Archive of Our Own

The time someone overstepped their bounds.

Tien refused to accept Vegeta’s presence among his friends as normal. If Goku welcomed Vegeta with open arms, he didn’t have much choice but to oblige or disappear. He recognized the hypocrisy. Tien himself did not start out as an ally. But it was hard for him to look at the warrior and forget the smirk on his face when Tien’s arm was severed from his body.

During the nightmare that was Cell, the knowledge that the powerful boy who had come from the future was the child of Bulma and Vegeta hardly registered has something worth pondering. It wasn’t until he began the preparation for the Cell games that Tien really began to process the information. There was a moment when he watched Bulma fuss over Vegeta’s armor (of all things) when he let it enter the forefront of his thoughts.

Bulma had always struck him has a person with more genius than common sense, but he honestly could not understand what had led her to be so reckless. Vegeta seemed to show her no more care or affection than he did to the rest of them even though she was the mother to his son. Tien may live isolated on a mountain but he knew enough of the world to understand that to conceive a child with someone there were moments of complete vulnerability involved (he doubted Vegeta would be alive if the act had not been consensual). Would she still trust him like that if she had been there that day? He reminded himself that it was none of his concern and refocused his attention to ask Bulma a question about the dragon ball radar.

A few days before the Cell games he met with the others at Capsule Cooperation to touch base on the their plans. Bulma greeted him at the door with a screaming baby in her arms and a look of complete exhaustion. Tien remembered that this whole thing must have been maddening for her. To have all the added pressure on top of a small child that needed care at all hours would have sent him over the edge. “I don’t understand why you need to meet here.” Her voice was slightly raised over Trunks’ distressed cries. He responded with an equally raised voice.

“I don’t either. Yamcha just said to be here this morning and I assumed you had something for us.” She rolled her eyes and ushered him in.

“Yamcha is my friend and he is always welcome in my home. But he needs to remember that we are just friends and stuff like this needs to be run by me before he calls everyone.” Tien decided not to comment and sat down on the couch. Suddenly a baby was being thrust into his arms. Tien was so startled he accepted the boy so that he wouldn’t fall to the floor. Before he could protest Bulma was walking out of the room with a shouted, “Just for a second. It’s impossible to get his bottle ready with him screaming in my face like this. Yamcha called, he should be here soon.” Unsure of what to do with a baby, Tien sat him in his lap. After a moment Trunks stopped screaming to stare at him with a scowl. Tien stared back. Trunks’ eyes were red and swollen from tears.

“Aren’t you an odd one.” The boy made no indication that he understood the comment and began to struggle to climb down. Tien had no idea if allowing him onto the floor would be a good idea or not, so he kept him in his arms.

“Let him down.” Angry that Vegeta had snuck up on him, Tien did not acknowledge him. After a few moments of Trunks’ struggling giving way to frustrated grunts Vegeta spoke again. His tone was bored. “He cries like that because the Woman babies him as though he were fully human. He’s not. He is half-saiyan and he needs to be allowed to test himself. Put him down before he tries to break your fingers.” His tone changed to amused. “Though I admit that would be entertaining to watch.”

Almost as though he took that has a command, Trunks made a motion to grab Tien’s fingers and Tien placed him on the carpet. Trunks immediately crawled to Vegeta and sat in front of him. Vegeta narrowed his eyes at his son and made no motion to move from the wall he was leaning on. “Move around before your mother comes back. You’re driving me mad with that screaming.” Tien was surprised to see Trunks immediately crawl to the table and try to pull himself up onto the ledge. The boy fell backward has soon as he was off the ground. Tien flinched but didn’t move toward him. Trunks’ eyes began to well up with tears. “Try again.” Tien turned to give Vegeta a look filled with distaste, but Vegeta ignored him.  Suddenly reminded of the same bored look he had on his face when Choutzu exploded on Nappa’s back, Tien felt his anger overcome his sense.

“I suppose if you have brought death and pain to as many people as you have, your own child’s pain would seen irrelevant.” It was petty, he knew. But it wasn’t Vegeta who spoke next.

“He’s not wrong. If Trunks doesn’t learn early to recover from a little hurt, then he may never be able to reach his full potential.” Bulma squatted down and put the bottle on the table. Trunks overcame his tears and started reaching for it, pulling himself up again. “I need to let him stretch himself out more. He’s already almost has strong has me. I won’t even be able to carry him for much longer.” She threw Tien a smile that looked almost sad. “He needs a little extra motivation. He is his father’s son, after all.” The last statement was almost a dare for him to associate Vegeta’s past with her son. Tien knew when to back down.

Thankfully, Yamcha walked through the door and they began their discussion of the dark event to take place in a few days. Tien never called out Vegeta in front of Bulma or Trunks again.

The time someone asked too many questions.

The weeks after the Cell games were a haze of calm joy and grief. Joy that they had averted the apocalypse they had spent three years expecting, and grief that the cheerful hero that held them together was just… gone. Krillin felt both of these emotions so strongly that he didn’t know how to react or what to do. He didn’t feel right leaving everyone right away. He spent the next month spending his nights with either the Son household, at Yamcha’s apartment, or at Capsule Cooperation.

Gohan seemed determine to be okay even though he clearly wasn’t. Chi-Chi was keeping herself busy with this or that between throwing up every hour. (He suspected the cause has her ki began to change, but Krillin thought it best to let her discover that in her own time.) Yamcha spent most of his time sleeping and pondering what he was going to do now. Bulma’s attention was focused almost solely on her son and her work. Vegeta moped around the house brooding on what to do now that his life’s ambition had been taken from him. Krillin just seemed to be drifting, but no one seemed to mind. Krillin realized that none of them had given any thought to the after. The crisis was past and now everyone was almost stuck on the fact that there was an after to consider.

Krillin thought that Bulma was having the easiest time with the adjustment since she had a baby who now had a brighter future than ever. This is why it took him by surprise when she took out a carton of cigarettes and started smoking in her kitchen while watching Trunks wobble around the kitchen. “Aren’t those… you know… bad for kids?” She threw him an annoyed look.

“If he can grow up in a desolated wasteland and still become a super saiyan, I doubt second hand smoke can do much damage.”

“Still… I didn’t know you smoked. How long has that been going on?” Bulma took another drag has Vegeta walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge.

“Since the funeral. I don’t have any real vices-” Vegeta scoffed at that and placed a bag of cold cuts on the counter. “-so I get to have this one.” She opened the counter below her and handed Vegeta a loaf of bread. “The boy I found in the middle of the woods and watched grow into the greatest hero this world may ever know chose to die and then chose to stay dead. My best friend is gone.” Bulma’s face contorted and her voice cracked a bit. “So I smoke.”

“I agree with him.” Krillin felt himself flush and shrink back at being indicated by Vegeta to be right about something. “Not because I believe your filthy habit could harm any saiyan child, but because it smells revolting.” Bulma looked amused.

“The smell of blood and charred flesh has no effect on you but a mixture of tar and nicotine drives you mad?” She took another drag. “Now I know I can never stop.”

Krillin felt the need to interject. “It’s bad for you though, isn’t it?” Bulma arched her eyebrows at him and leaned on the counter. Krillin saw the circles under her eyes. He wondered it she was having dreams of Goku being blown into pieces like he was.

“Giving birth to a half-saiyan was the single most painful and traumatizing thing my body has ever gone through.” She touched her lower abdomen. “He damn near tore through me. I think I’ll be okay if I expose myself to a few carcinogens.” Vegeta sat down with his sandwich and spoke through a mouthful of food.

“Your body is made to birth children. You were the one who chose to carry the brat to full term, which was idiotic. You were warned that it might have been best to cut him out when he was almost completely grown, but before he nearly killed you.” He took another bite. “Besides, that has nothing to do with making the rest of use breath in air that smells like ash and dead plant.” She frowned at that. She looked contemplative for a moment. Krillin realized they may had a similar discussion before.

“Fine.” She put out her cigarette in an ashtray. “No more smoking in the house. Outside and my lab are fair game.” Vegeta wasn’t ready to let the issue drop.

“Even the most idiotic of saiyans didn’t slowly fill their body with something they knew could kill them when there was no benefit.” He made another sandwich and started eating.

“I thought this was about you hating the smell.”

“If you were to drop dead, the brat would become my responsibility alone.” Another sandwich was being made for consumption. Even though the conversation had become tense, Krillin didn’t feel either Bulma or Vegeta’s ki change with anger. He wondered if this back and forth bickering was just how they communicated best. “Do you really want me to be the only influence in his life?” It was Bulma’s turn to scoff.

“Has if any of my friends-” She gesture in Krillin’s direction and he paled a bit at being singled out. “-would let you turn my son into a psycho like you.”

Vegeta put his plate in the sink and walked out of the room. “Do what you want, foolish woman. Just remember that your life affects more than just you.” To Krillin, it almost sounded like he was telling Bulma that she mattered to him. If he did not have heightened senses that he had honed for decades, he would have missed the comment whispered from the hallway. “There has been more than enough death.”

The time someone picked the wrong time to clear the air.

Piccolo very rarely let his emotions dictate his actions. Throwing himself in front of blasts to save people was not something he planned to make a habit of doing (though it seemed to be happening on a regular basis these days). Hate, fear, and love were all things he had learned to keep in their place. Especially when confronted with the unknown.

The unknown faced them all when a powerful presence was passing by earth. Since it had been two years since the fight with Cell, everyone was tense. It was a power not comparable to Cell but perhaps powerful enough to constitute action. It wasn’t long before Gohan joined him on the look-out, asking Piccolo if he knew who it was. When he explained that it was not someone he recognized even after searching Kami’s memories, Gohan’s ki became grey with repressed anxiety. Has the other’s came one-by-one they became engrossed in a conversation about what-if’s. Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien were debating on investigating or not.

Piccolo could not help his irritation when he felt the presence of a three-year old Trunks and his mother on a plane approaching with Vegeta. He repressed a groan. Why does she insist on bringing herself and her child in the middle of situations that she knows might not be safe? Trunks ran off the plane and immediately started asking Gohan if he had brought Goten with him. Vegeta walked off the plane wearing armor. Saiyans couldn’t resist the prospect of a decent fight. Bulma brought out an open laptop and sat it on the ground. She sdjusted the screen for everyone to see she pointed to the moving picture of a ship in the middle of space.

“Before anyone decides to throw themselves into a confrontation there is probably no need for-” She threw a pointed look at Vegeta. “I should point out that this power level that has everyone so nervous is coming from this ship-” Vegeta cut her off.

“Which only tells us that there are probably others and if they decide to attack Earth, we are facing a conflict on a global scale-” Bulma raised her voice above his.

“This is not a ship designed to transport an army. There are no weapons, a lower grade propulsion system, and enough life support to indicate it was intended to sustain a population for decades.” She stood up. “We saw a similar situation on our way to Namek. I think they actually may need help. The ship is old enough-” Yamcha spoke over her with a panicked voice.

“Wait. You aren’t seriously suggesting-”

“That we offer help to people who have probably been drifting without a home since before Freeza’s death? Yes.” She started at him defiantly. Yamcha narrowed his eyes. Piccolo felt Yamcha's ki flare with anger and fear. While he honestly didn’t care about the inner squabbles of humans, he didn’t want a heated conversation to dictate actions that could hurt all of them.

“These are all facts to consider. We should keep in mind that people, however well-meaning, can become desperate enough to take away what others have.” Piccolo looked at Gohan who remained silent has Trunks pulled on his arm.

Tien nodded. “It might be best to let the situation play out for now.” Krillin agreed. Bulma pursed her lips and pointed to the screen.

“That ship is falling apart. From what I’m hearing, there is one person on that whole ship that probably has the power to protect them. You are all making assumptions because of one lifeform. With the dragon balls we could offer them a new start.”

“I’m all for love thy neighbor, but Bulma, do you realize how hard we have fought to protect one planet’s population? Inviting the problems of another could have consequences for all of us.” Now Bulma’s ki flared with anger.

“I don’t need you to remind me about what we’ve lost. Goku died to protect us. I watched you die here to protect us. My son died here to protect us.” Gohan took that has his cue to take Trunks inside for a snack with Mr. Popo. Piccolo could tell that things were getting out of hand and this argument was becoming senseless.

“No one has forgotten the sacrifices others have made, Bulma. But you are letting your compassion get the better of you.” Piccolo felt something darker creep into her ki. Her aura was insignificant compared to many of the other’s present, but it was hard to miss the negative emotions filling her being. Piccolo realized too late that those same words were said to Goku long ago.

“Have all of you forgotten who Goku was? Never. Not once would we have considered turning our backs on those who might need us if he were still here. All I’m suggesting is that someone ask them.” Krillin flushed, but Tien stared her down.

“You aren’t the one who will have to fight if this goes down badly. Have you forgotten who defeated Cell? Would you have that burden placed on Gohan again?” Piccolo felt a familiar pang of guilt.

Bulma opened her mouth and closed it. Vegeta suddenly entered into the conversation again. “If the boy needs to fight, he needs to fight. That’s all there is to it. I for one cannot understand why you are all pissing yourselves with worry. This warrior’s power level presents a challenge I have not had in years.” He smirked and crossed his arms.

“Pardon me for not wanting to risk my life, all our lives, for the sake of curing your boredom.” Vegeta’s smirk deepened at Yamcha’a boldness.

“It’s not a risk if you know that you can win.” Piccolo knew that Yamcha was about to hit a sensitive topic with his next comment. He tried to get him to calm down.

“Yamcha-”

“Like when you let Cell absorb Eighteen?”

And there it was. The silence that fell was thick with tension. Bulma ran her hands through her hair and walked toward Yamcha, fists balled at her sides. Yamcha’s ki was getting darker by the second.

“Stop. Think Yamcha. Everyone who has power is not evil-”

“Don’t you dare talk about it has though you know something about those battles! If you want to spread your legs for every power hungry maniac who comes your way that’s your business, but-”

Piccolo didn’t have time to react. Yamcha was suddenly gone and the other side of the lookout was a pile of rubble. He felt for Yamcha’s ki and was relieved to feel that he was alive. Unconscious and in pain, but not dead or dying.

Tien flew to the other side of the lookout and lifted him from the stones. Krillin ran inside yelling for Dende to get outside quickly. Piccolo kept his eyes on Vegeta. Vegeta was standing where Yamcha had been. His face was blank. Bulma was frozen in place, both of her hands covered her mouth and he could smell blood has she bit down the inside of her check. Her voice was a strained whisper when she turned to the father of her son. “Vegeta. You can’t… Just because…”

Vegeta spoke through gritted teeth. Piccolo didn’t know if he was responding to Bulma or making a statement in general. “Next time his head will be removed from his shoulders.” He flew away.

Bulma ran to help Tien bring Yamcha to Dende. Has was often the case with Bulma, her emotions had caused her ki to instantly shift from black to blue with concern and guilt.

Piccolo watched Dende begin to heal Yamcha and he thanked whatever deity it applied to that he had learned not to let emotions control him.

The time someone was invited in.

Gohan hadn’t been this tired in a long time. The only times he remembered having to deal with sickness were when his father had suffered from the heart disease that almost claimed his life, and when he had worked himself into a fever while in the hyperbolic time chamber. Taking care of a sick adult was hard work, he had learned. He had no idea the agonizing process involved in taking care of a sick child. That was until this last week.

Goten was two and didn’t have a strong vocabulary even for that age. Gohan usually didn’t mind since he could sense his brother’s feelings well enough when he needed something, but it concerned his mother. It became abundantly clear that this was indeed a cause for alarm when Goten got sick and couldn’t communicate to his mother what exactly was wrong. Gohan had to stay close by to tell his mother when Goten had another wave of nausea or light-headedness. The fact that this was the first time a half-saiyan had managed to sick with a human virus was scary enough. Bulma came over to get a blood sample and called to let them know that it was just a particularly strong strain of the flu. Chi-Chi’s immediate follow up was to ask if Gohan could stay with them until Goten had recovered.

Gohan at first refused to leave when his mother clearly needed his help. A look from Chi-Chi silenced him. “I won’t have you get sick as well. Relax. Your Grandpa is coming over to help out. If it really is just the flu you should only need to stay over there for a few weeks.” So Gohan packed a bag and was given a guest room at Capsule Cooperation.

It took a few days for Gohan to adjust to the mere size of the place. His own home felt smaller than ever when he realized just how long it took him to figure out where the kitchen was even located. That was also how long it took for him to run into Vegeta. Mrs. Briefs was serving everyone pancakes, and she almost squealed when she saw Gohan. “Look at what a handsome young man you are! Come and have a seat next to Vegeta.” Vegeta made no acknowledgment of him has he ate his food. Bulma flashed him a smile while placing food in front of Trunks.

“Thank you.” He sat and poured himself a glass of orange juice. Once Mrs. Brief’s was done serving breakfast, she mentioned that she had errands to run and needed to go. She gave Trunks a kiss on the forehead on her way out. Gohan felt Bulma’s ki change to slightly nervous. He frowned. Vegeta managed to get out words in between bites.

“Stop fretting and just ask him already, woman.” Gohan looked at Bulma. Was this something serious? She finished cutting up some fruit and placing it in front of her four-year old who looked at it like it was some kind of poison. She turned to Gohan, biting her lip.

“So. Vegeta and I are geting married tomorrow.” For a few seconds, the Earth could have been blown into pieces and Gohan wouldn’t have noticed. “Take a few seconds to process that.” So he did. He hadn’t even realized that Vegeta and Bulma were still together. Conceiving a child didn’t take love or commitment, both of which were things that were kind of encouraged when you got married. Vegeta’s laughter was what broke him of out of his thoughts. Bulma gave him a stern look.

“If you could sense energy, you would be laughing as well. He was not this shocked when Freeza returned from the dead.” That shook Gohan from his stupor.

“Congratulations!” He ate from his plate and tried not look at anyone. Trunks had begun to reach for the sausage, which Vegeta pushed closer to him. Gohan was embarrassed that he had reacted like that. Bulma continued.

“We’re keeping it private. Just a trip to the courthouse to sign some paperwork, no muss no fuss. We actually decided to do this a few months ago, but it’s taken this long to get some false information for Vegeta.” The man in question snorted and continued to pile pancakes onto Trunks’ untouched fruit. Gohan looked up from his plate.

“I’m not complaining or anything, but why are you telling me if your keeping it secret?” Bulma smiled.

“This is the part where I ask you for a favor. At least give him a fork so he doesn’t choke, Vegeta.” She slid her own fork to Trunks. “We need a witness. I looked it up, and fourteen is just old enough.” Bulma looked at Gohan expectantly.

“Why me?” When her face fell slightly he backpedaled. “I would love to do it. Absolutely! I’m just… why me?” Vegeta was the one who responded. His tone was even and his eyes were on his son who seemed to be in danger of eating through the table if he didn’t slow down.

“Because this is a human ceremony that is asinine and has no meaning for me. Our people pronounced such things in private amongst their most trusted allies and teammates. You and I are the last of our race besides my son and your brother. Not to mention that you are currently the strongest fighter, besides myself, in this universe. If I must make public my intentions, you are the only one I would have witness.” Gohan could almost swear that under all that, Vegeta said that he respected him.

A loaded silence followed. The only sounds where Trunks’ food filling his mouth at maximum capacity. “So… you’ll do it?” Gohan nodded enthusiastically. Bulma clapped her hands together. “Great! I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to take you to get a suit this afternoon. Trunks too. Tomorrow we’ll need to leave relatively early to keep our appointment, so get to bed at a decent time. I’ll go make sure my favorite tailor is available.” And off she went. Gohan looked at Vegeta and considered it as good a time as any to push his luck.

“If the ceremony is meaningless to you, why are you doing it?” Vegeta met his eyes for a moment and just stared. Gohan broke the eye contact and considered taking his food elsewhere.

“Because she still fears that she will wake up one day and I will have left with no intention of coming back. This gesture alleviates that fear somewhat.” At that, Vegeta got up and left the room. Trunks followed close behind. It wasn’t until after he was gone that Gohan realized that Vegeta did not actually say that he wouldn’t leave one day.

Getting for a suit was a relatively painless experience. A lot of sitting still. Gohan pointed out that he already had a suit and they could just get it refitted, but Bulma shook her head and turned away.

He didn’t realize until later that she didn’t want him wearing the same suit to her wedding that he wore to his father’s funeral.

Getting Trunks fitted for a suit was a bit more of a chore. Sitting still was not a skill learned by human four-year olds. Let alone half-saiyan ones. A task that should have taken a few minutes ended up taking almost an hour since Trunks kept ripping the pins out after they had been set.

Something occurred to Gohan has they were leaving. “Does Vegeta have a suit?” Bulma nodded.

“He got one last year for a Capsule Cooperation event.” Gohan smiled to himself at the idea of Vegeta sitting through a fancy event with people who knew nothing about fighting.

“I didn’t know he went to those.” Bulma sighed.

“He just went to the one. It’s not an experience I care to repeat.” Gohan bit his tongue to keep from asking what had happened since Bulma clearly wanted the subject to drop. He would have to ask Mr. Briefs about that one later.

The next morning came and Gohan was awoken before dawn by Vegeta banging on his door. He got up and lethargically put on the suit he had received last night. He brushed his teeth and made his way down stairs. Vegeta was waiting in the front room with his arms crossed. Gohan had to admit that Vegeta looked pretty good in a suit and tie. Bulma had a Trunks that was more awake than Gohan was sitting on the couch while she fussed with his hair. Trunks was fighting tooth and nail not to have gel in his hair. Gohan thought about mentioned to Bulma that it was because to the saiyan senses, gel smelled like urine and acid, but decided against it.

Vegeta got fed up and growled at his son to behave and allow his mother to smother him with the foul concoction. Trunks pouted but obliged. He looked so miserable Gohan felt a pang of sympathy. That is until Bulma turned to toward him. “Uh... I think I’m oka-” A look from Vegeta silenced him and he allowed Bulma to cover him in one of the worst smelling substances ever. Worse things have been done for the bride.

When she was done she stood up straight in front of Gohan and asked about her own looks. Gohan blushed at being asked to appraise her in front of Vegeta, but he didn’t seem to care. Her hair was in a bun with a white flower pendant in the back. Her dress was a simple v-neck that went down to her knees and it was a shade of green that went well with the blue of her hair and eyes. “You look nice.” Bulma nodded and looked herself over. Trunks looked at her critically.

“Mommy, I thought girls getting married were supposed to wear white.” Gohan flushed and took the opportunity to be on the opposite side of the room. Bulma smiled at her son.

“Your Mommy has never been one to do things the old-fashioned way.” Vegeta smirked at her and they exchanged a look that seemed significant. She tuned to Gohan, “Shall we go?”

The trip to the courthouse was painless, has was the wait. Bulma had the foresight to see that it was better to get it done early rather than expect Vegeta and Trunks to put up with waiting in line all day. By the time it was their turn Gohan had barely noticed that any time had passed. He and Trunks stood to the side while a judge had the couple recite the vows. Trunks held Gohan’s hand and was being very patient. Gohan noticed that he seemed to watching his parents intently, determined to figure something out. Gohan squeezed his hand reassuringly. The promise of change was hard on one so young.

Vegeta had the same look he always did and managed to recite the vows with respect. Bulma didn’t seem overly emotional either, but also was looking at Vegeta intensely. Gohan realized toward the end of the ceremony that he had never seen Vegeta and Bulma touch each other at all, let alone kiss. The kiss was chaste and momentary, no more than was required.

He was suddenly struck by the fact they were including him in something that they had shared with no one else. He looked at Vegeta and remembered the cold and calculating warrior that had beaten him and left him for dead when Gohan was a little older than Trunks. Now here they were. Look at how far they had come.

He wished his father was here.

Gohan felt his eyes water and he held it back. The judge took him by surprise when he addressed him. “I trust this young man is here to bear witness? Is he family?” Bulma nodded without hesitation and reached over to touch Gohan’s arm. “His father is here too, in spirit.” Gohan felt himself lose the battle has a tear fell down his check. Bulma hugged him. Gohan walked over and signed the paper.

When they got back to the house, the Briefs’ were waiting for them at the table. When asked about where they had been Trunks ran into his grandfather’s arms and declared that his parents had gotten married. Vegeta groaned and Bulma laughed. “That didn’t last long, did it?” After her comment Vegeta threw her a knowing look laced with irritation before going upstairs to change before he could be corned by the Briefs, who were still in shock.

Gohan and Bulma sat down for breakfast. The fact that Gohan had witnessed their marriage was never really mentioned again. Gohan understood that it was because it was just an added formality to what was not in need of outside validation.

And the one time they didn’t know it themselves.

Bulma was never one to take kindly to being ignored or avoided.

Two years. That was how long they had until the androids were supposed to appear. There really wasn’t time for them to be avoiding each other anyways. That was how she justified her petty actions to herself when she told Chi-Chi over the phone that if Goku really wanted to take a look at the information she had scrounged up about super saiyan powers, he needed to come himself.

She had managed to extort Vegeta into allowing her to run some basic tests with the promise of upgrading the GR to nine hundred times Earth’s normal gravity and compared the results to human. There were some abnormalities in the structures of their very cells that gave answers as to how saiyans managed to achieve greater physical strength from a near death experience. When she asked Goku to come over so she could scan his super saiyan form, he gave her a clearly made-up excuse about training and Gohan e-mailed her enough footage of them sparring to compensate.

Saiyan biology was actually really interesting. But at the moment, she was more concerned with the fact Goku was would rather go out and spend money she doubted he actually had on a camera and nearly break the thing with his power-up in order to avoid seeing her. Skipping out on all of her lunch invitations she could accept. There was the pressing issue of the end of the world.

This whole ordeal had become an exercise in Goku refusing to spend time with her at any cost. Had she done something? Bulma had literally known the man longer than anyone alive, and for the first time she couldn’t figure him out. What was going through his head? Krillin and the others refused to come within a mile of her place because they were terrified of her current houseguest. Was that it? She wanted an explanation and she was going to get it from him.

Bulma thought that the curiosity about what she had found would be too good to resist, but Goku didn’t actually show up until the next day. He climbed through the window and gave her his signature grin. “Hey!” He seemed as cheerful as usual, not nervous at all. Huh.

“So you do remember where I live.” He chuckled put his hand on the back of his neck.

“Training has been intense. Piccolo and Gohan are carrying on without me, so I want to get back before they finish.” Bulma narrowed her eyes at the lie. Goku has never minded training on his own. “What do you have for me?” She decided to drag it out and see how far he was willing to take his fib.

“Oh? Piccolo and Gohan trained together for a year not that long ago. I would think that they would be used to sparring on their own.” He shrugged and looked to the side.

“Gohan and Piccolo have both changed quite a bit since then. New abilities and all that.”

“What kind of new abilities?” When he gave her a blank stare she knew she had gotten him. Bulma turned to her computer and pulled up her research on the saiyans. She didn’t want him to know that her eyes had started to sting slightly. Goku had never lied to her before. Not that she knew of.

“You’ve always been a lousy liar. You’re too good a person.” Her voice hitched and she felt him approach her.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. It’s just…” She turned to look at him and he bit his lip has though he was having trouble finding the words. “I thought it would be better if I stayed away.”

Bulma took a deep breath. She had cried for Goku many times, never because of him. She refused to start now. “Is it because of Vegeta?” To her surprise that actually seemed to startle him. Goku backed away from her for half-a-step.

“What do you mean?” He was concentrating on his words.

“I know the others are unhappy that we are letting him stay here. Goku, if it bothers you that much I can send him-” It was her turn to be startled when he waved his hands in the air and nearly yelled.

“No! Don’t do that!” Bulma could not remember ever being more confused in her life. She just looked at him, completely speechless. After a few moments, Goku laughed it off. “Sorry! No. It’s fine. Has long as he’s here he’s not out there without anyone keeping an eye on him, right?” The silence that followed was an awkward one. It wasn’t broken until the speaker on her desk went off that it was broken.

‘Woman! Your damn useless bots have all broken down again.’ Bulma turned to shoot an annoyed look at the speaker and press the button to reply.

“My bots are fine! They will keep breaking if you keep using them for target practice.” She could practically hear him scowl as she let go of the button.

‘If you designed them better, there would be no need for me to shoot them with a blast in order to get actual training done.’ She took a second to look at Goku, who seemed to be greatly amused more than anything else, before replying.

“I’m not going to do this with you right now. Goku is here and we are in the middle of something. I’ll start on some new bots for you later.” She had hardly let the button go for a second before she heard a shout out of the speaker that she could almost hear from the other side of the complex.

‘I am aware that the idiot is here socializing instead of training. Unlike the rest of you weaklings I can sense his stupidity from miles away. Why don’t both of you make yourselves useful for a change?!’ She felt her anger bubble up.

“You know, when you are asking someone for a favor you should probably at least attempt to be nice, instead of acting like a jackass! I’ll get to it when I get to it!” She unplugged the speaker and turned back to Goku.

Goku was turned away from her. He was supporting himself with his hand on the wall. He seemed to be shaking. She blinked. Did Vegeta manage to upset him? “Goku, that’s just how he is. It’s not-” But when he turned back to her, his hands were covering his mouth and he seemed to have tears in his eyes. “Are you laughing?!” Goku shook his head but he clearly could hold it back no longer and he let out laughter so loud it filled the whole room. He was clutching his sides and Bulma was surprised that he managed to stand. When he finally calmed down, she arched her eyebrow at him.

“I didn’t know that me getting yelled at was such a comedy for you.” He just smiled at her in response. It was like he was in on his own private joke. “Right. You feel like you have enough breath left to tell me the real reason you thought it was better to avoid me like the plague?” Goku seemed to think that over for a moment. He sat down in the chair across from her desk and reached out to grab her hand. She allowed him to hold her hand in both of his larger ones. Bulma suddenly flashed back to when she forced Goku to take a bath for the first time. She could fit his smaller body into her arms and hold him back then. Had it really been so long?

“You don’t want me to lie to you, so I won’t. Instead, I’m going to ask you to trust me.” She tilted her head. He was being very genuine and sweet, no lies this time. “It’s just… better if I stay out of the way… Things just need to take their course.” Ok, so Bulma was confused more than she had ever been. Again.

“What are you talking about?” Goku’s grip on her hand tightened reassuringly.

“You’ll get it one day. I promise. For now, just trust that I love you and I wouldn’t be staying away if it wasn’t what had to be done. Please?” Bulma sighed. She knew that if Goku believed he was doing the right thing he couldn’t be swayed.

“Okay. I love you too, alright?” He nodded. She removed a memory chip from her computer and handed it to Goku. “We would be here for hours if I walked you through all of that. Gohan should be able to explain it all to you, smartie that he is. The summary? Your cells are more complex than ours on a base level-”

“I could have informed you of that, woman.” A very agitated Vegeta was standing in her doorway. “Kakarot, let’s get something useful out of your visit. Since I am apparently forced to wait for someone to get off her behind-” He looked directly at Bulma for a second. “-in order to continue my training, we shall spar.” Bulma recognized Goku’s struggle in his eyes. He never turned down to prospect of a decent fight. But whatever kept him away apparently applied to Vegeta has well when he shook his head and left.

Vegeta scowled at him and turned to Bulma for an explanation has to why the only other saiyan alive would turn away from a sparing session. She shrugged. “He has his reasons.”

Two years later, she wept for Goku one more time over a gravestone while holding her son and said, “Thank you.”