Vegeta:

Kera was angry. Although angry probably didn't even begin to describe her state of mind. Her kicks and punches hit him so hard that he could barely block them. She kicked and punched so quickly that he was rarely able to hit back. He hit her several times with his fist, but she didn't even seem to feel the pain.

Kera only used her body in the fight. As if she had forgotten how to form energy spheres. Or it was the only way she could give free rein to her rage. With a quick sideways glance at the floor of the gravity room, Vegeta was quite thankful for that. Several tiles had burst open there when Kera had hit the floor with full force. Vegeta had only just managed to dodge each one.

Bulma had knocked on the door of the gravity room several times, but Kera didn't seem to have noticed and Vegeta had nodded his head through the glass to let Bulma know that it was not a good time and Bulma had left again.

A quick glance at the clock above the door, whose protective glass had also already shattered, told him that they had been training for more than four hours, or rather: that Vegeta had let Kera beat him up for more than four hours.

No-one else would have been allowed to treat him like that, but for Kera's sake he'd put up with it. One day she would do the same for him if he was down for any reason.

At some point, Kera collapsed on the floor as if she had lost all her strength in one fell swoop. She got down on all fours, breathing heavily. Her body was drenched in sweat and had scratches and scrapes in several places. Vegeta looked worse, he recognised that even without a mirror, but the few scratches would heal quickly. If she had really wanted to hurt him, he would no longer be able to stand.

Vegeta knelt down next to her. "Better?"

Kera only nodded. She seemed too exhausted to lift her head. "Thank you," she finally said softly.

"For you always." Vegeta smiled briefly.

"Shall I fly you home just now?"

"Can I maybe sleep here?"

"Of course."

She struggled to get up and fended off Vegeta's helping hand. "That's all right. I'll just tell Piccolo and then go to bed."

"You do that. Sleep well."

He waited until Kera had left the gravity room. She walked slowly, leaning forward. Vegeta hoped that this was only due to exhaustion and not because she was broken by the disappointment of the Supreme Kai's decision.

Kera's mood was much better the next morning. Showered, rested and re-energised, Kera walked into the kitchen of Brief's mansion.

Vegeta was already waiting for her. He had already had breakfast with Bulma and she had already returned to her laboratory.

"How are you?" Vegeta greeted his twin sister.

"Better. Thanks." She smiled briefly before the corners of her mouth pulled down again. "Thanks for being a punching bag yesterday," she said somewhat meekly.

"That's okay." He placed a plate of breakfast in front of her, which she gratefully accepted. Kera ate while Vegeta watched her silently.

"I'd like to tell you something, but I don't know if it's the right time," Vegeta finally broke the silence.

Kera paused. "It's not exactly tactically clever to start the sentence like that. Even if I didn't want to hear it, I have to think the whole time about what you were going to tell me and if you do tell me but it's not the right time, I'm what? Pissed off?"

Vegeta shifted uneasily in his chair. "You're right, that wasn't smart," he admitted contritely.

"Go on, tell me."

"Bulma's ... pregnant," he said quietly.

Kera's jaw dropped and she looked at him for a moment. Her expression was petrified. Vegeta felt himself break out in a sweat. It had been a stupid idea to tell her that. Simply stupid. He had only thought about his feelings, not hers.

Suddenly he was pulled off the bar stool and landed on his back. Kera was lying on top of him with her arms around his neck.

"This is so wonderful. I'm so happy. When is it going to happen? Have you thought about names yet? How is she?"

Questions and questions poured out of Kera and Vegeta suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. "Kera..." he managed to gasp out.

"Oh, sorry!" Kera immediately jumped up and helped Vegeta to his feet.

He rubbed his neck and took a deep breath. "We only found out yesterday. And she's still in her first critical weeks, so I wasn't sure if I should tell you yet."

"No ... I mean, I'm totally excited. You've been trying for so long. It's ... nice." She forced a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I'm flying home to Piccolo and the kids." She hugged Vegeta quickly and disappeared from the room so fast his hair blew back and forth in the breeze.

"Shit!" Vegeta cursed. He briefly considered running after Kera, but then decided against it. It wouldn't undo what he had said. He had let himself be carried away by the joy of the news that he was going to be a father once again and hadn't thought about what he would do to her.

He would visit her tomorrow and see how she was doing. She needed time to herself now.

He entered the laboratory where Bulma was sitting at her desk, staring intently at her computer monitor. He stood next to her carefully so as not to startle her.

"Has Kera flown home again?"

"Yes, she did. After she had breakfast."

He put his hand on the back of her neck and gently massaged away the tension.

"She's kind of tense, isn't she?"

Vegeta nodded. When he realised that she couldn't see what he was doing because she had her eyes closed, he said, "Yes. She wants to be accepted as a disciple of the Supreme Kai, but he's only given her time to think about it. And it's been over a month now."

Bulma tightened up. "Why does she want that?"

"She wants to do more than just fight. She wants to be able to heal so that we're better prepared for possible opponents. So that we are better armed."

"I didn't expect her to say that."

"Me neither. We'll see what the future has in store for us," Vegeta said, leaning over to his wife and pressing his lips to hers.

Dear reader,

This chapter is actually a week late. The stress of Christmas was too much. I'll be taking a longer break over Christmas. Are you excited to see what happens next? I'll be delighted if you stick with it.

Merry Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Your Jessica