Val sat next to Bulma in her flying transport, leaning back with Trunks sitting in her lap. She liked holding him, the contentable weight of the infant in her arms. Thoughts of this one day came to her fleetingly. She shook her head, focusing on being ready for today. She stared ahead as Bulma flew so slowly toward the Southern Capital. She sighed, tapping her foot in annoyance. She looked at the time on the dashboard. At this rate, they would still be a little early, but not early enough nor safe enough for her to give Bulma the slip. Time she could have used to scout out the area before anyone else showed up. Time wasted-
"Hey, I said are you okay?" Bulma asked, breaking her concentration.
Val blinked and looked over at her. "Yeah."
"Nervous?" she asked. Val clicked her teeth and nodded. "Had some fun last night, just in case?" Val felt herself blush. "Must have been, even if you're still mad about the whole guardian ploy fiasco."
Val sighed and leaned her head against the window, thinking about last night. "I'll figure it out after we survive," she answered. "Hey," she said looking down at the ground below. She peered and sensed at the person she saw. "Yamcha's down below." She pointed down at the ground. Then she looked out the other side of the transport, sensing around. "Tien's not far either," she reported.
Bulma nodded and landed near Yamcha. She had a wicked grin flash across her face. "Hey, can you take Trunks for me?" she asked, sounding a bit amused. "He is your favorite Saiyan after all."
Val shrugged, saying, "sure, but I don't think I have a favorite Saiyan..." She liked that she did not have to give him back quite yet though, holding him closer.
She looked more amused as she jumped out of the transport. "What's not to like?" she said, nodding at him.
Val followed after her with Trunks still in her arms. Yamcha flew over to them, greeting them both in turn. "Hey, Bulma, Val, and... um..." he kind of just stared at Trunks dozing in her arms.
Tien landed not long after them. He said nothing at first, just staring at Trunks in Val's arms without blinking. "Hey, you made it," Bulma said. "It's been a while, huh?" she added, sounding too amused in the situation.
Tien nodded, breaking out of his thoughts. "Yeah, it has been... "Who... never mind," he hummed disgruntledly.
Bulma crossed her arms over her chest, looking triumphant between the two of them. "Where's Chiaotzu?" Val asked.
"He needed to stay back. He's not strong enough," he explained.
"What about Aiko?" Yamcha added.
Tien shot him a look, but then shook his head, clicking his teeth. "She tried to fly after me this morning. She didn't make it very far," he explained.
"She can fly now?" Val asked, genuinely curious. "She was so weak before," she recalled. She heard Yamcha laugh at that, but was not sure why it was funny.
She had been looking at Tien, but when Trunks shifted in her arms, she looked back down at him. She adjusted him on her hip, brushing away a stray hair from his face. She wondered when she could pass him back to Bulma. She could see Tien staring at her with him out of the corner of her eye. She also saw him looking at Yamcha, who shook his head and shrugged.
"She insisted I tell her about the future. Then when she found out about the androids, she insisted on training with Chiaotzu and I," he explained. "She still is pretty weak in comparison."
"But still pretty stubborn," Yamcha commented.
"You've gotten stronger," Tien commented, nodding over a Val. "Still just training part time?"
She nodded. "Been busy still," she explained. "So have you," she complimented friendlily.
She heard Bulma start to laugh, but cover it up with a cough. "You okay?" Yamcha asked.
"Yes, completely fine," Bulma answered.
Trunks shifted again in her arms, loosing a small whimper. Bulma stepped a little closer and shushed him. Val wondered why she had not taken her son back from her yet. She moved to pass him back to her, but she stepped away.
She glanced up and over at the sky, sensing the Piccolo, Gohan, Goku, and Krillin fast approaching as well. She suppressed a smile at sensing that. She reminded herself to keep her emotions in check. Piccolo did shoot her a plain look and then a quick scowl over at Bulma.
"It is Goku and the others," Yamcha pointed out, waving towards them as they landed by them.
"Hi!" Bulma cheered, stepping closer to Val. "Gohan, you've grown!"
"Bulma?" Gohan said back. "Val?" he added, looking Trunks in her arms as well.
Yamcha spoke next, "We've been waiting for you for a while now. You're late."
Val hummed at that, thinking everyone else, including her had been a little early.
"You idiot. What are you doing here?" Goku asked Bulma.
Bulma shrugged. "To see the androids of course!" she said, hardly bothered. "Don't worry, once I get a good look at them, I'll leave."
Krillin was looking at Val as well, a shocked looked on his face as well. "Never mind that. I'm very surprised that Val's holding a baby!"
Goku blurted out, "but that's Bulma's baby."
Bulma pouted at him and then at Val unexpectedly. She held out her arms for Val to pass Trunks to her. He whimpered for a bit, but went. She found she missed the weight of him. "Did you tell him?" Bulma cut a quick whisper at her.
Val blinked, shaking her head. "Oh," Gohan said. "Then did you and Yamcha get married?"
Yamcha looked from Val, to Trunks, to Bulma. He crossed his arms over his chest. "That's not my child. We've split up. If you know who's child that is, why don't you let us all know."
Goku stepped up and over to Trunks, bending down to poke him in the upper arm gently. "Trunks, you're Vegeta's son, aren't you?"
"How did you know? We didn't tell anyone," Bulma asked. She turned and looked at Val. "Did you tell him when you were training with him?"
Val shook her head, noticing Tien was listening in, a puzzled look on his face. "No, Vegeta said not to tell anyone," she answered honestly.
Bulma huffed and shrugged. "We wanted to keep it a surprise," she explained
"No, Val didn't tell me anything. I didn't know. I just had that feeling. He looks a lot like Vegeta, doesn't he?" Goku flustered out.
"You even got the name right," Val commented, looking over at him.
"Really?!" he blurted out. "I must be psychic!" he added, trying to laugh it off.
"That's Vegeta's kid?" Tien asked. Val looked over at him, incidentally locking eyes with him. "Bulma and Vegeta's kid?" he asked. She nodded and confirmed. He relaxed his clenched shoulders and nodded back.
"We're not here to chat," Piccolo cut into the conversation. "Where's Vegeta? Why hasn't he shown up yet?"
Bulma gave him a quick look, but said, "I don't know. Right now, we're not living together. But I know he'll come. He's trained very hard for this day."
Val nodded in sentiment. "Yes, he'll definitely come," she insisted. She brought her hand up to her hydrangea necklace, gripping the charm before tucking it into her shirt. She looked over at Trunks, finding a sense of longing flare up within her. She took a deep breath, pushing the feeling down. She did throw a covert glance over at Piccolo, halting her mind from racing.
"I didn't let Chiaotzu come," Tien shared with the others. "To be honest, he isn't strong enough."
Goku agreed, "oh, it's better to leave him behind then."
"What time is it now?" Gohan asked.
Bulma looked at her watch. "9:30. They'll show up in a half an hour," she answered.
Val tapped her sides, wishing she had her phone to check the time herself. She kept it at home in her room for safe keeping though.
Goku looked over at Bulma, requesting, "leave now, so the child doesn't get hurt."
Bulma scoffed nonchalantly, "I told you. I'll leave once I see the androids."
Goku frowned, but then studied what he could see of Trunks. "Where's the child's tail? Did you remove it?"
Bulma laughed. "Of course," she replied.
"What a blow to my pride," Val heard someone mumble.
She glanced back to see it was Yamcha, puzzled by that. Bulma had explained to her what happened between them, with him cheating and insisting they had not been together when things happened between her and Vegeta.
The minutes that followed eked by so slowly. She hummed, looking back over quickly at Piccolo and then beyond that at the city down below. She remembered being down there months and months ago, fighting the heart virus's first outbreak alongside Junko and Daiki. She looked over at Goku, wondering if he had gotten the virus when she was off training with Krillin. He certainly seemed to have survived it and then some if he did.
"Someone is coming this way," Piccolo announced. "Someone not evil."
Val shook her head, looking up at the air, seeing another transport ship.
"Eh? Is it Vegeta?" Gohan asked.
Krillin disagreed, "Vegeta is most definitely evil."
"Hey, it's Yajirobe," Goku cheered.
Val watched the shorter man step out of his transport. "Thank goodness I made it," he huffed out.
She saw him look around at her and the others. He gave her a equally nervous look between her and Tien. Val hummed, recalling the last time she had seen him was when she and Tien got in a fight in front of him and Korin when she had been scratched by the onikuma. She felt embarrassed by the memory.
"Yajirobe, are you here to fight, too?" he asked.
"Uh, no," Yajirobe answered. He stepped over and handed Goku a small bag. "Senzu beans from Korin."
"Wow! That's great! That's Korin for you all right," Goku cheered. Val thought he sounded a bit winded in his excitement.
Yajirobe nodded, saying, "bye! Good luck!"
"Eh? You're not joining the battle?" Goku asked in surprised.
"I'm not as stupid as you are. I don't want to die. I'm not going to play along," he said before taking off.
Val watched him go, feeling an uneasy chill go over her neck as he flew off. She tried to brush the back of her neck, but the feeling lingered. She curled her toes in her boots, not blinking as she watched the transport fly farther and farther away from the city.
"That's strange," Tien said nearby. "It's passed 10:00, and I still can't feel the enemy's ki."
"That's right," Gohan commented.
Yamcha loosed a fake laugh, saying, "maybe that guy was playing a practical joke. There are no such things as androids."
Bulma shook her head, saying, "but he said 'around ten,' and it's only 10:17. You don't know whether or he's right." She shot Val a concerned look. Val slightly shook her head. Her hands felt warm in the wrong way.
Yamcha shrugged. "But we haven't felt any strong ki yet. If there was an enemy, we would know."
Val gasped, seeing a sudden explosion where the transport had just been. She heard the others shouting around her. She saw two small beings fly away from the explosion towards the city and a third shouting and falling from the sky.
"Val, wait!" she heard Tien shout behind her.
It was in that moment she realized she had flown off towards the explosion and Yajirobe without thinking. She caught his flailing form, bringing him down to the ground next to a nearby pond. He clung to her, shaking, mumbling something that sounded like a thank you. She tried to extricate herself from his panic grip now that he was safely on the ground. She looked behind her, seeing Gohan land nearby.
"I got him," Gohan told her, taking Yajirobe from her. "You've been to the city before. My dad will want you there," he explained.
She nodded, patting both of them friendlily on the shoulder before taking off towards the city to catch up to the others. She felt the memory of the daughter from one of her fever dreams flash across her mind. "I will survive today," she reminded her nervous self.