In Your Dreams: Chapter 6

Not having a highly detectable ki proved to be useful, and Goku was easily able to lose Vegeta in the hallways. He snickered to himself as the prince's calls faded into the distance, and soon he was confident that he could search for Bulma without running into the older man.

It was still early in the morning and Goku figured the older woman would be in bed. He silently made his way across the building to the eastern wing and he slipped into Bulma's room without incident.

Just as he had expected, she was still sleeping. The Saiyajin padded across the carpet and climbed onto the large king sized bed. It took a moment to find the woman amongst the mountain of blankets, but soon enough a tangle of blue hair became visible.

Goku leaned forward and shook her shoulder.

''Bulma.''

A muffled grunt was his only response, so this time he poked her.

''Bulma!''

The drowsy woman moaned and swatted at the air. ''Not now, Bura! It's early!''

Goku just stared at the bundle in front of him blankly before huffing. He didn't sound THAT much like a girl, did he?!

The Saiyajin crouched closer to his friend and took a deep breath.

''BULMA!''

''AHHH!!!'' Bulma screeched and bolted upright as she slapped her hands over her ringing ears. Blue eyes darted around the room before they finally settled on a grinning Goku.

She lowered her hands and attempted to bat him upside the head, but the younger man was ready and he ducked the blow. ''What the HELL, Goku?! Do you know what.... time....'' The older woman trailed off much like Goku had when it finally sunk in that he was able to talk, and after the initial shock, Bulma squealed and dragged the Saiyajin into a hug.

Goku squawked at the unexpected move. ''Too tight!''

''Sorry!'' Bulma loosened her grip before she released the man completely and she clapped in excitement. ''So how did this happen?''

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For the next hour Goku and Bulma talked. The Saiyajin told the older woman about the senzu that Dende had infused with his healing powers and that it had been Vegeta's idea. He also complained about the prince making fun of his 'teenage' voice, and then gave Bulma an earful over calling him Bura.

The blue haired woman was even able to coax a little information out of the younger man concerning some of his experiences while in Dr. Villa's lab. She learned the real reasons behind the damage to his vocal cords, and the information made her regret letting the man off so easy. Perhaps she could arrange to make his life a little more difficult after all...

As the conversation progressed however, Goku began to feel a familiar burning sensation in his throat. His voice became increasingly raspy, and words became more and more difficult to get out. Bulma had run into her bathroom and brought him back a glass of water, but it did nothing to diminish the pain or bring back his voice.

The older woman choked back her own emotions as she watched the Saiyajin become increasingly distraught over the current situation. To finally have his ability to speak restored after several years of silence, only to have it fade away again within two hours was devastating. The look of despair and disappointment on Goku's face was enough to break anyone's heart.

Bulma put her hand on the younger man's shoulder and attempted a small smile. ''Hey, don't worry about it. Dende probably couldn't pack enough of his power into a senzu. I'm sure if you went to see him in person he could permanently restore your voice.''

Goku tensed his jaw as he stared down at the bed sheets. He struggled to control himself as waves of both sadness and anger rolled over him. Out of everything he'd been through in the past several years, this experience had been the most painful. It almost seemed like a cruel joke, and he certainly wasn't laughing.

The Saiyajin just barely heard what Bulma said about going to see Dende, but he shook his head at the thought. At this point in time he couldn't stand another disappointment like that, and if the Namekian tried to heal him and failed... well, he just couldn't deal with it. He'd rather not get his hopes up again.

Goku shrugged Bulma's hand off his shoulder and scooted off the bed. He ignored her call as he hurried to the door. He needed some time to himself right now.

''Kakarotto.''

Vegeta raised an eyebrow upon meeting the younger man at Bulma's door, but what confused him was the expression on the other Saiyajin's face. He looked like someone had just killed his puppy.

The prince wisely stepped aside and let Goku pass. He watched until the other man had disappeared down the hallway before turning back to Bulma. The woman was still sitting on her bed, and she too looked like someone had shot her puppy.

''What happened?''

She sighed and finally looked up. ''That senzu's effects were only temporary, Vegeta. He lost his voice again.''

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''Why didn't you tell me the effects were only temporary?!!''

Dende trembled and stared back at the enraged prince with wide eyes. He'd been expecting Vegeta to return to the Lookout, but he hadn't expected this kind of anger.

''I...I'm sorry. I tried to tell you, but you left so quickly...I didn't...''

The Saiyajin snarled and clenched his fists, raising one in front of him in a threatening manner. ''Oh, so it's MY fault then, huh?!''

''Vegeta, calm down! This isn't anyone's fault!'' Piccolo snapped as he took a step closer to put himself between the smaller Namekian and the prince.
''Infusing a senzu bean with additional healing powers has never been done before. None of us knew for sure if it would even work!''

Dende sighed in relief and relaxed a little when Vegeta took a less aggressive stance. He knew the Saiyajin wasn't really angry with him; just that Goku had been so upset with the outcome. The older man really did care for him.

''Again, I apologize, Vegeta. When I heal someone I look inside them and actually pinpoint the damaged areas. Once I've found them, I focus my healing properties on those spots and piece everything back together. Now when I embedded some of my power into that senzu, I was really only enhancing the beans' effects. Since Goku was able to speak for a short period of time after ingesting it, I'm guessing the damage to his vocal cords is repairable; but it will take a lot of time and work.''

Vegeta glared at the slightly trembling Namekian. ''So if I bring Kakarotto to see you, you can repair him?''

Dende looked down at the ground as he shuffled his foot along the white tiles he stood on.
''I'm... not certain. I mean, I can't be until I see the damage for myself. If his vocal cords are intact but simply damaged, I can probably do it. However... if he's missing the majority of his vocal cords... well, that can be a little tricky. I can try to slowly rebuild and replace whatever is missing, but it will take several healing sessions... and I can't really say for sure if his voice will be restored to what it used to be.''

The prince growled in annoyance and turned away from the two Namekians in order to think about what he'd just heard. The situation was aggravating to say the least. If he'd known there was a chance that senzu bean he'd given Kakarotto wouldn't permanently restore his voice, he wouldn't have given it to him. He'd always been under the impression Dende's healing powers were straight forward. Point and heal.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Vegeta looked over his shoulder. ''I'll talk to Kakarotto about this.''

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Goku kept to himself for the next several hours. He'd locked himself in his room and had ignored anyone who came knocking. Both Bulma and Bunny had come by in an attempt to get him to come out and eat something, but he had just buried himself under his bed sheets and waited until they'd left. Bunny had made of a point of letting him know she'd left several plates of food outside his door, but he wasn't interested in eating.

He was sulking and he didn't care.

Goku had wanted to be angry with Vegeta for causing him so much misery; for getting his hopes up and then snatching it all away. His common sense told him that the prince wasn't to blame though. Vegeta wouldn't have knowingly done something so cruel. He had only been trying to help.

After rotating between a plethora of emotions, Goku finally exhausted himself. At this point he wasn't feeling much of anything. His mind was blank and his body felt numb. He had a headache and his eyes burned from all the tears they had shed, but they were dry now.

The Saiyajin was just drifting off to sleep when a light tapping on his door made him jump. He sighed a few moments later when he noise repeated itself and he finally sat up and pushed his nest of pillows and blankets aside.

''Goku? Buddy?''

Yamcha?

Goku hesitated for a moment before he stood and slowly made his way to the door. His hand reached for the knob and he unlocked it. The Saiyajin turned and returned to his bed after that, throwing the covers back over his head and squirming around until he was comfortable again.

He didn't have to wait long until he heard the door squeak open, followed by hesitant foot steps entering the room. After a moment of silence the door shut again and those foot steps steadily approached the bed. Goku felt the mattress dip a little as the older man sat down on the edge of it.

''Hey, I heard you were feeling a little bummed out today.''

Though the other man couldn't see him, Goku couldn't help but roll his eyes. 'Bummed' wasn't a strong enough word to describe what he was feeling.

''I know you aren't feeling up to company, but I don't think laying around stewing in your thoughts is going to help. Sooo, I was wondering if you could help me out with something...''

The Saiyajin's curiosity piqued at that. No one had ever needed his help before when it came to anything besides saving the planet. Goku rearranged the blankets until he could peek out at the older man, who smiled brightly when he spotted two black eyes looking up at him.

Yamcha held up two tickets. ''You see, I won these tickets in a raffle. They're VIP seats to the World Martial Arts Championships. Not only is there a show featuring the best artists out there, but there's also a convention. You can buy all sorts of training equipment, sign up for private lessons... The works!''

The ex-fighter paused and his cheeks took on a reddish hue. ''But... the girl I was dating cancelled out on me and these tickets are only good for today... so...''

Goku raised an eyebrow at the man and Yamcha laughed at the look.
''Oh, no! I don't mean this would be a date or anything! I just thought you might enjoy it, that's all.... Hey, to sweeten the deal, I'll even buy you dinner. What do you say?''

The Saiyajin's tail twitched beneath the blankets as he thought about it. The older man was right; laying around wasn't going to help his mood. However, he didn't feel like training with Vegeta today as he'd planned, so maybe going to this event would be good for him. He might even pick up a few helpful moves he could use to kick the prince's ass.

And there was a free meal involved...

Goku finally sat up and nodded with a smile.

''Great! We'll head out in an hour.''

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After Goku had showered he found himself standing in the middle of his massive walk-in closet. It was official; he had too many clothes. His eyes couldn't even focus on one thing and it all seemed to blur together. Man, he'd kill right now for his simple orange and blue gi.

Finally the Saiyajin settled on an outfit. He'd chosen a pair of tan khaki pants that had several pockets sewn onto the legs, a form fitting black shirt, and a sage button-up shirt to wear over top of that. He rolled the sleeves up to his elbows before slipping on a pair of brown work boots. He smiled as he laced them up and pulled his pant legs down over top of them. He liked these shoes because they made him taller.

Goku glanced back for a moment before he clicked off the closet light. He wasn't sure when Bulma had unpacked all his new clothes, but she'd even gone as far as to cut out tail holes in all his pants. The woman had really outdone herself. He'd have to thank her again next time he saw her.

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Soon enough Yamcha and Goku were on the road. The older man obviously still prided himself on having the hottest cars, because today he was driving a sporty two door Ferrari. It was crimson red with black interior; and it was fast. Goku couldn't help but smile as they flew by the other drivers on the highway, and the 'vroom, vroom' noises Yamcha seemed to unwittingly make as they wove in and out of traffic was amusing.

The Saiyajin couldn't help but wonder where the older man got the money to afford a car like this though. Apparently Yamcha had seen his confusion, because he explained that he'd begun playing baseball again for the major leagues several years back. The pay was VERY good.

''Hey! Here comes a car full of hotties! Here, put these on!!'' The older man had to shout over the sound of rushing air. Goku raised an eyebrow when a pair of sunglasses was thrust in his direction and he watched as Yamcha slipped on a pair of his own.

''Come on, it's to look cool!''

The Saiyajin snickered and put on the shades just to satisfy the driver. Honestly, some people never grew up.... and that was an ironic thing for HIM of all people to think about someone else.

A second later a black convertible full of scantily clad young women drove up on their passenger side. Yamcha beamed over at them and waved.

''Hey, ladies! How's it going?''

It was a good thing he was wearing the sunglasses, otherwise the older man might have seen Goku roll his eyes. Couldn't he tell these girls were young enough to be his daughters?

Many of said girls giggled and waved back. One of them cupped her hands around her mouth in order to be heard. ''Heeey! Nice car, old man! Your son is so hot!''

''WHAT?!'' Yamcha suddenly slammed on his brakes in the middle of the highway. The car of women quickly became a speck in the distance, and the sound of honking horns and screeching tires filled the air as the surrounding vehicles swerved to avoid smashing into them.

Goku twisted around in his seat and his eyes widened when he spotted three 18-wheelers heading straight for them. The Saiyajin looked at the still sputtering Yamcha before he unbuckled them both. He quickly fisted his hands in the older man's shirt and yanked him over into his seat, then he jumped into the driver's seat himself and slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

The luxury car's high speed of acceleration was the only thing that kept them from becoming road kill.

Once they were traveling at a safe speed again and his heart slowed down, Goku growled and tore the sunglasses off his face and threw them out of the car. He reached over and did the same to Yamcha's shades before he whacked the man upside the head.

''....They called me old...''

Goku sighed and rolled his eyes skyward. The man was hopeless.

''Hey... I didn't know you could drive stick...''

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''Where the HELL is Kakarotto?!'' Vegeta shouted as he stormed into Bulma's lab. The woman was busy working on some useless invention again (in his opinion). She blinked at him and set down her tools.

''There you are. Where have you been all morning?''

''That isn't important. Now answer my question!''

''Chill out, you grump! Goku was moping so I called Yamcha and asked him to come over to see if he could get him out of the house. Apparently he had tickets to some Martial Arts thing today, so they both went together.''

Vegeta could feel the vein in his forehead bulging as his eyes narrowed. Kakarotto was with THAT man again?! He was supposed to start training today and instead he was off on some DATE with that scarred pervert?!

''Woman, where is this event being held?''

To be continue...