Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ

Chapter 17: The last days: part II

4 days later:

Vegeta had just awaked from his sleep, and the machine had put emergency life support systems on him automatically. He saw a list pop up on the screen of his injuries, and after 10 minutes of lying there, gathering his strength, he got up and tended to his wounds. After he returned to the kitchen to eat, and then got a huge glass of water to drink. He undressed his wounds, and then headed for the shower, bathing himself and cleaning his wounds. He got out, and like Bulma, noticed how slim he had gotten. He was no longer bulky, he was slim and in turn, more agile. He knew that his speed would of dramatically increased when he recovered. He dropped down on his bed and had fallen asleep, still seven days from reaching Earth.

That week had gone along slowly, He rested the whole time, didn't train a bit. He couldn't; he felt that if he did, he would fall apart. Being a Super Saiyan, his wounds would heal far quicker than ever before, but that still took time. He meditated mostly that week; space was so peaceful, that it allowed the best meditation.

A week had gone by, and Vegeta had just passed by Jupiter, he was minutes from earth. The ship had slowed down so it would be a smooth landing. Vegeta rewrapped his wounds, and could feel his strength returning. He saw the Earth and marveled about how beautiful the planet really was; compared to the hundreds and thousands he had seen in his space conquering days. The ship entered the atmosphere, and came to a slow halt a few miles above capsule corps. It descended slowly down to the large yard, and came to a soft landing. Vegeta grabbed his bag and walked out of the chamber and towards the door.

Bulma had been in her room putting Trunks to sleep, being that it was twilight, and had seen the ship land in the yard. As Vegeta was walking towards the door, Bulma had beaten him to it, and opened it. "Hey, Vegeta…Oh my God your hurt," she almost screamed as she ran to him.

"I'm fine, I will heal shortly." Bulma looked him up and down, noticing his slimmed figure. For the longest time, Vegeta had been bulking up, but now he was more like he was when he first came to Earth, except not as scrawny. The two stood there in the yard for a few minutes, just being in each other's presence was calming. Finally Vegeta broke the silence, "How's the boy."

Bulma looked at him, and answered tiredly, "He's sleeping." Bulma thought over and thought that he might have wanted to know how he has been doing up to this point. "He is very smart; the doctors said he is one of the most intelligent babies he had ever seen. And he is very strong. More than once has he grabbed my finger, and I couldn't get it loose from him." Vegeta laughed figuring that he would be smart and strong, just not realizing how strong he really was.

They stood there a little longer, until Vegeta again broke the silence, after he had noticed Bulma's figure. "You look nice…I mean, better than you would think a human that gave birth to a saiyan child would look," he said, not trying to flatter her too much.

"Thanks I guess, you look great to, I can tell that you have trained real hard, and that's not just from the injuries." Vegeta smiled at her comment and just stood there a little longer. The sun was about to set, and the sky was beautiful. Bulma was hoping to maybe get a romantic kiss from him, after so long being without. But as they had begun to move closer to each other, they were interrupted.

"Vegeta!" Yamcha's voice said, as he landed behind him.

Vegeta turned around and looked at the human warrior. He gazed at him with an evil look, angered at his boldness for speaking to him so rudely.

Yamcha had stepped forward to confront him, "I have come to fight for Bulma," he said with all arrogance of a movie star.

"You have got to be kidding me," Vegeta said, not knowing if he should laugh, or get angry.

"NO, I'm calling you out," he said, but instead of Vegeta answered Bulma pitched in.

"He's already outside Yamcha, and you can't think about fighting him now, he's injured, he has been training hard. Your at full power, it wouldn't be fair…" Vegeta interrupted her.

"First of all woman, I don't appreciate you speaking for me, and second, I agree, it wouldn't be fair," Bulma looked at him shocked for not being so cocky. Vegeta gave an evil smirk and continued, "I AM injured, but I would have to be on the verge of death for him to defeat me." Yamcha got angry and headed towards him, as to hit him, but Vegeta interrupted him before he could, "Take her, she's yours, what do I care."

Bulma was not angry as much as annoyed. She expected him to say something like that, but she had always wanted someone to fight for her honor. "Vegeta, how could you say that!"? Vegeta looked at her with a 'give me a break' stare. Bulma continued, "Fine, if Yamcha wins, or you don't fight, he will raise Trunks, and he will teach him how to fight."

Vegeta was shocked by her response, and Yamcha gave a big smile to it. Finally, Vegeta answered, "Fine, I could use a good fight anyways." Vegeta faced Yamcha, and Yamcha, who was in training cloths, faced him. Bulma ran back to the door, and watched the impending fight. Vegeta just stood there, impervious, still, with no stance. Yamcha took a fighting stance and prepared for battle. Yamcha was the first to react as he lunged for Vegeta, and threw a powerful punch, but Vegeta moved so quickly, that it was like Yamcha swung right through him. He swung again, but Vegeta moved so fast that he easily dodged every throw. Yamcha kept at it, but still missed. He then fired an energy blast that Vegeta dodged again, but he was in the air, so no damage was done. Vegeta disappeared and reappeared on the ground a few feet ahead of him. Yamcha made one last effort to hit him, and connected right on the cheek. A scream of pain came from the area, but not from Vegeta, as Yamcha fell to the ground, holding his throbbing hand, as Vegeta's head, hadn't moved an inch. Yamcha recovered and with a blast in his had, was about to throw it at Vegeta's head, until Vegeta made a swift gut punch which knocked the wind out of Yamcha and sent him flying a few feet in the air, landing on his stomach. Yamcha struggled to get up, but couldn't. Vegeta was just standing there, with no expression on his face. Yamcha, embarrassed at his lack of strength, shot of into the air and flew away. Vegeta disappeared from sight, and instantly reappeared in front of Yamcha. "I thought you wanted to fight," he said angrily at the human. Yamcha was shaking in fear. "Just remember, I am no where near my full strength, if I was, that punch would of landed you not a few feet away, but in a hospital bed for a month, don't challenge it again." Vegeta again disappeared and landed back at capsule corps. Bulma ran to him and gave him a hug.

"I knew you could do it Vegeta!"

Vegeta smirked, "Honestly, you would have to be half insane to think otherwise." The two walked into the kitchen and she prepared him a meal. As she was doing that, he went over to Mr. Briefs quietly and requested the ship be refueled and restocked for another trip out. When he returned to the kitchen, dinner was on the table, and Bulma was sitting there, sad.

"So, you're going out again?" she said quietly.

"I have to," he said just as serious and quiet as she had sounded.

"When?"

"A few day, but I have some errands I have to run before I leave so I won't be around much."

"Like what?"

"I have to prepare my suite for the fight, get a bean that you use to heal people, and do a little scouting of the city the androids are to appear at."

"Why do that now, and not when you return?" Vegeta sat down and began to eat slowly, not answering her question. "Because you aren't going to return until the fight?"

He nodded. Bulma put her head down, for a minute, then walked over to him pulled up a seat next to him.

"You know, I wanted to thank you for naming Trunks." Vegeta didn't speak, but acknowledged her with a look. Bulma thought over a minute and then continued speaking. "I can make you a new suit, and I have a senzu bean in my lab, I can give you that. Also, I can show you on a map where the city is, if it helps any." Vegeta put his fork down and looked at her. He didn't say anything, but gave her one of the most sincere looks he had given her, since he was about to leave for space a little over a year before. Bulma didn't say anymore, she just laid her head on his shoulder as he continued to eat. She stayed there until she fell asleep. Vegeta brought her upstairs and put her into bed. he then walked over to the nearby crib and stared at his sleeping son. The Baby had his thumb in his mouth, which Vegeta almost noticed immediately. Bulma in the meantime, awoke, but she had just opened her eyes and looked at Vegeta.

Vegeta had put his hand into the crib and pulled the thumb out of the child's mouth. "Don't do that, it'll give you an overbite," he said to the baby, who had opened his eyes, and gazed upon his father. The baby didn't cry at all. Vegeta put his thumb on the forehead of the baby and moved it across. He turned around which made Bulma squeeze her eyes shut, pretending as if she had not seen this; Vegeta didn't catch on. He walked over to Bulma's side of the bed, and softly said two words, two words he hadn't spoken in a while, and that he had never meant when he spoke it, "Thank you." Vegeta walked out of the room and went to his old room, where he slept the night. He slept in the next mourning, which for him meant 9 O'clock. He was awakened by the sound of a baby down stairs. He got up and went to the kitchen where his breakfast had just been put down. He sat down and began to eat as Bulma had begun feeding Trunks several jars of baby food. Vegeta smiled when he had seen this, seeing that the baby had a saiyan appetite.

"Oh, Vegeta, I put your suit and senzu bean in the space ship, and I have the map of the city in the living room. My dad went out to restock your ship this mourning and wont return until tonight, but it will be fueling until then." Bulma said as she was multitasking, eating and feeding the baby, each with one hand.

"Great, I can get back to my training sooner than expected," he looked down at his food and concentrated on eating it.

"How do you feel today, still sore?"

"Not as much, by tomorrow, I will probably be back to training level. That is when I'll leave."

He looked up, thinking that that would have an affect on Bulma, but she just nodded, and swallowed her sadness. After Breakfast, Vegeta grabbed the map and headed off for the island city. Once there, he searched all around, looking for a place that they could enter the city without being noticed. He looked all around, finding a good vantage place, where he couldn't be seen. The whole day, he studied the area, memorizing the place, finding sufficient cover to help him. Usually when he fought someone, he had some form of knowledge of how they fought, or what their techniques were. This time he would have to observe them, to find their weaknesses and strengths, to help give him an edge. After he was finished, he took of and flew back to capsule corps. Mr. Briefs was stocking up the ship, and Bulma was preparing his bag. He watched the two from a distance and smiled, "I have finally found a place where I can live like a prince, and I will defend it at all costs." He walked in and sat down at the dinner table, just as Mrs. Briefs' made was bringing out dinner. That night they ate, and enjoyed themselves, with no worries, even though it was now less than 4 months until the Androids arrived. After dinner, Vegeta followed Bulma up to her room as she checked on the baby. When she was done checking him, they left the room, and closed the door. "Bulma, is everything ready?"

"Yeah, you can leave tomorrow whenever you wake up."

"I am not going to wait until tomorrow, I will leave tonight."

"But…" he cut her off.

"I can't get distracted from my goal, if I do, it could spell almost certain doom."

"I understand. I was hoping that maybe we could…you know."

Vegeta looked at her, instantly knowing what she meant. Looking her up and down, he could sense something wrong, "You can't."

Bulma looked down and remembered the doctor told her 6 months. "Damn, I was hoping on it so much. Wait, how could you tell."

"Us saiyans can tell things like that, it's in our nature."

Bulma looked down again and began to cry. Vegeta instinctively grabbed both of her arms and pulled her closer. Bulma spoke through her tears, "I don't want to lose you."

Vegeta didn't say anything, just put his finger under her chin and made her lift her head. Slowly he approached her and their lips met. They stood there and kissed for what seemed to be eternity. Vegeta pulled back and began to speak, even below a whisper, but they were so close she could hear him, "That's all the passion I can give you now, but I won't be defeated by a bunch of machines, I wont be a casualty, I promise you." Vegeta gave her one final kiss on the cheek, and then pulled away. He composed himself, and returned to his proud dark state. He walked down the stairs, out the door, and into the space ship. Bulma walked into her room and out to her balcony. She watched him open the hatch and begin walking in, when he stopped. He sensed her looking, and gave one final look, the same as before, and she was peaceful inside again. She watched him enter the ship, and take off into space, not to return for almost 4 months, the day that world's fate would be in question.

4 months later:

Bulma awoke to her alarm clock, which said 7 AM. She got up, showered and dressed, putting on some make up. She walked out of her room and down the hall to Vegeta's old room. She walked in and bit her lip trying to hold back the pain for stepping on a toy. He shook it off and walked to the crib, picking Trunks up, who was wide-awake now. She got him dressed and headed down stairs. After getting a quick bite to eat, and feeding trunks, they went out and got in her high-speed aircraft. It took off and headed for the direction that the Androids would be found. As she flew over the city, she saw a mountainous area with a flat ground where she could land. As she did, she noticed that Tien was already there. She looked down at the time on her clock and read 9:01. She got out and greeted him, but could immediately notice that he was nervous. She held the baby, who brought shock to him, but not as much as he would get when he found out whom it was. Yamcha soon arrived, and after that, Goku, Krillin, Gohan, and Piccolo arrived.

Back at Capsule Corps, Vegeta landed his ship, hiding his power from anyone knowing, a nice trick he learned in space. He took the senzu bean and felt all of his many wounds heal. He quickly took a shower, and then headed off for the city, getting in his hiding place where no one would see him. As he landed, he saw a clock strike ten, and he could only say one thing, "And now it begins."