If I Knew Then
Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home
ONLY READ THIS STORY IF YOU HAVE A LOT OF TIME ON YOUR HANDS. It's kind of long and drawn out. ;D
Usually when people do this and they have like, 30 people, I get annoyed because I have to scroll down to read the story. But since I have, like, 8 people, and I've decided to take on the "screw you: you're already lazy for being on the computer, its not that hard to scroll down" attitude, I think I'll thank everyone who reviewed for me!
Vicki (anon): Thanks! I'm glad you thought it was good.
Warrior from Beyond: Ah, no, my dear friend. You may use your imagination if you want, but I think I'll vent mine onto the computer for a tad bit longer. I'm glad you liked it.
Katie: Yes, yes, strange that I thought of it while fishing. Wow. I'm glad to find someone who actually reads the author's notes. Usually people just skip over it! I'm glad I'm not writing like that, too. I see it everywhere nowadays. Usually in my fics I do, but I figured this one needed a bit of a change. Thanks for reviewing!
Raccly e.r 17: I love you! Hahah. You reviewed each chapter. Usually when I read something I just read it all and review the last chapter. Sorry about your computer. Mine is, uh… 'difficult', too. ;D Oh thanks for actually telling me what you like about it. Well I shall attempt to continue on. I hope I don't disappoint!
Selene-13-immortal: Are you for real? One of the BEST? O.O I'm so touched! I love you! ;D Thanks for reviewing another story of mine.
Linkin Park 04: Thank you! Yes, of course I'll look at your stories. And I'll review every single one of them! Thanks for the review.
Pearl3: I'm so honored you put it on your favorites list! Thank you for the review, and I'll try to update as much as I can think of stuff! ;D
Realistically, I'm not going to do my summer assignments until well into July, meaning that I'll probably be able to update at least every other day, if not every day.
Also, I've realized the key to success, or at least MY success, is to make an outline of ideas I want to have happen. Usually when I write a story, it starts out great and then turns sucky as I forget the main tone and go off on some random tangent, but have no fear! I have learned a new skill (or at least realized it): ORGANIZATION!
But now you must want the story:
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Well, after an all-nighter, which to my mind isn't uncommon, but I guess to this body is a first, I've managed to complete the damned gravity room. After all this work I put into it, it'd better help my mission!
What time is it? 5:30? He'll probably be up by now. He's not a morning person but he's probably up by now. If I wait until later he'll get mad that I didn't tell him sooner, but if I go now he'll be damned grumpy.
Maybe if I give it to him now, though, he'll be in a good mood for the rest of the day. Yea, I guess I'll give it to him now.
But first I've got to capsulate this behemoth. It's hitting the ceiling of my 40 foot lab, meaning there's no way to take it outside without taking it apart.
Fuck that.
That's gonna be another hour, and then add an hour to that to put it back together outside again. I'll just capsulate it. But I haven't done that in so long… I'm having difficulty remembering.
I'll just grab a computer and look it up real fast. Ah! Of course. I remember now. Okay, now that it's capsulated, I'll go get Vegeta
Oh, joy.
If I'm right, he should be in the kitchen. Bingo. There he is, standing in the door of the refrigerator. Maybe if I give him a good scare he'll whack his head on the top. Heheh. I think I'm getting this fun idea down. But I don't think he'll appreciate that, and I seriously doubt he hasn't sensed me yet.
"Vegeta," I call to him.
"Hrm?" He didn't even bother to move. Well, this is something definitely worth moving for.
"It's done. Come outside and check it out." He stands up and shuts the door, looking pissy as I expected. He follows me in silence out into the backyard. This seems like a good place to put it.
So, I press the top of the capsule and toss it a good twenty feet from us, and poof! The gravity room appears. He grunts something inaudible and heads inside. I guess I'd better follow him in before he presses something and kills himself. That would be a dramatic failure on my part.
"Okay, this is how you control the gravity setting, and this is how you turn it on. Now, the walls have two options." He'd better be watching. This is important!
"You can have the walls set to deflect ki blasts or absorb them. That includes the floor."
So far he looks impressed. That's good. Well he'd better be impressed! And if this is impressive, the next few things will knock his socks/spandex/whatever off! This kind of technology wouldn't have been thought of by me for another fifteen years!
"Also, if you want to practice dodging or something, you can have the walls set to absorb blasts and release them. This can be done randomly, at certain intervals, or whenever the walls absorb a certain amount of ki. You can also set how much energy can be released at one time, or if you're a good sport, you can randomize it."
He cocked an eyebrow, the ultimate sign of intrigue. This is going well.
"As of now, the gravity room can handle 1500 g's, but because of programming difficulty with the interaction between the wall's capabilities and the gravity, I have its limit at 700. The higher the gravity goes, the less the walls function correctly. I'm still working on that. You can go higher than 700 without damaging anything, but 700 is the max where everything is in working order. So be careful!"
I know he hates it when people warn him, but I can't stress enough how dangerous this machine is.
"If you go past 700 I advise you to turn the walls off. That's another option. But then you'll have to be more careful because the walls will start acting like normal metal. If they're hit, that's it. But if you leave them on and go past the limit a circuit might go haywire, so having the walls off isn't a comparative risk."
Now's the time for me to slip a little something in.
"I assume it's much easier having to replace a wall than having to take care of you for a week..."
Wow. He's so happy he's not even commenting on that. He must figure silence is the best defense.
"So, now that you've had a chance to fully inspect the gravity room, do you accept my offer?"
"Yes, IF you explain the terms behind being your so called 'personal security'," he replies immediately, strolling over and starting to play with the wall controls.
"Well, if I leave for a business trip or something, you have to come with me, which I don't think you should have a problem with because I can just capsulate the GR. But basically, you just have to be within' a half-mile radius of me, be at my side when I make public appearances, and keep those damned filthy criminals away from me," I say with a smirk.
"I told you before, I only have to be within a one-mile radius for me to get to you in less than a second, but I accept," he agrees. "On my Saiyan honor," he vows, holding up a hand and making some kind of gesture. I hope he understands that I don't know whether or not to repeat it; I feel like cracking a joke about how insignificant his 'Saiyan honor' is but he looks VERY serious. Never mind, he's smirking again. "Now get out so I can train."
"Well someone's getting used to their security privileges," I retort, heading out the door. Oh shit. I forgot to give him his watch.
"Oh wait. You'll need this." He takes the watch and looks at it.
"This is that communicator watch thingy," he states, more of a question than a statement.
"Yea. Only me, my parents, and you have one on that frequency. A couple other security guards have ones, but not as high priority as these. You'll need it if you're going to do the job I ask of you." He nods. I should leave before he orders me to again.
Well, that went amazingly great. He loved the GR so much, he agreed to a half-mile radius AND didn't argue about the watch.
But now its time for me to start having some fun around here. One of my father's associates invited him to a party, but he can't go and wants me to go in his stead. He says it will get me used to having to run the company without him one day.
What he doesn't know is that I'm already perfectly capable.
But regardless, I decided to go because I need to start acting like I have a life again, while I still have one. And hopefully, if everything plays out like I want it to, I'll still have one later. ;D Unfortunately, my parents are still practically in love with Yamcha, and don't realize that they love him much more than I do now.
I already talked to him the first chance I got and explained that we needed to go our separate ways. Not that anyone needs to hear about that; it was nothing big. He agreed with my reason of 'exploring other possibilities' or some bullshit like that. He still told me he loved me as I left, so I took the same way and stayed silent.
I'm been trying to figure how to get Vegeta to go with me.Hmm… does me going to the party count as a business trip? Well, yes, but then there's still the one mile thing. Even if I did force him to go within a one mile radius, one mile isn't going to allow me to get anything accomplished. (Sigh) Stubborn son of a bitch. I know he'll be arguing even about that.
I guess I could play the 'public appearance' card. I DID say that he had to be at my side for public appearances. And I could tell him that it would be good practice for other things and that he needs to learn earth customs and such. Anyone looking at me now would wonder why I have a wicked smile on my face. But I can't help myself! I can't wait to see his reaction when I tell him this.
But on to work, I've been toying with the idea of building a regeneration tank! Isn't it brilliant? I can't believe I never thought of this before, but seeing Vegeta reminded me of scouters, which in turn reminded me of the pods and tanks. The only problem is that I don't have anything to go on. Hopefully, Raditz's scouter, which I think I still have now, can pull up some schematics or at least a rough design so I can figure my own.
Oh great.
Now I'm going to have to go FIND the scouter. How am I going to do that after forty years of memory? Hopefully, I'm still organized at this point in life and I shoved it into that box I distinctly remember holding small gadgets like the dragon radar.
They key word is 'hopefully'.
After discovering two dragon radars in the box, which I must log into memory since now I have a really good one, I've finally found the damned object. Thank Kami! I guess I'll have to put it on. So strange… I feel very Saiyan with this on.
"Woman, you-" That's odd. He just… stopped. I'm guessing by the way he's staring at me that he wants an explanation for the scouter.
"It's Raditz's," I explain, taking it off to make him feel more comfortable. Not that he'd admit it was uncomfortable seeing me wearing it. "I think I'll build a regeneration tank so you don't need any medical help." Actually, I also want to build one to help our technology advance, but I figure if I mention it's for him he might help me translate this Saiyan without me having to reprogram it.
"If you're looking for designs, they wouldn't be in there." Damn. "I'll draw them up for you." Wow. Better than I expected. I learn something new from him every day, and not about technology.
"Uh, okay. Thanks. Was there something you were asking?"
"There's a password lock on the gravity controls." Ah, shit. I forgot I put that on there. It was so no idiot would try and train too high.
"Why didn't you just use the watch?"
"You don't have one on." I look down at my writs. Why does he always have to be right?
"Oh, yea, I'm sorry. Just type in 'dragonball' and it should work. When I get the chance, I'll have it voice activated so only certain people can use it and you can set your own password." He nods in approval and leaves.
I was right about his good mood carrying over. What a relief. Not once did he try to start an argument or insult me in that conversation, even though he probably could have stuck in 'you idiot' or 'stupid wench' at the end of the "you don't have the watch on" part. He obviously realizes that I hold a very valuable object over his head, and I know he's just itching to try it out. That's probably my father's greatest idea, even if it was originally for Goku.
Ah, man! I forgot to mention the party. I'll just tell him when he gets out, which will probably be in about three days when he discovers the refrigerator I put in there. Good thing the party's in a couple months.
And it's also a good thing I stopped myself from putting a bed in there too, though I'm sure he's quite capable of sleeping in a chair or on the floor. But, the stock will run out and he'll be forced to come inside to eat and sleep every once in a while. That fact still doesn't reassure me that he lives here now and not in the GR.
And I know right now he'd prefer the latter.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII
I told him about the party that's coming up in a week and he didn't throw nearly the hissy fit I expected. He just growled and gave me death glares. That's a good sign.
But now I can't stop thinking about Cold and Frieza's arrival. I know they're coming, but I have to try and keep it out of my mind so I can act as surprised as possible when I see them. Damn. Here the call is now.
"Hello?" I say. It's hard trying to sound like it's a normal day when you know it won't stay that way for long.
"Bulma, get Vegeta quick!" I can hear Krillen shout. Yes, this is definitely the call.
"Why? What's wrong?" I feel like slapping myself but that's the only way I can respond.
"Frieza's back! Piccolo sensed it and is warning everyone now, but I guess Vegeta's meditating or something cause Piccolo can't reach him."
"Are you serious?" I shout. At least that time sounded real.
"Yes, and Goku's not back yet!" he said urgently. "Just wake Vegeta up or whatever and tell him. If what everyone says about him is true, he'll be itching to fight Frieza."
"Okay, I'm on the case!" I say in my youthful, cheery tone. Though I know it's annoying, I still missed having no reason to say it when I turned fifty.
"Okay. Cya!" he all but shouts and hangs up in a hurry.
"See ya?" I wonder, heading toward the GR. "But I'm not even going…" Why am I saying this out loud? But hm… I think I want to go.
"Vegeta!" I yell, banging on the door. "We've got to go! This is an emergency! Frie-"
Almost as soon as 'Frie' was out of my mouth, the door was open and a very sweaty and determined Saiyan was standing in front of me.
"-za's here," I finish, my urgent tone dying. He turns to blast off.
"Take me with you!" He looks at me inquisitively and starts to blast off again. "I'm sick of just watching from a TV screen!" I hear myself screech unplanned. "Let me come with you!" Letting out a grunt of annoyance, I suddenly feel myself being lifted into the air and blasted off into the harsh wind. "Thank you."
"Humph." Is this what its like to fly? It's not that great. The wind is really rough and stings your face. But I guess that's not a problem for them when they're used to fists and feet.
We touched down and the sun start to come out from behind the clouds, almost mocking the dire situation.
It's not that dire. They don't realize that Goku returns just in the nick of time to save them all. But its still going to be interesting watching the fight. If I stay at this distance, I don't think I should be in any serious danger. Nothing I can't handle, anyway.
Well, Frieza's men are being launched out and the Z senshi is going out to meeting him. Wait a tick…
Where's Vegeta going? I check my communicator watch and set it on motion detector. He's heading away from everyone else. Oh great.
He's heading strait for Frieza. He's going to get himself killed.
And I can't let that happen.
Next thing I know, I'm sprinting after him as he bowls over Frieza's men. (AN: Think of the scene from the movie 'Hero' when the couple was basically kicking ass all over the palace, only with her sprinting after him stepping over the people he killed. ;D) These bodies are nothing to me, just GET. TO. VEGETA.
The stupid fool! Why is this happening? What's so different that he's heading for Frieza directly now instead of discarding all his minions first? That's what happened the first time.
What went wrong?
None of that matters now. I have to stop him before something happens.
And it looks like that something is happening now.
One of those idiotic lizard things has fired a blast at Vegeta, causing Vegeta to turn around and deflect it.
But Frieza… he's pointing THE point. He's smirking THE smirk. He chuckling THE chuckle.
I heard what happened the first time when he did this on Namek.
Is this what adrenaline is? I can feel myself running faster than I ever thought possible. Maybe I should start running track. I've got to do something. I've got to stop that beam.
Oh I am an idiot. Instead of doing the conventional thing, like calling out his name, I find myself tackling him and taking the brunt of the attack. I guess that was the best thing to do. If I'd just yelled his name he probably would've been distracted and gotten hit anyway.
So this must be what it feels like to be hit by a ki beam. How… numb. First, there's a burning sensation, and then a split second of coldness as air rushes in toward the burning flesh. The pain peaks and then succumbs to nothingness.
All I see is black. How stupid have I been? I can't die, not yet. Not now.
What a relief when I open my eyes and see Vegeta's face hovering over me. He looks… concerned? This is confusing. Am I in hell? There's nothing to be worried about. I'm alive. He's alive.
The ungrateful bastard should look thankful and pleased, not concerned. I'm surprised Frieza hasn't tried picking him off again, but I understand why when the other Z senshi members start to close in on him.
"Woman," I hear him whisper. What's his deal? He should be off fighting to save the day.
Suddenly Goku instant transmission's at my side. I feel like crying. I feel like hugging him and never letting go. How we needed him!
"What the hell took you so long?" I snap instead. Vegeta looks like he hasn't even noticed him.
"Oh, Bulma," Goku mutters, lowering down beside me in a crouch. "What did you do?" he asks himself more than me.
"What is wrong with everyone?" I stand up and brush myself off. "I'm fine!"
Wait. There's something… wet, all over my hands. It's red. It's thick. It's sticky. It can only be one thing.
Oh. Oh I see now.
OH GOD. I feel naseous; I feel faint… OH MY GOD. Blood. Gushing… I'm definitely going to throw up. OH MY FUCKING GOD. Hole… BIG, BIG hole. It probably punctured an organ. It's a straight shot, in through my side and out my back.
Just breathe, just breathe… don't look at it! Whatever you do, don't look at it… Calm… stay calm.
Whew. It's not that bad. Don't feel a thing. I've seen worse. And I'm sure latter I'll say that its much easier to experience it than to witness it. It's all good! Definitely all good…
"(clears throat) Well. OK. I'm uh… not fine. But I'll live. I've been through worse. Go fight, they need you." I shoo Goku off with my hand, pointing in the direction of King Cold kicking Piccolo's hide.
I guess that didn't do anything for Vegeta, though. He's still standing there like he just saw a ghost, giving a good hard blink at me once in a while. Maybe he thinks I am dead.
"Woman, I-" He made a chocking sound.
"Heheh. No need to thank me Vegeta," I say cheerfully. Woah. Maybe I'm a little dizzier than I thought.
Ow. The ground hurts when you fall on it. He watches me in like I'm in some kind of movie.
"Well, Vegeta, I guess I'll need those regen tank schematics sooner than planned," I try to joke, holding back tears as I try to stop the bleeding with my hand and avoid looking at it. It's starting to hurt again, and I'm getting dizzier.
Maybe it's because I started crying. Maybe it's because I saved him from a crippling attack. Maybe my last statement about the regen tank threw him over the edge, because now he's shaking like a rabid dog and roaring like a lion.
In a flash he's gone and I'm in the middle of the battlefield, alone. Just great… I'm all alone.
What is that damn bright light? That's enough for me. I feel kind of…tired…
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
A white ceiling when you wake up is always a sign that you're recovering in a bed. What happened? Obviously I'm not dead. That's a start.
I can hear shocked gasps coming from all around the room. What the hell is going on?
"Bulma!" Is that Chi-Chi? It sounds like her. But it doesn't sound like the tone she would usually have. It's concerned, but a shocked and happy concerned. I try to sit up but of course she forces me back down. "Don't be ridiculous!" she practically yells.
"Chi Chi, I'm fine."
"Fine my ass!" Realizing what she said, she makes sure Gohan wasn't within hearing distance. Ah, yes, I've missed Chi-Chi. It's not like we were the closest people in the universe, but I still loved her all the same. It broke her heart when Goku died. It broke a lot of people's hearts.
"What happened?"
"Oh I can explain that." Goku? "After you saved him, Vegeta kind… lost it." Goku puts on his goofy grin and scratches the back of his head. I have to admit that's one of my favorite looks of his.
"Yea, I saw that. But I mean, what happened after he started screaming and shaking? I don't remember anything after that."
"That was the most surprising part. He turned Super Saiyan and slaughtered Frieza. Sliced his head off real clean," Goku explains, giving me a visual by leveling his hand with his neck and pretending to cut. "I think Vegeta's really turned into one of the good guys," he said with a 'thumbs up' and a goofy grin.
How is this possible? Vegeta's not supposed to turn Super Saiyan for some time now. I KNOW for a FACT that he has no feelings for me (yet), unless it's some kind of sick lust, but that still wouldn't be a powerful enough emotion to trigger a Super Saiyan transformation.
There's only one possible explanation: the GR. Obviously the heightened capabilities of the GR are allowing him to exceed what his strength would have been in a good 3 years. But he's only been in there for a couple months though. Not even that!
It must be because I have it going to 1500 G's. Even without using ki, he can still do a good, safe workout like pushups and stuff past 700 for strength. He always was the type to push the GR as far as it would allow him, but I never once considered the possibility that the low level capability of the original 200 G's was actually holding him back.
Amazing.
His power has increased five fold, meaning that he must be up past 700 already. But Goku was struggling just with 100 on the way to Namek. Meaning that Vegeta might actually be stronger than Goku.
That's a very dangerous thought.
If he were, he wouldn't know it because he doesn't know about the levels past Super Saiyan. He assumes that Super Saiyan is the peak of power. He thinks Goku and him are on an even playing field, and that only luck and tactic decide the victor.
It's a good thing he doesn't know.
Once my mission is complete, I won't have to worry about that. In fact, that'd be great because he'd finally get what he wants. But now…
I don't want to think about it.
Goku has always been one to become stronger due to necessity, like the rush of power he received when fighting Vegeta the first time to save the earth, or the emotion he lashed out with towards Frieza. This may just serve to make both of them stronger together.
But I still don't want to chance it. Let Vegeta be in the dark for now.
"How long have I been out?"
"About a day."
"Oh, okay. I can't miss that party on Saturday." Goku nodded.
"Yea, Vegeta mentioned that. Said he was going to build you a regen tank, and here you are."
"You mean he actually built it? BUILT it? Not just draw up the designs?" Goku shook his head.
"Look, its right over there."
"Chi-Chi, if the regen tank worked then I really am fine," I explain, rushing over to the tank.
Impossible.
How did he do this? He must've gotten my father to give him the materials. But still, he built this? I am definitely learning more and more about him each day.
"Wow," I mutter softly.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Bulma. Especially with how you inadvertently 'saved the day' and all! Well, we've gotta go pick up Gohan. Piccolo said he was going to 'spar' with him but after how he 'trained' him when Goku was gone, I don't like the idea!" Chi-Chi gave Goku an accusing look.
"I trust Piccolo with my life, Chi-Chi! Don't worry!" They continue to bicker (or more like Chi-Chi snaps and Goku defends) the entire time they open the door, walk out, and go down the hall.
Looking in the open door, I spot Vegeta pacing in the hallway. He spots me up and walks in nervously, closing the door behind him.
"You listen here!" he snarls suddenly, advancing on me until he's only a foot away. He obviously planned to be as vicious as possible. "I'm only going to say this once! Don't think I'm grateful that you pushed me out of the way and 'saved me' or whatever the fuck you think you were doing. I would've been fine if that blast hit me instead of having you make me look like a weakling!" At least he's not yelling this. Just hissing venomously.
He starts to pace again. "Now listen up," he says, crossing his arms and staring up at the ceiling. "I've never said this before, and you're probably never going to hear it again, but I'm…"
"…?" He sure is taking his sweet time. Spit it out.
"Sorry."
Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! (AN: Peter Griffin style for all you Family Guy lovers out there.) NEVER in my life, either in my previous or this new one, expected him to ever say anything like that.
Why can't I speak?
"Why?" I manage out.
"You got hurt. And I was RIGHT there!" he all but reprimands himself. "We made a deal." He glares at me. "And I don't break promises."
He feels guilty because I got hurt and he promised to protect me. Interesting. Obviously swearing on your Saiyan honor is a HUGE deal to make him actually apologize.
"It's no big deal." Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. I could've just insulted him. Let's try again.
"I mean, I jumped in front and voluntarily took the blast. It'd be like me punching myself in the face. How are you going to protect me from myself?" Maybe if I reason this way, he won't feel as bad.
"And besides, for 'insulting your strength', I think we can safely call it even. ESPECIALLY since you gave me this regen tank." Hopefully that will finally let his mind rest. I had no idea he had such strong feelings about such things. Did my little speech work? I guess so because after staring at me for a good three seconds he turns on heel and heads for the door.
"By the way, woman," he calls suddenly as he's in the doorway, turning around to sneer at me. "Don't do something like that again. You're not responsible for me, it's the other way around."
(Sigh) If only he knew…
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Well, how was that? Too long? Too short? Too choppy? Too detailed? Please review and tell me! Next chapter: PARTAY! WHOOO!
Oh, I might have missed some editing, so don't be surprised if I replace this chapter, like, five times. If I see a mistake it drives me crazy and I have to edit it immediately. ;D Well, until next time!