Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Chapter 8: It's a Battle

To say that Bulma was concerned was an understatement. For almost 2 months Trunks had been training every day and had come home fine. He barely spoke about the sessions no matter how much she tried to pull it out of him and to top it all off he barely had a scratch on him. She was starting to think that he was hiding his scars and bruises and even snuck into his room once to examine him. But she only found minor scrapes. Nothing damaging.

But what really disturbed her was that she could tell that her son was bottling up whatever he was feeling inside of him and she did not like that at all. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before he exploded, and if he was anything like her or Vegeta, that would not turn out good.

They were at the table eating breakfast while Bulma was analyzing her son over the rim of her coffee mug. She had many different approaches to get him to talk but nothing was working. She was running out of options so before she completely lost it, she decided to give it one last shot.

"So your birthday is next week."

Silence.

Bulma raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at that. "Nothing?"

"Huh?" Trunks said as he looked up from his barely touched pancakes.

"Trunks I'm worried about you." She said as she placed her mug back down on the table.

Trunks rolled his eyes and pushed his plate away. He had been going through complete Hell for the past two months and he was tired of hearing his mother's constant lectures and concerns. "I'm fine."

Bulma ground her teeth at that. "Trunks you are not fine. I just asked you about your birthday and you totally ignored me."

Trunks crossed his arms in obvious annoyance. "Fine, I'll take a gravity room."

Bulma scoffed at that. "Trunks you better drop this attitude of yours or you won't be getting anything but a ride back to Earth." She threatened.

Trunks rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Are we done here?" He said getting ready to get up.

"Sit your butt back in that chair." Bulma seethed. Trunks did so immediately. He was becoming more and more difficult each day but she was still his mother.

"You have not been acting like yourself ever since we got to this planet and I did not raise a disrespectful boy. Now what in the world has gotten into you?"

Trunks turned his head to the side. Part of him wanted to explode and tell his mother that she was right. That he wasn't respected and he had to deal with verbal and physical abuse every day. He wanted to tell her that he had been going behind her back as well. But that wasn't what really bothered him. What really bothered him was that he was disappointed in himself. He was hoping to accomplish some level of respect by now, but things weren't going as well as he had hoped. And he believed that there was no one to blame for that but himself. He knew that he was stronger than all the elite boys, and also that they knew it too, but it wasn't enough. None of it was enough.

He felt trapped and tangled, but he knew that the only person that could rescue him was himself. And if his mother ever caught wind of it then she would snatch him up and leave before he had the chance to accomplish his goals. He couldn't risk it. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she became suspicious of his behavior and lack of bruising. He even found himself making a bruise or two before he came back to the room which he deemed as crazy but necessary. He really didn't have a choice. The boys in his class were ruthless and would constantly do dirty moves to make sure that he would go home hurting. As time went on, he had made so many trips to the regeneration tanks that he had his own room to recover in.

"Trunks?"

Trunks was brought out of his thoughts at his mother short leash of patience. "Mom, I'm sorry that I haven't been as normal lately. But I'm...I mean I just want to get stronger and it's taking longer than I expected." He said looking back off to the side. He was so frustrated that he wanted to cry, but he refused to let the tears fall down. He was tired of everyone seeing him as weak. Day in and day out, that's all everyone saw him as. Even if he beat someone in a sparring session, they would still call him nothing but a 'weak half breed' that wasn't going to do anything impressive in life because his mother was a whore. He hated it! He wanted it all to stop already.

Bulma could see the battle of emotions swarming inside of her son. She knew he was probably getting Hell from those other boys but he didn't tell her because he didn't want her to worry. "Trunks it's going to be ok. You're a strong boy and you'll do what needs to be done in no time alright?"

Trunks didn't know that it would feel that good for his mother to say that, but it really did. "Thanks." He said still in the same position as he was before.

Bulma wasn't having it though. "Come here and give your mother a hug." She demanded. Trunks rolled his eyes and pretended to not want it but she could tell that he wanted her affection. She embraced her son and he held onto her tightly. She smiled at his response but then frowned as she heard him sniffle.

"Trunks are you ok?"

"I'm fine." He kind of whimpered. He hated to be weak and show emotions but he really couldn't help it at this moment.

"Oh Trunks." Bulma held him even tighter and had to fight back tears herself. "It's ok. It's ok."

Trunks released his tears as he buried his face into his mother's shoulder. He wanted everything to go right. He needed it to...

Meanwhile...

Vegeta and Kakarot had finished their monthly sparing session and were powering down in Vegeta's gravity chamber. Both of them believed they were stronger than the other. Vegeta was just the only one that expressed it though.

Kakarot would only inwardly sigh at the fact that he could never prove him wrong. He decided to gear the conversation toward a different subject than Vegeta gloating about his strength.

"So explain to me how this tournament is going to work?"

Vegeta took a towel from a hidden panel and wiped his face. "Saiyans will enter and the winner will fight you at the end. If you are defeated, then he will be granted anything he desires."

Kakarot raised an eyebrow. "Anything?"

Vegeta chuckled. "If someone is stronger than a Super Saiyan then they deserve anything."

Kakarot snorted in agreement. "When is it?"

"Next week. The arena is almost finished being built."

"Hmm. I've seen quite a few tournaments on my travels. They are quite entertaining. Will it be to the death?"

Vegeta nodded. "Yes or until someone is knocked out the arena."

Kakarot thought about that for a moment. "Pretty brutal."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "I swear your time on Earth has softened you. Don't worry Kakarot, no Saiyan children are allowed to fight. Only Saiyans and foreigners."

Kakarot chuckled as he wiped his neck and face with another towel from the panel. "What foreigner would be willing to participate in a Saiyan tournament?"

Vegeta shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Chaya is the one that orchestrated this whole thing. Ask her."

Kakarot shivered a little. "No thank you. That woman sort of gives me the creeps."

Vegeta smirked at that. "You just don't like her because she hates Bulma."

"She is my friend."...Kakarot watched Vegeta for a moment debating or not to ask his next question but did so anyways. "So how are you two getting along?"

Vegeta raised an eyebrow at him. He didn't have to respond to him but decided to anyways. "The woman has been trying to put as much distance between the two of us as possible. She keeps sending others to report to me or leaving a room when I enter. She's being ridiculous as usual."

Kakarot chuckled. "Can you blame her? It really didn't work out so well the first time around."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at that. "Don't you have something to do like your job?"

Kakarot raised his hands in defense. "I'm going." He said right before he transported away.

Vegeta shook his head and walked out of his gravity room. "Never liked that guy..."

Later...

Spro walked down the line of his troops looking over each and every one of them. "Alright boys, today is all about missions. There will be times when you will have to fight with a comrade against other opponents. There are 20 of you here so I want five groups of four. It will be 2 on 2. Don't hold anything back. Always expect your enemy to be ruthless.

Trunks did what he always did when Spro said to pair up. No one still wanted to spar with him so he always waited for the leftovers. And he was ready to devour someone.

Pak, Yarrow, and Kuka were left standing across from Trunks. Yarrow pushed Pak a little towards Trunks and he frowned as he made his way over to him. Out of everyone, Trunks hated Pak the least. He was a follower and he noticed that Pak stopped saying cruel things to him once he began to realize how strong Trunks was. Trunks knew it was only a matter of time before he won Pak over, not that he was really trying to get his approval, but he saw him as the first stepping stone to everyone else. He was going to get respect even if he had to beat it out of every Saiyan in the universe.

Once Spro saw all the boys in groups he yelled out, "Fight!"

Pak charged Kuka as he was too afraid of Yarrow which was fine with Trunks. He hated Yarrow the most. He knew by now that he was the one pushing everyone to stand against him. He was angry enough to hurt somebody and pounding him was the therapy that he needed. Yarrow charged Trunks, and Trunks phased to his side and punched him hard in his ribs.

Yarrow didn't expect the punch to be the strong and he stumbled to his other side. He groaned a little and glared at Trunks who was staring at him with a cocky smirk. "Oh I see the Blue Whore's son has come out to play."

Trunks glared at him. Yarrow always tried to push his buttons by calling his mother a whore. Well if that's how he wanted to play today, then he was going to get it. He was tired of holding back from this punk. It was time to teach him a lesson. Trunks didn't say anything as he attacked Yarrow and hit him this time on his other side than swung his knee into his back. He didn't even give Yarrow time to respond as he repeatedly attacked him.

Yarrow was in shock. He had no idea that Trunks was that strong. Soon all the kids stopped and watched the brutal fight in the midst of them.

Trunks wasn't even seeing Yarrow at the moment as he mercilessly pummeled him. He was hitting Yarrow so fast that Yarrow couldn't even fall to the ground. Every time he started to slump down Trunks would uppercut him back up.

As the minutes passed, Spro had seen enough of it. "Trunks that enough!"

He didn't stop though. He kept on. All he could hear was how everyone talked about him, how everyone talked about his mother. He wanted respect! He wanted something! He felt tears come to his eyes and started to hit Yarrow even harder.

'I was supposed to be a prince! I was supposed to have an inheritance! I was supposed to be a respected Saiyan!'

Tired of being ignored, Spro charged Trunks from behind and attempted to punch him in his head to knock him unconscious, but Trunks saw him out the corner of his eye and dodged it in time. Then he swiveled to the side and double kicked Spro and started to attack him.

Every kid's jaw hit the floor as they saw Trunks trade blows with Spro. But the real crazy part was that Trunks obviously had the upper hand.

Spro was shocked at the strength and speed that Trunks possessed. The boy was fueled by an obvious repressed anger and he needed to expose that in order to get him to stop. He didn't want to kill the King's son...he wasn't even sure if he could anyways, but he had to stop him. "Trunks! Calm down!"

Trunks was getting more and more radical by the minute; which Spro instantly knew he could use to his advantage. A Saiyan never fought well if they were raving lunatics, unless they were in Oozaru form. He noticed Trunks getting sloppy and took the opportunity to phase behind him and hit him hard on the back of his neck, effectively knocking him unconscious...

Moments Later...

Bulma was heading back to the lab when she saw doctors rushing to the recovery room. She had this horrible sense of dread wash over her as she saw them speed down the hall. She grabbed one of the doctors worriedly. "What's going on?"

The doctor frowned at her for halting him. "A boy from the Saiyan elite class has been severely injured. He might not make it." He said running back down the hall.

Bulma became deathly pale and ran down the hall as well. 'Please not Trunks! Please not Trunks!'

She ran to the room and saw a bloodied boy on a table that was about to be placed into a tank. She sighed with a little relief once she saw a black haired boy being treated, but she still felt terrible for the child.

"Trunks is not here."

Bulma turned from the door way and saw Able leaning against the wall. She was a bit surprised and bowed to him. "Do you know where he is?"

Able walked over and peered into the room and saw a glimpse of the bloodied Yarrow. "The boy is the son of my body guard. He should make it. Trunks sure did a number on him though."

Bulma was so confused. She didn't even know that Able was associating with Trunks. Then she took in the last part of what he said. "Trunks did that?"

Able smirked. "Oh yea. He's becoming quite the Saiyan."

Bulma frowned at that. The last thing she ever wanted was her son to become a merciless killer. "Where is he?"

Able shrugged his shoulders. "He's probably in his recovery room."

Bulma blinked. "What do you mean his recovery room?"

Able looked at her and chuckled. "You mean you don't know?"

Bulma was slowly losing patience with this kid. "Know what?"

"That Trunks has been to a regeneration tank so many times that he was given his own personal chamber...but now that I think of it, it would be smart to give him his own if you were to be kept out of the loop."

Bulma was shocked beyond belief. She turned away from him shaking her head as she went towards the recovery area to find her son...and then kill him.

Meanwhile...

Vegeta was drumming his fingers on his bicep. While Kakarot was shaking his head at his former pupil.

"What were you thinking Trunks?" Kakarot asked.

Trunks only shrugged his shoulders and looked down.

Vegeta growled at his lazy response. "You better give a better response than that. You almost killed someone. And the last thing we need is your mother finding out-"

"Too late!"

All three of them turned to the door way and saw a fuming Bulma.

"Blast." Vegeta said under his breath.

Kakarot thought about using instant transmission to get out of there, but he knew that Bulma would hunt him down no matter where he was and chew his ear off.

Bulma glared at all of them. No one said anything and Trunks decided to be the brave one. "Mom I-"

Bulma pointed to him angrily. "I will deal with you later." She said effectively shutting him up. She then turned to Vegeta and Kakarot. "And you two have been in on this the whole time?"

Kakarot took a step forward. "Bulma we were only trying to help Trunks become a better warrior."

"By letting him almost die and then reviving him in a tank?"

"Don't be ridiculous Woman. I would not let my son die." Vegeta said.

Kakarot nodded. "Yea and he was never in critical condition."

Bulma threw her hands into the air. "Oh and that makes it find and dandy. I trusted you." Bulma said aiming the last part at Kakarot. Then she brought her attention to Vegeta. "And you...you did it to me again."

Vegeta blinked at her. "What are you talking about?"

"You kept this from me. You want me to trust you, to be with you, and you do this to me? How dare you?"

Kakarot looked at Trunks and saw the odd look on his face. "Hey guys maybe you shouldn't discuss this-"

They both ignored him as they stared down each other. Vegeta forgot about Kakarot and Trunks being in the room completely. "I did it for his own good because I knew how insane you would react."

"Oh because you know him so well. You've spent so much time with him. Oh wait...you haven't!"

"I am preparing him for the future. You want to coddle him to death!"

"He is my son Vegeta and I will not make the same mistake my father made!" She yelled.

Everyone was silent after that confession. Trunks looked at his mother scared for what she might say next.

"What are you saying Woman?" Vegeta asked dangerously.

Bulma raised her chin a little and looked him square in his eyes. "I'm leaving this planet and I'm taking my son with me."

"Mom no!" Trunks yelled as he hopped off the table he was sitting on and ran over to his mom.

"You will do no such thing." Vegeta seethed. "I am King."

"I don't care." Bulma said.

"Mom-"

"I am King and you will listen to me Woman. I will decide his future."

"Dad-"

"You don't even know him!" Bulma yelled.

Trunks was looking desperately at both his parents. Didn't he have a say in his life? "Mom-"

"He will remain here and continue to train!"

"Dad-"

"Over my dead body!"

"STOP IT!" Trunks yelled. Finally all of the adults in the room looked down at him. "I'm going to do what I want to do!" He hollered right before he flew out the nearest window.

Bulma took a step forward to call for him but Kakarot grabbed her arm. "Leave him alone."

Bulma pulled her arm away from him. She would have to take his advice anyways. It's not like she could fly after him. "Kakarot give us a minute."

Kakarot didn't say anything and just teleported out of there.

"You're not leaving Bulma."

Bulma looked at Vegeta in disbelief. "I can't do this Vegeta."

"This isn't all about you. The boy-"

"Is not having a healthy life here. This place is terrible."

"It's what we make it." Vegeta said defensively.

"You don't get it. It's you, it's Chaya, and it's Able. I can't do it. Trunks can't either. I barely know who he is anymore."

"You are underestimating how strong he is. You both are stronger than this." Vegeta said almost begging.

"And that's why I'm leaving. I have a few projects left to do so by the end of next week we're out of here." She said with an air of finality.

She attempted to walk past him, but Vegeta stopped her by grabbing her arm. He looked at her and battled with himself before he let out his reply. "Don't go. We can make this work."

Bulma knew he was talking about more than just Trunks. She shook her head no and commanded the tears that were at the corners of her eyes to go back in. "I don't trust you. You hurt me so many times that I can't take it anymore. I don't want Trunks to go through the same thing."

"Bulma...I don't want you to leave." He said placing as much emotion into the sentence as possible. He couldn't express himself. That was about the best he could do. She was looking at him now with un-sureness and that was enough of a green light to go ahead and do the other thing that was on his mind.

He pulled her closer to him and dragged his lips slowly over hers, as if trying to get her to see how much they still wanted each other. She didn't fight him. She expected it and there was no way she could fight him back. It was like in that single moment; they were younger and didn't have anything to worry about but themselves. Vegeta had his hands on both sides of her face and deepened the kiss that made Bulma swoon. He brought his hands down to her waste and she wrapped her hands around his neck.

"I am sorry to interrupt."

Bulma broke away from Vegeta and had an extreme look of horror on her face as Chaya was standing at the door."

Vegeta had never wanted to blast his mate more so than that moment. "What are you doing here?"

Chaya had a look of murderess death on her face as she glared at the both of them. "I was looking for OUR son." She ended by glaring at Bulma.

Bulma's face became red with embarrassment. "I'm sorry."

Chaya shrugged her shoulders and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "No don't apologize. It all makes sense now why Vegeta got rid of his whore chambers. Replacing 20 with only 1? This is actually good news for me."

Bulma's face heated with utter shame and horror. The last thing she ever wanted was to be known as Vegeta's whore. She had to get off this planet. "Excuse me your highness." She said as she bowed and stormed out the room.

Vegeta glared at Chaya and followed Bulma out the room. Bulma whirled on him in the hallway. "We're done Vegeta! I'm leaving. Consider that kiss my farewell present."

"Bulma you don't have to worry about Chaya."

She turned and would have slapped him if he wouldn't have caught her hands. She snatched her hands away from him and continued walking. "I'm leaving," she said over her shoulder.

This time Vegeta didn't follow. He leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. He didn't know what he could do to get her to change her mind.

Meanwhile...

Trunks was sitting on top of a building overlooking the city when Able flew up to him. "There you are."

Trunks raised an eyebrow at him. "What are you doing here?" Over the last two months at different times Able would seek him out. Trunks wasn't entirely sure why. He thought that he only wanted to get along with him but every time he would seek Able out, he ignored him and said he was too busy. He didn't know what he was up to.

Able sat down next to him and shrugged his shoulders. "I saw Yarrow. My body guard is not pleased."

Trunks hung his head a little. "I didn't mean to lose it like that."

"With what you have been going through, it was only a matter of time."

Trunks winced at how cold Able sounded. "Listen, that's not who I am. I just feel so lost and I don't know what to do anymore. My mom wants to leave the planet."

Able perked up at that. "Really?" Trunks nodded in reply. Able thought about that for a moment. It would be good to have him out of his hair but that wouldn't stop him from returning in the future. No he must go through with his mother's plan. "I know what you're trying to do. You need to show people how strong you really are."

"I'm trying." Trunks said annoyed with himself.

"Yes, but you're in a small elite class. It will take years for you to gain the respect you want. You need to do it quickly and in front of an audience."

Trunks blinked at that. "That would be quicker. But what do you have in mind?"

Able smirked. "You should enter the tournament."

Trunks frowned at that. "Children can't enter the contest."

"The rules specifically say that 'Saiyan' children can't enter the contest. I'm sure you can find a way around that rule."

Trunks stood up proudly. "Yes you're right! That's exactly what I will do. Thanks Able." He said as he blasted off.

Able laughed after Trunks left. He couldn't believe that he was actually falling for it. His mother was going to be so pleased...

Trunks flew right outside the city and walked right up to the arena that was almost finished. There was a line of people standing outside the entrance waiting to sign up. There were already a ton of entries, so Trunks really couldn't hold this off. He could see that there was a fat Saiyan sitting at a table and writing people's names down on a computer tablet. Trunks felt a little nervous as he got closer and closer to the table. When he was finally standing in front of him, the guy didn't even look up.

"Name?"

"Trunks Brief."

The man glanced up at him then did a double take and frowned. "No children. Get lost."

Trunks didn't hesitate to cross his arms and stand his ground. "The rules say Saiyan children."

The man looked at Trunks up and down. He knew who he was and wondered if he would get in more trouble by signing him up or not signing him up. "And you're not a Saiyan?" He said in a mocking tone.

"No." Trunks said as he pointed his thumb at himself. "I'm an Earthling."

Author's note: Oh my! What's going to happen next? I've had some people asking me about Ninjin, he'll show up eventually. And as far as Vegeta being stronger than Goku, yea I'm not going to get into that. Because Goku always had a natural ability to surpass Vegeta. And if Vegeta for one moment even thought that Goku was stronger than him, then he would take all his attention off of Bulma and Trunks and put it on Goku. So I'm not going to go there, because this is a romance fic and I want the attention on Bulma and Trunks. But next chapter, the tournament begins!