Onna sat down, only this time Turles was on her lap. She was going to have to get used to this, the feeling of a child sitting on her lap.
Gohan was sitting on Chichi's while her mother-in-law was bringing in some snacks. "So do you have any idea of what you're going to have?" Gine asked. The woman was excited. She went from having no grandchildren to having one with another on the way. She couldn't help but be excited.
Onna smiled. "I believe it's a girl. We know that it's a nightwalker." She felt some movement, but it wasn't that much. From what she knew about Zera and what she had seen, the child she was set to give birth to had to be female.
"Just remember that I am going to spoil her," Gine said, watching her youngest climb down Onna's leg. "He really is growing. They grow up too fast." Gine frowned.
"What do you mean?" Onna asked.
Chichi ruffled Gohan's hair. "It feels like I gave birth yesterday and now Gohan can say some words and he's trying to walk."
Onna watched Turles climb onto his mother's lap. "It really happens that fast?"
Gine smiled at her son. "Well, I got to see a lot of moments with Kakarot and Turles. Raditz on the other hand was taken when he was five for four years, so I missed out on his life for that long." She frowned. "I used to think he was dead and I wondered what had happened until one day he just walked into the house out of the blue. Bardock and I were so stunned. We had given up hope."
Onna felt another small kick and smiled. "He's come a long way since then. I remember the first time I met him. He kept to himself a lot."
Gine gave her a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?" She was curious, how long had Onna been looking at her son?
Onna turned red. "Well, I remember the day that Raditz was taken. He was in my class." She looked off to the side. "I was impressed. Frieza really thought that no one could solve that problem, but it took him no time whatsoever." She didn't want to admit it, but that was the beginning of her crush all of those years ago.
Gine giggled. "So when he disappeared afterward?"
Onna turned redder. "Umm…" She didn't want to talk about it. She was just going to keep embarrassing herself.
Chichi only smiled. "It looks like someone had it bad from the start."
She was going to object as Raditz walked in. Onna looked up at him. "So, did you bring Tarble back?"
Raditz shook his head. "No, we left Gure there to look after it." For some reason, it looked like he was in a funk of sorts.
Onna stood up and walked over to her mate. "Do you feel okay?" She knew something was wrong.
"I just don't know how we can help him. Tarble seems so far gone." His head hurt. It had been hurting since he left the moon.
She moved forward, placing her hand on his head. Onna knew he had a headache. For a split second, she felt a twinge in her eyes and noted as his pain left his eyes. "Better?"
He shook his head. "What the hell was that?" Raditz couldn't help but feel angry now. Was that the spell that Betra had put Tarble under?
"I'm guessing that my sister's power got to you. Is Vegeta also in a funk?" Onna asked.
Raditz nodded. "The only one not affected was Gure, that's why she stayed." He thought it over for a second. "I wonder why she wasn't affected?"
Onna gave him a smile. "Betra probably has it set so it only affects men. If she's working overtime to control Tarble, then she can't switch it over that quickly."
"So Gure should be safe," Raditz said. Now that he was back, he didn't like the idea of leaving her alone with Betra running around, but the tech-tech had survived Cooler on her own. She was a resilient one.
"Unless my sister plans to kill her face to face," Onna said. It was still hard to believe that her younger sister was caught up in all of this.
"Hopefully, that won't happen. All we can do now is trust Gure to bring him home," Raditz said, feeling guilty. Part of him did wonder if Tarble really felt that way about him. He thought back to the past, all of those days he had stayed awake trying to keep Tarble alive on life support. Did Tarble forget about that? Or did he really believe that all of that was just so he could use him. Only time would tell.
Vegeta slammed down his fist. He couldn't help but feel angry. His mind had cleared after coming home, but he couldn't shake his guilt. His younger brother had made an heir with Betra. They shared a bloodline. He couldn't believe that he had left Gure there, but it seemed that she was the only one in the right mind. He didn't know why, but it looked like he needed to trust her on this. She would bring his brother home.
Bulma walked over, cradling his face against her chest. "I'm sorry, Vegeta."
He looked up at her. "Why did it have to be like this? Why didn't he just tell me that something was wrong?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "I don't know. He probably didn't realize that something was wrong until it was too late."
The emperor grabbed his mate's hand. "I should have listened to you." He sighed. "If I did, he wouldn't have felt isolated. He would have come to me." Vegeta's other arm wrapped around her waist as his tail moved around her leg. He felt urges but knew that now wasn't the time for such things. He needed to find a way to help Gure.
Bulma sighed, running her fingers through his hair. "We just have to wait. Maybe things will work out better on their own." She pulled him closer. "If we can't reach him, then maybe Gure can."
Vegeta couldn't help but feel jealous of the tech-tech. Had his bond with Tarble become so weak that anything could come between them? It just didn't feel right.
He shook his head, he hated feeling weak. He couldn't use his strength to bring Tarble back. It was almost as if his brother had died. He wanted to cry, but he held his tears back. He had cried enough in his life and he wasn't going to do it anymore.
Bulma hugged him closer, pushing him so that he was a little further on the bed. "I want to make you feel better, but I don't think I can."
Vegeta looked up at her as she sat next to him. His tail switched off of her leg and up her spine. He needed a distraction. His mate could offer him one. In one swift motion, he pulled her under him. She looked surprised, but gave him a sad smile. He smiled back at her. "You think we should start working on an heir?" He asked.
She hugged him closer. "If it helps you clear your head."
Vegeta gave her a grin, knowing that giving into her would be enough to wipe his mind for a couple of hours. "Then I think it's the best idea I've heard all day."
Gure had walked back to the temple only to find Betra glaring at her. "What do you want?" the female saiyan shouted at her.
"You're not going to be able to get rid of me so easily," Gure said calmly. "I know what you have done."
Betra looked as if she was going to strike the tech-tech, so Gure backed up a bit. She didn't have a weapon to defend herself in this form, so she was going to have to make do. "You're nothing but a lowly tech-tech."
"So I've heard you say before," Gure answered.
Betra stared at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Gure grinned. "We found that room, Pepril. I know what you did to my Tarble."
The saiyan growled and made to smack the tech-tech, but her hand was stopped mid-smack. Gure looked up, finding Tarble standing there. He looked out of it, but he glared at Betra. "You're with child, don't overexert yourself." The King turned to Gure. "I thought you left with them."
"No, I chose to stay." Gure then looked off to the side. "It's not like I have any place to go anymore. My people are gone. Destroyed by Cooler."
"So you wish to stay in my Kingdom?" He asked crossing his arms.
Betra glared at her, but Gure kept her eyes on Tarble. "Only for the time being. I'll have to find my way across the galaxy at some point." She didn't want to say this, but that was her plan if she couldn't save him. She would run as far as she could from here and never look back.
"She can't stay. We don't have the room," Betra said with a smirk.
Tarble looked at his Queen in confusion. "What do you mean, we have plenty of room. Besides, it's not like she's going to hurt anything."
"But, my King…" Betra started.
"We could use a maid. We're royals. It makes no sense for us to pick up after ourselves," Tarble said, looking down at the tech-tech. "You can do simple chores being that small."
Gure gave him a smile. "That's not a problem. I already know what to do." She did learn a lot about housekeeping and cooking from Gine during the war.
"Tarble…" Betra began once more.
"Can you cook? I'm really tired of the same damn thing every night," Tarble asked. He really was tired of it. Betra usually made tea and the same meal every other night. It was getting really old.
Gure couldn't help it. It was almost as if she was talking to that boy in the bunker all of those years ago. "Yes, I can cook. I even know how to make broiled Hocetes."
Tarble's eyes went wide. How did she know what his favorite dish was? "You really know how to make that?"
"Well, I learned to show it off to my intended, but that never happened." Gure felt a little depressed about that. She had planned to have it made when Tarble landed on her planet, but never got the chance.
He grinned. "You think you could make it tonight?"
"If you have the ingredients," she said, thrilled that he wanted her cooking.
Betra began to tap her feet. "Excuse me, but we don't have anything like that lying around. Besides, that's a poor man's dish."
Tarble stared at his queen. "Why does that matter? It tastes great." His mind flashed back to Gine making it for the first time. She had made it one night after he had come back with Raditz from the lab.
Betra rolled her eyes. "It's not a dish for a king." Her eyes flashed, as she tried to regain control.
"It's better than what we are eating now," Tarble said, turning back to the tech-tech. "Put in an order for the things you need and keep the place clean." He really didn't see why Betra was so against having a maid. The tech-tech was offering her services.
"She doesn't need to be here," Betra scoffed.
"Don't worry so much. It's not good for the baby," Tarble said, looking at his queen.
Gure couldn't help but smile. The man she loved was showing himself quite a bit. "I'll go make that order, but I need to know where I'll be staying," Gure pointed out.
"Oh, let me show you." He led the tech-tech out of the room and down the hall. Betra looked like she was fuming, but she would get over it later. They needed some help around here. Why shouldn't they have a tech-tech working for them? His father was using them all of those years ago.
"This place is really pretty," Gure said, looking over the temple walls.
"It's made of a stone called benitoite." He touched the walls as they walked. "The entire moon is made of it. Apparently it's the counter to the painite."
"Isn't that the stone that stops the nightwalker power?" she asked, wanting to know more.
"That's the one," Tarble said, opening a door. "This should be good enough."
Gure looked inside of the room. She didn't expect much, but this place was so pretty on the outside that she would have been fine with anything. "Wow." Gure walked forward, looking around the room. It was beautiful.
"Yeah, it's a little too much for a servant, but we haven't had many changes as of late." Tarble knew that he needed to speak with his people, but every time he went to talk to them Betra stopped him. She said it wasn't time for that yet.
"But it's so wonderful. Everything here is really beautiful," she said with a smile.
Tarble's breath hitched, but he didn't know why. For some reason, he felt something when she looked at him. He pushed his thoughts away. He had a queen and she was a maid. What kind of King would he be if he was unfaithful to Betra? "There is a bathroom connected and I'll have new clothes sent here for you."
"I brought a bag," she said, pulling out a capsule. Tarble knew that Bulma made those things.
"Good." Now everything felt very awkward. "Breakfast is to be served at six, lunch at noon, and dinner at five. Laundry should be…"
"Dried without any dyes or scented soaps," Gure said with a giggle.
Tarble cocked his head to the side. How did she know that? She was his brother's companion. Maybe that's how she figured all of that out. Was that how she betrayed him? He really couldn't remember. He knew that she sided with him about something, but his head was fuzzy. He was starting to get another one of his headaches. "I will let you get settled tonight, but starting tomorrow, I expect you to be up and running early." He knew he needed to leave, but for some reason, he didn't want to. His mind felt a little less fuzzy with her around.
Gure smiled up at him. "I got that, King Tarble."
He shook his head. "Just Tarble is fine," he said, before turning his back on her and leaving.
As he walked down the hall, he couldn't help but smile to himself, but it was short lived as his headache came back with a vengeance. He sighed. He needed to go lie down. The darkness was calling him once more.
He noted that Betra was waiting for him next to his room. "Come with me." She took his hand, leading him into the room. He watched her remove her clothes. "Take me."
Tarble shook his head. "I've got a headache. I think I should take a nap."
She growled, and his headache grew. He felt his anger grow as his eyes flashed. The darkness inside him began to surround him in one swift movement. He snarled pushing her down to the bed, giving her what she wanted.
To Be Continued…