Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Dark Heart ❯ An Old Flame ( Chapter 10 )

Bulma quickly walked into the kitchen, where her mother was busy as usual, and she asked her if she could take care of Trunks for a while until she found out exactly what was going on. Bunny Briefs gladly accepted the task and the blue haired scientist hurried into her lab. Before she'd even entered the place, she could already hear the voice of a very angry man that seemed to be yelling at her father.

“What the hell Mr. Briefs? How can you let her do this??!!”

She cringed, instantly recognizing the voice, even before she joined the two men in the laboratory. Oh yeah, she knew that voice alright…

“Yamcha?” she asked in bewilderment as she finally entered the room.

Her old lover quickly turned towards her, shocked to see her in there. He'd been so consumed by his current feelings of rage that he hadn't even noticed her ki approaching both men.

“Bulma!” he yelled. “How could you? Why are you doing this? I... I can't even…!” He sounded nervous and tremendously upset.

Bulma turned towards her father, who seemed to have been able to remain calm in spite of the young man's harsh words. It was certainly one of the many qualities about her father that the woman admired, his ability to never lose his cool under any circumstances. She figured that such quality was a very important feature in a scientist that dealt with pressure and failure on a daily basis. The heiress, on the other side, had just entered the room and she was already starting to feel irritation show its ears… She turned towards her father, silently asking him to leave them alone. Dr. Briefs nodded.

“I'll leave you two kids alone” He said calmly, and he cleared his throat. “I'm sure you have many things to discuss privately”.

“Thanks dad. I'll see you later…”

The doctor nodded and he slowly walked towards the exit, softly closing the door as he left the lab.

“Seriously, Bulma! What the fuck? You're leaving and going into space? And you didn't even tell me!” He carried on furiously, completely oblivious to the frustration that was apparent on her face.

Bulma took a deep breath, one hand on her waist and another one pinching the bridge of her nose, and she mentally counted to ten before she said something she'd end up regretting later. She had been here before, of course. Especially towards the end of her relationship with the scarred faced human, when all they did was fight and make-up, until things got to a point where the fights happened way too often, and the make-up sex just wasn't cutting it. And now here she was, having a dreadful sense of déjà vu. No, she couldn't deal with this crap. Not today. She opened her eyes slowly, both hands firmly on her waist now, fearlessly looking into her ex-lover's eyes and she said in a low but menacing voice.

“Yamcha, I love you dearly, but I'm not in the mood for this shit right now. You wanna talk? Let's talk. But sit down and show me some fucking respect or, Dende help me, I'll kick your ass out of my house. Right. Now.”

The tone of her voice certainly got his attention and the man stared silently at the blue haired woman, shocked by her reaction. This heated moment had also brought him some memories, of course, but her response had only served to remind him that the woman standing in front of him wasn't his woman any longer. In the past, she would have been quick to engage and she'd always be the one that would end up yelling the most, but the Bulma that was stoically standing in front of him, wasn't his Bulma anymore. He sat down on one of the lab chairs, crossing his hands in front of him, suddenly feeling a sense of shame at his irate behavior. The woman quickly followed him and imitated his actions. They both just sat there, next to each other, in silence, trying to cool down. Of course, she was the one who finally broke the awkward silence.

“Alright,” she sighed tiredly, “what's all this mess about?”

“Krillin called me, Bulma. He asked me something about my preparations for the trip. I guess he assumed I was going too or something…”

Bulma nodded quietly, silently wanting to murder Krillin and his big mouth. In a way, she couldn't blame him, since it had been her fault for not warning him not to say anything to her ex-boyfriend about her plans. She'd been afraid exactly of this situation, and it was something she really didn't feel like dealing with at the moment.

“So, that's what this is all about? You're angry because I told Krillin and I didn't tell you?” she asked cautiously.

He looked at her, his anger reappearing quickly, together with a hint of something else that Bulma instantly recognized as jealousy.

“So, it's true? It's fucking true, isn't it?! You're really going to try to find the bastard!”

“Watch it, Yamcha!!!” she furiously cut him. “You better watch your goddamn mouth when you're talking about Vegeta in front of me!”

He snorted incredulously.

“So, you're still defending him? After what he's done to you? He left you, Bulma! He fucking left you and Trunks!!! And this isn't even the first time! He also abandoned you when you got pregnant!” he yelled, his fingers aggressively squeezing the border of the lab table, his knuckles turning white by the pressure.

“You don't know shit, Yamcha! And never fucking forget that, you hear me?”

He laughed in disbelief.

“I know enough! I mean, look at you, Bulma! This shit is ridiculous! You're just going to drop your child and go into space, so that you can try to find the Prince of all Assholes!”

Oh no, he didn't…

“I'm not dropping my child, you idiot! He'll stay safe here on Earth with my parents. Also, Piccolo is gonna be around if you must know…”

“So, Piccolo knows too??!! What the hell, Bulma? I know we both have a history but I also thought we were friends!”

Bulma exhaled in an attempt to calm down again…

“Yamcha”, she said calmly, “That's precisely the reason why I didn't tell you. I knew this was going to happen. I know you really well, remember?”

The man looked at her, also trying to leave his latest outburst of rage behind…

“Gods, Bulma! I just…” he shook his head in confusion, trying to gather his thoughts. He sighed and he continued.

“I'm sorry, alright? You're probably right… I mean, I know we said that we could be friends but… I just… This shit is hard for me, you know?”

The woman nodded, deep down feeling sorry for him. He looked like a kid, staring at her with those puppy eyes that used to work oh so well in his favor in the past, but that only made her feel pity for him now. She'd always known the break-up had been hard on Yamcha, despite the flirting with other girls and the occasional infidelity, she'd always known, even then, that she meant more to him than all of those other skanks combined. Still, it wasn't enough. It just wasn't meant to be. She still remembered the look in his eyes when she told him about her pregnancy, a look of sadness and pure betrayal. The look of someone that would always be wondering about how things might have been…

She held his hand, reminding herself that this man was someone that had meant the world to her for years, since she was a sixteen-year-old kid…

“Look Yamcha, I'm not… I'm not expecting you to understand all of this, OK? But you know me goddamn it! You know I'm not some stupid fool, right?” she asked expectantly.

“Yeah, I know… I mean… I know you're smart Bulma, but… You can… You can also be so damn impulsive sometimes. Come on! You know that!”

He was right, of course. She'd always had an adventurous spirit. After all, what teenage girl, from a wealthy and renowned family, would leave all luxury and safety behind in order to try to find some legendary magic Dragon Balls, when all of her friends that shared her age and social class were busy shopping and throwing parties in the comfort of their own lavish homes? Bulma Briefs, that's who, but somehow, things were not the same now.

“I hear you, Yamcha. I know I've done some crazy shit in the past, but this is different. It really is. I'm not… There are certain things I can't talk about, alright?”

“Like what, Bulma? What the hell! I can't fucking believe you don't trust me anymore!”

“Gods, Yamcha! Do you even realize that not every single goddamn thing in this world revolves around you? What? Are you expecting me to tell you every fucking detail about my relationship with Vegeta? Be honest, would you even want to know?”

He stared at her.

He didn't, of course.

Her relationship with the Saiyan warrior had always been a mystery to him. Sure, he'd seen her flirt with him a bit from the start, even before their break-up. There was also that GR explosion, which had been the first time he'd witnessed the true concern the woman held towards the Prince. When he'd left Capsule Corp. in order to move into his tiny bachelor's apartment, the little monster of jealousy had planted some suspicious ideas on his mind. He'd visited Capsule Corporation on two occasions, invited by the Briefs family to some business parties, and he vividly recalled the night he'd first seen those two together…

He'd gone outside in search of some fresh air, his head heavy thanks to the sweet alcohol he'd been drinking all night at the open bar, when he'd suddenly felt Bulma's unmistakable ki change erratically. He'd focused his inebriated mind, trying to find out where the energy source was coming from, and he discovered she was at one of the gardens on the other side of the building. He'd curiously flown there, and then he saw them. The Saiyan was backing the heiress against one of the ancient trees, his hand between her thighs. His first impression was that he must have been trying to rape her, but then he realized that she was willingly giving herself to him. Both her hands were buried into Vegeta's wild hair, and she was passionately kissing him. She was wearing a really sexy red party dress, with an indecently high slit on one of the sides, and she was wrapping one of her legs on the naked waist of the alien warrior, who seemed to be kissing her back with equal fervor. He was half naked, as usual, wearing only his training shorts and a pair of sneakers, and he realized he'd probably come to her directly from the GR and she didn't even care. Yamcha knew how mad she used to get at him whenever he'd try to even kiss her after he'd been training, always complaining about her hair, her makeup or about how stinky he was when he was sweaty. And yet there she was, completely dolled up for her party, and about to fuck that filthy man…

Yamcha closed his eyes, trying to erase the memory from his mind. Even though they'd already broken up at the time, seeing her with another male had hurt him deeply, and Vegeta wasn't just a simple man, he was the bastard that had indirectly killed him in battle just a few years prior to that moment. And then, just as he was coming to terms with the fact that those two were fucking each other, she called and invited him into her home at the promise of some big announcement. It had been a big announcement, that's for sure. She was pregnant with that asshole's child, and even though he'd noticed a hint of loneliness and insecurity on her face, he could also see that she was happy and, dare he say it, proud about it. The scarred faced man had been livid when she'd told him that Vegeta didn't even know about the pregnancy and that he wasn't even on Earth anymore, and Bulma'd even said that it was alright, because she knew that he'd be coming back at some point in time to fight those androids the boy from the future had warned them about.

He'd felt a mixture of anger and pity towards her at the time, and he'd even stupidly offered to marry her and raise the child as his. She'd rejected him, of course, and he'd left that home seriously believing that the blue haired beauty would end up a single mother.

And he had been right of course. As soon as the Cell Games were over, the Saiyan had abandoned her once more, and now the crazy woman was going to go only the Gods knew were in order to try to find the monster.

“Bulma, I… I've never asked much about your relationship with… with him”, he stopped, feeling pathetic for sometimes not being able to even say the Prince's name. “But, I just… I get the feeling that what you two had wasn't probably something serious… At least, not to him…”

“What the fuck, Yamcha?! How can you…?”

“Let me finish goddamn it!!” he interrupted her before she could retaliate. “Look… I know how hard it is to let go sometimes and… and sometimes you don't even like that person, you like the idea of that person... so…”

“How dare you, you asshole??!! How dare you fucking imply that you know shit about my relationship with my man!”

He cringed at the expression.

“Your man? He's not even here anymore!!!”

“You heard me, you idiot! He's my man! I love him!”

Yamcha gawked at Bulma, open mouthed. Love? She couldn't be serious… And yet he knew that his ex had never trivialized with the four-letter word, well, except when they were both silly teenagers, of course. But as they'd both reached adulthood, he'd slowly come to realize that Bulma was a free spirit, and she didn't like the idea of getting too attached to someone else. Every now and then, usually in the heat of passion as they were having sex, she'd tell him she loved him, but it had never been a word she'd carelessly thrown around.

“What… what did you say?” he whispered.

“You heard me, you fool!” she replied, and as he looked at her, he realized that she was fuming and her eyes were full of angry tears.

“You… you love him, Bulma?”

“Gods, Yamcha! Just what the hell do you think this is all about?” she said, her voice full of frustration.

“I… I don't know… I thought you were just being stubborn… Maybe that you… that you were doing this for Trunks' sake, you know… Bulma, if this is about your child having a father I could still…”

“Don't!” she cut him off firmly. “Don't even go there, Yamcha. I'm not going through this again with you… I…” she sighed, trying to calm down and knowing, deep down, that Yamcha's heart was in the right place. “I appreciate what you're trying to do, Yamcha, but this is not just about trying to find a father for my baby… Yes, of course I want him to have his father in his life; we all saw what not having Vegeta around did to Mirai Trunks…”

“And yet he survived, Bulma. And he grew up into a much better man than Vegeta will ever be…” he replied, still trying to convince her to forget this madness.

That did it. Those were the words that made Bulma lose control and finally shed those unruly tears…

“How can you even say something like that, Yamcha?” she furiously whispered, feeling incredibly sad now. “How do you even know what kind of man Vegeta is, or the kind of person he could become in the future?”

He remained silent.

He had no answer to that question.

“Haven't you ever thought that perhaps he's never had the opportunity to be something else? That maybe life has never actually given him a fucking chance?”

Her voice was sad, but firm and he secretly admired that fact that, despite how much she was probably suffering at the moment, she remained strong.

“Do you even realize that he hadn't known what true friendship was until he found us? Come on, Yamcha! He protected our friends on Namek when they fought Frieza! And he was on our side during the battle against the androids and Cell!” she paused, stubbornly wiping her tears with her pale hands.

“Yes, he was still an asshole sometimes, but… but this life is new to him, Yamcha… I just know… I know there's a different side of him, and I know not because of some stupid delusions of love, but because I've seen it! I've actually seen him! Just him… No Prince of the Saiyans bullshit, Yamcha, just him!”

“Bulma…” he whispered shyly.

“Stop it, Yamcha! Stop trying to make me go against my fucking heart! You can sit here and talk shit about the man I fucking love all day long, but I'm still leaving! You hear me, you idiot? So be my friend and support me in this or just get the hell out! You have no idea what I'm going through right now. I don't need this crap!”

The man looked at her, examining her with new eyes. And it hit him that it was very possible that the heiress knew what she was doing on some level, given that her instincts about people had always been right, him being living proof of it.

He had no idea what kind of relationship Bulma had with Vegeta, but right then and there, sitting on that chair by her side, he finally had to admit defeat. The blue haired beauty wasn't his woman anymore, and the insanely strong purple haired baby boy playing with his grandparents in the kitchen wasn't his son. They both belonged to someone else: a man that probably had no idea how fucking lucky he was, or maybe he knew, and he hadn't quite known what to do with his newfound luck when it hit him in the face.

He looked at her beautiful face, the glowing creamy skin and those huge blue eyes that he used to get lost into while he was making love to her, it felt like centuries ago now… Motherhood had certainly changed her, but it had been for the better. The silly little girl was still in there somewhere, but a more mature woman, a real woman, had also developed. He thought about Vegeta, wherever the fuck he was right now and he knew that if she found him, she'd bring him back, for no man could resist a woman like Bulma Briefs.

He held her hands into his and he squeezed them gently, not even fully believing himself what he was about to do…

“Bulma, I can't let you do this...”

“I'm sorry, Yamcha, but you don't have the right to…”

“Not without me”, he cut her.

Silence.

More silence.

Until Bulma finally whispered…

“Y-Yamcha… No, babe… You can't… I'm not sure this is a good…”

“It wasn't a question, Bulma. If you want to leave the planet, then you'll take me with you as well,” he said with firm conviction in his voice.

“This isn't your battle to fight Yamcha…” she replied, deeply moved by what her ex-lover was trying to do for her.

“Bulma”, he said, strongly gripping her shoulders now. “You are my friend… You are my best friend, so all your battles are mine too, you hear me?”

“But…”

“I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter”

The heiress stared at him, her eyes full of unshed tears once again, and she smiled. A big smile, just for him, that brought him memories once again, making his heart ache…

“Alright” she nodded.

“Alright”, he bravely replied.

She gave him a hug and he held her back, and for a long time the two of them just stood there, basking in each other's warmth, and for the first time, Yamcha felt like this instant had finally brought him some kind of closure. Yes, Bulma Briefs belonged to another man, and he was going to be crazy enough to try to help the woman bring him back to her. But she was also the person he'd loved the most in his entire miserable life, and if there was a chance for her to be happy and to live a fulfilled life with the father of her child, he wanted to somehow contribute to that happiness as much as he could.

The blue haired woman gave him one last squeeze and she let go of him. She wiped her tears with her hands, she nodded her head resolutely and she said…

“Get ready. We'll leave in a week”.