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The Dark Duke- Thirty-Six

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Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, or the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. But if I did own DBZ, it probably would be as untimely as this story is. The cell saga would have lasted like six years or something....

Warnings: Cussing, you know how I love to cuss.

A/N: Rather than repeat the word sorry at least a thousand times (I considered), let me start by being honest and sincere. There has not been a day that has not gone by where I have not thought about writing this story, or finishing it, or how frustrating it must be to those of you who have been waiting for an update. Life has thrown me a few curveballs, and while I've been able to survive, this story has suffered because of those curveballs. So from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry that it has taken me this long to get this next chapter up. I think it was catgirl26 once said she felt like she was in a reverse time suck, where a year had gone by but it had felt like a week. I totally get that now. But not to fear, I never forgot you or this story. This story has an ending, and we are close guys, so close. So thank you for everyone who has been asking if I am okay, and I hope you realize that this is for you.

Lilpumpkingirl, this chapter really came alive because of you. Total co-writing credit goes to you on this one. You made it the awesome chapter everyone is about to read.

As a refresher, last time on DBZ, Bulma and Vegeta returned to London, reconciled, Bulma let slip she loved Vegeta, though he didn't reciprocate. The next morning, when talking about her French Canadian nanny, Vegeta had an a-ha moment about Zhelonie, and ran out after writing a note to Goku, and making Bulma hide...

Chapter Thirty-Six: I've Got the World on a String

     Bob Wicket, a man who had never considered himself that extraordinary, or lucky, finally felt that his fortune was changing. Besides being a bow street runner, he had led an extremely average life, with a normal upbringing, a standard business, a typical wife, and three incredibly common children. He had been one step up from a chimney sweep, and at least they got to dance upon the rooftops of London. Not literally, but, well that was beside the point. As was his normal life--because that was all behind him now.
     
      In front of him sat...well, simply put: The World.
     
     In these past few months following his trip back from America, Wicket's life had changed. He now owned his own home. His children now were at either respectable boarding or finishing schools, gaining an education (and opportunities) that Wicket never had. And his wife now sat at home, growing rather plump, as the kitchen maid and two other servants--he could now afford--did all of the housework and cleaning. Not only that, but business was beyond booming! He was the most sought after bow street runner London had ever seen. He was successful beyond anything he had ever dreamed, and it all came down to one thing....

     The Duke of Vegetasei.

     All Wicket had to do was drop the fact that he had worked for the Duke of Vegetasei to a prospective client and boom, he would have a new client. That was it. Clients would fork over money and whatever job they had come to him for--faster than Wicket could get out the Duke's full title.
     
     If he had ever known how much of a difference the Duke would have made in his life, Wicket would never have been so hesitant to take that case from the demon man. Hell, he would have probably gone after the Duke himself, banging on his door for the assignment, begging to be the one the Duke worked with, the one the Duke sent to America.

     There was one thing...by using the Duke's name, well... Wicket knew he was playing with fire. But it had been over six months since the Duke had last visited him. Six months since Wicket had come off of the boat from America, had presented his findings to the Duke in that stuffy office, and run out, clutching his cross like the Duke was more than another human being. Wicket laughed as he thought of how scared he had been. He knew (now, that was) that the Duke was nothing but a living, breathing man--not a demon, or something else equally sinister or super human.
     
     It had been months (months!) since word had spread that Wicket had worked for 'the Dark Duke,' and Wicket had seen neither hide nor hair of him. Not that Wicket had not originally heeded the man's warnings. In fact, it was not even Wicket who had leaked the word that he had worked with the Duke to the entire ton. Well not at first, that is. He had only told one person--one other bow street runner, and really that had been the ale talking more than Wicket. An old chum of his and him had started swapping horror stories and Wicket had been reticent at first to even talk about it, but quite a few pints in and he was spilling the whole story--the Duke's name coming from his lips when he admitted he had been scared of only one customer, one assignment. As soon as the words had passed his lips, Wicket had been scared witless and left the bar to scramble home and say his last goodbyes.
     
     He was sure, at any moment, the Duke was going to sweep out of the darkness and murder him with his bare hands. Or suck Wicket's soul from his very body. Or, or, or....Well, any long list of horror's that Wicket could imagine. And, being a man with an overactive imagination, he could imagine some truly horrible ways for the Duke to pay him back. But there was nothing to do but wait, in his bed, under his covers . So he waited. For an hour. Then for two hours. Then for another few hours...and finally, the next morning, when he had woken up from a sleep he had not realized he had fallen into, he realized there was nothing.
     
     So Wicket had gotten out of bed, and decided to go about living his life as if he were not waiting for the proverbial (or maybe literal...) axe to drop, and wait for his impending doom like a man. So he had gone about his normal life, and he waited. But there was nothing. No, not a peep from the Duke. Not even a visit from his bald goon to tell Wicket to stop the talk of Wicket working for the Duke. Because the tales, well, they spread. From one person they moved to the next as if they were the plague themselves, and Wicket was powerless to stop them.
     
     But...
     
     But the more time passed without any recriminations (or even a hint that the Duke remembered his existence) Wicket found his fear abating. With each passing week, the constantly looking over his shoulder, the wearing of his wife's cross, the denying any connection with the Duke--well, these all faded. At first, Wicket had refused to play into the gossip, or to acknowledge the rumors. Just trying to downplay it and shush them--but over time, his reaction had evolved. Specifically it had changed the day another member of the gentry had come to him, and offered him tons and tons of cash to do his bidding.  
     
     That had been the day, it had been like a floodgate had broken. Or more like a crack had appeared in a dam. At first Wicket would only answer affirmatively that he had worked for the Duke, never using the name first, careful, whenever he was asked. But then, like a trickle growing into a stream, and time drew on with no recriminations from the Duke, Wicket found himself volunteering the information before the upper crust could ask. That stream eventually became a giant wave, and Wicket found himself advertising the fact that he had worked for the Duke of Vegetasei. Turned out the man had a lot of pull with the Ton. Pull that Wicket was using to get paid beyond his wildest dreams.

     His dear wife, bless her soul, though she enjoyed the bounties of Wicket's bragging, found herself cautioning him almost every day. "I don't care if 'e 'asn't appeared yet. 'E will. 'E will. Evil always do."

     Wicket had tried to take her concerns seriously, but more and more he found himself chuckling at his Mary, bless her. Shaking her head as she gripped the cross she wore, the Duke's name always hushed as if saying it out loud would conjure him. Wicket found himself becoming more and more patronizing as he tried to comfort her. Not that he could help himself. She was just so adorable with her concerns.

     Then the day had come. The day he had sat at his favorite inn, and enjoyed his favorite lunch, wondering if he should hire yet another runner to work for him, when he heard his name. "Bob Wicket?"

     Wicket had smiled, anticipating another customer from the posh tones of the man who was behind him, standing and turning, ready to fleece the man for every pound he could get off of him. Hey, if the rich were simply going to use him because he had worked for one man, he was going to make sure he got as much commerce out of them as possible. "Bob Wicket, former employee of the Duke of Veg--."
     
     The words died on his lip as he stood to face the man, mainly due to the fact that Wicket had felt like he had been punched in the gut as he recognized the large, looming, bald brute in front of him. The gleam in the giant's eyes caused the words to die in his throat. Instantly, Wicket felt fear crash over him like an oncoming tidal wave, and as soon as he blinked, realizing just who was standing before him, cracking his knuckles, Wicket went to run, turning with every intention of going until he hit water, then swimming until he hit land and never ever returning.
     
     It was either that or certain doom.
     
     Not that Wicket even made it a step, despite his litheness and dexterity. Those did not matter much in the face of such brutal strength. Before he could even turn, the giant in front of him grabbed the lapels of his shirt, drawing Wicket's face even with his own, Wicket's feet dangled as the giant asked with a leering smirk, "Former employee of who?"

     Wicket's tongue had swelled. The food he had been chewing turning to ash in his mouth as his eyes had darted around, looking for the Duke himself, before the brute shook him, bringing his attention back to the man in front of him as he answered in one rush of breath. The denial came fast, Wicket's voice a few octaves higher then he knew it could get. "N-n-no one. I didn' say no one. I've kept my promise to the Duke!"

     The bald brute had grinned then. Not a friendly grin by any stretch of the imagination, causing Wicket to start praying as his stomach dropped all the way to his toes. The large man let go of him before grabbing the back of Wicket's jacket, dragging him from the inn's barroom. Wicket was unsurprised that no one helped him or even looked up from their food and beer, suspiciously intent on not making eye contact with either Wicket, or the giant who had likely come to murder him. Wicket was no fool--he had played with fire and lost, and while he had just been on top of the world--well, it had been a short run, and it seemed as if his small pathetic existence was over. And he had no one but himself to blame for the position he was in.
     
     That was the worst part. Not that Wicket focused on that as he was dragged to the alley behind the bar, his thoughts completely focused on how he was going to be killed. Shot? Strangled? Crushed between this giant mans palms?  
     
     The big man finally let him go, Wicket's knees gave out as he landed on the cobblestones, palms flat. All thoughts of running were gone as he huffed out a few deep breaths, expecting the blow that would end his life at any moment. When seconds ticked past and Wicket remained untouched, he finally looked up with hope--before that was crushed as instantly as it had come as he saw that man, that evil man with soulless black eyes glaring at him as he nonchalantly leaned against the wall. The second Wicket met the horrific man's eyes, any and all warmth was sucked from the very air around him.
     
     "Mr. Wicket."
     
     The bald man's voice came from behind him as he said with a hint of amusement, "Look who I found saying he was a former employee of you."
     
     Wicket's immediate reaction was for his back to snap into that of a taut stoop, head bowed as he immediately started to purge himself of anything that had been in his stomach. He could hear the bald brute behind him mutter, "Pathetic," but Wicket had absolutely no control of his own facilities, and even once he was cleansed of any food, he spent a few moments dry heaving, his breath uncontrollable as he wished it had only been the giant here to end him. Brute strength he could handle...the Duke...well....
     
     Wicket, when he could finally get a hold of himself, brought his eyes back up, though he could only go as high as the Duke's chest, his eyes refusing to meet those bleak black pits, "Y-y-your grace."
     
     The Duke did not move, looking the picture of nonchalance as he calmly asked, "So is Nappa telling me the truth? Did you use my name, even though I specifically told you not to?"  

     Wicket's head snapped back up. He forced himself onto his knees. His heart thundered in his chest as he moved, trying to remain calm, even as a cold sweat doused his body. He knew he looked pathetic as he begged the Duke, palms out, but he could not stop himself, knowing his very life was in the balance as he stuttered out, "N-n-no, I'm s-s-sorry your Grace. I was not going to say your name--he misunderstood. I would never tell anyone about us wor--."

     The Duke's voice was quiet, yet it carried heavy weight, "Silence."

     Wicket's hands dropped to his side, before one blindly came up, grasping at his chest where Mary's cross had sat the last time he had met with the Duke. When he found it to not be there, he settled with quickly crossing himself, hearing a snort of amusement from the giant behind him. Not that Wicket noticed much, what with still trying to scramble his way out of what was sure to be certain doom. In his own mind Wicket called himself a fool a thousand times over, as lame as they came with forgetting how truly terrifying it was to be in this man's presence. He knew his soul was already damned to whatever hell this demon wanted to banish it too, but he made sure to keep eye contact as the Duke quietly continued, the first flash of emotion Wicket had ever seen on his face flash across it as he simply said, "You have a debt to repay to me."

     Wicket did not even hesitate, his heart slamming against his ribcage, as he nodded his head, "Of course, your Grace."

     The Duke's eyebrow had winged up over those deep black pits he called eyes as he very calmly said, "You have one hour to find me someone. One hour to rouse every bow street runner at your disposal, to get every man who owes you a favor to pay it, hell, to use every orphan runner on the street to find me where a man who goes by the name of Piccolo is. If you find this man, if you can find me anything about where he is or where he might be, I will forget the name Bob Wicket, and the lies he has spread."

     Wicket fell palms flat back to the ground, forcing himself not to sob with gratitude as he bowed, "Of course your Grace. I will find this man at once. No one can stay hidden from Bob Wic--"

     The Duke did not let him finish as he slowly and evenly said, "Because I know if you do not find me this man in the hour I have given you, if you do not come back to this bar in an hours time, I promise no one will forget the name Bob Wicket once they find your body and what I have done to it."

     That icy bucket of water called fear doused Wicket as he bowed further down, trying to pay some sort of penance as he nodded, "Of course, your Grace. Of course."

     There was a sound. The sound of steps walking away. Wicket finally looked up long after they had faded, his body shaking uncontrollably, finding himself alone in the suddenly warmer alley.

     When he looked down at his darkened pants leg and saw the puddle beneath him, he suddenly understood why it had grown warmer.
     
     ~~&~~
     
     Chi-Chi could remember, oh how she could remember, this sinking dread. There was nothing else like it. A coiling terror that slithered in the pit of her stomach, hissing and frothing, creeping into her veins and freezing her blood until all she knew was this chilling numbness. It was just like that horrible day. Five years ago. Eighteen years old, but feeling much more like a wee lassie as she had felt this all-consuming numbness.
     
     That was where Chi-Chi was now, trapped in her younger self and not sitting in front of Dr. and Mrs. Briefs in their quant pallor. Knees trembling, she faced her alone--not with Goku steadfast at her side, clasping her hand as he explained their plans to wed. Chi-Chi saw not the politely blinking older couple she had come to know and respect, but him, the one authority that must be obeyed. Her father.  
     
      "Chi-Chi and I met when she worked in the kitchens at Saiyan manor..." her love's voice carried the vast distance, flittering on the edge of her mind. Her anchor to reality.  
     
     Instead of a beaming Mrs. Briefs, Chi-Chi was lost in a memory of that day. Her father towering over her trembling frame, his hefty size making him seem more like a mountain than a man. His chubby cheeks were red with rage, the only time she could recall him ever being mad, as he graveled in his thick brogue, "What do ye mean you will not marry MacDougal's son?!"
     
     "We want to make a life together..."
     
     Tremors racked his body. Miniature earthquakes as he flailed his arms, the gestures punctuating key words that fueled his fury. "Is this what a 'London' education has done to ye?" He roared, spittle spewing from his mouth like erupting lava, "Made it so you will disobey your own father and his wishes?" The color drained from her face. Numbly she wiped off the few drops of spit on her cheek. Never had she imagined he would be this mad at her for flat out refusing to marry some lad. A lad, Chi-Chi wanted to point out, she had never even met before!
     
     "She means the world to me, and I love her...."
     
     Chi-Chi knew she was young. Perhaps even a little na•ve. But she had not left her loving home when her mother had died six years before, and attended school in London just so she could come home and be some brawn-bound laddie's wife and...slave! Ay, no doubt he was strong, strapping, and worthy. In her father's eyes alone, that is. To her this lad was a stranger and fiend. A man who would take her freedom away. He would shackle her to the old-ways. The old-ways, ay! Those were the 'golden ages.' Where brutes called themselves warriors and chained their faithful and ever loyal, never questioning wives to their homestead. She would be little more than cattle to this man. Her sharp tongue and quick wit lost with years of heavy fits, condemning her for thinking, or brushing her opinion off entirely. He would surely laugh at the idea she could fight, and defend herself.
     
     As hurt and as angry as she had been, she could not match her father's rage. When she had first told him she refused to marry this hooligan, his eyes had zoned out. His face paling to bone ash as he became as unmoving as stone. Then, the muscle in his neck had started to twitch. With an eerie calm his eyes had narrowed on her. In that moment, Chi-Chi had finally understood how her father hand won the respected title of King of the unruly, rough clans of the north. She had never understood how he could be known as the 'Raging Bear' from his men and all who saw him on the battlefield when he was such a teddy bear in real life.
     
     But now...there was no sweetness, nor cuddliness to him. His voice was a low rumble as he told her, "Ye are no daughter of mine if ye are going to disrespect me like this. Ye will marry MacDougal's son or you will never leave the castle again. Ye hear me?"
     
     "I'm sorry we didn't tell you sooner..."
     
     To say Chi-Chi was shocked would be too simple. Her father had never denied her anything. Not a single thing she had ever asked for. Nor had she ever not done exactly as he had wished. And yet--the one time she refuses to do what he asked and this was how he reacted? Chi-Chi was numb. Cold. A whirlwind of emotions warring within her. Or course she was afraid. She had not felt this scared and alone since right before her mother had died. But she was hurt. Torn. Could he not see how she was shattering before him? All her life he told her she was special. And while he never stated it, she had always believed her life meant more than being a girl who would become a wife, and then give life to some lad's offspring.
     
     He did not see, though. Perhaps if he did, the next words to leave his lips would have never been uttered, "No, you will not get off that easily, either you marry MacDougal's son, or I will send you to a covenant, where you will never set eyes on the outside world for the rest of your li--"
     
     Something squeezed her hand. The force snapped Chi-Chi out of her memories. Numb, as she looked down at her trembling hand. She stared. Confused. Slowly the fog of the past that lingered before her eyes faded. Not something--someone. Goku had squeezed her hand. It took her a few more seconds to grasp that she was not that eighteen-year-old girl anymore. The one who had been sitting in her father's smoky hunting room getting her heart shredded by the one person who she thought would never hurt her. Instead, there she was, sitting next to the man she loved.
     
     Chi-Chi blinked. Taking a deep breath, she quieted her racing heart, drawing strength from Goku's presence. The memories had rattled her, but she was okay now. Ay, she was okay, as long as he was beside her. He smiled, but there was a pinch in his brows that spoke of his concern. Chi-Chi took a shaky breath--before she smiled back at him, trying to ease his worries. Especially now, since she realized she was here, with him.
     
     Kami, when and how had this man come to mean so much to her?
     
     Finding her will, Chi-Chi turned, facing the direction of his parents. Steadier than she had been before, she was still not ready to meet their eyes. Her gaze settled between them, bracing herself to hear their recriminations and yelling. There was something she wanted to say first, though, before all the yelling. She squeezed Goku's hand and managed to keep her voice even, "I'm sorry I had to lie to you at first about who I was... it was just--"
     
     "Chi-Chi, did you say you were going to marry my son?" Mrs. Briefs warm voice stabbed through her long diatribe, surprising Chi-Chi with a warmth she had not heard since she had run away from her ancestral home.  
     
     Chi-Chi was taken aback. Her breath caught. Then took a deep breath and admitting to that fascinating spot on the wall right between the doctor and his wife, "I want to, Mrs. Briefs, if that's okay with you? The truth is....Well, the truth is that I love him."
     
     Dr. and Mrs. Briefs turned to look at each other. The silence prickled on her skin. Unable to bare the hush Chi-Chi finally looked at them. They seemed to have been in the middle of some non-verbal communication. A brow rise there. A flick of his mustache. Her head tilted, and he pushed his glasses up the ridge of his nose. They must have come to some sort of decision as they both turned to face the younger pair, large grins on their faces.
     
     Dr. Briefs merely questioned, "So you will be marrying my son?"
     
     Chi-Chi met his eyes. Hope lit in her like a faint flickering candle on a moonless night as she saw them smiling, not glaring at her.
     
     Clearing her throat with a polite cough, she murmured, "Uhm...yes?"
     
     Before she could process what was happening, Mrs. Briefs launched herself at Chi-Chi, pulled her into a bear hug and she started to cry. Chi-Chi stared down at the sobbing older woman in her arms who blurted out, "Oh thank you! Thank you so much Chi-Chi!"
     
     Chi-Chi was bewildered. With her own mother having died at such a young age, she could not remember what it was like to be caught in such a loving embrace. At least, not since the last time she had seen her father. But she did not want to keep thinking about the past. Chi-Chi sat stock still for a moment before her own arms tentatively came up and hugged Mrs. Briefs back. A small smile tugged on her lips. She might not remember what it was like to be hugged by a mom...but it was nice. For the first time in a very long time, Chi-Chi felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. They did not hate her for having to lie. They wanted her to be a part of their family! Chi-Chi felt her smile grow into a grin as her own eyes tearing up at the affection in Mrs. Briefs voice and arms. She held onto the older woman a smidgen tighter. Before she knew it, Goku was crushing both of them in his arms. A huge toothy grin stretched his face as he lifted his adoptive mother and soon-to-be-wife off the ground.  
     
     When Chi-Chi was finally let go from the impromptu group hug that even the Doctor was forced to join, she took a step back and dropped onto the couch. She was overwhelmed. Their outpouring happiness. It was almost too much for her. Chi-Chi looked up at them in wonderment, a doubtful, negative part of her still waiting for the other shoe to drop as she said, "You're...you're welcome Mrs. Briefs?"
     

     Mrs. Briefs took over Goku's old seat, grabbing Chi-Chi's hand in her own as she beamed at her, "Please, dear! You're going to be my daughter soon! Call me Mom," Chi-Chi blanched at that, not having called anyone mom for an extremely long time, and Mrs. Briefs (who Chi-Chi was starting to realize was wiser than she let on), immediately followed up with, "Or Bunny, please. Call me Bunny!"
     
     Chi-Chi nodded her head. Her earlier anxiety at having to speak to this pair--as well as all of the memories of her last time having seen her father--slipped away. For the first time in almost five years she spoke with her real accent. She felt relief when she realized her life of pretending to be someone other than who she really was over. She had found a new family. And while something in her dinged at realizing her father would not be at her own wedding, to walk her down the aisle like they had always played pretend when she was younger, Chi-Chi did not let herself dwell on this. Instead, she smiled warmly at the woman.
     
     "Okay. Bunny."
     

     "So this wedding," Dr. Briefs spoke up, leaning forward as he puffed on his pipe, his own face set in a grin. "Are we going to do things the traditional way this time, or is it another mad chase up to Gretna Green again?" He stood a few feet away, stroking a cat Chi-Chi noticed sitting on his shoulder. She blinked, a little startled. Wondering how long that cat had been there, and how she had not noticed it before.
     
     Goku laughed at that, putting his hand behind his head in that familiar gesture of embarrassment as he said, "Sheesh dad! Of course we want to have a big wedding this time--"
     
     Bunny's squeal pierced through the air. It surprised Chi-Chi and she gawked at the woman who had made that unholy sound right next to her. Though it seemed the two men in the room hardly noticed as Goku continued, "But I want to do things right first, and head to Scotland to ask Chi-Chi's father for her hand."
     

     Chi-Chi's anxiety came rushing back with that word, father. All she could do was shake her head. Again, for what had to be the hundredth time. Knowing far too well that no matter how many times she told Goku they did not need to (and should not!), he would not listen. He was like a dog with a bone.
     
     Bunny noticed, quirking her head to the side as she asked, "Is everything okay, Chi-Chi?"
     
     Chi-Chi considered lying. It would be easier. And regretfully she was used to it. Yet, instead she allowed herself to be honest as she explained, "I told Goku that asking my father will not be necessary.  I did not leave home on good terms, and I have not seen my father in over five years. When I left...well, my father made it very clear that if I left that I was no daughter of his."
     
     Goku looked at her, frowning. She could practically hear the words he said all those other times she voiced her concern. Then why would he put up the missing person's posters for you if he did not care? But he left them unsaid, for once, before turning back to face his mother and father. "Either way, we want this to be proper--but we want to announce the banns starting this Sunday so we can be married within the month, mom."
     
     Bunny squealed. Again. Chi-Chi thought she was going to go deaf if it kept up, but she allowed the anxiety to drain from her body. The older woman, once again, reached for Chi-Chi, pulling the younger woman into her body for a bone-crushing hug. "Oh we are going to have such fun planning this wedding, Chi-Chi, I hope you don't mind if I help you--I want to help you. I hope you like the color pink. It is a favorite of mine, I'll have you know. Back in the states--Oh! it is a shame you two will not be marrying back in the states, as I know a wonderful little place that has the most divine pink lace that one can find in the market." Chi-Chi's head was already spinning. She did not think it possible for anyone to say so much on one breath. Bur the older woman proved that it was indeed possible as she prattled on, not at all stopping for air, "But that is all right. I suppose your life will be here, in England. Or maybe Scotland. But I do hope you will come to America, dear! If Goku's duties as a viscount permit it, of course. Though I suppose we ought to wait and see if Bulma has a son before we declare Goku the viscount still...."
     
     There was a brief lapse, Chi-Chi thinking the woman was done before Bunny picked up her trailing thought up again, as if there had been no pause, "Though I suppose if Goku is not a viscount, maybe we can persuade you to spend more time in America. On the contrary, if both of my children are married and settled in England, that will hardly stop me from coming to visit--."
     

     The door to the Briefs suite slammed into the wall, causing all four to jerk from the shock and the cat on the Doctor's shoulder to bolt down the hall. All four heads swiveled to the front of the sitting room. One of the hotel's provided footmen was standing there, panting. "Pardon the interruption, madam, but there is a urgent message for the Viscount Vegetasei."
     

     Goku stood, confused. The rest of the family watched as he took the missive, tearing it open to read it. Chi-Chi's breath caught as she saw the color drain from his face, his face becoming more and more drawn. His natural smile, gone. The electric happiness that had filled the room moments earlier vanished. A tense unease replacing it as everyone watched Goku, waiting for him to explain what was in the letter. When he finally looked up, Chi-Chi felt her heart drop. Never had she seen him look so serious as he said, "I must go."
     

     Chi-Chi stood. Ready to ask questions. Only to find that Mrs. Briefs hand was on her forearm. She looked to her future mother-in-law who shook her head. Bunny then took a deep breath, smiling encouragingly as she spoke for all of them, "Okay dear, be safe."
     

     Goku nodded once. With long strides he reached Chi-Chi, left a kiss on her cheek and was gone, whisking from the room as if he had never been there. There was a silence for a thick moment. The three other occupants of the room left slowly, trailing to the door after him only to stand in the entry. Chi-Chi's curiosity and unease replaced the happiness she had just found from his parents being so understanding. She turned to look at Bunny, a question already on the tip of her tongue.
     
     Bunny was not looking at her, though, staring at her husband instead, murmuring, "You saw the seal."
     
     Dr. Briefs nodded, looking grave. "That message was from Vegeta. I hope Bulma is all right."
     
     Chi-Chi moved forward then, into the hall her soon-to-be-husband had disappeared into. She turned back to them, a confident smile on her face, "She will be, if Goku is going to her."
     
     The worried parents blinked. Then a smile appeared under Dr. Briefs mustache as he told her, "You, my dear, are going to be extremely good for Goku. Welcome to the family."
     
     Chi-Chi returned the warm smile. Though she could not keep her eyes from going back to the hall Goku had disappeared through, hoping with everything in her that Goku's family was okay.
     
~~&~~
A/N: I had to chop this chapter in half, it was getting quite long and so the original end of this chapter is going to be at the beginning of the next chapter. Fun facts about this story!

So hands raised, who remembered Bob Wicket? If you still do not remember him, head back to the prologue for a refresher. Hell, you might need to read the whole story again, because it has been so long. Once again, I am so fraggin sorry. Trust me, there will not be this long of a wait for the next chapter, PROMISE.

Also, how sad is it that I have been writing this story for so long, that when I saw Brave like 2 years ago, I was like, "Dude, that was totally the story line I had planned for Chi-Chi," the whole Scottish woman who did not want to marry her intended. Just shows you how long this story has been going on....
I'm alive!!! Mwhahahahah. Well, actually, less evil laughter, more apologetic bowing. I missed you guys. Hope you enjoy!


IN THE BEGINNING:fav.me/d3khnlx

ON THE LAST EPISODE: okieday17.deviantart.com/art/T…

NEXT TIME ON THE DARK DUKE: okieday17.deviantart.com/art/T…
© 2014 - 2024 okieday17
Comments5
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You are back!!!! :-D
I really enjoyed reading your work again.
I actually enjoyed how Vegeta intimidated the hell out of Wicket. He should have just listened and kept his mouth shut... Oh well, his loss...
I also liked how Chi-Chi met the Briefs, with the interesting contrast between her father and Bunny.
I can't wait to see what happened next! Please don't keep us waiting too long...