Hey everyone!

Not much to say here in the beginning... I'll make my notes at the end this time...

But there is a good story that I just don't think is getting enough attention. It is called The Unexpected and it is an B/V AU. Well written with great grammar. Go check it out. It is pretty interesting since it starts out around the 3 year saga, but may or may not go into the android saga at all.

I really hope you'll enjoy.

The Setting Sun

Chapter 4

The Setting Son

Disclaimer: will never own DBZ

** Forewarning: if you are in a really good mood today or are on the teetering edge of good mood and bad mood... today might not be a good day to read this.

Three years. It was just a little number, but when you compared it to something like 364 x 3 you got a brand new number: 1092 days. Much bigger number. But still, they didn't even have 1092 days left. She hadn't bothered with the math.

If anything, her baby would be born near Christmas. She had poked around asking Chichi about being pregnant with the whole 'I am thinking about settling down and you're the only woman I know who's done it before'. According the Chichi, the gestation period for the baby is only about six months instead of nine and the baby develops quicker. Though, she said that was just if it was Saiyan. Chichi had no clue that was exactly the case.

She was already a month and a half into the pregnancy and besides puking up most of her meals, eating more than usual, and getting easily agitated (scaring the hell out of her employees at times), she now was showing signs of holding life. Her tummy had a pudgy look to it, but she considered it graceful.

Vegeta had been distant, but, of course, it had been expected. He didn't want a child and this was hers. But she never missing the way he would stare at her or watch her stomach slowly expand. He was curious at best. She knew that. She could see it.

Sometimes she wished he had a tail like Goku had when he was little just so she could read all his little twitches in his tail. It was much easier to read a tail. Goku would not always show what he was thinking, but depending on how his tail was acting, she could always figure it out when they were kids.

But she also knew he was getting frustrated. He wasn't improving much anymore, but she decided that was mostly her fault. She had caused a big distraction and despite her coming to his rescue on occasions, she knew that she was little help to him anymore.

In fact, if anything, they were getting irritated with each other. She was on a short fuse, being pregnant, and he… well he was always on a short fuse. It didn't help their situation of constantly arguing and Vegeta always seemed to want to be away from her.

She didn't even understand. They hadn't kissed, they hadn't touched, they had just done as little as possible so they wouldn't feel bound to another and here he was acting like a child ready to throw a tantrum.

She wouldn't stand for this. She wasn't about to let him have his own way. This was her child, not his, and even though he had helped, he had already said that the child was not his, disclaiming him.

Bulma licked the spoon that she was using to eat her food with as she watched Vegeta through the corner of her eye. He was watching her again and she didn't really know why. She turned to face him, giving him a good glare before returning to what she had been doing and ignoring him again.

"Bulma-chan," her mother called to her, no doubt going to ask her to do her a favor.

"Coming mom," Bulma yelled back before slowly pulling herself up.

She noticed how tense Vegeta was. Of course it wasn't hard to notice when he was inside rather than outside training. It was very uncharacteristic of him to be relaxing and watching a movie instead of training his heart out.

She felt his eyes on her until the moment that she had disappeared down the hall and towards the garden. She wondered what was going through his mind.

Vegeta was ready to lose it. Really. He thought it would be better once she was ignoring him and leaving him alone to train. They didn't even make love!! He withheld the sigh stuck in his throat. He was irritated, beyond that, he was flustered.

He had miscalculated something when he had allowed himself into this equation. His natural instinct would never allow her to be left alone as she went through these changes. It was screaming at him about what if something happened and he wasn't there to stop it. It would be disgraceful!!!

That was not all of his problem either. He didn't want to be around her, but the only time he was even in semi-ease was when he was around her, making sure that she as developing well and not in need of assistance. Otherwise he was all nerves and that wasn't helping him gain strength.

But even though he was just following her around because of his natural instinct, he was also curious. He had never been around a pregnant woman. It was amazing to watch her womb become bigger and bigger each day, developing the baby within. Her appetite increased, she was almost always sick in the morning, sometimes the evening, and she would fall asleep in some of the oddest times.

Once or twice he had to keep her from dropping out of a chair or roll off the sofa. Okay, about fifteen times already, but he wasn't counting. He had each time carried her and placed her back in her bed where she should rest.

And let's not forget that annoying temper of hers that even he couldn't predict anymore. It was diving him nuts.

And he wanted it to stop.

He didn't know how, he didn't care when, as long as it was soon.

...

...

…And he knew exactly how to solve the problem.

Bulma headed over to her mother, who was busy tending to one of the pets.

"Oh hello Bulma-chan," Bunny smiled as she stood to full height, looking at her daughter.

"You called me, Mom?" Bulma asked as she took the spoon that she was using to eat yogurt and dipped it back into the container to get more of her food.

"Yes, sweetie," Bunny nodded, "I wanted your opinion on the baby's room. I wanted to get someone on it, but I thought that I should ask what you wanted."

Bulma blinked for a moment before shaking her head, "No, mom, I want to make it myself."

Bunny looked at her with a surprised look, "What?"

"I want to paint it, furnish it, and maybe even design the cradle. I don't want a stranger doing it mom, I want to do it by myself." Bulma said.

"But sweetie," Bunny said with a worried look, "You hardly can stay awake half the time and you've been falling asleep at the oddest times. Right now I think you should just take care of taking care of yourself in this condition."

"I'm fine mom," Bulma waved off, "I just get sleepy sometimes if I sit idle. As long as I keep moving I can stay awake just fine."

"If you say so sweetie," Bunny nodded before she returned to the animals she was tending to, "By the way sweetie, when are you going to finally get yourself a pet?"

"When I find the right one mom," Bulma sighed.

Her mother liked pushing the idea of her having a pet. She did want one, but still had not found the right one. She was going to have a baby too, so she wasn't so sure if getting a pet right at that moment was the best idea. Not like anything could hurt the baby when it was born.

She had no doubt that her child would be as strong as its daddy. She kept her smile hidden as she rubbed her tummy, feeling the difference in her usually flat stomach. Her baby would be as powerful as the man who sired it. No matter how much he didn't want to be in its life, there would be no denying that the child was going to have its daddy's strength.

"Well if that's all you wanted, Momma, I will be going back to the kitchen to get more food. Little chibi-chan is hungry," Bulma said before she began to turn away.

"Alright dear, see you later."

Bulma blinked as she woke up. It was well after midnight and she knew that no one should be awake, but the sound she heard would have definitely wakened anyone in the house.

She pulled herself and threw herself at the balcony doors just to watch Vegeta's GR simulator that was made out of a Capsule Corp. Space Ship rocket off into the atmosphere.

She spent no time wasting it ogling the retreating object, she headed down to the camera screen that she had made and placed a monitor and camera on his ship. She hit a few buttons and his image popped up on her screen.

"Vegeta," She called out to him.

He paused what he was doing, looking at her with a glare.

"What are you doing? Are you leaving before the androids come?" Bulma asked in anger as she gritted her teeth and glared right back at him.

"No, I would never dream of being a coward and fleeing." Vegeta scoffed, "I am coming back, but right now I need to get away."

She exhaled slowly, calming down before continuing, "Do you have enough food and fuel?"

"Made sure before I left, stop your nagging, I'm not stupid." Vegeta growled, "Maybe now I can get work done."

Bulma laughed, "Alright, I get it. Just don't kill yourself, you want to be around to see the baby be born, right? It'll be around four months from now."

Vegeta sneered at her, shutting off the camera, no doubt breaking it so she couldn't contact him again. Bulma shrugged and went back to bed. It really was none of her concern. She knew he was curious and would want to make sure the baby at least looked like a Saiyan. She was partial to leaving the tail, just because there was no moon.

She turned back to her room, lying back down and closing her eyes. She had more to worry about than one missing Saiyan. He would come back soon, so she didn't have to worry about his chickening out. He just needed time away from her and time to improve.

Soon Bulma was asleep again and dreaming of the future she would have with her little child. She was partial to naming it Trunks if it was a boy. She hadn't picked out a girl's name yet, but she had a feeling that Chibi-chan was a boy.

Yamcha had been hard at work since he had left Bulma's place. His girlfriend didn't work out like he had hoped. She wanted to settle down and start a family, but he couldn't give that to her. So their relationship broke off and the two of them became interested in other people once more.

Well, she was. Yamcha was still looking around for a nice girl who didn't mind not having children with him. He had yet to find one who didn't want kids one day in the future.

He sighed. Baseball was working out for him alright, but it didn't give him enough time to train for the androids. He knew that he wasn't going to put up much of a chance like Goku or Vegeta, but he wanted to help at least a little. Sometimes he could really see why Bulma got so moody when everyone else went off into their own little worlds, trying to protect the world.

She was a genius, but no one actually looked at her like she was any use to them…

Well, except Vegeta. No matter how much he hated the guy, he knew that Bulma was thrilled to be helping, even if it meant Vegeta. She loved being of use, so having someone who could grow off her smarts made her very happy. He had tried once to train with her things, but more then less he ended up getting his butt handed to him on a platter by one of her droids- on level one!

She had a talent and Vegeta could use her droids easily and even break them and let her fix and improve upon them. Neither seemed to realize the chemistry between the two of them, but Yamcha did.

That was why he had left in the first place. He couldn't bare to watch Bulma fall in love with the guy who had helped put him six feet under.

He shrugged as he continued to walk about the strip mall that he was currently hanging out in. He was looking around for another girl to pick up. He knew because of Bulma all the favorite spots of the wealthier single woman and he knew that this section was a mother load.

But all thoughts of picking up a woman came crashing down when he saw the familiar blue locks of his ex-girlfriend…

And her bulging girth.

"B-Bulma!?"

Blue eyes landed on him with a surprised look.

"Oh, Yamcha, hi," Bulma said before her features turned into a sweet smile, "How goes the girlfriend?"

Yamcha really couldn't think of anything other than her widened midsection. He couldn't pull his eyes away from her stomach.

"Bulma," He finally voiced, "You're pregnant."

"Yeah, so?" Bulma asked, looking at him oddly.

Yamcha finally pulled his eyes away, looking up at her with pure shock. He could see that she wasn't embarrassed about it, nor was there a ring on her finger. However, it just seemed so… so… unexpected.

He knew that she wanted children, that's one of the reasons they had grown apart, but he was just so shocked that she had gone out and gotten pregnant.

Bulma could probably tell he was a little surprised at her sudden, well to him, sudden fertilization, so she decided to make it easier.

"Hey Yamcha, do you want to go get a bite to eat? I was out here shopping and I haven't eaten yet, wanna join?"

Yamcha just nodded dumbly, his plans to find a new girl forgotten with this unexpected discovery. He was unable to shake his surprise till they were sitting down at a restaurant. Bulma had set her bags down and was ordering food.

"How long?" He finally blurted out.

Bulma looked at him for a moment before smiling at him, "Not long actually. But this little boy is a little different."

"That's not answering the question Bulma." Yamcha stated.

He knew that she could dance her way around an answer like no tomorrow. She had done it for years and would continue to do such things whenever she felt like it. He also knew the only way to get her to concentrate was to call her out on it.

She took in his state of mind before sighing and giving in. Obviously, she wasn't getting her entertainment from teasing him, so she looked ready to answer properly.

"Four months, one week, and three days." She told him, rubbing her large tummy.

"There is no way that you are that big and only in your second trimester." Yamcha said narrowing his eyes. He knew her game.

"For a normal child, I suppose, but Trunks isn't really normal."

It didn't take long for Yamcha to figure out what she meant, "Bulma, you didn't…"

The gleam in her eyes and the proud smirk on her face told him that she did.

"Why?" Yamcha groaned, "Why hook up with a man like that? He'll never marry you, he'll never be a human."

"I know," Bulma said, her eyes darkening, "I never said I wanted to marry him. I don't want to marry anybody. Love? I will never know love of a man because of the money my parents have, but I could know the love of a child. Trunks is my child. I talked Vegeta into laying with me, yes, but I never talked him into seeing this child as his or that we were anything like a family."

"So you and him aren't-"

"Nope," Bulma shook her head, "He's not even here. Went to train up in space."

Yamcha couldn't help but let out a small laugh, "Bulma. I never thought that you would do such a thing."

"Do what? Seduce a man into giving me what I wanted?" Bulma asked, leaning back in her chair and rubbing her tummy again.

"No, seducing Vegeta into giving you what you wanted. A child no less! I thought he would refuse you at least."

"He did. It took me weeks to wear him down into finally giving in," Bulma said with a Cheshire grin.

"But… why a baby? Why now?"

So, to Yamcha's surprise, she told him. She told him everything about her company and the events that lead up to her being there now. Yamcha was a little upset that she had planned it before he had even left, but they had grown apart by then.

He knew she would never be his, for reasons he could never tell her, but he still loved her like a sister or a best friend. So even though he was angry at her and her mastermind genius-ness, he knew that she couldn't help it.

She had always been like this. She wasn't spoiled; she worked for what she had, but she was short tempered. She was short tempered because no one understood her and her mind. She was always misunderstood. Her mind worked like nothing he had seen before. She couldn't get stupid people. She didn't get what it meant to be a normal, simpleminded human.

She was one of the few geniuses that could read people, but she had little interest in people. Only a few. Yamcha was just happy that he was one of the few people she could stomach.

"Hey, B," Yamcha said calmly with a small smile on his face, "Would you mind if we hung out more? I miss hanging with my best friend."

She looked at him for a moment before smiling herself, "Sure Yamcha."

Bulma hadn't thought she would run into Yamcha the one day she was out shopping for Trunks. She had just found out that she was harboring a little boy and he had a tail! She squealed when she saw her baby in the ultrasound.

She could already tell he was going to be as smart as she was and as handsome as his daddy with her beautiful genetics mixed into the pot. She had been getting the last of the needed items when she had run into Yamcha.

She had told him the truth and instead of being angry and storming off, he still wanted to be her friend. He was still willing to take her as she was. She had smiled. They continued on, laughing and talking as it grew late.

After a good couple of hours, she decided it was time for her to head home.

"Hey B," Yamcha said as he too stood up and readied to leave, "Catch you later, alright?"

"Kay, later, Yamcha!" Bulma waved goodbye and headed out to her car.

Bulma got back in her car, revving the engine and heading out into traffic. It had gotten late, but she wasn't too concerned. She was a pro at driving in the dark thanks to her adventures around the world when she was younger. She easily weaved in and out of the traffic as she headed home.

Everything was looking great. She finally had the board off her back, she was going to have a little boy who would never have to worry about sexism, and Yamcha and her were still good. Her mind easily ran over a hundred different things that she wanted to do with her baby once it was born. She was going to treat him like the prince he was, but at the same time make sure he understood what was right and wrong and when and when not to cross those lines.

She would teach him how to cook and they would pick out a puppy when he was older just for the two of them and he would also learn everything from her. She had decided to keep the tail, just so it was like watching Goku all over again. She would know when he was happy and when he was sad and when he was agitated.

She could almost imagine his beautiful locks of hair, which would be straight lavender. His eyes would be blue and he would have the cutest giggle in the whole world. No one would pick on him because he wouldn't stand for it and he would make amazing friends just like she had.

Bulma was almost home. She turned into the next lane of the freeway, ready to take the next exit when there was a sudden flash in front of her.

There was no time to react, no time to move, only watch in horror as the car in front of her became intertwined with her car.

She only remembered her thoughts flashing to Trunks.

Vegeta stopped his hand as the cup he was about to hold crack and chip. He stared at it for a moment before a sense of dread ran up his spine. He had studied the culture that the woman had come from long enough to know the superstitions that her culture believed.

A crack in a tea cup was bad news. Vegeta wasn't a very superstitious person, but for some reason he felt as though something had gone wrong. He had finally been able to train without worrying about Bulma, but now with this foreboding sign, he couldn't shake the uneasiness that rose in his chest every time he woke up.

He swore under his breath as he got up and set the ships co-ordinates to Earth. The estimated time was two weeks to three, he only hoped that he wasn't going to arrive in time to have do something ill, like bury the woman.

His chest stirred uneasily. He could take a lot of hardships, but he had realized that he felt a kinship with her. She was brilliant, one of a kind, and she knew it. She was at the top and all alone, fearful of others and their offerings to her. She knew who was to be trusted and everyone else was not to be trusted until proven otherwise.

He was like her in a way. He didn't trust many people either. She was one of the few that he allowed to near him and to touch him and speak to him unhindered. She had earned that with her sharp mind and constant kindness to him. She could have had him many times when she had been begging for a child, but never once crossed the unspoken line until he had allowed her to.

She never forced herself onto him. For that, he had built a relationship with her. Albeit, the relationship consisted of yelling and fighting and proving himself better than her toys, but there was a relationship.

And grudgingly he would admit to only himself that there was a bond between them. She had not shown him the touch of a lover, but she had allowed him a future. Though he would never tell the brat he had sired him, he was still pleased to know that even if he was to die, his existence would not be wiped from the universe. It would live through his bloodline.

And he was grateful for that.

He headed back to the kitchen to finish his meal, looking one more time at the chipped cup before throwing it away.

He just hoped that the feeling of loss that swept through him was not the loss of that woman. She was irreplaceable to him in both mind and spirit.

There he was, her baby with the pretty lavender locks of hair. He giggled as he moved away from her. She tried so desperately to hold onto him, but he pulled farther and farther away from her.

"Trunks! Baby, come back!" She cried out as she tried to pull closer.

The baby paused for a second, reaching out and touching her. She could feel his energy flowing through her. She tried to pull closer to him once more, but something pulled her back.

She could feel herself being torn from her child.

"Trunks!" She cried as the baby continued to go forward till he crawled to the feet of someone else.

Bulma looked up to see a woman garbed in white robes. Her hair was black and straight, falling to her ankles. Her eyes were black and she had a hard look to her, but when she looked down to the baby that hardened tone fell into one of gentleness. She bent down and picked the baby up, mindful of his tail.

"Trunks," Bulma cried as she raised her hand to reach for him, "Please, give me back my baby."

The woman shook her head, "I cannot."

"Why not?" She whimpered as the tears fell down her face.

"The child has transferred his life ki into you. Unfortunately, because he gave up his natural life ki, he cannot be revived by your wish dragon. He cannot be brought back," she replied, " However, he wishes for his mother to continue to live. You're time on Earth is vital and he could sense that."

"But my baby, my Trunks," She whimpered again, "I want to stay with him."

"No," she shook her head again, "It is not your time."

Bulma could feel the force pulling her further away as she tried so desperately to pull closer to this woman holding her baby.

"I will watch over him and he will be safe in the Gardens of Eden." She assured her, "I will always watch him and one day, when it is time for you to actually come again the these gates, we will not deny you entrance. You are one of us now. But until then, live well."

Bulma could only nod her understanding. It was yet time to die for her, but it didn't mean that she would escape her sorrow…

"Take care of him." She begged as the force finally pulled her away.

"I will care for my descendent with all my heart."

Bulma could only gasp as she saw the many faces of the people that lived there. She stared at each one as they all looked at her. All of them watching her as if she was the last hope they had. Images flooded to her head and even though it hurt, they soon all began to fade like the Garden of Eden to the back of her mind.

Another white flash took place, blinding Bulma.

"Trunks!" Bulma cried out, pulling herself up into an upright position.

She was breathing heavily as she looked around, disoriented as she looked about the bland room.

"Bulma-chan?" She heard her mother's voice from next to her.

Her head whipped over to look at her mother who looked at her with a relieved but tearful expression.

"Oh my baby," She cried as she latched onto Bulma, hugging her as she cried, "You're awake! You were in an accident and if Yamcha hadn't sensed your ki suddenly drop you would have died!"

"Momma?" Bulma asked weakly.

She was scared. She couldn't feel life within her womb anymore. She wanted to feel the security of knowing her baby was alright, but she couldn't feel him anymore. She couldn't feel anything but a void and darkness.

"Is Trunks, okay?" Bulma managed out, looking at her mother, pleading.

"I'm sorry baby," Bunny whispered as she stroked her daughter's face, looking at her with sorrowful eyes, "I am so sorry."

"No." Bulma said as she shook her head in denial, "No. I don't believe you." Her eyes filled up with tears as she pulled away, "I don't believe you."

"They tried to save him, but by the time Yamcha had even gotten you here-"

"No! He's not dead," Bulma cried out as her fears had been confirmed.

The life she had held within her for several months, the life that she had fought tooth and nail to get, had been wiped out in a second's time.

"Yamcha said he felt the ki of the baby transfer into you," Bunny continued as she petted her daughter's hair, "I'm sorry Bulma-chan."

"No!" Bulma sobbed as she covered up her face as tears rolled down her cheeks, "No!!! Trunks!!! Trunks!!!"

She didn't hear the doctors come in or notice when she began to trash. She could only remember her baby leaving her, crawling to the arms of that woman. She remembered feeling the ki transfer. The life that had been given to her that her child gave to her. She believed in her dream. Trunks could not be wished back to life.

She had failed to protect her little boy. She had failed him before his life began. She had failed as a parent.

"Trunks," she whimpered one last time before the darkness swept over her and brought her to dreams of what could never be.

Yeah. I know. I really just wrote that. Now before you all get angry and huffy about what just happened. This is an AU. A butterfly effect has just occurred and even though it was hard to read... Imagine having to write it.

As one of my favorite authors wrote after brutally killing off Konohamaru in a Naruto story called Melt where he was thelittle brother of Naruto instead of just some kid:

PudgyPudge author's note for chapter 30 of The Melt:

"I am very dissapointed in some of you. War is not a game. Bad things happen to good people. Children are not immune to the ravages of war. There are casualties and that is a fact. Did you ever watch Gladiator? Did you feel sorry for Maximus when he found his wife and son hanging from the rafters of his house? Did you blame the writers of the movie for that scene or did you simply feel sorry for the character? For those of you who wrote in your reviews and PMs that I killed Konohamaru, you are doing yourself a diservice. I wrote the chapter, but Orochimaru ordered the slaughter of the Sarutobi family. Try to keep that in context. It's a story, folks. Let's try to keep it that way. Think of it this way. I made you feel something. Isn't that what I was supposed to do? You felt emotion. I did my job."

Brutal for writing what I did, but I didn't kill him and it was needed for this story. You'll see in later chapters the effect that it has on the characters as a whole. And the words of PudgyPudge are very inspiring... go try reading the story. It is amazing (all his works are and most of them are complete)

I still feel bad... sorry. Please don't hate me -really sad face.-

Volleys-chan

(Aka: Volleys the Dragon)

Sniffle, now where are those romance comedy books I have. I need to go feel better.