Chapter 13: Love's Labor
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em and I'm broke.
AN: Good guessing guys! The chi was in fact our little Trunks, peeved because of Bulma's anger toward Vegeta. And yes, he's being a prick. You didn't honestly think that it would be THAT easy to get them together, did you? Seriously. A one night stand doesn't usually lead to love. That takes work and a stubborn heart. Just what Bulma has and is capable of, but then again, Veggie is pretty stubborn too. Anywho…On with the goodness….
~*~
Vegeta felt his jaw drop as Bulma actually levitated off the bed, and glared at him, her hair shooting straight up, standing by force of chi to mirror his own style. She reminded him of ningen stories he had heard of humans "possessed" by unearthly daemons. Not only was he intrigued, Vegeta had to admit he was a tad bit scared too. Never had she shown this potential, but then again, it wasn't her. The signature of the chi was obvious now, it was a mix of hers and his, with undoubtedly male essence. Their brat. And it was taking her side. Were mother and child linked that closely? Vegeta was almost jealous for a moment, but quickly shoved any feeling away and stood with arms crossed as the chi faltered, the unborn child supplying it growing tired, as well as his mother's body, not used to such energy. Bulma started to fall to the ground, but Vegeta made sure to catch her fall, careful of her full belly. After laying her on the bed, he chuckled when he noticed that she had already fallen asleep. Watching her a few moments he determined that the woman was out for the count, and she wouldn't be waking up any time soon. Slowly, he put his ear onto Bulma's stomach, laughing softly as the chi flared again, although not as strongly this time. 'Come now little one, I'm not going to hurt the onna.' A slight smile graced his normally icy features as the chi lowered slowly. His son would be strong indeed. Covering Bulma up with a blanket, Vegeta made a B-line for the gravity room.
~*~
Bulma was due in a couple of weeks and she hadn't seen hardly any sign of Vegeta since the day he had torn the radio from her wall. Bulma and her mother busied themselves with the nursery and the different tests had come out to prove that the child inside Bulma would, in fact, be male, as Vegeta had predicted. Mrs. Briefs chirped over to her daughter that she was going to go and buy some more dinosaur stickers to decorate the outside of the crib since they had run out. Nodding, Bulma continued to fold the socks and night suits into the top drawer of the dresser/changing table combo they had found the day before. However busy she was, Bulma couldn't shake the feeling that her mother hadn't left the room. She turned to see if she was alone and was met with a gaze of black eyes. Vegeta was the only one standing in the room, by the crib. On the night table next to him were four packs of dinosaur stickers. Frowning, Bulma crossed her arms, unconsciously making herself a reflection of the man in front of here. Surprisingly, Vegeta was the first to speak.
"We need to talk."
"Is that why you ran my mom out?"
"She left on her own when I walked in."
"Well, Now that we know you can successfully scare us baka ningens, you fan go back to training."
"I said we needed to talk."
"Nandato?"
"I'm leaving."
"Nani?"
"Don't make me repeat myself, onna. I'm leaving. I've reached my limit in your machine and I'm going to do heavier training in space. I require a space ship."
"Is this your idea of talking? Listen, buddy. I don't know how it was on Vegetasei, but when people talk here, they're usually coming to a compromise about differing opinions."
"Well, I want to leave. You want me to leave, what is there to compromise?"
"I never said I wanted you gone…"
"Well, then what do you want me to do, onna? Stay here and train and not get any better and have us all killed in a year?"
"No…" Bulma was starting to feel really small.
"Then what do you suggest I do, genius?"
"You should go train where you think is best, Vegeta."
"That's right."
"But…"
"But what?"
"I want you to stay for the birth of our son."
"Our brat? You mean your brat."
"It takes two to tango. I didn't masturbate and get pregnant, you know."
"I'm not staying to see some baka infant pop out from between your legs like a daisy. I'm going to train."
"If you don't stay, I will refuse to provide the space ship." Vegeta growled, and looked into her eyes. They were cold as an ice wall, and just as unmoving. Deciding to let her have her way this once, and never again, Vegeta nodded and left the room, heading for the gravity chamber. If he were staying, then there was no use in getting rusty until he could leave.
~*~
That night Bulma dressed in an oversized tee and carefully eased her way into bed. Her back hurt, her head hurt, and most of all her heart hurt. She thought about Vegeta leaving, mostly. They had never been very close and the one night stand had been all of their relationship, but she was going to miss him. She didn't know why, but her heart was breaking at the thought of losing him. She dismissed it as the hormones of pregnancy corrupting her thinking and drifted off into a fitful sleep.
~*~
Bulma was running, clutching her aching, swollen stomach as she went. She tried to picture in her mind what she was running from, but found she couldn't. Her old courage that always found a foothold when needed forced her to turn in her tracks and face what was chasing her . She turned, the feeling of lightheadedness registering and found her face to face with two women. One was young, beautiful, and seemingly happy. But her eyes were restless. Blue hair was done up in the latest style and her wardrobe was only the best in fashion. Bulma recognized herself immediately. But it wasn't her. The eyes were different, and the reflection wasn't with child. Movement to her side caused her to turn, coming face to face with another image of herself, this one looking just as fashionable, but more tired, defeated. Her eyes were sad, and wrinkles of stress weren't well concealed. Stepping back so that she could see both women, Bulma tried to speak, but found that she could not. The first one held up her hand.
"You cannot talk. We have much to tell and little time to tell it." She looked at Bulma for a moment and then smiled. "You wonder what this all is, don't you?" Bulma nodded in reply. "We are the Paths not Taken. This is what could have been. Trust us, you took the right path. She," The one with the restless eyes pointed to the defeated one. "is what you would have become if you had not coupled with Vegeta. He would have become more and more verbally abusive, unlike the passive, cold person he is now until he snapped and killed Yamcha, Goku, and Piccolo during a sparring match. That would have led to the other fighters depressions. Vegeta would then have killed off everyone else who opposed him and he would have taking over the world. The only good thing that would come of this, is that the androids creator would have no reason to release them, as Goku would be dead, and seeing Vegeta as a strong ruler, he would offer his services, only to be killed by Vegeta. Angered by your friends deaths, you would go after Vegeta to kill him, but he would kill you instead. So you see, even though this choice you made doesn't seem right, it was good that you did.
Now I, you see is the what if of a later decision on your part. If you would have had the abortion that Vegeta suggested, none of the other Z senshi would have found out about you and Vegeta's one night stand. Yamcha, asking you out again, would have proposed. This is you as Yamcha's wife. Trust me. Yamcha and you are better off as friends. He's not dominant enough for you, and your too high maintenance for him.
Now, getting to the important part. You've got two paths you can take from here. Of course there are other paths you can take too. You make your own destiny, Bulma. Nothing is set. Here however, the two that will make you happiest. They both have the same outcome, but different outcomes, you know. It depends on what kind of a Vegeta you want, and if you really want this child. In two days, Vegeta will go through a little hormonal imbalance for seven hours that will render him completely open to the effects of ningen alcohol. If you can get him drunk and couple with him between 1 and 8 that evening, you will have completed a Saiyajin ritual that says two Saiyajin who mate twice are mated forever. He wont be able to leave your side ever. However, you will have a miscarriage from Vegeta not having any control what-so-ever. The other choice is to let Vegeta make a very important decision. One that's important to him at least…" The two women in front of her faded before the Restless Bulma could finish telling her what to do. Bulma felt like she was in an earthquake, for suddenly the ground gave out beneath her and she tumbled and tossed down a jagged hole.
"Woman! Wake up!" Bulma opened her eyes and glared at Vegeta, who was gently shaking her. "What is that look for? You were having nightmares."
"What makes you think that, Vegeta?" she asked groggily, sitting up and pushing him away.
"Maybe it's because you were whimpering. Or it could have been the tears on your cheeks." He reached over and touched her face. When Vegeta pulled back his hand, Bulma could see that the tips of his fingers were moist.
"That's weird. I wasn't having a bad dream…just an odd one." Bulma went to lay back down when a horrible pain racked her entire body.
