Chapter Ten

"Staying for lunch?" Gohan asked Piccolo as they walked in the front door.

Piccolo nodded. "Sure kid."

"Alright!" Gohan grinned at his mentor, and then ran upstairs to change out of his sweaty training uniform.

"So, did it work?" Goku asked Piccolo, walking up behind. "The plan, I mean."

Piccolo turned. "Nah. Yumcha told me what he remembered, and he's as clean as a whistle."

"So what do we do now?" Goku asked.

Piccolo exhaled. "We use my super-secret backup plan."

"A secret! Ooh!" Goku wiggled. "What is it? C'mon, tell me! Tellmetellmetellme!"

"After lunch!" Piccolo snapped. "That's when we'll put it into action."

"Lunch is ready! Goku! Gohan! Demon-spawn!"

"He's not a demon-spawn, Mom!" Gohan called as he walked down the stairs.

"I do have a name." Piccolo grumbled to ChiChi as he sat down.

"Oh? Is it Lucifer?" ChiChi sniped. "Or Satan, perhaps?"

"I give up." Piccolo sighed.

"Back at Yumcha's." Goku looked up at the large apartment building. "What's our plan this time?"

"I call it, Plan Dites-Lui Tout." Piccolo said proudly.

"Ooh! What does that mean?" Goku asked.

"It's Namek." Piccolo explained.

"Namek? How many languages do you know?" Goku asked in amazement.

"Two huh? Namek and-- what other language?"

"French." Piccolo replied sarcastically.

"Wow! French huh? That is so smart!"

Piccolo rolled his eyes, and marched into Yumcha's building.

Yumcha opened his door. "Goku? Piccolo?"

"Didn't light yourself on fire again this time I see," Piccolo joked.

"Mind if we come in?" Goku asked.

"Sure! Come on in." Yumcha stepped aside, and let Goku and Piccolo in.

"What's the plan?" Goku whispered.

"You'll see." Piccolo whispered back.

"So what brings you guys here?" Yumcha asked.

"We need to talk." Piccolo said, suddenly becoming serious.

"That's right. It's really important." Goku agreed, confused.

"It's about you and Bulma." Piccolo explained.

"Yes, it's about you and... huh?" Goku turned to Piccolo.

"Me and Bulma?" Yumcha was getting more confused by the second. "What about me and Bulma?"

Piccolo sighed, and indicated the sofa with his hand. "Let's sit."

They sat, all eyes on Piccolo. Gathering his thoughts, and working out the best way to tell Yumcha, Piccolo took a deep breath and began.

"Yumcha, you remember that young man from the future, don't you?"

"Yeah..." Yumcha confirmed uncertainly.

"Well, he didn't say much about the future. Other than, Androids are coming and we're all going to die." Piccolo said slowly. "But, he did tell Goku who he was."

"Who... he was?"

"His name is Trunks." Piccolo stared hard at Yumcha. "He's Vegeta's son."

"That explains why he's a Super-Saiyan." Yumcha breathed. "But what has that got to do with me and Bulma?"

Goku lowered his eyes to the ground, and Piccolo found something outside the window to look at.

"Hey! What has this got to do with me and Bulma? Bulma..." The slow realization hit Yumcha. "Trunks is Bulma's son, isn't he?" He asked weakly.

Goku nodded.

"Bulma and Vegeta are supposed to get together, aren't they?"

"Sorry, Yumcha." Goku apologised quietly.

"You're the ones who put boxers under Bulma's pillow, and made those calls, aren't you?" Yumcha demanded. "You're responsible for it all aren't you? The porn, the flowers, the prostitute, the Pikachu. All of it!"

"Look!" Piccolo snapped at Yumcha. "We're not doing all this because we like it, okay? You need to break up with Bulma. If you don't, Trunks will never be born! Who will defend the future if we can't and Trunks hasn't been born? Huh?"

"I was really happy for you, Yumcha. I was." Goku didn't lift his eyes from the floor. "It's just... I don't know. Maybe Bulma would be happier with Vegeta? Trunks was pretty certain of his mother's feelings."

Yumcha had tears running down his face. "Y- you certain?"

"Yeah." Goku looked up, tears in his eyes.

There was a short pause.

Yumcha began laughing through his tears. "Y- you know why I proposed?" He asked. "I decided I wanted kids. We both did."

He paused, and wiped his face with his sleeve.

"And you know what did it? What made me realize I wanted kids? Trunks. It was Trunks." Yumcha laughed weakly. "Respectful, strong, good looking. Made me realize I was getting old, and that I wanted to have a kid I could raise to be like me, or him."

Goku reached out and gripped Yumcha in a big hug. "I'm sooo sorreeeee!!!" He wailed into Yumcha's shirt.

The two sobbed onto each other's shoulders.

"What do I have to do?" Yumcha asked eventually.

"I think you know what you have to do." Piccolo said sadly.

Yumcha nodded.

"Up to you."

Yumcha nodded again.

"Do you know... Will I find someone else?"

"He didn't say." Piccolo paused. "It's forever a possibility, Yumcha. She could be right around the corner, or ten years away..."

Yumcha nodded.

"We'll leave it to you, then." Piccolo walked out Yumcha's door.

Goku followed, and closed the door behind him.

(It's coming to a close. Will Yumcha go through with it? Will Bulma and Vegeta ever get together? Will Trunks be born? Be prepared, the worst is yet to come! Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel!)

(PS- "Dites-Lui Tout" is really French, for "tell him all".)