Disclaimer I dont own dbz or any of it's characters.

Time

Future Timeline; 20 years since Trunks' Birth; 3 years since the Android's defeat.

Bare feet hit cold tiled floors in a hurried pace as she followed the path she had so often taken before. Down the stairs, two doors down the hall, into the hidden safe haven, down two more flights, and finally the hidden lab. She barely took the time to shrug on a robe this morning, she had felt the sudden need to be there today.

Not that she didn't go there every morning, but she needed to see him.

She needed to know he was there.

Of course, it wasn't as if he knew she was even there when she came. No, he wasn't even aware that their only son had grown into a warrior he could be proud of. She walked slowly over to the man who's body lay in a coma in that green-blue fluid.

She was so sure it would work, all those years ago. She hadn't made adjustments to human dna or even half saiyajin dna, but it was suppose to work on him. Her fingers lightly touched the cold glass of the Regeneration Tank he had helped her build, tracing the lines of his face.

Oh, she knew this Vegeta may not love her, but Trunks had told her of the other Vegeta, the one that cared when his son died. The one that didn't fall.

Old eyes closed as they began to tear up, she was so sure that if he ever woke up he wouldn't recognize her now. Her hair had been cut short, she had gained a few wrinkles, even her skin was a shade or two lighter because of the constant hiding they had been doing since Trunks was just a baby.

Her eyes opened and a sob escaped her. She had been keeping him alive for twenty years now, and he still looked so young. That was her prince, too stubborn to even age. She smiled at the thought and leaned forward, brushing her lips to the glass.

"I love you, you ass." She said shakily before her fingers clumsily found the release button. Instead of the fluid draining, the glass simply opened, pouring the liquid over her as she let out heart broken sobs. "Why couldn't you just have gotten better?" She murmured, climbing up to remove the mask. She watched silently as his body slumped over lifelessly, some part of her still hoping he would come back.

He didn't.

She shook her head at her foolishness and pulled him from the tank, laying him on the cold, wet floor. His hair was as it always was, swept up in a flame like fashion that seemed to make him so regal looking. His face was relaxed, and she found herself wishing he'd just scowl at her once more. Just wake up and call her servant woman or some other name to piss her off.

God she missed that.

Her hand fell to his warm sculpted chest and she smiled at how he still retained that muscle mass.

Wait...warm?

"TRUNKS!!!" Bulma screamed, tilting Vegeta's head back and placing her ear near his mouth. He was breathing unsteadily, almost gasping for air. She pulled back and looked down at him in surprise, watching as he slowly opened his eyes.

"Baka onna...yelling loudly all the time..." He murmured. Bulma wept tears of joy, smiling down at him.

"Well, at least you recognize me, Prince of Assholes, you've been out a very, very long time." Bulma said, touching his lips lightly. Her throat clenched as her son came running in, startling her dear prince. "Trunks grew up, Vegeta."

Vegeta's shocked eyes went wide as they turned to her. "How...How long, woman?"

Bulma shook her head and she turned to Trunks. "Get your father food, now. Alert the colony that he's awake." She watched as her frazzled boy dashed out, slamming his hand on the alert button as he ran out. She turned back to Vegeta and cupped his cheek. "Twenty years, Vegeta. Trunks...Trunks killed them all on his own three years ago."

His eyes roamed her face, looking, hoping, for lies. "Where are the others? Why...why did it take so long?"

Bulma pulled Vegeta up into a sitting position and smiled. "Gohan survived for a while, trained Trunks. I...I built a time machine, sent Trunks back to warn us in the past. Now...now somewhere in another dimension, you, and everyone else, are alive. Even Goku." Her brow creased as she fought back more tears. "There was another thing, a stronger being named Cell. He found his way to the past by stealing the machine and killing Trunks. Our Trunks, this Trunks, figured it out in the past and stopped it from happening here. Oh, Vegeta, he told me great things you did in the past with him, for him."

"What the hell are you blubbering about?" Vegeta snarled at the old woman and she laughed.

"Ass." She murmured, grabbing his hand in hers. "You've stayed so young, all this time."

"Saiyajins don't age like you weak humans do, woman. We are a warrior race, our bodies try to stay in fighting condition." Vegeta said, slapping her hand away as he looked to the door. "He's become a warrior, even under your care."

Bulma nodded. "He told me you helped him go beyond Super Saiyajin, he calls it an Ascended Saiyajin." She smiled then, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "I thought we lost you, all these years I've been trying to keep you alive, I finally gave up. I...I was going to prepare your body for a burial..." She whispered, jumping slightly when one of his arms came to wrap around her.

"Twenty years...and you still haven't moved on. Idiot woman." Vegeta said without looking at her, Bulma chuckled.

"Couldn't find anything better than my very own Prince of Assholes." She said just as Trunks came in, pushing a cart of food.

"Mom, the others are sending their congratulations and stuff. Um...Hello, father." Trunks said with a light bow. "Mom, Aunt Chichi and her father were going to come over today, I believe it'd be better to cancel, considering."

"You go out and meet them and tell them what's going on, sweetie, be careful, though! I don't need my son dying again, once was enough thanks!" Bulma said with a light glare, he smiled and gave a wave before leaving.

"...He died?" Vegeta asked and Bulma handed him some soup to start off.

"In battle against the stronger android, Cell, in the past. He told me that when you saw him die you went ballistic and got the best shots on the monster than anyone had all day." Bulma explained, watching him carefully as he drank the soup slowly. "He said he's sure he made you proud because you started to call him son." She smiled. "He held himself as a baby, he says it was one of the weirdest things."

Vegeta snorted as he finished the soup and handed the bowl to her as she grabbed some chicken for him. "Woman, you've calmed down with age."

Bulma shook her head. "I mellowed out because I needed to go into hiding, my temper would have gotten Trunks killed before he had a chance to prove himself." She gave him a smile. "He takes after you so much, you know."

Vegeta sneered at her and ate the chicken with more energy.

"Don't make that face, you jerk, he does. He went into a special place to train with you, while it may have been a few weeks that he was there, he gained two years of training. He was so amazed by you, so proud that you were his father." She grinned. "And to think he met you while you wore that pink shirt."

Vegeta stopped making to make a face at her. "I am immensely happy I destroyed that."

Bulma's eyes took on a far away look as she watched him eat again, pushing the cart close to him as she stood shakily. Groaning in pain, she stretched her back. Vegeta watched her, his brows knitting together with worry. His mate was old, possibly near a death for all he knew.

"Don't stare, eat." Bulma said, walking over to a desk and sitting in a chair. He watched silently as she pressed buttons on the chair and it began to make a humming noise. "It's a massage chair, Vegeta, eat already. I know I'm old, you don't have to make it more obvious than it already is."

Vegeta snorted. "Woman you're too stubborn to age properly."

Bulma laughed. "Funny, coming from a man who hasn't aged in twenty years. Trunks says he wants to go back to check on us, what would have become of us if the androids were defeated that year." She turned her eyes to him. "I think...I think I want to go too, what about you?"

"I just get back and you're already talking about some kind of trip." Vegeta growled, but his eyes shone with curiosity. "So, I made him strong did I?"

Bulma chuckled, raising a hand to cover it up. "Vegeta, you turned our boy into a man." She said, her eyes drifting to the door. "No, you turned him into a saiyajin."

"Hn, then I suppose I should meet this other 'me' and thank him for saving me the trouble." Vegeta murmured, grabbing some roast beef. "When do we leave?"

"As soon as I fit two more seats into the machine." Bulma said and grinned.

"I can't believe you broke the time barrier to solve all of this." Vegeta snorted out. Bulma pulled out a cigarette, only to have a ki beam blast it from her hand. "You will not be killing yourself with those damn things anymore."

Bulma smiled. "You know, Trunks told me you cared for us, maybe even loved us. Seeing you like this, it gives me hope."

Vegeta made a face and rolled his eyes at her. "I wouldn't have given you a child if I wasn't ready for such a commitment, woman."

She pressed another button, watching as a coffee maker came from the wall and began to brew. "I suppose not, you are the Saiyajin Prince after all."

"Its good to know your memory isn't failing you." Vegeta commented, watching as her eyes softened.

"You're my Saiyajin Prince, I wasn't about to forget a single thing about you."

"...baka onna."

"I suppose so, ass, since I'm so god damned happy to have you and your damn insults back." Her eyes began to tear again as she looked him in the eye, a small smile on her face and a weary slump to her shoulders. "After you're done I'll show you to our new room, our old home got destroyed."

"You're tired."

"I didn't want to have to bury you, I didn't sleep, then suddenly it felt like I just had to be here." She grabbed her coffee and drank the whole cup in one chug. She set the cup back in the machine and waited for more.

"...You should have left me for dead, woman."

"You should have thought about my feelings before nearly dying, ass. If theres hope you'd stay around, there is no way I'm going to give up on you." She winked. "I'm too stubborn to let you leave me.

"You're a fool."

"So I've been told, watching over you all this time." Bulma said, pushing herself out of her chair as he cleaned the last plate. "Come on, oh mighty Prince, let's introduce you to the greatest bed you'll ever sleep on."

"Is that so, woman?"

Bulma nodded, watching as he stood. She grabbed his hand tightly within her own. "I designed it for when you woke up, but...you didn't. So, after a few years I started using it." She pulled him along with surprising strength for her age. "Now that you're awake, damn it I'm going to give you a reason to stay alive."

His brow rose as a glint entered his eyes, pulling her to a stop and then into his chest. "Oh really, woman? With your frail body?"

Bulma growled convincingly at him. "Frail my ass, jerk, I'll have you know I can take all you have and more!"

"Is that a challenge, woman?"

Bulma grinned. "It's more than a challenge, Vegeta, it's an invitation."