So, last chapter was incredibly satisfying to write, I gotta be honest. I'm a little sad no one caught onto the devious premonition that Vegeta had made early in that chapter, but that's ok, it makes me smile thinking about it. Yes. I'm devious. If any of you catch onto what devious little premonition I had in chapter ten.. I'll give you an e-cookie! [Vo-chan, you don't count cause I told you already! But you get an e-cookie for beta reading this chapter.]
This is another chapter I know I am going to enjoy writing immensely. I'm glad you guys have hung with me this far! There's still a lot more to this story, but we've now reached the point in the story that Vo-chan calls the butterfly effect, yes? So let's see how the train derails from it's original tracks.
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of the characters.
Chapter Eleven
"Where do we begin..." Dr. Briefs thought aloud, settling down in the old leather armchair that wreaked of his cigarettes and wine. He absentmindedly stroked his mustache as he thought, trying to recall properly the events of so many years ago.
"How about where the craft she had to have landed on this planet in has gone." Vegeta said curtly, taking the opportunity to settle down on a chair in the corner, his arms folded over his chest as a means to help contain the urge to shake the old man until the information spilled from his mouth.
"Oh yes. That. Well, I suppose we can start by saying we do not know the day that you were really Born, Bulma. We used the day the explosion happen, and the day you were found.." He trailed off, idly reaching into his lab coat pocket for the small box of cigarettes, but after a rather irritable glare from both the Prince and his 'daughter', he thought better of it, and simply sighed, before continuing.
"It was late at night, Bunny and I were out in the back of the compound, working on a project, and there was suddenly a bright light.. Something had entered the earths' atmosphere, and it was definitely on fire." He paused, taking a sip of what looked to be white wine. "There were meteorites all the time falling to earth, so we didn't think much of it, you know? But when it made impact, somewhere around five to ten miles outside of the city, there was a marvelous explosion... So Bunny and I gathered some of my technicians and we piled into a capsule jet to investigate.. We thought were were just going to find a large meteor husk.."
Bulma seemed stiff, she stared blankly at her hands, which were folded in her lap.. Her tail twitched every now and then as her mind processed the information without so much as a single word. It was so unlike her to be so pensive.
Dr. Briefs cleared his throat.. "Obviously, we did not find a meteor, though there was a large crater left from the impact. Whatever had landed did not survive the crash. There was nothing. No rock, no metal, just a crater.. But it was what was just outside of the craters' radius that caught our attention. A baby girl, crying like the world had ended." He waited, looking to see if Bulma gave any hint of reaction. When he got not so much as a twitch of her tail, he went on..
"Bunny was the one who found you, and we were curious to find the extra... Appendage, but other than that the baby looked everything like a human child."
Bunny interjected. "Oh you were so cute as a baby, and your tail was so soft. I just wanted to hold you all night.."
Dr. Briefs cleared his throat, and Bunny quieted, before he continued. "Right, well, there was a lot of speculation as to how the appendage came to be. There are a lot of strange creatures on this planet, but no one had heard of a human with a tail.. Some of the doctors wanted to simply study you, to keep you penned up.. Bunny and I vehemently objected.. She's right, you weren't given a choice to keep your tail at birth.. It was the compromise we had to settle with.."
"Compromise?" Vegeta's gruff voice floated across the room.. Although he looked so indifferent, he was certainly paying attention.
"Well... Bunny and I could never have a child.. We felt that, with her having no one to care for her, there was no better option than to adopt her ourselves... But to protect her from the ridicule of her peers, as well as to appease the team of scientists, as well as the local government, the appendage had to be removed... Since there was no medical records found of her, no parents, we could only assume that the parents had either been killed in that explosion, or she had simply been abandoned.. We never in our wildest imaginations thought that she was from another planet.."
Bulma looked towards her 'father', and then towards Bunny. She felt anger, betrayal, and even a little despair. Despite this, she remained quiet, returning her gaze to her lap.
"Well, before we removed her tail, we had noted that she was incredibly strong for a baby, and had an innate spiritual power, or what you now call Ki, but it had lessened significantly when the tail had been removed... Anyway, it allowed her to grow up much like a normal human would, except of course for the fact that we were her parents, and nothing about being the heir to this corporation would be necessarily normal, but you get the point."
There was silence that stretched between everyone in the room, and it felt like an eternity before Dr. Briefs continued.. "Unfortunately, there were complications with the surgery that removed the tail. The orthopedic and neurologists miscalculated the nervous system being so finely attached to the tail, and you had almost died as a result... Fortunately, you did not.." He paused, looking down at the glass in his hand, before continuing. "As you were growing up, we noticed that you often suffered from pains associated with your tail.. We figured it had to do with the complications, but we couldn't have been more wrong."
Bulma finally spoke, her voice steady, emotionless.. "So, did you ever plan on telling me, or was this to go to your graves?"
Dr. Briefs responded without blinking. "Of course we did.. Your mother disagreed with hiding it from you from the beginning, but we had conceded that we would sit you down when we felt you were old enough, and tell you the truth.. But.."
Bunny interrupted.. "When you left during that summer you were sixteen, we had every intention of telling you, dear, but when you came home..." She paused, looking towards her husband, before looking back at Bulma.. "You told us of your friend.. How he had a tail, and it's description matched the one you were born with... You told us of... Of the... Monster he became, and how he had killed his own grandfather, and almost killed you all.. "
Once again, Dr. Briefs took over. "We did not know you could handle it. Up until that point you had been so sensitive about your appearance, and you were so happy, content with life that we couldn't bare to see you cope with that kind of news.."
That part was true, Bulma was much more insecure about herself when she was a teen, despite the fact that she was told on a near daily basis how beautiful she was, and she likely would not have taken to the news that she had been born with a furry brown tail very well at all.. But in the end it would have been better than never knowing.. Or finding out the hard way, which she unfortunately had just done.
Before more could be said, there was a knock at the door, and everyone snapped out of their dazed state to stare at it questioningly. Bunny was the one to get up, however, and answer it. She turned the knob and opened the door to find Goku standing there, looking quite disturbed, but very obviously worried.
Bunny moved aside to let the bumbling saiya-jin in, and he gave a quiet nod of thanks, before turning his gaze to Bulma. A very noticeable sigh of relief escaped him as his worried gaze rushed over her figure, as if making sure she had been uninjured.. He noticed it then, that extra appendage, which was rapping nervously against the cushions of the couch.
The young Saiya-jin grinned ear-to-ear in disbelief, his right hand rising to scratch behind his head. "I came here to make sure you were ok, but gosh, Bulma, you've got a tail!" He exclaimed, pointing at the appendage in disbelief.
Bulma, still mildly reeling from her rage, snapped a reply that was less than courteous. "I can see that, thank you, Captain Obvious." It's tone was rather cold, and not at all like Goku was accustomed to, but for the first time in his life, he had actually put the pieces together and did not seem offended in the least.
He just sat down on the floor of the living room with his legs crossed, and commented mostly to himself.. "So you're saiya-jin after all, huh? I always knew you smelled different.. Can't say I'm surprised..."
"That's well and good.." Vegeta's curt tone came to bring the reality of the situation to light.. "But the old man was currently in the process of explaining himself when you decided to interrupt, so quiet that mouth before I do it for you."
Dr. Briefs stiffened slightly.. "Yes.. Well... Where was I?"
Vegeta decided that he was going to steer the discussion now.. "She is full Saiya-jin. I can smell it, but how is it she came to look like she does? There has been not a single saiya-jin in history that was born with such an odd coloration. Not one!"
A blue eye twitched instinctively at the blatant shot at her appearance, and she shot Vegeta a glare, before her gaze fell back to her lap. He was right, after all, but that didn't mean she didn't think she was beautiful despite that fact.
"Oh yes, that. Well actually, she was not born looking this way."
Bulma gasped suddenly. "Plastic surgery? You didn't!" she exclaimed.
"Oh no, far from it. But if you're curious, you had a very interesting dark coloration. Almost black, but with a hint of red, it was almost wine colored.. However, as I told you, the surgery wasn't exactly a complete success.. You see, they ended up hitting an organ or two in their carelessness.." He paused, before taking a deep breath.. "And you lost a lot of blood, as well as needed a tissue donor because there was no way to conceal the wound otherwise.. Fortunately, I have a universal blood type, and after various tests, it looked as if your body would accept mine.. So I donated my blood in great amounts, and some of my tissue as well.."
Bulma tilted her head inquisitively as her father continued.. "The tissue was used to seal up the wound, the place where the tail had been.. Now Bulma, I'm sure you're aware of the strange effects that donated organs tend to have on people?"
Bulma nodded only somewhat, but the other males in the room looked utterly lost. "Well," Dr. Briefs started.. "Often times when an organ is donated, the person accepting the organ will sometimes take on traits of the donor.. Such as strange habits, tastes in music, food, and even start to dislike things that the donor used to dislike.."
"Yes, but that doesn't explain how I have--"
"Let me finish, please.." He held a hand up to Bulma in an attempt to calm her. Her nerves were very obviously frayed.. "We discovered from various samples we took from you that your race had an incredible ability to adapt.."
Vegeta's head perked up at that, his eyes widening momentarily in realization.. "Saiya-jins were a nomadic race before we took our planet, but on top of that, we sent our weaker offspring to enemy planets to take them over.. It's not unheard of that some of them grew up having evolved some sort of strange feature that enabled them to survive on the planet, but that still doesn't explain it. Kakkarot did not sprout any unusual features unless you count the fact that he's a complete idiot."
Goku just grinned sheepishly, but let them converse, trying his best to follow..
"You're right, my boy, Goku did not, because he was not faced with a near-death experience when he was a mere infant. From what we could determine, Bulma was only a few months old, if even that, and it was this natural adaptability that caused her to absorb the genetic material in order to survive. It was a natural thing, you see.. Her body recognized the threat to her life, and also recognized what had become present to help it, and it was a natural chemical reaction. Her body saw reason to change."
What struck Vegeta the most was that even as a saiya-jins prior to her evolution, she had what he would consider an odd coloration, though that color was not unheard of, it may have been the reason she was sent away, since saiya-jin females were never, ever sent away to conquer other planets. Someone must have known the dangers, and sent her to protect such a treasure. It was likely that her pod had collided with something in space, and its' course was altered. She must have had at least a somewhat admirable level of ki to have emerged from that craft unscathed, however.
"Anyway, we also figure the human genetic material we gave you had also suppressed your energy, which I suppose worked to your advantage, since you were able to grow up like any other human child would, and the fact that you took on the coloration of my mother, you were not questioned by the media about whether or not you were really our child.."
This was a lot for Bulma to absorb, and she didn't really know how to feel about it. She was feeling so many emotions at once, and fought so hard to make sense of them all, and where they were all coming from.
"For years, however, we tried to figure out how and why you were having that pain in your spine.. We couldn't figure it out until we met your friend here.." Dr. Briefs motioned to Goku.. "And you told us about the spontaneous growth of his tail... Sixteen years and we couldn't grasp the concept that the tail could grow back. How could we? We figured you were human and like most humans, once something is cut off, it's gone for good.. We figured that the pain came as a result of the removal, but it turns out that the tissue we grafted over the wound where the tail had been was the cause.."
"My tail was trying to grow back.. The pain was from it being unable to do so.." She said suddenly, her voice rather flat, but obviously expressing her realization.
"Yes, dear. I wanted so badly to have your father perform the surgery to allow it's growth, I couldn't stand to see my baby in pain!" Bunny expressed with sorrow, which was an emotion that seemed not suited to her normally very cheery disposition.
"You can blame your pain on me, Bulma. Your mother is right. She always, always disagreed with the decision to hide the truth. Right from the very beginning.. That's why she tried so hard to empower you... However, we seemed to be doing well at hiding everything, even with your friend here around.. Your pain had all but gone, save for maybe once or twice a year, and your aggression and appetite from your childhood was down to what we could consider human standards."
"It wasn't until Mister Vegeta came that you started being yourself again!" She chirped in a much too cheerful tone. Bulma even managed a weak smile in her direction. Though she was very clearly upset, it was impossible to hate Bunny. "Oh I was so happy! I've never seen you act with so much spirit before, Bulma dear!"
Bulma still had the question lingering in her mind, and she looked towards her 'father' for answers.. "But.. Why?"
He hesitated for a moment.. "Because I had let the board of directors tell me what was good for you, and because I was too frightened by the destruction you caused in the laboratory when you were just an infant to see clearly that I was trying to turn you into something you weren't."
"Wait, I did what?" She asked in disbelief.. Vegeta just let out a small, knowing chuckle from his place in the corner. Oh yes, this was going to be a fun part of the story..
"Well, I told you before, you had an incredible amount of power to you for a child.. You nearly killed two of our scientists with your strength alone, and you let out ki pressure that nearly blew the instruments in the room up.. And you were just a child.. Especially after seeing what your friend here was capable of, we were afraid that if you were allowed to regrow your tail, you'd gain that power back.."
"Looks like she did, and then some.." Goku chimed in, and everyone looked at him. "...What? I've been listening too!" He reasoned. No one believed that he had actually managed to keep up with the conversation.
"I remember our guest here saying that when a saiya-jin is injured and recovers, their strength grows.. You spent a lot of your childhood and even a good portion of your adulthood in great amounts of pain... And each time you recovered.. I suppose that's why I've been so keen on watching your nervous system and your ki levels.."
"Huh.. I suppose that makes sense.." The Prince interjected. "She's not trained a day in her life but the pain of one's tail being forcefully kept from growing must be worse than it being ripped out by hand. She simply had this all locked away somewhere. Impressive." Was that a compliment? Sort of. He actually felt compassion for her in a sense. He had gotten his tail trampled upon by Zarbon, Dodoria, and Frieza since he was a child, and each time had been torture until he had disciplined himself to numb it, but each time he came out of the torture his power had grown somewhat.. That had to be nothing in comparison to the appendage lacking the ability to grow, and altogether simply expending the energy through her nervous system in the form of intense pain. No wonder she was so irritable when she had her 'migraines'.
"There's not a day that goes by that I do not regret it all, but I was too blinded by the content life we had to realize what it was doing to you. I even went so far as to try and stifle the only interaction you had with your own kind.. " He shook his head, and looked to the floor. This was probably the first time Dr. Briefs had ever shown shame. "There is no atoning for what I've done. I can't imagine what you must be feeling, but know that your mother and I love you, no matter who or what you are.. You're still our little girl."
Bulma's eyes grew wide a moment.. Was that why her father insisted so feverishly that she forgive Yamcha? That treacherous dog was worth more in her fathers' eyes than the prince of her own species? Something inside her boiled and she had to force her gaze away from her so-called 'father' just to contain herself.
Bunny frowned and drew her 'daughter' into a warm embrace. She felt Bulma relax somewhat, and let out a sigh of relief. Bulma couldn't simply deny the fact that they had raised her in kindness her entire life. While she was not biologically their daughter, the fact remained, they were as close to her parents as she would ever get.. But that didn't change the fact that she felt incredibly hurt and betrayed by the entire thing.. More so at her father than at Bunny.. Dr. Briefs was right, Bunny had always tried to empower her, to encourage her to be herself without her even realizing it.
This was a lot for her, too much too soon. She reluctantly withdrew herself from her mothers' grasp, and stood from her seat, quietly walking out the door and into the lawn.. She stood there, staring at the destruction she wrought with her very own hands. Things that only this morning she would have thought she wouldn't be capable of in her wildest imagination..
She almost seemed horrified at the strange sense of pride she had in what she had done.. Had she killed Yamcha? She had no idea, but by the red that blanketed the grass, she may as well have, and she felt little to no remorse for doing so.
Not that she was going to go out and start killing, the satisfaction came from the fact that Yamcha had crossed her, and for once she got back at him. She now understood what Vegeta had told her that night when Yamcha had tried to consummate with her.. He had no right to lay with other women if he wanted her for life. No right. The way her blood boiled when she thought about it made sense now, it wasn't just her smug sense of righteousness, it was who and what she was.
Saiya-jins don't do that. They don't betray their mates, it meant death.
Goku sat uncomfortably on the floor, not because the carpet wasn't comfortable, but mostly because the silence of the room was incredibly unnerving. Then it hit him.. "Wait a second. You said that it wasn't until Vegeta came that she started to act like a saiya-jin? But I'm saiya-jin, so why didn't she react to me?"
Bunny smiled brightly, not noticing the small grunt that came from the corner.. "Ooh my, Goku, maybe it's because you act more human? Who knows? Maybe she just likes Mister Vegeta! They're always arguing and-" She gave a knowing smile and a glance over to Vegeta, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"That's quite enough, dear." Dr. Briefs cut off her statement mid-sentence, much to Vegeta's relief. He didn't want his blatant interest in the woman to be out there for all to see.
That woman knows more than she lets on. I should not be underestimating her. He thought to himself, chiding himself for assuming that humans could not catch onto the mating rituals of Saiya-jins. Most of the time, from what he could remember form watching as a child, the mating pair would argue and fight feverishly at the beginning. It was an excuse for the female to get close, especially if it was physical combat, to become acquainted with the male's scent without making it obvious. Females had pride too, after all.
He let out an irritated growl at the bumbling Saiya-jin that was grinning at him in that altogether idiotic fashion, and pushed out of his seat, hastily moving to the door. He stopped before reaching for the knob, not even bothering to look at the idiot.
"Is the weakling dead?"
Goku shook his head no. "We had go give him a senzu bean, but he's fine, though pretty traumatized. He's convinced you did something, or did something to her.. But I know what I saw." He paused.. "And thank you."
He snorted and opened the door. "I do not need nor want your thanks. But I do not want to see that weakling near her ever again. If he shows his scarred face around here, I will not need to hold her back because I will have killed him myself." With that, he stepped out, and slammed the door shut behind him.
"Wow.." Goku said, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back in a familiar manner. "I never thought I'd ever see Vegeta be so protective over anyone like that."
Bunny smiled brightly, and nodded as if all was right in the world. "Oh I'm sure he'll make a fine husband to my Bulma."
Dr. Briefs shook his head, and let out an audible groan. "All right, dear, let's not get ahead of ourselves.."
She had been standing silently in the lawn, staring at the blood and the crumbled wall. Her tail remained still as death, curled only slightly at the tip as she reflected upon what had occurred, when the saiya-jin Prince had come upon the scene, canting his head to the side curiously for a moment, before breaking the silence.
"The weakling is not dead. That fool you called a friend fed him one of those ridiculous beans." He stated plainly, walking over to stand at the woman's side. He glanced momentarily at her tail, watching it react in irritation to the news. He couldn't help feel a pang of jealousy, but it wasn't her fault his own tail was gone, nor would he dwell upon it any more than he should. There were more important matters to attend to.
"I don't know what to think, Vegeta." She admitted finally.. "What am I supposed to say to them? That everything is ok, and that we can just go back to our happy lives?" Would he even care? Who else could she talk to about it? She was well out of her comfort zone now. "My entire life was a lie, how the hell am I supposed to take that?"
"You don't." He stated curtly. "They lied, and your 'father' acted out of cowardice. That mother of yours is of a lesser offense. She's been dropping hints since I landed on this rock. I was foolish enough to take them as worthless comments of an airhead." He shook his head.
"Oh that's a mistake you'll regret the rest of your life. I'm sure." She said blandly, before turning to face him. He was still looking towards the rubble off the wall.. "I feel like I should feel bad for what I did, but I don't. Not in the least bit.. I know I'm not human, but that doesn't mean I want to be a.."
He cut her off.. "You're not. You were within your right to punish him for his indiscretions. He wished to be your mate while he lay with other women. Perhaps that is acceptable for humans, but not for... Not for our kind." He paused, looking away as he spoke. "It's not something you can control. It's in your blood. My blood, Kakkarot's blood. You do not betray your mate."
She fell silent again. It was true, she didn't exactly feel like she had done wrong. She felt like she should feel guilt.. She had never intentionally harmed anyone in her entire life, and she didn't really want to start doing so.
He watched her battle internally with what she had done, and sighed inwardly. He couldn't approach this like he would a saiya-jin, because she hadn't been raised as one. "Onna, stop dwelling on it so much." He commanded. "The weakling is fine now. The only thing that is hurt is his pride. If he knows what's good for him he'll stay away from here from now on." He hissed the last part out with a particularly bitter tone.
For whatever reason, the tone of his voice actually caused her frayed nerves to calm somewhat. Vegeta had been right, she had no idea the effect they had on one another. She had subconsciously sought to impress him before, to be close to him, dismissing it as her need for a friend, or her need to help him, or any other excuse she could think up. Even now, she didn't realize that new appendage beginning to sway, it's tip occasionally brushing up against Vegeta's calf, which was a subconscious form of saiya-jin affection that was not lost to Vegeta.
He wanted so badly to have his tail back, and to show her the same affection, if only because it didn't hurt his pride as much to do it in a way he was familiar with. Human affection seemed so indecent, and he would not dare degrade himself to such a point.
Now is not the time, damn it! He chided himself on thoughts that were irrelevant to the subject at hand. "I'm not going to lie and say that your entire life will go back to the way it was. You're likely to go through changes that are strange to you." He sniffed the air a moment, before continuing. "Your senses were heightening these past few weeks, I've noticed, and they're likely close to, if not at their full potential. I highly suggest you avoid crowds for a while."
Her nose scrunched in thought. "That's ok, I never really liked crowds anyway.." She commented, waving a hand in dismissal of that particular bit of information.
"Hey Bulma.." A voice came from behind them. Vegeta couldn't help but growl defensively at the familiar ki of Kakkarot, though he felt a slight wave of relief when that new appendage coiled around his calf if just for a moment. She seemed quite adept at appeasing him even when she wasn't trying to do so.
Goku stopped beside them and patted her shoulder for a moment. "If uh.. You ever need to talk about.. Well.. You know.. Just let me know, ok?" He said sheepishly, but was cut off by the Prince.
"And what would you know about being a Saiya-jin, Kakkarot? Though you may have been born one you act anything but. I know full well what the woman will go through and she will not need your assistance." He sounded so bitter, and there was a growl laced underneath his breath as he spoke.
Goku blinked a few times, as if processing the information, before he lifted a hand to scratch the back of his head. "Gosh Vegeta, I guess you really like her a lot, huh?" But he didn't even give the Prince a chance to respond. "Anyway, I've got to go check on Yamcha. He kind of freaked out after he came to.. See you guys later!" He spouted, placing his fingers to his forehead, and dematerialized from sight.
Vegeta's entire body stiffened at the accusation, and he turned his body away from Bulma in an attempt to salvage his precious pride. The audacity of that fool was beyond his comprehension. It was all that blonde woman's fault!
Bulma had more important things on her mind than one thoughtless comment from Goku. "Vegeta?" All she got was a grunt in response.. "What do you think is going to happen to me?" She inquired apprehensively.
He thought for a moment. "You've been going through changes already, Onna." He paused, hesitating for a moment. "Your body has released it's ki tension and you're going to find yourself much stronger than you would expect."
She looked down at her palms, which were still stained with blood, now brown in color. Heck, her entire outfit was stained, but that wasn't even what was bothering her. It came out of nowhere.
"I'm hungry." She stated suddenly. She felt rather embarrassed at her admission. "I feel foolish. I'm covered in blood and you'd think I would be appalled.. But I want to eat instead."
There came another grunt from the Prince, who turned towards the woman, his pride having been given more than enough time for recovery. "Of course you are. Anyone who expends that much energy would be." He paused. "That woman had lunch ready. It's probably still there. Sate your hunger, and then I will start teaching you."
She looked at him quizzically for a moment. "Teaching me what?"
He crinkled his nose for a moment. "Your ki is distracting, woman. You need to learn to control it, and your strength, lest you destroy everything you touch. "
Smug bastard.
Author's note: Oh yeah, calm before the storm? Or wait, there was already a storm. maybe it's more like the eye of the storm? Whatever, I'm bad with analogies.
