Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Bad Decisions ❯ Epilouge - 15 years later ( Chapter 10 )

Epilogue: 15 years later

Bulma was fixing dinner in the kitchen, a small child tugging at her skirt. She bent to pick up the infant baby girl with bright violet hair. She smiled broadly and set her in her playpen with her favorite toy giraffe. She returned to her cooking and there was a knock on the door. She called up the stairs. "Trunks! Get the door!" A young teenage boy skipping steps as he descended the stairs answered her. He happily opened the front door and was pulled into a headlock by a man with black hair and a scar across his left eye. Trunks smirked and flipped the man, some 30 years his senior, deftly over his back and onto the floor. Bulma rushed out of the kitchen to see what had happened and she saw her 15 year-old son helping Yamcha up off the floor. After a quick scolding, Trunks pressed a senzu bean into Yamcha's palm. He smiled as he took it and walked over to the playpen. The one-year-old baby girl reached her chubby arms up to his face as he pulled her out, dragging her toy with her that was still clenched in her tiny fist. He took the toy and poked her in the stomach with it, listening to her laughs fill the room around them. Trunks walked into the kitchen.

"Mom, where's Dad?"

"Do you even have to ask?" He smirked at this, making him look so much like his father, it was scary. He turned and walked to the door of the grav room. He knocked on the door and yelled in.

"Dad! Yamcha's here!" After a few sporadic curses, Vegeta walked out of the grav room and took a drag off his water bottle. He smirked when he saw Bulma finishing the meal. He walked over behind her as Trunks left the room. He placed his hands on her waist and nuzzled the back of her neck with his nose as he placed tiny hot kisses on her shoulder blade. She shuddered, but shook him off.

"Not now, honey. This is Yamcha's big day." After they were all settled down around the table, Bulma kicked Vegeta in the shin, making him look at her, annoyedly. It hadn't hurt, but what he was about to say was going to take his full courage. He cleared his throat.

"Um, Yamcha, I would like to say that I must express my utmost pride in you for you accomplishment," he held up his glass, "To Yamcha. Sober 15 years, and never looking back." They all took a drink and Yamcha looked at Vegeta with a slight smile. "What?"

"I never thought I'd say this, Vegeta, but thank you."

"For what?"

"For taking my girl, driving me to alcohol poisoning, and creating a motivation for me to get better. Vegeta, I couldn't have done it without you." Vegeta stared at him like a deer caught in headlights. He hadn't expected that. Yamcha took one look at his face and burst out laughing. The rest of the table followed suit, until everyone but Vegeta was cracking up laughing. He just sat there, frowning viciously. He looked around the room and saw his family, a family friend, and all he had ever wanted in himself. He smiled to himself and finished his meal without another word. After the meal, he would go back to training. He had to admit to himself. He did admire Yamcha. Not for his fighting skills, but for his courage. He had overcome a deadly disease, and kept away from it for 15 years. Yamcha truly had made a few bad decisions in his life, but look at all he now had for the few good ones he made. Going for one last binge was a bad one, but deciding to carry on was the best decision he could have ever made. Vegeta now knew what he would say at next year's celebration.

"I have a friend named Yamcha. He's been sober for 16 years, and I admire him. I'm not ashamed to admit it. He has, by far, the most courage of any human I know."

Life is measured by the decisions you make, he decided. Make only the good decisions; they can only lead to happy days. If you make one bad decision, don't dwell on it. Make another good decision to rebalance the scales. If you don't know what the right decision is, ask for help. It's okay, no one will care.

Bulma looked between two of the three men who meaned the most to her. Her husband and her friend. They say no one remains friends after how many years of dating and breaking up. They had proved them wrong. As the family ate, She noticed a shared glance between her husband and friend. It wasn't one of contempt, hatred, jealousy, or pride, but one of respect, friendliness, and even love. She smiled as she fed baby Bra and Trunks reached for seconds. She did not regret leaving Yamcha, but she often thought of what might have happened had she stayed with him. Trunks and Bra would never be born, the royal saiyan bloodline might have died out, if Vegeta would've died single.

In the end, it came down to decisions. Isn't that always what it boils down to? Yamcha had decided to drink and to hit her, Vegeta had decided to show some humility and help her, he had decided not to beat up Yamcha, but to come back and make her fall in love with him, Yamcha decided to go on one last binge, and finally: Yamcha had decided to join AA. It was the best decision he could have ever made. But in the end, bad things can happen to good people. When they do, there's only one thing you can blame it on: Bad Decisions.

THE END