If I Knew Then
Chapter 6- Do What You Must
Trisha (anon): I'm so glad you weren't disappointed! I was so excited when I posted that chapter… this one's going to be good too though. An after the storm kinda thing. Thanks a bunch for the review! Really appreciate your thoughts.
Pearl3: Isn't she great? She IS a genius… makes sense she would be all 'scheme-y' like this. And beside, adds good drama. And everyone knows everybody loves drama! Thanks a bunch for reviewing some more. You'll find out about the 'hangover' today. ;D
Ccfleursdelys: First time reviewer! YAY! Thanks so much for reading the story. Don't worry. Your questions shall be answered! (hopefully) E-mail huh? Sounds great. I'm always on AIM too, so feel free. I appreciate the long, thoughtful review! Thanks a bunch.
Hieiko: Yes, different is what I'm aiming for. Since you mentioned it, but also FOR EVERYONE: If you like different, you should also read All That's Necessary by See Jane Conform. When I saw the summary, I was laughing so hard I knew I HAD to read it. But when I ended up reading it, it was totally NOT what the summary and the warning make it out to be. It follows the normal timeline and takes the assumption that Vegeta and Bulma actually have brains when Trunks comes back from time. Really, there's nothing 'bad' in it, so I highly recommend you go check it out. Just a suggestion. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you're reading the story.
ShadowCatYumi08: I'm glad you like it! Man, another first time reviewer. I got lots of those this chapter. Isn't it great how manipulative she is? Don't worry, they both get what's coming. Vegeta will have his 15 minutes of fame.
Warrior From Beyond: Thanks for reviewing another chapter of another story! Don't worry. I'm definitely finishing this fic, especially since I'm so close. Well… here's what you requested!
DarkestDestiny2006: LOL. Nice mental image for me... you always give me such great mental images. Your story is being updated today, too isn't it? I'll have to go read that. Well, I'll definitely be seeing you online with PVP. Then we can decide on more Vegeta icons and hopefully I'll get my sound back so I can see those videos. Well, thanks A BUNCH for reading this! Here's some more for you:
I've been lying here for 3 hours. Thinking. Thinking about what to say when Vegeta wakes up.
If I don't movie it doesn't hurt. As much at least. My throbbing headache, aka my hangover, is able to take my mind off the physical pain beneath my waist. I have to admit my ass still hurts though. I have a blurry remembrance of him flipping me onto my knees.
He must've hit the wrong spot on that one.
I still don't know what to say. Should I tell him the truth? If he finds out what I did on his own, it wouldn't be pretty. He might even take off or kill me in a fit of rage, child or no child.
But I don't think he'll be exactly calm when I do tell him what I did.
Oh god.
He's waking up.
"Ugh…" He sits up, eyes still close, and grabs his forehead. "What's wrong with my head?" he mutters mostly to himself, rubbing his temples.
"Its called a hangover," I hear myself explain meekly. Maybe I should've tried to move out of my position first. He's going to be very confused and will demand an explanation.
His eyes snap open at the sound of my voice, but he doesn't look toward me. Instead, his eyes roam the floor, contemplating the tattered clothing. His eyes widen as he realizes he has no pants on.
"What the fuck is going on?" he whispers, looking down at himself. He feels the bed sheets and recoils when he discovers they're wet, and not just at the red spots.
Finally his eyes come to me.
He stares at me: shock, confusion, and sorrow? Written all over his face.
"Woman," he whispers lowly. "Why…" he pauses, looking at my position. "Why do you look so scared?"
"Don't worry, Vegeta," I manage out. "You didn't do anything dishonorable. It… it was my fault. You didn't rape me or anything."
He looks away from me, making a chocking sound, obviously not buying it. Am I crying? I guess I am. Otherwise, that's one big sweat I'm working up on my cheeks.
"What happened?" he demands, suddenly loud and concise, anger rising.
"I…you…" I sigh. I still don't know what to say. I guess I'll tell him. "You were drunk and I tempted you."
"You said one WOULDN'T GET ME DRUNK!" he roars, becoming louder as every word leaves his mouth. I feel myself wince unconsciously at the force of his yell. I can also feel myself shaking.
"I put something in your drink to make you… lose control," I answer softly. Lord please don't let him kill me before I can tell him about the child.
"Why?" he hisses dangerously, standing up from the bed, fists clenched.
"I can't explain that to you now," I plead vigorously, feeling more tears well up and fall silently. I can't say anything until he promises to say.
"No. You WILL tell me NOW," he barks at me, coming around to my side of the bed and glaring down at me.
"Vegeta, I'm pregnant!" Oh, why'd I have to go and blurt it out like that? Oh well. It's out now.
Vegeta is definitely not having a good day. He grabs his hair, pacing around the room, not caring he's half naked, on the verge of ripping strands out.
"Are you sure?" I nod, crying more. I show him the test and he grabs it, comparing the color to the guide. Normally I would try to restrain my tears, but I think this is a perfectly justified time to cry right now.
"I won't explain anything until you promise to stay," I say softly, attempting to move my legs and sit up.
"Don't move. You could have tears," I hear him grumble suddenly, still pacing, but this time with his arms crossed.
"If you really are pregnant, I don't have much of a choice, do I?" he growls, on the verge of tears. Vegeta… crying? Wow. I must've REALLY fucked up his life.
"So you'll stay?"
"…"
"…? Do everything you said you'd do?"
"Yes," he snaps, turning away from me. Maybe he's crying. "Now explain yourself," he demands hoarsely.
"I'm not really the Bulma that I should be," I admit him, mimicking his unseen tears.
"What? What the FUCK does that mean?" He obviously didn't like my start.
"In two months, a group of unstoppable androids will take over the planet. Goku will be captured when trying to stop them, and you leave to take over Frieza's army, saying they can have the planet and to come challenge you when they're done. The other Z warriors stand no chance. Me, Gohan, Dende, and three hundred humans survive underground for thirty years. Dende dies five years before that, but grants the four star dragonball the power to grant one last wish." I pause. Is he listening?
"Go on," he says, intrigued, turning to face me and making his interest apparent.
"It take me and Gohan five years, but we will discover the four star ball will be in an android controlled storage facility. We plan an attack and retrieve the ball, but things don't go as well as we'd hoped. Gohan dies fighting the two main androids, but I manage to make one last wish before they stop me."
"And your wish was to travel back in time so you could change things," he finishes for me, rather than asks.
"Not physically go back. Mentally," I elaborate, seeing him look me over in an attempt to understand how I still look young.
"But why me?" he hisses. "Why did you do this to ME?"
"You were the turning point of the battle. If you'd stayed and fought with Goku, we would've had a fair chance at winning and defeating the three original androids before the take over ever happened."
"And after I told you about Saiyan mating, you realized it was the only way to make me stay."
I nod in agreement.
"Well you were right," he growls, moving over toward me with a look that could kill. I'm sure he would've killed me now if he hadn't known I was pregnant.
I watch him carefully as he picks me up, resulting in more cries on my part, and not from my eyes this time.
"You really believe I'm pregnant?" I can't believe he's taking my word on it.
"I can sense it already," he explains gruffly, heading in the direction of my lab.
"What are you doing?" I'm so confused. Where is he taking me?
"I can't let my…mate… be in so much pain." I don't get it. He's going to heal me? I still feel dizzy. Everything looks hazy and my headache's getting worse.
As he sets me down painfully, I look around to discover I'm in the regeneration tank. I can only be thankful my plan worked okay.
Everything's going to be alright.
IIIIIIII
I open my eyes. It's still blurry, but I can make out Vegeta through the glass. The hair is unmistakable. He must've noticed I'm awake, because he's draining the fluid out. Well, I can certainly see better now. My head doesn't hurt and the excruciating pain in the lower half of my body is completely gone. He opens the hatch for me and hands me some clothes.
"Feeling better?" Someone sure is pissy. And he has every right to be. We're two people who hate each other deeply, and we're 'mated'. Talk about drama…
"Much," I admit carefully. I can move my legs without pain now. So, observing this, I climb out by myself and start to dress. No need to go in another room or anything. He's already seen me naked, and not just when he was 'drunk.' Besides. We're married now.
"You are a ruthless, determinate, life-ruining, goal-crushing genius bitch."
"I know." I really am. I can't deny that. After what I've done to him, I really am.
"Hm. And you call me cruel. I guess that does make us the perfect match."
"Indeed. Whatever it takes. What else was I supposed to do?"
"I guess you did you best. It was a good try. But it won't save your planet. How long until the androids arrive?"
"Unless I haven't changed anything, two months."
"That's too much time."
"For what? You to train?"
"No. I'm going now to kill Kakarott now."
"What are you talking about? You can't defeat the androids alone."
"I won't have to. After I kill Kakarott, I'm leaving.'
"But you promised-"
"That I'd stay with you and protect you. Which means you are coming with me."
I don't even have time argue before he phases out from in front of me and blasts off through the roof. I have to hurry. I run as fast as I can to my lab. Where the hell is the jet capsule?
There. Got it.
Grabbing the scouter and a couple of devices I recently made based on ones from the future, I sprint out to the backyard and throw the capsule.
Climbing in, I turn the scouter on and follow Vegeta's ki as fast as the jet will go, praying there are no aircrafts in the vicinity. I haven't installed a motion detector in this yet, so I have to rely on the scouter.
When I get there, everything should be okay. Goku can hold his own… for a bit. This is bad. Vegeta's stronger than him because I made the GR too strong…
No time to think about that. I've gotta stop Vegeta. AGAIN. So much trouble I'm going through for him…
Okay, as I expected, Vegeta is yelling at the Son house from outside, demanding that 'Kakarott' show his face. Chi-Chi is in the doorway, dishing it back.
"Alright, already! He's coming, he's coming!" What is she wearing? Is that a robe?
"What is taking so long? If he's much longer I'm going to go in and get him myself."
"He's… ahem… dressing. So pipe down!"
"Vegeta, you can't do this!" Why'd I say that? That's not going to change his mind.
"Looks like we weren't the only busy ones last night, woman," Vegeta calls to me angrily, referring to Chi-Chi's explanation.
"Woah. Go Bulma!" Goku? Oh I see him. He's flying over from the back.
"Goku, he's-"
"I know, I know. It's alright. Chi-Chi, you might want to go inside for this one." Giving him an annoyed look, she reluctantly agrees and shuts the door, as well as the windows for some reason. Must not want the bright light from the ki blasts to disturb her. She got so annoyed with their constant sparing, she bought soundproof walls for the outside of the house.
"Kakarott, I'm going to allow you the privilege of dying in battle, by my hand no less."
"Vegeta, I told you we need him later." What the hell is he thinking?
"Kakarott knows what I'm talking about! And it has NOTHING to do with your little story."
Goku sighs deeply, bringing our attention back to him. I wish I knew what the hell they know that I apparently don't.
"Alright, Vegeta," Goku agree, giving him a wary look as he settles down into his fighting stance. I'm… I'm SO confused.
"No tearful goodbyes to your family?" Vegeta sneers, settling into his stance as well.
Goku breaks into a grin. "I had a feeling you sensed it, so I said my goodbyes last night."
"Wonderful. Then we can begin NOW!"
Vegeta charges, placing a hard punch on Goku's face. Grinning, Goku wipes his lip and rubs the blood between his fingers.
"Thank you… my prince." Suddenly he does a twirl kick and lands a similar blow to Vegeta. Instead of stumbling back, Vegeta does a back flip and lands on his feet, immediately putting a hand up to send a HUGE ki blast at Goku. Goku, noticing his house behind him, put his arms up to block it, resulting in a new Goku with tattered clothing.
I've been standing here for what's seemed like hours now, watching them fight. Unable to move, unable to speak… just stare.
Kick, block, punch, blast, block, kick… it goes on and on. Once in a while they'll do something interesting, like throw each other or one will body slam the other into the ground.
I don't know how long it's been now. It could've been ten minutes; it could've been ten hours. Either way it doesn't matter, because a worn Goku is now kneeled on the ground and Vegeta is standing in front, readying his final attack.
"Big… Bang…"
Adrenaline courses through my veins again. Suddenly, I realize that as I'm looking at Goku, I'm getting closer. As I sprint the last few feet to him, I throw myself in-between the two Saiyans and place my arms around Goku's neck, on the ground hugging up toward him.
"Atta-?... Woman! Woman, get out of the way! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"Vegeta, you can't do this! You know we need him!"
"Just let Vegeta do it, Bulma," Goku wheezes to me, patting me on the back but trying to gently push me aside. I hug tighter. Is he insane? Did Vegeta hit him too hard?
"Goku," I whisper, "you've never given up before."
"I'm not giving up. We had a good fight. He's just stronger than me."
"No, Goku…" Am I crying again? His shirt is we where my face was on it. I guess so.
"We've had good times, Bulma. Like when we first met," he chuckles, remembering how I shot him. He takes my hands off him and stands up, pulling me up with him. "You're a wonderful woman, Bulma. You can survive through a lot. Trust me when I say this is for the best. You'll understand someday."
"I'm sick of understanding someday! I want to understand now!" Why am I pounding him on the chest? Why do I feel so angry? How can I be so sad at the same time?
"It's okay," he whispers, trying to hush my sobs but resulting in more. "Everything will turn out fine, just the way you want it to." I look down and nod, unable to control the flow of tears.
I'm losing him again.
He's… gone? Where'd he go? Looking up, he's hovering above me, twenty feet up.
"Big Bang Attack!" Vegeta yells suddenly as he seizes the opportunity, jolting me from my thoughts as a large red ki beam pummels Goku.
He falls back down into my arms, literally. Under his weight, I collapse onto the ground. I wish I hadn't looked at his face just now. Those glazed eyes will be forever imprinted on my already scarred memory.
"You were the best Saiyan warrior I've ever know, Kakarott," Vegeta mutters, blasting a hole in the ground.
"You're a monster," I whisper as he walks toward me and Goku's body. He snorts in response, trying to remind me of the irony of my statement. Lifting Goku up, he places Goku in the hold, gently considering its Vegeta, and in one swift motion covers it up again.
"You're a hypocrite."
"I'm surprised you bothered burying him."
"He did the same for me. And he followed my orders when I asked him to kill Frieza."
"Then why'd you have to kill him? There was nothing to avenge."
"It's for his own good. Weren't you listening to a word he said?"
"Of course I did. But I'm not listening to YOU and I'm CERTAINLY not going to go with you."
I'm so glad I brought them. I click the device in my pocket on, simultaneously turning on a second one.
"Woman? Woman? Where'd you go? Answer me!"
Concentrating on how to use the devices, I slowly levitate in the air and head towards my jet. If I'd run or walked, he would've heard my footsteps.
He runs over to where I was and looks around. He stops suddenly. I think he's listening and sniffing for me.
Holding my breath, I finally reach the ship. Luckily, I'd left the top open.
I quickly hit the autopilot and the ignition button, closing the hatch. Now I'm going to have to get the fuck out of here.
Touching down on the ground, I watch Vegeta take off after the unmanned jet.
Taking the devices off, I turn them off and look at them. We used one of them to infiltrate android bases, considering it masks ki and provides camouflage, making you practically invisible. We created the second one to allow flight when they started listening for us, and we stopped the camo use altogether when Android 17 came up with a special signal that nullifies the camo effect.
Looks like its still very effective now.
I AM a genius.
IIIIIIIII
"This was a FUCKING FUCKED up FUCKING idea!" Fuck, fuck, fuck…
"Woman, watch your mouth. When the kid pops out, you don't want the first word he hears to be 'fuck'."
"I DON'T GIVE A flying FUCK!"
"Woman, just shut up and push and the pain will be gone. You're damn lucky I'm helping you after the way you hid from me for 9 months. And especially with the way you show up at my door here and demand I help you…"
"Just call a fuckin' doctor!"
"I am NOT having some 'doctor' have a good look at my woman!"
"I don't care about your shit worries! GAHHH." Oh god, my stomach. This is like constipation times 10…
"Well you should, considering I'm the only one here right now. Now push, dammit, he's coming out."
Breathe in, breathe out, and repeat many times. And most importantly, push! What a relief to hear the sound of crying. Not to mention the physical pain is mostly gone…
"God, he's ugly," Vegeta mumbles, picking him up by the arm.
"Don't hold him like that! Be careful!" Gosh, my motherly instinct are already coming out.
"He's Saiyan. He will NOT be raised like that other half-breed was at first. If it wasn't for the green man, he'd still be in diapers.
"He was babied because he was a baby."
"Whatever. Give me that snot removal device. The damn kid is going to suffocate on his own mucus."
I point to the cabinet. He opens it, grabs it, and leaves the bathroom. I stand up in the bathtub and turn the water on. It's going to feel nice to be clean again, especially when I get all this shit cleaned up.
How surprising. Coming out the shower, the first thing I notice is that Vegeta actually cleaned him up and everything. He even removed the umbilical cord and tail for me. Where is it, anyway? It's not in the trash. He must've used his ki to remove them. OO
I wish I had a camera on me. Vegeta is sprawled out on the bed watching TV, the baby in the crock of his arm.
"His name will be… Trunks," I decide. Yes, that's a good name.
"Oh wonderful." Such sarcasm! I guess he did help me though…
"Thank you."
"The androids didn't come when you said they would."
"It probably has to do a lot with the fact you killed Frieza and Goku."
"Kakarott had heart disease."
What? He had what now?
"That's why he wanted to die in battle," Vegeta elaborates, noticing my silence. "The Saiyan side of his mind would now allow him to die in a bed, sickly and such."
"That's… impossible… He was fighting the androids…"
"And they captured him. How do you think they could capture him? Kakarott would rather die. He must've had an attack when he was fighting."
This explains a lot. It explains why he was captured AND why he was so desperate to go off and fight on his own so soon. He knew he was growing weaker and that his best shot was to attack asap.
I understand now. It all makes sense.
"Woman, grab the kid," Vegeta orders suddenly, standing up and pushing Trunks to me. What's the rush?
"What's the matter?"
"Three huge power levels just appeared in north city, and lets just say that the other ki readings are disappearing fast."
"… the attack?"
"Looks like your boy's birthday will be on the day of the android attack," he says with a smirk at the irony.
"Our boy. Well go fight."
"No. We're leaving. I'm not defending this worthless planet."
"But I destroyed all the ships. I'm not leaving my people."
"You really are a bitch."
"You're stronger than Goku was. You have a good chance."
"Woman…"
"You can do it. You sound like you're doubting yourself. And if you can't for some reason, I could go back again. Just like last time."
"3rd times a charm," he mutters as he blasts the wall and starts to fly out. Why can't he ever use the door? "Stay safe, woman. You're my responsibility."
"I will. Good luck."
"Shut up and get the kid to safety. I'll see you later." He takes off.
But it was the last time I ever saw him again.
REMEMBER: Go read All That's Necessary by See Jane Conform like I told you at the top! Now that I'm done advertising...
I haven't edited yet, so please excuse any mistakes. Well, how was that? One more chapter after this. WARNING: It's not nearly as long as these chapters. Well, from what I have planned as of now anyway. But it'll still be good. Please review!