Just so y'all know, I'm like really hyped up tonight. Don't ask me why, I really couldn't tell ya. I'm a little on the incoherent side, and when I look back at what I've written tomorrow, I'm probably gonna be like, "What the hell??"
Fun to write as this is, this chappie is a little on the boring side(to me anyways, but I'm also hyper and like ADD right now). There's more character development than plot advancement, so, yeah. Knowing y'all, you'll probly love it, and you know what I say? Bo-ring. Mwahahahaha!!!
-_-;; Please note that I am on a review high(I love y'all!!) so I'm gonna be like really full of myself for awhile. Just a warning. Beware! Beware! Be very very ware! Oh my gosh I need sleep…
Yeah, you guys know the deal with the double Trunks' and Bulma's. And if you don't by now, you can just go back a few chapters!
Disclaimer: I own a mountain of stuffed animals. Really. I adore my stuffed animals. I make up soap opera's with them late at night. Oooo, lookie! It's almost 2am…
(~*~)
Setting the pan back on the burner after emptying it of pancakes, Bra turned around to head to the 'fridge, running into Goten in the process. She gave a start, wondering how he had managed to sneak up on her, in front of her father even. Knowing Vegeta, unpredictable as he was, he'd probably like that Goten didn't cower away from him.
Or maybe not…
Growling ferally, the shorter Saiyajin pushed Goten neatly to the other side of the kitchen with a small shove. Goten gave an embarassed look before scampering from the room, feeling somewhat harassed. Bra punched her father in the arm, giving him her best puppy-dog eyes. He ignored her, having long since de-sensitized himself to the 'look of doom', instead walking over to stand behind his mate. He rested his chin on her shoulder while encircling her waist protectively with his arms. Bulma continued pouring batter into the frying pan, but Bra didn't miss the small movement of her head, so her temple was in contact with Vegeta's.
Bra focused on his eyes, noting how content he looked. The onyx orbs had lost their deadened look, making him seem alive for the first time that she could recall. She loved seeing him this happy. Bulma and Trunks leavetaking would leave him in a worse state than before, and Bra knew she would be hard-pressed to keep him among the living for much longer. He had told her once that Saiyajin father's bond with their children, to ensure they didn't abandon them. Of course, the bond wasn't nearly as strong as that between mates, but it was enough to alert her to his often suicidal mindset.
Of course, she had never really expected him to stick around long after she married. Or mated. Whatever. She got the feeling that raising her was the only reason he had not died long since. She turned her mind to happier ramblings.
Trunks was exactly how Goten had said he would be. A guy. Her Kaachan though. Maybe she was just acting real nice since she was so happy to be home. All of their old friends said she had been feisty. It was most likely the reason that Bra had been compared to her mother so often by the older employees at CC. She ruled her kingdom with an iron touch. Silky smooth on the outside, and strong as, well, iron on the inside.
She couldn't wait to get her mother into the lab. She would have to make a run home to get the scouter that she had made for her father a few years back. She had never bothered with the old components. She possesed what neither one of her parents could ever lay claim to, knowledge of technology and fighting. And from what Vegeta said, her invention did even more than his old scouter had.
Bulma started giggling suddenly, and Bra paused to see what was going on. Vegeta was whispering inaudibly in her ear, and his fingers were tickling her sides. He had his 'smirk of death' on, as Bra called it. But it wasn't a cold smirk, more like a smile. Bulma turned to face him, trying to avoid the torture. But it was of no use, as her back was trapped against the counter. Bra couldn't help smiling at their childish antics, and returned to slicing strawberries in half.
trunks mother entered the kitchen, looking bright and refreshed, though her eyes betrayed signs of old age. As if she had seen far too much in her not-so-very long life.
(~*~)
Traipsing down hallways that were eerily familiar, yet sometimes strikingly different, bulma tried to push away the tide of homesickness that washed over her. Wonderful smells drew her quickly to the kitchen.
Hearing what must be a younger version of her own laugh, she stopped in the doorway, surveying her surroundings hastily. Bra was being the little domestic goddess, and slicing fruit while watching the pancakes and occasionally yelling something to the young semi-saiyajin in the next room, using the window between the two rooms to her advantage.
Bulma was being tickled viciously by Vegeta, who had her pinned to the counter with his body. bulma couldn't make out what he was telling his mate, but it only made her laugh that much harder. She heaved a small sigh, wishing the empty feeling she had gained at Vegeta's death would disappear, or be filled, or be anything but what it was…painful.
She took heart, reminding herself that she had helped to give the couple before her at least this much. And the young lovers of the next generation also. She gave Bra a small smile and a quick, "Ohayo" before heading to the living room, where the afore-mentioned next generation was socializing.
Again stopping in the door way, she scanned the faces before her. Of course, trunks was easily recognized. As was his counterpart, who looked a great deal younger, about the same age his mother appeared to be. Not to mention he had regained his tail. Or perhaps he had never lost it? A question for later. Goten was sitting next to Trunks, and the two seemed to be taking turns smacking each other upside the head, large grins plastered across their faces. Bra seemed to be cheering them on from where she watched in the kitchen. bulma shook her head in confusion, teenage boys had always puzzled her. Especially Saiyajin teenage boys. Of course, she had only known very few, but they were still a mystery sometimes.
A black-haired girl, about Bra's age, was seated close to trunks, both obviously ashamed of their companions odd, rather unintelligent behavior. They whispered to each other occasionally, probably on the subject of the spectacle before them, their whispering fazing into laughter every few moments. After a couple minutes trunks noticed his mother, and quickly rose to cross the room and kiss her on the cheek. Giving her son a pat on the back, she shooed him back over to be with his new friends. She could tell he was feeling a little awkward, considering his last visit to this time, all of his friends had been these young Saiyajin's parents. He still felt a part of the older crowd, and yet part of the younger, too. Not a very easy place to be.
It was really no surprise to see trunks enjoying the company of Gohan's daughter, as she most likely posessed at least a few of her father's personality traits. bulma wondered idly who the girl's mother was. Yet another question for later.
Retreating back into the kitchen, bulma noted the comfortable silence that had commandeered the room, aside from Bra's occasional interjections to those seated on the other side of the window. Bulma was back to pancake frying, and Vegeta was in his usual spot, leaning on the refrigerator, his arms crossed over his chest.
He had always loved that spot, even here, she supposed. Especially when he had still been unfamiliar with the family. If they happened to need anything out of the large appliance, he would stand there, umoving, simply staring at them as though they were dumb animals. Or, in bulma's case, he would taunt and tease till he got a good argument out of her. Of course, if bulma happened to be the hungry one, he could usually get a rise out of her either way.
Bra crossed the kitchen towards the fridge, seemingly in search of more fruit. She stopped when she was standing directly in front of Vegeta, her blue eyes staring forcefully into his.
"Touchan," she began quietly, menacingly. "You can move, or be moved." She paused then, waiting for his reply.
"Che, I would love to see you try," he challenged. In a movement too fast for either Bulma to see, much less comprehend, the pair was on the other side of the room, Bra tightly gripping a handful of her fathers thick hair. He seemed a little unnerved, and tried to stay dignified while shifting to avoid any more pain to his scalp. Immensely satisfied, Bra blurred back to stand in front of the appliance-which-contains-cold-things.
Vegeta straightened and huffed his way over to another unoccupied piece of wall. His eyes once again fastened themselves onto his mate, who was trying to smother her chuckles with a small hand.
"Bra, I must congratulate you on achieving the impossible. You've done what I was never able to do; remove your father from one of his 'spots'." Bulma remarked, her face turning red from the effort of hiding her amusement.
"I did, once," bulma said quietly. She blushed bright red. "Except that I didn't get any food, and the only result was trunks." Her blush deepened even more.
Bulma gave her a knowing look. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." She smiled almost evilly.
"Too much information!" Bra cried, backing away from the refrigerator hastily. "Icky!" she near-sobbed. Both Bulmas burst into rather sadistic laughter, and Vegeta eyed the two warily, a hunted look on his face.
"Not to change the subject, but—" bulma began, still giggling.
"Please do!" the blue-haired demi-saiyajin interjected vehemently. bulma laughed again.
"Do you mind my asking what your plans are for your day home?" Bulma shrugged in response, glancing at Vegeta to see if he had anything to say. "Then can I make a suggestion? How about a little get-together? Just for the Z senshi of course, no one else would really understand." She waited expectantly, somewhat hopefully. Bulma gave her mate a look of, "why not?" and he merely shrugged in return.
"Party time!" Bra cried, skipping joyously into the other room. She quickly sent the group off to various destinations. She paused for a moment to ask her mother what time to tell everyone, then returned to her delegating. Pan was sent to retrieve Marron and her family, along with Roshi. She seemed a little disgruntled to have to go near the old master, but did as ordered; she knew that nothing good came from crossing the young owner of Capsule Corp.. Goten of course was sent home, with Trunks in tow. trunks was given directions to Yamucha's spiffy bachelor pad, and some encapsulized vehicle to drive.
Having sent friends and family off to complete their tasks, Bra returned to the room with her parents in it. She got shocked looks from her mother, and her mother's counterpart. Vegeta looked in no way surprised, having seen his daughter deal with her employees in a similar manner.
"What?" she asked, returning to the griddle with renewed fervor.
(~*~)
Goten, Trunks and the rest of the Son clan arrived early, as Chi-Chi insisted she help with cooking.
After eating breakfast(which everyone loved) both Bulma's quickly took a seat in the living room with Goku, while Vegeta and Trunks began their sparring session, and Chi-Chi and her prize student began preparing the food.
"Hey Bulma, how do you like your halo? I always enjoyed mine, since it kinda reminded me of my tail." Goku looked somewhat nostalgic, now posessing neither halo nor tail. Bulma gave him a confused look.
"How does it remind you of your tail?" She touched the gold ring lightly, and it glowed brighter and made a melodic humming sound at her touch.
"Has anyone ever flicked it, or just grabbed ahold?" She nodded, a pained expression crossing her features. "It hurt like hell didn't it." She nodded, obviously recalling at least one such instance. bulma was leaning forward in her chair, her curiosity peaked by the small ring above the other woman's head. Bulma grinned then, shaking her head.
"Poor Trunks has the best of both worlds then, tail and halo." Goku looked shocked, and quickly rushed to the window to view the sparring match outside. After a moment he nodded, as if he had been sure that Bulma was pulling his leg about her son. He sat down again, obviously satisfied that she had been telling the truth. The two women rolled their eyes in unison.
"So," Goku continued his questioning. "Have you met the Grand Kai yet?" Bulma looked somewhat disgruntled at the mention of the old warrior.
"Hai, though I didn't particularly like him. He reminds me of Roshi a little too much. Apparently, I'm the first female on his planet that didn't threaten to kill him, and even if I did threaten, I would not be able to back it up." Goku chuckled, and bulma just gave her a knowing glance.
Silence reigned for a few moments, the three all lost in their own thoughts. Bulma found herself thinking of this Grand Kai, if perhaps he knew anything about time, and timelines in particular. She voiced her query, and Goku answered quickly.
"I don't know about the Grand Kai, but Supreme Kai might know something. Did they tell you about Supreme Kai yet? We met him when Majin Buu appeared. Why do you want to know anyways?" bulma briefly(no pun intended) explained their real reason for 'coming for a visit'.
"Supreme Kai is higher than Grand Kai, I'm guessing?" She asked after telling her shortened tale. She was given vigorous nods in return. "Therefore he should know more on the subject. But from the way you guys are talking, Grand Kai is hard enough to get an audience with, and Supreme Kai—"
"Is not even on Grand Kai's planet." Goku finished.
"And this helps us how?" Bulma wondered. "I haven't done enough to go see Supreme Kai, so knowing he exists does us no good."
"Sure it does." Goku stated, making sound the most obvious thing in the world. "You forget that I can teleport to Ano-yo. Maybe once you and Trunks go back we could all go see Supreme Kai, and see what we can find out." Abulma tried to force down the spark of hope welling within her, but it wasn't possible. She felt like dancing around the room singing Hallelujah. Bulma was thinking hard about the matter, her brow creased with the effort she was putting into it. She spoke up after a few minutes.
"I want this to stay between the three of us. There's no point in getting everybody's hopes up, and there's really no reason for them to know. I've made my own time machine, since your trunks gave me the blueprints. If we do find a way to 'modify' these things, I'm sure we'll both be eager to fix our own pasts respectively." bulma nodded her agreement, and Goku agreed quickly, seeing no real reason to disagree.
A loud, but distant all-too-familiar roar shook the house, causing all in the building to rush outside at top speed.
(~*~)
Vegeta smirked almost evilly, fatherly pride rushing through his compact form. He watched with no small joy as his son sat ungracefully on the ground, seemingly bored. His movement caused the ground to shake quite a bit.
Do you know how many times I've had to demonstrate this? Trunks informed him telepathically, sounding exasperated, yet an audible hint of exhilaration still clung to his voice.
"Demonstrate? Were you in the middle of a fight when you 'demonstrated' your transformation? And when did you learn to control it?" Vegeta asked, a scowl quickly replacing the smirk that had previously adorned his face.
Yes I only did it while fighting, at least in front of other warriors. And King Kai taught me, I guess somebody made him another planet, because that's where he trained me. His tail was curled up in a question mark, curling and uncurling for no apparent reason.
Vegeta opened his mouth, intending on inquiring further, when he was rather rudely interrupted by the crowd that had rushed from the house. After being assured repeatedly that Trunks was in complete control of himself, all but Bra went back inside. Vegeta ground his teeth, growling quietly as she moved to stand beside Goten, her arm looping through his easily.
The Prince began a slow ascent toward his artificial moonlight.
"Vegeta-san!" Goten exclaimed urgently without taking his eyes off of the saiyajin woman at his side. Bra was standing with her shoulders slumped, her mouth wide open and eyes wide as she stared transfixed by the hovering ball of light. Her newly formed tail twitched excitedly behind her. She abruptly began her growth, gaining height, weight, bulk, and hair at an alarming rate. Goten leapt towards her tail, a ki blade already forming in his hand.
Wait! Vegeta shouted into Goten's mind, and the younger man stopped in midair, clutching his head in pain. He and Trunks were racing towards the moonlight, the oozaru with his huge height advantage reaching it first, using his body to block the light from his younger sibling. Vegeta reached the destination a split second later, drawing the energy back inside with his hand.
Bra began to shrink as fast as she had begun her growth, and in a moment she was lying face-down on the lawn, her clothes in shreds around her. Goten was kneeling nearby, still holding his head, his eyes tightly shut. Trunks who had lost his oozaru status along with the moonlight, shot towards the window to his room to gather clothes for himself and his sister.
Crouching by the young woman, Vegeta carefully gathered her into his arms and carried her to Trunks room. She was quickly dressed in a pair of Trunks' sweatpants-a hole was cut for her tail-and a large t-shirt and laid on her own bed to rest.
Goten must have mostly recovered, because Vegeta sensed his ki in the house. He had a serious headache though. The short saiyajin smirked in satisfaction and headed downstairs in search of food.
He found Goten seated on the couch, his head in his hands, with his mother cooing and hugging and doing other sickening maternal things. Vegeta scoffed at the sight of the young warrior allowing a woman to treat him like a small child with a stomachache. Except that someone she didn't particularly like had caused that ache, and there would be hell to pay. As expected, Chi-Chi stomped over to Vegeta to give him a sound tongue-lashing, his ears ringing in response to the woman's loud exclamations.
He raised a hand to silence her, and cut in when he found a pause in her monologue. "Urasai! I wanted her to keep her tail! Believe it or not, there are other ways to stop an oozaru besides hacking off their tail. It's just a matter of blocking the light source." He sadly thought of the loss of his own tail, but quickly focused on Kakarrot's mate, who was not all that satisfied with his explanation.
He gave up on drowning her out and went to stand by his mate.
***
There! That one was a bit longer right? Riiiight? I thought so. After all, it was like twice as long as 9!
You guys are so incredibly awesome!!!! I got like 8 reviews last chapter!!! Can we hit ten reviews for chapter 10????? Pretty please!! With senzu on top! I'll love y'all forever! ^__^
Yep, my brain is still on an alltime low for intelligence and coherency ratings…hyperactivity and review euphoria are on an unrecorded high! Not so sure if I want that to change anytime soon, though I really do need my intelligence scores backup if I'm gonna do any schoolwork right. That's kind of important, huh?
Well, now that my end-of-chapter-note is over, do you know what time it is?? Do you?
It…
…is…
…REVIEW…
…time!!!!!!
Or email, for those of y'all over at Angel Fanfiction! dbzfan@cox.net ! Thank ya Ann!