Disclaimer: remains constant.

Summary: Bra is born, and this chapter is my rendition of how the deep love between Vegeta and Bra, so evident in GT, began. Even when Bra was just a tiny little seed deep within Vegeta's body, he knew her and had been given the opportunity to see her during his time in the afterlife.

And you will find out who actually has the Heart of Hope that this entire second story is dedicated too, even if not directly about.

This chapter also ties the original story and the sequel together, and so I have included a significant passage from The Shattering, which appears in italics in the body of the text.

I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I've enjoyed writing it for you.

Alerts: Relationship between Trunks and Tien continues and is depicted in this chapter.

(Kleenex -- possibly **grin**, but I think you might laugh some too (^_~)


Wings of a Hero

Fly, fly, fly high against the sky.

So high I almost touch the sky,

Thank you, thank you,

For you are the wind beneath my wings.

A baby girl's heart song to her father


The sounds of preparations were resonating as Vegeta, with Chibi right there beside him, put the finishing touches on the birthing area up at the quiet place. Father and son were currently working on putting up poles from which to hang curtains to insure privacy for Bulma, protecting her from anyone's eyes except Vegeta's as she prepared to give birth. He wanted the birth of this new baby girl to be in accord with the stories Anuhea had told him about the old times in Saiyan culture when living openly as mates was still practiced, and one in which a birth would be a private, and intimate matter, witnessed and shared only by the proud parents.

In Anuhea's stories, she had told her son that in the Saiyan times before Frieza, the tradition was for the father to deliver the child into the world himself, which seemed only fitting, since the father was the one who placed the seed for the child deep within the body of the mother to begin with. Vegeta found that the idea had appealed to him and it was the desire of his heart for his daughter to be born in this manner. He had learned much about himself and his heritage over the last year and he had embraced it, and took it into himself, accepting himself more fully as he realized that even the ability to transform was connected to the old ways. One day, Vegeta knew he would even sit down and tell Kakarotto the truth about why they could transform, but he also determined with a sarcastic smile that that was something very low on his list of priorities right now.

The night that his baby girl was conceived, Vegeta had arranged to return from the other world as a fully alive and vital man, but one who had intended to return to the other world the next morning. And with that, on that night 9 months ago, Vegeta had been granted permission by King Yemma to return to earth not only to give his wife the gift of his baby girl but also to tell her goodbye. And standing there looking at those silk pillows on the ground before him, Vegeta's onyx black eyes began to well with tears as he realized just how close he came to never being able to share the birth of his baby girl with Bulma and quietly, he began to weep as he closed his eyes and remembered that night.

And before he even said a single word, his onyx black eyes were already welling with tears and he struggled to maintain his sense of control and dignity, because what he had to tell her was both exquisitely beautiful, and exquisitely heartbreaking to him.

"Bulma, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. You are my mate, and I know now that we will continue, even into the next dimension. We will be together for the fullness of time, you and I." And he looked at her smiling

"I have returned here tonight for two reasons Bulma, and it breaks my heart to tell you that I simply cannot dwell in this time and place any longer. I don't know how to be a warrior without the hatred that used to consume me and I don't know how to live without being a warrior. So, I have decided to stay in the other world and wait for you until the fullness of your days here in the land of the living have passed. And when that day comes, I will be waiting for you in the other world, and we will be together there for all time".

And he watched her soft blue eyes begin to well up and overflow with tears because she knew that no matter how hard she was going to try to hold her husband, she would not be able to keep him there. And her tears soon turned into quiet sobs, as she so desperately did not want to let him go.

"And now, and I have planned this ceremony because I have a gift for you. Bulma, deep within my body dwells the seed of an exquisitely beautiful little blue haired girl, and I am here to give her to you tonight".

"Bulma, as she grows inside of you, come here to our quiet place often and know that I will be able to see you from the other world, and during those times when you yearn for my touch, just feel the breeze as it blows sensuously over your body and know that it will be me, savoring every beautiful inch of you".

"And I would like you to come back, right to this very this spot to give birth to my daughter and Bulma, she'll have blue hair and blue eyes and she'll be beautiful just like you. I want her to born right here on this very bed where we are about to make love and welcome her, and I want you to name her Bra. And the first time you hold my daughter to your breast, know that I will be right there beside you, holding the both of you in my heart, and even now I long to share that moment with you".

…… and so he controlled his passion until her time of abandon overtook her, and at that exact moment, he released the seed containing his baby girl to Bulma, and he knew in heart that his daughter would be wild and passionate just like him. And when their passion had subsided, all Vegeta wanted to do was hold his wife while she fell asleep in his arms, telling her that when she awoke, he would be gone.

Excerpt from chapter 11, The Shattering.

As his tears still flowed freely down his cheeks, Vegeta looked over at Chibi and realized that it was really because of his young son that he ultimately chose to remain in the land of the living. Chibi Trunks was born with a heart of hope that was so strong that it had become literally become his father's lifeline time and time again, and the connection between the two of them had proved to transcend even the barriers of time and space. His young son had always seemed to know, without conscious effort and without knowing what or even how he knew, those times when his father's very existence depended on him, and Vegeta was deeply moved.

"Poppa? Are you crying" his young asked, looking up at his father. "Do you miss Trunks as much as I do?" And with that, Chibi went rushing into his father's arms and began to cry too.

For a moment in time, Vegeta struggled against his pride, as he had never before displayed such intimate emotions in front of his son. Yet, the warrior who had destroyed the planet Arlia for his own amusement, the warrior who tried to single handedly destroy all of the earth's special forces and even the very earth itself, and the warrior who could still destroy but now chose not to do so for his own amusement any longer, this warrior chose to drop to his knees in front of his young son and embrace him, holding him tightly while his own tears spilled over onto the lavender haired head he held tightly to his chest.

"Yes, son I miss him too", was all the proud Prince had said.

"Can we call him when we get home, Poppa? I want him to be here too. You've got mom and you'll be real busy when the baby is being born and I will be out here all alone. Can he come too, Poppa? Please?"

"We'll call Trunks when we arrive back home, son. Now, let's dry our tears and get back to work. Your little sister will be here before we know it". Vegeta's heart was now filled with compassion where once there was only hatred and bitterness, and he had come to like that about himself.

"I love you Poppa." Chibi said beaming at his father.

"Yes, son. I know you do". And Vegeta closed his eyes and smiled to himself, knowing that the next question would be, 'do you love me?' He had been through this conversation too many times with his family and he found the predictability of it to be joyful to him. But suddenly he found he did not wish to force his son to ask him that question, not anymore.

"Trunks, I love you and I am at a loss as to how to say it any other way. Now, lets get back to work! Your baby sister will be here before we are ready for her if we do not hurry. I can feel it."

And as Vegeta and his son wrapped things up at the quiet place, Tien's daughter Hannah lay in her bed thinking about the sounds of a different type that had resonated throughout her father's mountain home the night before. Hannah was simply amazed that it was even physically possible for two people to continue onward like her father and his new mate had done, and she wasn't sure if the sounds of their love making had left her feeling aroused, disgusted, or a combination of the two. But she did find that it only served to intensify her desire have the tall lavender haired man make love to her now and have him make those sounds of pleasure with her instead of with her father.

And so, she thought about the different ways she could get close to Trunks, and decided that it wouldn't be easy because he thought he was so in love with her father. With that, she decided would probably have to trick him in order to get him to respond to her with passion. Hannah was so sure of her feminine wiles, that she was convinced that once she got Trunks aroused, he would be hers.

'After all, gay men made love to women too', Hannah thought to herself and felt that her existence was proof of that fact. She did not believe for a minute that her father and mother had been together only one time as they had told her. Rather, Hannah had always thought that her father had repeatedly used her mother during those times he was in between lovers. Her father had always had a steady flow of men into his life from the both the nearby monasteries and to the best of her knowledge still did, up to recently. Not that she had ever seen it with her own eyes and she was surprised that she had found no indication of lewd behavior during her stay there. But she knew what she had heard her mother say that night so long ago when Launch was crying and talking on the telephone.

While Hannah believed she was falling in love with her father's lover, she knew that she was also excited by the idea of having the chance to hurt her father by taking away this man whom he claimed to love now. She wanted to see his tears flow just like the ones her mother cried over him. Hannah had grown up with the strong desire to punish her father and she simply could not believe the opportunity she had been presented with.

When she entered the kitchen that morning, her father was sitting at the table drinking a cup of coffee, and Trunks was just standing at the kitchen sink staring out the window that stupid silly grin still on his face. And she was certain that she must have been several shades of crimson when she walked in and sat down.

"Did you sleep well, Hannah?" Tienshinhan asked. "Let me get you a cup of coffee". And with that he walked over to the counter by the coffee pot and instantly got lost in his mate's eyes. It was clear to her that if she were not present, the both of them would be in each other's arms without hesitation.

And Hannah was surprised to find that she actually wanted the couple to be alone and as much as she wanted Trunks, she also wanted her father to continue to bond with the lavender haired man, making her triumph even that much sweeter when she lowered the boom on him. So she graciously told him that she had changed her mind about the coffee and had decided to go into town for the day to shop and began to walk out of the kitchen. And as she turned to look at them for a moment, she realized she needed to hurry out of the house as they had apparently chosen to proceed on the spot and were about to initiate the kitchen.

With that, the two lovers were far beyond the point in which passion overtakes reason when the phone rang.

And when Trunks heard the sound of his father's voice on the answering machine, he was so excited that he picked up the phone forgetting what he was currently doing.

"Hi Dad! Did mom have her baby?"

"Are you okay, son? You sound out of breath". And with that, reality set in and Trunks suddenly remembered what he was doing, and now, at that very moment in time he was talking to his father, Vegeta, warrior Prince of the Saiyan race, while he was doing it! Trunks' eyes got as big as saucers as he looked at Tienshinhan and mouthed the words 'help me' while handing him the phone.

"He's okay, Vegeta", Tien said with great amusement in his voice. "It's just that your son was right in the middle of something and probably should have let the answering machine get the phone".

"Shall I call back later?"

"No, that's okay. My mate has just realized that he's misplaced a very important tool and will not be able to complete the task at hand anyway. Hold on, he'll be right back."

And when Trunks had returned to his adult self he picked up the phone again.

"Hey there Father, what can I do for you", he said, trying to act casual.

And all Trunks heard on the other end of the phone was the sound of laughter. And when Vegeta could breathe again, he invited Trunks to come and stay with them until the baby was born. He told Trunks it was important to all of them, but especially important to Chibi and he told Trunks how Chibi cried for him earlier. And Trunks excitedly agreed and said he'd be there shortly.

"And don't worry, my seme son" Vegeta said still laughing wickedly "I am confident in your ability to locate your important "tool" again. I do not think you have misplaced it permanently; rather, I am under the impression that it is probably only hiding and will come out again under more favorable circumstances. While you have filled my day with laughter, next time do us all a favor, Trunks, and just let the answering machine get the phone." Click.

And when Trunks sheepishly walked through the front door of Capsule Corporation, Vegeta was still laughing at him.

"Stop laughing at me, Father, it's not that funny"! But Trunks couldn't help but laugh at himself too for becoming such a scared little boy like he did, and much to his surprise, found a certain amount of pride welling up inside of himself as he realized that his father now knew that he had found yet another way to walk as a warrior!

'Yes, Father, I am indeed a mighty warrior!' Trunks said to himself, as he stood there very tall and proud now in front of his father, as his eyes flashed and a wide smile lit up his face. With that, Trunks looked straight into his father's eyes, challenging him to say something else about it.

And as Bulma's powerful first contraction hit her, the sound of VEEGEETAAAAA, MY WATER JUST BROKE was heard resonating from the kitchen. And for a moment in time, it was Vegeta's eyes that got as big as saucers, because that wasn't supposed to happen for a long time yet.

'I am a warrior', he said to himself as he turned to walk into the kitchen to assess the situation. 'I can do this'. And he was sure Bulma had to be mistaken.

But when he entered the kitchen, he found her standing in a puddle and she was in another active contraction and knowing he didn't have time to take her out to the quiet place now, he gently gathered Bulma into his arms and carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

As he passed Trunks, he told him the phone number for the midwife was on the refrigerator and told him to call her immediately. He called Chibi and told him what was happening and asked him to get Trunks and fly out to the quiet place quickly and bring back the medical supplies and other things needed for both his mom and his new little sister. And he told Chibi how proud he was to have him be in charge of such an important undertaking. Now, Vegeta already had all of the supplies he needed on hand, but he wanted his son's to be busy doing something important and since he wasn't entirely sure that Bulma was okay, he didn't want to have to worry about them too.

And as he gently helped her out of her clothes another contraction of great intensity hit and he held her close, not wanting her to see the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

After a while he put his hand on Bulma's belly and told his little warrior daughter to slow down, that she didn't need to fight so hard to come out.

And when Bulma finally realized how upset her husband actually was, she embraced him and told him that it was okay and that she was okay too. She explained to him that she was a having what's called a precipitous delivery and that as long as little Bra was in the right position, everything would be just fine. She told him that his baby girl just couldn't wait any longer to finally met him and she reminded him of all those times when the baby would be restless inside of her and how she would instantly calm down at the touch of her father's hand.

"She already knows you Vegeta", Bulma said looking at her husband with great compassion. "She is clearly in love with you and has been for months. I think I hear the midwife, go let her in, okay?"

After examining Bulma, the midwife reassured Vegeta that his wife and child were just fine and there was no need to worry, and she asked him if he still wanted to help in the delivery to which he replied a resounding yes.

Within 30 minutes time, and with one long and impassioned final push, a brand new blue haired little life made her entrance into the world. And the midwife handed the little girl to her father and he wrapped her in a soft cloth blanket and he gently washed her face and he carefully laid his new baby daughter on her tummy on Bulma's tummy and even though infants weren't supposed to be able to lift their heads; this little girl lifted hers and looked at him square in the eyes. And she began to cry and Bulma began to cry, and Vegeta, in spite of his efforts keep his emotions in check started to cry, and soon even the midwife began to cry because it was probably the most moving and loving thing she had ever seen.

"Take her, Vegeta, hold her for a while. The midwife needs to help me with some things". And so he picked his brand new little baby girl up and she stopped crying, but dad didn't. Vegeta was totally smitten. And as he looked over at Bulma, it became obvious to him that she was remembering that night 9 months ago when he had come to tell her goodbye.

"Thank you for coming back to us, Vegeta". Bulma said with tears streaming down her face. "I didn't know what I was going to do without you. Now come here and help me put our daughter to my breast and I fully expect you to hold us, just like you promised to do nine months ago. I want to look at the gift you've just given to me."

And with that, the midwife left and gave the new little family the time they needed to love each other and bond with each other. She didn't think she had ever seen a father who was already so totally wrapped around his child's finger.

She was sitting down in the living room when the two Trunks arrived back from a frantic trip to the quiet place. And she told them that their new little sister had just been too impatient to wait for them. They rushed upstairs and knocked on the bedroom door and entered to the sound of Vegeta's voice and they found Vegeta sitting in the rocking chair, holding both Bulma and the nursing baby. And he motioned for Chibi to come over too, because they had saved room for him and so Chibi flung himself up onto their laps and was mesmerized by the little blue haired girl.

He gently touched her soft blue hair and smiled at her and his eyes got a little big when he saw what his mom was doing and Vegeta told his young son that his mom was simply doing what mom's did and was feeding the baby. And Vegeta looked over at the tall lavender haired man who was standing over across the room all by himself, looking very left out and forlorn, and Vegeta laughed and told him that while he simply didn't think there was any room left on the rocking chair that he was surely welcome to come over and be a part of them. And so the adult Trunks also flung himself over into their awaiting arms. His father simply looked at him and smiled.

With that, Vegeta's family was complete. And he hoped that Anuhea was watching from the other world viewing room, so that she could see that all the of the sacrifices that she had made in her young life for the sake of her child had not been in vain, that her legacy lived on in all of them.

And Vegeta noticed that a breeze was building up outside and he asked Trunks to go open the window and a wild and warm summer mountain breeze came rushing in.

"Wave to your gramma", Vegeta said as took Bra's little hand. And Vegeta found that he was truly happy now. He felt connected, no longer alone, no longer wounded, no longer angry, no longer 5 years old, no longer even aware of a time prior to his family. All of them combined had loved the pain right away. And now, he found that he had yet another person in his life who thought that he was number one. With that, he even chose to let go of the anger in his heart for Kakarotto. It belonged to another far away time.

And when it was clear that little Bra was satisfied, Vegeta asked Bulma to hand the little girl to her new big brother. With that, Chibi's eyes once again got large, but he took his little sister and she snuggled into him and he was also smitten. Totally. And all he could do was stare at her and smile.

And so the latest chapter in the lives of Vegeta and his family was now complete. Complete in numbers and complete in love. Complete in fullness. Complete.

Yet, unknown to all of them at the moment, a beautiful 17-year-old young woman was putting plans into place that might well leave the lavender haired adult son of Vegeta and Bulma completely heartbroken.

~~~

It might have appeared to go unnoticed,

But I've got it all here in my heart,

I want you to know the truth; of course I know it,

I would be nothing without you.

~~~

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

You're everything I wish I could be.

I could fly higher than an eagle

For you are the wind beneath my wings

~~~

Bulma, Chibi Trunks, Bra, and Trunks --- a family's heart song to their hero

Sources

Wind Beneath My Wings by Larry Henley and Jeff Silbar

Dragonballz by Akira Toriyama

The Shattering by LindaN

(To be continued)