Disclaimer- I do not own Dragonball, DragonballZ, or DragonballGT.
Chapter 7: Beloved Bulma
The rain from yesterday made the next day quite cold. Still, Bulma had promised Bulla a trip to the park. Though the weather was still chilly and a thin white layer of clouds still hung in the hair, Bulma zipped up the front of Bulla's jacket and headed out doors. Bulma had on her old orange jumpsuit and cap from the days of the androids. She was happy it still fit after having two children. With the thought of children on her mind, Vegeta had been away for what felt like days now. She missed him bossing her around. She missed his presence in general. His gruff voice added extra manliness to the compound. She also missed Goku and the others. There was still no word back yet if Piccolo and Gohan had had any success with the white water mist. Hopefully they would return soon. All the while, poor Trunks had been putting up with all the ladies back at capsule corporation; Chichi, Pan, Videl, Eighteen, Marron, Bulla, and herself, oh and Yamcha, then she remembered Goten. But he was gone a lot despite his older brother's wishes. Bulma laughed to herself. Even though his dad was missing and times were getting tough, Goten was still chasing the girls. He obviously didn't let much get to him. Bulma took great pride in Trunks. With Vegeta gone, he was acting like the man of the house. It often led to disputes between him and Goten, but Bulma couldn't help that her little boy had the blood of a Saiyan Prince.
She took in a deep breath of air and looked at her girl beside her. She had on a little red jumpsuit like her mommies and her little hand was wrapped around three of Bulma's fingers. "Momma, I want ice cream."
"Bulla, it's too cold for ice cream honey." Bulma laughed. She held her purse close to her body over her shoulder on her other arm.
"I want ice cream!" Bulla shouted angrily. She would not be denied. Sadly, Bulma didn't want to put up with Bulla and her tantrums that she had learned from her father. Bulla was every bit as hot headed as Vegeta, who she had been watching the past five years of her life. He was a bad influence, but it charmed Bulma at the same time to know how much of a daddy's girl Bulla was. Bulma's own father, Mr. Briefs, had told her about how Vegeta, in the prime of his middle age, threw a childlike tantrum over the gravity machine. It made her laugh out loud again. "Fine darling, I will get you some ice cream."
Bulla looked pleased again and wore a smile once more. At least she didn't get her smiling habits from Vegeta. It was a rare sight these days. Bulma bit her lip as she thought about him. What if he wasn't coming back? Perhaps she had been too harsh and irrational with him. She was beginning to regret all that she had said about his immortal.
"Momma?" Bulla asked. She had been reading Bulma's facial expressions quite easily. Her mother was like an open book.
"Yes dear?"
"Are you still mad at daddy?" Her pig tails bounced as she tilted her head to the side. Her bright blue eyes were so precious and innocent.
"No." Bulma smiled with all her heart. She wasn't mad at him. She was mad at herself.
"Where is he?" She continued to ask questions about her prince of a father.
"I don't know." Bulma said honestly with a twinge of worry. It wasn't in her voice, it was on her face. She knew she had gone too far and had pushed him away. She knew this because Trunks had been giving her the cold shoulder lately.
After they had stopped at the nearest ice cream stand, Bulma took her wallet out of her purse to pay and while doing so she found a picture of the four of them in front of the Capsule Corporation. Vegeta was in the middle with Bulla in his arms. Trunks stood behind him with a serious look on his face. It was also rare to see him smile. This picture had been from a while ago, she knew this because Trunks's hair was short and Bulla was much smaller. That girl was growing like a weed and she knew there would be issues down the road if Bulla grew to be taller than her father. Bulma threw her head back and laughed at the thought.
They then sat down together on a bench and Bulla licked her ice cream with satisfaction. Bulma was still entranced by the photo as she also noticed herself in the picture. She was so pale compared to her mate, son, and daughter. Their Saiyan blood set them apart from her. She wished she could be a Saiyan, but that was impossible. Unknown to anyone was the fact that she had tried to wish herself Saiyan once before, but the dragon told her it was out of his power. She then felt ashamed of even trying to change herself.
Bulma continued to inspect the picture. "I want to see it!" Bulla demanded. Although Bulma's thoughts had been interrupted, she smiled with love and handed the picture to her daughter. At that moment the wind picked up and the picture flew from her hands. It was gone. Bulma frowned. It was one of the only pictures of the four of them together. "Sorry momma," Bulla apologized.
"It's okay honey." Bulma said sadly. She had wanted to look at the picture longer, simply because she was missing Vegeta. Where ever he was, she was sure he wasn't thinking about her. She knew it. He was most likely kicking ass and raising Hell. This thought satisfied her and comforted her.
The sun had risen hours ago and Vegeta was finally feeling rested enough to get back to making his way to the lookout tower. He stretched his muscles. "Let's go." He told Belia. She was standing outside of the cave, looking towards the sky.
"Something is wrong…" She told him.
At first, Vegeta didn't understand what she meant, but now he realized it was odd that Matto hadn't returned all through the night to attack them. In fact, his energy signal was nowhere to be sensed.
"I can't feel his energy anywhere. I think he gave up." Belia looked at Vegeta. He shook his head from side to side.
"No. He'll be back. Wherever he is, he is strategizing to avoid failure again." Vegeta took to the skies. They had to risk traveling this instant. If Vegeta didn't lure him to the tower on his terms, then the plan would flop. "Let's go!" He shouted at her again.
With the jug of white water mist in hand, Gohan poured a small amount of its contents over Krillin's head at Master Roshi's Kame house. His stone statue remained. "Maybe we didn't use enough?" Gohan suggested. Piccolo shook his head in dismay.
"Don't waste your time or the water. It's obviously not going to work." He went for the front doors. Gohan and his cape followed behind him out the door. He was starting to feel frustrated by this whole ordeal. There were so many questions left unanswered, such as who did this to them and why there was a female Saiyan running around from Hell. There hadn't been any major catastrophes yet, but he felt like something bad was going to happen soon. "None of this is making sense." Piccolo told Gohan. "I fear we are going to be too late by the time we figure this thing out."
Gohan couldn't agree with him more. The two looked out towards the raging ocean that was covered by a cloudy sky. They felt so helpless fighting against a secret antagonist that had no definite shape or form. If only it made itself known to them now, then at least they would know what they were up against. But they had absolutely nothing to go off of. Together they blasted off from the island and set their course for all the way back to Capsule Corporation.
The tower creaked slightly and rocked with the wind. It was an amazing structure that defied all laws of logic science, but nobody questioned it. Belia tested the tiles by placing the tip of her white boot on its surface.
"What are you doing you idiot?" Vegeta stood with his arms crossed.
"Won't my weight throw the balance of this tower off? It's only held up by one pole…"
"No." Vegeta said as he walked towards the stair entrance. "Before we head into the training area I need to slip into something more suitable for battle." Belia followed and took in all her surroundings. Her fists swung at her sides and her tail moved back and forth as she walked.
"So this is the place we are going to defeat him at?"
"Yes." His answers were getting shorter just like his patience with her. He could only stand so many stupid questions. They turned the corner at the top of some stairs and saw a closet without a door filled with equipment and armor. Mr. Popo knew Vegeta came here to train when the gravity machine was broken. It happened a lot and he refused to go without training at all. He appreciated the solitude that the chamber offered.
After he had grabbed his training equipment he began to strip right in front of her and dress into the new wardrobe. She was too distracted by the feeling of energies that were moving away from the tower. There were two and they hadn't left too long ago. Vegeta knew it was Gohan and Piccolo.
"This way," He left his pile of human clothes on the floor and led her to the hyperbolic time chamber. "If we spend 50 days in this time chamber, only 3 hours will pass on Earth. I say we train before we face Matto. Even if he does show up while we are still training, that is part of the plan. We need him here anyway." He said fixing his gloves. Belia looked at the brown double doors. She was down for training. The smile on her face said it all.
Back at the Capsule Corporation, Bulma was drained. Having played with Bulla on the slides and chased her around the park, her feet hurt and she was exhausted. Bulla had laid down for her afternoon nap right about now. Chichi was doing laundry with Pan, Eighteen was playing with Marron in the living room, and Yamcha was teaching Goten how to pick up ladies. The poor boy was doomed. All the while, Trunks was in his father's gravity room training. Overall, she felt like a great mother. She was so proud of her children and her small family. It was almost as if Vegeta's pride had spread to all of them, filling each of their hearts. Bulma knew that Trunks was going to make a very special person happy someday, even if they were a big fat alien from another planet.
Bulma shed her clothes and got into the shower. The water was steaming hot. She wanted to holler for her mate to ask him if he wanted to join her, but he wasn't there. The last time they had showered together, she was completely clothed and tearful. She had been so emotionally unstable then. She knew how proud Vegeta was of his race. What if he chose to leave her for this female Saiyan to continue a pure breed of warriors? Those were the doubts she had to push out of her mind. She had to completely trust him after all, he was very reliable.
After she had washed her hair and scrubbed her body, she got out of the shower and headed to her room to find some evening clothes for the rest of the day. They had to be comfortable. She walked with the towel around her body and dropped it once she was in front of her dresser. She picked out a pair of underwear and a bra, and looked at herself in the mirror after she did so. She wondered what she would look like if she had a tail.
Suddenly, almost out of thin air, a man appeared behind her, and slapped a hand over her mouth. She kicked and screamed to no avail. It was muffled and his strength was incredible. He had a scar on his shoulder and he was very pale. What she noticed most was his halo.
"My, my," He began. He then held up the picture of her, Vegeta, Trunks, and Bulla with his tail. "You're even more beautiful in person," He said licking her neck. She wanted to faint from fear and disgust. "Vegeta will be either happy to see you or disappointed you still exist. But you're the first little thing I saw, so you're coming with me!" He laughed. He dragged her through the room to the balcony, and then flew off with great haste. If this didn't work, he would have to admit defeat. With Bulma in his hands, he could manipulate Vegeta into doing whatever he wanted just to keep this Earth woman safe. He would trade Bulma for Belia. That was his offer.
