dropped his chin quickly, bringing a hand up to his throat when he knew there would be some bruises later.

Bura stood in front of him when Vejiita began to come forth again. She put her hands on her hips again, glaring, but with tears shining her eyes this time, "I guess I really don't mean that much to you then, do I!"

He stopped quickly and turned his attention to the upset girl.

"If you want me to be happy, then let me be happy! He," she pointed back at Yamucha, "makes me happy! I warned you that if you hurt him, I would never speak to you again! And look what you go and do!" Bura emphasized by throwing her arms out to the sides. A few tears of frustration ran down her cheeks.

She tried to calm herself down so she wouldn't say anything she would regret, "I can't tell you to not be mad. But it hurts when you go against something I want so much. And I'm not just going to stand around and watch as you ruin my happiness!"

"Yeah, you tell him, girl!" Pan yelled, pumping her fist into the air. All the excitement was really getting to her.

Thankfully, everyone basically ignored her. Bura continued, "If you don't appreciate what Yamucha does for me…than how am I supposed to appreciate you?"

This time, it was Vejiita's turn to widen his eyes. His mouth gaped open slightly. He knew she always looked up to him, admired him for his strength and will power. She looked for those qualities in both her parents. He wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she was the one that broke down the last of his barriers and made him learn how to fully love and take care of a family.

And there she was, warning him that he was beginning to throw all that away. He was sure she would hold up to her threats if he made one wrong move. Slowly, he turned back to look at Buruma, noticing the gaze of veneration she gave to Bura. He then turned to Pan, seeing her fists clenched in front of her chest, her eyes full of excitement as she waited for his response. Towards Trunks, he noticed just a small smile.

Everyone was expecting him to give in just like that!

His temper was getting the better of him, he felt. Quickly, for he didn't trust himself at the moment, he pivoted and walked out of the room, mumbling back a, "Whatever…" on the way.

Everyone stood frozen in place for a long moment as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Pan was the one that broke the spell, "Is that a good sign?"

Trunks nodded, "I'm pretty sure. If he didn't kill Yamucha now, he's not going to do it."

"Makes me feel better…" Yamucha grumbled bitterly, still rubbing his sore throat.

"Bura…" Buruma began, taking a few steps towards her. She opened her mouth to say more, but simply let out a breath and looked away, "I better go check on your father."

And with that, she left the room, also.

Bura sighed and subconsciously turned to wrap her arms around Yamucha, holding him close and burying her face in his chest. She relaxed some when she felt his arms come around her, too, holding her tightly to him.

"It's a start…" Bura murmured, turning her head to the side so she could speak to everyone clearly, "I kind of had a feeling that they wouldn't accept it right away. But it makes me feel a lot better to know that they're gonna try, for my benefit."

Trunks smiled with sympathy, "Yeah, you know they'll come around eventually. I think right now they're mostly in shock," he chuckled, "I'm sure Yamucha was one of the last ones they expected for you."

"No doubt," Pan spoke up, going right up to Bura's face, ignoring the fact that she was being held, "So what are you gonna do now?"

Bura let out a breath and slowly backed away from Yamucha. She reached up and brushed back a few pieces of stray hair, "Well…Yamucha and I might go back to his place sometime tomorrow or the day after." She looked up at him for confirmation.

He looked down at her, rubbing her arm soothingly, "You sure you want to do that?"

She blinked, but quickly nodded her head, "Yes, I think that's the best thing to do right now. My parents will accept it quicker when they see how serious I am." Bura grabbed his hand and began out of the room, "Let's go back upstairs. I don't feel like hanging around down here right now."

"Sure," Yamucha agreed.

Pan and Trunks lingered in the living room for a few minutes after they had retreated, only then turning towards each other. They somehow how this uncanny ability to think the same thing at the exact same time. Evil grins curved their lips.

llllllllllllllllllll

Bura had followed Yamucha down to his room again, closing the door lightly behind her when they entered. She sighed again, leaving Yamucha to quickly wrap her up in his arms again.

"You okay?" he asked, his hand stroking through her hair. She had put her head to his chest again, but he lifted her chin with his finger, making her look at him. She saw the seriousness in his gaze, "Tell me the truth."

Her lips quivered for a moment, but she quickly stopped it and held back the shine in her eyes, "I'll be fine. I just don't want my parents mad at me…"

Yamucha tried his best to smile for her, running his finger delicately over her cheek, "Hey, like you said, they'll get used to it eventually. I know they won't be able to stand not talking to you for any longer than a week. You'll see," he assured her, "you'll be speaking to them again in no time."

Hearing him say this with such confidence put a genuine smile to her lips, her body relaxing in his arms, "You're right. And as long as you're there with me…"

He nodded, seeing as how they were starting to finish each other's sentences, "Everything will be fine."

Smiling into each other's eyes, Yamucha began to lean down and Bura stood on her tiptoes. She rested her hands on his shoulders to bring him closer as their lips met. It started out as a simple kiss, soon getting harder and longer.

They broke away quickly, however, when a loud bang was heard. She turned around to see that the door had flung open, Pan and Trunks lying on the floor. An indication that they had been pressing themselves up against the door to listen in on them.

She put her hands on her hips and glared down at them, a glistening twinkle in her eyes, however. She heard Yamucha chuckle behind her and found the "innocent" faces of her best friend and brother quite amusing.

Bura gave her infamous smirk that she had inherited from Vejiita, "Any last words?"

Trunks and Pan turned to each other and flashed "cute" smiles. They turned their heads back up to the couple.

"Learn how to lock doors?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Well…it's finally over. Yep, that's it everyone! I'm sorry it took my this long to finally finish it, but…hey, at least I did it right? It's not too often I stick with it all the way.

I want to thank all my reviewers to actually giving me the motivation to keep writing this! You guys are great.

Thanks for reading! And though it dropped down a bit from a year ago…

Yamcha and Bra forever!