AN- Well, folks, its been a while, huh? A thousand apologizes for the lack of updating. I could throw out some excuses to try to explain why it has taken forever, but I won't. Most of you wouldn't believe half of it anyways. If you want to know what's up, feel free to contact me privately and we'll discuss it. I won't bother you with a long opening author's note, so look to the end of the chapter for more ramblings by me.
Yamcha sighed as he put a hand to his forehead. Why do I always manage to drink more than I should...? He tried to sit up, but found the softness of his pillow to be more than he could stand to lose. He let out a slight grunt and rolled over.
"Well, its about time you got up." Puar's squeaky voice grated on Yamcha's headache as the small cat plopped down on the bed beside her lifelong friend.
Yamcha smiled softly. He had spent over a year away from his companion, and it felt good to have her back. "How did I get home last night, Puar?"
"Krillin dropped you off at like four in the morning. Looks like you had a late night, huh?"
The former bandit nodded. "We took Goku out for the night to get his mind off of ChiChi and the divorce..."
"And how did that go?"
"Take a wild guess."
The two friends exchanged a look of melancholy. Puar sighed. "That bad, huh?"
Yamcha groaned as he sat up. "It'll take a lot more than a drunken night to fix this one, I'm afraid..." He scratched his head absentmindedly and came to a decision. "What we need right now, is breakfast."
Puar felt like she was on top of the world as she flipped an egg over onto the skillet. It was just like old times. The past year had been so boring in the desert alone. She finally had someone to cook for again, and even better, it was Yamcha.
"That smells great, Puar! How much longer?" Wrapped in a blanket, the hungover Yamcha plopped himself into a chair and gave his friend a lazy smile.
"Just waiting on the sausage. Should be another five minutes." The sizzling of sausage on the grill was like music to Yamcha's ears. "So, Lord Yamcha... what do you want to do today?"
Yamcha sighed, playing with his now short hair. "After we eat, I'm going to take a shower and fly over to Capsule Corp. I promised Bulma I'd see her today and take her out for lunch."
"Oh." Puar's voice dropped off as she put all of the food onto a big plate and placed it in front of her friend.
It was subtle, but Yamcha knew Puar like that back of his hand. "What's wrong?"
The small shapeshifter dropped into a chair and did her best to smile. "Oh, nothing... I was just hoping you would spend the day here, I guess. I wanted to fix this old place up a little bit, that's all..."
Yamcha frowned. "Yeah..." They had spent most of their lives operating out of the isolated desert base, and to Puar, no place ever felt more like home. There had been times where they had stayed at Capsule corp with Bulma, but they always came back to the desert. "Well, listen Puar, about that. Bulma and I have been talking, and she wants me to go back to West City again. Maybe start over, you know? She thinks this place isn't good enough for me to live in. Maybe she's right..."
"Not good enough...?"
The ex bandit shook his head. "I don't mean it like that, Puar... It's just that... if I want to work things out with Bulma, I'll need to be around her more often. It would be better if I was in the city with her, both for her sake and for my baseball career."
"Oh... you and Bulma are going to work things out...?" I can't say I'm surprised, but I really thought you had learned your lesson last time...
Yamcha saw his friend's face and gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, it won't be that bad. I don't know why you never got along with Bulma. She isn't all that horrible..."
Puar frowned, resinged to her fate. Little miss perfect has everything else... why does she need to take Yamcha as well...?
"You idiot!"
Yamcha cringed as his girlfriend began yelling. They had spent the entire day shopping, and it was his job to carry all the spoils. There was only so far the boxes of designer clothes would pile up before they began to fall, and they had reached that limit three stores ago. Despites his best efforts, one single shoebox had slipped off the top, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
"Bulma, don't you think you're overreacting just a little...?"
"Overreacting? Are you serious?" With a temper that instilled more fear in Yamcha then Freeza himself, Bulma took several steps toward Yamcha, backing the poor fighter into a corner.
"You have been on thin ice as it is, buster! And what you just dropped was a five thousand zenny pair of ultra exquisite dress shoes! Have you even ever seen that much money in your life?"
"Of course I have! What the hell do you take me for?"
No sooner had he said the words did he regret them. Bulma's eyes flared with a red fire. "Did you just curse at me?"
"No! I didn't mean to! I..." As Yamcha stumbled backwards, he hit into a small trash can, causing all the boxes to fly across the room. He pulled his head out from under a mess of clothes and sighed.
"... Some days I don't even know why I bother with you, Yamcha..." Bulma shook her head and walked off, leaving the former bandit to pick everything up.
Once he was certain she was out of ear range, he frowned. "Yeah... sometimes I don't know why either..."
After a long day of shopping, the couple finally returned to Capsule Corp. Yamcha brought in all the boxes, making a sizable pile at the far end of Bulma's room. The pinks and purples of the packages fit in nicely with the girly decor of the heiresses' room. Yamcha grimaced slightly as he stretched out his arms. Carrying all those boxes all day could take a lot of a person, super powered or no.
"Ha. Pathetic."
Yamcha spun around, dropping into a fighting position. "What the...? Oh." Yamcha dropped his guard as he saw the figure behind him.
Vegeta frowned as he looked at the earthling. "You look ridiculous, carrying around all those items. Has this been the extent of your training since we've returned?"
The human shrugged as he went to leave the room. "I've haven't really been training too hard since we came back. Trying to enjoy life. Besides, what do we need to train for? Goku killed Frieza, right?"
As Yamcha went to walk out, Vegeta stepped in front of him, knocking him back. "What do you mean, 'what do we need to train for' ? Peacetime is not an excuse to grow weak! Don't you wish to protect your planet and your mate?"
At the mention of Bulma, Yamcha's eyes narrowed. He didn't like the idea that Vegeta was staying at Capsule Corp. I mean, yeah, he doesn't have anywhere else to go, but I just don't feel comfortable with him here... "What does it matter to you, Vegeta?"
Vegeta frowned, steeping aside. "It doesn't. I just find it somewhat humorous that you made it through your first real battle, and already you slack off in false security."
"First real battle? I'll have you know I've been in countless re.."
Before Yamcha could finish, Vegeta cut him off, pushing a finger into the earthling's chest. "You mean those ridiculous skirmishes amongst yourselves? Those are nothing to a true warrior!"
"Vegeta!" Bulma's voice rang out, cutting the two off before things got out of hand. As she rounded the corner, Yamcha and Vegeta both took a step away from one another, suddenly quite interested in random things around the room.
"Listen, Vegeta... my father says he needs some help getting his pet dinosaur in the bath. Think you could give him a hand?"
Vegeta scowled, folding his arms. "Hmph. Why not make this fool do it instead? Or is it too much for him?" He gave Yamcha one final dirty look and sauntered off to find something else to do.
"The nerve of that..."
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Relax. He's right anyway. Do you think you could do it instead? My father doesn't really feel that comfortable around Vegeta yet anyways."
Yamcha dropped his shoulders. "I can't blame him. I still don't like that you keep him around here."
"Oh, give me a break. He isn't that bad. And we have the room." Bulma went to turn away, a playful smile on her face. "Besides, I think he's kind of cute. If you make me mad again, at least I would have someone to go to."
A low growl built up in Yamcha's throat as he stormed out of the room. "I'm going to go help your father."
Bulma shook her head as she watched her boyfriend disappear down the stairs.
That night found Yamcha and Bulma in bed. Despite whatever went on during the day, Yamcha had absolutely no complaints about what went on at night. Maybe that's the problem... Yamcha thought. Is that what this relationship is based on?
A slight giggle from Bulma pulled him out of his musings. "What are you thinking about, Yamcha?"
Yamcha shook his head. "Oh, nothing much, don't worry abou.."
"What's your last name?"
The fighter frowned slightly. It wasn't often he got to finish sentences. " I don't think I have one."
Bulma gave her lover an incredulous look. "How do you not have a last name?"
Yamcha shrugged. "Guess I never thought about it. Don't think I need one."
"Well, that makes things easier. When we get married, you'll just take my last name. We would have done that anyway." Her fingers absentmindedly began drawing incoherent doodles on Yamcha's bare chest. "So anyways, Tuesday night we have to go to a dinner with daddy. Make sure you have something nice to wear, for once."
"Tuesday night? I can't. The Titans want me to get back into training. The season starts in a few months."
Bulma sat up, an angry look on her face. "The Titans? I thought we decided you wouldn't be playing baseball anymore!"
"What? We never talked about that! Why wouldn't I play baseball anymore?"
The heiress growled. "Because it takes up far too much of your time. Besides, you don't need to be parading around like some sort of bigshot."
"But... what else am I going to do for money?"
Bulma rolled her eyes. "Hello? You're dating Bulma Briefs. If you need money, just ask!"
What am I? A trophy boyfriend or something? No way! "I'd rather make my own money, thank you."
"Well then, you can find a way to do it without attracting all sorts of attention to yourself!"
Yamcha rolled over, his back to his girlfriend. "Whatever. We'll talk about this later."
The next twenty minutes were filled with silence, both parties lost in their own thoughts. There was a growing sense of tension in the air, and Bulma realized that if she didn't do something, it wasn't going to get any better.
"I … love you Yamcha." Whispered Bulma.
Yamcha threw off the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed. Bulma rolled to her side, sliding an open hand down his moistened back. Yamcha's body shivered involuntarily with her touch and he abruptly stood up. He grabbed his clothes, sitting back on the bed as he began to put them on, silently and in a hurry.
Bulma sat up and flicked the hair off of her face impatiently. "What's wrong?"
Yamcha took a short intake of breath, turning quickly to face Bulma. His mouth opened to talk but nothing but a sigh left his lips. He went back to putting his clothes on without a word.
Bulma got out of bed and angrily wrapped the sheets around herself. "Why are you doing this? Why are you acting like this now? Tell me…" She slid over next to him and rested her head against his back. " …What's wrong, lover?"
Yamcha hung his head and replied in a very soft and low voice. "We can't do this anymore."
Bulma walked around Yamcha and peered up into his hanging head. "What can't we do?"
Yamcha stood up suddenly, making Bulma jump back. He hurriedly took two steps to the door and stopped. His whole body stiffened, his posture perfect as he shook his head. "It's over." He continued out of the room, lightly closing the door behind him. Bulma's face twisted into a look of rage, but quickly dissolved into one of sadness as she fell back onto her bed.
Yamcha didn't even notice how much distance he had covered as he flew in sheer rage. What did I do? He shook off his anger, and for the first time since he left Bulma, he let out a little chuckle. I finally did it this time. Now I'll just have to keep to it. It's hard to admit it, but… it's just …it's just so unhealthy for me to be around her. All the insults…all the put-downs…He clenched his fists. And all the yelling. As long as she's known me, she's always called me unfaithful…He relaxed his fists as he went from anger to sadness. But I see how she's been looking at Vegeta. Never once did I cheat on her. Yamcha shook his head. Maybe I owe her an explanation, but I can't put this into words just yet. If she truly loves me, she'll just me give some time. His energy flared slightly as he roared off into the darkness, leaving nothing but a ki trail behind.
AN- The last few paragraphs should look familiar, as they are from the really long "alternate future" episode several chapters back. This just goes a bit back to show why Yamcha and Bulma finally broke up. Which means, yes, this is the day in which Trunks was convieved. Oh goody.
Like I said before, there has been oh so much going on. I can't promise new chapters at any point, so I don't have a solid date yet. As I keep telling everyone, there are forums here in which you could ask some questions. I will make an effort to check it more often. Also, you could go to my website, where I post what is going on in my life as well as comics and forums that I am on everyday, if you wish to get in touch with me. www. klyde. net. I don't want to alienate you guys as I continue writing, so please stop in and say hello. I would be more than happy to talk to any of you and let you know how things are going. Hope to hear from you guys soon, and I promise I will do my best to do the next chapter soon!
--Klyde