Chapter 26
Even though the doctor had given Bulma no additional sedative since the operation, she
was out like a light for all the rest of that night and even on into the late hours of the
morning. When she did wake up, she had no idea where she was, nor how she had gotten
there. Her first thought was that she was dreaming. But when she felt a mild sting of
pain in her abdomen, she was inclined to think otherwise. Her muscles tensed anxiously
as all that had happened before she had blacked out came back to her, and with a barely
stifled cry of alarm, she abruptly sat upright. That had been a mistake. She felt a terrible
pain sear through her middle, and this time she did cry out, clutching at her stomach in
agony. She looked around wildly, tears forming in her eyes from the excruciating pain,
and she tried frantically to determine where she was. Almost immediately her eyes met
Vegita's, and she froze, her brain trying desperately to make sense of her situation.
"I was beginning to wonder if you intended to sleep all day," he said with an annoyed
scowl.
Understandably, Bulma was so confused that at first, she couldn't speak. She threw back
the covers and pulled too violently at her hospital smock, tearing it down one side. She
gasped when she found the incision that the doctors had neatly stitched shut, and her
hands flew to the spot, as if she refused to believe it was really there unless she could feel
it with her fingers.
"What's happened?!" She cried, beginning to sound a little hysterical. "Where did
this… this mark… where did it come from? And… and my baby!" She shrieked.
"Where's my baby? He's not with me anymore, Vegita! Where is he?!"
Vegita walked over to her and firmly pushed her head back down to the pillow. "Lie
down," he ordered, drawing the blanket over her again. "Or you'll hurt yourself. You
haven't had time to heal yet."
"Heal?" Bulma cried, her voice rising in pitch. "From what? Please Vegita, tell me
what's going on!"
He nodded. "I intend to," he said sternly. "But you need to keep from jerking yourself
around like that. The medical practices on this planet are a joke. Their idea of patching
up an open wound is by tying it shut with a piece of string. It's a wonder that your race
has survived for so long, considering this is how far your healing knowledge has
come."
Bulma's face paled. "How did I get such a wound?" She asked in a frightened
voice.
"They had to operate to deliver the baby," he explained with a frown. "You were still
unconscious when I got here with you."
Bulma's lips quivered a little as what he said began to finally sink in, and she lowered her
head in shame. "I… I failed, didn't I?" She asked with a shaky laugh. "I couldn't even
endure what a normal human woman could endure. I would've thought that my tolerance
for pain would be better than that by now, but I guess I was wrong."
Vegita shook his head impatiently. "That wasn't it," he said. "Don't speak such idiocy."
He told her about the tear in her uterus, and how they would have had to operate to fix
that anyway.
"So for once your weak nature wasn't to blame," he said with a shrug. "You can forget
that nonsense about 'failing.' It was entirely out of your hands."
Bulma nodded, and she smiled at him. "So, did you get to see our son then?" She asked,
beginning to look a great deal more relaxed.
"Yes," he replied. "They shoved the screaming little brat into my hands before they
hauled him off to clean him up."
"So… what do you think of him?" She asked, frowning at his disdainful words.
Vegita smirked. "I can say one thing for certain," he replied. "He most definitely takes
after you."
"Why?" She asked him curiously. "In what way?"
"That brat's already nearly as loud as his mother," he remarked, casually turning to one
side.
Vegita dodged just in time to avoid the pillow that she had promptly flung at him. He
turned his head and grinned at her. "It's a shame you can't fight as well as you run your
mouth," he said with a sneer.
Bulma grinned back. "I hope he does take after me," she retorted, sticking her tongue out
at him. "I'd hate to have to send our son out into the world with an ugly face like that,"
she added, pointing at him for emphasis.
They stared challengingly at one another after that, neither one willing to be the first to
break eye contact—and thus admit defeat. Finally though, Bulma just couldn't keep a
straight face any longer, and she broke down and laughed at him.
"Aw hell," she chuckled, shaking her head and grinning at him. "Ugly or not, I suppose I
am glad you stuck around."
"You'd better be," he snorted, raising his nose derisively. "You owe me big for this, you
know. I gave up MY training time to be here. I hope you realize that you can expect no
mercy from me when you get back."
Bulma laughed and smiled affectionately at him. "Thank you for staying," she said,
closing her eyes and sighing contentedly. "It really does mean a lot to me."
A short harrumph was Vegita's only reply. Neither of them had a chance to say anything
after that, because at that moment, Dr. and Mrs. Briefs burst into the room, carrying a big
basket of flowers and a flurry of balloons.
"Whoops!" Mrs. Briefs cried. "Is she not awake yet, Vegita dear?"
"I'm awake," Bulma said, opening her eyes and smiling at her mother. "Hi, Mom."
"Hooray!" Mrs. Briefs cheered. "Awake at last! Go tell the nurse that Bulma's awake,
Darling! And tell them to bring Trunks in to see his mama!"
"You've got it!" Dr. Briefs cried, letting go of the balloons and darting out of the room,
shooting Bulma a quick grin of merriment on his way out.
"Trunks?" Bulma asked in a bewildered voice. "His name is Trunks?"
"Vegita picked it out," Mrs. Briefs said happily, setting the enormous basket of flowers
on Bulma's bedside table and fluffing it up a little. "Isn't it a marvelous name,
Bulma?"
Bulma looked up at Vegita in astonishment. But his face was hidden from her, as he had
conveniently turned to one side while Mrs. Briefs had spoken. At first she didn't know
what to say. Vegita had willingly chosen the name he'd so resented earlier. Why? Had
he done it for her? She really wanted to think so. She smiled at him and turned to look at
her mother again.
"Any name that Vegita thinks is good enough for our son is more than good enough for
me," she said with a happy smile. "I only hope that Trunks grows to be at least half the
man his father is."
"Well said, Bulma!" Mrs. Briefs cried, beaming at Vegita. "You were so very gallant,
Vegita! And thanks to you, Bulma's going to be just fine, and I'm finally going to be a
grandmother! Whoopee!" She squealed, leaping at Vegita and hugging him ferociously,
taking him quite by surprise indeed. "I'm going to go see what's keeping your father,
Bulma dear! Be right back!" She skipped away from Vegita to the door then, and,
whistling a happy tune, she pranced merrily out into the hallway.
Bulma made the most impressive of efforts not to giggle audibly at Vegita. He was
twitching from head to foot, his teeth were grinding impressively, and every part of his
face, from his neck all the way up to his forehead, was beet red. That had obviously not
been the kind of attention he wanted from Bulma's mother! Poor Vegita.
"From what you've told me, it sounds like I'll be in here for a good week or so," she said,
smiling at him, and still doing her best not to laugh. "There's no sense in your having to
stay here all that time too. Why don't you go ahead and go home? There's no point in
both of us missing training, after all."
Vegita frowned a little, but Bulma could easily see that the idea appealed to him. He shot
a quick glance through the window on the door to see if anyone was coming, and then he
turned and walked over to Bulma's side. He bent over and, cradling her cheeks in his
hands, he kissed her gently on her forehead. "Don't let them baby you here for too long,"
he ordered, walking around the bed and opening the large window overlooking the city.
"You have a lot of hard work and catching up to do as soon as you do get back."
"I'll heal fast," she promised, grinning and nodding at him as he stepped out onto the
ledge. "Don't worry, Vegita. I'll be back to letting you beat the tar out of me before you
know it!"
Vegita smirked slightly at her and, after closing the window behind him, he leapt up and
out of sight, just as an excited Dr. and Mrs. Briefs burst into the room. A nurse followed
them in, carrying a small, screaming bundle. Bulma forgot Vegita momentarily then, as
the nurse and her parents introduced her to her newborn son, Trunks.
Bulma had to remain in the hospital for a little over a week, but for as far as she was
concerned, not a minute of it was wasted time. She cherished every moment she got to
spend with her baby, and since the doctor was kind enough to let her set up a little
makeshift nursery with a crib there in her room, such moments were more than plentiful.
She had reached the conclusion from the very beginning that Trunks was the most
beautiful and charming baby she'd ever seen, and she loved every bit of him–from the
cute little lavender curl of hair on his forehead, to his adorable little tail. No one would
ever have been able to convince her that her baby was anything less than an infant
Adonis, and had anyone dared to try, there would have been hell to pay.
Understandably, the hospital staff was a little confused by Trunks' tail, and when a
couple of nurses came to show Bulma how to change and feed him, she could see by the
way they stared at it that they found it very strange. But Bulma wasn't so wrapped up in
her blanket of maternal pride that she lost all sense of reality. She had known from the
start that such things would be inevitable in Trunks' life, and that he'd simply have to
prove to people that there was more to him than a prehensile tail. Fortunately, it turned
out that even as an infant, Trunks had no difficulty making friends. The first time he
curled that tail of his around one of the nurses' hands as she changed him, he had won her
heart immediately, and she promptly declared that he was the most adorable thing she'd
ever seen. If there had been a measure of the amount of smugness on a person's
expression, Bulma would most likely have set a world record.
It didn't seem long at all before a full week had passed, but Bulma was nevertheless
beginning to feel a little homesick. She wanted to take Baby Trunks and herself back to
the compound and get on with things. She had a rather difficult time of convincing the
doctors that she was fit enough to leave, but after a couple more days, she finally
succeeded, and the head doctor announced that she could go home at last.
Bulma was expecting to get Trunks and herself settled in right away when she got home.
However, as chance would have it, her parents had other ideas in mind. The morning that
they came to pick Bulma and the baby up to bring them home turned out to be anything
but normal.
When she stepped out of the car after they arrived at the compound, Bulma had no idea
what was in store for her. When she rounded the corner of the workshop, she stopped
short and gasped at what she saw. There in the large, open space between the compound
buildings, a fantastic outdoor barbecue had been set up, complete with tables and chairs.
There were several banners hanging across lines strung between some of the buildings,
and they said, "Welcome Home, Bulma and Trunks!" Even more amazing was who was
there to greet them. Goku, Gohan, and Piccolo were there, and so were Chichi and
Gyuumao. Yajirobe, Kuririn, Kamesennin, Oolong, Puar, and Umigame had come too,
much to Bulma's delight. But the biggest surprise of all was Yamucha, who was in there
right in the middle of them, laughing and talking with all the rest. They were all talking
and laughing noisily when Bulma and her party arrived, but when Gohan first spotted
them rounding the corner, he pointed excitedly at them, and at once the whole group
began to cheer and applaud. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs led the bewildered Bulma—still
carrying a bundled-up baby Trunks in her arms—into their midst, and they immediately
began to crowd around her.
"Congratulations!" Goku cried, beaming at her.
"Yeah, way to go, Bulma!" Gohan cried. "How does it feel to be a mama?"
"Wonderful," she said in a rather confused and bewildered voice. Her mind wasn't really
registering things as quickly as usual. "How… how did you all find out about this?" She
asked, looking around at all the smiling faces surrounding her.
"That was my doing," Mrs. Briefs said, raising her hand and grinning at Bulma. "I told
everyone about the new addition to our family, and invited them all to a homecoming
party! This is a time to celebrate, after all!"
Bulma laughed and shook her head. Her mother would never cease to amaze her.
"So come on, Bulma!" Chichi said excitedly. "Let's see the little guy!"
Bulma smiled at the eager faces around her and opened the blankets that she'd wrapped
Trunks in at the hospital. He blinked a couple of times in the bright sunlight, and then he
yawned and wiggled his tail a little. This immediately produced several oohs and aws
from the crowd. Bulma chuckled. Even Yamucha was smiling at the way Trunks was
hamming it up.
"He's so adorable!" Chichi cooed. "Just like Gohan was at his age! Oh Bulma, can I
hold him? Please?"
"Sure," she replied, smiling and handing him to her. "Watch out for the tail, though. I
swear that thing has a mind of its own sometimes!"
Chichi laughed as she took him from Bulma. "Don't I know it!" She chuckled. "I
learned in a hurry that I had to steer clear of counters and shelves when I was holding
Gohan! He'd grab anything he saw with that little tail of his!"
"I think I'd better keep that in mind too then," Bulma laughed, grinning at Gohan, whose
face had turned quite red by now.
"He's the spitting image of his father," Goku commented, tickling Trunks' chin, which
elicited a gurgling kind of squeal from him.
"Yeah, who'd have thought Vegita's kid would turn out to be such a cute little tyke?"
Oolong said with a grin.
Bulma shot him a sly grin. "Don't let Vegita hear you say that," she warned him. "I
might be able to get away with saying a thing like that, but if he hears you badmouthing
him or his son you can only expect the worst."
Oolong became very pale very quickly. "Hey, you know I didn't mean it, right, Bulma?"
He laughed nervously, his voice squeaking a little. "You… heheh… you don't have to
pass that along to Vegita or anything, you know."
"Okay," she said, keeping her smile as low-key as she could.
"Here," Mrs. Briefs said, taking Trunks back when he had begun to get a little fussy.
"I'll go ahead and take him inside. You guys can go ahead and start eating," she said
cheerfully. "The food's done now!"
Everyone helped himself then, and pretty soon they were all at the tables, eating and
talking up a storm. It seemed that they all had a lot of catching up to do. Some of these
people Bulma hadn't seen in over a year, after all.
"So how was the delivery, Bulma?" Chichi asked her after a little while. "I remember
that mine wasn't really all that bad. We didn't have any doctors out where we live, but
Dad knew a midwife that was able to come help with the delivery. I suppose yours went
really well?"
Bulma flushed a little and looked back down at her plate in embarrassment. "There
were… complications," she admitted. "I guess Mom didn't tell you about that. Er…
Vegita had to fly me to the hospital, and I kind of… passed out on the way there. It was
terrible pain—worse than anything I can ever remember feeling. If it hadn't been for
Vegita, little Trunks and I might have been in bad shape. In fact, I'm still pretty sore
from the surgery," she laughed, trying to sound as casual as possible.
The expressions on the faces looking at her from around the table changed dramatically.
Goku leaned forward past everyone else to look more closely at her. "Really?" He
asked. "It was that bad?"
"Yeah, but it's nothing I won't be able to work out," she said quickly, waving it away.
"I'm sure Vegita will help me with that."
"Ah, that reminds me," Yajirobe said, stuffing an entire grilled squid into his mouth and
chewing it in a very visible, disgusting way. Bulma never did enjoy watching him eat.
"Here," he said, swallowing most of it and fishing out a Sensu bean from his pocket. He
tossed it to her and she caught it in her left hand. She looked down at it and gasped in
surprise.
"A Sensu bean!" She gasped. "You mean, Karin…?"
"Yeah, he said that it'd help you heal soon so that you could pick up on your training
right away," Yajirobe replied, stuffing some more seafood into his mouth and waving at
her dismissively. "He said he couldn't justify giving Vegita one for what he did without
giving you one for this. Especially," he added with a grin, "since your injuries weren't
your own fault, like Vegita's were his. But he did tell me to remind you about that bit
about them growing on trees…"
"…But not being easy to come by," Bulma finished for him, grinning back. "You can
tell him I said thanks a lot, and that I'll remember it!" She said with a happy thumbs-up.
Yajirobe just nodded and resumed stuffing his face.
Bulma popped the bean into her mouth and began chomping happily. "Heh heh heh!"
She said with a devious grin. She leapt up into the air and fired off a barrage of tackling
spins and dagger kicks. In the blink of an eye she had shot back to the ground, her face
alight with glee.
"You have no idea how long I've been wanting to do that!" She laughed, shaking her
head at all the looks of surprise that were now pointed in her direction.
Everybody laughed, with Goku laughing loudest of all. "You don't think motherhood
has slowed you down too much, do you, Bulma?" He asked her with an obnoxious
grin.
Bulma grinned back. "Oh, I wouldn't say that," she said with a cocky jerk of her nose.
"Not with all the extra training I laid in during the past nine months. Pregnancy didn't
leave me idle, Goku."
Goku laughed, and he pointed at her as he turned back to the others. "Now who does she
remind you of?" He asked, laughing again.
"Vegita!" Kuririn laughed. "Definitely!"
"Oh yeah!" Gohan cried. "She sure does, doesn't she?"
"Wow! It's uncanny, Bulma," Yamucha said, grinning at her mischievously. "What an
impression!"
"Aw, shut up you guys," Bulma laughed. "You're not taking me seriously! Well then
how about a match, Goku? Care to see just how much I've let myself go? I warn you;
I'm not the same person I was a year ago."
Goku grinned and nodded. "All right Bulma," he said, standing up and stretching a bit.
"I suppose a quick sparring match couldn't hurt."
"Aw, here he goes!" Chichi grumbled, rolling her eyes to the sky. "Goku-sa! Why the
heck do you always have to turn civilized get-togethers into uncivilized brawls?!"
Bulma grinned apologetically at Chichi. "Just one sparring match," she said, holding her
hands up to show her sincerity. "We aren't going to do any brawling, Chichi."
"Ah…" Chichi groaned, dismissively waving them away. "I should have known it
would be inevitable. Go ahead. Who am I to stand in the way of bone-headed
machoism, after all?"
"That's the sport, Chichi!" Kuririn laughed, patting her on the back. But she sent him
such a hateful look then that he promptly backed away from her, laughing nervously and
holding his hands up in his defense.
Bulma smiled and shook her head. "Oh well," she sighed. "Come on, Goku. Let's take
this out into the open space between the gravity rooms. We should have enough room
there."
She and Goku walked over to the place she had referred to, with a large band of
interested onlookers close behind. And even Chichi—grumbling something
unintelligible under her breath—joined the others to follow and watch.
"I wish Vegita were out here," Bulma thought wistfully to herself as she and Goku got
into position. "I know he'd get a kick out of this." She hadn't had to ask anyone to know
where the man of her thoughts was right now. It was more than obvious. And now that
they were so close to the gravity rooms, Bulma could clearly sense him working fiercely
in there. She smiled. He wasn't much for crowds. And given who was present in this
one, he probably wouldn't even emerge from that little room until they'd all gone
home.
"Are you ready, Bulma?" Goku asked, bringing her back from her thoughts.
"Yes, I'm ready," she replied, tensing a little. "Come at me any way you like." And
upon finishing those words she immediately slowed time.
"Poor unsuspecting Goku," she thought with a slight grin as he shot forward at a
laughably slow pace. "He thinks he's humoring me. It won't take him long to realize
he'll have to be more serious than this."
When Goku reached Bulma, he threw several easy punches and kicks at her, which she
dodged with only minimal effort. She smiled politely at him as he increased his speed
and strength, easily dodging his every strike. And suddenly, while he was in the middle
of a punch, she ducked and gave him a fierce jab to his lower abdomen.
She could hear his grunt of pain and surprise very clearly, although it sounded rather
strange—slowed down as it was. She didn't give him a chance to react to her little
maneuver, though. Instead, she hurled a flurry of punches, slaps, and kicks at him,
dodging this way and that so as to add to his confusion. She never stayed in one place—
the more she moved around, the harder it was for him to block her blows, and the easier it
was for her to disorient him.
Bulma was having the time of her life, and her elated, beaming face was enough to prove
it. She had caught Goku so off guard that nearly all of her blows thus far had connected.
She was pretty sure that she wasn't dealing him much damage, but that was okay,
considering that she really hadn't intended to. The look of pure astonishment on his face
was more than enough of a reward for her actions.
Bulma was very much absorbed in what she was doing, so she was unable to see the
others and their reactions to her new strength and speed. And that was indeed quite a
shame, because the look of surprise on Goku's face was nothing compared to the slack-
jawed, bug-eyed looks of pure disbelief on the faces of her audience.
"C- can you SEE her, Piccolo-san?" Gohan asked in an awed, quiet voice.
"Not consistently," Piccolo admitted, his eyes as wide as they could go. "And neither can
your father. How the hell did she get so fast?"
"This is unreal," Yamucha said, gaping at Goku, who appeared to him to be in the midst
of an attack from a thousand invisible foes all at once. "This must mean that Vegita's
way beyond Goku now. Bulma's only human. If he could get her this far this fast, just
imagine what he's been able to accomplish with himself!"
Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Kamesennin nodded in agreement as they gaped at Goku,
trying to pick Bulma out with their eyes. But it was no use. She was moving so fast that
they just couldn't see her. And Piccolo was right. Neither could Goku—who was now
beginning to get more than just a little frustrated. He was finding it impossible to defend
himself from her onslaught, and although she wasn't causing him any intolerable pain, it
was just enough to make him react in the only way he knew how to fend something like
this off. He gave a loud yell, and his ki flared golden yellow as he went Super
Saiyan.
Now it was Bulma's turn to be caught off guard. In her surprise, she let time slip back
into its normal speed, and she paused to stare in disbelief at Goku. Suddenly she had
become visible to everyone—including him. Gritting his teeth in concentration, Goku
smacked her on the side of the face (with more than just a little too much force). She
spun thirteen complete turns as she sailed backward, and she landed on her side just a
little over six feet away from him. She slid a couple more feet before finally coming to a
painful halt on her back.
Within the span of only a second, a tremendous amount of activity took place. At first,
Goku didn't realize how much his tap had accomplished, but before he could find out,
there suddenly appeared someone between him and Bulma, blocking her from his
view.
"Vegita?" He said in surprise, his hair changing back to its normal color as he stared
down at Vegita, who had apparently just appeared out of nowhere. "What are you
doing?"
Groaning in pain, Bulma rubbed her face where Goku had hit her, and she sat up, shaking
her head rather dizzily. "That's going to leave a bruise," she thought, trying to shake it
off. She looked up and saw with surprise that Vegita was standing there in front of her,
shielding Goku from her view.
"I might ask the same of you," he spat in a hissing, furious voice at Goku, his hair
bristling with suppressed rage. "You infernal coward! Is this your idea of sport?! My
woman leaves that crude healing facility only today, and you dare strike her to the
ground?! Are you that willing to die, you bastard?! Because by hell, I WILL
accommodate you!"
Vegita was seething with rage, but he resisted the urge to fly at Goku right then and there.
He wanted to give him a chance to make a fool of himself by babbling some kind of
foolish, weak excuse. The more he could humiliate him before thrashing him, the better
it would be.
"Vegita, this was my idea," Bulma said before Goku could answer. "I challenged him to
a sparring match. I was doing pretty well too," she laughed, getting up and dusting
herself off. "Until he went Super, that is," she added, laughing and grinning at
Goku.
"You think that EXCUSES what he did to you?!" Vegita snapped back at her, without
removing his smoldering gaze from Goku for even a second. "The bastard nearly
snapped your neck! This… this piece of filth has no business laying a hand on you under
any circumstances, but to accept a challenge from you, knowing full well that you
haven't fully recovered… I will not tolerate it!" He growled, grinding his teeth
ferociously and balling his fists as his ki intensity began to rise dramatically.
Bulma could see then that she was going to have to do something to calm Vegita down,
and fast, or else there was going to be no stopping him from flying at Goku in an
uncontrollable rage.
"But Vegita, I've been healed already," she said soothingly, gently resting a hand on his
right shoulder. "Karin sent me a Sensu bean. I slowed time when I fought Goku, and I
had him pegged down so well that he had no alternative but to go Super Saiyan just to
fend me off. He certainly didn't mean to hit me so hard. It was entirely my fault; not his.
And besides, it wasn't as bad as it looked. At the very worst, I'll have a bruise to remind
me of it for a few days," she said, trying to sound cheerful.
Vegita ground his teeth furiously, and although his eyes darted briefly back towards
Bulma, he didn't turn around. Not yet. "Kakarrot, I will never forgive this," he said, his
eyes glittering with rage. "For now, I'll leave this matter unsettled. But I warn you now;
at the very moment that we've disposed of those robotic junk piles of Gero's, I am going
to make you pay dearly for what you've done today. A simple death is no longer
sufficient for the likes of you!"
"Vegita!" Bulma snapped, walking around beside him and glaring at him. "That's
enough!"
Growling angrily, Vegita turned to stomp back to his gravity room, but he grabbed Bulma
by the arm as he did. "You come with me," he said coldly, jerking her along behind
him.
"Ow! Hey, stop it!" She yelled, trying to pull free of him. "Let me go, Vegita!" But his
grip was unbreakable. She only had time to shoot their surprised audience a quick,
embarrassed glance before Vegita dragged her through the open door of his gravity room
and slammed it shut behind them.
Once inside the gravity room, Vegita loosened his hold on Bulma's arm, and she
immediately wrenched it out of his hand. "How dare you embarrass me like that?!" She
yelled furiously. "How am I supposed to explain this to everybody?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Vegita thundered at her, bristling in anger. "What
in the name of seven hells possessed you to pull an asinine stunt like that?!"
"What are you talking about?" Bulma snapped. "I didn't do anything!"
"Just what made you think you were ready to fight Kakarrot, you little fool?" Vegita
growled. "You've been virtually inactive for the past month, and to top it off, you just
had your own gut sliced open by a bunch of quack surgeons! This is not what I'm
training you for, and you know it!"
Bulma groaned and flung her hands up in the air. "I told you already, Karin sent me a
Sensu bean," she snapped impatiently. "And I haven't lost a bit of my strength, all right?
You should have seen me out there! Until Goku transformed, he never even saw what hit
him!"
"All I saw," Vegita said in a dangerously low, angry voice, "was that fool Kakarrot, in
Super Saiyan form, strike MY woman across her face. That is not something I intend to
tolerate. And you had no business putting yourself in such a position in the first
place."
"And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" Bulma snapped, planting her hands on her
hips and glaring fiercely at him.
Vegita matched her glare with his own. "It means you should know better than to
challenge someone like Kakarrot," he replied coldly, folding his arms. "I don't think I
need to tell you that I disapprove of that. And I can tell you now that I won't allow it
again, either. I'd better not see you taking such risks with those idiot friends of yours
again. Especially Kakarrot," he added emphatically, glaring sternly at her.
Bulma's eyes flashed furiously, and she balled her fists in indignant anger. "It was
nothing but a friendly sparring match," she said icily. "Nothing more. Goku had no
intention of hurting me, and had you waited a few moments longer, you might have seen
that for yourself. But that's not the issue here. I don't disapprove of your wanting to
protect me from harm. But you have NO right to tell me who I can and can't spar with!
Nor will I allow you to choose my friends for me, either. You may find this hard to
believe, but I have a mind of my own, Vegita. I will spar whenever and with whomever I
like!" And before he could say another word, she spun on her heel and marched over to
the door, kicking it open.
"Now that I'm at full health again," she said curtly, flashing her eyes angrily back at him.
"I'll continue my training with you, starting tomorrow. If you have anything to say to me
before then, you can speak to me at dinner tonight. But for now," she added, turning
back around, "I have to go apologize to everyone for the way YOU behaved!" And,
slamming the door behind her, she stomped away to rejoin the others, who were talking
and mulling around quietly where she and Vegita had left them.
Bulma grimaced as she looked at the edgy group. She hated apologizing, even if it
wasn't for her own actions.
"Bulma!" Goku cried when he saw her coming. "Bulma, are you okay?" He ran up to
meet her, and the others followed close behind.
"I'm fine," she said, raising a hand and shaking her head. "I want to apologize for the
way Vegita acted. He only got so angry because he thought you were trying to hurt me.
I'm sorry Goku, but I think he really means what he says. Nothing I say to him is making
much difference. I didn't mean for this to happen."
"Aw, his threats never bothered me all that much," Goku laughed good-naturedly. "He's
been mad at me ever since I first met him. But this is the first time I think he was
justified. Are you going to be okay?" He asked her with genuine concern on his
face.
"I'll be fine," Bulma said, waving it away and smiling at him. "In a day or so I won't
even feel it anymore."
"Just the same," Goku said, looking relieved. "I shouldn't have hit you so hard. I'm
really the one who ought to apologize."
"Man, that Vegita is one unpredictable guy," Kuririn remarked. "He got really steamed
at Goku, didn't he? I saw him poke his head out the gravity room door just as Goku
belted you, Bulma, and then BAM! He was right there! He was ready to kill, wasn't
he?" He asked Bulma, frowning anxiously.
"Yes, I think he was," Bulma sighed, lowering her eyes in embarrassment. "You see,
outside of our training in the gravity room, Vegita's never lifted so much as a finger to
me. I guess now I know how he'd react if he saw someone else do it." She looked back
up at Goku. "I know Vegita has no great love for you, Goku, but please understand that
he said those words only in response to what he saw you do to me. Don't think any less
of him for it. It's really all my fault. It never occurred to me that something like this
would happen."
Goku laughed and shook his head. "There's no need to apologize, Bulma," he chuckled.
"I think Vegita did exactly the same thing I would have done if someone had hit Chichi
like that. The only way I'd think less of him is if he saw it and didn't care. A man who
has no interest in protecting the ones he loves from harm has no right to a family at all.
Besides," he added, patting her on the back and laughing. "It's like I said before. His
threats don't bother me. I have a feeling that, one day, we'll have to fight to settle them.
But he has a point. It won't do to dwell on that now. There's more important things to
worry about than ego grudges."
Bulma smiled and shook her head. Sometimes Goku surprised her by saying such
intelligent things. But still, she was rather inclined to disagree that Vegita had let it slide
today simply because he thought focusing on the future battle with the Jinzouningen was
more important than his ego. She knew better than that. Oh well. She shouldn't worry
about it either. Some things were just best left as they were.
"Oh well," she sighed, laughing and shaking her head as they began walking back to the
tables and what remained of their party. "I suppose that in all reality, you shouldn't feel
too threatened by Vegita anyway. I mean, he hasn't even reached Super Saiyan level yet,
and I'd wager that you won't have to really worry until he does."
They both laughed at that, and so did Kuririn and Gohan. But Piccolo didn't laugh. He
seemed more confused than anything else.
"Wait a minute," he said, stopping Bulma and looking her dead in the eyes. "Then what
did we just see? Does that mean that you have surpassed Vegita?!"
Suddenly the others caught Piccolo's drift, and they all listened eagerly for Bulma's
response. Bulma looked back at Piccolo with a very surprised and bewildered
expression, and at first seemed too flabbergasted to speak.
"Me?" She asked incredulously, pointing to herself. Piccolo nodded. "Well, of course
not!" She cried, laughing at him and shaking her head. "Just what are you getting at,
Piccolo? It isn't like you to joke around! Don't tell me that Goku and Gohan have
somehow managed to give you a sense of humor!"
"But Bulma, you were incredible!" Kuririn cried. "You were all over Goku!"
"Yeah!" Gohan cried. "It was unreal!"
"They're right," Yamucha agreed, nodding his head emphatically. "I would say that you
were a sight to see, Bulma, but I can't because we couldn't even see you!"
"Neither could I," Goku agreed. "That's why I went Super Saiyan. It was the only thing
I could do to get you off of me!"
"Well, I owe the speed to some new powers I've acquired," she said, shrugging modestly.
"Let's sit down and finish eating. I'll tell you all about it, but it's a bit of a long
story."
So she did. She gave them a brief but accurate account of her meeting with Chronos.
She told them about Victor, and about the book, and she even told them about how angry
Vegita was when she told him about it. She told them nearly everything. The only thing
she left out was the bit about her losing her abilities if she ever decided to reverse the
flow of time. She figured that it didn't really matter, considering there was no way she
would ever do that!
"It's very strange, Bulma," Gohan said, thinking aloud when she had finished. "I mean,
I've never heard of a god of time before. The Greeks told in their mythology of a god
with that name, but he wasn't the god of time, per se. The Greek Chronos was the father
of all the other major gods and goddesses that they worshipped. But I don't think he was
ever connected to time itself."
"Kaiou-sama never mentioned Him to me," Goku said thoughtfully. "And neither did
Kami-sama either."
"It's likely that Kaiou-sama didn't even know of Him," Bulma remarked, shrugging
indecisively. "From what I gathered, only Toki-jin ever get to learn of His existence, and
if Kaiou-sama isn't a Toki-jin, then he probably doesn't know, even if he is immortal.
Kami-sama though," she added, raising an index finger, "is a Toki-jin. And he does
know Chronos. Chronos told me so Himself."
"What power does Kami-sama have over time?" Gohan asked.
"He can see the future," Piccolo answered, before Bulma could. "I never did like that
about him."
"Well, anyway, that's that," Bulma said with a shrug. "With all my newfound
knowledge, slowing the flow of time turned out to be child's play. I have other
techniques in the works too," she said, taking a sip of tea. "Vegita and I have been
working on them for a good while now. By the time the Jinzouningen arrive, I'm going
to have more than just a few new tricks up my sleeves!"
"That's great!" Goku exclaimed, beaming happily at her. "I'm glad to hear it. At least
we know you'll be prepared in a year's time!"
"I'd like to think I will be," she said with a nod. "And with Vegita's help, I just
might."
Everybody stayed for a good two and a half hours more to talk and snack on what was
left of the lunch. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end.
Eventually, everybody had to leave, and as it turned out, the group from the Kame house
was the last to go. Bulma insisted that they pack up what was left of the food and take it
with them, much to the delight of Oolong and Kame-sennin, who were neither one a very
good cook. As they all piled into Roshi's capsule van, Yamucha held back.
"You guys go on ahead," he said, waving them on. "I'll fly back. I can use the exercise."
So they took off without him, leaving him there alone with Bulma.
She smiled at him. "I'm really glad you came, Yamucha," she said warmly. "It wouldn't
have been the same if you hadn't come."
Yamucha smiled back and nodded. "You wanna go for a walk?" He said, gesturing to
the path that wound itself throughout the compound. "I'd like the chance to talk with
you, if that's all right."
"Sure," she said with another warm smile. "I'd really like that."
They walked in silence for a while, but it wasn't an awkward silence. The truth was that
each of them had missed the other quite a bit, and for a while, simply enjoying each
other's company was all they needed to feel at ease. But eventually, Yamucha broke the
silence and began to speak.
"I'm glad I came too, Bulma," he said at last. "The truth is that I really wanted to see you
again. I've been thinking a lot about you, and about Vegita. And I realized that it just
might have been possible that I had slightly misjudged him. Now, I'm not going to say
that you always make perfect decisions, Bulma," he said with an apologetic smile. "But
usually, your judgment is pretty sound. And so I figured that maybe the fact that you
chose Vegita meant that I was somehow missing an important piece of the big picture
about him. Maybe it was possible that I just…" He hesitated.
Bulma looked up at him and smiled. "You don't have to beat around the bush," she said
understandingly. "Just go ahead and say what you mean to, Yamucha. If it pains you to
say it, it's best to just get it over with."
Yamucha sighed and smiled back. "Yeah. You're right," he agreed. "Okay then. What
I'm trying to say is this: I don't like Vegita. I probably never will. But if being with him
makes you happy, then I'm willing to accept it and move on. I love you, Bulma. And
your happiness means a lot to me, even if it lies in the arms of another man. I'm not
saying I'm happy with it. I'm just saying that I'll live with it, and that I don't want to
avoid you anymore. I still want to be your friend."
Bulma looked like she was about to cry. "There is nothing you could say that would
make me any happier," she said in a choked voice.
"I'm not quite through yet," he said, smiling a little more broadly. "I mentioned that
perhaps I wasn't getting the big picture about Vegita. There must have been some side of
him that I don't get to see, but you do. I mean, you wouldn't have fallen for the man if he
was just the man I know. That I'm sure of. But at any rate, I think I got to witness a
glimpse of that other side of him today. When I saw the look of hatred in his eyes when
he shielded you from Goku, I knew that nothing but a concern for your safety would have
caused that. Goku's not very high on Vegita's good list, but he wouldn't just fly at him
like that without a very good reason. I'm beginning to understand now that maybe… just
maybe… Vegita actually CAN care for someone other than himself."
"You're right you know," Bulma said, smiling happily. "Vegita loves me. And he loves
his son too. And I've no doubt in my mind that he would fight to the death to protect us,
if fate called for it. I know I would do the same thing for him and Trunks. And besides,"
she said, sighing and shaking her head. "He's told me himself that the sole purpose for
his training me is so that, in the fight to come, I'll be able to defend myself enough to
keep from getting killed. He'll protect me all right. But he also wants me to be able to
protect myself."
"I'm beginning to see that at last," Yamucha said, looking up at the sky and smiling. "I
suppose it's just as well, though. He would better be able to protect you and Trunks than
I would. Oh, and about Trunks," he said, grinning again. "I knew you had to be serious
when I found out that you two had a baby. I honestly didn't know what I'd think of the
kid, considering who his father was. But you know what? I think he's the most
beautiful, wonderful baby I've ever seen."
"I'm really glad you think so," Bulma said, smiling at him. "Because I have a favor to
ask of you."
"A favor?" Yamucha asked curiously. "What favor?"
"Would you be his godfather?" She replied. "I knew I wanted that from the very
beginning. But I didn't know how I'd get you to do it. You can only imagine my relief
right now. Yesterday I would have thought you wouldn't even come here, much less
agree to be the godfather of my and Vegita's child."
Yamucha grinned from ear to ear. "Bulma, it would be an honor to be Trunks'
godfather," he replied. "And I accept wholeheartedly. Although I daresay that if
something ever happens to both you and Vegita, I'll probably have been long gone by
then."
They both laughed then, and a few minutes later they found themselves back at the place
where they had started. Bulma hugged and kissed Yamucha goodbye, and he took off for
the Kame house. Bulma smiled as she watched him go. She had the strangest sense of
completeness just now; it was as if all the pieces in her puzzle of a life had finally been
put in order, and she wondered just how long it would last. She hoped it would remain
that way for a long time. She hadn't felt this contented quite a while.
On to the next chapter!
