Just One Confession

III.

When Goten awoke me in the middle of the night to tell me that Vegeta made his departure, I was not at all surprised that he managed to do it. But when Goten broke the news that he thought Bra had been kidnapped by Vegeta, I lost it. I let my fury get the best of me as I took it out on Goten for not keeping a proper eye on her. But then, after some reasoning, I had to push my anger aside. None of us suspected that Vegeta would even have the strength to try anything like that, let alone grabbing Bra of all people.

I had planned on waiting until early morning to start the dragon ball search, but with Bra missing, I didn't want to waste another moment. I gave Goten the dragon radar, confident he would be the one that would be able to find all seven the fastest. Gohan and Uub were still recovering, and Pan wouldn't be as quick as Goten. For once, Goten didn't try to put up a fight with me about doing what I ask of him.

The night came and went when I began wishing that I gave Goten some sort of device so I could reach him across the world to find out his progress. But as the sun began peaking over the horizon, the rejuvenation chambers began powering down to inform me that Gohan and Uub's healing was complete.

* * * * * * * *

"Daddy!" Pan yelled in joy as soon as the water drained and the hatch opened to leave Gohan wide open for Pan's arms. He was completely soaked, but she didn't seem to notice as she clung onto her father like a small child.

"Pan, go easy," Videl said softly through eyes rimmed with tears. Though she knew Gohan was completely healed, having had to see him floating in that tank all night was torture for her. Besides what happened during the Buu Era, she never seen her husband that badly injured. Even if they could bring him back with the dragon balls had he not made it, her heart still felt like it wouldn't be able to handle the shock.

Gohan smiled down at Pan, stroking his hand through her hair as he beckoned Videl to come to him with his other. Videl didn't even wait to be told before she rushed forward to be wrapped in Gohan's strong embrace also.

Bulma stared at them for a long moment, a small, sad smile playing on her lips. How badly she needed holding right now…and Goku was nowhere around at the time she really needed it. She heard the second hatch open and looked over to see Uub stepping out of the tank looking good as new. Her smile grew as she tried to forget about the three to her left. Though she never became too close to Uub, he was still one of Goku's best friends and was happy to see him well.

"I'm so glad you're okay," Bulma said with pain in her voice before wrapping the boy in her arms.

Uub looked down at her, his mouth open in astonishment. Slowly, almost oddly, he patted her back gently, "Thanks for helping me, Ms. Brief. I really appreciate it."

"Bulma."

Hearing her name coming from Gohan's lips made her let go of Uub and turn around to see Gohan free of Pan and Videl. He stood in his torn work clothes that looked absolutely ridiculous now that his wounds had healed. She thought about running to him also, but stopped abruptly when she saw the look in his eyes.

"Are the dragon balls found yet?" he asked, getting straight to the point.

"Um…" she shook her head slowly, "No, I gave Goten the dragon radar about seven hours ago, so…maybe he'll be back soon."

"Pan just told me that Vegeta took Bra. Are you going to use the second wish to bring her back here?"

Bulma nodded, "Yes, but I'm not sure what our third wish will be…not that I really care. I just want Goku and my babies back."

Pan made an annoyed groaning sound from behind Gohan, crossing her arms and sticking her nose in the air, "Trunks and Bra should be the only ones you're worried about anyway, considering they're your only real family."

"Pan!" Videl chastised angrily, "Don't talk to your grandmother that way!"

"She's not my grandmother!" Pan yelled, avoiding looking at Bulma so she wouldn't have to see the hurt she was causing her, "I'm not sure who my real grandma is, but until I find out, I'm not accepting anyone as my real family!" She paused when no one responded right away, but continued with: "Except you and Daddy. You're the only two I know I'm related to for sure."

"You're acting like a brat, Pan…that's not how we raised you," this came from Gohan, making Pan look at him in astonishment for insulting her in such a way. Gohan had been watching Bulma's facial expression go from surprised, to angry, to painfully depressed. He understood why Pan might be confused on the whole situation, but he found it inexcusable for her to be saying such nasty things to Bulma, "Maybe if you let someone explain to you exactly what happened in the past, then maybe you won't be so judgmental."

Pan swallowed, realizing she did not like being on her dad's bad side one bit. But she held her own, narrowing her eyes as she argued back, "Well maybe if someone would hurry up and explain it to me, then maybe—."

"Pan!" Gohan stopped her, turning around to face his daughter finally, "When I was only thirteen, your grandfather, Goku, died to save the earth. My mother, Chi-Chi, couldn't take it and allowed herself to die after she had Goten. Bulma was thoughtful enough to take Goten and I in after we were left parentless, despite having a son of her own and Vegeta just leaving her."

As Gohan summed up years in a nutshell, Pan's eyes dilated slowly as she began to understand their lives and why her father never called Bulma by any other name. Videl's eyes also widened a bit, having finally heard the whole story herself for the first time.

Pan gave into her pride and finally looked at Bulma to see that she was smiling through her tears.

"And I would do it all over again if I had to," Bulma choked out, knowing this was the moment that she had been waiting for. Not everyone was around to hear the story, but since it was out in the open, it was only natural that it would get easier.

She just hoped that Vegeta didn't tell Bra a different story to corrupt her mind against her.

"So…what about Bra?" Pan asked, as though reading Bulma's mind.

Bulma closed her eyes to let the last of her tears fall, "Right after Goku left the earth again, Vegeta appeared in search of him. When he found out Goku wasn't here, he seemed really angry. Gohan came down to defend me, but I didn't want what happened yesterday, to happen then…especially with Goten and Trunks being so young. So…since Vegeta seemed so eager…I…I did the only thing I knew of to distract him…and then the next morning he was gone."

Videl blinked, "And that was the night Bra was conceived?"

Bulma nodded. Pan stepped forward, "And you and Grandpa never had any children of your own?"

Shaking her head, Bulma forced a smile, "No, I felt like I had enough kids to raise."

Everyone watched Pan to see how she would handle all this information. She became quiet, however, hardly making a move. So…she was related to everyone except Bulma, Bra, and Trunks? That didn't seem too bad on her part…at least she had an uncle, a grandfather, and knew both of her real parents. She subconsciously thought that she probably got the best end of the deal.

She raised her face to the ceiling, wishing she knew where Bra was at the moment and if she was all right…

*****

The air inside the spaceship was cool. Only the low hum coming from the engines was heard as the control system went into standby mode to conserve energy as it traveled through galaxies. It had been some time since Vegeta was seated in the rejuvenation chamber and he could feel his bones healing and his wounds closing. The chamber's panel began making low beeping sounds that came in ten second intervals. As the beeps started to become closer, he knew it was only a matter of seconds before the machine would recognize him as completely healed to exit the device.

Beep…beep…beep…beep, beep, beep, beep

He opened his eyes slowly to see the red light from the countdown button before the green one lit up to release the pressure of the chamber.

"Healing process complete," the panel informed him with a mechanical female voice.

As for Bra, she was suffering a serious headache as she began awakening. Last thing she remembered was that she got thrown into a wall, the blow to her head knocking her out cold. She groaned when she slowly opened her eyes, the bright light cot agreeing with her at all.

"Oh, what happened…?" she mumbled to herself, lifting a weak hand to her head as she tried to sit up. Once she managed that, she kept her eyes squeezed shut, not ready to welcome the headache just yet.

But when she heard footsteps coming toward her, it suddenly dawned on her that she wasn't in her house…or anywhere close. Her gaze made its way up past the legs and torso; she tried to back herself further against the wall when she saw that it was Vegeta that was standing before her.

"Oh crap, I got kidnapped!" she yelled, sounding exactly like a distressed Bulma. She continued to try to push herself more and more against the wall, her boots slipping on the smooth surface of the ship.

Vegeta merely gave a small "humph" before walking over to the control panel, curious to see how long he had been out and how close they were to reaching the west galaxy.

Bra didn't dare move as she watched him do this, "What…what are you going to do to me?" Her big eyes blinked when he didn't answer. Her eyebrows narrowed when she thought she was getting ignored, "Hey! I asked you a question, ya know!" Her new found anger forced her to stand, her hands out to her sides, "I go through all that trouble to help you into your ship and then you go and play a trick on me! How dare you, you—."

"Would you shut up?" Vegeta growled, becoming quickly aggravated. He looked over his shoulder at her, "I didn't kidnap you, nor did I trick you. My spaceship starts automatically when the rejuvenation chamber is activated to increase my safety level." He grunted and waved a hand back at her, "I don't even know why I'm explaining anything to you."

"Nor do I care how it happened! Are you going to take me back to Earth, or what?" she crossed her arms, showing how serious she was. Hearing the demanding tone in her voice, Vegeta turned around to warn her of her place. However, as he spotted her with her sharp eyes narrowed and her arms crossed as such, it reminded him…of himself. He blinked, the realization that this was his daughter hitting him head on for the first time since he met her.

Seeing the look of astonishment on his face made her stance falter. She lowered her arms to her sides, her eyes losing their threatening stare to that of curiosity. He was…studying her. That much was obvious. It wasn't in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, in fact, she felt completely at ease. Bra didn't dare make a move, feeling almost afraid that he would look away if she did. There was something telling her that she wanted him to know all about her in that moment.

Because…because she wanted to know about him as well. She remembered Goku telling her many years ago that since she was half Saiyan, her thoughts and emotions would be able to pick up on other people's thoughts and emotions. If she felt like she knew something, if something was different, if something was wrong, if something was right…then that was her strong instincts kicking in. Bulma simply told her that it was nothing more than woman's intuition. Whatever it was, Bra felt she had no reason to be threatened by Vegeta.

"Vegeta…?" she heard his name leave her lips, snapping them both out of their reverence.

He blinked twice, wondering what came over him. He turned back to the control panel, "It'll be almost impossible to take you back right now. We're almost in the west galaxy and we wouldn't have enough fuel for me to take you all the way back to Earth and for me to start my trip over again. Earth doesn't hold the type of fuel I would need to power this thing."

For some reason, this didn't bother her. She forced a smile, "That's…that's okay. When my mom and the others collect the dragon balls to wish my dad and Trunks back, they'll make the second wish to wish me back to Earth."

"Good thinking," Vegeta said plainly, as though she said nothing more significant than what she would be having for breakfast.

Bra gave his back a questioning look, wondering why the moment seemed so…odd. Here she was, talking about her family making a wish that would undo everything he just did, and he didn't even seem to care. She wasn't sure if it was wise to ask, but since she figured she had nothing to lose at this point, tested the waters, "So why did you kill my dad and Trunks anyway?"

Vegeta didn't answer right away. His hands stopped moving over the control panel. Bra waited several moments before she was about to dismiss the question.

"Never mind, you—."

"I didn't mean to kill that dimwit you call a brother," Vegeta forced out, not turning around to face her, "Instead of just letting me finish off Kakarot with that shot, he stepped in the way like an idiot."

"Kakarot? Oh, you mean my dad?" Bra asked, wincing when she realized that was probably the wrong thing she should be commenting on.

"Yeah, whatever…" Vegeta mumbled, not wishing to go into that subject, "Anyway, I always swore I would defeat Kakarot and when I saw the opportunity…I took it without thinking."

Bra looked to her left to see a couple seats next to each other. With her head still hurting a bit, she walked to them and took a seat in the closest one, "Without thinking?" She placed her arms comfortably on the armrests, sitting with her back straight and her legs crossed, "But if you always wanted to do it, how would it be without thinking?"

"I was—," Vegeta cut himself off before he could continue. He turned around to look at her again, surprised she was no longer standing. The way she presented herself in that sitting position of hers reminded him of loyalty…as though he were presenting himself to a queen.

Bra raised an eyebrow, curious as to why he kept staring at her like that, "You were what?"

He snapped himself out of it faster than the first time he became somewhat mesmerized with her. He waved his hand, "Nothing."

"Tell me!" Bra suddenly yelled, just as surprised as he when her voice screamed with authority.

Vegeta narrowed his eyes, "You are in no position to give me orders!"

"Yeah, but we're gonna be stuck here together for awhile, so you might as well talk to me!" Bra shot back, her fist pounding on the armrest.

"I can go days without talking," he responded, walking to the side of the ship before sliding down to the floor. He didn't want to sit in the chair next to hers, and if he at least attempted to look like he was trying to take a nap, he figured she would leave him alone.

"Well, I can't!" she said, watching him sink to the floor, "And besides…that just sounds lonely. I guess it's good you don't even talk to yourself when you're alone, but while I'm here, why not make the best of it before you vow silence again?"

Vegeta rested his head against the wall, "There's nothing to talk about."

"Sure there is," Bra began, smiling at the thought of bringing up a conversation, "We were just talking about something a moment ago. You were about to tell me why you came to Earth to kill my dad without thinking, though apparently you've been thinking about it for years. Why didn't you show up a long time ago?"

"I did, but he was no longer there the first time."

"The first time?"

"I was still in the north galaxy and sensed his presence on Earth. But when I arrived there, your mother informed me that he was still dead."

"But when you came back this time…?"

"I began my life in the west galaxy and couldn't feel his energy from another galaxy so there was no way of me to know he had come back."

"So what made you come back to the north galaxy in the first place then?"

"I…" Vegeta trailed off, just then realizing this girl was actually getting him to talk. Upon this realization, he turned his head to the side, "None of your business."

Bra narrowed her eyes again, having to stand up from her sudden anger, "Oh, come on! You were doing so good!"

"Why are you so interested anyway?!" Vegeta barked back. He went from having both knees pulled up to his chest to his left leg sliding out.

"Because not twenty-four hours ago, I was told that you are my real father! Excuse me for being so curious about…" she thought about saying "you" but quickly turned it into: "…everything…"

Vegeta looked from the floor, to her, back to the floor, back to her. He wanted to ignore her. He wanted to snap the side of his hand to the back of her neck to quiet her. He wanted to have nothing more to do with her. He wanted to pretend he never laid eyes on her, never met her. He wanted her to forget she was ever told that he was her father.

"I came back to make sure your mother was okay."

Bra blinked, the silence between her question and his answer making her almost forget what the question actually was. It didn't take her long to remember, however, making her eyes soften at the man that refused to look at her any longer. Her legs felt shaky, but instead of sitting back in the chair, she closed the short distance between them and sat down next to him on the floor, her legs pulled up to her chest.

"She…was okay until you showed up," the words she used should have sounded harsh, but they held nothing but a sad curiosity. She brushed her hair behind her ear, looking at him through the corner of her eye.

"I realize this."

She bit her bottom lip gently, wondering about the boundaries she was beginning to cross into, "Were you…mad that she was okay?"

Vegeta closed his eyes and tilted his head back, "I was mad that…she was okay because of Kakarot."

Her heartbeat quickened. Was he really telling her all this…just straight out like this? Was he hinting around what she suspected? Though she hadn't been too afraid of asking him anything up until this point, the question that lingered on her tongue now seemed too…personal for her to go prying into.

"Do you…" she felt the words beginning to form. The ship suddenly seemed too quiet when it seemed like her voice was echoing despite how low she was talking. As the last words left her mouth, her skin turned to fire and her arms and legs went numb.

"Love her…?"

Vegeta didn't open his eyes right away. He allowed a couple seconds to pass before opening them and standing up as though he had just awoken from a nap. He ignored her penetrating gaze as he walked over to another wall, pressing a button to cause a door to slide open. He needed a shower.

As the door closed behind him, leaving Bra in the control room by herself, she couldn't stop the millions of questions that continued to swim through her mind.

*******************

Hey everyone! Well, is the story going a little differently than what you expected? Yes, I am going to be going back and forth between people, going from down on earth to where Vegeta and Bra are. Also, I'm adding a little twist involving Vegeta's motives and all that jazz. Like I said at the beginning of my story, I don't like Vegeta being the "bad" guy, and also like I mentioned, I never write anything without a reason. I'll be having a lot more stuff happening in the next chapter. Thanks for the reviews!