Bulma leaned closer to the computer screen. Sweat beaded upon her forehead as she glared at the monitor willing herself to understand the calculations before her. Numbers and familiar equations that made so much sense before danced before her like a foreign language. She growled out in aggravation.
Bulma leaned back in her chair with a sigh, aggravated and exhausted. She had not slept in nearly two days and it was starting to show. She needed to sleep but knew if she tried to go to bed she would not be able to. Her mind was simply too full of numbers and mechanics that would not fit together. It was like repeatedly hitting a wall. Over and over again and the harder she hit the more impossible the wall was to knock down.
She could not give up. Once her mind found a problem to solve it was nearly impossible for her to let it go. But the numbers, equations, and mechanics danced around her like a bad dream. She kept looking into them searching for the answer that she felt was just… out …of … reach.
"Bulma."
She jumped, coming out of her slumber. She looked around the room widely, her eyes wide and bright. She calmed slightly as the sight of the intruder.
Vague confusion pressed at the edges of her voice. "Gohan, what are you doing here?"
He chuckled scratching the back of his head. "I thought I might see you. Are you busy?" His smile broadened at the last part.
Bulma blinked, bleary eyed; much too tired and confused to feel embarrassed for being caught sleeping in her lab. "Oh no… well, yes. But I should take a break. None of this is making sense right now anyway."
Gohan stepped forward so as to gain a better view of the computer screen. "What are you working on?"
She blinked trying to remember enough to speak coherently. "Um…It's a new design for the biomedical engineering department. We are trying to design prosthetic limbs that work like actual human body parts – actually we have been trying to do that for several years now. We have the best of our mechanical, electrical, and biomedical engineers working on it. I am working on the mechanics of it. There is another team that will come in about two hours from now to work on the biological part of the design."
Gohan stepped even closer seemingly interested. "Have you come very far on it?"
Bulma shook her head. "Unfortunately not. Nothing past a robot working like…well… a robot. The trick is to combine the human body with machinery and finding the bridge to do it. It is very complicated. But the answer is close. I can almost see it. It is so frustratingly close but I just can't seem to get it."
"Do you mind if I take a look at it?"
Bulma was surprised. "Um… sure, if you would like to."
Moving away from the screen, she watched as Gohan leaned closer gazing at the configurations before him. His face screwed up as he considered the data before him carefully. He let out a low sigh. He leaned away from the screen letting out a bitter laugh.
"I'm a bit out of practice. Most of those calculation don't make much sense to me anymore." He looked back at the screen again. "But this variable here," he pointed to an equation upon the screen, "really jumps out for some reason. As a matter of fact," he continued, leaning very close to the screen once again, "it is nearly everywhere in this design. What does it represent?"
Bulma looked at what Gohan was pointing to. "That variable represents a synthetic silicon compound I created that is excellent for conducting electrical impulses like neurons do in the human body. It is what makes the muscles move and feel. Basically it sends signals back and forth to the brain and is very important to the design… but there is something wrong and I just can't seem to find the glitch."
Gohan stepped away from the screen again, smiling at Bulma. "Sounds like one heck of a challenge."
Bulma laughed. "That's an understatement." She turned her laugh into a calm smile. "So Gohan, what are you up to today?"
"I was training."
For the first time Bulma noted the blue training gi that he was wearing. "I'm glad to hear that. You must be taking a day off from your diplomatic duties then?"
A low chuckle escaped from Gohan's lips. "There is no such thing, I'm afraid. I'm just taking off the afternoon. I thought while I had the chance, I would see you."
"Well," Bulma smiled brightly, "I'm flattered."
"Actually," Gohan said, his expression turning quite serious, "I came here to ask you for advice?"
"Oh?" Bulma said, surprised. "About?"
Gohan shifted uncomfortably. "Well," he paused, clearly unsure of how to continue, "my council has brought up the issue of… um… marriage."
"Oh," Bulma said, fighting her smile, enjoying Gohan's discomfort far too much "isn't it a bit early for you to be considering who you may marry?"
"Not according to my council. I'm sixteen. I should be, at least, considering potential wives. You know… maintaining the royal bloodline and all that."
"I'm assuming," Bulma started, "that you came here to ask me on how to select a potential mate? Why not ask your mother? Or your council? I'm sure they have quite the list?"
"The council certainly does have a list. And my mother…My mother is…well… my mother. This is hard to talk to her about. But, yes. How do I find a… mate…wife?"
"It's a fairly straight forward process." Bulma said, still unsure why the topic of Gohan's future wife needed her input. "I'm sure there are many eligible women who would be more than…"
"No," Gohan interrupted, clearly frustrated that he wasn't fully getting his message across. "I mean, how do I select for a mate that can handle…well…me…a half Saiyan?"
"Oh…," Bulma smiled as comprehension dawned on her. It filled her with a giddy kind of amusement. "You mean, how does a Saiyan man find a woman that can sexually handle him?"
Gohan turned a brilliant red and he started to stutter, "Not exactly…what I meant…but…yes…I suppose."
Bulma was enjoying this far too much. It had been a while since she had this much fun. She forgot how much fun virgins were to tease.
"I'm assuming you're asking me because I am a woman who can handle a Saiyan? And asking your mother would probably ruin all good memories of your childhood."
Gohan turned a shade redder as beads of sweat began to form on his temple.
Bulma laughed.
"Gohan," she said, her face softening, "as a woman who has been with both a Human and a Saiyan man, I can tell you first hand, the mechanics work the same."
"Not that part!" Gohan said, quite horrified.
"What are you talking about then?"
"I experience… Oh, I don't know… a kind of … heat. That I have almost no control over. I have to wear myself out in the desert training so I don't do something… stupid. Something that could hurt somebody. I want to…" Gohan turned red again, "I want to have sex or destroy something… Sometimes I can't tell which. I can barely control it."
Bulma then understood. "You want to know how Vegeta controlled it?"
Gohan sighed, relieved, "Yes. I want to know how Vegeta controlled himself."
Bulma had never specifically asked Vegeta. But she knew what Gohan was talking about. The same moods would pass through Vegeta when they had first started having sex. The best Bulma could tell, it was the only reason the two of them were together at all.
The intensity of those moods diminished after he had left the scar on the base of her neck. Although the moods remained present, they were no longer blindly intense. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Vegeta had never discussed it explicitly with her.
"I don't think Vegeta ever really controlled it… at least not really."
"What do you mean?" Gohan asked. "He must have controlled it. Otherwise he would have potentially children all over this universe."
"Or," Bulma countered, "A dozen or so planets destroyed. Which we both know he has done."
"He must have gone through these moods on earth. Otherwise it would be destroyed."
"He locked himself in the gravity chamber." Bulma said, piecing together bits of Vegeta's behavior before they initiated a physical relationship.
"What would he do in there?" Gohan asked.
"Train. He would nearly kill himself in there.'' She continued. "He would put a 12 hour lock were he wouldn't permit himself to leave."
She looked up at Gohan. "Would you like me to build you a gravity chamber as well? Probably not the solution you were looking for, but, honestly I don't know what else you can do. It sounds like you had the right of it training yourself to exhaustion in the desert."
"Well… yes…If you don't mind. Would you like me to pay for it?"
"No," Bulma said, "Consider it an early wedding present for your future wife."
"Has she reached the age of maturity for her species?"
The woman turned to look at Vegeta, not before her yellow eyes scanned briefly over Videl who lay silently upon the medical bed.
Vegeta shifted only vaguely uncomfortable with the question. "Her scent changed about three months ago and five weeks ago she had her first menstrual cycle. She has reached the reproduction maturity for her species if that is what you are asking."
The woman nodded making notes on her clipboard, a few orange strands of hair falling into her face. "I found nothing in our archives concerning human anatomy." She raised her gaze. "It does not appear that our libraries have extensively catalogued the human species. Are they a very advanced planet?"
Vegeta shook his head. "No, the technology on Earth is not as advanced as most planets. They are very far removed from other planets. They deal very little with issues outside of their own atmosphere."
The woman once again made notes upon her clipboard. "The species that seems to be the closest to her anatomy seems to be your very own. Humans and Saiyans are very similar in structure, yes?"
"Not similar enough. That is why we have sought you out."
The woman raised her eyes from her notes. "Yes, I noticed the condition of her bones in the X-rays. " Her voice picked of a cynical accusation was the barely concealed with her professional indifference. "They look as if the should belong to an old woman instead of a young girl. Her ligaments and tendons have been stretched and twisted in odd ways suggesting over-extension. There also seems to be a few growing stunts in the base of several of her bones, which is probably one of the reasons that she is so short. Tell me, has her body undergone any extensive stress?"
"Training every day."
A slightly alarmed look crossed the woman's face. Her eyes once again appraised Videl before she looked back to Vegeta. "Training like a Saiyan would train?"
The look on Vegeta's face was answer enough.
"That explains it then." The woman pursed her lips as if thinking. "You're not asking me to heal her then? You want me to improve her. Am I right?"
Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest. "The rumors on this planet say you are the best. If there is anything that needs to be done concerning the restructuring of bodies, it is said that you can do it. I want to know if it is possible to make her body more durable..."
"More like yours." The woman supplied with a bitter smile.
Vegeta said nothing.
The woman looked at Vegeta carefully before she looked back down to the girl on the table. "How old are you, dear?"
Videl who had remained silent turned her gaze to the woman. "I don't know."
The woman blinked in surprise at the indifference in the girl's voice.
The woman looked to Vegeta for clarification. He elaborated for her. "She was abandoned. I found her. Her age would be close to fifteen or sixteen on her planet. But there is no exact way to tell."
The woman let out a low sigh as she glanced down at the information presented before her. She looked slowly back up into Vegeta's gaze. "You want to make her bone structure just as strong as a Saiyan's then?
"Can it be done?"
The woman smiled and a flash of arrogance flitted briefly through her yellow eyes. "I can make her stronger."
Vegeta raised a doubtful eyebrow.
The woman continued speaking completely ignoring Vegeta's doubt. "I must warn you though, the process is extremely painful and the healing time takes about a year. That is a long time for a warrior, I understand. If she undergoes this process the two of you will need to stay on this planet so I can monitor her. She cannot train at all during that time. Also, because the process is so evasive, her bones will stop growing. She will remain the same height for the rest of her life. I can stretch her bones first though, seeing as how she is so short as it is. Bone stretching actually hurts more than reinforcing them. But at least she will be a normal height."
"It will make her structure more durable, though?" Vegeta persisted.
The woman laughed. "Her bones will be made out of some of the strongest material in the universe. Durable, indeed. If for some reason she does break a bone, which would take a phenomenal amount of force, the protein we use binds in such a way to the bones it will actually heal the same way as her bones did before. The process will be more than worth it."
"How long is one of your years?"
"Our years last about 449 days. Our days are relatively short on the galactic scale."
That was all Vegeta needed to hear. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. All the training he had put Videl through would not be wasted. The woman continued speaking. She moved closer to Videl and began to inspect her skin by lifting her arm.
"I can do more than strengthen her bones, though. I noticed how scarred her skin is compared to yours. She almost doesn't look female because of it. It is possible to make her skin smooth and beautiful. I think because your skin is naturally thicker, not to mention, Saiyans in general seem to heal much quicker than other species that you do not have such scarred skin. I can make her skin just as resilient and regenerative as yours."
Vegeta stepped forward. "How?"
The woman continued to inspect the rest of Videl's body. "We begin by scraping the top layers of skin off then use a laser and a variety of chemicals to the fade the scars. After new skin grows, we then cover the skin with a carbon-based…goo. Then within that goo we place… well… the closest word for it would be bacteria. They infuse themselves within the goo and become part of the skin. They work as a kind of parasite. This bacterium has remarkable regenerative properties and is relatively harmless to the host. It will coat her entire body with a kind of hardened form of skin. We would do this after we reinforce her skeletal structure."
"Will it change her appearance?"
The woman looked up at Vegeta as she set Videl's arm down. "Other than removing all of her scars, no. All other subjects who have undergone a similar procedure retained the color and look of their skin."
Vegeta looked down to Videl who was watching him carefully. There was no fear in her eyes, just her strange calm.
He looked back up at the woman. "When can you begin?"
The woman glanced between Vegeta and Videl, her eyes coming to rest upon the prince. "We can begin tonight."
"One more thing." Vegeta said.
"Yes." She said.
"A tail. Give her a Saiyan tail."
The first night she screamed.
It was not Vegeta's style to linger but it was guilt that made him stay.
Despite the drugs that flooded through her veins easing away some of the pain and making her partially paralyzed, Videl still felt every bone break. Each crack was accompanied with a scream. Vegeta could not help but to flinch at each one.
The doctors and nurses pulled her bones apart. Spacers were then placed to hold them so. This was done to both of her arms and legs. As the last bone was stretched her tortured gaze rose to meet his. The blue eyes burned.
She was placed in a rejuvenation chamber. One night was all it took for Videl's bones to fill in the space between the pieces that had been pulled apart. When she arose from the rejuvenation chamber and the spacers removed she stood the same height as Vegeta. However, she could not stand upon her own legs for much longer.
The next day the doctors began injecting her bones with synthetic proteins. The process to make her bone structure stronger was physically weakening her. A symptom, the doctor guaranteed was very common. She would gain her strength back as soon as the injections were completed. Until then, she was just as weak as her human heritage suggested she should be. Other than the times when she was eating or bathing, she slept.
Vegeta did not stay to watch her in the beginning. He spent these months training. He pushed himself harder and harder so he would not have to think or feel anything short of rage because he refused to allow himself to feel worry. He did not want to think what would happen if for some reason the procedure failed, if for some reason Videl did not make it. Those were feelings he refused to confront and he hoped that he would never have to.
She was frantic with rage.
"He took Goten! He took my baby!"
Bulma had been met with a furious Chichi upon entrance to her office at Capsule Corporation. She had walked into work, bewildered to meet her enraged friend.
Bulma closed the office door behind her sending the queen mother a perplexed look. "What are you talking about?"
Chichi's chest was heaving with anger. A few stray strands of hair had fallen out of her usually impeccably styled bun making her look slightly crazed as she marched toward Bulma with her fists clenched. Bulma felt slightly intimidated as Chichi leaned menacingly close to her.
"That green bastard took my son! First he took my Gohan and now he took my baby! My Goten! He will not corrupt him like he did Gohan. I refuse to allow it!"
Bulma was still trying to catch on. "The green bastard? Are you talking about Piccolo?"
"Yes!" Chichi screamed, oblivious or simply uncaring to Bulma's confusion. "And," she stuck a painful finger into Bulma's ribcage, "it is your husband's fault!"
"My husband?" Anger mixed in with Bulma's confusion. "Vegeta isn't even on the planet. What could your problem possibly have to do with him?"
Chichi let out a low growl. "Piccolo told me Vegeta requested that he train both my son and yours. He took away my baby without my permission. He has no right…" Chichi kept ranting, the crazed look in her eye becoming more prominent as her words progressed. Bulma stopped listening, her mind was caught on something else Chichi had said.
It was Bulma's turn to become frantic. She grabbed Chichi's shoulders with enough force to surprise Chichi out of rage. "Both our sons? Did you say both of our sons?"
Chichi leaned away from Bulma, her eyes wide and her mouth slightly agape. Her face suddenly hardening as realization dawned. "Yes, both of them."
Bulma released Chichi's shoulders and swiftly crossed the room to her phone. Her fingertips shook as she immediately called home.
"Mom," Bulma demanded into the phone, "let me speak to Trunks."… "What do you mean he's not there?"…"Where is he?"... "You were supposed to be watching him!"… "No, never mind!"
She slammed the phone back down upon the receiver, her entire body shaking with rage. Her emotions twirled and her rage directed at everything. She keep her head lowered and eyes closed as she breathed deeply through her nostrils attempting to calm herself enough to think straight. Very slowly she looked back up at Chichi who stood much more calmly on the other side of the office, her black eyes shining with understanding.
The women held the silence between them like an impossible burden; a mutual but ugly understanding. Bulma broke the silence, her blue eyes narrowing with determination. "What are we going to do?"
Chichi shook her head. Her long mouth pursing into a thin line. "I don't think there is anything we can do."
It was not Chichi's nature to give up so easily and Bulma knew that. "Have you spoken to Gohan?"
"I have."
"And…?" Bulma grabbed the front of the desk feeling the weight of dread push down more heavily than before.
"My son," Chichi started out venomously, her delicate hands clenching into fists, "has it in his head that the boys' training is important and has decided not to go after them. He told me that there was no better care than Piccolo. He seemed decided to the fact that their training was necessary to the future."
"The future?" Bulma scoffed.
"Some menace, Gohan seems determined, that will present themselves."
"Does Gohan know something we don't know?"
Chichi shook her head. "Doubtful. He is just being paranoid."
"Maybe his Saiyan side is shining through."
Chichi did not like this. Her black eyes flashed. "Dende forbid that day."
Bulma did not respond to this but looked out the window of her office. She clenched her hands suddenly, her nails digging painfully into her palms. "I can't believe Vegeta would do something like this."
It took a moment for Chichi to catch on but her response was no less cynical. "Really?"
Bulma looked back toward her dark haired friend. The women held each other's gazes before Bulma let out a sharp laugh. "I suppose not. Though I do have a hard time believing Gohan is okay with it."
Chichi was reluctant to answer."You and me both. He seems to have picked up your husband's mentality about training. When he is not in court he is out in the damn desert doing who knows what, almost obsessively. You should see how beat up he is when he comes home at night. The court physician is actually starting to worry. Imagine trying to explain that. It is worse trying to hide it from the public. Gohan doesn't seem to care. He won't stop training. So lately, his opinion about Trunks and Goten's training does not really surprise me."
"You are not happy about that." Bulma observed, sitting down in her desk. Her legs felt weak.
Chichi gave a wry smile. "No. I never dreamed for my sons to become fighters, you know that. I never wanted that life for them. But… oh it doesn't matter. Anyway, I have assumed more diplomatic duties to make up for Gohan's absence in court. That doesn't really bother me though, but something has Gohan… well, I suppose the best word for it would be restless."
"Restless?" Bulma repeated. "Why?"
Chichi shook her head. "No, idea. But it is bothering me. Gohan has never been one to worry for worrying sake."
"Do you think that is part of the reason he is training so much?"
"Possibly, possibly not. What I am most concerned about right now though is getting our boys back from Piccolo."
Bulma shook her head. "I don't think we will as much as I don't like to admit it. The only person on this planet that could possibly challenge Piccolo is Gohan... and they seem to be in an agreement with each other."
Chichi lowered her head breathing out deeply through her nose. "I am sorry to have barged into your office today, Bulma." She raised her dark eyes to look intently into Bulma's bright blue ones. "It seems as if we will be needing each other to get through this."
Bulma bit her lip as she watched her friend turn quietly on her heel and walk out of the office.
Thank you to all you lovely reviewers. Your input was much appreciated and will be appreciated once again if you feel so inclined.
