Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Chapter 15: What we are fighting for

The Ambulance screeched to a stop in front of the Capsule Corps. Head quarters. Bulma walked to the kitchen, but had to stop because of the pain she was going through. They got her on a stretcher and rushed her to the back of the ambulance. The Ambulance flied off at top speed with the siren screaming. Bulma had tears of pain as she griped her stomach.

As the Ambulance parked at the emergency gate, the paramedics pulled her out and ran her through the emergency room. Bulma was screaming in pain as they ran her to a room in the back. The resident obstetrician came in immediately barking out technical orders. Bulma was riving in pain as the doctor prepared her for the birthing procedure. Under the medical robe, the doctor prepared to catch the child as it came out. The doctor pleaded for her to push, but she had nothing, her vision was blurry and her pulse was dropping way down. "We have to get this baby out now before it kills her."

After another 5 minutes the doctor could see the head. During that time, life support systems were brought in. The doctor finally was able to help the baby out, and was shocked to see the long purple tail. He cut the umbilical cord and had Bulma rushed off to emergency care. She had lost a lot of blood and had fallen into a coma. Meanwhile, the doctor cleaned the baby and examined the tail structure. He turned the baby around to see if there was anything else weird about it. He had almost gone deaf with the loud noise of the baby's sobs. He pointed his right index finger and was about to poke the baby in the stomach to see if it felt different, when the baby grabbed it. Immediately he put the baby down and tried pry his finger from the baby's vice grip. After a few procedures, he sent the baby down to get it examined by the pediatric specialist.

Bulma wasn't doing as well. She had lost so much blood that they had to give her a transfusion. But as they searched their inventory, they had discovered they didn't have her type and had to send out. The doctors rushed frantically to stop the bleeding, before Bulma got any worse off. After hours of emergency surgery, Bulma was finally sent to recovery. The baby in the meantime got thoroughly examined by the specialist. He the Doctor that delivered the baby came in to talk with the specialist. When he told him that the baby was just born, the specialist was amazed. The baby was already strong and healthy, as if it had been born days before. The doctors finally developed a way to remove the tail and would as soon as he got permission.

Meanwhile in a snowy mountain range:

Vegeta was training hard, he was trying hard to master the 450 times gravity, but was still struggling a bit. He was using all devices in the chamber, like the energy rebounder, the robot fighters, free weights, and a new system that varies the gravity around 450 times. He had cuts everywhere on him, and burns from all the energy blasts that hit him. But the one thing that he noticed was his new eyesight. He could see straight as an arrow, and it did make him more efficient.

He created two large energy blasts and began bouncing them back and forth with himself, moving as fast as he could after recovering from the force it took to block each blast. Suddenly as he was about to block the blasts, he felt a sharp feeling go through his head, which caused him to lose his focus and get pounded by the blasts, recovering just in time before they blew the ship to pieces. He left the ship and went outside to focus on what this feeling. After a minute he felt something was wrong back at home, something with Bulma. He sat on a stone and began speaking to himself, "Something is wrong with Bulma, I have to go back." He got up and walked into the ship. But as he was going to the control chamber, he stopped, "No, nothing's wrong, I must be losing my mind. I can't get distracted."

Vegeta began training hard again, going through his routine, over and over again. Hours he trained trying to hone his abilities and prepare for a higher level. It was now mourning where he was, which was 6 O'clock back at capsule corps. Vegeta was finished for the day, he had nothing left, and he was exhausted. He went to the small living quarters to nap, when he again felt a sharp pain, shoot through his head, and the image of Bulma kept popping up. Vegeta began pacing, thinking to himself what could go wrong, why could she be in trouble. He came to the conclusion that it could only be, if anything, a bad birthing procedure. Finally he couldn't take it, he jumped out of the machine and searched for the nearest large boulder. He found one of admirable size and hardness, and then proceeded in throwing it at the once damaged leg of the chamber. The throw was more than enough to give him an excuse to go back. He walked into the now tilted spacecraft and set the course for Capsule HQ. He pressed the button and within 30 seconds, he came to an abrupt halt over the large dome shaped building.

Vegeta crashed it on purpose to draw attention that he had returned, in case anyone was asleep. But as he walked out of his ship, he was shocked. Shocked to see no annoying blond haired woman, shocked to not see a hormone enraged pregnant woman, even shocked not to see that wily old scientist. He was alone. He began searching the house, top to bottom. But no one, not a soul there. He went into Bulma's room and was caught by a particular odor. But he disregarded that. He walked over to the balcony and sat on the ledge. He closed his eyes and began concentrating, focusing on her life force. His face turned to stone, as he searched, but no Bulma. He then began searching for another high-energy source, and he found one. He shot up in the air and flied in its direction. When he pinpointed it, he landed and found himself in front of a tall building, and was shocked to see it as the hospital. He could now sense Bulma, but barely at all, but as he concentrated, he noticed that Bulma and his son were apart. He concentrated more on Bulma, and could see her energy fading away. He ran into the hospital and concentrated on her position. He ran up the stairs, and headed down the hall. He stopped in a waiting room when he noticed Bulma's parents.

"What's going on?" he said to the two who had their heads down.

Mr. Briefs looked up at him, and began to speak at almost a whisper, "She had complications during birth, lost a lot of blood. They don't know if she is going to make it."

Vegeta was shocked, and began walking to the hall that had all the doors. "Excuse me sir, but you can't go down their without permission," the nurse behind the counter said to him. Vegeta didn't stop, and just continued down the hall until he had reached the door that he knew had Bulma behind it. Meanwhile, Mr. Briefs had taken care of the nurse, explaining that he was her husband, even though they weren't married.

Vegeta opened the door slowly and glanced in. He first saw the dresser in which they had placed her cloths that she had come in with. Then he saw her arm, which had IV's on it. He opened it further and walked in, taking his eyes of her just for a second to close the door. He walked closer until he was standing over her. He stared at her, and noticed how pale she was. Glancing down on her, he touched her hand and was amazed by how cold it was. He found a chair next to the bed, pulled it up, and sat down in it. He couldn't keep his eyes off her. It was amazing how she could be so strong willed that it overpowered even him. But now, she was lying there, weak, defenseless and she couldn't do anything about it. Vegeta held her hand and dropped his head on it.

Vegeta picked his head up and stared at her closed eyes. He let out a sigh and began to speak to her in a low whisper, "…All my life…" he paused and squeezed his free fist tightly. "…All my life I have looked down on people, people who were weak, and punished them for it." His eyes shut tightly as if he was in pain. "But I look at you," he couldn't speak anymore, as his teeth cringed. After a deep breath, he continued, "I look at you, and for the first time in my life, I feel pity." He felt a strange wetness come down his cheek and with his loose hand, touched it. He stared at the tear now on his finger, and was stunned. Looking back at Bulma, he gave up a quite chuckle, and began to speak again, "how selfish have I been, to feel no pain for anyone else but my self. But now, I feel your pain; I know that sounds funny but I do. I…" he paused again and thought, "I wish that I could do something."

Vegeta put his head down again and thought. Anger was seething through his body. All he could think about was how he had treated her the last time he saw her. He heard the beeping of her heart rate slow. He knew that was the timely sound of her death. Being that he was touching her, he could feel her energy slowly slipping away. It was only a matter of time until her body shut down. Frantically Vegeta thought, and then finally something had come into his mind. Slowly he powered up some energy, and began transferring it to her; as little as he possibly could, just to keep her alive. A small glow came over the two, and Bulma's eyes began to shutter. Vegeta stopped transferring energy, and looked at her. He heard the beeping in the room become more rapid and lively. Suddenly he felt a slight squeeze in his hand and looked at her. "Bulma?" Her eyes shuttered more, but the paleness was still in her, and he could still feel the energy that he had given her, fading. "Come on, wake up," he pleaded with her. He heard a moan from her which caused him to become frantic with his please, "Wake up, you need to wake up. C'mon, wake up." Bulma's eyes shuttered a little more, and then, as if it was a miracle, they opened. A smile came upon the face of Vegeta as he could feel her energy slowly stop dropping and becoming stable, even though it was still so low.

"Bulma?" he said trying to make contact with her. She began to slowly move her head and eyes until she was staring straight at him.

She opened her mouth, and tried to speak, "Ve…"

"Don't speak," he said worried about her health.

"Vegeta," she took in a big breath and continued, "How…How's the baby?"

"I haven't even thought about him. But he is a strong child, I can sense him from here, that I am certain of."

"Good…why did you come back, how did you know?"

"I don't know, just something forced me to come." Bulma smiled,

Just then, the doctor opened the door and walked in with a few nurses. "I see your awake, I have blood for you, so now you wont be so weak."

Vegeta put his hand on her head, and without any words left the room. Vegeta walked down the hall and sat in the waiting room. The briefs walked up to him and began to engage him in a line of questioning, "is she awake?" "Is she OK?" "What's going on?" "Is she going to make it?"

Vegeta, barraged with questioning, put his hands up to quiet them. "She is awake, and I think she will make it. They're giving her blood right now." Her parents gave each other a hug and a kiss, and then went to sit back down, with a great weight taken off of their shoulders.

After thirty minutes, the nurses left the room first, followed by the doctor, who motioned to Vegeta to come speak to him. Vegeta got up and went over to speak with the doctor. "Mr.?" The doctor said, not knowing what to call Vegeta.

"Just call me Vegeta," he said back to him.

"Well, Vegeta, it seems that Ms. Briefs is going to make it. The blood we gave her has seemed to be accepted by her body. We are going to have to keep her for a few days, but she is going to be fine."

Vegeta gave a sigh of relief, "Can I go see her, or are you doing something?"

"She is very weak, but I don't see why not, just don't excite her."

Vegeta nodded and entered the room and headed to the chair next to the bed. He sat again and looked at her. "How are you feeling?"

"I am very weak, even after the blood they gave me."

"Yeah, just rest and you will eventually have your strength return to you."

"That's what they told me."

"Bulma, I…" he paused angry at himself, "I can't stay. When I was in the waiting room, I realized to myself that I am not fighting for survival, I am fighting for you. I realized that I am not the most important one to myself, that, you, you are more important to me. Because, if I fail normally, I am dead, but if I fail this time, you are dead, and you don't deserve to die."

Bulma smiled, "I understand, you wont be around much anymore, you can't, there are more important things. Just promise me that when this is all over, you and I can…I don't know, try something together?"

"If I survive, then maybe, but that's the best I can give you now."

Bulma nodded and then got comfortable. After a minute, she had fallen asleep. Vegeta stayed five more minutes, just making sure that she was OK. Finally he had gotten up and was about to leave, when the doctor came in. Vegeta stopped in his tracks when he saw that he was holding a baby in his hand. "I thought you two…" he stopped and began to whisper when he noticed that Bulma was sleeping. "I thought you would like to see the baby, and give it a name." The baby was sleeping in his hands in a thick blue blanket. Vegeta walked over to it, and instead of holding it, he just let it grab his thumb. He felt the tremendous squeeze the young baby already had, and smiled. "Is there any name you would like to give the baby?" Vegeta began to think, and then he looked back at Bulma. Then the name she had been planning on giving him popped in his head. He never really liked it much, but decided that she wanted it, and it really didn't matter to him.

He looked at the doctor and said, "His name will be, Trunks."