Vegeta stretched back in his chair, pushing aside his plate. His muscles were sore from sparring all day with Trunks and Tora in the gravity room. He'd eaten, but not with the gusto he usually did. He was too distracted. He hadn't heard much from Kakarot, aside from the Christmas party, and even then there wasn't much news on Goten's case. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, other than the fact that he couldn't stand to see one of his people being mistreated. He had seen far too much of that firsthand when the Saiyans were under Frieza's rule. He would not stand for it now.
He thought it was ridiculous to follow the rules of this planet, knowing full well that the safest place in the whole world for that child was with his father. But Bulma had insisted on following the law. He sighed. He knew she always wanted to do the right thing, but he would've much rather taken matters into his own hands.
He was tired of this. Tired of their family being the target for enemies, whether they be old foes, the Atlanteans, or even someone who was supposed to be part of the family. Too many times had their loved ones been used as pawns, kidnapped, tortured, abused. And what had he done to stop it, to protect them? Nothing. He had stood by while this utter bullshit went on behind his back. There had to be something he could do to put an end to this sort of misery. It was no way for any of them to live.
He watched as the others at the table finished their dinner. Trunks and Tora were still shoveling food into their mouths, Catie had already excused herself and gone to visit with Jenny for the evening, and Bulma sat across the table from him, shaking her head at how fast the other two Saiyans were inhaling their food.
Bulma watched with a faint smile on her face as the two Saiyans continued to eat. She turned back to her cup of coffee with a sigh, her fingers curling around the hot mug. Since she had returned from that shadow world, she couldn't get enough heat. She took a sip and glanced at her husband, seeing how unsettled he was. She reached across the table and slipped her hand into his. She slid her leg under the table and nudged his own. "This whole thing is bothering you, isn't it?"
Vegeta gave a tiny snort of amusement. She knew him too well and could read him like a book. "Is it that obvious?" he asked. He curled his fingers around hers, absentmindedly thumbing over the wedding ring on her hand. "There has to be more that I can do," he said quietly. Ever since Bulma had come back, he'd been on high alert, constantly checking on her, his head always on a swivel as if he expected Fasha to appear out of nowhere and steal his mate again. And all the while, that bitch Chichi was right under their noses, her abuse of Goten hidden in plain sight. Truth be told, he and Bulma probably saw more of that little boy than Goku did. He always seemed to be at their house to play with little Trunks. Well, he had been before this whole mess. "Training alone isn't enough," he went on. "There has to be more. I just cannot figure out what it is."
Trunks slurped down the last of his meal, pausing to sip at his drink, "What more can we do, except train?" He asked, he didn't know what more could have been done to help Goten's situation, "The house is blessed, the girls blessed everyone's home. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do except learn from our mistakes and our enemies." He looked over and winked at Tora, "Well, you know what you are."
Tora shook his head and rolled his eyes as he chewed. "You're never going to stop with that, are you?" he asked, trying not to snicker. He was used to the teasing from Trunks and Catie. He sat back with a groan, his stomach beyond full. He never thought he'd see the day where he felt like he'd eaten too much food. "He's right, though," he said, looking over at Vegeta. "What more can we do? I know there's been talk of just taking the boy and if it comes to that, I'm with Kakarot. But Bulma said that'll only cause more harm than good. I don't know enough about how things work here on earth yet, but if you think there's something more that can be done, we're with you."
Vegeta went quiet for a moment, thinking it all over in his head. "The only thing I can do is to get stronger," he muttered. "I have to be able to protect this family. So far I have failed." He released Bulma's hand and withdrew from her, looking over at the frosted windows of the dining room. "The gravity room isn't challenging enough anymore. I need something else. There has to be a way."
Bulma withheld her sigh and stood up, leaving her cup on the table and went over to stand next to Vegeta, slipping her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder, "What do you need me to do? I can build you something new, something better." She thought for a moment before she pressed a kiss to his cheek, "But, don't say you have failed this family. You haven't. You've protected us and more."
He gave a nod, but her words didn't comfort him like he wished they would. He would never say no to new equipment to train with, but that wasn't exactly what he had in mind. What he was thinking about was something quite different, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to go that route just yet. And that would involve going to see the old woman again. He suppressed the urge to shudder. He appreciated Arthusia's help, but damn if she didn't make him uncomfortable. No, there had to be another way to go about this.
"Just make sure to test it better next time," Vegeta reminded Bulma as he caught her hand again. "Last time you upgraded and built a new gravity machine, the damn thing blew up." He still had a slight scar on his side from the day of the masquerade ball.
She smiled at him, letting her pull her closer. "Mm, but then I wouldn't get to play nurse with you." She winked at him, but nodded, "I'll see what I can come up with. Maybe I'll bring Jenny back to help me, find a way to integrate magick attacks into the training program. Though, that might be asking for a long period of work without much sleep." She said, looking out of the window at the grey sky and the large snowflakes that had started to fall, "We are safe at the moment and it's still, technically, the holidays. Let's go curl up by the fire, I'm feeling all cuddly."
Vegeta closed his eyes for a moment as a hot blush hit his cheeks and Tora and Trunks snickered at him. "Woman, you try my patience," he growled, but got to his feet and took her hand to lead her into the family room. He could feel the vein throb in his temple as Tora made kissing noises at them and then fell into a fit of laughter with Trunks. "I'm going to kill them both," he grumbled as he settled himself and his mate down in front of the fire.
She looked over his shoulder and out the door, "They should know better than to snicker at the hand that feeds them." She felt a bit sheepish as she curled up in his embrace, looking at the fire. "Sorry. I should have been quieter about it. I just couldn't help myself." She turned and faced him, leaning on her shoulder as she looked at him. The look on his face was intense and she could tell his mind was still occupied. "I wish we didn't have to do things this way. Earth rules are stupid." She admitted as she wondered what it would be like if they lived on Planet Vegeta, under his protective rule.
"Don't worry about it," he brushed it off. "I'll just beat them for it in training later. I need an excuse to kick their asses anyway." He reclined on his side and pulled her down in front of him to wrap his arm around her waist. He nuzzled into her hair, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. "You know there's nothing I wouldn't do to protect you. To protect our family."
Bulma sighed happily, reaching her hand up to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb over the high cheekbones, "I know, but I just don't want you thinking that you have failed when you haven't."
He closed his eyes at her touch. "But I have failed you, Bulma," he said quietly. "Fasha should have never made it into this house. If I'd paid more attention I could have sensed her. If I knew anything about this damn magick, I could've gotten you out of that void myself."
"Vegeta," Bulma started, thinking over her words, "You can't judge yourself based on what you could have done with powers you don't have. The world is full of what ifs and if we all judged each other on what we could have done instead of what we did, that world would be a very disappointing place to live. You saved my life, Vegeta. That's all that matters when it comes down to us. There was no way we could have predicted they were going to strike out at us at that moment." She brushed her thumb over his lips, looking into his dark eyes, trying to will him to understand.
She closed her eyes and laid her head down on his arm, next to his as she reached up and traced the mark on his neck, "And I love you for who you are and all that you have done and will continue to do for us. No matter what. I know that if something should happen, you will be right there, doing what you can to save us."
He leaned into her touch. Her words were more right than she could have realized. He was going to figure this out somehow. He nearly shook his head. This was what he'd always feared. This was why he had never allowed himself to get close to anyone before he took Bulma as a mate. Love made you weak. It made you vulnerable. And it clouded your judgment. And here he was, not only with a mate to consider and protect, but an entire family. It was foolish, he knew that, but he would not change it now.
Vegeta cupped her face in his hand and pulled her closer to kiss her lips. His hand slid into her hair and fisted in the silky blue locks. "You are my everything," he whispered fiercely.
Bulma leaned into his touch as she smiled at him. "And you are mine," she said as she slid her hand up from his cheek and into his black locks, sighing at the silky feeling. She scratched lightly at his scalp for a moment, "I would go insane without you, I almost did."
"You will never be parted from me again," he vowed, his voice still low and fierce. "As long as there is still a breath in this body, you will never come to harm again. I swear it." He crushed his lips to hers and curled his tail possessively around her waist. She felt so good in his arms; he held her tighter to him, trying to memorize the feel of her body pressed against his. If he ever lost her, he didn't know what he would do. No, losing her was no longer an option in his mind. Losing anyone in their family was not an option. It was up to him to find a way to protect them.