Chapter 14: Reflection

Bulma sat in the newly finished nursery, reflecting on the last nine months. In such a short time, she had managed to completely change her life. She had realized that her relationship with Yamcha had been a pipe dream. She had initiated an affair with a homicidal maniac. She had created a baby with said homicidal maniac. She covered her ass for months about the conception of her child. She had used her ex-boyfriend to scare the shit out of a reporter.

She smiled at her last thought. That had certainly been quite the day. Bulma had decided that Rufus needed a little wake up call. In the two months he had been working for Bulma, he had gotten comfortable. She didn't need that, and besides, she was five months pregnant, if she couldn't be comfortable, no one could.

The day had started off with a meeting with Rufus. Bulma put the company's financial and political ties on the table, and not so subtly hinted that Capsule Corporation had all the right ties in all the right places. If he really wanted to push it, she'd own him.

Next, she let him sit in on a board meeting, and as the majority share holder, she could do as she pleased. Rufus then saw first hand the type of comradory big business had with Capsule Corporation, and the way Bulma could easily have them all wrapped around her little finger with a smile and a light laugh. He marveled at how she could just as easily dominate with her quick wit and sense of logic.

It had suddenly become much more clear how this beautiful genius had gotten her reputation. She was a ray of sunshine that could burn you to a crisp in an instant...and it was apparent that one day, she could easily take all the power in Japan within a bat of the eye.

Upon exiting the meeting, Bulma gave Rufus a satisfied smirk. She sauntered up to him the best way a pregnant woman could, and whispered four chilling words into his ear.

"We're not done yet."

She was right, they weren't done yet. In fact, the feeling of dread intensified as he followed her into her hover jet. As they sped along, he looked out the windows to see the landscape of tall skyscrapers turn to lush forests and began to panic. He thought that they were going to another company Bulma owned. She was taking him far, far away from civilization.

Soon, the trees too began to disperse, replaced by the harsh desert. Bulma began to descend, and the lowering altitude had a rather undesirable affect on his already unsteady stomach. As soon as they landed, Rufus opened the door and fell to his knees, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the parched sand.

"I'm glad you both made it here in one piece. Should we wait for him to finish before we begin" came a familiar voice.

Rufus slowly picked up his head and looked upon the scared face of the man that stood before him. He had seen this man before, in fact, this was the man who had started it all.

Yamcha stood tall and proud over the cowering man. Gone were the fancy cloths the ex-baseball great was known to wear. In their place was an orange suit, training gi, if he remembered correctly. A heavy blue shit was worn under the gi, and the symbol on his back represented the famous Turtle Hermit.

"Oh...damn" Rufus whispered as he took in the well-muscled form of the man standing before him.

Rufus turned around to see Bulma smirking at him. She turned and walked to the jet, pushing a button to return it to its capsule. She then detonated another capsule to reveal a table, three chairs, and a large umbrella to block out the sun. She sat down and stared at the two, primly folding her hands in her lap.

"I think it's time to tell him, Yamcha." She said sweetly.

Yamcha grabbed Rufus' arm, directing him to a chair, and together, their eyes went to Bulma.

"Years ago, when I was sixteen, I heard a tale of great wonder. Perhaps you have heard it too, Rufus. I heard the tale of the Seven Dragon Balls. It was said that when a person would bring all seven dragon balls together, the dragon that lived at the center of the Earth would come forth and grant the lucky adventurer one wish. As you know, I'm a genius, and I found that there is a certain wavelength that the Dragon Balls produce, and I made something called the Dragon Radar. I used this device to locate the dragon balls, and soon I came across a little boy by the name of Goku. He lived all alone, and he had in his possession the four-star dragon ball. He thought it was the spirit of his dead grandfather, and it was rather difficult to convince him to give it to me. In the end, we decided that he would come along with me, so that we could both have the dragon ball. We met up with some rather undesirable people, the worst being Emperor Pilaf, that also wanted to call forth the dragon, but luckily, Goku wasn't a normal boy. He was very skilled with his staff, and he also seemed to be special, perhaps it was the tail...anyways, we also met some other people. That's how I met Yamcha. You see, well before he was known for his talent with baseball, he was known as the dreaded desert bandit. He soon joined us, along with a perverted pig named Oolong and Yamcha's shape shifting friend, Puar. Together, we defeated Emperor Pilaf, but not before the Dragon had been summoned. Thinking quickly, Oolong made a wish before anyone else could, and the Dragon returned to the Earth, scattering the Dragon Balls across the globe once more."

Rufus was dumbfounded. Again Bulma was feeding him fanciful stories, and he was beginning to think the point to all of this was to show him the she was crazy enough to do whatever she wanted. Steeling his nerves, he spoke.

"p..p...prove it." he stuttered.

Suddenly, a small backpack Yamcha had been carrying started to move. Yamcha reached down and pulled open the strings. Out popped the head of a little blue kitty.

"What the hell is that supposed to..." Rufus was cut short when the 'cat' began to giggle and fly in the air.

"Can I? Can I please, Yamcha?" Puar giggled.

When he nodded the cat doubled over, holding her sides down as she tried to suppress her giggles. Suddenly, with a small poof, the cat was gone, and in her place was a short, fat, sort of version of Rufus standing before him. Puar changed her features from fear to shock, but before long, she changed back to her normal self, giggling all the while.

"Proof enough?" Bulma asked.

All Rufus could do was nod.

"Yamcha, perhaps it's time to show him some of your skills?" Bulma asked sweetly.

"Sure thing, Babe." H winked.

Yamcha rose from the chair he had been seated in and walked about fifty yards into the desert. He took a familiar fighting stance, concentrating hard, his muscles tensing as he prepared to launch his attack.

"WOLF BANG FISTS!" He yelled, and the howling of wolves could be heard all around. The force of his power had been directed at a large rock formation, and no sooner than the attack had started, the rocks lay in a crumbled heap before them.

"That could have been done with dynamite." Rufus replied, still staring at where the rocks lay.

Bulma just smiled.

"Thank you Yamcha, that will be all, you may go back to your training now." Bulma said.

Nodding, Yamcha called Puar to him. When the cat landed on his shoulder, he winked at Bulma and flew off towards to Mountains to train with Tien.

"Did he just fly?" Rufus asked awe struck.

"Yes, he did. Shall we be going?" She asked.

On the way back to the city, the ride was quiet. There was tension in the air, and Bulma felt that it was time to clear a few things up.

"Write it for me." She said.

"Pardon?" Rufus replied, startled that she had spoken.

"There's a lot more to the story than what Yamcha and I told you. As long as you don't use real names or places, I'll tell them to you. Make it seem like fiction, and write a book. Hell, you could even write Manga. You see, Mr. Messer, I prepared to help you out if you help me out. You're a dangerous man if you get the right information, and I'd rather we work together than against each other. I'm impressed by your work, and you like to expose secrets. This will give you a chance to do that, without harming me or my friends in the process. I'll edit and publish you, you get rich, I get some of my privacy back...its win win. I don't like destroying people, Rufus, but what you've done and what you can do will endanger the life I want my baby to have. I don't like that."

They had arrived at Capsule Corporation. The Ride back seemed much shorter, and Rufus got off in a daze.

"Think about it. You have until Friday. Come to my office at 8:00 am and we'll discuss particulars. You may leave now." She finished, turning to walk into the building that contained her lab.

Bulma smiled to herself. Rufus had taken her offer, and they began a series of interviews about her adventures. Once they had started, Rufus had become rather enthralled with the idea of writing his own book. Over the past four months, she and Rufus had come up with a rather good rendition of her adventures as a teenager, and he was now in the process of turning it into a book.

Not only that, once the threat of Bulma being exposed and Rufus being annihilated was over, they began to become good friends. They learned a lot about each other, and found that they were a lot alike.

He turned out to be a good friend. He would even go out of his way to pick up ice cream for her on his way to pick her up for Lamaze class. It was Rufus who had painted the nursery, saying that it was harmful for her and the baby to breath the pain fumes. He had been a good guy and stepped in where the father should be.

It pained her when he left. Rufus had developed a romantic relationship with Mina, her secretary. He wasn't gone for good, just on a weekend trip to Tokyo with Mina, but Bulma was nine months pregnant, and she needed her Lamaze coach. Of course she hadn't said anything. She wasn't due for another two weeks, and the baby hadn't turned yet. She had even encouraged Rufus and Mina to go...but now as she sat in her empty nursery, she felt alone.

Suddenly, the baby started to kick...and punch, and in general treat her womb like a dojo. Bulma gasped and dropped to her feet, clutching her hands to her abdomen. Tears escaped her tightly closed lids and she began to breath heavily.

Bulma felt strong arms wrap around her and pick her up, carrying her bridal style out the door and down the hall. She couldn't think, couldn't open her eyes. All Bulma could concentrate on was the pain. The door to her room was kicked open and she was laid down on her bed. She felt a hand go to her belly, and almost instantly the baby quieted down.

Bulma relaxed a bit, trying to get her breathing back to normal. She had yet to register that someone had taken her to her room. A voice cut through her pain-fogged mind.

"You're going to be in a lot of trouble when you go into labor if this is how you handle pain."

Bulma's eyes shot open and she laid her eyes on the golden haired Super Saiyan in front of her.

"Vegeta!?"

Sorry this took so long. School started and my fiancé's sister is visiting from Florida. Let's just say it's been busy!

Read and review!

I hope this one's a little longer than the last few!

Kanjizai