*Two weeks have passed since Goku was cleared for training by Bulma! The warrior was going to begin his day by sparring once again. Instead, something stopped him in his tracks.*
Rays of sunshine burst through the sides of the curtains in Goku and Ellery's bedroom. Thankfully the Saiyan woman was shielded from the brightness. However, the blinding light awoke the warrior much too early. Groaning as he covered his eyes and turned in the bed, Goku hoped more than anything to get a few more minutes of sleep.
After his spar with Piccolo and Gohan, the Saiyan knew he had a lot of work to do in order to get back into proper fighting shape. Thankfully, his oldest son was more than willing to help! The half-Saiyan has truly improved a lot since the first Tournament of Power. Using him as a training tool will be paramount to his success.
As the warrior lay in the bed, he sensed three energies in the room. He immediately recognized his own and his partners. Tarro was sleeping in his bedroom, and could be sensed in a different direction. Looking to his right, Goku noted that his mate was sound asleep next to him. Between them however, was the smallest orb of energy, barely the size of a pea.
Immediately, Goku's blood turned to ice. Instead of wanting to celebrate, his thoughts took a turn for the worse. The words of a fellow comrade began to ring in the back of his head. Four Children born under the Sign of the Moon.
The prophecy….
If it were true, Goku's life was about to turn upside down. According to Jiren, the second child doesn't make it… They're never born.
The Saiyan's mind was reeling at the possibility of losing one of his own children. Dread began to settle in. The ultimate worry of the unknown began eating the warrior alive. Even if they weren't born yet, they should be given the chance!
I'm getting myself worked up over nothing! Goku did his best to reassure himself. Even if Ellery's pregnant again, what are the chances that this prophecy is actually about our family? There are billions, if not trillions of people in the Cosmos. There's no way that we're the ones being sought after.
Although he was doing a good job of convincing himself otherwise, there was a part of the Saiyan warrior that just knew it was more than likely true.
How was he supposed to prepare for this kind of loss? Would it be better to not become attached at all? Ellery would be devastated if Goku acted in such a way. He couldn't become cold and distant towards their unborn child. What was he, a monster? Tears began to sting Goku's eyes, causing him to blink rapidly. He got out of bed, pulling an extra blanket over Ellery's body.
He went downstairs, trying to think. However it was difficult with his stomach growling. A loud rumble rang through the home. Goku sighed and opened the fridge, pulling out the box of eggs. As he was about to crack them into a bowl, there was a knock at the door.
Who on Earth is that? I just woke up… The warrior grumbled as he walked over to the entrance of his home. Opening the door, he was shocked to find his son along with his ex-wife and her new partner.
"Good morning!" Chi-Chi's voice rang brightly. Her eyes widened as she noticed how disheveled the Saiyan looked. "Oh… We didn't mean to wake you."
"Goten?" Tarro walked up behind his father, seeing his favorite playmate.
"Hey little buddy!" Goten grinned as he ran inside the house, picking up the little Saiyan.
"It's okay… I probably wasn't going back to sleep anyway." Goku said with a sigh. "Come on in. I was just about to make breakfast."
Jean and Chi-Chi follow Goku into the home while Goten and Tarro head straight outside. Goku watched them go through the back door, causing him to laugh softly.
"What's with all the noise, Kakarot?" Ellery grumbled as she walked down the stairs, not noticing the company just yet. Once she was nearly in the kitchen, she finally noticed Chi-Chi and Jean sitting at the counter while her partner was cooking breakfast. Their son was nowhere to be seen, but from the sounds of it, Big Brother Goten took him outside to play.
"Sorry about that, Princess." Goku sighed. "Tarro got a little too excited."
The brunette glanced at the Saiyan woman, immediately noticing something was different about her. Perhaps it was her many years of motherhood, but she knew that Ellery was expecting. Did the couple know already? Chi-Chi wondered.
"I've just got a killer headache." Ellery rubbed her head as she smiled at her guests. "It's good to see you guys. Sorry, I'm a little under the weather this morning."
"Not a problem!" Chi-Chi grinned. "We came by unannounced. Goten wanted to see his little brother."
"You don't look so good." Jean commented, a worried look on her face. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I probably should've stayed in bed." Ellery chuckled weakly. "I just don't have the strength to move. The only thing that motivated me was the smell of Kakarot's food."
"We should take you to Bulma's. Make sure everything's okay." Goku mentioned. His voice was monotone, which was unusual.
Raising a brow, the Saiyan woman glanced at her partner. "I don't think it's that serious."
"I'd feel better if we went." Goku reiterated.
"We can stay until you guys come back." Chi-Chi mentioned with a smile. The Saiyan's tone surprised her. However, she tried not to think too far into it.
"Tarro and Goten are still playing in the backyard. We've got it covered!"
"Thanks Chi!" Ellery and Goku say simultaneously, grins on both of their faces. The spiky haired warrior places two fingers to his forehead and disappears with his partner.
Jean looked at her partner, who stood up and began taking over the pans on the stove. "She had a glow to her."
"I saw…" Chi-Chi mentioned, still unable to shake the saddened look on Goku's features.
Cold goo was applied to Ellery's stomach. If she was honest, it was her least favorite part of the whole appointment. She closed her eyes as she felt the want move around her abdomen. The mother was beginning to get anxious, as her best friend wasn't saying anything.
Minutes pass, and not a word is uttered by anyone. The tension begins to thicken as the Saiyan woman begins to wonder who will be the first to break it.
"Goku," Bulma looked up at the spiky haired warrior. "Will you-?"
"On it." Instantly the warrior was gone, disappearing from the room. Bulma's eyes widened, as she didn't even finish her sentence.
"How does he know what I need?" The Scientist mutters to herself, looking where Goku's body used to stand. Within moments Goku was back with Vegeta, who immediately went to Ellery's side.
Bulma glanced at her childhood friend, unsure of what just happened. Without vocalizing she needed her husband in the room, Goku left the room and made him appear? It was so out of character for him. Unless it was a battlefield scenario, Goku was usually next to clueless.
"Did you need something, Bulma?" Vegeta questioned.
"Uh… Well I actually just wanted you in here. This is important." The bluenette turned the computer monitor so that everyone could see it. While none of them knew what they were looking at, Bulma had a pen in hand.
"This here… Is our little one." Bulma has a small smile on her features as she circles the small lump. "Unfortunately, the baby isn't growing where we need them to."
"What on Earth would've caused this?" Vegeta's eyes widened.
At the time, the Saiyan woman didn't think anything of their intimate night mere days before a Full Moon. It was their first time alone in several months. She thought everything went as normal. Did the two of them do something wrong? "I-I don't know…"
Goku continued for his mate, hearing her voice break as she tried to speak. "The night you guys babysat for us was the last time anything happened. It was the night of a Full Moon…."
Vegeta smacked the back of Goku's head, so hard that he flew sideways into the wall. Thankfully the walls had been reinforced years ago. The spiky haired warrior hit the concrete slab with a loud thud, falling to the ground afterwards.
"Ouch!" Goku rubbed the back of his head, groaning as he felt the goose egg already beginning to form. "What the hell was that for, Vegeta?"
"I just feel like this is your fault somehow." The Prince was fuming, and unable to calm down. He continued to clench and unclench his fists, wanting to punch the idiot some more.
"Vegeta… it's not only his burden to bear.." Ellery's voice was small. The Saiyan woman was unable to look at her brother. "I wanted the night together just as much as Kakarot. To be honest, at the moment I wasn't thinking about what day of the cycle it was. I was only worried about having time with my partner."
"Tch.." The Prince scoffed as he sighed. "I apologize for my outburst. However, I am only concerned for your safety, nothing else."
Bulma decided to interject. "Guys let's calm down…" She mentioned softly, placing her hand on Ellery's arm. "There's nothing we can do to stop what's happened. Beating each other up in my lab and destroying perfectly good equipment is not going to help. All we can do is help Ellery and make sure that she has what she needs. If the night we babysat was truly the last night you two…. Ya know." Bulma chuckled.
"There shouldn't have been any reason to worry. It was a Full Moon that night. This is something that even happens to humans during pregnancy. We just have to make sure that you're extra careful."
"What are the odds?" The Saiyan woman questioned, her body still experiencing a numb feeling. She felt as if she was on the outside, completely zoned out of the actual conversation.
The room became deafeningly silent. No one wanted to answer Ellery. The machines became almost unbearably loud in the quiet room.
"Please, someone say something." The Saiyan mother begged.
"Less than five percent." Bulma uttered after a few more moments. "That's the chance to carry the child to full term." The Scientist turned the monitor so that Ellery could see better. She began to explain exactly what she was seeing and why she was so worried. "Normally, when females get pregnant, the embryo will find a home inside of the uterus." The bluenette gestured to on the screen what she was referring to. "In your case, and the case for many other women, the embryo has decided to attach itself on the outside."
"This can be dangerous for many reasons. The main one being there's nothing to protect them."
"Most women don't make it out of the first trimester." Vegeta mentioned softly, his voice cracking as he continued. "Neither one has a good chance of surviving." .
"Bulma, what about a healing tank?" Goku stood from the floor, trying to be the optimistic one in the room.
"We used one during Tarro's birth…" The scientist contemplated. "I'm sure it would work, if it came to that." Bulma smiled, trying to be hopeful for her friends. "However, we've never researched the long term effects of being in the chamber. I'd be nervous to introduce the little one to that kind of environment while they're still growing."
"Women of warrior groups would often incubate their young in healing tanks such as the one we have." Vegeta mentioned. "However, I'm not sure what the specifics were. They could've been two completely different machines that looked identical for all I knew."
The bluenette continued after her husband's outburst. "In the future, if something happens, and you're unable to get here in time, there is a chance we'll lose the baby."
Ellery nodded, attempting to remain calm in the face of all of this news.
"I know this will be hard, but I'm going to ask you to refrain from doing any strenuous activity. I don't want to put you on the bedrest.. But if I have to, I will. Any kind of lifting is off limits, even your little boy."
The scientist continued her speech. "Unlike with Tarro, I want you to come in for an ultrasound every week. I want to monitor the progress much more closely with this little one.."
Bulma continued to speak. However, the words began to mumble together as the Saiyan warrior lost focus. Goku was quickly lost in his own thoughts, only standing there and nodding to his childhood friend.
Suddenly, the spiky haired warrior was being whisked away by the Prince. Vegeta shut the door behind him quickly, taking the Saiyan outside and out of earshot from anyone important. As soon as he opened the glass door to their lawn, the widow peaked Saiyan threw Goku onto the grass. Vegeta was a little surprised that his comrade just allowed him to toss him around like a ragdoll.
Goku didn't move from his position on the grass. Instead he just laid on his back, staring into the bright blue sky. "This is all my fault…"
"What in the hell are you talking about, Kakarot?" Vegeta crossed his arms. Seeing how distraught his fellow Saiyan was, caused his anger to fizzle up. "You'd better start explaining. Now."
The spiky haired warrior took a deep breath, his fingers running through his hair. "Before the second Tournament of Power, I was granted the opportunity to spar with Jiren in front of the Omni Kings." Goku began.
"While I was there with my little family, Jiren told me about a warrior from Universe Twelve. He was seeking a prophecy child. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. While the prophecy mentioned strong beings, I never imagined having three more children on top of the three I already have."
"Is there a point to this?"
"Anyway." Goku rolled his eyes. "I pushed it out of my mind, until I met Sinthe at the Tournament of Power, who asked me about the Prophecy himself."
"That monster was the one looking for these children?"
"According to the prophecy no one holds a candle to their strength. From the sounds of it, he wants the child to raise as his own with his partner. Jiren mentioned them not being able to have one of their own, which made them seek out this ridiculous legend."
"What does Ellery's pregnancy have to do with this?"
The spiky haired warrior was silent for several moments, unable to look at his comrade. "It hints at the child not making it to term."
"Do you remember exactly what he said?"
"How could I forget…" Goku mumbled before he looked at the Prince. "I only remember what I was told about the children, four in total."
"The first has immeasurable strength that would rival even the Gods. The second has the ability to lift anyone's spirits to the heavens, or to leave them with unimaginable grief. The twins are the deadliest… Something about them being born under unlikely circumstances. It's said they share a brain, allowing them to hear each other's thoughts, as well as those around them.``
Vegeta's eyebrows raised in surprise. Amazingly enough, he'd heard the prophecy as well. It was something his father would babble about when he was alive. He was always on the lookout for Saiyan families of more than three children.
"The Tetrad…" The Prince mumbled under his breath. "Could it be?"