Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ but it would be a lot cooler if I did

AN: I'm glad everyone seemed to enjoy the last chapter. I worked very hard on it with froglady. I can't stress her contributions enough, Date Night would be much different if she weren't my beta. I'm hoping you all appreciate her as much as I do. A lot of work went into this week's chapter, you'll see. As always leave me any thoughts or comments in a review.

Diverging Paths

Vegeta sat with his legs crossed and eyes closed in the flower garden this morning attempting to calm himself. Lately he had been so irritable and angry, not that he was ever as calm and ignorant as Kakarot, but lately his normally fiery temper had gotten much worse. He was having more difficulty than usual containing his power since the beta male had returned from where ever he had been the last year.

Vegeta could feel his power spiking at the mere thought of the ignorant beta male. It flowed out of him like burning tendrils of pure energy, scorching everything around him. Vegeta could smell him all over Bulma lately and it bothered him for some reason. He could not fathom why it bothered him so much. He'd had other brief affairs with noble ladies throughout the galaxy, he had even greatly enjoyed the attentions of some, and somehow this time it was different. Why it was different he did not understand. Images of her wrapped in carnal bliss in the beta male's arms sent a fresh wave of fury through him just then causing his barely contained power to leak out further and in his rage he did not smell the burning environment around him. As he was lost in his emotions, he heard a familiar voice that broke him out of his spell.

"Vegeta honey, could you please stop?" Mrs. Briefs asked him without malice.

Vegeta's eyes snapped open at her voice and at once regained control of his ki; whatever his issues currently were he did not want any harm to come to this woman. He wasn't sure how but she had slowly become an important part of his life without him realizing it. As he gazed around he noticed that he had let too much of his power out; to his chagrin he smelled burning flowers and saw that a large portion of the flower garden was now in flames.

He had no words for what he had done. These were the flower gardens. It was practically a sacred space for them both. He came out here to feel closer to nature and sooth his primal Saiyan side and to her it was a labor of love she carefully grew and maintained. He felt sickened at his actions; it seemed he was good for nothing but destruction.

"Forgive me, I…" he uttered, but was silenced as she put a finger on his lips.

"It's all right sweetie," she assured him, then gave him a maternal smile.

"But the flowers…"he tried to start again as he turned his head from her in shame. He felt her delicate hand turn his chin back to her she looked at him with the same azure eyes she had passed on to her daughter.

"It's fine, they are not all destroyed and I can always plant more flowers," she reminded him with a cheery grin.

"I can help you restore this place," he offered, unsure why she was not upset her precious flowers had been destroyed.

"That's a wonderful idea," she giggled at him, before wrapping her arms around him.

Vegeta was stunned for a moment before returning her affections. He grinned to himself as he remembered how awkward this human comfort ritual was to him not so long ago. Now when this outlandish woman embraced him it brought a sense of comfort and acceptance he never knew he'd craved before.

He now understood the sentiment behind the action but he still found it odd that this woman accepted him so openly. He also knew that at times he would see flashes of another woman long ago with features he could not make out from time to time when she was around. The mysterious goddess in his memory seemed to draw out similar sensations from him, but he did not know who she was and her face remained frustratingly shrouded from him. He was still not certain if the goddess was real or just a product of fantasy, an illusion created fill a role in his mind.

Vegeta still had no idea why she wasn't upset. If someone had defiled the Royal Gardens on Planet Vegeta, he would have blasted that person without a second glance. While the gardens here at Capsule Corp were not as grand or luxurious, they began to hold a special place for him now. It was different than the Royal Gardens. In the Royal Gardens he had his first training sessions with Nappa and his father as a child. It was where he learned to control his ki, to fly, and to form the basic attacks that would one day dominate his fighting style. Now, in this garden that same power he had first harnessed back in the Royal Gardens raged out of control. The irony was not lost on him on the situation.

As the Vegeta thought about the Royal Gardens he once again became transported to that enigmatic world of his memory. This time he was in the Gardens on Vegeta in a place that he remembered as his old training ground. The place was familiar to him, the memory he was seeing was not. He could make out his tiny gloved hands and his proud childhood royal armor complete with his fine scarlet cape and the ruby royal seal magnificently adorning his breastplate.

As he glanced across the gardens something not previously in his memory entered his sight. It was the Saiyan goddess who haunted his memories again. This time she was dressed in white and gold Saiyaness battle armor adorned with an elegant sapphire cape and her family crest on her breastplate which he couldn't quite make out. Her raven hair flowed gracefully down her body and a jeweled golden hairband graced the top of her head. She was clearly an elite based on how she was dressed. She must have come from an elite family but he still could not remember who she was exactly; only that she was familiar to him.

Maybe she was my first teacher before Nappa? He wondered as he looked at her trying to unlock more. This time he was met with some success as he could now decipher dark colored eyes that were familiar to him. They were same shade he saw every day in his reflection. However they were hauntingly beautiful in this exquisite female elite. It was almost painful for him to remember those eyes looking at him with such devotion and unconditional affection. He did not understand how she affected him so much just by being in his memories. Whoever this was must have played a huge role in his life and for some reason she was taken from him so early he could not recall who she was. Of course she could have just as easily never existed and been created as an idealized version of a Saiyaness from his memories.

She blessed him with an adoring smile and walked up to him. She bent down to pick him up and he closed his eyes inhaling her heavenly scent again mixed with sweet aroma of flowers in the Royal Gardens. He felt himself lifted into her powerful yet elegant arms. His eyes were still closed as he felt her rub his cheek again with her own smooth silky cheek marking him with her scent.

"It's time for a special lesson today my brave little warrior, but don't tell your father. It will be our little secret," she told him sweetly in his ear, then gave him a wink as she pulled him closer.

He nodded simply to her and wrapped his tiny arms around her neck as he was rewarded with a giggle from her. She cooed at him then began to hum sweetly in to him in a familiar manner. He nearly felt tears fall down his face as he once again felt her soft lustrous tail entwine in his own. He deeply missed his own tail. Somehow he trusted this woman enough to allow such an intimate embrace, she had to be someone special to him, she just had to be.

He felt them both levitate in the air. The wind rushed through his hair as she began flying at cruising speed. While his adult mind was used to flying, his child memory was not as he closed his eyes with trepidation and kept his face buried in her neck. He heard a slight chuckle from her he felt her tail entwine his own tighter to reassure him.

"Open your eyes, Super Saiyans aren't afraid of heights," she encouraged him.

He did as she asked and he was rewarded with a spectacular view of them lazily cruising over the planet. He was still too young to fly on his own so he had never seen the planet from this height. It was a wonder to him as he could make out thousands upon thousands of the people of his planet working, fighting, and training. The whole planet was alive as he could make out so many Saiyans all going about their tasks to serve the kingdom and bring in an age of prosperity.

"These are your people little warrior, treat them well. Your people honored you by crowning you as the first Crown Prince of Vegeta. Always remember that and be proud to call yourself the Prince of All Saiyans," she whispered in his ear.

Mrs. Briefs noticed that Vegeta was once again gone to whatever place called him when he got the look she was seeing now. She could tell he was there because at times he would nuzzle her instinctually while he was gone, reliving a memory of his youth she suspected. Where ever he was and whoever she reminded him of she suspected was significant to him. It did him a lot of good to remember whatever he was seeing. She noticed subtle changes in him since he fell asleep that first time months ago. She wiped the stray tear from his cheek out of habit and began to hum soothingly to him waiting patiently for him to return to her. Slowly she felt the signs of his return as his eyes began to return to normal and his grips became firmer, however remained as close to her as he did when he was gone.

Mrs. Briefs gently broke their embrace first and beamed at him as she popped open her gardening capsules so they could get to work. Vegeta merely nodded and waved his hand, extinguishing any lingering flames with a quick flash of his ki. He actually had no experience in gardening and had no idea what to do, so he decided to wait and look to Mrs. Briefs for guidance. She motioned for him to watch her as she removed the dead plants and then loosened the soil with a garden trowel before finally dropping the new seeds in the freshly turned soil. Vegeta began mimicking her actions only using his bare hands rather than any garden tools.

"Flowers are amazing you know," she declared, holding up a seed for him to see. "They start out as these tiny seeds with a hard shell and soft interior."

"I suppose they do," he agreed, unsure where she was going with this arbitrary botany lesson.

"In the wrong environment they will remain seeds; unable to fully bloom into the flower they were destined to become," she implied as she began planting the tiny seeds.

"I see," he affirmed, starting to put the pieces together of her true meaning.

"However with the right environment and plenty of love and care even the toughest seeds will blossom into their full glory," she suggested as she planted the last of her seeds.

"What if the flower becomes a twisted version of what it was supposed to be and is more like a weed that exterminates other beautiful flowers?" he asked her, finally understanding her meaning.

"All flowers are beautiful when they are allowed to bloom Vegeta, no matter where they began life, they can always be taken to a new home and given the opportunity to reach their true destiny," she asserted to him with a cheery smile as she began to encapsulate the gardening equipment.

Vegeta nodded at her wisdom. The eccentric matron was once again laced with profound knowledge. Fools like Kakarot might not be able to see the deeper meaning behind her words but he was not one of them. She never ceased to amaze him with her deep insight into things many others considered her oblivious to. Having finished his work, Vegeta stretched out on the grass lazily watching as she finished up her task before she joined him looking up at the clouds on this beautiful morning. He thought carefully about what she had said to him. Since he did not achieve what he thought was his destiny, perhaps a new one would appear before him under the right conditions.

"Vegeta, why were you so upset earlier?" she asked him.

"I don't know what happened earlier. I pictured the beta male with Bulma and for some reason it made me lose control of my ki for some reason," he confessed.

Mrs. Briefs nodded at the information. Tensions had certainly heightened, she had noted with the unexpected return of Bulma's childhood lover. She knew Vegeta and Bulma had crossed certain boundaries recently and became far more than simple close friends to each other. The crumpled black lace panties she found in the living room were a big indicator of that to her. She had also noted they spent an increasing amount of time together before Yamcha's arrival.

"I noticed his return has strained your relationship with Bulma," she disclosed to him.

"How did you…" he started, but was interrupted by her.

"Furniture doesn't replace itself Vegeta," she giggled at him.

Vegeta turned a shade of bright red at her insinuation. He had never bothered to ask how new furniture appeared in the living room the next day. He had just assumed that Bulma had simply taken care of it. She took care of much around the house so why would the broken furniture be any different? He had no idea that the proof of the start of their brief liaison was discovered by her mother.

"No reason to be ashamed, you two are both adults; what you do in your bedrooms is your own business," she reassured him.

"I…"Vegeta began but couldn't finish.

"No need to explain dear. I'm not a prude. Just try to be a little less destructive on the furniture," she conveyed as she winked at him.

"I think whatever we had, is over now," he disclosed to her.

"Is it? That's too bad you make a great couple," she remarked.

"It seems the appearance of the beta male caused her to run back to him for some reason," he implied to her bitterly.

Mrs. Briefs placed her hands behind her head as she thought about what he had informed her. Technically Yamcha and Bulma never broke up. However, he left without a word and with no notice of when he would return. So it was not wrong of either Bulma or Vegeta to begin act on their natural attraction to each other. However, the whole situation was extremely messy with no clear right or wrong answers.

She was now afraid Bulma's fickle nature would tear apart all the progress they had both made with Vegeta this past year. Vegeta was just barely acclimating himself to life here on Earth, but it was a tenuous change at best. He was clearly more volatile now that his relationship with Bulma was deteriorating. While it might be wrong for her to interfere with Bulma's personal life, that did not mean she could not increase the odds of a favorable outcome. Despite what happened between him and Bulma, she would still work discreetly to make him feel at home here and to stay on Earth permanently.

"Go on sweetie, I'm listening," she assured him.

"I can smell him on her and it drives me mad. I am not even sure why it makes me so angry. I've had plenty of brief affairs before and it never bothered me before now," he revealed to her as he gazed at the sky.

"It sounds like you are jealous of them," she remarked.

"Jealous!" he shouted indignantly as he rolled over to glare at her. He calmed himself as he felt her place a hand on his chest easing him back into a relaxed position.

"What do I have to be jealous of him for?" he asked in a much softer tone.

"Well, he is taking in all the affections you once enjoyed and he is in close proximity to where you train every day so you have more chances to witness it. On top of that you seemed to have formed a closer bond with Bulma than any of the women in your past," she explained to him calmly.

"You might be right," he admitted grudgingly.

"I know it's confusing for you sweetie. There is no right answer for the situation you find yourself in now. All I can say is you have to work out for yourself what you want and how you want to handle it," she advised him.

"What if I can't find the answer here?" he asked.

"Feel free to take any steps you need to find the answer. Just remember you are always welcome here," she reminded him.

Vegeta nodded at her before turning back to the clouds. He would seek his answers out here on this planet for a little while longer. However, if he couldn't find them he always had the option to return to space to work things out for himself. That part he knew without her telling him, however it felt good to hear her tell him the last part. He would never admit it to her or anyone but he was glad that he would be welcome back here once he found what he was looking for. He wasn't quite sure why that was a comforting thought but somehow it was.

0-0-0

Bulma sighed to herself as she made her way to the dining room from her lab. Life had become so complicated lately. It had been a little under a week since Yamcha returned and things went from fantastic to awkward really quickly. He had shown up out of the blue after being gone over a year and expected her to just jump into bed with him. That was never going happen. Even if she hadn't been having a torrid affair with a certain handsome prince, he still wouldn't have gotten what he'd wanted just because he showed up, brought her some flowers and flashed that big goofy grin of his.

The Prince was another matter. Since Yamcha's return, they had stopped their ritual date nights altogether and she keenly felt the loss of Vegeta's familiar presence. She'd loved their regular date nights long before they'd ever crossed the line of intimacy and the loss of that innocent activity alone left a big hole in her life. Not only that; the absence of the surly prince keeping her company every night was a huge void that she never realized how much she enjoyed until it had come to an abrupt halt. She now only saw him at meal times and he was becoming increasingly hostile and less tolerant as he had been in the past.

Yamcha brought new issues to her life that had not existed before his return. She felt increasingly guilty with every touch and every kiss he gave her. She had not technically cheated on him; he was gone over a year without a word. That had meant they were practically on a break anyway. He probably did the same thing with whatever floozy he had encountered while he trained. Still that reasoning and everything else she told herself brought little comfort to how she felt. No matter what Yamcha had or hadn't done during their break and his absence, she still felt like what she did was not right.

She still hadn't slept with Yamcha yet, despite his obvious attempts at romance. It didn't feel right to hop back into bed with him after she had been so close to Vegeta just under a week ago. Now she was torn. She was at a crossroads with no clear direction on which way to go.

Technically it wasn't wrong to go back to Yamcha and resume her relationship with him. They had been happy enough before and their relationship had been considerably more stable since his revival. She had always assumed since she'd first met Yamcha that one day they'd get married and settle down and deep part of her still yearned for that. Perhaps it was just a girlish fantasy, but Yamcha was technically her childhood sweetheart. They had been together for over a decade now, surely that meant something.

However she could not ignore the effect the Prince had on her either. She'd always had a thing for bad boys, but the Prince was different. He was wild and untamed; even his hair refused to conform to the laws of the universe. Something about him called to her on a deeper level than Yamcha ever had even when he was still the infamous desert bandit. Being with Vegeta stirred something in her blood that she could not put into words and she could not simply ignore. He may not have been the classic prince from the fairy tales all little girls dreamed of, he was better than that. He was the dark prince all full grown women secretly fantasized about but never admitted out loud. Everything about him radiated power, pride, elegance and masculinity danger; the same could not be said of Yamcha. Vegeta had suffered through things that would have broken lesser men, endured years of servitude while working towards his own goals, and was still yet capable of reaching heights few beings ever dared dream of.

The way the Prince expressed his desires was different than what Bulma had expected. He was rough and wild at times which always excited her. Other times he was sensual, gentle, and tender. She could tell that their affair or whatever it was had meant a lot to him just as it had meant a lot to her. She could feel his deep need to be with her with every kiss, every caress, love bite and growl. Somehow the little things he did went over his conscious mind or he was in denial. However she could tell his affection for her ran far deeper than even he knew.

As crazy as it sounded Yamcha in comparison was actually the safe, reliable choice. True he was once a rough and tumble bad boy in his bandit days. However that was years ago. Now he was the gentle romantic lover. It had taken her years to train him that way. Too bad he'd used what he learned from her on other women or they would have been married by now. Still being with him made her feel safe, loved and content. At least it used to before all this happened. She now felt similar emotions when she was with him, but it wasn't the same now that she had a taste of the Prince.

So this was the situation she found herself in as she walked through the hall. She was perched precariously between two very different men. The peace between them all was just barely kept each day. To top it off she had to hide her true feelings from both of them or risk losing them both. Like it or not the Earth needed both warriors in the battle to come. As guilty as she felt, Bulma could not stand the thought of losing either man in her life.

Bulma paused outside the dining room to compose herself before walking in. She knew Vegeta would likely already be there. She took a moment to straighten her hair and her outfit before seeing him. Despite his increasing distance she still wanted to look her best when she was around him. So she took a deep breath and wandered into the room. She was a little hurt to see Vegeta was already seated devouring a plate full of sandwiches her mother had made for him. He hadn't even bothered to wait for her to begin his meal. Bulma grabbed herself a plate and sat down across from him, however he didn't even spare her a glance.

"Vegeta…"she called to him, but was ignored.

"Vegeta…" she said a little more loudly, annoyed he still wasn't paying attention to her.

"Vegeta!" she shouted this time, finally getting his attention.

Vegeta flared his nostrils and put down his sandwich. He could smell the beta male all over her. It infuriated him. He had lost his appetite immediately upon smelling him on the woman. How could she have gone back to him so quickly? He thought. Somehow that slight against him cut deeply for reasons he couldn't quite understand. He'd had other affairs with noble ladies in the past but somehow this way different and he didn't know why.

"What do you want woman?" he answered with barely veiled malice.

Bulma winced at her new nickname. He had said woman with so much venom in his voice it almost pained her physically to hear it. She was crushed that she had been downgraded from Princess back to Woman. She struggled to compose her thoughts at how not so long ago he'd called her Princess with great affection now she received a very cold address Woman instead.

"We should talk about," she began, before being cut off.

"There is nothing to talk about," he responded plainly.

"Yes, there is Vegeta," she declared in a challenging tone.

"Have you told him about us?" he asked in her in an equally defiant voice.

"Well…No, but…" she admitted shamefully, breaking eye contact with him.

"I have no need to discuss it further. I can smell him all over you. There is nothing more to say, whore," he alleged confrontationally.

Bulma was extremely offended by his insinuation. She hadn't slept with Yamcha as he was implying. Sure she did a few things with him, but nothing close to sex. He just called me a whore too! She thought angrily. She balled up her fists and struggled to contain her anger at the Prince. However before she could say anything more Yamcha walked in.

Yamcha walked in on another extremely confusing scene at Capsule Corp. Things hadn't been exactly normal since he'd been back and he couldn't quite put his finger on what. Bulma had rejected all of his advances since the night of his return for some reason. Well maybe not reject, but he didn't get the special welcome he had been hoping for. Plus she hadn't been receptive to any of his obvious invitations to bed since then. Something was different about Bulma. Usually a little charm and flowers and she would be all for a nice romantic evening in bed.

Bulma and Vegeta were going at each other again. Something which didn't really surprise him given what he knew about the two of them. What did surprise him is that the name calling and insults seemed to be very personal between the two. While he didn't hear most of the previous conversation he did make out Vegeta's insult at the end of what he had been saying. He'd called her a whore. Why would he call her a whore? He wondered. It really didn't make sense and he couldn't think of any other times he called Bulma a whore. Despite that how confused he was on why Vegeta would call her a whore, he couldn't let an insult like that directed to his girl pass like that, he had to defend her.

"You take that back Vegeta! Bulma is not a whore!" Yamcha declared boldly, walking up to Vegeta and crossing his arms defiantly.

"Stay out of this, beta male," Vegeta suggested calmly, with a thinly veiled threat to his voice.

"Vegeta, you think you are so high and mighty. Let me tell you something, you are Prince of nothing. Last of a so called warrior race that was so weak they were wiped out by a space tyrant. It's an empty title Vegeta, it means nothing," Yamcha taunted ignorantly.

Vegeta had enough of the scar faced man's insults and quicker than anyone could react, flew over and picked up Yamcha by his throat slamming his against the wall. He had to control his rage as it would have been so easy to simply end his miserable existence here and now. Instead he simply squeezed his fingers relishing in the sight of the idiot struggling to breathe before him.

"How dare you! Had it been Frieza who came to your planet back then all of your warriors would have been slaughtered and your women would have been taken as pleasure slaves. Your children would have been his servants doing menial labor deemed too unimportant to be his warriors. Don't you ever insult my people or my history again, human!" he threatened menacingly as his blood lust rose.

Bulma was in a panic now. She knew Yamcha had crossed the line by insulting Vegeta's people and his title but she had to stop Vegeta from killing him as he seemed to be about to do. Yamcha was stupid, but just because he said something stupid didn't mean he deserved to die.

"Put him down Vegeta," she commanded boldly.

"Why should I?" he asked honestly, not bothering to look at her.

"Put him down!" she yelled this time, it earned her a brief glare from him.

Bulma saw a brief flash of disappointment in his eyes before they turned back to fury. Then she heard a sound she had never heard before, a low warning aggressive growl from Vegeta. It actually frightened her a little since it was so different than the playful ones she heard from him before in their most intimate, tender moments. It made her heart skip a beat to hear it.

Vegeta could not believe his ears at what she had just said to him. Going back to this pitiful excuse for a male was one thing, but now she just asked him to do nothing while this man insulted his people and his honor. She was effectively taking the idiot's side in this dispute just by not supporting him. So she had really chosen this moron over a prince. So bet it, he thought with finality before releasing Yamcha to fall disgracefully on the floor.

"Consider yourself lucky, I am feeling benevolent today," he announced haughtily.

"Vegeta…" Bulma called out to him.

"Save it," he said with finality, and turned to walk away.

"What about your food?" She asked before she could stop herself, which caused him to stop mid stride.

"I'll eat later, alone," he answered plainly.

"But…" she protested not wanting their meal to end so harshly.

"I don't want to hear it. Humans," he maintained bitterly as he continued making his way out to train again.

Bulma was horrified at how drastically things turned so quickly. At least before he would not mind her presence at meal time, now with this new turn of events he would be actively avoiding spending any time with her. How had things spiraled out of control so quickly? And what was with that look he gave me before he let Yamcha go? She wondered. She knew what Yamcha had said was deeply insulting to the prince. Being the prince of his people meant so much to Vegeta. However she was stuck, she could not reprimand Yamcha or she would risk him finding out more. She also couldn't openly side with the prince either as it would look suspicious to Yamcha. She had to blink back a few tears now at the thought that her relationship with Vegeta had now just deteriorated even further.

Yamcha watched her still on the floor, confused at the exchange. She was supposed to be angry and upset that Vegeta attacked him. To be fair, she was at first. Then however she tried to convince him to finish his meal. What was that about? He thought. It simply made no sense to Yamcha. Shouldn't she want him to leave and not come back for a while? He mused.

"Bulma, what was that about?" Yamcha asked her genuinely.

"I, nothing…" she claimed, hiding the truth from him.

"Well then why did he call you a whore? Sure he's insulted you before, but what reason could he have to call you a whore?" he pointed out to her.

Bulma felt extremely guilty at his questions. She honestly forgot he even heard that part in the commotion. She needed to take his mind of it and she needed to find a way to feel a little less guilty with herself. I know what will take his mind off it, she thought. Bulma leaned over and kissed Yamcha who eagerly responded to her.

If Vegeta didn't want her company, at least she could take comfort with Yamcha. It would be a onetime thing to get his mind off asking too many prying questions. Besides he might run off to train for who knows how long again after this. So it wasn't wrong to do this technically. So to ease her aching heart, she would give him what he wanted. Besides what he wanted was to give her pleasure, so it couldn't be all bad. So with that resolve Bulma broke their kiss and motioned him to follow her.

Yamcha had no idea what suddenly brought this on. However he wasn't going to question it; Bulma was leading him back to her bedroom and he knew what that meant. He was finally going to get to make love to his girl. Who cares how it happened? It was happening. He thought happily.

"What's with all the new furniture Bulma?" he asked her curiously.

"I thought it was time for a change," she answered cryptically as she began taking her top off.

0-0-0

Bulma headed down stairs for yet another lonely breakfast. She had only meant to distract Yamcha one time with sex, but somehow that evolved into them rekindling their relationship. Since she and Yamcha had become lovers again Vegeta now saw fit to make himself scarce to her. Rather than feeling relieved, she actually felt hurt by his absence. He had become a constant companion of hers over the last year and she still longed for his company despite now being with Yamcha. Her meals had become rather empty without his presence during meal time.

Yamcha was still asleep in their bed. He wasn't much of an early morning person since he had given up his bandit life and become a baseball player. For some reason he never went to the morning practices his team had; she suspected it was because his ki training already allowed him to perform far greater feats than his fellow players and practice did him little good anyway. So now her nightly ritual became falling asleep next to Yamcha with or without sex.

As she arrived in the kitchen and began to make herself breakfast Bulma pondered how things had taken such a drastic turn in her life. She should have been blissfully happy to be back in a healthy relationship with Yamcha again and part of her was. However there was another part of her that deeply missed the dry wit and touch of the cranky royal who she barely caught sight of anymore.

As she pondered her choices she decided to go with cereal so as not to further upset her stomach. She had been feeling under the weather the last week or so. She couldn't quite put her finger on the symptoms but she was feeling much weaker than normal on most mornings than not these days. She was unusually easily fatigued, and even found herself feeling nauseous at times. At first she simply thought it was the flu, but now that it had been over a week with no improvements she was contemplating going to see a doctor.

"Bulma dear, how are you?" a cheery voice called out behind her.

"Fine, Mom just grabbing some breakfast," Bulma answered.

"All by yourself?" Mrs. Briefs asked innocently.

"Yes Mom, all by myself," she confirmed to her mother.

"Well that's no good dear, I'll join you," Her mother suggested.

Bulma poured the milk for her cereal and sat down by herself at the table. She was delightfully surprised that her mother popped in just then and decided to join her for breakfast. While she missed a certain surly prince's company, she was more than happy to have her mother break her solitude. Perhaps she could even ask her mother's advice on what to do with her current situation. She always did possess certain wisdom about situations like these. Mrs. Briefs sat down across from her with own plate of bacon and eggs.

"What's with the cereal dear? Don't you usually prefer bacon and eggs for breakfast?" her mother asked.

"I do, but I've been feeling rather sick lately so I've switched to cereal for now since it's easier on my stomach for some reason," she informed her mother.

"How long has this been going on?" Mrs. Briefs inquired.

"A little over a week. I get nauseous sometimes and feel fatigued more often, it's weird. I was thinking about going to the doctor if it keeps up," she described to her mother.

"I'll get you some medicine I got from my room, I'll be right back," she told Bulma as she got up and left the table.

Mrs. Briefs came back and instead of medicine set two familiar pen shaped objects before her. Bulma was a little shocked to see them; home pregnancy tests. She had no idea her mother even kept such things around. She had never seen her mother buy them; she must have made a special trip to the store to pick them up. I can't be pregnant, Bulma thought. It must be just be some sort of obsession of her mother's over having grandchildren. She might have to humor her mother on this.

"That's not medicine Mom," she pointed out to her mother, unsure why the matron even brought the test strips.

"Of course not dear, but you haven't been going to bed alone recently and you might at least want to consider the possibility," her mother advised her.

"What! How did you..." she began, but was interrupted.

"Bulma honey, black lace panties don't just appear in the living room by themselves," Mrs. Briefs giggled at her.

Bulma turned strawberry red at that. She hadn't thought about the fate of that pair of panties that night. She was too distracted by what was happening in the moment to care. Now she just found out that her mother had discovered them and knew about her brief affair with Vegeta. She needed to take the conversation back in another direction or she would die of embarrassment.

"I doubt I'm pregnant, but I'll take them just to humor you, so you don't get too worked up over thoughts of grandchildren," She declared to her, knowing how she much her mother wanted grandchildren.

"When was the last time you had your monthly cycle?" Mrs. Briefs asked her in a motherly tone.

"I…" Bulma started but was unable to finish as she tried to call that to mind and couldn't.

Bulma was now a little panicked. She had been off birth control the last year when Yamcha was gone. She honestly quit paying attention to her monthly cycles since she was engrossed in her work, the androids impending arrival and spending time with the surly prince. She had no idea when her last period was. Her affair with Vegeta was so sudden, she never properly thought about protection. On top of that, she was now sleeping with Yamcha. Her mother was right; it was entirely possible she could be pregnant.

"All right, Mom, I'll take them," she relented, giving in but still hoping it was just another crazy fantasy of her mothers. "But don't get your hopes up on grandchildren."

"Of course not dear, just remember to get a blood test by a doctor if you have any doubts." Mrs. Briefs recommended.

"I promise Mom. I'll get a blood test to be sure if the results are unclear," she affirmed, thinking such drastic measures were unnecessary at this point.

Bulma rose and put her bowl away then quickly headed to her private office in her lab not bothering to change out of her ducky pajamas. She needed answers now. She couldn't use her bathroom upstairs since Yamcha was still in bed. She also didn't want to risk running into Vegeta by using one of the spare guest rooms. The privacy of her lab was the best place to take the test and get confidential results.

Bulma found her supply closet and pulled out a urine cup she used on other urinalysis tests in the lab. She headed to the bathroom and filled the cup hoping the whole time for negative results. As crazy as her life was right now, being pregnant was the last thing she needed. Bulma's hands shook as she picked up the first test strip. She wanted to know the answer, but that knowledge also scared her. So she closed her eyes, took a deep breath to calm herself and dipped the test strip in the cup.

Bulma placed the test strip on a sanitary counter and turned her back not able to look at it. She began to shake with anxiety once more as the minutes ticked by and she began to think about the implications of the test. What will I do if I am pregnant? I am supposed to be the next CEO. I don't have time for baby right now! She mused to herself unable to prevent the flow of erratic thoughts from her mind. If she was pregnant this had to be the worst time to get pregnant. She was supposed to take over the company for her father sooner rather than later. If that wasn't enough her love life was in shambles at the moment. Her affair or whatever with Vegeta was over and their relationship was now deteriorating fast where it was once strong before. Her current relationship with Yamcha was still in its delicate early stage, something like this could easily break them apart for good.

As the time expired Bulma steeled herself with as much courage as she could muster up and turned to face the results. As she eyed the test strip she was too shocked for thoughts.

Positive!

It was a positive result! Bulma could not control her shaking now. She trembled as she removed the second test strip from its sterile wrapper. It was only one test. She would have to take the second one to be sure. Bulma closed her eyes and took a deep breath again and with her new found fortitude she dipped the second test strip in the cup.

Bulma placed the second test strip next to the first one and once again turned around, lost in her own thoughts. She actually had no idea who the father was if she was pregnant. She and Vegeta had a torrid affair for a few weeks and more recently she and Yamcha had been intimate frequently before the symptoms began. It could reasonably be either man. She had no idea who she would prefer to be the supposed father of her child. Bulma tried to calm her raging thoughts as time expired, she was getting ahead of herself thinking about who the father was. She wasn't even sure she was pregnant at this point.

She turned around unsure if she was ready to get confirmation or not. Her gaze drifted to second test strip and was surprised by the answer.

Inconclusive!

There was no positive or negative result on it. What the hell! Bulma huffed in frustration as she was now had to get a blood test to confirm her results.

She had to think of way to get it done without drawing the attention of the tabloids. As much as she loved the attention and adoration of the world as a Brief, she also hated the constant invasion of privacy that normal people never had to deal with.

It was no one's business but her own if she took a pregnancy test, but some tabloid reporter would do their best to make it front page news at her expense. Having her pregnancy splashed on the covers of magazines and newspapers was hardly the way she wanted to break the news to her family, Yamcha or Vegeta.

She could not simply go to a regular doctor's office as her mother suggested. Being a world famous scientist and billionaire heiress had its pitfalls, not mention being beautiful put a target on her head. All it would take is one jealous secretary or nurse and the press would be there before she even completed her bloodwork. There had to be a better way.

Then it came to her; she would have her blood test done anonymously at Capsule Corp. The employees all had signed non-disclosure agreements just to work here. She knew the specialist who would be testing her blood very well. All it would take is a little white lie and she could easily have her blood tested anonymously and get the results in an efficient and timely manner. I am a genius, she thought to herself as she dialed the number to the specialist.

"Hematology department," the female specialist said over the phone.

"Hey this is Bulma I need a sample analyzed discreetly," she informed her.

"Of course, Ms. Briefs what kind of tests did you want run on it?" she asked Bulma.

"I need you to check for pregnancy," she ordered the specialist.

"Why all the secrecy? You can get that done at any doctor's office," the woman inquired genuinely.

"Well it's a sensitive topic for a close friend of mine and I promised her discretion on the matter. Rich people problems; I suspect she might be dealing with a case of infidelity," she joked in a half truth and heard a laugh on the other end in response.

"All right, just send the sample over and I'll have it processed immediately," she told Bulma.

"Will do, I'll have it down to you in ten minutes," Bulma replied awkwardly struggling to maintain the self-depreciating charade.

Bulma hung up the phone and gathered her supplies to draw her own blood. She sighed at the hurdles she had clear just to get a discreet test done. She filled a tube with blood and cleaned up her lab as best she could of all evidence of her earlier tests.

Bulma also took the time to change into some work appropriate attire. It would draw too much suspicion to show up at hematology in her pajamas no matter how cute her ducky pajamas happened to be; no use in taking all these steps for secrecy if some employee accidently stumbled along and uncovered her secret anyway.

Bulma walked down the hall with the unmarked tube with her blood in it. Normally samples were marked to distinguish them from one another with a patient's name or personal information on them. She intentionally left it blank since the whole purpose was to not reveal it was her test.

As she walked she was trying very hard not to think about the mess her life had become. Everything was going great until Yamcha had returned. However it was unfair to place the blame entirely on him. He just wanted to return to be with her. It was partially her own fault for allowing the liaison with Vegeta to begin. Not that she regretted being with him, before Yamcha came back it was fantastic. Her life became so complicated in such a short amount of time that she had no idea what to do anymore. Adding a baby to the volatile mix was not something she wanted to consider. So she had desperately been hoping for a false result earlier. Of course karma being what it was, she had to jump through hoops to get a definite answer on this.

Bulma arrived at the specialist's door and knocked a few times. She heard some noise of acknowledgement from inside and sounds like equipment being put away. The door before her opened revealing the middle aged woman with sandy brown hair wearing a lab coat. This woman handled the bulk of their hematology at Capsule Corp.

"Here's the sample I called you about earlier," Bulma said handing her the unmarked tube.

"I see, the juicy sample from the rich trophy wife who may or may not be cheating on her husband," she joked snidely with a laugh.

"You have no idea what kind of drama she has in her life," Bulma replied as she forced herself to chuckle with the woman.

"I'm sure I don't. I only have regular people problems to deal with," the specialist told her cynically. "Thank god for that."

"Well I promised her the utmost discretion, so give me a call once you have the results," Bulma ordered in a half-truth with a false smile on her face.

"Of course, guess it pays to have the right friends in life," she mentioned with a hint of jealousy.

"You have no idea," Bulma agreed with her truthfully.

Bulma sighed as she made her way back to her private office. She had barely been able to keep up that act with the specialist but her ruse seemed to work. She really didn't feel like working. She was too stressed out over the results of the blood test. Normally when she was stressed she would have mixed herself a drink, but given the nature of the test that option was out. Even if she knew that in the early stages of pregnancy it wouldn't hurt anything, she didn't want to risk anything, just in case. So Bulma took a seat on her couch and settled for closing her eyes and breathing deeply trying to relax and let her mind go blank. It finally worked as she dozed off in a dreamless, light sleep.

She awoke an unknown amount of time later to the phone ringing on her desk. It had to be the results of her test. Her heart pounded away in her chest with each step she took towards the phone. She paused for a moment unsure if she was mentally prepared for the answer she would be getting. She finally picked up the phone and drew it to her ear.

"Bulma this is hematology, we have the results back for the trophy wife," the specialist reported, with a sneer.

"Go on," Bulma replied simply, attempting to sound as disinterested as she could in the results.

"Tell her that her life is about to get a whole lot more complicated, she is pregnant," the specialist notified her in a snarky tone.

"I'll…let her know, thanks," Bulma struggled to get out as her composure was breaking, before hanging up abruptly.

Bulma lost all color in her face at the news. She couldn't think. She could barely breathe.

Pregnant!

How in the world was she going to handle this? She shook her head as she had no idea. She didn't even try to stop the flow of tears that flooded down her cheeks. Her life was about to get far more insane than it already was with a boyfriend, a royal ex- lover and the threat of annihilation in a few years. Bulma crumpled down in her chair in defeat. Somehow she would have to confront them both about the possibility of fatherhood.