𝓑𝓻𝓸𝓴𝓮𝓷 𝓢𝓸𝓾𝓵 (//SLOW UPDATES//)

The Field

          Vegeta slowly opened his eyes, the bright sunlight blinding him for a moment as he looked around: soft light coloured grass surrounded them, the gentle breeze brushing through it and bringing the small flowers around to light - the small pinks, blues, and yellows littering around the base of the few trees that stood so proudly. The cool sky above painted with the fluffy clouds that roamed the world beyond, and the sun shining peacefully down upon the two who stood in the field. The prince had never seen anything like it, not even the royal garden back on his home planet - or what he could remember of it - could compare to this. It was truly beautiful.
          Goku chuckled softly at the amazed Vegeta smiling as he looked around, for the first time ever he saw a genuine smile and look of joy from the smaller saiyan - like a child in a candy store the prince's eyes lit up as he took in the beautiful sight of nature before them.
          "It's...it's amazing..." Vegeta said to himself, though he could tell the Goku had heard his comment by the little laugh he got in return - but he was so wrapped up in his own little world that he wasn't really paying too much attention to the taller male.
          "Pretty, right?" Goku asked simply, pulling Vegeta out of his trance - causing the smaller man to quickly put on that tough exterior once more as he tried to hide his amazement at the glorious scene.
          Vegeta only nodded in response, turning back to focusing on taking in every little detail of the new surrounding. He hadn't ever been here, and he was certainly impressed with the field layed before him. It was a new place that he would usually put up an act and say he hated, even though he didn't.
           "I come here when I'm upset sometimes, it always helps calm me down." Goku stated, closing his eyes as he inhaled the sweet smells of the outdoors. Letting out a soft chuckle as he opened his eyes once again to look over to Vegeta once again, still smiling brightly at the expression the other saiyan held. "It's peaceful here, and no one else knows about it so I figured it would be a good place to go and just hang out, ya know? C'mon, follow me."
          He gently took hold of Vegeta's hand once again, leading him over to a large tree that hung over a pond; the canopy of leaves shading the area around it. He quickly sat cross legged in the shade, obviously wanting Vegeta to do the same as he gently pulled the smaller man down to sit next to him. It took a moment for the prince to relax and get comfortable, as he hadn't expected that, though - for some reason - he didn't put up a fight about it and just decided to play along; sitting closer to the taller saiyan than he would have in the past.
          "Ya know, you can, uh- let go of my hand, right?" Goku gave an awkward laugh, lifting his hand to show that their fingers were still carefully intertwined as they gently held hands - to which the prince blushed and quickly let go, moving his hands away to carefully rest at his sides with his palms on the soft grass beneath him.

        They stayed like that for a while: just observing and taking in their surroundings, listening to the tranquil sounds as the birds and other creatures sang and chattered around - as the water and the trees waved in the wind, as the grass swayed side to side with the swift yet kind breeze. Just enjoying the peaceful atmosphere that the field held; one that the prince wasn't used to but was quickly becoming rather fond of. He liked just listening, just watching the world around him - not disrupting the flow of things as he just sat silently observing everything.
          Though, he didn't get to do things like this often, especially not now that everything had become so chaotic in his life - well with Bulma and all, though the way he saw it he had done this to himself by being so weak; no matter how untrue that might have been. Even with the comfort from the other saiyan, which he had conflicted feelings about, he still hadn't felt like his old self: he still felt like there was some part of him that had died and was now missing, he still felt like everything was his fault, and he still felt like the world would have been better off without his presence.
          "Hey, can I, uhm- ask you somethin..?" Goku spoke up after a while, interrupting Vegeta's thoughts once again. The prince swiftly turned his head to face the taller saiyan, getting a curious yet cautious look in return.
          "I don't see why not," Vegeta said softly, having taken a moment to think about it before he replied. He really didn't see any harm in Goku asking something, it was only fitting for him to answer a simple question after all Goku had done for him. "But it really depends on what the question is."
          "Does Trunks know about this?- I mean like all the Bulma Yamcha stuff and the, uh..." Goku began, his voice trailing off as he directed his vision towards Vegeta's wrists; giving a cautious look at the blood soaked bandaging. "Cutting..?" He said quietly, finishing his previous sentence as he slowly shifted his gaze back up to meet the prince's tired glare.
          There was another moment of silence between them before the shorter male sighed and looked away, "No, I don't believe the boy knows or would understand why. And if he does he hasn't said anything to make that clear.."
          Goku nodded as he listened; that made sense. Trunks was still young, only being about 9 now, so not knowing about all this might have been for the best. But that raised a few more questions, a main one being whether or not the boy truly did know and if he had just grown used to it. The cutting was one thing, as it seemed Vegeta was often secretive about it or at least he tried to be, but the whole Bulma cheating on Vegeta behind his back was a completely different story: at first they were good at hiding it, but as the time it went on grew it was like they just stopped really caring about the entire idea of keeping it behind closed doors - sometimes literally - and that lead every other Z-Fighter, with the exception of Vegeta and one or two others, to know about it; and it didn't help that there were times where Yamcha spoke rather openly about the affair. So Goku began to wonder if Trunks was really in the dark about it or if he had known and just, for lack of better words, didn't care.
          Though, that wasn't his true concern, the question of Trunks knowing or not brought something else to his mind - something that he thought was far more important.
          "Can I ask you another question?" Goku inquired, his expression falling to a more cautious one like before. Vegeta only sighed and nodded as a way to tell him to go ahead and ask, to which he gave a short nod of his own in response. "When did the cutting start?"
          The prince's eyes went wide at the question as he looked back to the saiyan next to him; though he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. That was a question he had to answer at some point in time, whether that be now or later down the line of his life. "W-well...I guess it started a-around the time I learned of Bulma's affair..." He admitted after a moment.
          Goku only gave him the 'can you elaborate?' look, to with Vegeta sighed: it was painful enough to just think about it and now he was being asked to go into full detail for the dolt. "I was getting a little suspicious of her before Buu showed up, she would constantly go out and she seemed far more distant than she had been in the past, but when I caught her in the act a few months later that just settled it." He paused to shake his head and sigh as he looked down, then continued his story. "That's when it really began: the name calling, the threats, her usage of my past to hurt me...and that's when I started cutting, among other things." He mumbled the last part, not really wanting Goku to hear: he didn't want to panic the naive saiyan after all. Though, there was some part of him that wanted to reach out for that source of comfort he had never felt - and in turn that part of him wanted Goku to ask what he had meant.
          But, Goku stayed quiet; taking in the information given. It was strange, very strange: he hadn't known about Bulma and Yamcha until rather recently, only about a few months ago had it been confirmed for him, but with what Vegeta just told him that meant that the prince had known for sometime. So why hadn't he said anything? It was obvious that he was hurt because of it, emotionally and then eventually physically, so why hadn't he done anything to try to stop it? He couldn't have possibly been fine with his wife going behind his back with another man, especially not one like Yamcha, that just wasn't like Vegeta - or at least the Vegeta he knew. No, the Vegeta he knew would go and kill the bastard that Bulma was with, or worse; try and blow up the planet out of spite.
          But, with what was happening now, that wasn't the case at all. It seemed like the broken warrior hadn't put up a fight about this, and instead took it out on himself...
          "Why?" Goku mumbled, seeing Vegeta give him a questioning look. He turned to fully face the smaller male, frowning as their eyes met once again. "Why didn't you stop it- why didn't you fight back?"
          Vegeta only frowned at this, maintaining eye contact for a moment longer before he looked away. "I...I don't think we should talk about this right now.." He stated, his voice quiet and low as he spoke.
          Goku gaze turned to a more confused one as he continued to stare a Vegeta, like he was trying to pinpoint something that he couldn't quite find. There was something about what the prince had said,specifically the way he said it, that didn't seem right to him; like there was more of a reason than he just didn't think that now was the right time. This might not have been something that Vegeta was very open about to begin with, but he seemed fine talking about it only a few seconds ago, so what had suddenly changed? It was strange, almost like Vegeta was scared to talk about it, but that couldn't be right - could it?
          But, the more he looked at the prince, the more sense it made: he was scared. Scared to talk about it, scared to talk about the reasons this all started, scared to talk about why he didn't fight back, scared to talk about why he let it get this bad. Scared.
 
                 ...He was scared...