Last time:
"What?" Bulma all but demanded, her heart racing.
He smiled wide, knowing that he had the correct password, the only possible choice. And, when the word passed his lips, everyone agreed.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Vegeta sat up and rubbed his eyes. The doorbell was ringing, and must have been for some time. Clearly his mother wasn't home; he hadn't the faintest idea where she could be, nor did he care.
"Coming," he grumbled as he approached the door, pulling a shirt on in a half-attempt to look presentable. He pulled open the door, ready to glare at the person who woke him from such a nice sleep, when shock got the better of him. "Wh—Bulma?"
"I finally found you," she said, laughing uneasily. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"I've been busy." He puffed himself up and replaced his surprised tone with one of his usual gruffness. Bulma wasn't at all surprised.
"So I've heard. Are you busy now?"
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the doorframe.
"Nice hair," he said, unable to keep from smiling a little. Hitomi was upstairs sleeping in his bed, a fact he wished was untrue. "Is it for me?"
"Why else would I deliberately make myself look like a moron?" she laughed, then shifted her weight, her thoughts constantly on Pandora's Box which waited patiently in her backpack. She hated the way she felt right now; uneasy, exposed, ridiculous—thanks to the pigtails. But at least he appreciated what she'd done for him.
"You figured out the password, I take it."
Bulma nodded and retrieved it from her backpack.
"It was actually Krillin who got it. You didn't make it easy."
"That was the point," he said, grabbing the lock box.
"Did you intend for me to figure it out?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't. Now that you have, do you want it open?"
"I don't know anymore," she sighed. "Three days ago I would have said absolutely, now everything is fucked again…Hitomi is here, isn't she?"
"She is."
Bulma's lip quivered some in an attempt to calm herself.
"You know, I don't want it opened after all," she said quickly and took it back, clutching it to her chest as if it were precious gold. "I just want you to answer one question, then I'll leave you to…your new life."
"I think you should wear your hair like that more often."
"Don't be cute," she sighed. "I'm trying to be serious." She took a deep breath, pushing all thoughts of Hitomi and Vegeta together out of her mind. "I asked you once before if you had any remorse for what you did to me, and you said no."
"You want to know if that's changed?"
She nodded, her eyes instinctively at the ground.
"Yes and no."
She looked up, immediately confused and mildly angry.
"I have remorse in the sense that I regret hurting you, but I can't be sorry for what's in Pandora's Box."
Bulma's eyes misted, but she refused to cry. She'd already told him she didn't want it opened and she'd be damned if she appeared so unstable in front of him. Being stubborn seemed to work so well for both of them, almost to the point that they didn't know what they were being stubborn about.
"Thank you then," she said, and took a few steps back, just to the edge of the porch. "I really needed to know that."
"We never should have met."
"I'm beginning to agree with that fact."
"You don't have to leave." His voice sounded almost hopeful; painful.
"What reason do I have to stay? You're with Hitomi now and I have nothing new to discuss with you about Trunks."
She was halfway down the steps, when Vegeta's gentle grasp pulled her up, her back against his chest, his head buried in the crook of her neck.
"Don't do this," she all but whimpered. "I won't let you hurt me anymore."
He sighed, disappointed, but didn't release her. Instead, he reached forward to grab her wrist and bring Pandora's Box close to his lips, right above the tiny, almost invisible speaker.
"After everything, you deserve to know," he said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady and void of any emotion. The contents of that box would change the rest of their lives. He kissed her cheek roughly, but at the same time tenderly, then whispered, "Karaoke."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Bulma's fingers trembled as she went to open the box, propped awkwardly against the steering wheel. A small compartment held what she was looking for, the only thing inside; a single piece of folded paper. She pulled it out, set the box on the passenger's seat, and took a deep breath. Somehow she knew that whatever was on that piece of paper would change her life forever.
"Just open it," she snapped at herself, and slowly unfolded it with her thumb.
At first the words didn't make sense, even seemed foreign to her, but they quickly set in and the tears began to swell.
The message was written in Latin, a language she'd spoken with Vegeta a number of times just to irritate the rest of the group and get a good laugh. Now that she thought about it—which was the strangest and most out of place to think of such things—she and Vegeta never did try to learn Portuguese like they agreed to back in Egypt. Where had those plans gone? Where had her life gone? Where had the Vegeta she once knew gone?
"Who are you?" she sighed, folding up the paper again, and slipped it into her pocket. Not that she was sad about the note, in fact she couldn't remember a time she'd been so happy and shocked and confused and depressed all at once. She just couldn't figure where the change came from, when the old Vegeta left and the new one came about. True, they were nearly the same, but this new Vegeta had a heart, a niceness to him that could hardly be seen, if at all, before. She couldn't decide which she liked more, if she would have even fallen for the new Vegeta had he been this way then. She quickly realized, though, that she would have, for he'd played those games, acted like a prince, when really he was the executioner, ready with axe in hand to cut away her happiness.
After ten minutes of sitting in the car and pondering, she finally started the engine and pulled away from the curb, determined to wipe her mind free of the proclamation on that insignificant-looking piece of paper. She couldn't allow herself to think about it anymore than she already had; he was gone, out of her reach, with someone else, someone he'd known longer than her, someone with a history, someone she could never be.
In the back of her mind, she knew she was being ridiculous, that if she walked back up to his house and told him she wanted him back, that he would take her without a second thought. Hitomi was nothing to him, that was clear, but the thought of him with yet another girl was agonizing. Since their break-up Bulma had only kissed another guy, and she didn't even like him in that way. It was a farce; one she subconsciously hoped would make Vegeta jealous or angry. And while that had worked, it also backfired at the same time. Instead of trying to move on and be happy, she obsessed over Vegeta and never once looked to another guy for a date or possible relationship. Now she was so deeply in love that she doubted her feelings would ever leave her be, or even lessen for that matter. And that's when she realized that she couldn't pinpoint the reason for such strong feelings, that they seemed to come out of nowhere and she couldn't remember when she knew she loved him, only that she did and no matter what he did she always would.
"Why do I want him back?" she groaned at the windshield, after-expecting an answer. Of course there was the obvious, that she loved him, but he was hardly a passable boyfriend. Maybe she was being irrational; maybe wanting him back was a side effect of loving him so much. Maybe if he did take her back she wouldn't be as happy as her heart was telling her she would be. Going back to him seemed like the only thing to do twenty minutes ago, but now, knowing that he would be returning to another girl, her nerve was lost and her desire diminished. But still she wanted to be with him; she couldn't shake the feeling, the want, no matter how many times she told herself he was nothing but trouble, the worst thing that had ever happened to her, the reason the rest of her life was forever changed, the reason for Trunks.
"My baby," she whispered, placing a hand on her belly. She was getting so big now. Pretty soon he would be born and then her time with Vegeta would double, or triple. She didn't even know how custody would work. Surely Vegeta or Jun wouldn't try to win custody because of his fame. She'd never even considered that fact until now, and suddenly she was terrified and had to pull the car over.
"Pick up," she demanded of her cellular phone.
"Hello?" came Vegeta's angry voice; he'd just fallen back to sleep, having to force himself to not think about Bulma and the truth she now knew.
"You're not going to try for custody, are you?" she asked, her voice angry and scared; shaky, so unlike her.
"For Trunks?"
"Who's Trunks?" Bulma heard a voice in the background; Hitomi. Her heart cracked just a little.
"My son, you dimwit," he grumbled. "Of course not, woman, are you insane? I told you I'm done hurting you."
"What about Jun?"
"What about her?"
"Would she try?"
"She doesn't have the grounds to pull something like that. Besides, I'd have her neck if she even hinted at it, and she's not that dumb. She knows you're better suited to raise a child than I am. Stop worrying."
"Alright," she sighed, satisfied with his answer.
"Did you open it?" Now he was the one who sounded shaky, though she wouldn't have caught it if the words had no meaning.
"Would it change the mood of the conversation?"
"The mood his grim at best…Did you open it?"
"What would it change if I had?" Everything!, she wanted to scream.
"Maybe nothing. Maybe its just more poetry. Maybe I didn't know what I was writing and I was drunk."
"Were you?"
"No," he admitted. "But you still haven't answered me."
"I don't think there's any reason for me to open it."
"Reason or no, I don't care. Just give me a straight answer."
"No," she lied. "I didn't open it and I don't think I ever will. Nothing can change my opinion of you," she lied harder. "I will never want you back." Her biggest lie.
"It's for the best," he lied, too. "I shouldn't have given you that."
"I'll give it back the next time I see you, whenever that is."
"Soon."
"Alright. Bye."
She didn't wait for him to say good-bye before she hung up.
"Why can't I tell you?" she whispered, not seeing the little green light on her phone that meant she'd missed the button; it was still on.
"Tell me what?" Vegeta sighed, knowing she wouldn't hear him, and hung up the phone.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You people," Chi-Chi groaned, handing the paper back to Bulma. "You know damn well that I can't read whatever the hell that language is."
"It's Latin," Bulma informed her. "But I don't know if I want to tell you, or anyone else."
"Why not!" she baulked, very much hurt by the statement. Since they were children Bulma and Chi-Chi told each other everything, big and small, but especially big. And this was HUGE!
"I don't see a reason, other than to tell you. I told Vegeta I didn't open the box, but I'm guessing he knows anyway. He has a way with things like that."
"Come on, B," Chi-Chi sighed, putting on her best puppy dog face. "I won't tell anyone, not even Krillin or Goku if you don't want me to."
"It's not that, just that I don't want you to get all excited about it. I want to try to forget I saw it. I don't want to let it effect me anymore."
"Anymore? You read it, what, an hour ago?"
"And that's too long to think about it. It's bad news, no matter how great it is."
"You can't say stuff like that and then not tell me!" Chi-Chi whined. "Come on! I swear I won't even comment on it. I can't not know."
"Fine," Bulma sighed, taking a seat across from her on the loveseat. "But not a word to anyone, no matter how much you need to talk about it."
"On Gohan's life," she swore, crossing her hand over her chest in the universal gesture.
Bulma nodded slowly, then crossed the room to grab a scrap of paper off the desk in the far corner. She quickly jotted down the most simple meaning for the words, then walked back over to Chi-Chi, hesitant to give her the information. The thirteen little words that changed her life, and would change Chi-Chi's too, if only for Bulma's sake.
"Can I see it or not?" Chi-Chi asked impatiently.
"Will you believe it is more like it…I don't…Not really."
"Bulma!"
"Alright, alright," she sighed, and handed her the piece of paper. Chi-Chi's eyes immediately bulged and she let out a small gasp. She tried not to smile, but her lips wouldn't cooperate. It took all her willpower to keep from commenting.
After several long moments she looked up and forced out, "What's for dinner?"
"Just say it, but I don't want to hear another word, ok?"
"Bulma!" Chi-Chi practically yelled in excitement. "How can this not be good news? How didn't you faint?"
"I have enough sense to not believe him, especially with something like that."
"But wouldn't he try his hardest to make you believe it without actually having to say it? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the note? Doesn't that mean it's true?"
"I can't let it be true," Bulma sighed, sinking into the cushions. "Because if it is, I don't know how I can go on like this."
"Like what?"
"Without him…"
"Then tell him how you feel. He's not serious about Hitomi, you know that."
"I also know that he lured me to him the first time. How do I know this isn't another lure?"
"You're saying there's no possible way he could be telling the truth?"
Bulma only nodded, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know, B. It sounds genuine to me. Would you believe him if he shouted from the rooftops?"
"That isn't necessary," she grunted.
"B, I know he hurt you, but you deserve more than this. Look at you."
"What about me?"
"You're miserable without him. You need him."
"I'm not miserable, Chi. Stop assuming stuff you know nothing about."
"Don't get snippy with me, Bulma Briefs," Chi-Chi snapped. "I'm your friend, I wouldn't give you advice unless I was sure it was the right advice. You know how uneasy Vegeta makes me, and here I am telling you to take him back…Think about it. I have a doctor's appointment. I'll see you tomorrow."
Bulma nodded slowly, her fingers spidered over her swollen belly. Trunks gave a small kick, making her smile for a split second, then was calm.
Chi-Chi left without another word, kicking herself for promising to keep quiet.
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Vegeta stepped back slowly and sat on his bed. He told himself over and over that emotion was for the weak, but emotions were never his area of expertise, and the tears flowed soundlessly like a waterfall.
On the floor lay Pandora's Box, open and empty. She'd lied. She'd opened it and forgot to put the note back to complete the illusion. She knew and it changed nothing. Her face had been so calm and level when they were at the doctor's office, even more so when she'd handed him the box.
"Why did I have to know you?" he groaned as he fell back on his pillows, wiping furiously at his eyes.
In the back of his mind he saw the words he's written, translated to Japanese like magic, and as powerful and meaningless as ever: "I don't know how, but I love you, Bulma Briefs…And always will…"
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---Chapter 14! Holy Kuso! I can't believe how mean I am :P But, alas, I am. Heehee. I know, I know, they aren't together, even after that amazing, and true, note. But don't you worry my lovelies, I promise, on Vegeta's life, that I'll make everything make sense; everything will turn out just fine, Bulma just needs a swift kick in the ass.
REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ReviewsMore Chapters)
Next time: What the hell is your problem, Bulma Briefs!?
"What?" Bulma all but demanded, her heart racing.
He smiled wide, knowing that he had the correct password, the only possible choice. And, when the word passed his lips, everyone agreed.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Vegeta sat up and rubbed his eyes. The doorbell was ringing, and must have been for some time. Clearly his mother wasn't home; he hadn't the faintest idea where she could be, nor did he care.
"Coming," he grumbled as he approached the door, pulling a shirt on in a half-attempt to look presentable. He pulled open the door, ready to glare at the person who woke him from such a nice sleep, when shock got the better of him. "Wh—Bulma?"
"I finally found you," she said, laughing uneasily. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"I've been busy." He puffed himself up and replaced his surprised tone with one of his usual gruffness. Bulma wasn't at all surprised.
"So I've heard. Are you busy now?"
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the doorframe.
"Nice hair," he said, unable to keep from smiling a little. Hitomi was upstairs sleeping in his bed, a fact he wished was untrue. "Is it for me?"
"Why else would I deliberately make myself look like a moron?" she laughed, then shifted her weight, her thoughts constantly on Pandora's Box which waited patiently in her backpack. She hated the way she felt right now; uneasy, exposed, ridiculous—thanks to the pigtails. But at least he appreciated what she'd done for him.
"You figured out the password, I take it."
Bulma nodded and retrieved it from her backpack.
"It was actually Krillin who got it. You didn't make it easy."
"That was the point," he said, grabbing the lock box.
"Did you intend for me to figure it out?"
"I was hoping you wouldn't. Now that you have, do you want it open?"
"I don't know anymore," she sighed. "Three days ago I would have said absolutely, now everything is fucked again…Hitomi is here, isn't she?"
"She is."
Bulma's lip quivered some in an attempt to calm herself.
"You know, I don't want it opened after all," she said quickly and took it back, clutching it to her chest as if it were precious gold. "I just want you to answer one question, then I'll leave you to…your new life."
"I think you should wear your hair like that more often."
"Don't be cute," she sighed. "I'm trying to be serious." She took a deep breath, pushing all thoughts of Hitomi and Vegeta together out of her mind. "I asked you once before if you had any remorse for what you did to me, and you said no."
"You want to know if that's changed?"
She nodded, her eyes instinctively at the ground.
"Yes and no."
She looked up, immediately confused and mildly angry.
"I have remorse in the sense that I regret hurting you, but I can't be sorry for what's in Pandora's Box."
Bulma's eyes misted, but she refused to cry. She'd already told him she didn't want it opened and she'd be damned if she appeared so unstable in front of him. Being stubborn seemed to work so well for both of them, almost to the point that they didn't know what they were being stubborn about.
"Thank you then," she said, and took a few steps back, just to the edge of the porch. "I really needed to know that."
"We never should have met."
"I'm beginning to agree with that fact."
"You don't have to leave." His voice sounded almost hopeful; painful.
"What reason do I have to stay? You're with Hitomi now and I have nothing new to discuss with you about Trunks."
She was halfway down the steps, when Vegeta's gentle grasp pulled her up, her back against his chest, his head buried in the crook of her neck.
"Don't do this," she all but whimpered. "I won't let you hurt me anymore."
He sighed, disappointed, but didn't release her. Instead, he reached forward to grab her wrist and bring Pandora's Box close to his lips, right above the tiny, almost invisible speaker.
"After everything, you deserve to know," he said, trying his hardest to keep his voice steady and void of any emotion. The contents of that box would change the rest of their lives. He kissed her cheek roughly, but at the same time tenderly, then whispered, "Karaoke."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Bulma's fingers trembled as she went to open the box, propped awkwardly against the steering wheel. A small compartment held what she was looking for, the only thing inside; a single piece of folded paper. She pulled it out, set the box on the passenger's seat, and took a deep breath. Somehow she knew that whatever was on that piece of paper would change her life forever.
"Just open it," she snapped at herself, and slowly unfolded it with her thumb.
At first the words didn't make sense, even seemed foreign to her, but they quickly set in and the tears began to swell.
The message was written in Latin, a language she'd spoken with Vegeta a number of times just to irritate the rest of the group and get a good laugh. Now that she thought about it—which was the strangest and most out of place to think of such things—she and Vegeta never did try to learn Portuguese like they agreed to back in Egypt. Where had those plans gone? Where had her life gone? Where had the Vegeta she once knew gone?
"Who are you?" she sighed, folding up the paper again, and slipped it into her pocket. Not that she was sad about the note, in fact she couldn't remember a time she'd been so happy and shocked and confused and depressed all at once. She just couldn't figure where the change came from, when the old Vegeta left and the new one came about. True, they were nearly the same, but this new Vegeta had a heart, a niceness to him that could hardly be seen, if at all, before. She couldn't decide which she liked more, if she would have even fallen for the new Vegeta had he been this way then. She quickly realized, though, that she would have, for he'd played those games, acted like a prince, when really he was the executioner, ready with axe in hand to cut away her happiness.
After ten minutes of sitting in the car and pondering, she finally started the engine and pulled away from the curb, determined to wipe her mind free of the proclamation on that insignificant-looking piece of paper. She couldn't allow herself to think about it anymore than she already had; he was gone, out of her reach, with someone else, someone he'd known longer than her, someone with a history, someone she could never be.
In the back of her mind, she knew she was being ridiculous, that if she walked back up to his house and told him she wanted him back, that he would take her without a second thought. Hitomi was nothing to him, that was clear, but the thought of him with yet another girl was agonizing. Since their break-up Bulma had only kissed another guy, and she didn't even like him in that way. It was a farce; one she subconsciously hoped would make Vegeta jealous or angry. And while that had worked, it also backfired at the same time. Instead of trying to move on and be happy, she obsessed over Vegeta and never once looked to another guy for a date or possible relationship. Now she was so deeply in love that she doubted her feelings would ever leave her be, or even lessen for that matter. And that's when she realized that she couldn't pinpoint the reason for such strong feelings, that they seemed to come out of nowhere and she couldn't remember when she knew she loved him, only that she did and no matter what he did she always would.
"Why do I want him back?" she groaned at the windshield, after-expecting an answer. Of course there was the obvious, that she loved him, but he was hardly a passable boyfriend. Maybe she was being irrational; maybe wanting him back was a side effect of loving him so much. Maybe if he did take her back she wouldn't be as happy as her heart was telling her she would be. Going back to him seemed like the only thing to do twenty minutes ago, but now, knowing that he would be returning to another girl, her nerve was lost and her desire diminished. But still she wanted to be with him; she couldn't shake the feeling, the want, no matter how many times she told herself he was nothing but trouble, the worst thing that had ever happened to her, the reason the rest of her life was forever changed, the reason for Trunks.
"My baby," she whispered, placing a hand on her belly. She was getting so big now. Pretty soon he would be born and then her time with Vegeta would double, or triple. She didn't even know how custody would work. Surely Vegeta or Jun wouldn't try to win custody because of his fame. She'd never even considered that fact until now, and suddenly she was terrified and had to pull the car over.
"Pick up," she demanded of her cellular phone.
"Hello?" came Vegeta's angry voice; he'd just fallen back to sleep, having to force himself to not think about Bulma and the truth she now knew.
"You're not going to try for custody, are you?" she asked, her voice angry and scared; shaky, so unlike her.
"For Trunks?"
"Who's Trunks?" Bulma heard a voice in the background; Hitomi. Her heart cracked just a little.
"My son, you dimwit," he grumbled. "Of course not, woman, are you insane? I told you I'm done hurting you."
"What about Jun?"
"What about her?"
"Would she try?"
"She doesn't have the grounds to pull something like that. Besides, I'd have her neck if she even hinted at it, and she's not that dumb. She knows you're better suited to raise a child than I am. Stop worrying."
"Alright," she sighed, satisfied with his answer.
"Did you open it?" Now he was the one who sounded shaky, though she wouldn't have caught it if the words had no meaning.
"Would it change the mood of the conversation?"
"The mood his grim at best…Did you open it?"
"What would it change if I had?" Everything!, she wanted to scream.
"Maybe nothing. Maybe its just more poetry. Maybe I didn't know what I was writing and I was drunk."
"Were you?"
"No," he admitted. "But you still haven't answered me."
"I don't think there's any reason for me to open it."
"Reason or no, I don't care. Just give me a straight answer."
"No," she lied. "I didn't open it and I don't think I ever will. Nothing can change my opinion of you," she lied harder. "I will never want you back." Her biggest lie.
"It's for the best," he lied, too. "I shouldn't have given you that."
"I'll give it back the next time I see you, whenever that is."
"Soon."
"Alright. Bye."
She didn't wait for him to say good-bye before she hung up.
"Why can't I tell you?" she whispered, not seeing the little green light on her phone that meant she'd missed the button; it was still on.
"Tell me what?" Vegeta sighed, knowing she wouldn't hear him, and hung up the phone.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"You people," Chi-Chi groaned, handing the paper back to Bulma. "You know damn well that I can't read whatever the hell that language is."
"It's Latin," Bulma informed her. "But I don't know if I want to tell you, or anyone else."
"Why not!" she baulked, very much hurt by the statement. Since they were children Bulma and Chi-Chi told each other everything, big and small, but especially big. And this was HUGE!
"I don't see a reason, other than to tell you. I told Vegeta I didn't open the box, but I'm guessing he knows anyway. He has a way with things like that."
"Come on, B," Chi-Chi sighed, putting on her best puppy dog face. "I won't tell anyone, not even Krillin or Goku if you don't want me to."
"It's not that, just that I don't want you to get all excited about it. I want to try to forget I saw it. I don't want to let it effect me anymore."
"Anymore? You read it, what, an hour ago?"
"And that's too long to think about it. It's bad news, no matter how great it is."
"You can't say stuff like that and then not tell me!" Chi-Chi whined. "Come on! I swear I won't even comment on it. I can't not know."
"Fine," Bulma sighed, taking a seat across from her on the loveseat. "But not a word to anyone, no matter how much you need to talk about it."
"On Gohan's life," she swore, crossing her hand over her chest in the universal gesture.
Bulma nodded slowly, then crossed the room to grab a scrap of paper off the desk in the far corner. She quickly jotted down the most simple meaning for the words, then walked back over to Chi-Chi, hesitant to give her the information. The thirteen little words that changed her life, and would change Chi-Chi's too, if only for Bulma's sake.
"Can I see it or not?" Chi-Chi asked impatiently.
"Will you believe it is more like it…I don't…Not really."
"Bulma!"
"Alright, alright," she sighed, and handed her the piece of paper. Chi-Chi's eyes immediately bulged and she let out a small gasp. She tried not to smile, but her lips wouldn't cooperate. It took all her willpower to keep from commenting.
After several long moments she looked up and forced out, "What's for dinner?"
"Just say it, but I don't want to hear another word, ok?"
"Bulma!" Chi-Chi practically yelled in excitement. "How can this not be good news? How didn't you faint?"
"I have enough sense to not believe him, especially with something like that."
"But wouldn't he try his hardest to make you believe it without actually having to say it? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the note? Doesn't that mean it's true?"
"I can't let it be true," Bulma sighed, sinking into the cushions. "Because if it is, I don't know how I can go on like this."
"Like what?"
"Without him…"
"Then tell him how you feel. He's not serious about Hitomi, you know that."
"I also know that he lured me to him the first time. How do I know this isn't another lure?"
"You're saying there's no possible way he could be telling the truth?"
Bulma only nodded, rolling her eyes.
"I don't know, B. It sounds genuine to me. Would you believe him if he shouted from the rooftops?"
"That isn't necessary," she grunted.
"B, I know he hurt you, but you deserve more than this. Look at you."
"What about me?"
"You're miserable without him. You need him."
"I'm not miserable, Chi. Stop assuming stuff you know nothing about."
"Don't get snippy with me, Bulma Briefs," Chi-Chi snapped. "I'm your friend, I wouldn't give you advice unless I was sure it was the right advice. You know how uneasy Vegeta makes me, and here I am telling you to take him back…Think about it. I have a doctor's appointment. I'll see you tomorrow."
Bulma nodded slowly, her fingers spidered over her swollen belly. Trunks gave a small kick, making her smile for a split second, then was calm.
Chi-Chi left without another word, kicking herself for promising to keep quiet.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Vegeta stepped back slowly and sat on his bed. He told himself over and over that emotion was for the weak, but emotions were never his area of expertise, and the tears flowed soundlessly like a waterfall.
On the floor lay Pandora's Box, open and empty. She'd lied. She'd opened it and forgot to put the note back to complete the illusion. She knew and it changed nothing. Her face had been so calm and level when they were at the doctor's office, even more so when she'd handed him the box.
"Why did I have to know you?" he groaned as he fell back on his pillows, wiping furiously at his eyes.
In the back of his mind he saw the words he's written, translated to Japanese like magic, and as powerful and meaningless as ever: "I don't know how, but I love you, Bulma Briefs…And always will…"
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---Chapter 14! Holy Kuso! I can't believe how mean I am :P But, alas, I am. Heehee. I know, I know, they aren't together, even after that amazing, and true, note. But don't you worry my lovelies, I promise, on Vegeta's life, that I'll make everything make sense; everything will turn out just fine, Bulma just needs a swift kick in the ass.
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Next time: What the hell is your problem, Bulma Briefs!?