Disclaimer: I still don't own it. I hate disclaimers!
A/N: Look, and update within 2 weeks of the last one! Are you all proud of me? I really hope you all enjoy this chapter, I put a lot of hard work into it. Also, I would like to take this opportunity to thank every last one of you who has left a review to this story, and helped me get more than 300 reviews! You have no idea how much it means to me!
Well, I hope you all like this, and I'll try to get this updated again soon. ~D.B
And Then You'll Know
Chapter 41
Sitting at her desk, Bulma raked her hands through her hair and sighed. Eyeing the huge pile of magazines and newspapers beside her, she frowned. She had a killer headache and was in no mood to be working. Looking at the clock Bulma grimaced it was only 4pm, she didn't finish work for another whole hour.
Beside the pile of papers, was a notepad, Bulma smiled and picked up the pad. Scanning her eyes over it, she suddenly felt better. It was a list, of many many wedding details. Oh yes, she was in full wedding planning mode. The King had hired the planets top wedding planner and this was shaping up to be an event that would be remembered forever.
Speaking of the wedding planner, Bulma and Vegeta were supposed to be meeting with her at 7pm to discuss seating and table decorations. Vegeta had told Bulma many times that he didn't give a crap where he was married or what the room looked like, Bulma would have none of it though. As far as Bulma was concerned, her wedding was the most important day of both her own and Vegeta's life, and there was no way she was going to do it all by herself.
She was snapped out of her thought by someone knocking on the door, and speak of the devil, it was Vegeta.
"Hey" she greeted him. He strode across the room and kissed her before replying, "Hi" he said, sitting down in the chair on the other side of Bulma's desk
"What can I do for you?" asked Bulma, "I'm supposed to be working"
"I don't care what you're supposed to be doing'
"Oh really?" she asked
"Yes really. Don't you remember what we are doing this afternoon?"
Bulma furrowed her brow in thought, but her mind was a mental blank. She was supposed to be doing something today? "No, I don't remember"
Vegeta shook his head, "You are a fool woman. I have two words for you. Press Meeting"
Bulma's eyes widened, now she remembered, how could she forget! "Damn it. I need to go get ready"
"Lucky I came and got you then, isn't it" he said, following Bulma's lead, and standing up.
"Yes Vegeta," Bulma said as she hurriedly shut down her computer and collected her things, "What would I do without you?"
"Be late for everything?"
Bulma practically ran down the halls, getting many odd looks from passers by, Vegeta followed behind her at a leisurely pace. Arriving at the apartment she shared with her parents, she threw her belonging to the ground and disappeared into the bathroom for the quickest shower in history.
Vegeta walked into the small main room of the apartment and picked up the things his woman had thrown to the ground in her haste and took them to her bedroom. God he hated this room, almost everything was pink, and he detested pink. The walls were pink, the bedspread was pink, there was a pink rug on the floor. Everything else was white, but he still hated it. Sitting down on the bed, he noticed a photo frame on Bulma's bedside table, picking it up, he inspected it closer. Inside the frame was a picture of himself and Bulma, it had been taken only a few weeks before hand. He couldn't remember who had taken it, but they had done a damn good job. The picture showed Bulma and Vegeta sitting by the lake, he was wearing his usual blank expression and Bulma was smiling like an idiot. The sun was setting in the back round, giving everything an eerie yet oddly beautiful orange glow. It really was a beautiful shot.
Bulma walked into the room then, the only thing covering her was a skimpy white towel.
"Why must you tease me like that, woman?" he asked
She turned to face him and flicked her fingers at him, splashing him with droplets of water. "Well, no one told you to come in here, did they now?"
She disappeared into her very expansive closet and stayed in there for quite some time, finally she returned wearing a pair of dark blue jeans, a silky red top with white flowers on it, and a black suit jacket. Picking up her hair dryer, she set to work drying, brushing and styling her beautiful blue hair into the perfect do.
It amazed Vegeta how effortless she made hair care seem.It annoyed him.
***
The King stood at the back of the crowed room, his young personal assistant beside him yapping away on her mobile phone. She was talking about him, as she dropped his name about ever 3 seconds, she was probably organizing for him to attended some charity, or grand opening. Something he didn't really care about.
Focusing his attention on the front of the room, he watched on proudly as his son and soon to be daughter-in-law handled the press with cool confidence and much practiced expertise. The news of Prince Vegeta to wed, was probably one of the biggest stories to grace the covers of papers and magazines in the last 24 months. There was nothing the general public loved more than thinking that they were actually a part of what went on inside the palace walls, that everything that went on here effected them in some way. Which was why stories involving the Royal Family sold so well.
Especially since the whole Namek thing. Vegeta had suddenly become one of Vegeta-sei's most respected icons, not to mention an absolute heart throb to million of teenage Sayian girls all across the planet, and the King couldn't see why his son shouldn't be getting as much attention as he did. He deserved it after all. Not to take anything away from all the other men who played their part up on Namek, without them, they would all surely be dead by now, but in the end, it had been Vegeta who got rid of Frieza once and for all.
Tuning back into the Press Conference, the King realized he might have to intervene, there were at least 400 reporters here, and they all thought that their question was the most important, and that Bulma and Vegeta should listen to their question and give them the most detailed answer. The poor duo had been sitting there for close to an hour now, and even before Bulma came into this hot, noisy room she wasn't feeling terrific. The poor thing looked like a ghost.
Pushing his way through the crowd of agitated reporters, he climbed the few steps and walked up onto the raised platform where his son and Bulma were sitting.
"Are you ok?" he asked Bulma, leaning down and speaking quietly in her ear.
Bulma only shook her head.
"Son, help her up and take her to get a glass of water and some fresh air"
"Ok" agreed Vegeta, pushing back his chair and standing up.
As soon as the press realized something was up, they all fell silent, waiting for some kind of an explanation as to why their questions had yet to be answered.
"Ladies and gentleman, I am very sorry to interrupt you all, but as you are plainly able to see, Ms. Briefs isn't feeling herself at the moment. I am going to have to call a stop to this conference. I do apologize on behalf of both my son and Ms. Briefs"
Vegeta helped Bulma down off the stage and lead her out the room, the crowd of journalists all moved out of their way, quietly muttering to themselves about just what the hell was going on.
The Kings assistant pushed open the doors and the young couple disappeared out of sight. It only took a few seconds before someone had the smart idea that since the King was up on the platform, he could ask him question, it wasn't long before this notion passed thought the idea crowd, and the King was stuck.
~
"Woman, are you alright?" Vegeta asked once they were out in the hall.
"I dunno" replied Bulma, holding her stomach
"Are you going to be sick?" he asked
"In don't think so"
"Well, come on, let's go get you something to drink"
Before they even made it a quarter of the way to the kitchen, Bulma decided she couldn't walk anymore, resulting in Vegeta picking her up and carrying her the rest of the way.
It was only a short walk to the kitchen, something Vegeta was grateful for, when you considered the amount of people with cameras that were currently inside the palace walls. He could already imagine tomorrow's headlines. "Prince Vegeta's fiancée pregnant!" or something absurd like that. That was the way it worked here on Vegeta-sei, you did one little thing, and the press would blow it totally out of proportion. Bulma left the room because she was feeling ill, but the press would probably just assume that she was suffering a side effect of pregnancy or had some weird virus and would be dead within the week.
Walking into the kitchen, he placed Bulma down on her feet, where she sat down at the table.
Krillen was also in the room, poking at a piece of cake with his fork, though he stopped completely once he was joined by his brother and Bulma.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sounding concerned
"Nothings wrong" replied Vegeta as he filled up a glass of water, "The woman was just feeling unwell. Here you go, drink that" he said, handing Bulma the glass of cool liquid.
"Thanks" she muttered holding her head in her hands.
"Hey are you sure you're ok Bulma?" asked Krillen
Bulma sculled the water before she replied, "yeah, I'll be fine, I'm just tried"
"Ok then," said Krillen as he stood up and put his plate in the sink, "Well, I'm off to see 18, I'll see you both later ok"
***
"17, have you seen the nappies?" called Tarie, looking around everywhere for the elusive nappies.
17 walked out of the bedroom and threw a nappy at her, smiling as he did. Tarie promptly changed Bianca, then re-dressed her and handed the tiny infant over to her father.
She was only 3 days old, and already she was daddy's little girl.
"Something smell great" 17 called over his shoulder to Tarie, who stood in the kitchen preparing the small families evening meal. 17 looked down at Bianca and smiled, she was awake and her bright green eyes were locked on to the crystal blue ones of her father.
17 couldn't help the feeling of over whelming joy he felt when he looked at her. He had already made so many plans for this tiny girl, he was going to give her the best life that he possibly could, he would do anything for her, he would gladly die for her just so she would never have to experience a second of pain.
He had never imaged in his wildest dreams that he would ever be able to feel a love this intense, to just look at his daughter, made him feel like his life had meaning. He suddenly became aware of movement beside him, looking to his left, he saw Tarie sitting down beside him
He looked at her, beaming from ear to ear. He loved her more than words could possibly express. She brought him his little girl.
"Thank-you" he said, then leaned over and kissed her.
Tarie was confused, what exactly was it she had done, "For what?" she asked
"For making my life complete. Without you and Bianca, I would be nothing. You two mean everything to me" explain 17
Tarie felt tears well up in her eyes. "17," she chocked out, close to tears, "I love you"
"I love you to, and one day, I'll find a way to prove to you just how much"
***
"Are you ok?"
"Leave me alone"
18 blinked and tucked some loose hair back behind her ear. "Hey, look I only want to talk to you" she spoke back, beginning to loose her cool with his girl.
The younger of the two, flipped her long black hair over her shoulder and shot 18 an angry glare. "Well, I don't want to talk to you" she spat.
"Ok listen to me," 18 snapped, effectively getting the girls attention. "I know what it's like to be you ok. You think you have it hard, but I've seen worse. Do you know where I grew up? The harem, I got transferred here about a year ago and if you think you have it as tough as it gets. I hate to tell you that you are sadly mistaken. You know, you remind me a hell of me, and I don't like it. Here attitudes like that wont get you anything but a kick in the guts, trust me, I know. So I suggest you drop the act and get a grip" 18 preached to the young girl, who sat staring at 18, gaping like a fish.
"My…my name is S–Sachi" she stuttered, shocked that someone would speak to her like that.
"Thank-you. You know, I can help you. I know exactly what you're going through, I know how horrible it feels"
"I feel like I'm going to die" Sachi murmured.
"You won't die unless you step out of line, like I said, drop the attitude and you'll be fine"
Sachi rubbed a few tears from her cheeks with her fist, "Am I ever going to see my family again?" she asked.
18 wasn't one for leading people on, she told things as she saw them, no crap. "Probably not, but you have to be strong. But hey, who knows, I found my brother after loosing him for 7 years."
The young girls eyes grew wide, "really?" She asked, "Where is he?"
"He used to live down here, with me and our friends, in fact you've claimed his bed. Now he lives upstairs, his girlfriend had a baby girl 3 days ago. By the way, my name is 18"
"18? That's a funny name"
"Trust me, it's a long story. How old are you?"
"14"
18 nodded her head. She felt so sorry for this girl, she was scared, petrified. The poor thing had been so violently thrust into this strange new world, taken from her family and expected to survive down here. How could a 14-year-old girl possibly have any idea how to make it in a place like this?
18's sharp ears picked up on the door to the slave quarters being opened, but she chose to ignore it. Though only a few seconds later, Krillen walked into the room where 18 was conversing with Sachi.
Sachi caught sight of him, knowing full well who he was and her jaw dropped open in shock.
"Hey babe" he greeted 18, taking a seat beside her.
18 turned to smile warmly at him, then turned back to the girl. "Sachi," she said, "this is Krillen. Krillen, this is my new friend Sachi"
Krillen held out his hand, which the young girl dumbly shook, "nice to meet you" he said, flashing her an impeccable smile.
"Y…you to" she stuttered, then shook her head, clearing her thoughts "what are you doing here?" she asked
18 supplied the answer, "Krillen is my good friend" she said with a smile, hoping Krillen got the message that she didn't want Sachi to know about them.
"18, I need to speak to you" said Krillen.
"Alright, speak" she replied
"Alone"
"Oh, ok. Do you want to go outside?" she asked
Krillen nodded.
"Ok then. I have to go Sachi, I'll see you later"
~
Outside, it was a little after sunset, and even though it was almost dark, the air was warm. They silently headed towards the big palace swimming pool, where they sat down in the soft seats by the waters edge. It was such a relaxing place to be, looking up at the stars the relaxing sound of the wind pushing the water around filling your ears.
"So, what did you wanna talk about?" 18 asked, after some time
Krillen looked across at her and smiled, "nothing," he replied with a smirk, "I just wanted you to myself for a while, that's all"
18 had to laugh. She watched as Krillen stood up and moved to her side, "Wanna go for a swim?" he asked
She almost snorted, "no" she replied, trying not to laugh.
"But…but I've gone to so much trouble" he said, putting on his puppy dog pout.
18 looked around, sitting up a little more in her chair, "no you haven't. You haven't done anything but bring me up here"
"Oh haven't I?" he asked slyly, raising an eyebrow
"No, you haven't" she retorted.
"Well then, if that's you're attitude, I'm about to prove you wrong"
18 looked confused. She watched as Krillen walked off around the corner. She had no idea what he did next, but suddenly all the bushes surrounding the pool began to sparkle, they had fairy lights threaded through them and soft music started to play. 18 looked all around her, having no idea what in the hell was going on.
"Krillen!" she called out.
"What?" he asked, coming back into her view.
A warm smile settled on 18's face. "Krillen" she spoke his name again, but it sounded completely different.
"So," he asked, taking her hands and pulling her up out of the chair, "Wanna come swimming yet?"
"No" 18 shook her head.
"Awww, that's to bad" he said, gently gliding her back towards the pool, and grinning evilly
"Krillen, what are you doing?" 18 sounded worried, "I don't want to go swimming"
"Why not?" he asked, still pushing her backwards
"I'll get wet!"
"That's the best you can do?" Krillen asked raising an eyebrow
"Krillen" she threatened then stopped dead. Her feet were half off the edge, if Krillen let go of her hands she would fall back and straight into the water.
"Hmmm, what should I do?" Krillen thought out loud
"One thing you shouldn't do it let me fall in this pool" 18 informed him.
"You can swim?" Krillen asked her, "Can't you?"
"Well yeah, but…" she never got any further because Krillen let her go and she fell into the surprisingly warm water.
"Krillen!" she shrieked his name as she surfaced, holding onto the edge of the pool with one hand, and wiping water out her eyes with the other, "I'm going to kill you!"
There was no reply. Looking around, 18 noticed she couldn't see Krillen anywhere. If he had pushed her in and done a runner, she swore she really would kill him. But no, she saw bubbles, and a few second later Krillen surfaced in the middle of the pool, grinning like an idiot.
He swam over to her and flicked her with water, "see, it's not so bad in here. Is it?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her neck
18 scowled at him briefly, but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "I suppose not" she said.
"So," Krillen asked, his lips briefly brushing up against hers, "What should we do now?"
"I dunno," she replied, pressing her wet body closer to Krillens and kissing him, "Why don't you tell me?"
***
"There, done" the King muttered to himself as he sealed shut the envelop shut and scrawled the names of his children across it. Then, standing up from his desk he walked across to his bed and produced a suitcase from underneath it.
He was running out of time, he was due to leave at midnight, it was now 11. He had one hour.
His mind raced as he took things from his closet, roughly folded them and stuffed them in his case. This was big, one of the biggest thing he had ever done, no scratch that.
This was the biggest thing he had ever done.
But he just had to do it. Everything inside him was saying that this was the right thing to do. He knew that everyone would understand, they had to understand. Sure, they would be shocked; they might even try to deny it for a while, but denying what they were about to find out would be useless. Because whether they would choose to believe it or not, it was true.
~
Looking up at the wall clock, the King sighed. He had 20 minutes, picking up suitcase; he took one last glance around the room and stepped out into the dark hall.
Quietly, he made his way down the long dark corridors of the palace. He quickly came to his eldest sons door, what he would have given at that moment in time to open the door, walk in and hug his first born child, just like he had done when he was a child. It had happened with all his children, he had been so close to them when they were young; he had had such a special bond with them. But they weren't his little babies any more, they were all grown up and doing their own things. He had lost touch with them. Even his one tradition of eating breakfast with them each morning had died out, and as much as it pained him to see it happen, there was nothing he could do to stop it. His children had grown out of loving their father. It was sad really, he had lost his children and hadn't even realized until it was far to late.
That was why he was sure they wouldn't be to affected when they woke up the next morning.
Clutching the envelope tight in his grip, he placed it on the small table just opposite Vegeta's bedroom door; he should see it there when he woke up.
Gently placing his bag on the ground, the King quickly wiped a tear off his cheek, leaving all this behind was hard, but thinking of what he was about to gain made it all so much easier. But still, leaving his children was such a hard thing to do. More tears came as he picked up his suitcase, but he made no attempt to get rid of them. Why bother? No one could see him anyway.
Turning on his heel, he walked away from his sleeping children. Praying that they wouldn't hate him come sunrise.
***
Opening her eyes, Bulma sat up and looked around the empty room. 'Where in the hell is Vegeta?' she thought as she ran her hand through her sleep tousled hair. Climbing out of the bed, she picked her robe up off the floor and slipped it on. Walking across the room and collecting her slippers on the way, she pushed open the door to the bathroom, but it was empty.
"Vegeta?" she called through a yawn, though he clearly wasn't in the room. As she expected, no reply came.
She walked into the bathroom, and quickly tied her hair back, then she ventured out into the hall, to continue her search for her missing fiancée. She didn't make it much out the doorway though before she almost got knocked over by a man a little older than her rushing right by her.
"Sorry Ms. Briefs" he called over his shoulder without stopping.
"Ok" Bulma muttered as she walked down the hall. It was unusually busy this morning, people kept rushing past her, and they all seemed very worried. They were yelling at each other, or into cell phone, some had clipboards and all were in a major rush to get somewhere.
She soon found out where they were headed, it was the same place she was. Walking into the throne room, she spotted Vegeta, like her, he was still clad in his pajamas and robe. He didn't notice Bulma walk into the room, he was to busy yelling into the telephone, and he sounded very mad.
"Vegeta?" she asked once he had finished abusing the person on the other end, "what's going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know. My father has gone missing!" he explained
"What?" Bulma sounded alarmed.
"The police are searching, the elites are searching, but nobody can find him"
"Vegeta…I…I'm so sorry" she said, wrapping her arms around him.
"It's alright. I'm confident that there is nothing wrong with him. Where ever he is, he's alright"
"How do you know"?
"I just do"
A few minutes later, Krillen walked into the room, unlike the others he had actually taken the time to put some clothes on. "What the hell is going on here? I practically just got forced out of my bed, and told to get my butt down here pronto"
"I'm sorry Krillen. I didn't tell them to do that"
"What's happening?" Krillen asked again, taking a long glance around the room, "Where's father?"
Vegeta just shrugged his shoulders, "That seems to be the question of the morning"
"So what, you don't know where he is?"
"Nobody does! He's just disappeared!"
Krillens eyes grew wide. Disappeared, how could that be? Vegeta answered his next question before he could even ask it.
"People are out looking for him, don't worry about that"
"Does Chi-chi know?" asked Krillen
"I couldn't care less if Chi-chi knows or not"
"Vegeta," Bulma started, but she was cut off.
"Woman, as long as my father is not here, I am in charge and I don't really give a damn what Chi-chi knows and does not know, as long as she stays away from you and she stays away from me"
***
Bulma stared blankly into the mirror, hardly even registering her own reflection. While she might of appeared motionless on the outside, on the inside her mind was running a mile a minute. Where could the King possibly have gone? Vegeta was sure that he had left of his own accorded and she believed him. But to her the real question seemed not to be where he had gone, but why he had left.
"Ms. Briefs?" the older woman called her, "Ms. Briefs!"
Shaking her head, Bulma snapped back into the here and now. "Yes?" she asked.
"How's that?"
For the first time Bulma actually looked at her reflection, and she almost lost her breath. She wasn't looking at her on reflection, no she couldn't be. She was wearing the most beautiful wedding dress she had ever seen, which had been designed especially for her. "Is it to your liking?" asked the woman who was tailoring the dress.
Bulma could hardly speak; she didn't even look like herself, in the pristine white, strapless ball gown that flowed all the way to the ground. "I…I…I love it," she said as she gently fingered the silky white material, "It's prefect"
"Great," the woman said as she stood up and helped Bulma down off the platform. "Now, I have to bead the jewels onto the hem, train and veil, and make a few minor adjustment to the bodice. But apart from that, I would say it is done" she explained as she unzipped the dress and hung it up where it couldn't get dirty.
"Thank-you so much" said Bulma gratefully as she slipped back into her light blue jeans and white singlet top.
"Don't mention it. We are more than happy to be assisting you with your special day"
A few minutes later, Bulma had left the room and was again wandering around the palace halls. It was Saturday, she didn't work on the weekends, and she didn't want to disturb Vegeta, when he had so much to deal with. Both him and Krillen had been swamped all day with press, trying to locate their father and running the planet. She hadn't even seen Chi-chi.
It was getting late, Bulma should be getting home. Her mother didn't like it when she wasn't home for dinner. It only took her a few minutes to get to the small apartment she shared with her parents. But when she got there, no one else was home.
Walking into the kitchen to get a glass of water, she glanced at the calendar that was stuck to the fridge, there in big bold letters and circled in red pen were the words Bulma's Wedding! Counting the days, Bulma smiled, only 3 weeks until the big day. In 3 short weeks she would be married!
***
"Vegeta, why don't you go get some rest" suggested Krillen as he sunk further into his fathers throne. It had been an exhausting day for both of them, but Vegeta looked like he was about to drop dead.
"No, I'm alright" he protested.
"Vegeta"
"What?"
"Go get some sleep. I'm almost done here, then I'm going to bed as well"
Vegeta was about to protest, but the door to the throne room was pushed open and Bulma slipped into the room, pulling 18 along behind her.
"Hello ladies" Krillen greeted them.
"Hello sir" Bulma said, "We have come to take you away"
"Have you now?" asked Krillen, looking at 18, she looked sleepy. Pushing himself up and out of his fathers throne he walked across the room, took 18's hand and lead her back to the royal chair, "Sit down here" he told her. She didn't protest.
"Vegeta, are you coming to bed soon. It's late"
"See, she knows what she talking about!" called Krillen from across the room
"Thank-you Krillen, you can shut your mouth now!" ordered Vegeta, "I'll be there in a few minutes"
"I'll wait here" for you" Bulma offered, walking over to 18, "Shove over?" she asked, the throne was big enough for them both to fit in, Bulma noted with some amusement.
For the next 20 minutes, the girls sat conversing, waiting for their respective others to finish their royal duties, for the two tried women, it seemed to drag out forever. But finally the boys decided to call it a night.
"C'mon woman, lets go" Vegeta called. Krillen was a little gentler in his approach, he didn't want to disturb 18 from her near sleeping state, so he picked her up and carried her down towards his bedroom.
~
Vegeta stood leaning against the wall, while he waited for Bulma to unlock the door to his room, when something caught his eye. Walking across the wide hall, he picked up and envelop. It had the names of Krillen, Chi-chi and himself on it.
"Bulma" he called, walking into the room and sitting on the bed.
"Yeah?" replied Bulma from the bathroom, where she was unpinning her hair.
"Come here"
Bulma noticed the weird tone in her fiancées voice and walked out the bathroom and sat down beside him. "What's that?" she asked, looking at the paper in his hands.
"A letter"
"From who?"
"My father"
Bulma didn't exactly know what to say, "o…oh" she stuttered, "What's it say?"
"Haven't read it yet" he replied.
Bulma sensed that he probably wanted to be alone while he read it, "I'll be in the bathroom," she said, making herself scares.
Vegeta looked down at the paper, the hand writing on it, undoubtedly his fathers, would this explain his sudden disappearing act?
My dear children,
If you're reading this, then I am gone. I'm sorry I couldn't inform you prior to my departure, but I didn't feel it the right thing to do at the time. Please don't waste you're time looking for me, because you will fail, I am gone.
Before I tell you where I have gone, there are a few things I want you to know. I am so very proud of all of you and what you have achieved. I could not have asked for more perfect children. I know that I don't show it often, but I love you all dearly and even though I am gone now, that will never change. You have all grown up right before my very eyes, into mature adults, so I know you will be able to handle this newest hurdle in your life, with grace, poise and the level of professionalism that will be required of you.
Vegeta, I will be back in 3 weeks for your big day. That is something I would never miss, you need not worry about that. I know your life with Bulma will be a long and happy one
You must be wondering where I have fled to, and it is time that you know. You see, I am in love and I wasn't able to contain it any longer. Who? You may ask is it that has stolen my heart. You know her well. The new passion in my life is none other than the beautiful Queen Kahlia. I have gone to be by her side.
Please, don't feel I am abandoning you. I thought about my decision long and hard before finally making up my mind, and I know you will all pull through this because you are strong. I will not become absent and non-existant in your lives, I am taking a step forward with my life, but I am not leaving you, my dead children behind.
All my love,
Vegeta Sr.
Vegeta blinked and read over the letter again. Her wasn't sure if this was some kind of a prank, or if his father had really gone.
"Bulma"
"What is it?" Bulma asked, taking the spot on the bed beside him again.
"Take a look at this"
Bulma quickly scanned over the letter; her eyes grew wide as she did. "Vegeta, do you know what this means?" she asked, sounding stunned.
"What?" Vegeta asked sarcastically, Bulma didn't notice though.
"No stupid, I don't know. I was asking if you knew"
"Oh. Well, I no, I don't" he replied
"Who's going to run the planet? We have no King!"
"Like I said, I don't know. I suppose I'm going to have to tell everyone though"
"You can't now, Vegeta" Bulma informed him, once again acting as the voice or reason inside his cluttered mind.
"And why not?" he demanded to know.
"Because it's almost midnight! You can't go around alarming everyone at this hour of the night. Is that clear?"
Vegeta blinked, as usual, she was right.
Putting an arm around Vegeta's shoulders, Bulma let out a long sigh. "I know you're shocked Vegeta. I am to. But please, don't go getting yourself all worked up over this. There is nothing you can do about it anyway. Do you know what I suggest?"
"What?" asked Vegeta
"I suggest lying down, and trying to get some rest. You'll wake up in the morning with a fresh mind, and a whole new outlook on this situation, I promise"
"How can I sleep when something like this is going on?" he asked, waving the paper around in Bulma's face.
"Simple," she replied, taking the paper off him, "forget about it. I'll help you take your mind off it"
***
A/N: Well, what did you all think? How will everyone react to this latest bombshell? You'll find out in the next chapter. We are on the home stretch of this fic now, after this chapter there are 4 more chapters and an epilogue to go! We'll hope you'll all decide to review and I'll see you in the next chapter!
P.S: Show you love for K/18…Join the 'Krillen and 18 Campaign'
~D.B