Closer to Heaven
By: Princess Ashley
Disclaimer:(I hate these. They get me so depressed.): I don't own Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z, I'm simply borrowing them and will give them back as soon as the story is over. No profits are being made off this story, though I am doing it for a friend and NO she is not paying me. And I don't own 28 days, either.
Warnings: AU (alternate universe) Drug abuse, Heavy swearing (Hi Kids!), Implied Sex, and Disturbing comments. NO SLASH OR FEMSLASH. OOC.
AN: By the way, if the names look funny, it's not a typo. I'm using the Japanese names and they spell their names differently. Oh, by the way, when I say 18's Japanese name (Juuhachi Gou) it means #18 in Japanese. Just a random fact. I'm in Japanese III in high school.
Parings: Trunks/Usagi, Vegita/Bulma, and other pairings.
:Chapter 3: Learning to Live
"You're lucky you only broke a leg, honey. You could have been worse." The nurse said as she strapped Usagi's leg into a navy cast that went up to her knee. "Now, you need to keep this on. Use this when you take a shower." She handed Usagi a box of bags that would cover the cast. "And no swimming. Unfortunately your gonna have to live with the pain, because I can't give you anything. So take these." She handed Usagi a pair of metal crutches, "And be more careful with yourself, okay?" She said as she left the room.
Usagi pulled the cased leg off the bed, wincing with the pain of moving it. She took the crutches, tucking them under each arm. She got up, seeing herself in the mirror. She peered at it, taking in her appearance. She hadn't changed, and her hair was still damp and dirty since the man had brought her in. She had woken up when she felt a stinging sensation on her leg as the nurse put disinfections on it. Her hair had gritty earth in it, which she took care to remove as much as she could. She looked at herself, her hands shaking, her face pale as a ghost, and her eyes dark and shadowy. 'Is this what drugs do to me?'
Corneil hummed has he walked towards his office, taking out his keys from his pocket. He stopped short when he saw who was waiting outside his office. Usagi was sitting on the floor, back propped against the wall, broken leg out in front of her, looking beautiful as ever now that she had a shower, and changed her clothes into a long white shirt and black sweat pants, one leg rolled up so it wouldn't cover her cast.
He rolled his eyes, thinking he was going to get another shock of insults from the temperamental blonde, but she just looked up at him with a lost look in her eyes.
He walked past her to his door and pulled the clipboard out of the holder on the door, and put his keys in the slot. Usagi spoke, her voice still a little shaky because of what happened the other night. "Uh, you're floor's filthy, and you know I'm only saying that because I've been sitting her for the last hour. Kinda smells…" She said, randomly.
Corneil opened the door. Usagi started to get up. "Uh, Hey."
She picked up one of her crutches, wincing slightly from the pain so she could stand up without falling, leaning heavily on it.
"Umm…" She started nervously. "Um, I just wanted to talk to you about the…uh…jail thing. Main thing being…I can't go. Because, uh…well I don't want to go but… the other thing is uh…. oh, my hands." She said, her hands felt shaky and clammy as Corneil looked at her nonchalantly. "That's not natural. Something's wrong with my hands, well…with me. I mean, what kind of a person just jumps out of window because they can't sit still? And um…" She stuttered still, rubbing her hands together while still trying to remain stable on the one crutch under her right armpit. "I know that if I go t-to jail, l-l-like this, I'll die, and…and I don't want to die." She finished, looking at him.
Corneil looked straight into her big beautiful blue eyes, and tried to find an incentive of deception within them, but he found none. He took a breath, and then stood out of the way for Usagi to crutch into the office. Usagi looked relieved, and she bent down to pick up her other crutch and went inside, Corneil following her and locking the door.
(Okay, skipping to two days after Usagi is physically able to walk around on her own, and this is the end of the part I took from the movie.)
"I don't like what's happening here."
Usagi was attending her second support group since she got here 2 weeks ago. She was sitting between Ami and Goku, with her crutches off to the side. Going from her left, there was Ami, Vegita, Rei, Minako, Krillin, Yamcha, and woman named Juuhachi Gou (who preferred to be called 18 (hehe)), Makoto, an older man named Roushi ("It's MASTER Roushi, damnit!"), a boy named Trunks, and Goku, and then Usagi herself. Towards the front of the room, was a kind looking lady named Molly.
Molly sat straight in her chair and starred at Vegita. "What don't you like, Vegita?" She asked.
"She shouldn't be here." He said, pointing rather rudely at Usagi. Usagi just sat and glared at him.
"Tell her." Molly said, looking at Usagi as well as everyone else in the group now.
Vegita looked happy for a second, and then glared at her. "NO WAY should you be here." He said, sitting forward in his chair.
"Yeah, you've broken almost every rule we have for you to break. It's like you don't even want to get better." Ami said in disdain, starring distastefully at her.
"I'm sorry…" Usagi started, but was cut off.
"Sorry, my ass!" Goku started. "You don't give a damn about anyone but yourself. You might as well just pack your things right now and get out. While you go around humiliating yourself and end up alone, like you probably deserve to be, we are actually trying to cure our own diseases, thank you." He said, glaring at her.
"Why…" Usagi started again.
"Why what? Why are we upset? If you can't figure that out, you're more far gone than we thought, doll face." Minako interjected.
"I have to agree with Vegita on this one, no matter how much I don't like him." 18 said, glaring at Vegita before turning to face Usagi. "You're selfish, stubborn, and seem intent on making everyone else miserable. Why don't you do us and yourself a favor and seek help from somewhere else. Maybe your drunk-ass of a boyfriend could help you, since he seems to be doing a great job so far." She mocked from across from Usagi.
Usagi silently fumed, but stayed silent, taking their ridicule for she knew she deserved what she got. Meanwhile, Makoto was sniffing the black nail polish as she applied it to her toes, Trunks was just staring at Usagi with scrutinizing eyes, and Rei looked like she really wanted to say something as she glared at Usagi with everyone else. Roushi was watching the feud with anxious eyes, Yamcha was engaged in staring at Usagi like she was a goddess, and Molly was rubbing her forehead and not even trying to interject.
"Seriously, I know why your husband left you now. You're worthless. I'm afraid Kami-sama wasted the gift of beauty on you, weak onna." Vegita said with a smirk.
Oh….now he's done it….
"How DARE you! It's none of your business about my personal life, you bastard! What goes on between my ex-husband and me is not your concern! I'm SORRY I'm so messed up, I am! I'll take all the ridicule you send against me but don't you DARE talk about my husband or my children! They mean something to me, no matter how much I've abused my privileges as their guardian, and as they mean ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to you, I'd keep my mouth shut and think before you go on about things you don't understand!" Usagi had sprung to her feet and screamed out her laments for all she was worth into the face of a (for once) shocked Vegita. When she was finished, she gasped hard to bring oxygen back into her lungs. Behind her, Trunks was smirking at the look on his father's face as the only woman, other than his mother, had the guts to bawl him out without making amends right into his face.
Usagi took a deep breath and hobbled back to her seat as she had managed be so mad she had actually stomped over to Vegita and not noticed how much pain it had caused her. She flinched as she sat, flashes of pain running up her leg. She didn't say anything else.
The first person to talk was Molly, who directed her question toward Vegita. "How'd you know about her husband?"
Vegita glared. "I refuse to answer that question." But everyone knew the answer. Goku was infamous for going through new patients files, and since he and Vegita were (believe it or not) roommates, he had wasted no time in gossiping Usagi's personals to him.
The next day was the day of their retreat. They were headed off into the country for a weekend of rigorous exercise to "cleanse their bodies and minds of all their bad habits and thoughts. Usagi couldn't have been more displeased. How they expected her to be able to run laps with her broken leg still in the monstrous cast was unfathomable. But nonetheless, she packed her things into her yellow duffel bag. Makoto was nice enough to help her get dressed up in a pair of yellow flannel drawstring pants and a black tank top. Unfortunately, Makoto had more packing to do so Usagi was stuck carrying her own stuff down the stairs, as Yamcha had occupied the elevator with another one of his female visitors. She stumbled, trying to move her stiff legs and her huge duffel bag and backpack down the stairs.
Suddenly, her cast caught the ledge of the step behind her and she fell forward. She closed her eyes, expecting to die any second, but she felt a strong arm loop around her small waist and pull her into a muscular chest behind her. She opened her eyes and looked behind her to catch a lock of lavender hair on her neck and realized who it was.
Trunks pulled her onto the step in front of him, and made sure she was stable before taking her duffel bag and slinging it onto his shoulder. He walked down a few steps and then turned to look at her.
"You need some more help getting down the stairs?" He asked, offering his hand.
Usagi looked at the large hand being presented to her, and then into his large blue eyes. "No, but thank you for carrying my duffel." She said shyly, wondering why she was acting like this. She was by no means a shy girl, but he made her feel a little more self-conscious.
He nodded, dropping his hand and went to continue on down the stairs before being halted by her hand on his arm. He looked again. She was looking nervously at the hand on his bare arm.
"But, I wouldn't mind someone to walk with?" She said, hesitantly meeting his eye.
He smiled. "Of course." He put his hand on her back and guided her slightly in front of him and followed her as she hobbled down the stairs and towards the door. They started talking on the way.
"I'm Usagi by the way. I don't think we ever formally met?" She said, looked at him, keeping grips on the strap of her backpack on her shoulder, trying to keep some kind of support while walking with the gorgeous lavender-haired man.
"I'm Trunks. Trunks Briefs."
Usagi snorted slightly. "That's a very…. redundant name." She said with a smile.
He smiled. "Yeah, I guess it is. Sometimes I think my parents fought just a little to hard over the name and by the time it was all said and done, the name was kind of an antithesis."
"Hmm….Briefs? Are you related to the receptionist?" Usagi gawked slightly.
"Yep, she's my mom." He smirked at her reaction. Speaking of which, Bulma was standing outside of the bus, checking people off as they loaded. Usagi looked towards the bus, seeing Bulma place a kiss of Vegita's cheek as he got onto the bus, and she heard him grumble something about injustice and public displays of affection. Bulma only smiled and checked his name off.
"But that would mean…" Usagi started.
"That Vegita's my father? You're right." Trunks said and he slung Usagi's duffel into the storage space of the truck along with his own much smaller duffel bag. "Course you'd never be able to tell. He treats me more like a rascal that likes getting on his nerves. It's the only way you can get any kind of reaction from him unless you're my mom. Course, you did a good job of bringing the shock factor out yesterday at the support group." He said warmly as Usagi blushed at the mention of her previous outburst. "You're the only one other than my mom that's had the guts to do that to him yet. You should be proud." He said in admiration.
Usagi giggled a little under his cerulean gaze. He was probably a head and a half taller than her, but she didn't feel the least bit overpowered. He chuckled and lead her in front of him towards the bus door. Bulma looked at her with a critical eye when she realized that Usagi was actually having a animated conversation with her beloved son, but relaxed a bit when Usagi smiled shyly in front of her and quickly got on the bus. Bulma looked quizzically at her son.
Trunks only smiled. "I won't get into trouble again, mom. I promise." He put on puppy-dog eyes.
Bulma smiled. "I wish I could believe you, but you've lied to me before, love. Don't forget the reason you're here, darling. She's a very messed up girl. It's curable, and I daresay she's getting better…" She said uncertainly, looking back into the window of the bus, seeing Usagi hobbling towards the back of the bus, flinching slightly. Bulma gulped. It was so hard to be mad at someone under such conditions. But she looked back at her boy. "Just be careful. And I'm not just worried at you, but about her to. I love you Trunks, but you're judgments can sometimes be clouded."
Trunks growled a little. "I could say the same thing about you and dad, mother." He said distantly, as he took her pen and checked his own name off and boarded the bus, hoping for a seat next to the blonde beauty.
Usagi had been discreetly watching the exchange between Trunks and his mother. She was well aware of Bulma's criticizing attitude towards her. She got slightly worried that Bulma would try to divert Trunks' interest in her. She desperately needed someone she could talk to besides her eccentric roommate. She suddenly recognized the feeling she got when she was around Trunks.
'I have a boyfriend! I can't be thinking about Trunks like that. I just met him! I don't know anything about him, and I don't even know what he's here for? What if he's like Vegita? I bet he's a sex addict with specials in anger management.'
By the time she was done with her rant, she was determined to show him the cold shoulder. But when she saw Trunk's reaction to his mother as she called him on whatever relationship he had with her, all that anger seemed to ebb away.
'Okay, we can be friends. Just, don't get too close…'That concept didn't seem to last very long as boarded the bus and made his way decisively towards her seat. He took a seat next to hers, placing his backpack in-between his legs as he buckled in.
He turned to look at her. "So, what are you going to be doing during the retreat? I know you don't plan to run. You might be able to do the bungee climb. I'm not sure about any of the hard stuff-" He was abruptly cut off by a more sinister voice beside him.
"Of course not. I think I'd piss myself to see her try and run the cardio exercises." It seemed like Vegita had overheard their conversation. He pushed his backpack into the seat facing the pair and took the other one, buckling up so that he was directly across from Usagi.
Usagi fumed. "I suppose it's just like you to make fun of those who are weaker than you. God forbid you pick on someone who would actually be able to kick you ass."
Trunks smirked slightly as Usagi's lack of knowledge when it came to his father. Vegita mirrored his son's expression. Usagi could've sworn they were more like twins than father and son. "I'd pay a large sum of money for you to find someone who could beat him up. Heck, anyone who could do that must be the strongest man in the universe." Trunks commented. Usagi looked at him with a questioning gaze before turning back to Vegita.
"I happen to hold the record for the heaviest bench weight on earth. Anyone who can beat me has a one way ticket to the record books." Vegita said.
Usagi looked at him with critical eyes. "How about the most vain? Are you the record holder for that as well?"
Trunks went red as he tried to conceal his laughter. Vegita growled, showing sharp, vampire-like canines, but Usagi wasn't afraid. For some reason, why everyone else was so scared to cross him didn't seem to cause her a moment's hesitation in her pursuit of driving him absolutely mad. The fact that Trunks was sitting right next to her didn't hurt either.
The rest of the trip consisted of Vegita growling lowly to himself between starring out the window and glaring at Usagi as she and his son carried on a flirtatious conversation about nonsense. He felt a pang of worry for his son. The girl he seemed to have a certain interest for had a boyfriend, and wasn't exactly the most friendly or emotionally stable person in the world. He realized he was being a hypocrite, but this was his only son. He silently vowed that if Usagi ever did anything to hurt Trunks, he would show no mercy in pursuit of making her even more miserable than she could ever make his son. Meanwhile, he would just sit and observe, not letting anyone on to what was really going on in his mind.
About four hours later, Usagi opened her eyes groggily. She had apparently fallen asleep in the midst of the trip. Her head was tucked snuggly in between Trunk's strong shoulder and his neck. His head laid gently onto top of hers. She had her arm entwined with his, using his arm as a cushion for the rest of her body to snuggle up to. She smiled as she realized that he had laid his other hand on top of the one she had on his arm. She snuggled closer. 'Well, so much for keeping my distance.' She realized she would have to do something about Terrick. But somehow, breaking up with him caused her heart to jolt. He had been with her through the good times and the bad. Trunks had never seen her when she was a mess, when she was angry, or sad. Suddenly, Usagi realized how bad she really was. She was a drunk, a drug addict, used to waking up with people she didn't know stark naked, a slob, forgetting her own children's birthdays, friendless, worthless….
She unconsciously snuggled closer to Trunks, wanting to be closer to this pure, sensitive, and completely perfect man. For some reason, just being able to be close to him like this made her feel like she was worth something, and also worth nothing. Next to him, she felt like both a goddess and dirt.
He shifted a bit, and his head fell onto her shoulder when she moved up, breathing silently on her neck. She felt like she could die happy. She nervously brought her hand up to his soft lavender hair, slightly running her long slender fingers through it. He groaned slightly, cuddling more into her neck, squeezing her arm closer to him, and unconsciously grabbing her hand and entwining their fingers. Usagi couldn't help but go along with it, gripping his hand slightly as she ran her other hand along his face, hair, and neck. He was so perfect….
She laid her head on his and turned to look across the seat at Vegita. She almost chocked when she saw the state he was in. He had one leg slung across the armrest, he head at a right angle to his neck against the glass window, drool dripping from his mouth. Miraculously, his hair was still standing on his head in perfect spikes. One of his eyes kept twitching, as if it would open any second, but never did.
"Well, well, well… look what we have here."
Usagi tried to turn slightly over Trunks' head to see who was talking. It was the old bald guy with his white beard and black sunglasses. 'It's dark outside, are you blind'
"I see you have both Vegita and Trunks under you spell, hugh, little missy?" He said, sticking his face into hers.
Usagi narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what you're going on about. Go smoke some more crack, old man."
"I'm onto you little lady. I'm not the only one who doesn't trust you. We'll all know soon enough what you're true intentions are. Trunks is one my finest protégés. You might be able to pull the wool over his eyes, but not mine."
'Wouldn't be that hard, you've gotta be at least partially blind anyways…' Usagi thought, snickering.
"I'm not trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. I'm here to serve my time and get out. Leave me along if you know what's best for you, little Roushi." She said, looking at his distastefully.
"It's MASTER ROUSHI! And don't you forget it!" He stormed off down the isle to bother someone else. Usagi went back to running her hands through Trunks' hair, not realizing that in the time she had been arguing with Roushi and Roushi yelled and storming off, both Trunks and Vegita had woken up and were now looking at her and she obliviously continued playing with Trunks' hair as his head rested beneath his chin.
Vegita was about to say something when a look from Trunks silenced him. Trunks fought the urge to purr contently as Usagi scratched behind his ears. He smiled impishly at his father as Vegita glared at him.
But Vegita caught the contented and thoughtful look on Usagi's face. He discreetly watched her as she peacefully ran her hands along Trunks' hair and face. That most certainly wasn't the look of someone who was up to something. Oh no, that was way too serious to be a gimmick. He felt a tremor in his guarded heart. Could she really care? No, not this soon. It wasn't possible.
But thinking back to how he met Bulma, he could see the same look in Usagi's eyes as he saw in Bulma's eyes when she looked at him. When he had asked his love what that look meant, she explained the only was she knew how. She told him to do something he loved doing, something that made him relax, something that made him feel good. And he sat with her on the couch, just holding her, and then she told him. "That's the way you're looking at me."
He hated to admit how much he loved Bulma. But she completed him in a way no one else ever could. He would also never tell anyone how much both she and Trunks meant to him. But as he looked at Usagi looking at Trunks with the same look that he and Bulma looked at each other with, he couldn't make himself believe it was fake. How could anyone ever fake a look like that?
All the while, Trunks sighed as he felt the beautiful woman whose arms he was in caress his face and hair. He couldn't say he'd ever felt so happy and at peace than he was right now. His mother had held him before, but even her loving embrace couldn't compare to the whirlwind of feelings he had that Usagi was treating him so lovingly. 'How could so much change in such a small gesture?' He knew he would have to wake up soon, realizing how close they were getting to their destination, but somehow, he wished they still have 3,000 more miles to go. So much more time to just lay here while the angel that held him soothed him with her breaths and hands.
Wow, that was a little bit longer than I thought it would be. Oh well. Thanks for tuning in. Appreciate it a lot!
!PA