Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters
Special thanks to iluvveggie, hey-sasstiel, KKsaiyancat, and the guest reviewer for reviewing the original chapter.
Time passed as Bulma continued to perfect the gravity chamber. She was still concerned about the possibility of the chamber overheating. For two weeks, she still couldn't isolate the problem. That angered her greatly, more so because she had an angry prince to deal with. He was starting to get more agitated with her by the day, and neither wanted to deal with this animosity. They were supposed to be working cooperatively; however, Bulma learned that Saiyans don't cooperate well.
"So, genius, how come you can't figure out a simple problem?" Vegeta taunted angrily.
Bulma glared at him. "Do you want to try and fix it, because if you did it would probably blow up in your face. My idea was experimental. I had never attempted anything like it before, so I had no idea what problems would arise."
"Um, sissy?" Tarble called out from behind the chamber. His tailed was wrapped around his leg as if he had done something wrong.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Bulma asked. She and Tarble had been able to build a strong relationship. He was just an innocent little boy. When he had found out that she was his brother's mate, he took to her even more. The only problem was the king couldn't find out, and everyone was worried about the ten year old keeping quiet about it.
"I think I broke something…"
Vegeta muttered something in his native language that made Tarble tear up. Bulma rolled her eyes, not wanting to know what the little exchange was all about. Instead, she went to go look at what Tarble was talking about. She was stunned. The kid had figured out what the problem was.
"What is this thing?" Bulma said holding up a rounded sphere. The metal was warm, nearly hot. Whatever it was could have been causing the problem.
Vegeta's eyes widened. "The power core?" he said questioningly. "What's that still doing in there?"
Bulma shot him another glare. "I didn't have a blueprint of the ship, Vegeta, so I didn't know it was in here. The chamber has been running on both this core and the energy created from the spin. No wonder why it kept overheating. I'll have to make an adjustment on the weight now that it's been removed, but it should be running in an hour or so." Bulma smiled over to Tarble. "Whatever you did fixed the machine, kid." Tarble smiled and then ran out of the lab with his tail rapidly wagging behind him.
Bulma looked over to Vegeta who was smirking, obviously pleased that he would be able to use the gravity chamber during his training session tonight. The best part was that it was his night to train alone meaning no one would be there to hold him back and he could start pushing himself right away.
"Funny how a little boy could figure it out by accident and I couldn't," Bulma said laughing at herself.
"Not that much of a genius," Vegeta joked again. "Though, I must ask where you came up with this idea in the first place."
"Well," Bulma started sadly, "it was actually an idea my father began developing a few years ago. He never implemented it because human bodies are so much more fragile than a Saiyans. He made a smaller model and tested it on an animal. I was so mad at him for hurting the animal that he never tried to test it again. Without data to present, nothing like that would have ever been able to be approved for sale. Anyway, I figured you guys might be able to handle it with how much abuse you go through and living on a planet with ten times Earth's gravity. Just don't turn it too high right away. Work yourself up gradually. I don't want to have to roll you back to your room again."
Vegeta wanted to say it was their room, but he couldn't say that either. Bulma still didn't feel at home or comfortable there. He even went so far as to get a separate bed for himself as he had originally planned, but the memories of that horrible night still replayed themselves every time they looked around the room. They both hated the reminders.
It would draw attention to his father if they switched rooms, so Vegeta sucked up his guilt and Bulma pretended not to fear him. They just knew what the other was feeling, though, and as long as they felt that way, that room would never be theirs.
"You don't have to worry about me," Vegeta snapped arrogantly. Even though that wasn't true, he was still going to keep saying that.
"Yeah right," Bulma muttered. "So that wasn't blood all over the washroom this morning. What did you do? Get yourself mauled by a kuma?"
Vegeta scoffed. "Like I'd ever get mauled by anything."
Bulma rolled her eyes at his behavior. Except yourself, you idiot.
"I'll leave you to fixing that blasted machine. It better be ready within the hour."
"Whatever," Bulma muttered as the prince left her to get back to work.
It was interesting how much could change in two weeks. Queen Kalina was highly concerned about the attitudes her son and Bulma had towards one another. Bonded mates were supposed to be close, not pushing each other away; however, they did not fit that stereotype and yet they were both still functioning. Maybe the two just needed to be in each other's presence to feel their connection, which was also strange.
They had gotten so close so quickly that the queen had finally felt relief from constantly worrying for her son but, as the weeks passed by, the tension and animosity the two felt towards their situation shone through and lingered. She knew that Vegeta would never get over his guilt, which had been his father's plan all along. He had admitted it to her one night when he was drunk. The reason he made that deal with their son was to control the future of the planet. He knew the boy would be traumatized and probably never mate with another or bear any children. That would hinder him when he took the throne, if that would ever happen.
He was wrong, though. Their son did take a mate. The only problem was neither of them could handle that and now constantly found ways to get on each other's nerves. The love/hate relationship was strange, but it was still a relationship. Kalina could only hope that the two would grow enough to eliminate that hate.
"Your majesty," her personal guard greeted after entering the room.
"Yes, Rhuba?"
"The king requests your presence in the throne room."
The queen sighed before reluctantly standing. This can't be good.
Vegeta was angry. He was planning on getting a head start on training, but instead he was being summoned by his father. As if I don't deal with him too much as it is, he thought bitterly. He had this overwhelming sense of dread and knew that whatever his father had to say was not going to be good.
When he entered the throne room, he saw his mother and Tarble standing before his father. "Vegeta, my boy, so good of you to join us. I have news."
"What?" Vegeta asked roughly.
"Tarble, step forward."
Tarble did as he was told, but his tail gave away the emotion he was feeling, fear. "Yes, father?" he said weakly.
"In one month, you will be turning eleven," he stated the known fact. Vegeta paled at what his father was implying. "This means you will no longer be considered a child under the law and will be going on your first purging mission with the soldiers."
"W-what?" Tarble asked, unsure of what he heard.
Vegeta shook his head. His first mission had been when he turned eleven and he had hated every minute of it. It was at the beginning of his father's rule where the soldiers were still somewhat fond of him before he showed his monstrous side. They thought they were doing the greatest thing in the world and had enjoyed the bloodshed and freedom that came from the purging mission. Vegeta had been somewhat hardened before the mission, trying not to focus on the death of his grandfather and learning to conceal his emotions. Tarble was not hardened. If he was sent with a crew he didn't know, he'd never survive. He would never survive the trauma.
"That will be all. You're dismissed."
The queen could not speak. She knew her husband was cruel, but to send Tarble away on a mission when he proved to not be much of a fighter at all was like sending him to his death. But what could she say? If she tried to fight him, her children would suffer more, and she would not allow that to happen. "Tarble, let's go," she said calmly.
Vegeta knew he should have followed them, but instead he stayed. "What is it, boy?" the king asked while glaring at his eldest son.
"I would like to request to be placed on the roster of the men going with him," Vegeta told him. "He may need some on the job training that only I could give him."
The king pondered his son's argument and then smirked. "Why should I allow this? What is in it for me?"
Vegeta had to think of something good to get his father let him go with Tarble. Just wanting to keep the kid alive would have never been enough to convince him. He would never throw Bulma under the bus either. He had learned that lesson the hard way. The only thing he could think to offer was himself.
"I'll do three solo missions upon return to whatever planets you want."
His father's eyes flashed with amusement and greed. "You've got yourself a deal son, but aren't you worried what might happen to your little friend in that time?"
Vegeta growled. "You will not touch her," he said menacingly.
The king chuckled. "Oh course not, but I will be using her for other services. If her inventions are ever lacking, you're not worried that I won't accidentally lose my temper?"
"If you leave her unharmed, I will bring back whatever resources you need from two rebelling planets." Vegeta knew his father was frustrated with the growing rebellion in their quadrant and not being able to import certain resources.
"Only, this mission along with your brother's will take two years."
"Tarble's will only be a month or two," Vegeta reminded him, knowing how the process of training to purge worked. "I will return with him and train for an extra month for this mission. If I don't stop I can get everything completed in eight months." I hope…
The king nodded, though he didn't know how his son would be able to get enough strength to purge on his own yet be done so quickly. "I will hold you to that. If not, you know the penalty if you fail."
Vegeta nodded solemnly before taking his leave. His father had had a point to warn him of his failure but, with the strides he would make training in the gravity chamber, he'd be able to complete the missions in this timetable. Who knew? Maybe in his travels, he would find the secret to beating the tōgoku. Well, a Saiyan could dream, right?
A/N: Sorry to all my cute and fluffy moment lovers for this chapter. I'm sure you can imagine that emotions were high in the last chapter. Now that they've had time to process everything, they're back to being uneasy around each other. However, more trouble is on the way, and they're going to need each other more than ever. Too bad Vegeta's going to be MIA back on his home planet for a while.
Kuma: bear in Japanese (thank you dictionary)