Vegeta normally looked upon his daughter with pride, not even six years old yet and she had already been a super saiyan for years. Not even Kakarot's granddaughter had reached that milestone. Yes, Vegeta was still bitter over Pan stealing the show after Bulla's birth but his daughter would be stronger, swifter, and smarter than any of Kakarot's descendents. Vegeta did not often lament the destruction of planet Vegeta these days-his change of heart made him realize the galaxy was better off without the Saiyan race-but looking at his little daughter bursting with power, he regretted not being able to claim the throne of Vegeta and declare her a princess.
Today, he was trying to teach her katas but all she wanted to do was fly in the air and blast things. Vegeta rubbed his forehead in annoyance since her favorite target at the moment was him.
"Cease this nonsense immediately!" he growled out as fiercely as possible. Bulla only giggled and threw an energy blast at his face that he couldn't dodge. It only stung a little bit.
He often despaired of not being able to intimidate his little girl. Her brother would be quivering and ready to do what he said but his heart couldn't help but swell with pride, she was fearless. Nevertheless after the shot to his face, Bulla settled down and got into a fighting stance.
"No, no, no that's all wrong!" he yelled out in exasperation. "You'll be giving your opponent too many openings that way."
"Silly daddy." he bristled at the comment, he would never let anyone get away with calling him "silly." She's way too cute for her own damn good, he thought. "I won't need to fight. I'm gonna marry a strong man and he'll protect me." The girl was practically swooning.
"What did you just say?" he said threateningly. What she said set him off. He was infuriated, "Who's been teaching you that garbage?! Where's your Saiyan pride, girl?!"
Not cowed at all by his fury, the five year old good naturedly explained to her father, "Mommy said she married the strongest man in the universe and that he could protect her from anything." she said in awe. Vegeta couldn't help but puff up with pride at that story.
"Who is he, daddy? Is it Uncle Whis?" And just like that he deflated completely. His little onion baby didn't even know she just struck a fatal blow. Only five and already obliterating her opponent.
In keeping with his ruthless and unshakable persona, Vegeta only stiffly said, "I'm married to your mother."
"Really?!" Bulla exclaimed. "But mommy and Uncle Whis are always together! Are you sure? And how can you be the strongest in the universe?" she asked skeptically, eyeing her father with distrust.
Now Vegeta was starting to bluster, "That's not what being married is all about!" he growled out.
Bulla decided to argue back, "Yes it is! My husband is going to be super strong and he'll protect me and want to be with me all the time!" she said fiercely.
Vegeta had forgotten about the child's nonsensical notions with that massive hit to his ego "Saiyans never look to others for protection!" he barked. "The fight is all our own."
Vegeta sighed, Notions of femininity on Earth are going to make my girl soft. I must figure out a way to end this. Vegeta didn't want to but he needed to relate to the child on her level.
"Do you remember when Pan beat up Goten?" he asked somewhat softly.
"Yeah!" his little girl said pumped, throwing her fist in the air.
"Wasn't that...cool?" Vegeta choked out, he never liked using Earth slang. Bulla nodded. "If you learn to fight properly, you'll be able to beat people up that are even bigger and more powerful than Goten."
"Really?!" Vegeta could tell she was intrigued by the idea.
"Yes." and Vegeta struggled with what he was going to say next, "And you might even beat me up one day."
Bulla stared at him in disbelief and wonder and broke out into a radiant smile, "Yeah! I'm going to kick your ass, daddy!" she said jumping and staying in the air, "And you'll cry like a little bitch!" she taunted from above.
Vegeta quickly shook himself from the shock of hearing his five year old's explicit trash talk, Goten and Trunks probably had something to do with it, I'll get them back later, "You have the most potential out of anyone else in the universe, more than anyone in Kakarot's family or ours. You're birth was hailed by the strongest warriors in the universe and unprecedented, attended by both the Lord of Lords and God of Destruction, two of the most important deities in all the universes." God he wished his little girl could have been heralded like the Saiyan princess she was in everything but name. "You will live up to your potential and train to become the greatest warrior all twelve universes have ever seen!" he finished passionately.
"Okay daddy." Bulla said happily but rather unmoved. Vegeta nearly sighed, but continued on in his persuasive tone.
"Whomever you choose doesn't need to protect you. You can protect yourself and in failing that I'm the one that will protect you, understand? Now are you ready to be trained in the way of the Saiyan?!" he nearly shouted.
"Sure." she said like he was asking her if she was going to brush her teeth. He slapped his hand to his forehead.
"But what's marriage about, daddy?" Oh, he had forgotten about that part of the conversation.
The morning after the last time she saw Goten, Bulla received two messages. "I'm sorry." and "I'll leave you alone." Bulla very nearly cried.
How far back had his crush gone? Was it love at first sight? Had it started when they spent their first day together? After? Bulla thought back to the all the times she had spent with Goten these past few months. She had been so oblivious, she realized. Goten had always been the one to call her up for homework help, it was never ChiChi, who he said insisted on their study sessions, and he was the one who would show up at her house unexpectedly. He had been seeking out her company whenever he could.
Bulla thought of specific moments. That night at the ice cream parlor, he wasn't being overprotective, he had been jealous when she had initiated conversation with Tux. Then, it finally dawned on her, he hadn't been having stomach problems in the gravity room, he was having boy problems! And that was the problem, wasn't it? She had refused to see him as another teenager like herself and hadn't put any distance between them, thinking of Goten as the adult he had been before. Now it was too late, she realized, she liked him too and didn't know what to do about it.
The past month starkly reminded Bulla of the monotony of life without Go-teen with a dash of desolation. She was back to square one of just living life and going through the motions, not even her Friday gallon of ice cream could cheer her up, not that she was able to finish it these days. She even missed when they would do homework together. How could she miss doing homework?
Bulla couldn't even be happy for Pan who started going steady with Sasshi. Pan invited Bulla to hang out with her and Sasshi once and Bulla immediately felt like a third wheel. I guess Saiyan Saturdays are no more. It basically rubbed it in her face that she didn't have anyone and that just brought Goten to the forefront of her thoughts again. She couldn't wipe his stricken face from her memories.
It was Sunday morning and she didn't bother getting out of bed. What was the point? She wasn't going anywhere. Her phone began to ring. Who could it be? Only old people call each other directly. She didn't even bother to look at the caller id.
"Hey." she answered depressingly.
"Hey, how ya been?" her best friend replied brightly. Pan was so caught up in her own happiness she didn't seem to notice Bulla's misery for the month.
"Fine." Bulla responded curtly.
"You sure about that? Because you haven't wanted to hang out at all since Cilla's party." Maybe Pan did notice things after all.
"Yes." she said clipped.
"Okay, well, your tone tells a different story. Anyway, if it's any consolation all the girls at Orange Star High still hate you for leaving the party with Goten." Bulla felt the corner of her mouth rise. "And they don't appreciate Goten defending you either." that made her frown again. Why did Goten have to be such a damn good person? She broke his heart; she'd feel better if he hated her.
"Why did you call me, Pan?" Bulla asked, cutting to the chase.
"I keep forgetting to tell you, I have your shoes!"
Bulla was confused, "What are you talking about? You don't have any of my shoes."
"Uh, yes I do." Pan insisted, "Goten said you left them at the beach and he left them with me so I could give them back." Bulla hadn't even realized in her haste to get away from him that she had left them behind. Yet another glowing example of Goten's propensity for kindness. She felt like she'd just been swaddled with a warm blanket, thoughts of Goten tended to do that.
"Then why are you calling me and telling me about it when you could have dropped them off at any time?" Bulla remembered those shoes, she did want them back!
"I don't want to go all the way over there just to drop off some shoes, and you told me never to let my grandpa instant transmit your stuff to you, and you still haven't told me why."
"And I'll never tell you!" she practically screamed into the phone.
"Whatever, I'm just letting you know I'm leaving them at my grandma's house since she's always home so you can pick them up at your leisure. You should come visit her, she says she hasn't seen you in awhile." Bulla felt guilty. She had been avoiding Go-teen and therefore ChiChi as well, a lady that had never been anything but kind to her, all she had ever asked for in return was her company.
After she hung up, Bulla let her thoughts drift, there was nothing to occupy her time, no novel, no binge watching tv shows, no plans with friends. She just had to wait it out until Monday when the new school week started. Who the hell looked forward to Mondays? Maybe she could go over to Ms. ChiChi's place when Goten was at school, and she could get her shoes back. With nothing but her thoughts to entertain her, she stretched her mind out feeling for his energy. Was he feeling out for hers too?
Suddenly Bulla was hit in the forehead by a projectile, "Ow," she sat up whining trying to sound as pathetic as possible. It didn't hurt physically but her soul ached. She looked to see who had thrown what looked to be a capsule, it was her brother, clad in his trademark green gi, standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She inspected the capsule he had thrown at her, wondering if there was something inside or if Trunks was just being mean.
"Get up loser, we're going training." he said.
The capsule had contained a replica of her father's battle armor except whereas her father's was blue, hers was red. Trunks had dragged her out to the middle of nowhere northeast of West City where there was nothing but flat desert land and rock formations.
"Why did you give me this? I look stupid." Bulla complained inspecting her body. Bulla knew she had a rocking bod; however, even she had limits to what she was willing to show off, but damn was it comfortable. It always weirded her out how her dad liked to wear skin tight training gear. She asked him about it once and immediately regretted it after hearing the answer.
"It's not about what you look like, but the freedom of movement it gives you."
"I know that, jerk! But why couldn't you have given me a gi, or let me wear my own training clothes?"
"Because I wanted you to have protection when I did this." and before Bulla registered what was happening Trunks hit her with an energy blast right to the chest. If she hadn't had the armor on his blast would have burned her top off.
"Oh it's on!" Bulla exclaimed excitedly. Trunks would never train with her, let alone spar with her. She wondered, what spurred this? He didn't give her a chance to ask any questions, however. Unlike fighting Go-teen, Trunks never hesitated in attacking Bulla, and she found herself on the defense more often than not, but she was able to get a few good hits in herself. She was smaller and faster than Trunks and that gave her an advantage in dodging his brutal attacks. This fight was no holds barred, energy blasts flew freely and so did the two half-Saiyan siblings. That's probably why Trunks took them to an uninhabited place, they didn't have to worry about bystanders or buildings, Bulla deduced.
Bulla took advantage of Trunks going for a punch to her gut and swiftly turned to her side and delivered a knee to his chin; she took the opportunity to put some distance between Trunks and herself. He quickly recovered and went after Bulla. She could sense him trying to get a hit in from behind her, Bulla took advantage and grabbed onto his arm throwing him as hard and fast as she could towards Earth. Trunks fell to the ground hard and made a crater in the Earth. He laid there immobile; however, Bulla could tell by his energy that he was fine.
Hesitantly, Bulla flew down to the crater and crouched at the edge looking down at her older brother who laid sprawled at the bottom. She wasn't sure if this was a ruse or if he was actually ready to give up. "I quit. You win." he managed to get out.
"Wooohooo!" Bulla celebrated throwing her arms up in victory. Her celebration was cut short, however. Bulla fell on her back exhausted but laughing, Bulla couldn't remember having a good time with Trunks ever.
Trunks crawled out of his shame crater and pulled a capsule from his gi. It was remarkable that it had not fallen out during their spar. Trunks threw the capsule and a mini fridge popped out with a small explosion. Trunks quickly opened it and threw Bulla a bottle of water and took one for himself, sitting himself down next to her. Both the half-Saiyan siblings gulped down their respective waters in silence.
"Now do you feel better?" Trunks turned to her. Truth is she did, but when did Trunks even notice when she was feeling down?
"How did you know I was sad?" Bulla asked, avoiding answering the question.
"You flew off the handle again and broke dad's nose which, while hilarious, probably speaks to a bigger issue." Trunks said sagely.
"Pfft, how did you even notice? Besides that was a month ago, what took you so long?"
"I was just giving you your space thinking you'd snap out of it. So I'm right about there being a bigger issue then?" Damn him.
"Yeah," Bulla admitted reluctantly, "How long have you known?"
"Months." he answered bluntly. "Give me some credit, Bulla." he said almost pained, "I know you don't think much of me, and that's probably my fault. I'm sorry." Bulla didn't quite know what to say to that.
"Sorry for what?" she inquired. Was he finally going to admit he was wrong to eat her ice cream?
"Being so distant when you were little." he admitted. "It's ironic, mom even warned me, but like all teenagers, I thought she was full of it." he sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Bulla had no idea what her brother would be apologetic about, he seemed so shameless.
"I know you'll deny it but when you were a little girl, you thought the world of me." Trunks told her smugly, then frowned, "but I thought you were annoying, and did the most to avoid you. Now I find it's the opposite." Trunks said regretfully. "Now you have your own friends and boyfriends, and won't spare time or even a thought for your big brother." Boyfriend?! Oh god, does he know what happened with Goten?!
"I don't have a boyfriend." she said hastily. Trunks had opened another bottle of water and took a big gulp before speaking.
"Really?" he asked seemingly not that interested, "That day we went to Goten's apartment, he said you had something going on with a kid who worked at your favorite ice cream parlor." he paused and looked contemplative for a second, "Seemed to think I should be upset about it, but you're entitled to your fun just like anybody else." Trunks shrugged.
They were silent, Bulla figured they didn't have much to say to one another. "It's okay, if you have a boyfriend. Dad and I are way too afraid to get on your bad side after the broken noses." he joked. "Plus, we know no human is capable of hurting you. You're way too strong in every respect." This time Trunks actually sounded sincere. Bulla let the intensity of his words wash over her. Did Trunks really like her? Think that highly of her?
"How come you didn't like me then?" Bulla asked quietly, she had been wondering about it for years. "Grandpa said when you first saw me you were unimpressed and said I looked like a monkey."
"First of all, you were born the wrong sex." Bulla couldn't help but punch him for that comment. "Ow, the fight's over Bulla." he said rubbing his arm. "I thought because you were a girl, I couldn't train with you." Bulla looked at him dumbfounded. "Clearly that was idiotic of me." He admitted.
"Secondly, I never didn't like you." he paused for a moment, looking like he was carefully choosing his next words. "Bulla, you've always been my favorite person." he said reaching out to grasp her shoulder. That surprised her, she couldn't really say the same of Trunks.
"Why all of this now?" Bulla felt herself fill with worry, "Trunks are you dying?!" Why else would he start getting all mushy? From all the tv and movies she watched, the dying person always made amends to those they thought they hurt.
"Calm down drama queen." Trunks said slightly exasperated, "This isn't a death bed confession." he took another sip of his water, "Ever since Goten's accidental wish, I've had a lot of time to myself to think, well at first I really got into soap operas, but then I started to think about our relationship. I regret a lot of things."
"Like what?" Bulla couldn't help the curiosity that was evident in her voice.
"Mainly how I didn't take advantage of when you wanted to hang out with me. Pushed you away. Never trained with you." he smiled cheekily, "I could have learned a thing or two."
Bulla didn't know what to say, but since it was confession time, Bulla decided to ask some questions of her own.
"Why are you working in the mail room? Considering it's our family's company you could have just asked for a respectable title and salary without having to do any work. Or you could have done literally anything else, the King of Earth calls our mom for favors. That's how well connected we are."
Trunks was silent for a second and then took a deep breath, "Truth is I still have no idea what I want to do with my life. I guess I want to see what I can do on my own merits, though the entry position at Capsule Corp was using my connections, do you know how many people want to work there?" Bulla shook her head. "Anyway, even an entry position is highly coveted. I need to take advantage of the opportunity that was given to me."
"Since when do you care about proving yourself?"
"Part of growing up and maturing, onion baby." he said reaching over to ruffle her hair. She moved away and pushed his hand away, her hair was already messed up enough from the fight.
"Speaking of growing up, have you heard from Goten?" Bulla couldn't help but ask Trunks. Since she hadn't been occupying Go-teen's time she wondered if Trunks was keeping him company.
Trunks stared at her oddly, "I should be asking you. The way you two pal around I'm getting a little jealous." he joked. So he has no idea about our falling out then. "But no, Go-teen seems to prefer to hang out with his Satan City friends these days." he said nonchalantly.
"Shut up! You call him that too!?" Bulla asked in astonishment.
"Heh, yeah, but I first heard it from Goten when he was talking about you." he admitted, "He's so different from the Goten I used to know."
"How so? I wouldn't know." Bulla said. "It's not like I was already familiar with Son Goten before this whole 'Go-teen' mess." she explained.
"He wouldn't even take me up on my offer to take him out on the town. Claimed his mom wouldn't let him but it never stopped him before. He won't even blow off his homework.
"He doesn't even seem that interested in girls either. He was worse than I am. Even with my money and striking looks, he got more girls than I did." Trunks joked. "But from what I remember sixteen year old Goten wasn't smooth at all, didn't stop him from being girl-crazy though."
"I think you're overestimating your appeal, big brother." Bulla rolled her eyes. That was her job as a little sister, to keep his ego in check.
"Did you two have a falling out or something?" Trunks inquired, ignoring Bulla's hit to his ego, "What did he do, eat the last piece of bread from the complimentary basket?" he laughed at his own joke.
No, for once a friendship didn't end over food. Bulla thought, but didn't voice it to Trunks, she merely thought of how she had left him stranded. How long did he stay at that beach wondering why she had hurt him?
"This whole Go-teen thing must be a dream come true for you though." he teased when he saw Bulla wasn't going to be forthcoming, drawing Bulla back to the present.
Bulla turned bright red but not for the reason Trunks probably thought. She was thinking back to when Goten had tried to kiss her, and dammit she had wanted it but her common sense prevailed.
"Oh come on, you can't still be embarrassed about that." he rolled his eyes. "Lucky for you, he doesn't even remember that incident." If he only knew what was going on right now. "I have a worse one, did you know I had a crush on a girl that turned out to be older than mom?"
"No way! Seriously?" Now this was juicy. Who knew Trunks was cougar hunter? She wanted to hear this, plus it would take the heat off her and what she may or may not being doing with Go-teen.
"Yes, I did." Trunks said almost proudly, "Do you remember those guys that used to live with us? They were a gang of three, maybe you don't remember them, they took off when I was about sixteen, broke my heart." he paused to think, "Well, I didn't miss Pilaf and Shu so much but Mai was my first love." Bulla did remember those guys that hung around the compound, but only vaguely, some weird blue goblin creature, a dog person, and a sweet older girl who liked to give her hugs.
"What happened?" Bulla asked, eager to know.
"Well it turns out they were bent on world domination, had been for around fifty years actually, and that included many attempts to make a wish on the dragon balls." Trunks began. "They succeeded once, much like the Goten situation, it went awry." He explained that they actually wanted to wish themselves younger but didn't specify how young and got turned into babies but unlike Goten, they had retained all their memories. Trunks continued on about how they met, how his crush had formed, and the memories he had of her.
Trunks was pouring his heart out, and it all seemed very sad but all Bulla could focus on was, "That is so disgusting! An old lady was creeping on you since you were twelve?! And you actually liked her back?!" Trunks laughed at her outburst.
"More like she eventually liked me back. I was the one who fell first." Trunks smiled sadly, "It wasn't like that though, she didn't tell me the truth until she took off and it never went far. I never did know the extent of their maturity but yeah she did know how old she really was and had memories of the life she lived before. She still acted like a kid, I think she was still one at heart." he shrugged.
"That is a messed up and depressing story." Bulla couldn't help but give her opinion.
"Yeah, I used to feel that way too but I realized we had some good memories that make up for the sad ending." Silence fell on the pair once again. So just like her, her brother had fallen for someone de-aged by the dragon balls, but Trunks words replayed in ears, "good memories...sad ending."
"Well I know you have places to be onion baby, and I don't know about you but I am starving." Trunks drew Bulla from her thoughts. "Do you think our respective partners in crime will get upset if we get kicked out of a restaurant without them?"
"We could start our own tally." Bulla tentatively replied.
Trunks broke out into a wide smile, "I'd like that."
"Don't be a stranger, Bulla!" her brother waved to her before they split off into different directions, him to Capsule Corp and her to Mount Paozu.
They had both been so ravenous that they just told the restaurant owners the truth of who they were and they were able to buy the restaurant for the afternoon. Bulla was surprised the restaurant was willing to hear them out, considering their appearances. Bulla was wearing something skin tight, torn in several places, and completely out of this world. Trunks wasn't even wearing a top; it had been destroyed in their battle.
Despite that, they were let into the all-you-can eat restaurant. Trunks and Bulla didn't even bother with plates and just took the serving trays to their table. They may not have gotten kicked out this time but Trunks assured her there would be other opportunities, and Bulla found herself smiling at the possibility of quality time with her older brother.
Now it was time for Bulla to get her shoes. She had made sure that Goten wasn't home when she decided to make her way to Mount Paozu.
Like always, she knocked when she made it to the front door of Ms. ChiChi's house. Bulla could feel ChiChi's energy perking up as it came to the door. Bulla knew she was the only one who bothered to knock when coming to Mount Paozu unexpectedly and ChiChi could probably already tell who was at her door.
Sure enough once the door was opened, the smaller older woman said cheerily, "Welcome back, Bulla!"
Bulla took one look at ChiChi's beatific expression and immediately felt like the worst person in the world. Just because she was avoiding Go-teen, it didn't mean she had to had to withdraw from ChiChi.
"Oh honey, what's wrong?" ChiChi asked, her face filling with concern. Bulla cursed herself for not being able to keep her emotions off her face. Bulla didn't have to say anything as ChiChi moved towards her and enveloped her in an all encompassing hug, rubbing her back.
"I'm sorry." Bulla managed to get out. ChiChi stopped her comforting actions and held Bulla at arm's length, looking at her in surprise.
"For what, honey?" Oh that's right, ChiChi never thinks I have anything to apologize for.
"Not coming by for a month." Bulla said apologetically.
"Oh is that all? Don't worry about it. Come, sit." ChiChi led Bulla to the family sofa, and the two sat down, but Bulla's mind was drawing a blank on what to say. She didn't want to be honest and tell ChiChi the truth of what was going on with her son because she knew ChiChi was immediately distrustful of any girls who spent time around her boys. The woman was very traditional, first came marriage then dating.
"I can't say I didn't miss you, but I understand you young people have to get out and enjoy the world on your own." she said kindly.
"It's just nice to be back Ms. ChiChi." Bulla told the older woman. "Do you have any cookies?" she couldn't resist asking.
ChiChi laughed, "You know I'm always prepared if you come by." Together they went to the Son family table where ChiChi laid out a tray of cookies for Bulla. They caught up a bit on what was happening in each other's lives. ChiChi was gushing about how much better Goten was in his second go at high school, coming to the conclusion that Trunks had been a bad influence. Bulla couldn't help but laugh at that even though more or less she and Trunks had just made up.
Bulla didn't have much to say, ChiChi had known all about Pan and Sasshi so she hadn't been surprised to hear Bulla wasn't getting out much. Weirdly enough, ChiChi didn't push Goten on her as a substitute like she usually did; she just tried to encourage Bulla to try new things and make new friends in the interim.
Together, the two began to fall back into an easy rapport. Bulla offered to help ChiChi prepare a dinner that she wasn't even going to get to taste, nevertheless, ChiChi set Bulla to chop some vegetables. While they were working on their respective tasks, ChiChi let out a sigh, "You're a little bit of a troublemaker, but you're a good girl, Bulla."
"Uh, thanks?" Bulla didn't know what to say to that, but it looked to Bulla like ChiChi had been holding something in and was ready to let it out.
"I always thought it was such a shame there were so many years between you and Goten." Bulla stiffened and stopped chopping the carrots she had been tasked with, "I'll admit I sort of let my mind run wild with the possibility of you two when he was aged down," That's it! It all makes sense now! "But I'm not a naive eighteen year old anymore and I know I can't force two people together if they don't love each other." Chi Chi confessed, sighing sadly. Bulla couldn't help but feel ChiChi was leaving something unsaid but left it alone.
"So you were trying to set us up the whole time?" Bulla asked, wondering if she had deduced things right.
"More like I was trying to give you a nudge." ChiChi winked, "I actually think you're well suited to one another."
Bulla blushed a little. "Well a big wrench would have been thrown into your plans once the year is up, and he'd be an adult already if you had let Goku transport Goten to Namek. Your thirty year old son can't exactly go around dating teenagers." Bulla pointed out with an assuredness she didn't feel.
"I don't see why he even has to wish himself back at all. He's been doing so much better the second time around." ChiChi complained. Now that was the first Bulla had heard someone suggest Goten not wish himself back into an adult.
"You don't want him to go back to a self-sufficient adult?" Bulla couldn't believe it, perhaps she wasn't done digging into Goten's past or rather Go-teen's future.
"What's there to go back to?" ChiChi huffed annoyed. She roughly put the vegetables Bulla had chopped into a steaming pot, "He hated his job, never brought home a girl that I liked, and barely visited me, said he had to work all the time just to afford that apartment in West City." ChiChi's tone grew more shrill with each word. "My little boy was so unhappy." ChiChi said pityingly after a moment of silence.
Bulla and ChiChi continued to put together the rest of dinner in silence. Allowed to her own thoughts, Bulla wondered if Goten would like her cooking, if Goten said it was better than usual, would ChiChi say it was because Bulla helped? She felt pleased imagining Goten praising her cooking and she let herself have a small smile. Ugh, what am I thinking? I sound like a lovesick idiot.
Once Bulla felt Goten on the move, she asked ChiChi for her shoes and prepared to say her goodbyes.
"Even if you'll maybe never officially be a part of our family, I still want you to know that despite your unladylike appetite and training habit, you're the daughter I have always wanted." ChiChi said hugging her goodbye. Bulla's eyes widened. Crap. She knew about Bulla's rejection. And she's still holding out hope too, it sounds like.
On her flight home, Bulla asked herself some pertinent questions. What was it about Goten? What did they even have in common? They both liked Bulla, Trunks was a fixture in both their lives, though for Bulla it was involuntary, and they both liked to eat...A lightbulb went off in Bulla's head. That's it! We're both half-Saiyans. I bet we're both secreting some sort of secret Saiyan hormone that makes us want each other!
But who could she turn to? Her mom was the most likely candidate, she could run some tests with her wacky inventions and isolate the hormones making her have these feelings and then destroy them!
Bulla sighed, that wouldn't work, she'd have to come clean to her mom about everything, and they couldn't get away with working in secret, her father would be clued in and then he would probably kill Goten, and that would just be one big mess. If they wished him back with dragon balls would he come back to the adult he had been or the teenager he was currently? Bulla shook her head from those thoughts.
Perhaps, her dad could be good for something, though. He could probably give her the answers as long as she wasn't too forthcoming about why she wanted those answers...
Bulla's dad would train all day every day if he didn't have the typical weaknesses all mortals had, need for sustenance, sleep, and-in Vegeta's case-family. Bulla was set to exploit that last one to get her answers. It had been a week since she decided to seek out her dad's knowledge on Saiyans but she had not had the opportunity to corner him.
Since it was Saturday and she didn't have school, Bulla decided to soften him up by training with him. Her plan was twofold. Vegeta would never admit it but Bulla knew he loved spending time training his kids in the gravity chamber. Then she would put in a take out order in advance so it would arrive right around the time Vegeta and Bulla were due for a snack. Her dad would be in such a good mood, he wouldn't expect any ulterior motives from Bulla.
Everything was going according to plan, they had a rigorous training session-Bulla had even managed to get a few good hits in-and now her dad was on his thirteenth egg roll and third helping of fried rice, now was the time to ask her questions.
"Daddy, if there was another full blooded female Saiyan in this universe, would you leave mom for her?" Bulla asked innocently.
Vegeta began to choke.
Bulla pounded on his back to help him cough out whatever was stuck, "You shouldn't eat so fast, daddy."
"Don't be ridiculous!" he scolded once his throat was dislodged. "Why would you ask me that?"
"Just wondering if you're capable of love and loyalty, I suppose." Bulla replied rather disinterestedly but inside she was brimming with curiosity.
Vegeta turned red and sputtered.
"Oh daddy, relax. I just want to know since I'm half-Saiyan, am I even capable of liking anyone?" she knew she was, "All the kids my age want girlfriends and boyfriends but I don't." That's right Bulla, ease him in, "Is it because Saiyans don't have those kind of feelings?"
Bulla's dad stopped eating, that wasn't a good sign. Time to pull out the big guns, "Maybe it's just me." she sighed, "After all, Pan is just as Saiyan as I am and even she-"
Bulla saw Vegeta sneer. Hook, line, and sinker. "That quarterling is not on your level!" Vegeta slammed his fist on the table, "She's more human, of course she'd have that weakness." he said disdainfully
"What weakness?" Bulla inquired.
"Foolish romantic attachments." Vegeta muttered. He continued eating, that was good, "Saiyans are hardwired to be attracted to strength. It's no wonder you cannot find someone worthy on this planet full of weaklings." he said with a mouth full of food.
"So how did you guys even come together and have babies?" Bulla queried.
"Many a Saiyan were conceived on the battlefield. That's where one could show their prowess in battle and show themselves worthy of procreating." Vegeta said as a matter-of-factly. Bulla didn't want to eat anymore.
"You know Earth parents are a little more uncomfortable having this kind of talk with their kids." Bulla said feeling slightly queasy. Pull it together, Bulla! You wanted to know this stuff.
"Hn, Saiyans have no such 'hang-ups' as you would call them." Vegeta replied.
"So what's Saiyan courtship?" Bulla had to ask.
"They just fucked." Vegeta said blunty and just continued eating as normal.
"Do you have to put it so crudely?" Bulla cringed.
"They just made love." Vegeta said sarcastically.
"Nope. That's much worse, especially coming from you." Bulla had totally lost her appetite by now. "So Saiyans were the 'hit it and quit it' types?"
"It was not unheard of, but rare for a Saiyan to become part of a monogamous pair." Vegeta admitted. "But it was nothing like what you see here on Earth." he rubbed his chin in contemplation. "They didn't feel the need to see or talk to each other everyday."
"You mean there's no super secret saiyan soul mate ritual when we find our perfect mate and we're bonded together forever?" Bulla asked tentatively.
"I'm afraid not." Vegeta said amused, digging back into his food. "Saiyans just did what or who they wanted as long as there was no one stronger to fight them on it, slaves to their baser instincts." That's all I need to hear! Time to end this.
"But what about you and mom? She can't fight, and you two actually got married, marriage license, house, two kids, and everything." she asked in faux-innocence, but her father couldn't tell the difference.
Vegeta stopped eating and got up from the table, "This conversation is over! I need to get back to my training!" Knew it. Her dad had no problem speaking on the more caral nature of intimacy but ask him about emotions and feelings, and he'd get embarrassed and flee. Bulla knew he'd never admit it aloud but she and everyone else knew why Vegeta stayed on Earth.
Bulla smiled watching her dad leave. She stayed behind in the kitchen picking at her food and contemplated what she had heard from her father. It likely hadn't been her Saiyan side that had driven her desire for Goten. While he was probably one of the strongest guys on the planet, he had not impressed her with his fighting techniques. Bulla laughed remembering why he had excused himself, but then she felt her body begin to heat up. He had wanted her, even then, and now she found herself wanting him back. What was stopping her really? She was a Saiyan, her dad basically said Saiyans could do whatever they wanted if they were strong enough, and she had strength in spades.
Who cares if Goten was going back to twenty-nine after this? Not her. They'll just have some fun and then go their separate ways. This was probably just their hormones going out of control, why not satisfy them? She wouldn't get hurt. What had Trunks said about him and Mai? "...we had some good memories that make up for the sad ending..." Trunks said it himself, she was too strong in every capacity.
Her decision made, Bulla went to her room to try and put a look together. Bulla decided to bring out the big guns. Low cut dress? Check! Long hair down? Check! Gorgeous done up face? Bulla knew she didn't have to check for that.
Bulla had to time this right before she made her move. Pan had let her know she'd be in Satan City and ChiChi's energy was close to Gohan and Videl's, not anywhere near their homes, meaning for right now Goten was home alone. She flew as fast as she could to Mount Paozu, within reason of course. Once she landed, she gave herself a moment to tame her windblown hair, and steeled herself for the approach to the front door.
Bulla knew Goten sensed her presence, she could feel him waiting at the other side of the door. Right as she raised her hand to knock, Goten opened the door. Bulla stared right into his sweet black eyes, biting her lip in nervousness. What could she possibly say? Sorry I broke your heart but do you want to fool around? She realized she didn't need to say anything. I'll let my actions do the talking. Wordlessly, she practically jumped on Goten, wrapping her arms around his neck, he quickly recovered and grabbed her at her waist, she wasted no time connecting her lips with those of a stunned Goten. Definitely better than Garter.
So I'm doing a mix of anime and manga canon. I chose the manga version of Bulla's birth which was witnessed by Shin and Beerus. I thought that made Bulla's birth extra special, even more so than just being delivered by an angel. Trunks' comment about Bulla looking like a monkey is from the manga too.