AN: Thanks for the reviews and the well wishes for my upcoming, now past nuptials. I'm happy to announce that I am now officially a Missus! To celebrate - here's the next Chapter.

Also: Happy Valentines Day!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, Super or GT or any of the associated characters that appear in this fanfic.

Chapter 4: The Tail of Bra

Vegeta focused on his breathing, willing his lungs to expand and contract slowly despite the immense external pressure that was trying to force them to remain flattened after very exhale. The numbers on the display of the center control panel read 80G: 10 over what his previous training level had been and 20 short of what Kakarot had trained at before landing on Namek. 10 more minutes of this to acclimatise himself to the new environment and then he would start his exercise routine. The previous day, Vegeta had arrogantly assumed that since he was at least as strong as Kakarot was when he first landed on Namek, thanks to his beat down by Recoom and consequent healing session in the tanks afterward, he should have been able to handle the levels that Kakarot trained at. He quickly realised his mistake. It took him five excruciating minutes to crawl to the control panel and shut down the gravity. After gaining his strength back, Vegeta discovered that it took at least six hours to acclimatise his body to the higher levels in increments of 10Gs. He had started at 50Gs and it took him the rest of the day to comfortably move and fight in 70Gs.

He still had some of the food left from his trip through space. It wasn't appetising, but it was filling and nourishing. After eating his fill, he showered in the Gravity Chamber facilities, the heavily pelting water from the showerhead under 20Gs felt great on his aching body and he had crawled into his cot afterwards, stark naked, too exhausted to even lift his arms to dress. The chamber he left running at a constant 20G as he slept.

Vegeta was up and ready for a new day of training four hours later. He had just started at 80Gs a few minutes ago and was now planning his regime for the day, with the goal of getting to 100G by dinnertime. His meditation, however was suddenly interrupted by a knock. He opened his eyes to see a face peering at him through the window at the door. At first he thought that it was the Woman, but as he focused on the person he noted that the face was younger, still carrying the roundness of youth around her jaw. He grit his teeth, irritated at the interruption. The way the brat looked at him made him very uncomfortable. Sadness and adoration all jumbled up and visible for the world to see in that expressive face, as transparent as the Woman's. The sadness he could handle, the adoration however... He had done nothing to deserve that from the girl. He wasn't her sire. He didn't raise her. His future counterpart did that, and he wasn't him. He did not think he would ever be. It was unfathomable that he could ever be someone that was so obviously cared about. It made him feel like a fraud, which in turn made him angry. Why couldn't the girl just leave him be. He huffed and turned away from her, moving to face the opposite side of the chamber.

He heard her knock again shortly afterwards. He ignored her, but stubbornness was apparently a hereditary trait because the knocking didn't end. He sighed, and got up and walked over to the entrance.

"What" he snapped when the door opened.

"You said you'll train me." she answered coolly.

"I'm busy."

"Then I'll go look for another sensei."

Vegeta grit his teeth, remembering her threat of seeking the tutelage of his nemesis. "Brat, don't you dare." he warned.

"Oh I'll dare alright. And my name is Bra, not 'Brat'. No 'T' at the end."

"I know your name, Brat," he emphasised, but seeing as you insist on calling me by some nauseating familial endearment I figure it's only fair I return the insult." Vegeta watched her stew for a moment, fists clenched tightly at her side. It was kind of funny, he admitted. She was apparently as easy to bait as her mother.

"Fine!" she finally spat in defeat. Instead of her leaving in a huff, as Vegeta would have expected, the girl shouldered past him and parked herself in the middle of the chamber in a meditative position. After a moment, he watched her wrinkle her nose in disgust. "It stinks in here" she remarked. Vegeta let out a bark of laughter at her expression.

"That, Princess, is the scent of hard work. Better get used to it if you're planning on staying." He watched the girl's eyes widen at his words then cloud over with sadness.

"That's what Papa always used to call me" she said softly. Vegeta cursed inwardly. The last thing he wanted was to remind her of his dead future counterpart. The title had slipped out, more as a sarcastic taunt referencing her prissy remark about the smell and her dubious status as his heir. It was not an endearment. Yet somehow it held sentimental value to the girl. He made a note to never call her that again. Ignoring her teary eyes, Vegeta walked over to the control panel to activate the gravity again. Before he hit 'engage' he asked.

"Have you done Gravity training before?" She nodded 'yes'. "At what level?" he prompted.

"550 max in base form" she answered. Vegeta sucked in a breath, once again realising that despite her age, she was immensely strong. She looked at him then, realising that he seemed to be struggling with the revelation. "Mother upgraded the machine to go to 800Gs max. She couldn't exceed that without damaging the integrity of the Chamber. Before your death you were training easily at that level in base form." she said. It wasn't much of a consolation, Vegeta thought, but it did take the edge off his bitterness. He nodded to Bra in acknowledgement and engaged the gravity to 80G, and took a seat to continue his own meditation.

By lunch time he had completed four hours of strength training and was in his second hour of katas. His muscles were straining, but he could finally move comfortably in 100G. He hadn't spoken to the girl since starting his routine, but she somehow managed to mirror him in his training. She was familiar with his katas, he noted. It made sense, he guessed.

"Brat" he spoke finally, after completing the final move of his kata. "You're wasting your time here." He spoke frankly. "You can probably do these moves in your sleep."

"I know" she answered.

"Then what are you doing here?" his tone was exasperated. She sighed and looked at him again with that strange mix of adoration and sadness, before shrugging forlornly. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to quell his frustration. He really had no idea what to do with the girl. Ignoring her obviously didn't work, neither did insults since they seemed to go right over her head. He could probably find the words that would cause enough emotional damage to make her go away for a long time, but he knew something about the pursuit of a father's approval. His own father had put his hope in Vegeta. The desolation of never being able to live up to that almost impossible standard was almost unbearable at the time. Then the hatred that festered in him once he realised the truth, that he was never meant to achieve the task set before him: become the Legendary, kill the bastard than enslaved him and save his people. He was never meant to rule. He was nothing but a pawn, a hostage to keep his people in line. He hated his father for being weak. For abandoning him to his fate. For putting the burden of his world's survival on his young shoulders. He hated what he had become because of it. Oh yes, Vegeta could easily find the words to make Bra run from him in disgust. Yet somehow, he didn't want the girl to hate him. He didn't deserve her adulation, but he didn't want her to hate him either, so he did the only thing left to do.

"Let's spar" he ordered.

"B, please bring up the schematics of the time machine." Bulma called out. She was currently seated in the decapsulated time-machine, observing the various labels on the equipment in before her. On her workbench lay the holographic console her future counterpart had sent her. The console suddenly spoke, the voice emanating from it would be a replica of her own were it not for the monotonous and slightly cold lilt to it. Bulma found that she actually preferred it that way, admitting that it would probably creep her out if the voice were more animated.

"Retrieving schematic diagram of Capsule-686f7065." the voice said and Bulma soon saw a floor to ceiling projection of the time-machine blueprints displayed before her.

"Bulma Briefs, you are a genius." she said, recognising her own signatures in the design. She then navigated through the schematics using her voice until she found what she was looking for: the correct data port to run diagnostics via her laptop. Bulma reached down to open the correct panel to plug in her laptop, but froze when she saw the white corner of a paper sticking out just passed her shoes. She picked up the paper. It was small, about the size of a picture. She flipped it over and found the smiling face of a young Bra staring at her. She was missing one her one of her front teeth. Bulma heart squeezed as she looked at the face beside little Bra's. It was Vegeta's. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't frowning either. He looked like he hadn't aged at all. If Bulma were to be honest she could admit that the man in the picture was even more attractive than the one currently occupying the Gravity Chamber on her lawn. His bulging arms were crossed over his well-defined chest. Not even the dark-red tank top could hide the definition on those pecs, Bulma noted. He was much bigger than his counterpart in the present. His hands were in purple fingerless gloves. His hair was a tad shorter, the characteristic flame shape seemingly chopped down to a more subdued shape. He almost seemed human, Bulma thought. Bra's arms were wrapped around his neck from behind as she squished her face against his cheek. She was wearing a white T-shirt and fingerless gloves too - pink ones. Bulma noted that the T-shirt has brown stains on the arm and that the girl's elbow was scraped. She seemed happy though, and Bulma couldn't help the smile that bloomed on her face, neither the longing that ached in her heart.

"Earth to Bulma" she suddenly heard, and looked up to find a hand waving back and forth before her face. The hand belonged to Yamcha, who was still in his white long sleeved T and black track pants."Man, he said, floating down to the ground, "You were really in your own world up there weren't you?" he asked. "Having fun playing with your new toys?"

Bulma laughed nervously and climbed out of the time machine. "I was actually," she said as she reached the floor. "You wouldn't believe the wealth of information future me has sent me on that little console over there." she said, indicated the device on the table that was still busy projecting the schematics of the time machine. "I've barely been able to scratch the surface of her work and I've been in here for hours.

"What is that?" Yamcha asked, indicating her hand.

"What? Oh, this?" she said, suddenly realising that she had been waving around the picture she found in the time machine while she was talking. "Uhm.. it's nothing." she answered, sticking it in her lab coat.

"Why are you here, anyway. I seemed to remember you bailing right after the whole fiasco with Bra yesterday. You didn't even say goodbye!"

"I uh.." he stammered and started scratching his neck, "I actually came to apologise. It was a dick move, Babe. I'm sorry."

"It was." Bulma affirmed. "I mean, I know you're probably upset about whole Vegeta and I get-together in the future thing, but nothing happened yet-

"Yet?" Yamcha interrupted, and Bulma realised her slip-up. She paused.

"Look, Yamcha." she started slowly, "Before Bra showed up things probably would have panned out exactly like she said it would. You'd be dead and there'd be a couple of maniacal androids flying around, killing everything in sight. Now, we don't know what our future holds. We've been given a chance to change what will be for the better. We might break up anyway or we might decide to work it out. One thing I do know however is that for now, we're together. That's all that matters, isn't it?"

Yamcha, it seemed, wasn't convinced.

"Do you like him?" he suddenly asked.

"Like who? Vegeta?"

"Yes." he hissed. through clenched jaws.

"Of course not!" Bulma denied vehemently.

"Don't lie to me, Bulma! Then what was all that about Vegeta being a good kisser?"

"Oh my Kami, Yamcha. It was just a dream! It didn't mean anything!"

"Bullshit. I've seen how you act around him!"

"What are you talking about? When have you seen me? The guy has barely been back a full day"

"Exactly! You were flirting with him."

"When?"

"When he crash landed at your house!"

"Seriously, Yamcha you're being ridiculous!" Bulma's defense sounded thin, even to her own ears.

"You find him attractive. Don't deny it Bulma, I've known you for too long. I know all your tells."

"Alright fine!" Bulma huffed, crossing her arms in a defensive manner. "I might have found him a teeny-weeny bit hot. Kami, I'm not blind." she ended, noting the exasperation in her own voice.

"I knew it!" Yamcha cried triumphantly. Bulma sighed.

"It still doesn't mean anything." she pouted. "Just because I think he's hot doesn't mean I'm ready to jump into bed with the man, That Saiyan is an absolute asshole! He's mean, arrogant, self-entitled… he's a jerk Yamcha."

"Didn't stop the other you." Yamcha said quietly, suddenly seeming to have run out of steam.

"You know what Yamcha, screw you!" Bulma said, incensed. "I'm not going to stand here and be punished for something that I haven't done. It's unfair, and you know what, I don't have to take it, so I think you need to leave."

"Bulma, wait… What are you saying?" Yamcha started, a note of desperation coloring his tone.

"Get out, Yamcha. I'm saying get out." Bulma reiterated, and released a weary sigh.

"Fine." Yamcha answered with a sigh of his own. "You obviously need some space. I'll call you" he said, walking away.

"Don't bother." Bulma muttered, mutinously. She watched as Yamcha paused in his tracks, but he didn't look at her again, just kept walking. She sighed heavily when he disappeared completely from her sight. Bulma examined her own feelings as she watched her lover of 15 years walk out the door. She was sad yes, but mostly she felt tired. She knew that he still held a place in her heart. He had become her dearest friend and they'd shared many firsts together. However, the intimacies that they'd shared as youngsters in love had seemed to have fizzled away over the years. Bulma kept trying to tell herself that it was a sign of a mature relationship. That they'd naturally cool off towards each other as their familiarity increased, and yet, she wanted it back: the passion and the spark. Even Mom seemed to be getting more action than her, as nauseating as it was to think about the frequency of her parents' lovemaking, and they've been together for decades. Was she being selfish to wish for more? Was that what her future self saw in Vegeta? Did he fulfill that for her? She wondered whether it was worth it to continue her attempts at making it work with Yamcha, or if she was just wasting time that could be otherwise spent building the family that she so desperately craved. Realising that she had no answers for this line of thinking, Bulma determined to quit procrastinating. She turned back to the Time Capsule and continued her work.

They were lying in the shade of the big tree in the garden. Vegeta felt the aches and pains settle in from a productive sparring session. Next to him, Bra was not even winded. She had kept her power level purposely on par with his own so she wasn't completely unscathed. On her cheek, a small smear of blood was left uncleaned from when he had headbutted her on the nose. She had shrieked bloody murder when that hit landed, not because it hurt (though it must have), but because she was worried that the her nasal cartelige would thicken along the bridge and would lead to her having a 'fat, ugly nose'. Vegeta couldn't help but chuckle as he recalled it. His chuckle turned into a full grin when he recalled the punishment he received for messing up her nose. Already he could feel his eye swelling shut in what the humans affectionately referred to as a 'shiner'.Her violent reaction to his slight proved that despite her feminine squawking, she was no less of a Saiyan. In fact, Vegeta thought with a frown, she was probably more saiyan than himself at this moment, despite her strange coloring. She still sported the symbol of their heritage, her tail. A tail, Vegeta noted in his peripheral that was currently leisurely waving about to and fro.

"Why do you still have your tail?" Vegeta suddenly asked, and watched her blue eyes pop open at being addressed.

"Momma wanted to cut it off," Bra answered, after a beat, "but you wouldn't let her."

"..."

"My brother had his removed at birth." she continued in the wake of his silence, "Papa wanted me to keep mine, in case I need the power boost from the Oozaru. We live in the bunkers underground Capsule Corp, the rubble of the old building concealing any signs of life, so me seeing the moon wasn't a problem until I was strong enough to start helping you fight. You didn't want to, at first. Mama also didn't want me to, but I was stubborn and often snuck out after you when you went on rescue and resource runs."

"Resources, I understand, but why would I give a damn about anyone to rescue them" Vegeta interjected, finding the notion completely out of character.

"You were different then-

"I was insane, is what I was. Why the hell did I not just take a ship and get the hell off the planet?"

Here Bra was silent, seeming to think. "I think you wanted vengeance. For Tr- for my brother. I don't think you wanted to leave until you defeated the androids."

"Hmm" he grunted, finding some truth to her words. As a Saiyan, his pride would not let rest the fact that the ones that murdered his blood would be left alive while he ran like a coward. It would be his duty to avenge his son, or die trying.

"Also, Momma destroyed all the Space travel tech to prevent the Android finding it in case shit went sideways. "

Vegeta snorted. They lay in silence for another few moments before Bra continued:

"I was twelve, the first time I transformed. There was a confirmed android sighting. We got a distress call via the radio. Momma thought you went to help but it was too far away for you to be much help once you finally arrived so you took me in the opposite direction instead, out to an uninhabited island. It was a risk, but you figured the android were far enough away and would be entertaining themselves for a while yet. I felt awful, but you told me that people die all the time. The strong will always dominate over the weak. It was the natural order of things. To survive we must become strong. So you made me look at the moon and after I transformed, you taught me how to control it… It took a few full moons to fully master it, though."

Vegeta was silent, at once relieved that despite him seemingly taking the woman to mate and birth his children, it didn't turn future-him into a sentimental fool. He could understand valuing the lives of his family - even if the word did send a shudder of revulsion down his spine - but the rest of the weaklings inhabiting this gods-forsaken mudball, now that was too far of a stretch for his imagination. His future counterpart probably only went on these 'rescue' missions to enact his vengeance on the tin-can abominations, one limb at a time.

Bra continued her narrative: "One of the time, the androids showed up, but I was so big and so strong I was slapping them around like flies" here she laughed, a joyous tinkling laced with nostalgic reminiscence. "It didn't do any damage to them, despite the power boost, but I was half-wild and drunk on the power so I had fun. And you kept them busy enough that they weren't able to harm me seriously either… you however did take some serious hits." She sobered, a frown creasing her youthful brow. "I learnt how to do a mouth ki-cannon that day. Caught Seventeen of guard… he was scorched up pretty badly actually, so they decided that they didn't want to play anymore and flew away. You were in a bad way, so I flew you back to the compound. Mom nearly had a heart attack when she saw me. She didn't know you were training me to use the Oozaru. She tore a strip off you once you were no longer bleeding out. Dunno what she said to you but you were in a sulky mood for days." another light chuckle.

Vegeta continued to watch the clouds drifting peacefully past. It was a peace that wouldn't last as is generally the case with such things. So Vegeta rose and returned to the Gravity Chamber, determined to succeed where his future-self had failed: he will become strong. He will reach the Legendary and he will surpass it.

AN: I would say that there's trouble in paradise for Bulma and Yamcha, but it hardly seems like paradise to me. Will Bulma stick it out a while longer or move on to greener… more fertile pastures.