CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The next morning Bulma woke with a start, the memories of the previous day flooding into her mind. She turned to her eyes to her left, and was surprised when they met with the scarred, naked back of Vegeta. She hadn't expected him to stay with her last night, and when he did she thought that he would wake up early and go straight to the gravity chamber to resume his training.

"I have returned...a...a failure."

With wide eyes, Bulma recalled Vegeta's words to her the night before, and the defeat that had been displayed clearly in his dark eyes. Surely he hadn't given up fighting? Is was everything that Vegeta was, and had pretty much been his entire life serving under Frieza.

Opting to let Vegeta sleep in a little longer, Bulma slipped out from under the covers and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her as she did. Confusion slipped in as she made her way to Trunks' bedroom, she could not hear him crying for her as he usually did in the morning, it was normally her alarm clock.

She pushed open the door, but Trunks wasn't perched up on the side of the crib. Bulma stepped closer to it, bewildered as she realised her son was not in the crib at all. Had her parents taken him out? They had never done so before. Dr. Briefs was always too busy with work to be minding a baby, and Bunny was relentless in making sure that Bulma took care of most of her mothering duties.

Bulma quickly rushed down into the kitchen, finding Trunks in the kitchen, but not the form of her son that she was looking for. "Trunks." she spoke, her voice almost breathless. "Have you seen...yourself?" she asked, realising how stupid the question sounded when spoken aloud. Trunks gave her a warm smile after sipping the mug of coffee that he held in his hand. "He's in his high chair. I decided to feed him this morning, I figured you were kind of...preoccupied."

Noticing the red tinge that accompanied the older Trunks' cheeks, Bulma couldn't help but blush herself. It was only now that she realised that the guest room that Trunks had been occupying was beside the bathroom, and as thick as the walls were she hadn't exactly been able to keep quiet whilst in the shower with Vegeta the previous night.

Deciding to change the subject and erase the embarrassment from the air, Bulma glanced over to the high chair, where the young Trunks sat happily, playing with one of his toys. "Well thank you." she expressed her gratitude, pouring coffee into her favourite mug and taking a quick drink. Leaning back against the counter, she took in her older son as he watched his younger self, noticing that he was dressed once more in the same dark pants, black singlet and purple jacket that donned the Capsule Corporation logo that he had worn the first time that had met, three years ago, before she had even considered Vegeta in any sort of romantic way.

"So you're really leaving today." Bulma remarked, tilting her head slightly to the side. Trunks took the last drink of his coffee and nodded. "It's been great being here, spending time with everyone, especially with Dad." Trunks replied, setting down his empty mug on the counter. "But I really miss my mother." he added, before slapping his hand over his mouth. "I mean, my version of you. Not that you're not great, because you are, it's just-"

"I get it. She's your mother, she's the one that's been around your whole life. And while we are technically the same person, she's obviously been through all of your life experiences with you." Bulma interrupted, knowing that Trunks was getting flustered. "She's been through a lot. Losing her friends, and then Vegeta... of course it would change someone if they lost the person they loved." she added, smiling sadly. The thought of losing him now was almost unbearable to imagine.

Vegeta's dark eyes snapped open as he awoke, his surroundings unusual to him. He was not in the gravity chamber where he was prone to passing out after a harsh training session, nor was he in his own living quarters, the room that had been assigned to him by the blue-haired beauty that now filled his mind.

Bulma.

His thoughts turned to the memory of the night earlier, after he had returned from the battleground. The failure of the day streamed through his veins, and yet she still looked at him with those big blue eyes of hers, and saw him no different. The night they had spent together had been amazing, and never had Vegeta felt so content in all his life.

His eyes searched the room, but there was no sign of his lover anywhere. A quick search for her ki revealed that she was in the kitchen, along with both forms of their son. It was much easier to find her these days, it was almost as if her energy signal was intertwined with his own.

Quickly manoeuvring himself out of the bed, Vegeta stretched out all of his limbs, his muscles feeling strange, possibly because he had not trained yet. Normally he would already be in the gravity chamber, but for the moment Vegeta had seen no point to train.

"He has beaten me completely. First, by his own actions, and then through his son's. And what has he left for me here?

How? How could you die like that? How Kakarott? I'll never have the chance to prove my strength against you. You died without fear, what does that make of me?

I am no warrior. And I will never fight again."

His own words repeated over and over in his head. There was nothing left for him to strive against. For most of his life, it had been his goal to destroy Frieza, and when Kakarott had been the one to achieve that feat, it was his duty to then defeat him. But now the younger Saiyan was gone, having sacrificed himself for the Earth, an action Vegeta could still not comprehend.

He would save himself, and most likely Bulma and his son, but he had no regard for the other inhabitants of the Earth. They were of no relevance to him, so why would he willingly choose to die in order to save them? It baffled Vegeta completely, and he had a feeling he would never truly know the answer.

His stomach rumbled then, breaking Vegeta away from his thoughts.

"I will miss you though. It's been comforting having you around." Bulma admitted, moving over to her son and patting him softly on the arm. "I did I good job with you. And when you get back to the future, you had better tell myself that." she grinned, Trunks doing so also.

The moment between mother and son was broken as Vegeta appeared in the kitchen, his face unusually blank. While the Saiyan was never prone to have a happy grin on his face, it worried Bulma. He opened the fridge door and pulled out a variety of items, setting them on the counter. He looked at Bulma, and then proceeded to sit down at the table.

Bulma sighed. She had understood his non-verbal demand, and got busy on figuring out just what Vegeta had pulled out of the fridge and what food she could make them in to. "Need a hand?" Trunks offered from beside her, and Bulma gave him a grateful smile. "An extra pair of hands would be fantastic." she replied, realising that Trunks was attempting to spend as much time with her as he could before leaving, even if that did mean he had to help her make his father's breakfast.

Half an hour later, the table that Vegeta sat at was laden with numerous plates and bowls, Trunks and Bulma glad that the cooking was now over. But Vegeta did not start eating straight way as he normally did, instead he looked up at Bulma and Trunks. "Aren't you two going to sit?" he asked, indicating to the two chairs that sat opposite from each other.

Bulma looked at Trunks, realising that Vegeta was trying to get them to all sit down and having a family breakfast. It rendered her incredulous, even the baby Trunks had stopped playing with his toys momentarily, staring at his father with widened blue eyes.

Trunks and Bulma obliged, taking more plates out of the cupboard before taking their seats, both looking between Vegeta and then at the other, before helping themselves to the meal that lay before them. Once her plate was full, Bulma lowered her hand under the table and rested it on Vegeta's knee that was near her, her blue eyes on his face as he looked at her, his eyebrows raised slightly with mild surprise.

His hand moved to hers upon his knee, and for a moment Bulma was convinced that he was merely going to remove her hand, but instead he gave her a gentle squeeze, acknowledging the sentiment. She smiled at him warmly, overjoyed that the night had not been a dream. He was hers just as she was his now, Vegeta had said so himself.

His hand left hers, but only so he could use both hands to eat his food. Bulma unwillingly withdrew her hand from his knee, and concentrated on her own full plate in front of her. Her eyes flickered to Trunk's face across from her, he was wearing a pleased smile on his handsome face. He had noticed the moment between his parents, that something had changed between them for the better.

After breakfast, Vegeta had left Bulma and Trunks and gone up to Bulma's bedroom, unsure of why he was heading there but it seemed like the right place to go. He didn't want sex, and he didn't want to talk about his issues either, but being in her room, surrounded by her room and her intoxicating scent that hung in the air was strangely comforting to the Saiyan Prince.

He sat down on the bed, his back facing the door, contemplating the many thoughts that clouded his mind. He was so lost in himself that he did not notice the door opened behind him. "Vegeta." Bulma called gently, resting a hand gently on his bare shoulder. Vegeta snapped out of his thoughts with a start, grabbing her wrist tightly before realising what was going on and instantly letting go. "Sorry." he rasped, standing up and taking her hand in his own, making sure that his sudden movement hadn't hurt her.

With a sigh of relief, he realised that the skin was slightly red, but there would be no bruises. Bulma withdrew her hand. "I'm fine." she told him, placing her hands on her hips. "I'm not as fragile as you think I am. After all, I did manage to give birth to our son, which was in no way an easy feat." Vegeta couldn't help but smirk, it was this spunk of hers that had attracted him in the first place.

"Anyway, I brought you some clean clothes, because your battle suit is too torn to repair and it will take me a while to make a new one." she explained, pointing to the bed where different colours of folded material lay. Vegeta picked them up, content with the woman's choices, and pleased that it was nothing like the pink and yellow combination she had made him wear all those years ago.

"These will do. And there is no need for you to make me another suit, I have no use of another one." he replied, slipping on the light brown pants she had given him, doing up the belt as she stared at him, her blue eyes confused. "But surely you will? You can't just go off and fight in normal clothes or your training pants-"

Bulma was cut off by the sound of a crying baby, and sighed. "I'd better go and let him out." she said softly, taking one last look at Vegeta before leaving the room. He was grateful, he didn't want to talk to her about his decision to quit fighting just yet. With another quick gesture he slipped on the long-sleeved aqua shirt, a colour that he had to admit to liking.

"Father? Could I have a word?"

Vegeta stood up and turned around to see his older son standing in the doorway, the look of seriousness across Trunks' face similar to the one that Vegeta himself wore most days. He flattened down the shirt that he was wearing, and crossed his arms, his way of inviting Trunks to enter the room and speak.

Trunks moved closer to his father, and Vegeta could sense his nervousness. He was intrigued to know Trunks wished to speak about, but hoped that it had nothing to do with his actions the previous day. He couldn't understand them himself, and could only really remember the intense rage that burned through his body at Cell as he watched his dying son vomit blood, a large gaping hole in his chest.

Trunks sat on the edge of the bed, and closed his blue eyes monetarily before opening them and setting them upon his father's face.

"Do you love my mother?"

Vegeta's eyes widened with the question, it was incredibly personal and he couldn't understand why Trunks would be asking him such a thing. But at the same time, the answer instantly appeared in his mind, something he had been fighting so hard against for and had trouble accepting for over a year.

He gave Trunks a curt nod, and the lavender-haired man smiled.

"I just wanted to say that...my mother, the one in the future, she's spent so many years without you. She loves you, she always has and always will, but I do know that she had one regret."

Worry flashed across Vegeta's face. Regret? Did his Bulma share this same regret?

"She regrets that you never got married."

Vegeta had heard of marriage before, he knew that Kakarott and his mate had been married, but he failed to understand the significance. Bulma was his mate now, she knew that and he had made it perfectly clear last night. That was all there had been on his home planet, none of this 'marriage'. It just seemed like a great big waste of time to him, and since he and Bulma were perfectly content, there was no point in bothering about it.

"All I'm saying is, eventually Mom will want to get married. Just so it's down on paper that you're her husband. She's already copped enough from the tabloids about being an unmarried mother. Some women get restless when their long-term lover doesn't get down on one knee and propose, and they go and find someone else that will." Trunks stood up, and faced his father, a sad smile on his face.

"I know you're not one for public displays of affection, which is why I've chosen to say goodbye to you now. Properly. And thank you for defending me yesterday. It meant a lot to me." he added, thrusting out his hand towards his father. "It's been fantastic to get to know you, Dad."

Vegeta stared warily at his son's outstretched hand before taking it with his own and shaking it gently, knowing the human custom. "Just don't let your mother interfere with your training. You're strong now, those androids don't stand a chance against my son." he replied, feeling uncomfortable with the level of sentiment he was allowing himself to give Trunks, who on the otherhand was grinning from ear to ear.

Bulma wiped the tears from her eyes, scolding herself for getting too emotional, especially when Trunks hadn't even left yet. However Gohan, Krillin, Yamcha, Puar, Oolong and Master Roshi had already arrived, wearing black bands on their arms in memory of the fallen Goku. Although he had only been gone for one day, the vibe of the small group was strong, they all missed him terribly. Bulma, Bunny and Dr. Briefs had been given armbands themselves, and Bulma was pleased to see her parents wearing them.

Slipping hers on over her own arm, she quickly checked her face in the mirror, making sure that no emotion betrayed her face, and walked outside where the others were saying their goodbyes, Bunny patting the older Trunks' face with one hand whilst holding the younger Trunks with her free arm. Bulma noticed Vegeta was leaning against his favourite tree away from the group, watching with his dark eyes.

He noticed her and gave her a curt nod, before his eyes returned to their son. Bulma joined the group, realising that it was her turn to say goodbye. Trunks smiled at her, and she took her hand in his, revelling it the warmth that came from it. "I'm really proud of you son." she exclaimed, giving him her best smile. "Thanks mom." he replied. "Be careful." she warned, the last mothering she would be able to give him. "Right." Trunks chuckled, squeezing her hand before going over to Gohan and Krillin.

Noticing his father in the underneath the tree, he grinned. "Dad." Vegeta simply raised a hand, his own personal salute, and Trunks returned the favour, signifying the relationship they now had between father and son.

As her son hopped into his time-machine, Bulma used all of her power not to be emotional. She hated being upset, or crying, it was something she was trying to do less of these days, especially now that things between herself and Vegeta had been resolved. As the machine rose up into the air, Trunks began to wave. "So long!" Bulma lifted her arm and waved back frantically. "Love you Trunks! Goodbye!"

Soon the machine disappeared, and Bulma dropped her arm. "What a shame he had to go." Bunny remarked, cradling the young Trunks in her arm. "You're going to be such a lovely young man!" she exclaimed, tapping him on the nose and making him giggle with delight as she and Dr. Briefs turned to go back inside the house.

Bulma turned to her guests. "You're all invited to come in and have something to eat." she told them, smiling warmly at Gohan, who grinned back but shook his head. "Nah, I'd better go back home and check up on my mom. And Grandpa said he was coming over this afternoon." Bulma nodded her head with understanding. "Well thank you for coming over this morning Gohan. And tell Chi-Chi that if she ever needs anything to call me." "Sure thing! Bye guys!" Gohan called out, running across the lawn before exploding into the sky.

"I think we should get back to Kame House." Krillin spoke up, looking at Master Roshi and Oolong. "What? But I thought we could stay for a while!" Master Roshi protested, looking at Bulma- or rather, her chest. Bulma gave him a deadly stare. "Yeah, but I have things to do. And you never know who might want to come and visit." Krillin added, and Bulma couldn't help but notice the flush of red that was appearing on his cheeks.

Realising that he was in no way going to win this argument, Master Roshi pouted. "Fine, make me miss out on all the goodies." he muttered, moving away from the group with Oolong to decapsule the plane they had arrived in. Bulma sided up to Krillin, a knowing smirk on her face. "You wouldn't happen to be waiting for a girl now, would you?" she asked him slyly, chuckling as his cheeks grew even redder.

"Well, I uh-" Krillin stammered, knowing that he'd been figured out. "Well, good for you Krillin. As long as she's nothing that air-head ex of yours, then I say you should go for it." Bulma exclaimed. Krillin let out a chuckle. "Oh, she's nothing like Marron at all." he admitted, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

Once the plane was set up, Master Roshi, Oolong and Krillin boarded, Krillin piloting with the Master Roshi sitting beside him. "See you guys!" Bulma called out, waving alongside Yamcha. "Oh, and Krillin? You might want to rethink shaving your head, girls love guys with a bit of hair!" she added, winking. Master Roshi turned to Krillin, who had now turned bright red. "A girl? What girl? Is she coming to my island?" he demanded to know as the plane lifted off the ground, before zooming off towards the ocean.

Bulma turned to her last guest. "So Yamcha, would you like to come in for a bit?" she asked him, hoping that he would. It had been a while since she had seen him, and she missed their chats. "Oh, well uh-" Yamcha stopped as Vegeta walked into the house behind the unaware Bulma, flashing Yamcha the darkest look he had ever seen as a warning. "-actually I'd better not, I have so many things to catch up on now that life is back to normal. I'll speak to you later, I guess."

Without another word he shot into the sky, leaving Bulma to figure out what to do next.