CHAPTER 9

The Prince of Saiyans lay restlessly in his bed and stared out of the window, the full moon, glowing above the lights of West City, silently mocking what had become his existence. The walls of the human structure far too thin for his sensitive ears, Vegeta could hear in the room next to him the mother of his half-breed, purple-haired child attempting to coo the whelp into another short slumber . The baby had yet to sleep through the night, a fact that Vegeta often relished spewing when arguing with the insufferable Bulma. Only moments later, he heard the almost alien sound of someone rapping on his door.

"Hnn," he growled testily, turning over and burying his face into the down-stuffed pillow. The creak of the opening door grated against his ears, and he heard the woman's familiar footsteps on the floor.

"Vegeta," she huffed, exhaustion apparent in her voice.

"Woman–" he returned in a tone more characteristic of the ruthless slave of Frieza than of the man that Bulma had invited into her bed so many months ago. "I don't w–"

"…want to be bothered,' yeah, I know," she snapped. "But I finally got Trunks to sleep again, and if I don't get some rest myself I might just pass out. The baby monitor broke–"

"So fix it! I thought you were a genius," he taunted, his speech still muffled by the pillow.

"Did you ever think that maybe letting me finish my sentences would get me out of your presence more quickly, Your Highness?" Bulma snarled through clenched teeth.

Vegeta rose and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up to face her. "Do not mock me, woman." They stared at one another in silence for over a minute, eyes locked in a mental battle of wills.

"All I was going to ask," Bulma finally whispered tersely, "was that you come get me if you hear Trunks crying. That's it, alright? But if you're really incapable of doing something so very simple," she spewed the word, "for your own son, I'll just try to keep myself awake. I apologize for disturbing your moping."

With that, Bulma turned her back to him and walked quickly and severely out the door. Vegeta merely lay back down on the bed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He absolutely could not understand the audacity of the woman. Entire races had once trembled at the thought of a visit from the prince, and yet he had somehow ended up sleeping in a spare bedroom of his lover's parents' mansion, the room next to him home to his weakling son who was always being coddled in the way so typical of human spawn. He curled his lip in disgust. This was the life he had made for himself. He had no motivation, no cares, no purpose any longer.

The only thing with which he had concerned himself since the death of Frieza had been rotting six feet under the earth at the foot of Mount Paozu for – how long had it been now? – over half a year. Vegeta was what he had always dreamt of becoming – the strongest being in the universe. Yet, he had not earned the title, he never truly would, and that truth kept him awake most nights. He did not even train any longer; he could find no reason to. What would be the point? What battle could he not win? The miserable Vegeta asked himself this over and over, desperately clinging to the hope that one day there would be a legitimate answer.

xxx

As she sat in a deep slouch on the sofa next to her mother, Son Ada ran her right index finger along the circumference of the antique mixing bowl she held. Her finger now dripping with brownie batter, she brought it to her mouth and licked it clean, savoring the sweetness with a smile. The comforting scent of baking desserts wafting about the room, Ada looked over at her mother, who was herself nursing a large, batter-covered, wooden spatula.

"Mom," Ada said as she took her mother's spoon and her own bowl over to the sink. "We should do this more often."

"Oh, you're probably right," Chi Chi sighed, getting up from the couch and peeking into the oven. "I guess I just like to save sweets for special occasions. Sugar's so expensive nowadays –"

"Wait – what's the special occasion?" Ada inquired, rolling up her sleeves before filling the sink with steaming water and running dish soap under the faucet.

"Well," Chi Chi responded, a wry, sad smile painting her lips as she joined her daughter at the sink. "Two hundred acres of forest burned only miles away from us, several hundred homes were destroyed, and we're still breathing. I think that qualifies, dear."

Ada nodded and smiled back at her mother. She looked out of the window directly in front of her and sighed, wondering at how distant the pain of the world seemed from the safety of her own home. Of course, she realized, it wasn't true safety as much as it was simply living so far away from civilization as to go unnoticed. Even the androids seemed loath to expend the effort of flying such a distance. But they won't stay away forever. Trunks was right…one of these days, they're going to take us out once and for all.

It reminded Ada of something her grandfather once told her. She reckoned she must have been about eight or nine, and a small spat with her mother had turned terribly sour. After a rather long shouting match, Ada had decided to give up and run away from home…again. Each time she had done it, and there had been many, the escape had typically ended with the little girl sulking back to her house, apologizing to her mother, and eating cold leftovers from dinner by herself. This particular time, though, Ada had not come back. After an entire night of worrying, a very hysterical Chi Chi had, along with her son ("Can't you sense her energy?!"), taken to the forest in hopes of tracking down her incorrigible daughter, who thought it would be terribly sneaky and clever of her to suppress her ki. The Ox King eventually joined the search, and sometime in mid-morning happened upon his granddaughter asleep inside a hollow old tree. It had taken a while to convince the little girl, but eventually, the pair began walking back toward the Son home.

"I didn't even do anything this time…" Ada had lamented, scratching a mosquito bite on her arm.

"I know, sweetie. Your mother probably would've apologized for getting angry with you eventually, but since you ran off, well, you'd better brace yourself," Ox King replied firmly but, as always, with kindness.

"She's always mad at me," the child said. "And it's not even my fault lots of times."

"Ada," her grandfather had told her wisely, "it may not be. But you've gotta face it head-on even if you don't wanna. You can't run away from trouble; there's no place that far."

Not even the mountains, Ada thought with a sigh as she scanned the myriad azure peaks on the horizon. Fiercest among them, Mount Paozu cast its undying watch across the East.

"Isn't it just beautiful? All these years, and it still takes my breath away," Chi Chi said softly, her gaze and thoughts echoing those of her daughter. "You know, when your father and I first got married, I was kind of skeptical of this place – not to mention nervous about living so far away from Dad. But Goku promised that it would be perfect…and it was."

As she began to scrub a measuring cup, Ada turned to see her mother wearing that wistful, melancholy smile that so thoroughly defined her. Anymore, Chi Chi seemed to be running solely on nostalgia. She had no husband and no son, and it hurt Ada to admit it, but the woman probably expected the androids to take her daughter sooner or later, too. Yet, Chi Chi spent each day as she would have done otherwise. She rose with the sun, washed and dressed, and commenced her housekeeping chores. Ada tried to help every once in a great while, tried to make dinner or do the laundry, but her mother refused to allow it. Ada could not help but wonder if nothing more than sheer strength of mind and the monotony of daily life were keeping the woman alive.

"Mama," Ada said suddenly, running the dish sponge in her hand around the interior of a bowl in the sink. Chi Chi blinked, coming out of her reverie at the sound of her daughter's voice. The girl cleared her through and silently prayed that her mother would stay calm. "I've been thinking over the last couple of days, after that last attack…and…well, the androids hit some of the mountain villages this time. They were really, really close to here, you know? And if they happened to decide it was time to finish us off…or even if they came across the house and remembered it…well, I just…" She took a breath before blurting out the rest of her thought. "…I just don't think it's safe here anymore." Ada sighed heavily and began rinsing dishes, somewhat afraid to look at her mother in case the older woman suddenly exploded.

"Are you suggesting that there's any place that really is safe?" Chi Chi inquired, clearly rather peeved.

"You know that's not what I'm saying. But there are apartments undergr-"

Chi Chi dropped the drying towel she was holding and planted her hands on her hips. "Listen here, Ada," she said sternly, "I do not hide. Especially from a pair of metal dolls. If they want me, they're gonna have to face me head on." She then exhaled fiercely before suddenly recoiling, and then massaged her temples with exhaustion. "And besides…I could never leave this place. This has been my life since I was seventeen. Your father carried me over that threshold, and I never looked back." She leaned against the countertop, looking pensive and worn beyond her years.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Ada replied after a few moments. "I just…want you to be safe, that's all."

"And I appreciate the thought, sweetie," Chi Chi responded. She then blinked, and Ada got the impression that her mother was trying to push a flood of memories from her mind. The older woman soon brushed several stray hairs from her eyes and forced away the somber mood of the conversation. "How about we get those brownies out of the oven, hm?"

After a dash of powdered sugar and some quick cutting work with a serving utensil, the two women were again relaxing on the couch, desserts and glasses of milk in hand.

"Ada," Chi Chi began after tucking away a few brownies, "What I mentioned earlier about your father and me…it got me thinking. You know, by the time I was your age, I already had a toddler! Isn't that wild?"

"Yeah…" Ada replied, gulping at the mental picture of being married and chasing around a child instead of sitting around and stuffing herself with sweets.

"That made me wonder – when exactly do you plan on trying to find a husband? I mean, you're getting older all the time, and every android attack takes a few more handsome young bachelors off the market."

A horrified Ada turned to her mother, expecting the woman to be laughing at her own joke (and in terrible taste, she noted). To her chagrin, Chi Chi was actually gazing thoughtfully into the distance, absent-mindedly taking another bite of brownie here and there.

"You've got to be kidding," Ada said breathlessly, her appetite slipping away. Her mother snapped her gaze toward the girl and narrowed her eyes. And here it comes.

"After everything you've put me through, don't you think it's only fair that you give me grandchildren before I die? Well DON'T YOU?"

"Mom, really. Let's talk about this some other time, okay?" Ada laughed nervously, licking powdered sugar from her fingers. Chi Chi crossed her arms and turned her nose into the air.

"Hmph. Well, don't think I'm just going to drop it. I'll have you married before you know it."

"Lovely," Ada said as she stood and managed to let out a terribly phony yawn. "It's been really great getting to chat and such, and the brownies were delicious, but I should really be getting to bed. All of the clean-up volunteers are supposed to be in the city center by seven tom–"

"Oh, fine. Go to bed, then," Chi Chi sighed as her daughter kissed her on the cheek and started off toward the hallway. The woman then spoke excitedly: "Maybe you'll meet someone while you're helping out! Be sure you put on some nice perfume before you go, and maybe a bit of blush–"

"'Night, Mom," Ada groaned as she faked obliviousness and continued toward her room. She had nearly shut the door when she heard a somewhat faint shout from the living room.

"Ada!"

"Hm?" The girl cringed, then stopped, dragged herself back down the hall, and looked tiredly at her mother. Two marriage lectures in the same night would really be over-doing it. I know she's a little insane and really old-fashioned, but honestly…

"Honey," Chi Chi said, her eyes strangely kind; her smile, bittersweet. "I hope you know that, as much as I want to see all those things happen for you…and as much as I want grandchildren soon…I hate that it means letting you go. The idea of losing you scares me to death."

Ada felt a tug in her chest and wondered if her mother was feeling alright. The girl figured that she could count on two hands the number of times in her life that Chi Chi had allowed such sentiments to pass from her lips. She always knew, of course, that her mother loved her, but she also knew that the woman had more often seemed to favor being rid of the girl. Ada did not, until the two years prior, get hugs or kisses from Chi Chi, nor did she hear, as so many children do, how loved, or beautiful, or…wanted…she was. Sorrow pervaded the Son house, mourning so complete that it affected how the family lived every part of every day. Love simply had not fit. It almost frightened Ada that Chi Chi was actually beginning to change, if only subtly.

"Mama," Ada assured her, "even if you tried to, you could never lose me." With a smile and a wave, the young woman strolled down the hallway and through her door, the comfort of her bed calling to her.

xxx

Postscript: Yes, I know that I totally suck for doing such a short chapter after the rather long wait. In my defense, however, I've had absolutely horrendous writer's block. I've toyed with a million different ideas but pitched most of them. After arguing with myself about which direction to go for the last week and coming up empty, I'm going to turn to you, my lovely readers, and ask what you would like to hear more about. More romance, more action, more flashbacks – what would you prefer? I've got ideas for just about all of it, but I really need a hand choosing, at least until this writer's block goes away. It's killing me! As always, thank you for your reviewing and your support!