Chapter Twenty-One

Bulma walked around the busy city streets; the high-rise buildings that stretched up above her seemed distorted and unreal. She envied the people that laughed as they passed by her. They didn't know what she knew. They believed their whole lives were ahead of them. They had none of the cares she had; no thoughts of androids and death.

Be honest Bulma, she reprimanded herself; your worry is far more than that. Far more personal, more near and more real than the dark cloud of the future.

A suspicion had gradually taken hold of her the last few days and now that thought was there she could not shake the growing conviction that she was right. She felt a small bout of nausea at the thought, which only strengthened her belief. She continued her walk back to her car, clutching a chemist's brown paper bag. She quickened her pace anxious to get home and find out if she was right, praying she was wrong.

x x x

Inside her bedroom, Bulma gaped at what was very clearly a positive pregnancy test. When the possibility had first entered her head she had tried to mentally prepare herself for how she might feel if it turned out to be so but she realised now that it was impossible to prepare for such a thing. This was not a distant notion; or a passing thought, this was all too real. Her mind was reeling with all the possibilities and difficulties she was facing, some that she had already considered and others that had never entered her wildest thoughts until now.

How was she ever going to tell Vegeta? Just a second, she thought angrily, why should she tell him? She had closed the door on that. He obviously wasn't interested in speaking with her let alone being with her. It had been a moment of lust for him one he clearly regretted. She pushed the headband back from her face forcefully.

She wouldn't tell him. She would shelter this child from heartbreak and Vegeta's inability to love - and yet it wasn't like she could hide her pregnancy or the child forever, she countered.

She probably could, he was so self absorbed! She argued with herself again bitterly. She had every right to keep it from him as long as possible but to do that she would have to keep it a secret from everyone. If Vegeta should find out from someone else . . . she shivered involuntarily.

She flopped down onto her bed inadvertently bouncing a book onto the floor. She bent down and turned it over absentmindedly. 'Androids Explained' by Dr. G. Rowland. Androids again! She wished she had Saiyan powers; she would blast the book to pieces.

Instead she threw it. "Urrrrg I hate androids!" she yelled. Constantly their shadow hung over her, over all of them. How many times had the foreknowledge caused her to rethink her actions? How much had the information already changed the timeline? Would it be enough? Enough to save them? And now she was bringing a child into this doomed world, one in which none of them may survive.

How could she keep the knowledge of their child from Vegeta knowing what lay ahead? She had no basis for believing that he woulddn't care for or at least be proud of his own offspring even if he felt little for her. Yet telling him about their child might instil another burden of responsibility on him, one that may prove too much. Bulma had always understood the enormous weight upon Vegeta, from the prediction of his death to the desire to fulfil his destiny. At times she wondered how much more he could take.

And her child? Her child had the right to know its father especially if their time was short. Bulma felt her heart clench.

She could not lose hope for the future. So far Goku was alive and Vegeta was getting stronger, doing everything in his power to reach his goal to save them.

Damn those androids! She thought, forcing her hand. She would not have told Vegeta about her pregnancy so early if she hadn't known about the destruction and death they were supposed to cause. She had to tell him and the sooner the better.

x x x

Bulma walked into Vegeta's room. It was the best place to find and discuss it with him. She'd come to the conclusion that if she wasn't going to hide it from him then it was best to get it over with. He would just as likely go back to ignoring her anyway.

She noticed the bed was not made. An unusual thing for Vegeta, he was always so neat and ordered. She could see a pillow on the floor as well that looked decidedly like it had been flung and another one was missing. It made her wonder about her smiley face cushion. She just couldn't understand where that had gone. She loved that cushion, she loved punching it when she felt angry somehow it made her feel better. She wished she had it right now.

She sat on the bed, got comfortable and gazed out of the window. Vegeta would have to return here eventually for sleep and when he did, she would be waiting. There would be no ignoring her now. The gravitron hummed, it had become kind of soothing she decided as she closed her eyes and waited.

x x x

Bulma stretched out lazily and felt the morning sun pouring through the window onto her skin. She sat up abruptly, morning? She must have fallen asleep on Vegeta's bed. Had he come into his room seen her and left again? Where did he sleep? She was furious, she needed to talk to him and she was determined to, he wasn't going to be able to avoid her anymore!

Bulma went downstairs.

"Hi Bulma darling, do you want some breakfast? I made fresh coffee." Mrs Briefs hummed cheerfully.

"No thanks Mom, have you seen Vegeta?" Bulma said.

"Sure. He's about this tall – "

"Funny," Bulma disregarded her joke and continued outside on her quest.

The gravitron was quiet. Bulma went up the ramp anyway and knocked.

"Vegeta!" She called.

There was no response. Fine, she thought, I can wait. She sat down on the steps. He might be able to avoid his bedroom but he was not going to avoid the gravitron and he was not going to avoid her.

x x x

Vegeta was sore and cranky. He'd spent another night on the floor of the gravitron.

He'd given up for good the idea of sleeping in his bed the other night and decided firmly that he was getting too soft as a warrior if he couldn't go without a cushy mattress for a week or two. He'd taken only a pillow to avoid a stiff neck and he'd been sure not to take the strawberry one. He rubbed his body and stretched before starting the gravitron.

x x x

Bulma jumped as the sound of the gravitron vibrated through her body.

He was in there after all! She realised furiously. How dare he make me wait for nothing?

She got up and banged on the door. "Vegeta!" she hollered. "Open up this door!"

She continued banging over and over

"Go away woman, I'm training." He shouted back.

"Open up! I'm not going away until you let me in." She beat the door some more and then waited expecting to hear the gravitron power down. It didn't.

"VEGETA!" She yelled ferociously. "I promise you I will bang all day, everyday unless you let me in!" She thumped the door before stopping and looking around for something else to barrage the door with. Finally she heard the gravitron power down and the door slid open.

"Well what is it? Be quick and stop wasting my time!" Vegeta said.

"Why didn't you wake me last night?" She asked him.

"Why should I?" He said baffled.

"Surely you realised I wanted to talk to you." Bulma shook her head.

"What are you babbling about woman?" He frowned. "I am not a mind reader, how should

I know you wanted to talk to me?"

Bulma looked at him and suddenly noticed the huge bags under his eyes. "You look awful."

She exclaimed. "Where did you sleep last night?" Her eyes widened.

"That's none of your concern!" Vegeta snapped back.

"Well it's your own fault, you should have woken me. I was only in your room because I wanted to talk to you." Bulma said.

"You were in my room? Again!" Vegeta's surprise was evident.

"Of course I was." Bulma was confused at his reaction. "I told you, I wanted to talk to you."

"Well talk." Vegeta grunted.

Bulma felt herself begin to panic. How should she tell him? "It's about that night – "

"I suggest you put it behind you." Vegeta cut her off; he turned away slightly from her. "I will not deny what happened." His tone was stilted as if he felt revolted to admit even that much. "What occurred, what transpired was. I can offer only that it will never happen again. It is the past. I can care only for the future."

The future! Bulma felt she could scream if she heard that word one more time. "What about the present? Doesn't that matter?"

"The only thing that matters is my transformation," he said flatly.

"I see." Bulma nodded stoically, she was determined not to cry. "I guess that's all I needed to hear." He'd made his choice and she would make hers, she didn't need him. Her child didn't need him.

She turned to walk out the still open door when she spied a pillow against the walls edge. So this is where he slept last night, she thought angrily, in his precious gravitron, with his precious dreams of his transformation and the future! She should inform him that he could go on sleeping in here, kick him out of the house. The rage that had had fuelled her thoughts so far gave way to dangerously sad logic, even a lifetime of uncomfortable sleep would in no way pay for what he had done to her heart. Even as she imagined him turning upon the cold, hard, tiled floor, she knew it was no consolation, no retribution even supposing she took back the pillow. . . the pillow that she had noted yesterday was missing from Vegeta's bed! Her lightning quick intellect determined that he had robbed her of even the small solace of imagined vengence. The masochist obviously frequently slept in the gravitron rather than the bed they had shared. She just bet he would do anything to avoid the memory of that night. Her right foot crossed the exit.

x x x

Authors Narration - Vegeta maintains that his transformation is the only thing that matters. Who is he kidding? And speaking of kids, will Bulma really be able to keep her pregnancy from the Saiyan secret? The surprises keep coming next chapter Dragonball B V