Chapter Two

Head bowed against the cold wind, Bura made her way to her car.

"Can I get a lift home?"

She looked up and saw Goten leaning against the passenger side door, a pained expression on his face. She noticed that he had a hand wrapped in his scarf.

"Did you cut yourself with the glass?"

Taking his hand in hers, she looked at it worriedly. She winced as she saw the little pinpricks of blood on his palm and the larger laceration on his fingers.

"Yeah," he replied. "I didn't think that I would get cut by the glass, but I must have squeezed a little too hard. I managed to get the big pieces out, but there are some slivers in there that I couldn't reach."

Bura unlocked the door and opened it for him. When he was in, she closed it and went around to the driver's seat.

"I'll take you to the hospital," she said, starting the car.

"NO!" Goten cried. "I hate hospitals!!"

Bura threw him an exasperated look. "Don't be such a baby, Goten."

"I'm not," he retorted petulantly, one hand on the door handle as if he was about to bolt out of the moving car. "It's just that...come on, Bura. Didn't you take some first aid classes a couple years ago?"

"Yeah."

"Well..."

She sighed. "Oh, alright. But you better not give me a hard time or I'm hauling your sorry butt straight to the hospital."

"Yes, Ma'am! So did Trunks and Pan say anything to you about the frame?"

"No. I don't think they'll notice the frame is missing its glass pane. You'll have time to buy them a new one."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You were the one flying indoors like an idiot."

"You were the one walking down the stairs with your head in the clouds."

They glared at each other.

"Goten, I'm in control of the car. If you don't promise to buy a new frame, I'm going to drive to the..."

"Okay, okay," he said hurriedly. "I'll buy it, but you have to come with me to pick the frame out. I don't remember what it looks like and I don't know where I could get it."

"With all the girlfriends you've had, I'm surprised you haven't memorized the inside of the mall," she scoffed.

"Will all the shopping you do, I'm surprised you didn't jump at the chance to buy something new," he countered.

Bura glanced at him and offered a small smile. There was something in his tone that sounded familiar...it was what she usually heard in her voice when she had to defend herself against statements like the one Goten just made.

"Well, we're even."

He winked. "Guess so."

They reached Capsule Corp. headquarters. Bura led him to her mother's worktable where there was a huge magnifying glass attached to a movable metal arm. She ran upstairs to grab her eyebrow tweezers and a first-aid kit, then ran back down to find Goten sitting where she'd left him. Pulling a stool next to him, she sat down and held her hand out. He put his injured hand in hers and closed his eyes as she began to disinfect his palm with alcohol. Despite himself, Goten let out a small whimper and Bura looked up.

"What?" she inquired.

"Nothing," he said, small wrinkles fanning out from the corners of his eyes as he scrunched them shut. "Just finish doing what you have to do."

"You took a punch in the face better than you're taking this," she commented.

"Yes, I know. Just finish, Bura."

She looked at him one last time and then picked up her tweezers. With the help of the magnifying glass, she managed to dig out the smallers shards of glass that had imbeded themselves in Goten's hand. He didn't make anymore sounds, but she could see the muscles on his forearm flex and his palm was getting sweaty.

"There," she said, straightening. "You're all done."

"Thanks," he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He sounded a little shaky. "I owe you one."

"What's going on in here?!?"

They shot to their feet and turned to the doorway where Vegeta stood, glaring at them.

"Uh..h-hey, Vegeta," Goten stammered. "Bura was just helping me out..and now she's done..so I'm going to go..."

With a weak smile at Bura, he slid past Vegeta and pretty much ran out the door. Bura gathered up what she used and smiled angelically at her father.

"Did we wake you, Dad? We were pretty quiet."

Beneath a furrowed brow, Vegeta regarded his only daughter. "No, but I felt his ki in here and I thought that..." he cleared his throat. "I just wanted to see what you were doing."

Bura's lips twitched. "You thought what, Dad?"

Vegeta's glare became more intense, but Bura didn't even flinch. She was used to her father's moods and could take them in stride.

"I guess now's a good time to tell you that I'm three months pregnant with Goten's baby," she said wickedly.

Vegeta's eyes widened and he turned, ready to fly after Goten, when Bura flew to stand in front of him. He looked at her with some surprise.

"I'm just kidding, Daddy," she purred and kissed his cheek. "Go to bed before Mom comes looking for you."

But he was looking at her differently now. "That was quick, Bura," he said.

"Well, I am your daughter," she boasted.

He smirked. "That's true."

"Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Bura."

Vegeta was pondering Bura's hidden powers when he realized that he still didn't know why Goten had been at his home. Growling, he made a mental note to ask the girl at breakfast the next day. She always managed to sidetrack him.

Bura yawned as she looked at herself in the mirror. Goten had called an hour earlier, telling her that he was going to pick her up in an hour and a half to go shopping. She'd managed to get herself out of bed to take a long shower. Now, she struggled with the long turquoise locks that she was longing to chop off. Unlike her mother, Bura only changed her hairstyle once in a blue moon.

"Breakfast!" Bulma called from the kitchen.

"Coming, Mom!" Bura called back, finally pulling her hair back with a simple hairband.

She grabbed her coat and purse before going downstairs. Vegeta was already at the kitchen table, the paper in his hands, but his eyes were elsewhere. Her parents were uncharacteristically quiet. Bura tucked away a smile. It was during her childhood did she learn from Trunks that despite the hurtful insults their parents threw at each other, there was no denying that they were in love...and still in love. Bura had also learned from her more observant brother that Vegeta never read the paper. He only used it to hide behind so that he could watch Bulma putter around the kitchen unnoticed.

"Good morning!" Bura greeted.

Vegeta grunted in response, and Bulma turned around with a welcome smile.

"Good morning, Sweetie," she said.

"Where are you going?" Vegeta demanded, eyeing her purse and coat.

"Out shopping with Goten," Bura answered.

Before Vegeta could respond, Bulma whirled around, spatula in hand. "Young lady, you have to stop shopping like the malls will close forever tomorrow. Even though Capsule Corp. probably won't fold in the near future, you still have to spend wisely. Nobody needs same shirt in five different colors."

Anger boiled up inside Bura as she stared back at Bulma. "Mom, I didn't say I was going to buy anything."

"Bura, when you say you're going to go out shopping, and you've got your purse with you, I don't think you're going to walk around the mall just looking at clothes you could buy," Bulma said reasonably.

"I don't spend all my time shopping," Bura protested.

"What else do you do?"

Bura blinked and hesitated. Bulma took that as proof that she was right. She turned back to her cooking and began putting food on plates. Trembling with anger and frustration, Bura took her seat. She carefully kept her eyes on a spot on the table. When Bulma put the food on the table, Bura mechanically picked some food out. She glanced up and saw Vegeta studying her. They stared at each other, not saying a word.

Does he know something? she wondered.

"Well, that's a nice picture of Trunks and Pan," Bulma remarked, glancing at the society section of the paper.

Bura looked over and smiled when she saw the couple, their heads close together and in deep conversation.

"That's so like them," she remarked. "They look like they're the only two people in the whole world."

There was a knock at the door then and Bura jumped up to get it. Goten grinned at her when she opened the door for him. Bulma peeked out of the kitchen and waved.

"Want some breakfast, Goten?" she asked.

"You bet, Bulma!" he replied, taking a seat.

Vegeta glared at the boy as he began to pile the food onto his plate. "Didn't your mother feed you before you left?"

"Oh yeah, but you and I both know that Saiya-jins are always ready for food," Goten said around a mouthful of bacon.

"Well, hurry up and finish so that Bura can go shopping," Bulma said vaguely.

Bura's eyes widened and her fists clenched. Goten glanced sideways at her, his fork stopped in midair. Vegeta looked up, a deep frown on his face. She took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Goten crammed the rest of his food in his mouth and hauled her to her feet.

"Come on, let's go," he said.

"Alright, alright," she said, shrugging on her coat. "Don't have to get rough with me, you know."

"I was afraid you'd get rough in there," he said when they were outside.

Bura snorted. "I have better control than that."

"Your power level shot up." Goten regarded her thoughtfully. "How strong can you get, Bura?"

"No clue. Never bothered to check." She climbed into his car. "Stop yakking and start driving. We have to find a frame."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Goten said cheerfully, but in the corners of his mind an idea had started to form.