As he sped towards the former Namek, Vegeta watched as he accessed the ship's communication system seemingly against his own volition. Bulma's face appeared on the screen.
"Vegeta?" Confusion and surprise saturated her tones, and her eyes widened. "Is something wrong?" She couldn't possibly have anticipated a call from Vegeta; she had every reason to assume that he wanted nothing to do with her, that everything about her enraged him.
"Of course not." A lie.
"Okay." She didn't believe him. Even from the distorted image projected across millions of miles, she could tell most of the color had drained from his cheeks. "It's three in the morning here. You're lucky I was up working. What's up?"
"I haven't found Kakarot yet. I'm heading in the direction of Namek."
"Sounds like a good idea." She hadn't the slightest clue which topics would garner positive responses from the characteristically hostile Saiyan. "Hey, do you want to hear about what I'm working on? You might like it."
No response, but Vegeta's eyes betrayed a slight curiosity.
"I'll tell you—I've been looking at some of the Saiyan battle suits you've left here, and I'm trying to see if I can build new ones and maybe even improve on the design. I actually thought of contacting you and asking you a couple questions, but I figured you'd be busy. I'll tell you what, though—Saiyan technology is fascinating. My dad got some ideas from it when he was building the ship you're on."
"Saiyan war technologies are without rival in the known universe. Our scientists and engineers learned from every race we conquered."
"Obviously. The impenetrable, but extremely stretchable, materials in your armor were ingeniously synthesized. What do you know about them? I'm having a hard time even figuring out how to replicate the synthetics, never mind mold and stitch them together." Bulma smiled, feeling she had discovered a commonality between her and Vegeta that she could exploit. From everything she knew about people (human, Saiyan, or otherwise), she knew that those who seemed as agitated as Vegeta did often needed someone to talk to them, even if no one broached the subject of what had caused the agitation to begin with. Some people—and Vegeta was certainly one of them—kept their inner lives to themselves. They might let you in a little bit after years of knowing them, but you had to have patience. It was not within her nature to simply ignore someone who seemed distressed.
"I could not tell you the exact composition. If you collected any of the devices Frieza fashioned his soldiers with while on Namek, you will have access to a database containing information on many species and technologies as well as their histories. The composition of the synthetic materials in Saiyan armor would likely be found there."
"I think Gohan kept one of those scouters. I'll look into it. Thanks!"
Vegeta grunted. He wondered if the blue-haired woman could actually get her mind around the science of an ancient people at their societal apex. He would mentally applaud her if she could, but he doubted it.
"Another question. That okay with you?"
He nodded.
"I've never been able to ask Goku, because he's, well, not really a Saiyan"—Vegeta snickered at that statement—"so I thought I could ask you a bit about Saiyan evolution. Here on Earth, we've learned that humans share a common ancestor with the apes on our planet. What do you know about the origins of your species?"
"Much of that information has been lost. Planet Vegeta was not the first homeworld of the Saiyans. We do not know our biological origins."
"Interesting. So you don't know. I've just always thought it strange that Saiyans and humans could have children even though the two species lived in completely different places in the galaxy. It doesn't make sense."
"Are you suggesting that your species shares a common ancestor with mine?"
Bulma hoped Vegeta had not taken the suggestion as an insult. "It seems that way. It couldn't have been very long ago that we shared an ancestor, either. No more than two million years, I'd guess, but probably less than that. About the same evolutionary distance between horses and zebras or polar and brown bears."
"It does seem that way." Vegeta did not take objective observations as insults. If evidence supported a person's statement, and he could see how that evidence supported it, he felt he had no basis for an emotional response. Children and Kakarot annoyed him for this very reason—they did not often deal in facts. At least this woman was a scientist, and scientists, typically, at least knew what a fact was.
"Wow. That's so weird. Especially since you don't know where you came from. Sorry about the questions. I should probably get back to work. Scratch that—I should probably go to bed. Is there anything else you wanted?"
Vegeta shook his head.
"You have enough fuel to get to Namek and come back to Earth. If you make it to the Namek system, you will only have enough to get back. You won't have enough to stop anywhere else along the way."
"I will return once I have found Kakarot."
"So you're coming back, then?"
"Kakarot will come back, and I will follow him."
"Good luck. We want to see him again too. Take care of yourself, Vegeta. You know what to do if you need to contact us." She could only imagine what had possessed the Saiyan to talk to her in the first place. She waved, signed off, and left Vegeta to himself again.
Vegeta had needed to remind himself that he was alive, that he could speak with the living, that he lived among them. The Saiyans were not all dead like that noblewoman eternally orbiting two lonely suns. This Saiyan could associate with live beings. He did not have to long after corpses and dissolving memories. By living, he brought the Saiyan people to life in the lives of others, and he proved himself to be one not dead.
Author's Note: Hi, this is your friendly neighborhood flamingpoetic here! Comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism are always appreciated. I guarantee a response to every question or review. I love to proofread and edit, so if you want a second pair of eyes on your work, I'd be happy to see what I can do for you. Just send me a message, tell me what you would like me to take a look at, and we'll work something out. Happy reading and writing, my fellow creative people! I'm having lots of fun with The Mistaken Wish—I hope you are too.