CHAPTER NINE
"Bulma?"
"Mmm?" came the reply as the aqua-haired woman turned from her desk to look at her father, a sympathetic look on his weathered face. "It's getting rather late, maybe you should consider getting some rest. For the baby's sake?" Dr. Briefs said softly, approaching her and patting her shoulders gently. He worried about his daughter constantly, and lately he feared that she wasn't taking care of herself. The bags under her normally bright blue eyes were the main indicator, the usual spark had faded down considerably. She gave a yawn. "I'll head to bed soon, I'm almost finished."
Dr. Briefs gave a loud sigh, before leaving his daughter in her laboratory. He knew it was pointless to argue with her, the last thing she needed right now was more stress. He made his way into his bedroom, where his wife lay awake, obviously waiting for him to join her. "How is she?" Bunny asked her husband, her voice thick with concern. Dr. Briefs shrugged out of his white coat, slinging it into the laundry hamper along with his shirt and pants. "Worse, I fear." he replied, crawling into the bed and wrapping his arms around Bunny, who laid her head on his chest. "I'm scared that if we don't do something, we're going to lose her."
Bulma rubbed her eyes, fighting off the sleep that continued to beckon her. She was determined to finish her new project, and was close to completing it, she could feel it in her bones. The baby gave a small kick, almost in protest that she rest, but she ignored it as well, merely rubbing her abdomen in reply. She was aware that she wasn't doing too well, she was much too stressed out all of the time and constantly in fear. Fear of the man who was the father of her unborn child.
Since finding out about her pregnancy, Vegeta had seemingly locked himself in the gravity chamber, and she hadn't seen him since. It had been so many weeks now, and all she wanted to do was see him, have a verbal spar with him, see that familiar smirk appear on his face. The only person that had seen him had been her father, and Vegeta had only seen Dr. Briefs to install a phone into the chamber, as he had taken to ordering in food instead of ordering Bulma or Bunny to cook instead.
Bulma's finger often lingered over the button that would allow her to look inside the gravity chamber, to see him, to know he was still alive, but she knew that once she saw him, a flood of emotion she had kept to herself would surface, and that would most likely not be good for the baby.
With a sigh of relief, Bulma smiled in triumph. She was finally done. She held the blue suit in front of her, impressed by her own sewing, considering she had never done much of it before. This was her apology gift to Vegeta, for not telling him about her pregnancy, for keeping such an important thing from him. Bulma also knew that sooner or later he would need his battle suit when he faced an enemy, and the old one, the one he had returned to Earth in all those months ago was much too ripped and torn for him to wear, and his pride would never allow him to dress in it anyway.
She remembered finding the old outfit only a few days previous, and knew that it would have to be thrown away, there was no way Vegeta could ever wear it again. He was the only clothing that he actually owned, save for the human clothing Bulma had provided him with over the past one and a half years. She was aware that he would never wear such clothing in a battle, he was so used to the armour supplied to him by Frieza. She decided to make him a new battle suit, but a much better one.
The undersuit was blue, but much more a royal blue than the navy one he had worn back on Namek, but more like the one she had remembered seeing on the television when he had first come to the Earth. It also went up to the neck, she thought it would give him much more protective coverage that way. She had used the old one in terms of measurements, she knew there was no way she could ask Vegeta to give her that information. Bulma had managed to replicate the alien materials that had been used to make the suit, making it light and stretchy, but protective.
The torso armour was almost similar to the first outfit he had worn, Bulma had come to realise that he preferred that outfit over the darker blue and white combination. The chest-plate was white and gold, but she had neglected the shoulder pads for much more stylish golden straps, that matched the gold on the back and the front. She completed the look with a pair of white gloves, and white boots with the same gold embedded on the toes. She wondered how good he would look, and hoped that he would appreciate the gesture.
Suddenly, Bulma's eyes grew even heavier than before, and knowing she had accomplished her task, she gave into the sleep, placing her head on her arms on the desk, knowing that there was no-way she would be able to make it to her room without passing out on the way there. The sleep came easily, and she welcomed it with open arms, knowing that in her dreams she would be happier than in the real world.
Vegeta slapped his cheek. He was losing focus again, wondering what the woman was doing instead of concentrating on his intense training. He knew that she hadn't been taking proper care of herself, and that worried him, even if he tried to fight it relentlessly. He turned off the gravity chamber, determined to call it a night and get some rest, maybe then he would be able to clear his mind, and get back onto the task at hand. Time was creeping up slowly on him, and he had just over a year to reach the Super Saiyan transformation and beat the androids before defeating Kakarott once and for all.
But the more he tried to train, the more he thought about the woman. It made Vegeta furious, he shouldn't be acting in such a way, he was nothing to her, merely the carrier of his child. Not that he could give a care about his offspring, he hadn't wanted it after all. He needed to get away, to regain his focus, and that was impossible when he was staying at the woman's place.
An idea sparked in his mind. Of course, he had the perfect solution. He needed to get away from there as far as possible, and the furtherest he could go was to space, where he belonged. And luckily for him, he was staying with geniuses, who had space-crafts at their disposal. He would merely take one and continue his training in the deep realms of space, where nothing could hinder his mind. There he would reach the next stage, become a Super Saiyan, and then return for the battle. He knew the female would have the space-craft capsules in her laboratory, and headed towards the room swiftly, entering quietly as to not alert the household to his intrusion.
But to his horror, the woman was before him, snoring softly as she slept at her desk. Vegeta groaned quietly, but was glad she was finally resting. He saw the capsule pouch beside her head, and swiftly approached the desk, his eyes resting on the outfit that lay on the other side of the sleeping female. It looked suspiciously like Saiyan armour.
He lifted the clothing up from the desk, inspecting it carefully, his suspicions confirmed. It looked like his previous battle armour, but a more updated version. His eyes drifted to the woman. She had made it for him, for reasons he could not fathom. His heart began to swell, a feeling he had never felt before. He fought off the various emotions that bubbled underneath his skin, and swiftly took off his shorts, shoes and socks to change into the new suit, surprised that it fit him quite well, and was rather comfortable.
Once the gloves and boots were on, the ensemble was complete. Vegeta found a nearby mirror, not surprised to find it in the woman's laboratory, knowing her vanity. He admired himself for a moment, before turning back to the desk and opening the pouch, locating the capsule he was after. He found it quickly, and turned to leave the room.
"Vegeta."
He froze, before spinning around slowly. The woman had uttered his name, he was certain, had she seen him? No, she was fast asleep. A smirk played on his lips. She was dreaming about him. Typical. With a sigh, he moved back to her, carefully picking her up off the desk and her chair and into his arms, afraid to awaken her. The least he could do was move her to her bed, she would find much better rest there. Vegeta convinced himself that he was not doing it out of care for the human, but that it was simply to help his child.
He moved silently though the house, the woman not stirring in his arms to his relief. His eyes could not help but trail down to her protruding abdomen, where his child lay dormant. She was halfway through the pregnancy, her stomach had grown considerably since the last time he had seen the female. Finally he reached her room, the door open. He entered and laid her upon the bed, covering her with a nearby sheet. Her eyebrows furrowed together, she was in distress. Vegeta instinctively sat beside her on the bed, his hand lingering over her forehead.
Vegeta stopped. What the hell was he doing? He shouldn't care about the woman, she was a pathetic earthling that irked him to no end, relentlessly annoying him and interrupting his training. She was vulgar, uncouth, infuriating – so why was he so worried about her health? Why did she grace his dreams so often, and his thoughts when he was wide awake?
He stood up, looking at her one last time as he clutched the capsule tightly in one hand. He would rid himself of all his thoughts, emotions and feelings of the female, and remove himself from her. She was more trouble than she was worth, and if she wasn't pregnant, Vegeta was sure that he would have gotten rid of her. And yet... No, no, no. Those thoughts were not allowed in the prince's mind. Those were the thoughts that had to perish in the deep realms of space.
He quickly opened up the doors that lead to Bulma's balcony, flying down to the lawn and clicking the capsule, throwing it away from him. It swiftly turned into a large space-craft, although it was much smaller than the one he had flown previously. Vegeta entered inside, checking the main controls, pleased to find that everything was in perfect working condition. With no hesitation, he closed the door, and started the ignition, taking a seat and buckling himself in for the journey into space.
Bulma awoke suddenly as her room began to shudder, the sound of a large engine filling her room. What on earth was going on? It took a few minutes to realise that she was in her bedroom, not in her laboratory, where she was certain she had fallen asleep. She looked up, to see that her balcony doors were open, a strange yellow light coming from them. Bulma immediately leapt out of her bed and out onto the balcony, gasping at the sight of a space-craft on the lawn, preparing to take off.
She ran through the building and out to the lawn, noticing that the gravity chamber was strangely dark and quiet. With a pang, she realised just what was happening. She continued to run towards the shining craft, tears falling freely from her blue eyes. He couldn't leave her. Not now. Not when he was furious with her, not when she was pregnant with his child.
"VEGETA!"
He heard her scream, and closed his eyes, determined not to allow the emotions that continued to creep into his body affect him. Vegeta only wished that she had stayed asleep, that she had not had to witness his leaving. But there was nothing that could be done, and he was about ready to take off. The engine gave a loud rumble then, and Vegeta felt the craft pressurise as it began to lift off the ground, making it's way further and further into the dark night sky.
"VEGETA!"
Bulma collapsed in loud sobs as the craft entered into the night, shining brightly for a moment as it entered the atmosphere before disappearing from sight. He was gone, and she had no idea when he would be returning, if ever. She had never felt so alone than she did at that moment. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, the tears coming thick and fast.
"Bulma?"
She turned around to see the worried faces of her parents, they had obviously witnessed the whole thing. She remained on the grass as her tears began to slow, unsure of what to say, not certain that her voice was strong enough yet for words. Her parents flew to her side in unison, her father pulling her into his arms, her mother stroking her back softly as Bulma began to cry again.
Dr. Briefs stood Bulma up, and gave her to Bunny, and the mother and the daughter shared a sad embrace as he went over to the gravity chamber, pushing a button that would revert it back into a capsule. Once this had been done, he returned to the women, and indicated for them all to return to the house.
Once inside, they passed Bulma's laboratory, her eyes widening as she looked inside. "Wait." she whispered hoarsely to her parents, removing herself from their arms as she entered the room, looking at her desk. The armour was gone, her capsule pouch open with one missing. Vegeta had obviously stolen the craft from her, and taken the outfit. Bulma's eyes trailed to the ground, where the discarded clothes lay. He had been wearing the suit she had made for him when he left.
Realisation dawned on her that it must have also been Vegeta that had moved her from the lab to her bedroom, but why? Such a gesture was very unlike the Saiyan Prince, perhaps it was his way of expressing gratitude for the armour? Or maybe even something more – but Bulma did not want to get her hopes up, she was hurt enough as it was. She turned back to her parents, who stood watching her from the doorway. She mustered her best smile, and returned to them, and slowly they made their way to Bulma's room.
"Have a good sleep. Unhindered by your thoughts." Dr. Briefs gave her a tight hug, before she turned to her mother for another embrace. "I love you." Bunny told her daughter, kissing her on the cheek before she and her husband left Bulma to herself. The aqua-haired woman slowly made her way back to her bed, laying down and covering herself with the sheet once more, taking in a deep breath before the tears came again, and soon she cried herself to sleep, clutching her stomach.