Just One Confession

I.

The next couple days left me stressed. I didn't have Gohan to talk to about my indecision, and he was the only one I could talk to about it! Every time we all sat down to eat as a family, I would begin to tell it, but quickly stop myself. Everything I thought of to say just didn't feel appropriate to start the conversation. I mean, what does Gohan expect of me?! Does he want me to just blurt it out like it was nothing?! Leave them all speechless and have them to figure out the rest on their own as I take my leave?

Finally, one day came where I found peace and quiet to try to think things through. Goku took Uub out for some training, Goten had a date with his girlfriend, Paresu, Trunks was working up in his office, Gohan and Videl were also at work, and Pan was off doing who knows what…probably trying to get my son to fly out the window again. Bra stayed with me, but she sat on the opposite end of the couch, reading one of her fashion magazines.

I was also pretending to read the latest addition of Capsule Corp. Unlimited, but my mind couldn't focus on any of the words, even when I somewhat noticed that they featured an interview with Trunks on one of the pages.

* * * * * * * *

"Hey guys, what are you up to?" Pan yelled more loudly than was necessary as she bounced down the stairs.

Neither Bra nor Bulma took their eyes away from their magazines as they mumbled a low "nothing."

Pan crinkled her nose before jumping over the back of the couch to sit in between them. She looked over Bra's shoulder first, seeing she was looking at shoes. Deciding to make small talk, Pan pointed at a pair of blue heels, "Those are nice."

"Yeah, but they would be almost impossible to walk in," Bra added, pointing to the page's title, "It says that these are party shoes, but someone would break their ankle just trying to keep their balance. I think they would be more for looks…ya know, to make your shoe collection look good."

"Hm…" honestly, Pan couldn't care less at what Bra was saying. She could've started an argument over how pointless it would be to have shoes and not wear them, but didn't even feel like going that far. She turned to her other side and looked over Bulma's shoulder to see she was looking at the latest technology.

"Was that made by Capsule Corp.?"

Bulma smiled widely, "Yes, as a matter of fact. Some of our best engineers recently created it. Trunks is busy with all the paperwork on it right now. He's also checking over all the prototypes to make sure everything is completely functional."

Pan mimicked her smile, "Trunks sure is smart."

"Of course!" Bulma beamed, winking knowingly at Pan, "Trunks is my little boy! He takes after his mother," she giggled at how cute that still sounded after all these years and went back to reading the article.

Pan found an opening and jumped on it, "But Trunks isn't the youngest boy…Goten is."

Bulma looked over at the dark-haired girl again, "Yes well…they're both my little boys. It was just…a figure of speech."

"Yeah, but if Trunks takes after you by being so smart, how come Goten and Bra aren't smart?"

"Hey!" Bra cut in, her eyes narrowed down from the insult, "Just because I don't feel like working for the family business, doesn't mean I'm not smart, Pan! What a weird accusation…"

"Exactly my thoughts…" Bulma added, raising a curious eyebrow, "Goten and Bra are both just as smart, Trunks just likes to show it more. Your father is very intelligent, also."

Pan stopped this small attack, seeing that she was getting nowhere. She crossed her arms and put her thumbnail between her lips as she thought hard. She barely noticed that Bulma was still staring at her with intensity.

"Pan…?" Bulma began slowly, "What made you say that anyway?"

Sighing, Pan uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her legs. With determined eyes, her eyes went back and forth between her grandmother and the floor, "Grandma, I heard you and my dad talking the other night…about something you wanted to tell all of us."

"Oh…!" Bulma's eyes shrunk immediately, her face going deathly pale. Pan heard her heartbeat pick up and the magazine get crumbled in her tight grip. Feeling the tension rise with each second, Bra was forced to put her magazine down and look around Pan at her mother.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Bra asked, wondering what it was that Pan said that got her all worked up.

"Y-yeah…I just…" Bulma stuttered over her words, her eyes shaking which made it impossible for her to see straight. Finally, she dropped the magazine to the floor and stood up quickly, placing her sweaty palm over her burning forehead, "Excuse me, girls."

She quickly walked around the couch and up the stairs. As soon as she was out of their sight, she cursed lowly.

So this is how you're going to handle it, Bulma? By running away every time the opportunity arises to let out what you want to tell anyway? Damn, have I really become that weak minded…?

Bulma made her way to her bedroom, closing the door softly and locking it. She didn't want bothered. It was time for her to figure out how she wanted to say it…and she would write it down! It was always easier to say things once they were down on paper!

Feeling inspired, she grabbed a small notebook and pen that were sitting atop her dresser. She sat down on the edge of her bed, opening the notebook and folding it behind itself to reveal a blank page. She clicked the bottom of the pen and pressed it to the paper, her hand suddenly pausing.

Maybe if I get more comfortable…

She crawled further up her bed, placing all the pillows against the wall so she had back support. Once she was sitting up straight with her legs comfortably stretched out in front of her, she placed the pen on the paper again. Still nothing…

It's kind of hot in here…

She reached over and flicked on the switch that would turn on the ceiling fan. Then pen was on the paper again.

Seconds turned into minutes. The bright white of the paper seemed to be overwhelming her.

What the hell's wrong with me?! …Maybe I just need some fresh air.

Bulma swung her legs over the edge of the bed again, placing her feet on the floor before she walked over to the window. She clicked the latches open before gripping the bottom of the window and pushing up, closing her eyes momentarily as the soothing air rushed over her face. She looked out at the sky, smiling when she saw it was a beautiful day. Her eyes traveled down to the ground, her smile growing larger when she saw Trunks, Pan, and Bra outside. Her smile slowly faded, however, when she got a better view of them. Something in their stances didn't seem right…

All three of them were looking up into the sky, Trunks and Pan lowered in their fighting stances. Bra was behind Trunks, her hands gripping her brother's shoulders.

What in the world…? Bulma tried to angle her head to look high into the sky to see what they all saw. When the screen blocked her from doing so, she looked back down to see that the three of them had yet to move. Feeling suddenly worried, she pushed herself away from the window and rushed out of hr bedroom and down the stairs. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest as she sensed in her own way that something was wrong.

As she reached for the doorknob that would lead her outside, a loud noise suddenly exploded all around her, an earthquake like rumble causing her to lose her balance and fall backward before she could grab something to support herself.

Bulma wasn't sure why, but she was having a flashback. This very moment felt like something from her past…something horrible. Sure, in the back of her mind, she knew. She knew it could be nothing but the obvious. But as she sat stupidly on the floor in front of the door, she wouldn't allow herself to settle on that conclusion until she saw it with her own eyes. After all, this was coming from outside this time…

She snapped back to reality when the shaking stopped and all the items that fell off shelves settled. She only heard a low hissing sound now. Quickly, she pulled herself to her feet and pulled the door open, her eyes settling on Trunks, Bra, and Pan again. It seemed like they hardly moved a muscle. Then she looked past them.

Oh… She felt sick to her stomach. No, no, no, no, no, no, NO!

Her mind couldn't stop screaming the word. Her pupils dilated as she remembered a night almost nineteen years ago…when a sudden disturbance came in the middle of the night; the night that changed her life and made the secrets of the past all the more unforgiveable.

"That's not a Capsule Corp. spaceship," Trunks commented loud enough for all of them to hear. This snapped Bulma out of her nightmare as she studied the ship that landed in her front yard. Her son was right…it looked nothing like anything her company built. The numbers on the side weren't even in a language she was familiar with.

He left in my spaceship…so it couldn't be…him…

The hatch opened, the steam around the object beginning to disappear as the engines cooled.

"Get ready, Pan," Trunks said, lowering himself further into an offensive position.

"Right…" Pan replied meekly, punching herself mentally for sounding so pathetic and scared. She never had to face an enemy, but she always loved listening to Goku's stories of some of his battles. Those stories were her motivators to train as hard as the guys in case of a moment like this. But now that the opportunity to put her training to use had arisen, she wasn't so sure she was ready.

A man with spiked hair and sharp eyes began to descend from the ramp. His outfit consisted of a dark blue bodysuit under heavy golden blue armor. His boots and gloves were as black as his eyes, the mocking smirk playing on his lips making him look all the more villainous.

A loud gasp behind them made them all turn and see Bulma standing in the doorway of Capsule Corp., her eyes wide with horror. She wished she had some actual words to form, but her mind was running so fast, it was literally blank.

"Ve-Vegeta?" was the only word uttered from Bulma's lips.

"What?!" Trunks, Bra, and Pan screamed at once.

"Mom, you know this guy?" Trunks asked incredulously, turning back around to stare into the eyes of the man she called Vegeta.

Vegeta stepped off the ramp, his arms crossed over his chest in a confident manner. He stopped when his boots touched the grass, staring at the people before him.

His smirk grew before he chuckled, "So this is what I'm presented with? Three pathetic females and my son that gives off a power level so low it shouldn't even be considered a slight threat?"

"Son?!" Trunks screamed, gritting his teeth as he powered up, his hair flying into the air as it turned a bright gold, a colorful aura surrounding his body, "You must have made a wrong turn somewhere, Buddy. I'm not your son and you're not welcome here." Trunks was already past the point of trying to talk to this man; his energy was too high and too evil to want to reason with.

Vegeta raised an eyebrow before raising his eyes to see Bulma still frozen in the doorway. When he spotted the terrified look written all over her face, he laughed again, "Oh, really? So you never told the brat the truth, eh? Didn't have the heart to tell him his father was a cold-hearted bastard of a prince?" He mocked, remembering her calling him that multiple times in the past.

"Wha—." Trunks began but stopped when he heard Pan gasp loudly beside him. His eyes shifted over to her to make sure she was all right, but was surprised to see her looking back at his mother.

There was a realization in Pan's eyes. She was no idiot, and it never took her very long to figure out a puzzle. And with the scared and guilty look that couldn't seem to shake free of Bulma's features, Pan knew she was right.

"Grandma…don't tell me this is what you and my dad were…" she trailed off, but quickly turned back to Vegeta when he laughed yet again.

"Grandma, huh? Have you been busy these past years or what?" Vegeta only took one step forward before Trunks screamed and flashed in front of him, throwing his leg hard into Vegeta's head. The sharp, green eyes that Trunks bore widened in shock when Vegeta was able to grab his leg in mid kick before it even scraped his hair.

Vegeta's smirk deepened, turning into a menacing scowl, the kind of look that no one would want to see when they were captured, "It's good to see that you made it to Super Saiyan, Boy. But it won't be enough if you want to beat me!" With what seemed like just a flick of his wrist, he tossed Trunks to the side. Pan and Bra watched as he flew some distance before crash landing into a tree.

Pan ignored the scared sounds emitting from Bra as her eyes narrowed at Vegeta. Her heart was pounding loud in her ears as she told herself she stood no chance against this guy if he was able to throw Trunks off that easily even in Super Saiyan form. But until Goku got there, she had to at least try to defend Bra and Bulma.

Her loud scream echoed as she powered up, her own bluish red aura flashing around her. Her power caused her bandanna to fly off her head, her midnight hair flowing around her head. Without thinking it through, she kicked herself off the ground and flew toward her opponent. Before she even had a chance to realize she was close enough to touch him, he did a quick twirl, sending his foot into her gut. The kick was more of a pressure blow, as she didn't go flying, but was momentarily paralyzed in front of him.

"Pan!" Trunks screamed as he entered the fight again, throwing multiple punches at Vegeta's face. Vegeta grinned and dodged every single last one of them.

"I can tell that you've been neglected of proper training, Trunks." Vegeta commented.

Against his better judgment, Trunks stopped throwing punches. He was surprised that…that this man knew his name. He didn't recall anyone yelling out his name to make it known, so how did…unless he…

"Never get distracted in battle!" Vegeta yelled angrily, sending his knee into Trunks' gut. Trunks dropped to the ground beside Pan, both holding their midsection in pain.

"Oh, no…" Bra mumbled under her breath as she held her hands together. Pan and Trunks were out of the picture for the moment, and now he was staring right at her. Dad…Uub…where are you guys?! You're the only two that might stand a chance against him…

Her eyes widened when he began to walk toward her. She looked slightly over her shoulder to see her mother still in the doorway, not moving a muscle. Bra was terrified. This was the reason she never liked fighting with the others; because she absolutely hated the feeling of being trapped and the possibility that extreme pain was right around the bend…

But although she wasn't a fighter, she was half Saiyan. That was more than what her mother could say and, hoping that her father would soon arrive to protect her, knew she had to protect her mother in the meantime.

She swallowed roughly and lowered herself to mimic the pose Trunks and Pan were in earlier, feeling very awkward and out of place doing it. She didn't have the slightest idea of what she would even do to try to hold him off. The fear and insecurity must have been shining through her eyes quite brightly, for Vegeta stopped right in front of her, not even looking slightly amused.

Her breath quickened and she squeezed her eyes shut. Blindly, her right fist thrust forward to his face, almost surprised when she felt it collide. Slowly, almost unsure, she began to squint her eyes open to see that she made the hit…but what got her even more frightened had she missed, was that he seemed unharmed by it…like it was nothing more than a tap on the shoulder.

They stared at each other from around her fist she had yet to lower, her body beginning to tremble as she foresaw what was about to happen. Before she could comprehend it, she felt his gloved hand wrapped around her neck as she was lifted from the ground. Bra could only make a low grunting sound as her own hands wrapped around his larger one in a pitiful attempt to pry his fingers open.

"Vegeta, no!" Bulma finally screamed, coming out of her own mind when she realized that Vegeta already defeated all of them.

"Is that the best you can do?" Vegeta asked her, finding her words idiotic, "Where is Kakarot?"

"I…I…" she knew Goku had to be coming soon…she knew him and Uub traveled to the middle of nowhere a lot so no civilization would be in their way as they trained, so it was only a matter of time. If she could just distract him long enough…

"Spit it out!" Vegeta yelled, not wanting to play around when it came to his ultimate enemy, "Or the girl gets it…" To make his point, he squeezed her neck harder, Bra's legs flailing as her breath was beginning to get taken away from her.

"Vegeta…why…" she thought quickly, seeing her daughter in Vegeta's clutches not allowing her to think straight, "Why did you come back now? Goku's been back…for…a long time now…"

Vegeta smirked, seeming like he forgot that he was holding a girl's life in his hands, "Yes well…I've been busy with other things. But that doesn't concern you. Now tell me where he is…or else!" He screamed, squeezing Bra's neck so hard, it would have made a normal human pass out minutes ago.

Bulma's eyes widened. She didn't know where he was! But the more seconds she let pass, the more Vegeta was torturing Bra. When she began to hear a strange sound coming from Bra's throat, Bulma clenched her fists and screamed the only thing her mind was telling her to yell, "Vegeta, that's your daughter! Let her go!"

This even caught Vegeta by surprise. His eyes widened, ignoring the fact that Pan and Trunks were close behind him.

"Daughter!?" Pan and Trunks screamed at once, the turn of events surprising them too much to sneak up on Vegeta like they planned.

Vegeta looked at the blue haired girl he held in his grip. He could tell that she was Bulma's daughter…the girl was practically her clone. Then he looked closer. There was nothing particularly there that told him right off the bat that she could be his daughter, but the fact that she looked about eighteen or nineteen years old made him remember the night he visited Earth all those years ago. He knew it could be very possible Bulma was telling the truth.

He chuckled and, though he still could have killed her, he tossed her to the ground, ignoring her sharp intakes of breath. Pan ran over to Bra, falling to her knees as she tried to help Bra calm down to breathe normally again. When Bra lifted her head, Pan could already see the dark bruises forming on her otherwise perfect skin.

"Vegeta!" Hearing his name from the sky, Vegeta looked up to see Goku and a dark-skinned man. Vegeta's smirk turned into almost a joyful smile, at least in his standards.

"Kakarot…I knew you'd be here this time…I don't make mistakes twice." He watched as Goku lowered himself to the ground, noticing the fellow Saiyan looked completely different in a blue gi compared to his orange one Vegeta always seen him in.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Vegeta," Goku began, having never heard the story from Bulma, "But you came here and threatened my family. You know I don't take lightly to that…"

Vegeta made a sound of self pleasure before crossing his arms over his chest again, "But Kakarot…it seems that this family is just as much mine as it is yours. Didn't you hear the wench a moment ago? The blue-haired brat's mine."

Goku didn't respond; his facial expression did not change. It was almost like the news went in one ear and out the other. Bulma had rushed over to Bra to help her up in case Pan had to jump in to fight again. Though she knew Bra would be okay, Bulma couldn't lift her eyes from her daughter. She couldn't look at Goku right now…her guilt wouldn't let her.

This is not how I wanted it to be…

"What do you want, Vegeta?" Goku asked, his eyes narrowed down just as low as Vegeta's, the look on his face nowhere near it's pure and gentle self.

The two Saiyan's stared at each other for a long moment. Pan and Trunks stood close by, their fists clenched, ready to pounce at any given time if they had to. But with the serious look on Goku's face, they knew this was no place for them. If Goku felt threatened, they had reason to fear for their lives.

Suddenly, Vegeta lifted to the air, flying at Goku's level. The prince seemed suddenly angry, as though something were said against him in that moment of silence, "I came here to finish what I started! I swore that I would defeat you one day, Kakarot, and I don't intend to dismiss my goal!"

In a brief instant, Vegeta went Super Saiyan, followed by Goku; two loud blasts of power ringing in everyone's ears. They must have made a silent agreement to fight elsewhere, for there were no more words spoken as they both flew off into the distance. Thinking quickly, Trunks went Super Saiyan also, flying up to Uub who seemed just as surprised by Vegeta's sudden intrusion.

"We have to go help him!" Trunks yelled at him, watching only as he nodded in agreement as the two of them shot off after Goku and Vegeta.

Pan's eyes widened when she realized they went off without her. Powering up also, she flew to the sky, screaming when the back of her shirt was grabbed before she got too far. She looked over her shoulder to see her father behind her.

"Daddy! Daddy, I have to go help Grandpa and the others! Some guy named—."

"You'll only get in their way, Pan! You're no where near strong enough to help any of them!" Gohan yelled at her, not taking the time to tell her this nicely. Pan's eyes widened when he screamed at her, never having heard him talk in that tone to anyone, let alone his own daughter.

She backed away quickly when Gohan went Super Saiyan also, his energy not allowing her to be too close to him, "If Goten comes here, tell him to stay here with you guys in case something else happens." And with that, he was off also.

"But…b-but…" Pan watched him go, too dumbfounded to have any words for what just happened. She screamed out her frustration, her ki flickering to high and then low. Her angry eyes shot to the ground, seeing Bulma and Bra still standing side by side. She flew to the ground, her hands out to her sides as she took steps toward them.

"Grandma, what the hell was that!? You've never said anything about him, and all of a sudden he shows up and he's Bra's…" she stopped here, suddenly noticing how distressed Bra looked.

Pan looked at the ground with the two blue-haired girls, not sure what else to say. When she felt another power approaching, she looked to the sky to see Goten dropping in front of them.

"Pan, what happened?! I felt something really strong and then…" he looked around, noticing they were the only three there, "Where did everyone else go?"

"Grandpa, Daddy, Trunks, and Uub went to go fight Vegeta," Pan stated simply, as though it was something that happened everyday.

"Who?" Goten asked, but didn't linger on the simple question as he looked around to try to sense where all of them flew off to. His eyes widened when he felt all the strong powers in the west and powered up as he was about to fly off.

"Stop!" Pan yelled, hating stopping Goten almost as much as she hated her dad stopping her, "My dad told me to tell you to stay here with us…in case…" she didn't end her sentence as she looked at Bulma again, seeing that she still wasn't looking anyone in the eye.

This is when Goten noticed the bruises on Bra's neck. He ran past Pan to her side, "Bra! Bra, are you…okay…?"

Bra was still leaning on Bulma for support, but as soon as she was asked that unbearable question, knowing that she was far from okay, made the tears begin to slide down her face. Roughly, not caring at the moment if she hurt her mother, she shrugged her way free from Bulma's grasp and flew into her brother's arms, soaking his shirt instantly.

Bulma only made a small stumble as Bra forced her way to Goten. She accidentally locked eyes with Pan. She recognized that look…it was the same terrified look Gohan gave her many years ago when his mother began going insane…