Chapter Thirty Seven: Two Little Miracles
Authors Notes: I'm glad to report that I'm out of my second (or is it third?) nasty bout of writers block and back into action, with lot's of new ideas ^^ Enjoy!
Azul and Strifelon stood between the rows of stone and silently regarded the growing patch of Psytrim.
"It'sss getting to be fewer and fewer every year." Sighed Azul, who was one of Strifelon's associates as well as a very knowledgeable Storkrin on the subject of the Psytrim. His long, elegant fingers sliced into the dirt around the flower and brought up a small sample of dirt. This he put into a dark green tube and handed it over to his shoulder to Strifelon, who pocketed it instantly. The air was cool and unusually windy. Strifelon raised his snout to the dark red sky and sniffed delicately. Suddenly Azul made a surprised noise.
"Wait!" he cried excitedly, as his fingers delicately prodded a very tiny nub of yellow, flesh-like material. "I think there isss another!"
"Are you sssure?" Strifelon asked. He bent down close to inspect it for himself. Sure enough, it was the very beginnings of a Psytrim. "A good omen, indeed!" Strifelon cried happily. "Thisss could mean the ssstart of a new pattern!" he straightened and smiled happily. This was truly a miracle. The Psytrim was growing at its expected rate, while another was now on the way for Koru! He smiled when he thought of how happy she would be to hear of this. There had been a slim chance that two might grow, but it had been the slimmest of chances. Now, it was real.
She and Arden would have a future together, after all.
Azul grinned as he gently pilled the dirt back on top of the bud. "Yesss. We mussst report thisss to the Council."
Strifelon snorted. "There isss not much left of the Council thessse daysss." He paused. "I will take the report to Arden."
Azul shrugged. "Do asss you pleassse." He said. "I am happy to have been of ssservice."
With that, Strifelon turned and began to make his way to the CC Ship.
It was working out to be much harder than she had expected.
Bulma growled as her hand slipped and smashed against the siding. The metal cut easily through her glove and she gasped in pain. "I'll have to smooth that down a bit better." She mumbled to herself, sliding off her glove so she could suck on the cut.
She sighed and bent back over to tend to her work. She had no idea that a certain Sayajin Prince watched her from the darkness. Although, no matter how close-up Vegeta was, he could never understand what Bulma was constructing. It was something mechanical minds would understand, not minds of warriors.
He didn't like it, though. He frowned at her from where he stood; wondering and wondering at what it was she was so caught up with. She didn't seem to be in any pain, and for a moment he considered that perhaps it was taking enough of her attention to mask the Fortricres. If that was the case, then so be it.
He was about to step out and confront her when he heard a knocking upstairs.
He slid out of the shadows and materialized upstairs before Bulma had even heard the noise.
It turned out to be a happily grinning Strifelon. "Hello Prince." He gave a nod of his head and peered over Vegeta's broad shoulders. "Isss Bulma in?"
"Why?" Vegeta asked, suspicious. He glanced down at the small green vial that Strifelon held in his clawed hands.
Strifelon only grinned his secretive grin again. "There is sssomething I think ssshe would be very interesssted to hear about."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "You mean.?"
Before Vegeta could say another word Bulma appeared beside him. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she wore loose fitting jeans and an oversized T-shirt. Oil and grease covered her arms up to the elbows. She smiled politely.
"Hello Strifelon!" she said. Her blue eyes followed Vegeta's to the vial. "What brings you here?"
Strifelon nodded his head. "Looking radiant asss ever, Bulma dear."
She grinned a lopsided grin and leaned against the doorframe, wrench in one hand. "Are you trying to sell us something?" she teased.
He cocked his head and put a clawed finger to his chin. "Hmmm.one could sssay that." He winked at her.
Bulma stared. "What's.going on?"
Vegeta smiled very, very softly as he watched Bulma for her reaction.
She looked back and forth between the two. "Are you two in on something?" she asked.
Strifelon smiled. "There are two Psssytrim, Bulma. Two are growing, in perfect health, I might add."
Bulma said nothing.
"Which meansss," he paused, looking like a child who was the keeper of some gigantic secret, "That not only will you be in perfect health in a matter of daysss, but a dear friend asss well."
"Koru.?" Bulma whispered. Her chin trembled.
Vegeta turned to her. "Looks like we'll be home soon." He said softly. "Better start packing."
It seemed then that the dam broke. That all the emotion flooded from the small, frail blue haired woman, and she shrieked as it burst and threw herself without hesitation into Vegeta's arms. He allowed her to, no, he -reveled- in it, and held her to him tighter than anything he had held before. It had always been there, they both had known that, that small flower that would eventually grow for her, but now that it was for real.
"Oh.Kami!" Bulma cried, her face a grinning, wet mess of tears. "I can't believe it!" she pulled away from Vegeta and hugged Strifelon.
"The plantsss will be ready in five days, Bulma. You can come visssit me then." He held her to him and swayed, a gentle and very content old man in the wind. "And bring Koru." He added with a smile.
"I will!" she cried. "Have you told her yet?"
He shook his head. "I wasss going to leave that to you, my dear."
And then he turned, waving his clawed hand over his shoulder as a farewell, and descended the ships steps.
Vegeta closed the door and looked at Bulma.
"It.doesn't seem real, does it?" she hiccuped. "All this bullshit we've gone through.it -hasn't- been all for nothing!"
"It has not." He agreed.
Spider and Ghost made their way to them, along with his siblings. And as creatures can usually sense these sort of things, a multitude of Roctorn tails began swishing happily in the hallway, an applaud to the woman who had suffered so much.
"Now I won't have to give it to her and feel sad about it!" Bulma said as she started down the hallway with renewed spirits.
Vegeta frowned. "Give what to her?"
But there was no reply. Vegeta sighed, shaking his head. Oh well.he supposed. He would let her be, after all, it was her day.
Besides, he would figure it out.
Koru and Arden sat together inside Arden's underground Storkrin cavern. They sat at his polished brown kitchen table, a bowl of hot Storkrin soup in front of them. Koru stirred hers around with her spoon, halfheartedly.
"Isss sssomething wrong?" Arden asked, putting his own spoon down. His brow was ceased with worry for his new companion.
"No, nothing." Koru sighed. "I suppose I'm just." she trailed off and frowned. "Who am I kidding? Of course something's wrong, and I'm an idiot to try and hide it from you, aren't I?"
Arden smiled sympathetically. "Then what isss it?"
She leaned back in her chair and tossed the spoon onto the table. It clattered in front of her, the brown soup pooling out from under it. She raised her fierce eyes to his, and Arden realized with fear that there were tears in them.
"Koru.?"
"It's not fair, Arden!" she cried, startling him. "I get out of The Dungeons, finally, and I meet you and we.we fall so far into love, only for me to know that I'm going to die!" she sniffed loudly. "I don't want to die.but there's only one Psytrim."
Arden looked down. "Koru, do you not want Bulma to regain her health?"
Koru looked up. "No! That's not it at all! Of course I want her to get better, and she deserves it.but." she frowned. "Of -course- I'm a little angry that it's going to be her and not me! I'd be insane not to be!"
She sighed. "And yet, Bulma has been such a great friend to me when no one else would be one, so a part of my heart wants nothing -but- to see her get well again."
They sat in silence. Arden lifted his head to speak, when he was interrupted by a knock on the cavern door. They both looked up.
"Who.?" Arden wondered aloud. He got up from the table, gave Koru a sympathetic kiss, and went to answer it.
He came back with a giggling Bulma.
"Bulma.?" Koru gasped as the laughing blue haired girl bounded into her friend's arms. She was holding a wine bottle and her face was alive with happiness.
"Bulma, what's got you so happy?" Koru asked, wiping the last of her tears away self-consciously.
"You wipe those tears away, Koru!" she said, walking over to the cupboards to get them glasses.
"What's going on?"
Bulma began pouring the wine into four glasses, and Koru wondered why four, until she saw Vegeta coming down the steps behind her. He smiled (forcibly) at Koru, and joined Bulma at the table.
"Yes indeed, Koru, today's a day of great news!" she filled the last glass and seated herself. "Now you sit down, and prepare to get good and drunk with me!"
"Drunk?" Koru looked at the bottle. "Is that Storkrin wine?"
"Strifelon gave it to me." Bulma replied. "Now sit down."
Koru sat down.
"Are you ready?" Bulma asked, still giggling.
"I don't know." Koru replied warily.
"Koru." Bulma leaned in. "You and I are -both- on the way to recovery."
A heavy silence filled the room. Koru sat, shocked, until a frown overcame her face.
"Bulma, if you're drunk and this is some kind of joke."
"No joke." Bulma said seriously. "Koru, there's two Psytrim growing. Two! One for both of us!"
Koru's reaction was much like Bulma's.
She burst into tears.
Authors Notes: I'm glad to report that I'm out of my second (or is it third?) nasty bout of writers block and back into action, with lot's of new ideas ^^ Enjoy!
Azul and Strifelon stood between the rows of stone and silently regarded the growing patch of Psytrim.
"It'sss getting to be fewer and fewer every year." Sighed Azul, who was one of Strifelon's associates as well as a very knowledgeable Storkrin on the subject of the Psytrim. His long, elegant fingers sliced into the dirt around the flower and brought up a small sample of dirt. This he put into a dark green tube and handed it over to his shoulder to Strifelon, who pocketed it instantly. The air was cool and unusually windy. Strifelon raised his snout to the dark red sky and sniffed delicately. Suddenly Azul made a surprised noise.
"Wait!" he cried excitedly, as his fingers delicately prodded a very tiny nub of yellow, flesh-like material. "I think there isss another!"
"Are you sssure?" Strifelon asked. He bent down close to inspect it for himself. Sure enough, it was the very beginnings of a Psytrim. "A good omen, indeed!" Strifelon cried happily. "Thisss could mean the ssstart of a new pattern!" he straightened and smiled happily. This was truly a miracle. The Psytrim was growing at its expected rate, while another was now on the way for Koru! He smiled when he thought of how happy she would be to hear of this. There had been a slim chance that two might grow, but it had been the slimmest of chances. Now, it was real.
She and Arden would have a future together, after all.
Azul grinned as he gently pilled the dirt back on top of the bud. "Yesss. We mussst report thisss to the Council."
Strifelon snorted. "There isss not much left of the Council thessse daysss." He paused. "I will take the report to Arden."
Azul shrugged. "Do asss you pleassse." He said. "I am happy to have been of ssservice."
With that, Strifelon turned and began to make his way to the CC Ship.
It was working out to be much harder than she had expected.
Bulma growled as her hand slipped and smashed against the siding. The metal cut easily through her glove and she gasped in pain. "I'll have to smooth that down a bit better." She mumbled to herself, sliding off her glove so she could suck on the cut.
She sighed and bent back over to tend to her work. She had no idea that a certain Sayajin Prince watched her from the darkness. Although, no matter how close-up Vegeta was, he could never understand what Bulma was constructing. It was something mechanical minds would understand, not minds of warriors.
He didn't like it, though. He frowned at her from where he stood; wondering and wondering at what it was she was so caught up with. She didn't seem to be in any pain, and for a moment he considered that perhaps it was taking enough of her attention to mask the Fortricres. If that was the case, then so be it.
He was about to step out and confront her when he heard a knocking upstairs.
He slid out of the shadows and materialized upstairs before Bulma had even heard the noise.
It turned out to be a happily grinning Strifelon. "Hello Prince." He gave a nod of his head and peered over Vegeta's broad shoulders. "Isss Bulma in?"
"Why?" Vegeta asked, suspicious. He glanced down at the small green vial that Strifelon held in his clawed hands.
Strifelon only grinned his secretive grin again. "There is sssomething I think ssshe would be very interesssted to hear about."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "You mean.?"
Before Vegeta could say another word Bulma appeared beside him. Her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail and she wore loose fitting jeans and an oversized T-shirt. Oil and grease covered her arms up to the elbows. She smiled politely.
"Hello Strifelon!" she said. Her blue eyes followed Vegeta's to the vial. "What brings you here?"
Strifelon nodded his head. "Looking radiant asss ever, Bulma dear."
She grinned a lopsided grin and leaned against the doorframe, wrench in one hand. "Are you trying to sell us something?" she teased.
He cocked his head and put a clawed finger to his chin. "Hmmm.one could sssay that." He winked at her.
Bulma stared. "What's.going on?"
Vegeta smiled very, very softly as he watched Bulma for her reaction.
She looked back and forth between the two. "Are you two in on something?" she asked.
Strifelon smiled. "There are two Psssytrim, Bulma. Two are growing, in perfect health, I might add."
Bulma said nothing.
"Which meansss," he paused, looking like a child who was the keeper of some gigantic secret, "That not only will you be in perfect health in a matter of daysss, but a dear friend asss well."
"Koru.?" Bulma whispered. Her chin trembled.
Vegeta turned to her. "Looks like we'll be home soon." He said softly. "Better start packing."
It seemed then that the dam broke. That all the emotion flooded from the small, frail blue haired woman, and she shrieked as it burst and threw herself without hesitation into Vegeta's arms. He allowed her to, no, he -reveled- in it, and held her to him tighter than anything he had held before. It had always been there, they both had known that, that small flower that would eventually grow for her, but now that it was for real.
"Oh.Kami!" Bulma cried, her face a grinning, wet mess of tears. "I can't believe it!" she pulled away from Vegeta and hugged Strifelon.
"The plantsss will be ready in five days, Bulma. You can come visssit me then." He held her to him and swayed, a gentle and very content old man in the wind. "And bring Koru." He added with a smile.
"I will!" she cried. "Have you told her yet?"
He shook his head. "I wasss going to leave that to you, my dear."
And then he turned, waving his clawed hand over his shoulder as a farewell, and descended the ships steps.
Vegeta closed the door and looked at Bulma.
"It.doesn't seem real, does it?" she hiccuped. "All this bullshit we've gone through.it -hasn't- been all for nothing!"
"It has not." He agreed.
Spider and Ghost made their way to them, along with his siblings. And as creatures can usually sense these sort of things, a multitude of Roctorn tails began swishing happily in the hallway, an applaud to the woman who had suffered so much.
"Now I won't have to give it to her and feel sad about it!" Bulma said as she started down the hallway with renewed spirits.
Vegeta frowned. "Give what to her?"
But there was no reply. Vegeta sighed, shaking his head. Oh well.he supposed. He would let her be, after all, it was her day.
Besides, he would figure it out.
Koru and Arden sat together inside Arden's underground Storkrin cavern. They sat at his polished brown kitchen table, a bowl of hot Storkrin soup in front of them. Koru stirred hers around with her spoon, halfheartedly.
"Isss sssomething wrong?" Arden asked, putting his own spoon down. His brow was ceased with worry for his new companion.
"No, nothing." Koru sighed. "I suppose I'm just." she trailed off and frowned. "Who am I kidding? Of course something's wrong, and I'm an idiot to try and hide it from you, aren't I?"
Arden smiled sympathetically. "Then what isss it?"
She leaned back in her chair and tossed the spoon onto the table. It clattered in front of her, the brown soup pooling out from under it. She raised her fierce eyes to his, and Arden realized with fear that there were tears in them.
"Koru.?"
"It's not fair, Arden!" she cried, startling him. "I get out of The Dungeons, finally, and I meet you and we.we fall so far into love, only for me to know that I'm going to die!" she sniffed loudly. "I don't want to die.but there's only one Psytrim."
Arden looked down. "Koru, do you not want Bulma to regain her health?"
Koru looked up. "No! That's not it at all! Of course I want her to get better, and she deserves it.but." she frowned. "Of -course- I'm a little angry that it's going to be her and not me! I'd be insane not to be!"
She sighed. "And yet, Bulma has been such a great friend to me when no one else would be one, so a part of my heart wants nothing -but- to see her get well again."
They sat in silence. Arden lifted his head to speak, when he was interrupted by a knock on the cavern door. They both looked up.
"Who.?" Arden wondered aloud. He got up from the table, gave Koru a sympathetic kiss, and went to answer it.
He came back with a giggling Bulma.
"Bulma.?" Koru gasped as the laughing blue haired girl bounded into her friend's arms. She was holding a wine bottle and her face was alive with happiness.
"Bulma, what's got you so happy?" Koru asked, wiping the last of her tears away self-consciously.
"You wipe those tears away, Koru!" she said, walking over to the cupboards to get them glasses.
"What's going on?"
Bulma began pouring the wine into four glasses, and Koru wondered why four, until she saw Vegeta coming down the steps behind her. He smiled (forcibly) at Koru, and joined Bulma at the table.
"Yes indeed, Koru, today's a day of great news!" she filled the last glass and seated herself. "Now you sit down, and prepare to get good and drunk with me!"
"Drunk?" Koru looked at the bottle. "Is that Storkrin wine?"
"Strifelon gave it to me." Bulma replied. "Now sit down."
Koru sat down.
"Are you ready?" Bulma asked, still giggling.
"I don't know." Koru replied warily.
"Koru." Bulma leaned in. "You and I are -both- on the way to recovery."
A heavy silence filled the room. Koru sat, shocked, until a frown overcame her face.
"Bulma, if you're drunk and this is some kind of joke."
"No joke." Bulma said seriously. "Koru, there's two Psytrim growing. Two! One for both of us!"
Koru's reaction was much like Bulma's.
She burst into tears.