Chapter Five

"I was lost…
In a lonely world…
That seemed so full of sorrow, full of shame…
Searching…for that only light…
That would bring my empty heart to life again.
It was you! You who saved me!
Sure as every breath I take,
You changed my life in every way…"

~Angie and Debbie; Light of Love

Trunks and Co. went to the Vegeta residence at about 8:30 or 9:00 the next morning to make breakfast. Bulma had invited everyone over for a group breakfast that morning, not knowing her terrible nighttime fate. As the group walked in the door, they had trouble keeping their laughter quiet enough so as not to wake the sleeping couple that was on the couch in front of them.

They saw Vegeta wrapped around Bulma and Bulma holding Vegeta's tail, both of them about to fall off the couch together. Trunks very carefully and gently shoved them back further so they wouldn't hit the floor below if one of them decided to move. Besides waking both of them up, falling off the couch would probably be a little bit painful, more for Bulma than for Vegeta.

Lita and Mina went into the kitchen and started to prepare and the others set up trays for everyone who was going to arrive. Untill then, the group, excluding Mina and Lita, sat around and chatted about fighting, boys, and school.

The first guests to arrive were the Sons. ChiChi and Goku only gave warm smiles when they saw Vegeta and Bulma snuggling in their sleep. ChiChi then rushed to the kitchen to help the two girls with their cooking, while Goku sat down and started to talk about fighting with Trunks, Goten, Gohan and Rei.

A few minutes later, Juuhachigou and Krillin knocked at the door. They struggled to hold back laughter when the two on the couch came into view. Juuhachi rushed to the kitchen to help cook and Krillin contained himself and joined Goku's fighting conversation.

The last to arrive was Yamcha. He had found time to come to Bulma's house to say hello to his first and favorite x-girlfriend. Bulma wanted to see him too, so she had invited him over for a little reunion. He grinned widely when he saw the woman and her Saiya-Jin prince sleeping on the couch. He greeted the crew, was introduced to the young girls sitting in the living room, popped into the kitchen to say hello to ChiChi and to meet the other two girls, and re-entered the living room to start a conversation with Krillin.

In about ten minutes, all the food had been prepared, with surplus amounts for the Saiya-Jins of the household. Juuhachi, ChiChi and Lita brought the food out, while Mina and Ami carried the dishes and napkins. After everyone had their food, the cooking women served themselves and sat down. ChiChi and Juuhachi engaged in a conversation with Yamcha and Krillin about the outrageous gasoline prices, while Lita, Mina and Ami sat down with Serena. Chibi-Usa, Bra and Marron were talking amongst themselves, while Goku, Gohan, Goten, Trunks and Rei were still talking about different fighting technques.

Everyone immediately became quiet when Bulma groaned and turned her head up to Vegeta, eyes still closed.

"Vege-chan, is it morning already?" She asked, half asleep still. Vegeta mumbled something completely incomprehensible, unwrapped himself, and stretched his legs out against the arm of the couch. He then sat up, leaned against the other arm of the couch, and stretched his arms. He hadn't opened his eyes either.

"What the hell was wrong with this fucking house last night?" Vegeta said groggily.

"Maybe it was falling apart because you were cursing the foundations down," Bulma replied. Everyone tried not to snicker. Neither had opened their eyes yet. Bulma was still lying down. But she wasn't for long.

"Oh kuso, Vegeta! I invited everyone over for breakfast this morning, it's already nine o' clock, and…" Bulma looked around the room. "Oh shit."

Vegeta opened his eyes and looked around also. And turned a very pale shade of pink. He jumped off the couch and darted up the stairs in a blur. Bulma's mouth hung open for a minute, but then she just laughed and followed her distressed husband to their room.

The others set out food for Bulma and left some in the kitchen for Vegeta. They were both back downstairs in about five minutes; Bulma was dressed in a green tank top and cutoff shorts and Vegeta was in black jeans and a white untucked button-up shirt. He quickly rushed to the kitchen to eat in private. Bulma sat down at her tray and started in conversation with Yamcha, Krillin, Juuhachi and ChiChi, who were now talking about how disgusting E-checks were.

***

After breakfast, Vegeta stepped outside with Rei and they blasted off to their training area in the woods for most of the day. As they landed, Vegeta noticed a considerable rise in Rei's ki before going down to normal.

"Were you excersizing last night or something?" He asked.

"No, why would you think that?" the tall, black haired girl replied.

"Well, when you landed, your ki went up higher than usual. I guessed that you had been preparing for today," the Saiya-Jin told her. She only shook her head. "That's funny then, I've never heard of ki rising naturally. Oh well, all for the better. Let us begin."

***

The couple trained hard for the next seven hours of the day, stopping about noon for some lunch, and beginning again not long after. After a few days of a similar schedule, Rei had learned innumerable different techniques from Vegeta and had increased her strength two times over. Needless to say, her sensei was very pleased. Rei was getting very strong and had given him a split lip the other day, much to both of their surprise. His skin was still healing and his lip was quite sore. The prince smirked every time he felt it.

"Alright Rei, that's it for today. You can leave, Bulma is expecting me for dinner. Remember to practice tonight and be ready to spar first thing in the morning," Vegeta told the young lady. She nodded her head and smiled.

"I'll practice with Trunks-kun tonight, I'm sure he won't mind. He's always sparring with Goten," Rei replied. The Saiya-Jin nodded in approval, and blasted off to his large CC house. Rei took off in the direction of the Sailor Senshi's summer house, where Trunks, Goten and Gohan were also hanging out. They were all going to have dinner together.

When Rei arrived, Trunks greeted her at the door. They kissed and went inside.

Gohan and Ami were sitting on the couch together, snuggling and talking about something that the others didn't catch. Goten, Mina and Lita were talking about the different bad guys they had battled; Luna, Artemis and Darien were waiting for Trunks to come back to his conversation with them about their adventures with the Negaverse and the universe's different extraterrestrial scumbags that had met their fate when battling the Z Senshi. Rei sat down with them.

"Oh yes, hello Rei. Glad to finally see you today! Anyway, Trunks, where was I? Ah, yes. Then, we battled Alan and Ann…" Luna continued. Rei added to the conversation and so did Darien, while Trunks listened intently. They talked for about fifteen more minutes, then went and got dinner, which Lita and Mina had prepared.

***

Trunks, Goten and Gohan had stayed the night at the summer house that night. The boys had become very good friends with Darien and slept in his room with him. The girls all slept together in two other rooms.

Trunks woke up at 6:00 in the morning when he heard someone walking around downstairs. He stood up and stretched, scratched his head, and walked down the stairs groggily. He almost had a nosebleed when he saw what Rei was wearing as she poured a bowl of cereal for herself and stirred her scrambled eggs, which were on the stove.

She was wearing a little sports top and matching sporty shorts, which were speckled gray. Needless to say, she looked very good.

"What are you doing up this early, Rei-chan?" Trunks asked her.

"Vegeta-san always starts training early in the morning so that we can actually have lives during the rest of the day. We have a seven hour training period every weekday. I'm probably going to be late. It's a tough schedule, but it's worth it," Rei replied.

"Yeah, I realize that. You're REALLY strong, you landed quite a few hits on me last night." Trunks had to admit, his tousan was doing some job of training Rei. He'd never seen ki increase so fast in his life.

After Rei and Trunks ate breakfast together, Rei waved goodbye from the doorway, then blasted off with a burst of red. Trunks called a goodbye and closed the door behind her.

***

((RINGRINGRING))

"Hey Ami, can you get the phone? I'm too tired," whined Serena from the couch. She was watching Poke'mon and oohing over how adorable Pikachu was.

"Sure Serena." Ami picked up the phone. "Mushi mushi! This is Ami speaking. Yes, this is Rei's summer residence. No, she's not here right now. I'm really sorry, she's…extremely busy and is not to be interrupted. Her cousin? You sound sad, what's the matter? Her grandfather? Yes…he what?! Oh no! That's terrible! No one? Are you sure? Well, yes, that could be a problem…oh my, oh no, she'll be…heartbroken…oh dear. Yes, I'll find a way to tell her. Thank you so much, and I'm so sorry. Give everyone my regards. Yes, mm-hmm. Bye."

"What was up with that?" Lita asked Ami. The blue-haired girl had an extremely sad and worried look on her face.

"Lita, it's terrible, Rei's grandfather died today…" Ami's voice broke. Lita had a shocked expression. Ami continued. "No relatives can take her, plus no one is close enough to where she lives anyway. Her cousin made a very long distance call. They found out from the hospital this morning, about an hour ago. They've been calling people ever since. I guess Rei has a large family. The cousin said all the families are too large already to take her. Where will she go? She can't live with us, and this house is a rental."

"And she certainly can't live alone. We'll figure something out, but for right now, we really have to tell her this instant," Lita said in a sad voice. "But how will we be able to butt in on her and Vegeta-san's training without getting beaten to a pulp?"

"Good question. Hey, I have an idea." Mina walked in the room. She had been listening to the conversation and had almost cried. Rei's grandpa had been the most important person in the young preistess's life. "We can get Trunks or Goten to go. At least they can fend off Vegeta-san for a minute or two if they need to."

Goten heard this, too. He stepped into the conversation. "Sorry, girls, but if I tried to mess with Trunks's tousan, I'd be dead meat in about one Final Flash. Remember, I'm 'Kakkarott's' son. I think Trunks is your best bet," the teenager said. Lita nodded in agreement.

"TRUNKS!!!" Mina yelled. They heard the sound of feet on the steps, and Trunks came barreling into the kitchen. He was a little confused when he saw everyone with very sad faces. They told him the whole story and asked him the favor.

"So, will you do it?" Ami asked him.

"Sure, of course I will. Tousan's not that cold-hearted, he'll understand," Trunks replied. He rocketed out the door and took off towards the forest.

***

"Come on, more power. You're better than this."

Vegeta was blocking Rei's every punch and kick. He was very pleased with her, however, because to do so he had to raise his power a very small bit. But with him, a small bit was a large step. To his amazement and pleasure, Rei growled and dissapeared from sight in a blur of speed.

Just as she reappeared, she felt a familiar ki land in the clearing. Rei watched as Trunks appeared in the morning mist.

"What are you doing here, kid? I thought I asked you not to interrupt our training sessions," Vegeta growled as he caught Rei's still flying foot and threw her to the ground. She got up and stuck her tongue out at him He hmphed back at her. Trunks was startled; the two fought like they were…brother and sister. He disregarded this quickly.

"Gomen, Tousan, but this is very serious and Rei-chan needs to hear this news right now. I'm serious, dad." Vegeta seemed to get the message and backed off. Rei stepped forward to Trunks and he whispered some things in her ear. He told her he was sorry, pecked her cheek, and quickly took off.

***

Rei stood, dumbfounded. She found it almost too hard to believe. Her eyes were dry and her mouth hung open. She didn't move. Vegeta began to grow a little worried. Rei never acted like this.

"Rei? Hey, what's the deal?" He said gently. He recieved no reply.

Vegeta walked up to his friend and put his hand on her shoulder. He looked straight into her eyes.

"Tell me what's wrong, Rei-kun." No reply. "Rei-kun?"

"Grandpa…" she sighed. "No, grandpa…no…" Her eyes grew shiny with unshed tears. Vegeta knew what Trunks had told her now.

Rei dropped to her knees, mouth still open in shocked disbelief. "No. No, this is a dream. It's not real. There's no way…"

Vegeta sat down beside her and crossed his legs. He put her sideways across his lap and layed her head on his shoulder. "Don't keep telling yourself lies, Rei-chan. It only makes it worse. The sooner you realize the truth, the faster you'll regain controll of yourself," He told her, in a voice he had only used to console Bulma. Her mouth closed. And quickly opened again, letting out a loud, ragged cry. Tears poured over her face and dripped onto her top, making dark spots on the speckled gray. She shook with loud sobs and fell onto her sensei's chest, gripping his shirt untill her knuckles turned white.

Vegeta put his arms around his student and rubbed her back while her sobs grew softer and more ragged. She choked out one more cry and was quiet.

"That's better. I know it's hard, and I know how you feel, and don't be stubborn and say I have no idea." Rei sniffled. "I've been dead myself, you know."

"Huh?" The girl said in a ragged voice.

"I've died in battle, three times to be exact. Once I even killed myself, but that's a long story. If your grandfather was any kind sensible human being, he'll be in Kai's kingdom right now. Don't worry, he's going to be fine. I'm not going to tell you it's OK, because it's not. But we'll figure something out, hai?" Vegeta told her. She nodded her head, surprisingly comforted by what Vegeta told her, his voice, the warm life he was giving off. He felt exactly like…a brother to her, who teased and scolded but was always there to fall back on, and who really cared.

Vegeta brushed the tears off of Rei's face. She smiled up at him. "Thank you so much, Oniichan," She said.

Vegeta smiled back at her. "Anytime."

Rei suddenly developed a worried look on her face. "What is it, Rei-chan?" Vegeta asked.

"Trunks-chan said I don't have anywhere to go. None of my family will take me. I have nowhere to go, Oniichan, what am I going to do?" Rei asked.

"What the Hell to you mean, nowhere to go? You'll live with us," Her sensei told her.

"WHAT?!?!? Really?!?!?!" Rei bubbled. He grinned and nodded once. Rei shrieked with happiness, all sorrow gone from her soul. She loved Vegeta so much, it had been her secret dream to be part of his family and marry Trunks. "OH, VEGI-CHAN!!! ARIGATO!!!!" Tears of happiness rolled down Rei's cheeks.

Vegeta laughed and smiled. Rei leaped onto him and hugged and kissed him innumerable times.

"Come on, no more training today. Let's go beg to Bulma and get eveything sorted out. You need to get all your stuff and get the moving part over with right now so that you don't have to worry about it later," Vegeta told her. She bobbed her head up and down and took off towards the Capsule Corporation. Vegeta smiled and took off after her.

***

"Of course you can!"

Rei whooped, jumped up and down, and hugged and kissed Bulma. Vegeta grabbed his wife and kissed her also. Bulma grinned at the attention she was getting from her husband and close family friend.

Rei squealed and ran to tell Trunks and Bra the good news. Bulma and Vegeta could hear happy yells and people jumping up and down. Vegeta and Bulma kissed again, more slowly this time. They were still kissing when Rei, Trunks and Bra rocketed down the stairs. They saw the couple in the kitchen, held their giggles, and quietly tiptoed out the door.

***

"Rei-chan! That's absolutely wonderful!"

"I know, Ami! And I'm so close to where I used to be I can still go to the same school and see you guys all the time! Doesn't that rock?" Rei told her girlfriends, Gohan, Goten, Darien and the cats. They were all very happy for their friend.

"Rei, that's so wonderful. I know you'll have a great time with Bulma-san and Vegeta-san, and everyone else, too! Who would have thought, ya know?" Lita said and smiled. Serena bounced up to Rei.

"Oh Rei, I'm so HAPPY! for you! I can't believe you finally fell for a guy, that is like so totally amazing. Ya know, I think you guys are sooooo perfect and if you don't mind me saying Trunks, you are reeeaaally hunky! Hehe! Oh, Darien, you're my guy ya know that, don't worry. You'll have a blast here Rei and with all that food and a big house…OOOOHHH! I am SO jealous!" Serena bubbled all over Rei. Rei only giggled.

"Arigato, Serena-chan, I know I'll have a great time, ne?" Everyone smiled. "Say, why don't we all go down to the lake tonight and have a little couples night? Woulnd't that be a blast? Couples only, adults invited?" Mina suggested. Everyone giggled and nodded, even those without lovers. They were decent enough to be happy for their friends to have a little night out.

"Let's go tell everyone, 'K?" Goten said. The group grinned and nodded, and took off running out the door.

***

"Wouldn't that be fun, Veggie? A couple's night! How smart!" Bulma said after the lovestruck young people had offered their idea to the older couple. Trunks and Bra snickered at one of the many pet and nicknames their mother had for the Saiya-Jin prince.

The man had to agree, he loved time with Bulma and he loved eating. "Sure, why not?" Mina smiled.

"Wonderful! See you guys there! Oh, and don't forget to dress up in your very best, just for the fun of it!" She giggled and the teens, Gohan and Darien ran out the door.

"We're going to have such a great time tonight, Veggie! Thank you for going," Bulma said after everyone was gone, "and thank you so much for being there for Rei-chan, I know she needed you." Vegeta smiled.

"You're very welcome, Bulma-chan," He replied, and kissed his wife again.

***

It was about seven at night when the couples began to arrive at the lakeside. Mina was the first one there, being the hostess and all, and had brought Chibi-Usa, Bra, Marron and Lita to hide and take some pictures for their summer photo album. They didn't dress up, but Mina looked lovely.

She had on a peach colored skirt with cream-shaded flowers on it and a white tank top with peach high heels. A white silk bow was nestled in her hair.

Chichi and Goku, along with Goten, were the first to arrive besides the initial few. Goten took one look at Mina and his jaw dropped open.

"Wow, Mina-chan, you look fantastic…" He told her. She giggled and pecked his cheek. Chichi and Goku smiled.

"Wonderful that you two could make it," Mina said, "The cusions are right over there and I'll have a candle over to you in just a sec. That tray of food can go right over by the cusions, Chichi-san. Arigato for making it!"

"No problem, Mina-chan. Thank you for making up such a wonderful afternoon for everyone!" Chichi replied, and rolled the food over to its designated spot. The two sat down and Goten took his place standing by Mina at the little potium she had brought along with a guestbook and a pen. Chichi and Goku's signatures were already on it, Goku's being in wavery manuscript but Chichi's being small and elegant cursive. Mina and Goten also signed.

Juuhachigou and Krillin were the second couple to arrive and be greeted by the hostess. Krillin was wearing a taupe shirt and khakis, and Juuhachi was wearing a green, strappy dress, knee-length and very beautiful, with black pumps. She had a black ribbon choker on as well.

Trunks and Rei were the next to arrive, along with Darien and Serena. The prince and princess of the moon were dressed all in white, Serena having a white, swishy ankle length skirt and silk tank top with pearl earrings and her balls of hair each had a string of pearls around them to keep them up, and Darien was in a white polo shirt and white slacks. Rei had on her red silk dress and a red mesh choker, and Trunks wore midnight blue slacks and a white shirt.

Ami and Gohan were all in blue; Ami had a dark blue sleeveless shirt and a long skirt with blue flowers and slits almost up to the knees. Gohan also had on a dark blue polo shirt and very dark blue slacks. They both looked elegant.

The special guests then arrived; Yamcha and his new fiance, Jackie. He introduced himself and Jackie, and they both signed the yearbook. They were both dressed in mauve; Jackie in a long dress and Yamcha in a shirt and slacks.

Mina had been very impressed and delighted with the way the couples had dressed, but the next couple truely took her breath away. She gasped when she saw them and everyone else turned around and immediately became quiet, eyes wide.

Vegeta and Bulma walked up to the podium, arms hooked together, like an elegant royal couple in a palace. Vegeta had a white button up shirt which remained handsomely untucked, cuffs buttoned as well, and black slacks with black shoes, and Bulma was dressed in a long, sleeveless and strapless black velour dress, with elbow-length black velour gloves and a black velour ribbon choker. She had black, strappy heels about three inches high. Her lips were dark red. The slits in her long, form-fitting plain velour dress were about up to her mid-thigh.

Mina's eyes popped wide open. Vegeta was so much more unbelieveably handsome than all the other men and Bulma was so much more incredibly beautiful than all the other women that the young blonde became speechless. So were almost all the others. Only Rei could maintain her status in the land of the living while staring at the gorgeous couple.

"Hey Veggie-chan, lookin' pretty damn hot tonight, ne?" She shouted. This caused much relieved laughter, especially from Bulma, and brought a heavy pink to Vegeta's face.

Even after most of the tension was relieved, many still stared in awe at the gorgeous couple. They took their food and cusions and were brought a candle by Mina. They sat down in the middle of the group.

"Oh, Darien," Serena whispered, "they're so dreamy, aren't they?" Darien nodded. "Hai, Serena-chan," He replied.

"Damn, Krillin, Vegetable Brains shouldn't be allowed to look that sexy," Juuhachi said to her short husband.

"Neither should Bulma," Krillin answered.

"Wow, they're so dreamy tonight. I didn't know my own parents could look that good," Trunks told Rei quietly.

"Really? I knew they could," Rei replied, and giggled. Trunks laughed.

Goku and Chichi sat at the edge of the circle of couples. They hardly ever had time alone together and were seldom romantic or even flirtatious. Chichi looked at her husband and knew that despite this, she loved her husband very much, looking past his air-headedness and clumbsyness, his obvious lack of smarts and his obsessive love for fighting. He was a gentle, loving, friendly man who cared deeply for his friends and family, including his fellow Saiya-Jin. Chichi loved him, no doubt about that, and she always would, even though he constantly scared the shit out of her and sent her own children into constant battle. She was glad they were having some peace, or at least for a while.

"Who would have thought?" Goku said suddenly, interrupting Chichi's thoughts.

"Thought what, Son-chan?" His wife asked.

"Vegeta and Bulma. What a couple, ne?"

"Definitely. You never would have guessed. The first time Bulma saw that man on the battle grounds she wanted to rip his throat out and hang him from a tree, and I'm sure she would have, if given the opportunity."

"They're so happy together now. You couldn't imagine a more perfect couple if you tried. I'm so happy for them," Goku said, and looked over at the two in question. They were kissing passionately at the moment. All their food was eaten and they weren't wasting any romance time.

"So am I, Son-chan," Chichi agreed with her husband.

Goku looked at Vegeta and Bulma, then looked at Chichi. He took her chin in his strong hand and guided her mouth to his. Chichi was temporarily startled, but kissed back. When the two parted, Chichi remained a little confused.

"What was that for, Son-chan?" Chichi asked him.

"For putting up with me all those years, and never getting anything in return," Goku replied.

"Nonsense. You gave me two beautiful children and a wonderful husband to worry about and come home to," The black haired woman told her husband.

"But I never gave you anything just for you, just for being you, Chichi-chan," Goku replied. His wife was startled; Goku had never called her Chichi-chan in her whole life. She smiled at Goku. He had his more emotional and…intelligent moments, and when he did, Chichi loved him more than anything in the world.

Goku smiled back at her.