Another chapter closer to where I want to be. I'll freaking get there eventually!
Enjoy!
"Keep your tail tucked around you. It's not indecent to see your tail, of course. But it is considered a very delicate appendage and if another Saiyan witnessed you stroking it like you did in the lab, they'd question your sanity for being publicly indecent. It's along the lines of…" Vegeta's face went red as he thought about its equivalence.
They were currently stretching in the GR and, as they prepared to practice sparring, Vegeta felt he needed to educate Bulma on some general Saiyan etiquette.
Bulma understood his embarrassment, "Basically it's like if I were to pull my top off and start fondling my breasts in public, right?" she asked effortlessly.
He shook the image from his head, cheeks burning, "Yes, that is an accurate equivalence."
She grinned. Whenever he was crimson and burning with embarrassment, she knew she would always be endlessly entertained.
He cleared his throat to ease the tension he felt at their conversation, "Alright, I'll go easy on you for now, but we will keep working on increasing your strength - and that will require effort."
He readied his stance to fight and she followed his lead by mirroring his posture.
"Are you implying I'm going to be lazy?" she asked off-handedly.
"Quite the contrary. I'm implying you'll be too busy and you'll shirk your training to squirrel yourself away in that lab of yours," he smirked.
"Fair point. But I won't do that if my work requires me to train for what we need to do next."
"Well you're not going to my home world with anything less than a Saiyan elite's power level. It's already going to be hard enough to pass you off as my mate, considering you aren't royalty. Much less, you aren't considered a real Saiyan since you weren't born on the planet and tested for your position there. The officials won't know what to do with you, and if you can't prove your strength physically…let's say it's going to be hard to get you back to Earth in one piece. They'll want to kill you for being an anomaly - and I can't have that."
Bulma blinked back tears she didn't realize were threatening to spill onto her face. She wouldn't cry – couldn't cry at the information he was giving her. It was the truth and, as harsh as it was, she needed to appreciate him giving her the chance to try at all. He could just leave her here on Earth, safe and tucked away from the perils they were bound to face on their quest to gather intel on the planet's re-establishment in the galaxy. But he knew, as well as she did, that her presence was important. He wasn't a low-level soldier.
He was the Prince of an entire race.
Who he picked as a mate was of high importance. The fact that she was already carrying his heir to the throne made it that much more pertinent for her presence to be made known. The sooner she became accustomed to being Saiyan, the better. Time was of the essence.
He spent the next hour perfecting her form before she could even try to land a kick or a punch in his direction. Her core was growing softer as the days passed, so he needed her to keep pushing to maintain her muscle and keep a stable core. She was going to need every ounce of training time he could give her to be ready for what was to come.
Vegeta paused at that thought, looking at his mate with curiosity.
"What's wrong?" Bulma asked.
"How do you feel?" he asked, reaching out and placing a hand on her belly.
She blushed at the sudden intrusion, taken aback by their change of pace.
"Good, I guess. I've gotten the hang of morning sickness – sort of…and I think I'm fine. Why, should I be blocking myself better?" Bulma asked him nervously.
"I don't remember a great deal about Saiyan women, since I was young and only interacted with the few in the palace, but they are considerably stronger than human women. I don't remember meeting any pregnant ones and that might be because our people had long since progressed from internal pregnancies to external," he explained.
"So, what you're saying is that I'm stronger and can handle a punch or two in the gut. Great. Should we do that – have an external pregnancy I mean?" she asked, placing her hand over his.
He kept his gaze on her torso, even as he noticed her eye contact. This was another conversation he wanted to avoid, because he knew she wouldn't like the answer.
"I remember the incubation pods they would keep the infants in until they became ready to fight…they were kept on the first floor and I remember how unsettling it was to watch them float – hundreds of Saiyan infants, all sleeping without worries or knowledge of the outside world. Most of them were kept there…I was kept there," he recalled.
An involuntary shudder went down Bulma's spine at the feelings he silently conveyed to her.
"I guess the better question then is…would you want to keep our baby in a pod?" she deduced, trying to fish for a straightforward answer this time.
He retracted his hand and crossed his arms over his chest, pondering over thoughts triggered by the subject. If they put their baby in an incubator, the baby would probably be safer while his parents figured their way around the planet. But something was telling him not to trust that plan.
"Vegeta?" Bulma asked, waving an impatient hand in front of his face.
"No," he told her, "No, I do not want to do that. I want you both as close to me as possible when we're on my planet – no chances for us to be forced to separate from our son, or have him used as some sort of bargaining chip in a power play with Frieza, or even my father."
She appraised him for a moment before sighing. "Well, it's nice to know I could have the option to avoid natural birth. It looks and sounds painful," she expressed with a scowl.
He shrugged, "Well, if you can handle training and fighting, I think giving birth will come easy enough."
"Says you! You don't have to worry about passing a small watermelon out of your- "
"Enough!" he cut her off, losing his own patience, "No more, you will be fine – I promise. Remind me to share with you a secret when that time comes. Alright? Now, let's continue training."
"Secret?" she asked, obviously intrigued.
"Yes, don't ask any more questions," he growled, observing her stance as she readied herself to face him.
"I'm hungry," Bulma fussed as Vegeta straightened her posture – for the eighth time.
"You don't get to break for lunch until you can get to this position correctly by yourself. I am not going to stay easy on you - you aren't human anymore. We break today when you can effectively show me a strong stance."
"Ughhhh," she groaned, already having enough for the day and they hadn't even gone over much more than katas, "Come on. I know you wanna do more than this. I'm sure your muscles are just itching to be tested. Stop being a perfectionist for like, five minutes and put me to the test!"
"You want to play like that, mate? Fine. If you can land a punch in my face, we'll break for lunch and I'll even let you pick the dessert we have with dinner."
"Seriously? Alright, challenge accepted!"
Bulma stood in the strongest stance she could display, ready to show him what she was made of. She knew how strong he was, and that alone intimidated her and humbled her as, to her, he was the strongest being in the universe, aside from Goku.
She was smart and, through their repetition, she was able to easily remember the positions she was instructed to maintain when challenged. It was hard for him to admit, but Vegeta could see she was making significant progress - even better than he was giving her credit for! But for every punch she made, he was ready to counter it with that smug, insufferable smirk on his face.
Frustrated at not landing a single punch anywhere on him, she stopped momentarily.
"Do you give up yet, Bulma?" he asked, slight teasing in his tone.
She glared at him, sweat dripping down her temple.
"No. I'm just getting started, your highness."
He grinned arrogantly at her use of his title. He knew there was one way to goad her into action, and this was it.
"Well, prove it. I'm sure you still couldn't best Yamcha, and he's human," he taunted.
"What was it that you said before – he's considered level 0? I'm about to outrank him," she said as she ran towards her haughty Saiyan husband.
She started to formulate a strategy as she shot punches and kicks and he continued to dodge them. Her mind was in overdrive as they sparred quicker, each punch she shot countered by a skilled block. That's when she began anticipating when his arm would follow his hand around to meet every one of her blows and, through this sequence of repetition, it was obvious: he was too fast and with masterful precision, he effortlessly met her, blow for blow. She wasn't going to hit him anywhere, regardless of tenacity or amount of effort she was giving. His speed was too much for her to breach. Just as the realization that she'd been bested hit her full force, her anger began to take over. She wanted to scream in frustration, but she knew he would only mock her for her emotions getting the best of her. This pissed her off even more as her attacks became less calculated, more spontaneous.
He quickly put an end to their fight by grabbing her fists and then locking her in his arms, pulling her in to a tight hold that to anyone else would look like a lover's embrace, but to Bulma, it was crushing her top half, effectively stopping her from attacking him further.
"Ugh! Let go of me!" she screamed furiously, feeling super charged and unwilling to be subdued, kicking her legs into his shins in a vain attempt to get him to let her go. The frustration she was feeling was also being fed directly through their bond, so Vegeta knew it was time to stop her.
"Do you know why I'm stopping you and letting us end our training for the day?" he asked her with a serious tone.
She looked up and noticed his smirk was gone. He wasn't taunting her.
"I have a feeling you're gonna tell me," she spat, still full of an insatiable desire to beat him into the floor.
"I stopped you because you let your emotions get the better of you and that is not how Saiyans fight. I don't want to ever let you get so carried away that your emotions take over your instincts and your ability to fight clearly. Emotions are dangerous on the battlefield – they can get you killed."
She looked away from him and gave a glare to the floor that could melt a hole through the metal platform, a simple "Fine" was all she could manage to say through her anger. This new inner passion to fight startled Bulma, but it also made her feel physically determined to demonstrate her strength and it was beginning to feel as natural as a temper flare up.
He appraised her for a moment before loosening his hold, raising an eyebrow as she ripped herself from his grip. She was acting just as he did when he was first learning to conquer the art of fighting. He could easily let his anger carry him away and, though he was highly intelligent, it made him calculate his movements too much – just like her. This made him realize he needed to treat her like a younger version of himself – a young, hot-headed Saiyan who was too smart for his own good, except he wasn't going to expose his wife to horrible torture or imprisonment for misbehavior or poor performance. He was to respect and protect his beloved mate – he couldn't imagine her being subjected to abuse and torment. Not that any of that would come from him, he would still anticipate adversaries of the likes he faced to try and beat her into submission, but he would fight to keep those foes at bay. He would take the pain and punishment if he could keep her from harm.
He was there to bear that burden.
"Take a deep breath, Bulma. Don't walk another step towards that door unless you have calmed down. None of what we do in here transfers out there, do you understand?" Vegeta instructed with authority and power in his voice.
She paused. Then after biting down on her tongue - very hard – she managed to do what he asked of her. She visibly inhaled, and then after a couple seconds, she released her breath. After a few cycles of calming breaths, he had made his way over to her, stepping in front of her, and taking her by the shoulders.
"I will be stern with you, mate. You will remain here while myself and the others go to planet Vegeta without you. Swallow that pride of yours - as a Saiyan you haven't earned the right to have it yet."
She bit back another strong urge to spit in his face and closed her eyes.
I'm trying to calm down. But I need food to calm my cravings and, considering how pregnant I am becoming, you're lucky I haven't been nearly as hormonal as I could be, she spoke to him as calmly as she could through their bond.
Fair enough, he responded with in kind, tentatively watching her face for signs of physical distress. When there wasn't any, he realized she would probably stop being affected by the bond since she was now a Saiyan.
He sighed and followed her lead as she stepped around him, walking towards the large metal door of the GR and opening it, intent on getting her meal.
What he didn't expect was the bright, metallic-sounding flashes that were bombarding both him and Bulma as they started to make their way across the yard.
"Son of a bitch!" Bulma screamed, rubbing her eyes as media members swarmed the couple mercilessly, lights flashing in the couples' faces as they stumbled into the yard.
"Bulma! Can we get a statement - and one that is a little more family friendly?" one reporter asked, holding a pen and pad.
"Why have you hidden yourself away?" another yelled out of the crowd.
"Is this the man you've been seeing?"
"Rumor has it, you're pregnant – but who's the father?"
"Are you married – why haven't you publicly announced your engagement or wedding?"
"The people want to know – billionaire heiress and baby drama? What are your answers to the scandalous gossip?"
"UGH!" Bulma exclaimed, still recovering from the flashing lights and stumbling backwards into Vegeta, who was in a state of his own bewilderment by the scene unfolding before him.
He caught her deftly and managed to pick her up, carrying her bridal-style and running as quickly as he could through the crowd of cameras that descended onto the Brief's property.
"Who the fuck are they?" Vegeta growled furiously as the crowd followed them to the patio door.
"Don't say anything until we get inside," she directed as he yanked the door open and pulled them both inside to the safety of their home.
The paparazzi was still snapping away on their cameras as the blinds were shut quickly by the incensed Saiyan female. She was hoping for all she was worth that they hadn't seen her tail.
That's all she needed- to feel like a trollop for not having a public wedding ceremony and be considered a freak by every human being on the planet.
Vegeta let his wife down and after she was on the ground, he rubbed his eyes and readjusted to the indoor lights. He realized promptly after their assault that he now hated cameras and wouldn't hesitate to break them if something like that was to happen again.
Bulma rested herself against the wall and, after tightly shutting her eyes, she buried her face in her hands and slowly slid to the floor. Vegeta watched her come apart and wanted to comfort her but caught sight of who was currently occupying the kitchen. Bulma's parents had just tucked into their own lunches when the afternoon drama struck, and were now sitting at the table staring at the two Saiyans that had just burst inside.
Chaps sighed, shaking his head and taking a bite of his food, "I told you both that this was bound to happen. Bulma is a famous heiress. This is as close to royalty as it gets on this planet for her, Vegeta - you know, for your reference. She knew she needed to calm the public and make a formal appearance, and this is the consequence for not getting to it."
"This didn't come out of nowhere, dad. Someone knew – someone tipped those vultures off!" Bulma yelled, bitter and angry about what transpired.
"Someone in our company probably – tired of you not coming to conferences and making regular public appearances, I assume. I'll get to the bottom of it. But you two need to make this right – otherwise, it will never end and your reputation will be toast, my dear."
"You know what – screw them, then! I know that I'm doing things right, why do I care what they think!? I've always felt like a freak my whole life – no friends, too smart for grade school, too young for college – I've had better luck with aliens than my own kind, how screwed up is that?" she cried.
Vegeta offered her his hand, trying to get her to stand up so he could console her, but she wasn't having it. She ran out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
Vegeta stood in front of his in-laws, still trying to gather just what the fuck was going on around him.
Chaps pointed towards the various types of sandwiches and side dishes on the kitchen counter.
"Just sit down and eat with us, then bring her something to eat after she's cooled off. She sounds like she's met her limit of stress - she should come around after a nap or soak in the tub."
Vegeta followed what Chaps suggested willingly, as he was starving and wanted nothing more than to eat his own stresses away.
After a couple sandwiches, Vegeta was feeling more within his depths and, after several potato chips, he felt he could address the situation calmly.
"I'm assuming those people with the cameras are what you consider your subjects?"
Chaps let out a laugh, "No, my boy, they aren't subjects – they are just the mouthpieces for modern media. They're purpose is to spread the news, whether it be factual or not. News is news to them."
"The gossips," Vegeta surmised.
"Yes, precisely. The gossips for the whole world to hear. The people here aren't considered subjects anymore, but you've married a prolific celebrity that has quite the following, that's for sure. Bulma has had to deal with the media her whole life. She doesn't usually let it get to her. Being in the public eye can be stressful, but I'm sure preparing to be a mother, losing part of her memory, and joining a new species hasn't exactly helped her remain calm as of late. She needs another vacation if you ask me."
Vegeta picked up another sandwich and, before taking a bite, realized he might actually have a way to lift her spirits tonight, given to him by the man sitting across from him at the table.
Vegeta finished his meal and turned to Chaps after grabbing a couple plates for his wife. "Do you think tonight…I should ask her?" he questioned hesitantly.
Chaps smiled, looking the Saiyan over and appraising him for a moment. He wasn't much older than his daughter, so he still had a lot to learn. Even being a prince from an alien planet didn't excuse him from his ability to understand their customs, so Dr. Briefs was going to make him do this correctly so he would have the satisfaction of an old man's blessing, whether this meant something to him in the long run or not.
"You're forgetting the first step, lad."
Vegeta paused, looking at the man with surprise.
"What else could there be? I thought I only needed to ask her and present the ring. Why are you tricking me – I trusted you," the prince glared dangerously and bared his teeth, not wanting to feel betrayal when attempting to express emotions, something he was already not good at.
Chaps only chuckled.
"Calm yourself. Vegeta - ask me first. Another Earth custom is to ask the father for his blessing over the marriage. That's all there is left to do before you ask her. You're ready, and I think tonight would be perfect," Chaps said, folding his hands on the table.
Panchy sat and watched the two men happily, sighing with contentment, "Young love - I just love this! So sweet."
Vegeta swallowed the lump in his throat. He thought it was only going to be a challenge to ask her. But come to find her father had to be asked first? This planet was really toying with his level of comfort. He had never needed to ask for acceptance once in his life. But here he was, vulnerable and afraid of possible rejection and he absolutely hated it.
"I – I uh…um," Vegeta stuttered, wishing he were taking on Frieza, Kakarot, anyone right now and not having to do this. "I ask for your…permission – to marry your daughter," he managed to say, holding his breath as he finished the words.
"Well, boy? Did you think I was going to tell you no? Of course you have my blessing!" Chaps beamed, proud of Vegeta for being open to doing things correctly.
The Saiyan quickly let out the breath he was holding with a small sigh of relief as he grabbed things for Bulma to eat.
"Thank you, son. Now go up there and give her that food! She can only stubbornly hold out for so long! Then ask her like I told you, and you'll have yourself a happy wife!" Chaps said happily, smiling at the prince.
"Tch. Yes, whatever – we'll be back down for dinner," Vegeta muttered, just happy to get this over with and be able to retreat to his bedroom with Bulma.
He sped up the stairs to finally ask Bulma and be completely over all of this uncomfortable nonsense for the day. He thought these rituals were unnecessary and didn't understand why there were so many steps involved. But if it set things right for Bulma, he supposed he could suck it up and get it over with. After all, she had done so much for him, this was the least he could do for her.
He reached for the doorknob and felt incredibly nervous out of nowhere, almost wanting to walk back down the stairs and work off this nasty stress in the GR instead.
But he knew he couldn't cower and bow out on this mission if he wanted to set things right.
"Bulma?" Vegeta asked as he opened the door.
He walked inside and noticed the bathroom light coming from under the door had just been shut off.
As Bulma walked out, she saw Vegeta standing in front of her, frozen, as if he'd been caught in the middle of something.
"Vegeta, what is it?" she saw the food in his hands and sighed happily, "Oh! Thank you, I definitely need some food right now, I was ready to chew my leg off!" she joked, taking the plates from him and seating herself on her bed.
Vegeta sat down next to her, trying to coax himself into fishing in his pocket for the last piece of the marriage puzzle that was hanging over their heads for several weeks now.
"Bulma – I," Vegeta began, then paused, trying to collect his thoughts.
"Yes?" Bulma said, muffled by her turkey sandwich bite.
"I'll let you eat, just listen," he grunted, wanting to make this special for them, but felt that floundering feeling again, out of his depths and drowning in his emotions. He swallowed hard and began again, "When I first met you, I didn't want anything to do with anyone but myself and obtaining immortality- "
"Very romantic beginning," she teased.
He sighed, "Just let me get through this, please," he cleared his throat and tried again.
"When you met me, I was a broken man, not sure what to expect from life, considering I was a slave to a tyrant who destroyed the only home I knew. It made me do a lot of things, but one thing it did right was lead me to you, even if I didn't see that clearly from the start. You and your family have managed to make Earth feel like home, and even though it is not customary in my culture to do this – I want it to be known that I, Prince Vegeta the fourth of Vegetasei, did right by Bulma Olivia Briefs when I asked her, in typical Earth fashion, to become my wife. You are already forever and always considered my mate, but will you do me the honor - will you marry me, Bulma?"
As he finished those five words, he realized he needed to position himself in front of her on the floor and so he uneasily made his way to get down on one knee. He cleared his throat in obvious discomfort and offered her the ring her father instructed him to give her.
Bulma had already stopped eating halfway through his touching words and gave him her full attention. By the end, she was in tears, giggling when he got down in front of her. She knew this was all going to happen eventually, but in the spontaneity of his proposal, she found herself as surprised as when he first chose her as his mate.
She got up from the bed to stand before him and as she examined the large ring with closer inspection, she let out a gasp.
"My grandmother's ring… oh my kai – dad had you give me this ring? I – can't believe it, I miss her so much – "she realized he was still waiting on her to reply to him, but she couldn't speak as she covered her mouth with her hand, noticing her tears falling much faster now.
Bulma knew he didn't understand why, but he was sharing a sentimental moment with her that coupled with his proposal had her falling to her own knees and embracing him tightly, crying heavily into his chest.
"Vegeta, you are so special to me, and this – thank you. I needed this more than you will ever know. Yes, a thousand times yes, I will marry you!" she exclaimed happily, raising his hand that held the precious heirloom.
"Place the ring on this finger, okay?" she instructed and, as he lowered himself to her level on the floor, he gently placed it on her left hand, looking up into her bright blue eyes, which were still shining with unshed tears. He felt the love and appreciation she had for him in that moment and it rendered him speechless as he rested his forehead against hers, finding himself emotionally spent and in need of a good nap.
"You're tired, I can feel it. Let's take a nap, and maybe try training again tonight? Can't have us distracted with all this nonsense, wasting perfect sparring time, right?" Bulma smirked.
Vegeta started laughing at her words, and the sound was so genuine and pleasant that Bulma couldn't help but join him. He kissed her forehead tenderly and pulled them up from the floor.
"Yes, that sounds like an excellent idea," he told her while she was looking down momentarily, marveling at her new ring. She looked up and smiled at him, and he gave her a small smile back, pleased that she took all of this so well.
"We both have our work cut out for us, don't we?" she added while she began shuffling plates from the bed to the desk.
He grunted in agreement and helped her remove her plates from their bed as Bulma pulled the blankets down, settling herself in next to her husband when he laid down next to her.
He turned on his side and gave her a serious look while wrapping her in his arms.
"Alright, mate. We get one hour-long nap. Then it's back to training. Got it?" as he said this, he wrapped his tail tightly around her waist, pulling her in closer to his body. She held her hand up to her face to hide her grin, as she understood there was a smile still in his tone.
"You're the boss, applesauce," Bulma yawned, taking her own tail and wrapping it around his middle to return the gesture. She instantly felt a rush of emotion from him, and as her breathing deepened, the warmth of his adoration for her had her in the most comfortable and fitful sleep she'd honestly ever had.
Her life was becoming full of new beginnings, and she realized that this one was now her new favorite one.