Disclaimer: What? Who said I own DBZ? They're crazy! Why would I live here if I do? Needless to say, I don't own it.
Living with You
Chapter 7
"What is it, Vegeta? Is it about the baby? Are you trying to tell me something about your past? Who are we talking about here?" She waved her arms around wildly, as if they would make some sort of sense of the situation.
"About us," he replied bluntly. The softer side of him that he had been showing towards her lately had retreated and the Vegeta she had first met had returned.
Her arms stopped waving as his look had unsettled her, and she looked directly at him trying to figure out what it was that he was trying to say. "Us? What 'us' are you talking about? There is no us. Do you mean a companionable us? A fate of the world us? Us as in the Z Warriors and the lone scientist they are friends with?"
"Us as in we are falling in 'love,'" he said with a sneer and disgust plainly etched in his features.
She huffed, "Love? Oh you must be kidding, Vegeta." The look on his face told her he plainly wasn't. "Okay, so maybe you aren't." She coughed. "Well, go on, tell me what you mean then."
So this was what had turned him back into stone. He looked so stern at the moment. Bulma for one did not believe it at all, but she was positive that Vegeta believed it. And she knew that when something really bothered Vegeta, really bothered him, he would shut down, just as he was doing now. Could it possibly be true?
He took a deep breath and served the oatmeal to her and took the rest of what was in the pan for himself. He took a few spoonfuls to stall for time before answering. He didn't quite know how to put it all. It was not easy. To think, he, Vegeta the Prince of All Saiyans, was going through this process with a human. A weak, stupid, insignificant human. He shook his head in annoyance with the entire situation.
"We are bonding. I don't know if you have experienced it yet, though I suspect you have. You've been overly observant of my moods lately. It's only the very first stages of the process. And I've been getting your moods…"
She appeared not to understand what he was talking about one bit.
"Saiyans start the mating process-"
"Whoa…" The spoon was almost to her lips, but it had stopped as soon as she heard the word 'mating.' She wasn't sure that she wanted to hear about Saiyan mating rituals, but her scientist mind was intrigued at this point and she couldn't have kept herself from listening.
"We start the mating process by forming a bond with our intended mate. We don't go out and pick the person we want, the bond just forms without our knowing about it for the most part until we start getting some of the side effects, like knowing the other person's mood or hearing their thoughts. Eventually it progresses to getting the other person's memories, being able to sense when they are in danger, their mood, communicate through their minds, and much more. It's usually with someone we are around or know, not necessarily that we have loving or lustful feelings for them to begin with. The bond grows stronger and stronger in both of the Saiyans and eventually, they have the need to physically mate. Now, it doesn't always happen the first time they do, but usually on their first time, they end up marking each other. The mark bonds them for life and lets other Saiyans know that that person is off limits. They cannot fool around with others after they have been marked or else the one they had sex with and even they are game to be killed by their mate. After being marked, and doing the marking, both Saiyans become very protective as they see the other as 'theirs' and will attack anyone who tries to take away what is theirs.
"Some bonds are stronger than others, depending on the compatibility between them. The weakest bonded mates can actually break off the bond if they have to or if they get too sick of each other. Those are considered to be flukes. It's not often that their instincts draw them to the wrong person. The regular bonds do last a lifetime, but after one dies, the other will be upset for a while, but will eventually find that they can move on and may then find someone else to mate with if they so choose, or of their body tells them to. The other rare bond is the one that is actually the most binding. In it, both of the Saiyans are in love and their bond becomes stronger than any normal bond. It unites them in body, mind, and soul. When one dies in this sort of bond, the other dies shortly after and they are said to join each other in the afterlife."
He became quiet for a moment and Bulma found herself deep in thought. If it were all true, what kind of bond were they forming? What would it be like to be completely bound to someone like Vegeta? His memories…she had always known that he had lived through some terrible things, he had killed so many people. Were all their faces etched into his mind's eye forever? Were all of his memories full of blood and pain? Were there any good memories left inside of him? She wondered if maybe she could continue to bring out the good side of him, the side that was as kind as he was capable of being. Would he eventually become good and never be troubled by his past? That would be impossible…someday he would have to answer for his crimes…hadn't he already? Bulma wondered where he had gone when he was killed by Frieza on Planet Namek…the answer was obvious, but she didn't want to think it. She wanted to hear from Vegeta.
"We are forming a bond, Bulma. I can feel it," he broke in. "I often know your feelings and I know that I'm not far away from hearing your thoughts and being able to read your mind."
"But," she stuttered. The same spoonful of oatmeal still hadn't gotten into her mouth yet. "Why would I be getting your feelings? I'm not a Saiyan. Why is this happening if I'm not a Saiyan?"
"My bond that is forming with you is probably giving you some part of it, maybe it's strong enough for the both of us. Maybe my body understands that I'm one of two left alive and that there is a need for me to procreate, even if it is pointless. The Saiyan race will never be fully reborn. If I mate with you, it will only prolong the process of the death of my people. Even if Kakarott and I had started to bond and mate, there still would be no hope for Saiyans to be reborn. The blood of my people will be mixed with inferiors only to dwindle into the human population, becoming nothing but a minuscule dot in the blood of my descendents."
Bulma stared at Vegeta. He was sarcastic, but he seemed defeated. She wondered if this was the first time he had ever truly thought it all out. It couldn't be. He must have thought that his race would die with him until he had meet Goku.
"Wait, wait, wait," she said and she waved her hands again in front of her. "You and Goku could mate? As in, have babies?"
Still sarcastic, Vegeta looked up at her with just a hint of laughter in his eye and said, "Yeah."
Bulma opened and closed her mouth a few times then asked, "How?"
"There were more males on my planet than women. Over a long period of time in our history, the males developed the ability to reproduce. With less pain, I might add." Her look remained blank, so he continued, "It starts out the same way as if you are gay on this planet, but Saiyan males have organs that can handle carrying a baby. When the baby is ready to be born, there is a cut that forms below the carrier's belly button and the baby can be pulled out."
"What about the women?"
"The same as you," he said with a sigh, obviously not interested in the subject any longer.
Bulma put down her spoon, after figuring that she wasn't going to be eating anytime soon. Vegeta uncharacteristically played with a rock to pass the uncomfortable silence, also choosing not to finish eating. Bulma continued to wonder about Vegeta. This was a huge deal. She was still denying all of it, trying to make a case for herself that could somehow explain it all as a joke.
"Don't you humans bond?" he asked. "Doesn't your mother always tell your father that all of you should spend more bonding time together?"
He wondered why Bulma wasn't getting it. He often saw Earth people holding hands and courting. Wasn't courting here the same as bonding on his planet? He knew that humans were able to tell what others were thinking sometimes, especially if they knew each other well. He had always assumed that it was because of some sort of bond.
"Well, yeah, but we don't bond like that! We bond in a family way, like we learn more about each other and its purpose is to remind us why we love each other, what it was that we like about this or that particular person. We don't bond until we can read each others minds…"
"But you do bond, and maybe there is a part of humans that is capable of bonding in this way. Maybe I have activated it in you."
She sat dumbfounded. This was the last thing she had expected to hear from him. At the beginning of this, when he had looked like he had something important to say, she had been half expecting him to tell her that he had found a tiny fetus inside her jeans. She expected him to tell her that that it was still living, and all his hesitation was because he wasn't sure if he should tell her or not because it would most likely die. That obviously wasn't the case. All the talk about being mates seemed ridiculous to her on the surface, but deep down, she knew that it was true. She felt a part of herself fighting against it; she wanted to pick who she loved, not have it dictated to her by some weird alien from out of space and his weird bonding rituals. Another part said "Aha! So that's why I've started having these feelings about him. That's why I was happy to know he looked up my skirt. I'm so glad I'm going to marry such a hot stud!"
After a few minutes of silence, Vegeta muttered more to himself than to her, "Of course there is always the chance this is a lighter type of bond." Bulma looked at him and he continued, "Saiyans formed 'bonds' with their fellow soldiers or clansmen when they fought together for a length of time. It helped them to become more efficient and allowed them to work together and coordinate their moves while fighting. Maybe the bond that is forming between us is something more like that. One that doesn't involve love on any level…"
Bulma covered her mouth in an attempt to hide a giggle. She couldn't believe how much Vegeta was trying to get out of it. One minute he seemed resigned to his fate, the next he was trying to think of ways to get out of it, then he was coming up with different types of bonds that did not necessarily mean he had to fall in love or fully commit himself to anyone. She knew that it would be a drastic change for him, having to care about someone other than himself. She knew that for the longest time, he only took care of himself and did not feel the need to take care of anyone or anything. To him, helping Earthlings fight off bad guys was just a way to pass the time, not something he was devoted to.
Suddenly she thought of a lighter subject, one she had only thought of a little bit before. "Vegeta, why did you have to stick you hand down my pants for look for the baby? Can't you track energy with your mind?" She looked sternly at him in what she hoped was an intimidating look.
He looked up at her and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face before he dropped his head back down to gaze at the flames before him. "You're right. I just wanted to get in your pants."
Her mouth dropped open and she looked around as if someone else were there to go and slap him for her. Meanwhile, he had cautiously looked up to see what her reaction was. He laughed and slapped his hands together at the shocked look she had plastered on her face. He then settled down after a bit and said, "No, I lied. It's different for a baby. Since yours was so small, with barely any energy to read from, I had to do it that way. Especially to be sure about it."
There was another few moments of silence as each drifted off into their own thoughts. Vegeta thought about her dead child and wondered at his reaction to it right from the beginning. He thought he had been so disgusted with the thought of Yamcha producing a child, but was it really that? Could it have been his bond making him jealous? Was it his bond reacting to the unwelcome advance on his intended mate?
"Vegeta, you said something about torturous pain?" Bulma finally asked as her mind finally digested everything he had said to her.
"What?"
"You said, 'In order to stop it, you would have to go through a lot of torturous pain.' I'm assuming that you were talking about this bond thing. Is that true? If I didn't want to go through with it, it would be painful?"
He nodded. With as much pain as she had just gone through, he felt that it would be cruel to tell her he didn't want to mate with her. A part of him did want to mate, though. His body and soul did, but his mind was screaming about the intrusion into his life. He had gotten used to the fact that he was the last Saiyan to remember anything about the Saiyan culture, and that he would be alone and he would not have to or be able to mate with anyone. Being able to mate with a human came as a great shock to him.
"Once a bond has started, the couple has to really concentrate on separating from each other in body, mind, and soul. It is difficult and it can only be done when both are serious about it. Then each has to rip off their bond mark from their neck and they are forever scarred." Serious about it? He knew that she would really have to make him hate her before he would be as serious as he needed to be in order to break off the bond. He knew attempting to break it off would be doomed from the start.
"What about before then? Before they mark each other?"
He shook his head. "I've never heard about a couple breaking the bond before then. The urge to satisfy their instincts and bond is always too great. The instincts are usually right anyway."
Bulma chewed her lip as she looked at him. Was this really happening to her? Did this mean that there was really no choice? There was no way she would break off the bonding at this point. Bulma was shocked, but she felt like she had been sapped of any strength she had ever had inside of her. She didn't want to go through more physical or emotional pain for a long time. She had to say that she wasn't too upset that Vegeta would be her mate, and that surprised her, since only a few months ago she had created a huge lie because she was so desperate to get rid of him. Sure, she could definitely see where there would be problems being in a relationship with Vegeta. She loved to shop, but he hated it. She always wanted to go out and have fun, but he never wanted to and instead went out of his way to not go places. All Vegeta wanted to do was eat, sleep, and train all the time. Bulma knew those things were superficial and that there were more serious problems with a 'them.' She imagined what her future with him would be like, and saw herself being run ragged by his orders to bring him food and fix his gravity room. She shook her head.
"Are you sure about all of this?" she asked. The future didn't look so good for her if her imagination was right. "You're not wrong about it, like you're just not getting weird feelings and thinking that their mine? Maybe you were having sympathy pains or something…"
"Oh shut up," he muttered irritably.
He stood up and paced back and forth inside the cave. Even moving around wasn't helping to make some of his warring emotions go away, so he decided to head outside. Bulma watched as he blasted off and sped away into the night. She might have been worried, but she knew that Vegeta wouldn't just leave her there in a desert, even if he had reverted back to his old self. As it was, she wasn't too concerned and she knew if for some reason he didn't come back (highly unlikely) then she would be able to make something from some of the stuff within the cave to make a beacon. The refrigerator would be really helpful for that.
You guys, I was thinking ahead for some of the later chapters and I realized that Goku is on the planet…he's not supposed to be…so yeah, I guess this is AU, hehe. And in later chapters will also still be slightly AU. I did not realize that!
Lady Branwen
